31
The Final Choice
April curled up in a nest of tarps at the edge of the catwalk. She hadn’t really been sleeping, just drifting in and out of a doze. She was vaguely aware that the soft tink and occasional ratcheting sound of Salima working on the drones had stopped a few minutes before, and she had an even more ephemeral memory of Hakim resting his hand on her knee in a not-waking-her farewell some time before that. And she snapped awake just before Salima’s hand closed over her shoulder to shake her, as if sensing Salima’s urgency itself.
“What is it?” April asked, sitting up and rubbing at her face to get her blood moving. Salima’s eyes were filled with shock and the beginnings of panic, something April never thought to see. “What’s happened?”
“I’ll explain on the way,” Salima sai
