Page 15 of The Surviving Sky
Ahilya nodded, her mouth dry. All occupations had to serve the city in some way, and she herself was on thin ground with reports from her previous expeditions becoming increasingly useless. If her study didn’t yield any results soon, the council could revoke her very profession, force her to become a historian who studied and exalted architect histories, just like it could transfer Dhruv. A weight settled in her stomach at the thought of failure.
Dhruv took a deep breath and glanced sheepishly at Ahilya. “Iravan didn’t mention anything, did he?”
“You know we don’t talk about the council.”
“Ithink—”Dhruv looked at her awkwardly. “I thinkheasked for the battery.”
She clenched her fists and swallowed the lump in her throat. Dhruv had never liked her husband, though since Iravan’s rise to the council, Dhruv’s forced politeness had verged on careful deference.
Iravan had known this, of course.
He had likely seen through it, had likely disdained it. Was his push for the battery simply an attempt to get rid of an exasperating irritant? Once, she would not have thought it possible, but the power her husband wielded now, the decision he had taken to change the architecture, his numerous subtle calls to obeyhim…
She met Dhruv’s gaze. “I won’t let him take you away.”
“It’s not that,” Dhruv said, shaking his head. “The battery is not just a way to avoid the transfer; it is theonlyway for a sungineer to be nominated to that vacant council seat. Kiana said she can’t nominate anyone from the lab unless they make progress with a battery. Iravan has clearly convinced her this is necessary.” He removed his glasses in frustration. “This is the problem with architects. They don’t understand sungineering and its methods. They think just because they can manipulate the world so easily on a whim, we can create devices to do the same thing. The battery is a bad idea for many reasons, but of course, no one listens to me.”
Ahilya pressed his hand. “If you become a councilor, they’ll have to.”
He nodded distractedly and wiped his glasses. “Which depends on today. Just bring back the spiralweed, all right? And be careful. You can’t be close to Naila when you’re harvesting the spiralweed, but once youarebeside her again, the forcefield will engage in the deathbox, ensuring the weed stays trapped inside. You do that, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
His warnings to be cautious were understandable, but in his words Ahilya detected an unwillingness to speak to the real matter. She dropped her voice further, the pressure to leave momentarily forgotten in the face of Dhruv’s hidden reluctance.
“Dhruv, listen,” she said quietly. “I read about spiralweed. Doesn’t it feed on trajection? If it gets loose in Nakshar, it could endanger everyone. And if we’re found out, they could exile us both to some backwoods sister city.”
The sungineer drew back in surprise. “Ahilya, we don’t have much time. The council’s nominations close in three months. We’re up against architects for that position. We have to make asignificantlybetter case than them just to be considered. If we don’t dothis—forgetbeing nominated; we can wave our professions goodbye. The first thing a full council does is to look at everyone’s professions and how they contribute to the welfare of the city.”
“I know. I don’t like it, though. Isn’t there another plant that’ll do instead?”
Dhruv replaced his glasses. “I’m not even sure spiralweed will do. I’ve already tried everything else,Ahilya—allthe plants you’ve brought the previous times. This ismy—our—lastshot.”
“It’sjust—thisis so much more dangerous than anything else I’ve smuggled in. The others were manageable, but spiralweed, it’s the highest level ofcontraband—”
“There aretwolayers of protection on the deathbox. Glass itself is the strongest material we have in the city, and the forcefield will block any interaction the spiralweed can have with the world outside the box. Both of those layers would have to stop working for anything to happen, and you’d have to be an utter idiot to willingly meddle with a working deathbox.”
“But—”
“Look, if you find usable results outside with the yaksha, maybe we won’t have to worry about any of this at all.You’dbe our hope for the council seat. But Ahilya, you’d have to find incontrovertible proof of survival in the jungle today to beat the architects.That’s…that’s—”
“I know,” she said shortly. “It’s too long a shot.”
In the silence that grew between them, Oam and Naila’s murmurs sounded louder. A light breeze ruffled Ahilya’s hair. Wordlessly, she returned the deathbox to her satchel.
Then Dhruv said, “I’m sorry.”
Ahilya didn’t reply. Her mind echoed with Tariya’s voice, asking her to abandon her childish ambitions. Naila’s condescension dripped from her tone as she explained to Ahilya what anearthragewas. The truth was there was precedence for sungineers on the council. Dhruv had been anally—hehad always beenencouraging—butthey both knew he had a better chance at the council seat than she did. Yet to be reminded of it now, in such starkterms—
She glanced away to the other two, not wanting to think about it. “Do you think they’re done yet? We’re burning the last of daylight.”
Dhruv didn’t follow her gaze. He squeezed her cheeks together and lifted her chin up as though she were a reticent ten-year-old again and he her constant cheerleader.
“You’ve come far, all right?” he said. “I shouldn’t have said that. We both have an equal chance. A terrible chance, yes, but an equal one. Who knows what you’ll find out there when you study the yaksha? Getting spiralweed back just doublesour—”
Dhruv froze.
His gaze went past Ahilya and his voice faltered. “I-Iravan,” he said, and dropped his hand. “I didn’t know you’d be joining us.”
Ahilya spun around.
