Read Silo 49: Deep Dark for Free Online Page A

be away for several days, he countered with a suggestion for a vacation. It was true that they hadn't been on one as a family for many years. It was equally true that both of them had a surfeit of vacation chits rattling around and waiting to be used. With Sela now her father's shadow, they were free to go if they chose.
    Like all shadows, Sela was neither penalized nor rewarded based on her caster's absence or presence. She was paid a stipend b ased on her shadow status and how many of the qualifications for the desired job were complete. She earned no vacation chits but she had the days off her caster did and so was utterly free to go. Marina had been dubious about Joseph taking off so much time as a deputy, though when she was truthful with herself, she was more concerned with her ability to investigate if her family came along. She felt bad about that.
    In the end, there was no way to avoid pretending to be delighted without arousing suspicion. Marina knew herself well enough to know that she was quite capable of hiding minor things from her husband but would certainly be caught if she began outright lying. Since his sixteenth year he had been either a deputy or a deputy's shadow and he could smell a lie a level away.
    Instead of risking him sniffing her out, she had busied herself with making plans for their trip. She parceled out the work already in her queue to other willing Fabber hands. By the time she woke the morning their vacation started, she was honestly excited by the prospect of a family trip.
    She had opened her eyes and looked up at the worn paint on her ceiling with a smile. A wonderful fluttery feeling in her stomach signified something new and exciting coming her way. When she made breakfast and bellowed for Sela to hurry up, she knew she would make the most of this unexpected treat.
    Their trip up was to be broken by visits and stops along the way, including a stop to visit Joseph's mother. She was still alive and nearing her 63rd year of life, a venerable age. She lived in the same compartment where she had lived since moving in with her own husband and his father as a bride. She was a powerhouse of a woman, with more energy than all of mechanical combined. And she was beloved by so many that she was unintentionally intimidating in her confidence. She had earned that position, though, and had not always had it easy.
    Marina knew all the stories. Tales of the discomfort she had felt first moving into a home not her own. Joseph’s grouchy grandfather sent such disapproving looks her way she had felt as if she might never fit in. The stories ended well, however, because all that disapproval had fallen away when Joseph’s mother had presented her father-in-law with a grandson promptly ten months after her marriage. It was with some pride that Joseph said that his parents hadn't wasted the automatic permit of newlyweds to have a baby. His grandfather and father were long dead, but his mother endured.
    They were starting out after an early breakfast to make the climb from 95 to 82 and get a good visit in with his mother. As a deputy working nearby, Joseph saw her frequently but Marina hadn't been up to see her in many months. She was a bit ashamed of that. Trudging so far wasn’t something that could be done on a single day off and still get done what needed doing. She was excited to see her now that the time had come. She pressed her coveralls flat in front once more as they set their feet to the stairs.
    It was early in the day but nearing the end of the first shift peak commute. People hurrying to make up for their tardiness shot past them a couple of times. A group of kids nearing the age where they would choose their profession went past in a gaggle, deep in discussion over the merits of whichever job they had just finished touring. Marina smiled at them as they passed, remembering the heady experience of being young and coming of age in a world that seemed filled with endless possibilities.
    Rounding