Read Greenhaus Part 1: A Storm Brews for Free Online Page A

“That’s an awful lot of beams for half a day, guess we need to get the cranes workin’ a little faster huh?”
    Jacob whistled loudly, the type of ear piercing shrill that could shatter glass, some glass maybe, but not the foot thick glass that surrounded him. Then he turned his hands over and over to t he crane operators, motioning them to speed it up. He knew they couldn’t hear him over the background noise and that they would ignore his motions to hasten their actions, but Jacob’s intention wasn’t to instruct the crane operators, it was to entertain Jasper. He shot a smile over to Jasper, who pitifully tried to hide his own smirk and when he couldn’t, he quickly turned his head away.
    Jasper was usually a man of few words, and today was no different. He grew up with Jacob ’s father, into their days working together on countless engineering projects. When Jacob’s old man passed, something about his demeanor changed and all these years later, it remained altered. He became silent and withdrawn. Jasper was a hard worker and great at what he did, but wasted no time or effort with pleasantries with anyone, including Jacob.
    After he served his mandatory five in Engineering and his five in Recycling alongside Harvard Niles, both then immediately reenlisted to work the rest of their days in Engineering, until one o f their days was brought to an unceremonious end, changing the survivor of the duo forever.
    Despite the obvious emotional burden he carried, day after day Jasper would wake up, don his protective Nu-Skin, and march from his studio in Zone 7 to silently bui ld annex after annex. Jacob found it odd that a man of Jasper’s age, work history, and green ethics did not live in at least Zone 9, the highest living zone in the annexes, with access to the most extravagant shops, foods, and goods. He could likely have saved enough gredits to move into an even higher zone in Central, a place where the Centruppers, the most resourceful of citizens of the ‘Haus, lived. Most citizens just zipped through these zones in a blur on their way to the hospitality level or dreamed about living there someday.
    Instead, Jasper opted for personal trips aboard the Bullet to other Greenhaus colonies. The Newer Orleans, New Denver, and New Chicago colonies were among his favorite destinations and he visited them whenever he accrued enough f ree time or got far enough ahead of demand to slip away for a couple days.
    Jacob on the other hand, had only been aboard the Bullet one time as a kid, when his father brought him to Newer Orleans on an emergency work trip. While one load of supplies was dr opped and he waited for the next, Jacob looked over at Jasper, who was inventorying the fresh drop. Jacob thought about engaging him in conversation, but instead let his mind drift to the day he rode the Bullet. He vividly remembered the elevator ride to the top. It was near dusk and the clear glass tube sucked them quickly from Zone 1, the floor level, to Zone 15, the highest level not only in Central, but the entire ‘Haus and the jump off point for all inter-colonial travel. The gold colored signs were bright and invited the eyes to stare. The hint of blue cast upon everything by the dome brightened in proportion to the darkening sky.
    Stepping off the elevator onto the deck, something as simple as taking a few strides, became quite the task. Having never been that high, it was hard to get used to seeing the ground so far away through the elevator floor and it froze him in place. His father pulled him from the elevator, and had to balance carrying their bags and pulling the bewildered child, so taken aback by the sights and sounds of Hospitality that he stumbled around in a state of intoxication, continually getting separated from his father.
    After checking in at the glass help desk, the father and son duo grabbed a snack at the traveler ’s lounge while the world outside the ‘Haus went black. The colors inside came alive. In