A Larger Universe Read Online Free PDF Page B

had to unload grain
sacks from the supply wagon. 
    On the first day of his new chore, another boy waited for
him by the wagon.  Except for his blond instead of red hair, he could have been
a smaller version of the second Jack. 
    "I heard Jack assigned you to this.  It takes two, but
I was hoping he would move me to something else.  No help for it.  I'm the
third Mark."
    These were the first words, other than orders, that anyone
had spoken to Tommy since the day he had arrived.
    "What do I do?" asked Tommy.
    "Nothing to it.  Get in the wagon."  When Tommy
did so, Mark followed him.  "Now, we each grab the end of a sack and throw
it into that wheelbarrow.  When the wheelbarrow is full, we roll it into the
barn, and unload the sacks onto the piles."
    By the third wheelbarrow load, grain dust and sweat covered
Tommy in a thick paste.  "Does this ever end?" Tommy grunted as he
let go of a sack.
    "No,” Mark answered.  “But we do get rest days, except
for feeding the animals.  Sometimes, all the animals are sold, and we don't
have much to do until we get more."  He pointed at the fields of crops a
quarter way around the dome.  "The dirt farmers work all the time, except
for rest days.”
    Tommy put his hands into the small of his back and
stretched.  "When is the next rest day?  I could use one!"
    "Every three months.  The next one is the last day of
this week.  I could use a rest, too."
    Tommy reflected for a moment.  He had lost all track of
time.  "I must've been here for almost three months."
    "Closer to six," Mark said.  "The first Jack
made you work through the last one."
    Tommy gave Mark a long stare.  "You've never been one
of those playing tricks on me.  Why not?"
    Mark shrugged.  "Them boys picked on me till you came
along.  I was the bottom chicken in the yard.  Now, you are.  I like being left
alone too much to harass you."
    "What have they got against me?  I've never done
anything to them."
    "You look different.  You talk funny.  They've never
needed much excuse.  I was the smallest.  That was enough."
    That night Tommy crawled into his bunk with a different set
of blisters to go with his pains but with something to look forward to.
     
    #   #   #
     
    The morning of the rest day, Tommy went with the other
farmers to feed the animals.  With that done, he hurried back to the bunkroom for
a day of extra sleep.  As he undressed for bed, the first Jack stuck his head
into Tommy’s bunkroom. 
    "What're you doing?  Get ready for services."
    "Services?"  Tommy shook his head, confused. 
"I thought this was a rest day."
    "I’m still responsible for you.  I made you work
through the last service because the lords told me to.  Now, you've been here
long enough.  Services first, then rest."  He held out a bundle. 
"Put these on."
    Jack led him down an unfamiliar passage.  They became part
of a larger and larger group until all of them filed into a room many times
bigger than the meal room. 
    "Pay attention and don't ask questions,” Jack whispered
to Tommy.  “Do what I do, and don’t make a fool of yourself, or me.”
    The crowd circled the room leaving
a large space in the center and a pathway back to the entrance.  A man dressed
in a hooded robe entered the room and walked to its center.  He turned to face
the entrance and raised his arms.
    "We are far from home," the hooded man said.
    "We carry our home with us," the crowd replied.
    "They are our lords," the leader said.
    "They are not our Lord," the crowd replied.
    "We are their servants," the leader said.
    "We still have our souls," the crowd replied.
    "We go where they will," the leader said.
    "We will return," the crowd replied.
    "We have no one to lead us," the leader said.
    "He will come," the crowd replied.
    “Why will He come?” the leader asked.
    "Our faith will bring Him," the crowd replied.
    "What must we do?" the leader asked.
    "We must have faith," the crowd replied.
    The hooded man lowered his arms