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couldn’t see him from my position. “Okay, that’s very educa-tional. What’s the miscalculation?”
    “The harri-harra are still down there. They don’t like humans, and that sludge they leave behind is deadly during the early stages. Flammable, too. Most settlements lose at least ten percent of their workforce every cycle. The drones were 37

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    originally designed as remote-controlled tools to help with the heavy lifting, but I decided to try upgrading their programming to give them enough brainpower to do some of the dangerous work on their own.”
    “Remove damaged microduct,” Clank instructed.
    “I’m trying,” I told the drone. It looked like the ship had seen better days even before the crash. “Dane, can you hand me that wrench? No, not that one—blue handle. So far, I’ve got six drones upgraded—seven if you count Dimwit, which I don’t. Enough to manage belowground operations themselves, directing the dumb-drones.”
    Dane crouched nearby, having handed me the right item. “I still don’t see the problem.”
    “Like you said, we have the highest output on the planet, thanks to the drones. Share value is based on output, so Forty-Two’s shares are worth more than any other settlement’s. As long as each man works an equal shift at the mine—or in my case, does work to support mining operations—they earn their shares. But with the drones, we only need a quarter-crew to monitor and direct from topside each shift. So I made it safer and more effi cient, but I also made a settlement full of men with too much time and too many shares on their hands.” Dane was quiet for so long, Clank and I were actually able to replace the microduct plus a power conduit. I hoped he would keep it shut for the rest of the day so I could get more done, but no such luck.
    “You saved their lives,” he said. “But I heard them last night.
    A lot of them liked seeing you hurt.” I grunted, yanking on a bolt to loosen it. “Don’t ask me to explain how their minds work. They’re bigger malfunctions 38

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    than Dimwit. All I know is they aren’t always appreciative, and some wish I’d ‘appreciate’ them a little more.” Dane fell silent again for a few sparkling minutes. When he spoke, I got the feeling he was right worked up but trying to hide it. “Be careful, Essie. I also saw how they looked at you when you got out of that cage.”
    That was the second such warning I’d gotten in the last day.
    Hearing Dane say it felt different from when Petey did. But I’d been on Thanda eight years, most of those in Forty-Two. What made anyone think I couldn’t take care of myself?
    “Worry about yourself and eventually getting off this rock,” I said. “Your problems are bigger than mine are bound to be.” Dimwit chose that moment to spot-weld one of its feet to the deck.
    As usual, I didn’t include that infuriating bucket of a malfunction in my tally of problems. After all, I could solve that one with a quick hour of dismantling work.
    For some reason, though, I never did.
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    4
    FOR THREE DAYS,
    I restored and reprogrammed bits of the shuttle’s computer system, and I still had plenty left to do, especially in physical repairs. Petey got the parts and materials piped in from the Bands as promised, and it looked like they’d do the job. Maybe. As good as Clank was at microwelding and Clunk at fabricating, they weren’t used to intricate tech that had to survive the vacuum of space. Half the time I could’ve spent programming went to keeping an eye on whatever drone I brought, making sure it didn’t botch anything. Still, I could’ve been faster, but Dane never did fi gure how to shut it and let me work. I thought if I stayed quiet, he’d get the idea, but when he asked questions and I knew the answer, I couldn’t shut my own mouth.
    Part of me didn’t mind. He made better conversation than Petey and Whirligig combined, and I didn’t have anyone else to