Chapter 43: A Job Near Home

Chapter 43: A Job Near Home

Greybank’s first impressive Talent belonged to a woman drying socks.

Silas noticed her while the students waited outside the station office. She stood beside a basket, passing one hand over the damp clothing draped along a rail. Moisture gathered beneath her palm and streamed into a bucket at her feet.

The socks did not scorch, stiffen, or blow away. She took them down, folded them, and moved to the next pair.

He watched with considerably more interest than he had given the station’s outer wall.

Mira followed his gaze. "What?"

"Nothing," Silas said.

"You’ve been looking over there for a while," Mira pointed out.

Silas turned back toward the office. "I’m appreciating efficient work."

The woman picked up the bucket and carried it away. He would have preferred to ask how thoroughly she could draw moisture from something padded, but their supervisor emerged before he could decide how to make that sound like an appropriate question for a noble academy student.

"Inside," she said. "Your bags can stay there."

Supervisor Vennor was a broad-shouldered woman with cropped hair and dust caught in the seams of her boots. She gave them their assignments without a speech about the honor of serving the frontier.

They would assist station workers, observe procedures, and do what their supervisors told them. Nobody was to cross a marked boundary without permission. If they did not understand an instruction, they were to ask before attempting it.

Her eyes paused on Silas and Mira as she reached the medical restrictions.

"These are already in the duty plan," Vennor said. "Tell me if something changes. Don’t wait for someone to notice."

Mira nodded. Silas gave a short acknowledgment and accepted his schedule.

Their first job involved a storehouse, a delivery inventory, and several crates that had arrived in the wrong order.

Bram found the labels on the inward-facing ends without needing to shift the entire stack. Alden checked the contents against the list while Mira recorded discrepancies. Silas lifted a light packet of fittings out of a narrow gap and deposited it on the table before a worker could start unstacking the shelf.

The man thanked him and immediately asked for another.

Careful. That’s how it starts.

Still, the work ended when it was supposed to. Vennor collected the completed record and sent them to eat rather than discovering six more things that could be done while they were standing there.

After lunch, Silas was assigned to the maintenance shed with Bram.

A young man near the entrance was trying to thread a small fitting into a housing while an older mechanic watched him.

"No," the mechanic said. "Back it out. You’re catching the edge."

"I can feel it," the apprentice said.

"Then stop turning," the mechanic told him.

The apprentice obeyed, looking annoyed with the fitting. Silas understood the sentiment.

The mechanic introduced himself as Orrel and his apprentice as Dain, then gave Bram a tray of worn fasteners to sort. He took Silas to a bench where a narrow assembly sat open beneath a work lamp.

"Can you keep this cover raised?" Orrel asked.

"How high?" Silas said.

"A finger’s width," Orrel said. "It’s light, but I need both hands."

Silas lifted it. Orrel checked the gap, adjusted his stool, and slid a fine tool into the housing. The point remained steady as it moved between two small contacts.

His other hand was not quite as still. Silas saw a slight tremor when the mechanic reached for a cloth, then watched it disappear as he returned to the delicate work.

"Talent?" Silas asked.

"Steady Hand." Orrel seated the contact and withdrew the tool. "C Rank."

"Does it steady the tool as well?" Silas asked.

"It steadies me," Orrel said. "If somebody hits the bench, I still make a mess."

Silas glanced at the narrow gap. "And when you’re tired?"

"I stop making good decisions with a very steady hand." Orrel looked up. "You can lower that now."

Silas eased the cover down while the mechanic fitted its screws by hand.

Silas had spilled medicine into the sink two mornings ago because his hand shook while he measured it. He looked at Orrel’s fingers again.

That would be nice to have.

The man had finished the adjustment without once scraping a neighboring contact. For the sort of work Silas did, that steadiness would be useful long after his body recovered.

Across the shed, Dain called for Orrel to check the housing.

The mechanic inspected it, made him undo one part, and returned.

"He’s learning," Orrel said, settling onto the stool again.

"Slowly?" Silas asked.

"Quickly enough when I let him," Orrel said. "I keep taking things out of his hands."

Silas glanced at Dain, who had begun the fitting again. "He doesn’t look especially grateful."

"He needs to be able to replace me on a route," Orrel said. "Hard to learn that while I’m reaching past him."

Orrel tested the repaired assembly. Something inside it clicked twice, then settled into an even hum.

"You’re leaving?" Silas asked.

"Trying to get a permanent place here. Fewer callouts, regular evenings." Orrel adjusted the housing. "My youngest has started telling me about things she did last week because she can’t remember which ones I was home for."

He said it without looking up.

Silas kept his attention on the tool tray. He had never had children waiting for him. He had, however, lost whole evenings to someone promising the work would only take another hour.

"Is the station work enough?" he asked instead.

"For what I want? Yes," Orrel said.

Silas nodded. He hoped the man got it.

At the other bench, Dain dropped a washer. Bram caught it against the edge with his palm before it could roll onto the floor.

"Careful," Orrel called. "That one disappears, you’re the one crawling under there."

The afternoon passed between small jobs and explanations Silas actually wanted to hear. Orrel made occasional supply runs to the academy and knew which workshop entrance was least likely to leave a delivery crew waiting. He had opinions about equipment designed by people who never repaired it themselves.

Silas asked whether he ever took paid demonstration work.

"What sort?" Orrel said.

"Fine assembly. Tool handling," Silas said. "I have a desk suitable for small work in my room."

"I’d need to see what you wanted done," Orrel told him.

"I can send the details."

They exchanged contact information before Vennor came to collect the students. Orrel promised nothing beyond checking his next academy run, which Silas found more useful than an enthusiastic agreement with no date attached.

That evening, the station meal came with a second helping of stew if they wanted it. Silas did. He listened while Bram explained why Dain’s tray of fasteners had been arranged badly, and found himself asking a question before remembering that he had spent enough of the day discussing work.

The first night was less pleasant.

His bed was narrow, the pillow flattened under his head, and somebody farther down the corridor coughed whenever he was close to falling asleep. The tiredness in his limbs remained after an hour of lying down.

Silas changed position and checked the time once.

No. We’re not doing this all night.

He put the device facedown, took the rest he could get, and woke still tired but capable of being irritated about it.

After breakfast, he was halfway through fastening his equipment when Vennor entered the corridor.

"The supply vehicle’s stopped on the east route," she said. "Wheel assembly failure. The maintenance crew is going out with an escort."

Bram came to his doorway. "Are we staying here?"

"You’ll assist with recovery supplies inside the escort’s perimeter," Vennor said. "I’ll be with you."

Silas closed the last fastening and looked out into the yard. Orrel was loading the recovery equipment while Dain checked the cases against a list. Beside their vehicle, the escorts were checking their weapons.

Yesterday, the route had been a line on his duty schedule. He watched an escort seat a magazine and test the action.

I would very much like to stay here.

Vennor was already leading them toward the stairs. Silas picked up his case and followed.