Read Online Ninth City Burning by J. Patrick Black - Free Book Online

Adventure” and “Building Your Future.”
    â€œCome on, Mersh,” Spammers says. “You can’t really go in for all that crap.” When it comes to the Legion, Spammers is what you’d call a skeptic.
    â€œYeah,” says Isslyn. “Those poor slobs in the Legion are probably looking at paintings of handsome kids working in fields and factories and stuff and thinking how great it is to be
us
.”
    Everyone else laughs, but Mersh only gets more sullen. “At least they get enough sleep and plenty of food. And after five years with the Legion, you can leave and start a no-quota settlement.”
    One poster you see everywhere has the slogan “Your Tomorrow Starts Today.” There’s always a bunch of people walking off into the distance, you can’t see where really, and one at the back with a hand out to like invite you along. The person at the back changes from one poster to another. Sometimes it’s a tough-looking guy, and sometimes it’s this busty girl in a uniform that’s probably a few sizes too small. Mersh actually stole one of the posters with the busty girl. He keeps it under his mattress. I bet that’s what he’s thinking about now, starting a new settlement with that busty girl, who probably isn’t even a real person.
    â€œAnd you believe that
why
?” Spammers is getting angry now.
    â€œDon’t you remember the last time the censors came?” Mersh says.“They had that guy, the one who started Settlement 401.
He’d
been in the Legion.”
    â€œAnd you believe that
why
?” Spammers says again. “Because he had like a scar on his cheek? Haven’t you ever wondered why they never bring anyone from Granite Shore?”
    Granite Shore is what people here call Settlement 225. It isn’t an official name or anything, but it sounds a lot nicer.
    â€œMaybe they just didn’t want to come back to this shit hole,” Mersh mutters. He’s been stabbing and mashing at his slop, but now he stops and smiles this sly smile, like he’s got some big secret. “No reason we can’t improve things a bit for ourselves, though. Right, kiddos?” He opens his jacket to show us something big and white and craggy. A sugar beet, just sitting there like a bomb.
    Hexi instantly starts panicking. “Mersh, what are you
doing
?”
    â€œWe always lose a bunch from the truck on the way in.” He’s just smiling more, like no one would ever believe how smart he is. “This one fell off while I was pulling into the dock. What do you think it’s worth?”
    â€œI have no clue what you could mean,” I say. I jam a big spoonful of the green slop into my mouth and talk over my food, like I could not care less about his stupid beet. “I guess if anyone catches you stealing, it’ll be worth a whole assload of demerits.”
    â€œCome on, everyone here steals. What do you think I could trade it for? Think I could get an en-text?”
    â€œThis is slander, and we’ll have nothing to do with it,” Spammers says. “Implying theft is common or acceptable at this factory impugns the integrity of your fellow workers, our foremen, and the factory executives. Keep it up and I’m filing a grievance.” Spammers sounds pretty angry, even though everything he’s saying is complete crap. I don’t know anyone with like a lower opinion of the integrity of his fellow workers, and he’s always making fun of people who file grievances. He says you’re better off just farting at someone, for all the good grievances do. Mersh is probably thinking the same thing I am because he looks confused and a little mad.
    â€œWhat you can trade it for is a trip to the Front,” I say. “I guess that’s fine if you’re planning on going anyway.”
    You can just tell Mersh thought this sugar-beet thing would go over real different, like he’d be