Earthseed

against something. “Ow.”
    “We’re still awake,” Kagami said.
    “Can’t you keep your stuff in the same place so I know where it is?”
    “You wouldn’t have the problem if you didn’t stay in the library all night.”
    “I wasn’t in the library.” Lillka’s shoes slapped the floor; her sheets rustled. “I was talking to Roxana and Brendan. They’re not too happy about this Competition.”
    “That’s what they say now,” Kagami said. “Wait until it starts. They’ll get all worked up about it, just like they always do.”
    “No rules. We always had rules before. They don’t like it.”
    “What difference does it make?” Zoheret said. “There isn’t any way to cheat. Everyone has to cross the Hollow, that’s all. That shouldn’t be too hard.”
    “But Ship was always watching before.”
    “Go to sleep,” Kagami said. “The drawing’s tomorrow. Maybe we’ll all be on the same team.”

4
    Zoheret’s team crowded together in front of the entrance to the Hollow. Each team was designated by a color; her team was Blue. They had finished their planning yesterday and had gone to bed early, but Zoheret had not slept well.
    She loosened the short blue scarf around her neck. Lillka was not on the Blue team; Kagami had drawn Red. Each had kept her team’s plans to herself. As the members of her team jostled one another, Zoheret hung back, leaning against the wall. Manuel was on her team. The others were all deferring to him, allowing him to lead. It had been that way ever since they had drawn for teams and had found themselves grouped with Manuel. He was determined to win; he had made that very clear. Ho was on the Brown team; his friendship with Manuel had been replaced by rivalry.
    The Brown team had drawn the right to go through the Hollow first, followed by Red. Zoheret and the Blue were third. They had studied maps of the Hollow and planned their route; they could bring no maps with them and had to rely on memory. Their knapsacks each contained a poncho, some dried food, and a canteen filled with water. They also had matches and one stun gun each. Zoheret worried about the guns. They were not lethal weapons, and Ship had said that they would need them to protect themselves; at the same time, it had warned them to use their wits and not to rely too much on the guns. She was a good shot and had always done well at target practice, but Ship had never allowed them to carry the weapons before. It was testing them, she was sure.
    Annie came to her side. “I’m nervous,” the short, blond girl said. “Aren’t you?”
    “Sure.”
    “I think—”
    “You may enter the Hollow,” Ship said. The group went forward; Zoheret heard someone giggle. She was the last to go through the entrance, just behind Annie; the doors slid shut behind her.
    Manuel led the way. They moved over the grassy slope and toward the trees below. There were twenty people on the team. Annie marched beside Zoheret on short, stubby legs; her head came to Zoheret’s shoulder. They passed Jennifer, who walked with a slight lurch; Jennifer, like Anoki, was one of Ship’s accidents.
    Zoheret slowed down. “Are we going too fast?”
    Jennifer shook her head; her chestnut curls bobbed. “I can keep up.” She spoke in her peculiar, slurred, halting speech, as if every word were an effort; her arms flapped against her sides.
    When they reached the trees, Manuel stopped and removed a piece of paper from his shirt pocket. The others crowded around him as he unfolded it. “I’ve got our route marked,” Manuel said. “We should be able to get to the lake by tonight—we can refill our canteens there. But we’ll have to keep moving. No stopping to rest, except for lunch.”
    Annie said, “You have a map.”
    “I made some notes. I sketched a route.”
    “Ship said we couldn’t bring maps.”
    “Oh, shut up,” Jorge muttered; his chubby face was petulant.
    “You cheated,” Annie said. “We’ll be disqualified.”
    Manuel grinned. “Ship said no maps. It didn’t say no notes, and it didn’t say we couldn’t bring sketches. I know, because I asked. If the other teams were too stupid to ask, that’s their problem.”
    “It’s not a sketch,” Annie replied. “It’s a map. You copied everything. I know it didn’t want us to do that.”
    “Ship’s not going to know,” Manuel said slowly, “because no one’s going to tell it. I’ll get rid of it before we come out. And if you say anything, I might get