The Society (A Broken World Book 1) by Dean Murray Page A

that his strength came in handy when it was time to open or close some of the more corroded valves.
    My best guess was that Tyrell had assumed that Beth and Billy would be able to keep Jerome out of trouble. Nothing had gone catastrophically wrong so far, but I'd only been on the job for two days, and there was still plenty of time for Jerome to screw something up.
    His girlfriend, Del, was an even bigger question as far as I was concerned. She didn't have Jerome's strength, which meant that she usually ended up monitoring the telegraph and master thermometer. That would have been okay if she'd been intelligent, or at least realized that she needed to check in with Beth on a regular basis, but she was dead set on appearing competent regardless of the reality of the situation.
    I'd spotted a likely hiding spot for the transmitter I'd brought with me at the end of my first shift, and dropped it off on the way into work the next morning—a fortunate thing since everyone had started making pointed comments about my need for a shower. The transmitter wasn't waterproof—even assuming it wouldn't have drawn attention to shower in communal facilities with my clothes on—and I wasn't willing to leave it back in my locker.
    I arrived to work the third morning freshly showered and only slightly embarrassed at being forced to shower around a dozen other women. I was beginning to understand why most of Brennan's workers were so happy to be working for him. Being clean again—even after less than forty-eight hours in the city—felt like the ultimate luxury.
    The people who'd been working there for a while made it clear that the showers weren't always hot, but they often were, and being able to shower more often than just when there was a rainstorm was considered an amazing perk to working in the compound.
    Beth looked up as I walked in. "Good, you're early—that means I'll be able to brief you."
    "Something new going on?"
    "Yeah, the foundry is shifting over to steel again, which is a first for you. Up until now they've been just turning out new rolls of copper wire."
    "So we'll have more waste heat being dumped into the wall."
    "Smart girl. Yes, more waste heat, which means more pipes turned on in order to keep the pressure from getting too high. This is the first time we've dealt with a steel pour in more than two months, which has me worried. Before this, Brennan and Tyrell always came down here to make sure that everything ran smoothly when the foundry kicked over to the more dangerous jobs. Between the two of them and Brennan's guards, we always had plenty of hands—smart ones—to make sure that nothing got out of control."
    "So we're on our own this time? Any idea why?"
    Beth shook her head, silver locks whipping back and forth. "They've moved on to some other project. It's the way of things around here. Brennan is always thinking several steps ahead, always working on the next step to getting us so that we'll be able to stand up to the ants. The foundry and stage one have both been working just fine for more than four months—since even before I got here. Adding the second generator up here only happened about three months ago."
    "So the bosses figure that all of the bugs have been worked out of the system and with our arrival you've got the extra hands you need to keep up with all of the flow regulation that needs to happen."
    "Yeah, that's the idea, but the truth is that it's never been done before with so few people. There are only five of us, and two more thermometers have gone out since then—with no replacements in sight—which means that we'll have to go in and take manual measurements."
    I pursed my lips, debating. "You're worried about Del?"
    "About all of you, but her most of all. Jerome needs to be inside turning valves—Billy and me too—which just leaves the two of you. If I had my druthers, I'd have you out watching the telegraph, but Del is worse than useless inside the pipe chamber. She doesn't have your