THE THIN CABLE

The short blade went into the red clay and stopped at a dry root. Valdo twisted the handle, felt the burn on his index finger open under the membrane and drew the tool out without tearing up the root. He moved the cut two hands' widths to the left. Nael kept the mat stretched from the yard to the start of the upper curve. The saúvas advanced under the fibre, carrying the queen and the larvae away from the three points marked by the rental company. Every gust lifted an edge, the sun came in, the line closed up and looked for another side. Valdo needed to extend the shade along the bank before dark, when the biological containment would arrive. The passage required twenty-two magnetic clips, pieces that fastened the fibre to the ground without piercing buried cables. Valdo had balance for one clip. He bought one. The piece arrived through the service cabinet attached to a mount larger than itself. Valdo installed it at the point where the mat changed direction. For the rest, he cut the straps off the two rejected cool boxes, heated each strip against the outer duct of the datacenter and bent the ends in a slot in the chair. The plastic softened in twelve breaths. On the thirteenth, it blistered and split. Nael counted under his breath. On the eleventh, Valdo pulled out the first strip and buried it crosswise, leaving only the arch above the earth. The second came out short. The third burned the side of his hand. On the fourth, he got the curve right. You did this at the reservoir, asked Nael. I did it so the boxes wouldn't slide around in the truck bed. And how many did you lose. Valdo laughed once. All the ones you helped load. Nael let go of the mat to laugh too, and a gust threw fibre, ants and two larvae onto his sandal. They spent a minute arguing whether a saúva bit old leather out of hunger or out of offence. Neither won. A thin lizard appeared by the dry buriti, snapped up a worker and vanished among the ducts. Valdo went back to work. He opened seven shallow cuts, settled the strips and covered each fastening with clay pressed down by the handle of the blade. At the tenth improvised clip, the membrane on his finger filled with blood. He began holding the blade with three fingers. The cut came out crooked, too close to the root. Nael held out his hand. If you pull, it sinks here, said Valdo. The old man stepped back. The house panel projected a charge onto the mat. Alteration of biological path, possible interference with contracted containment. The company offered to close the incident if the person responsible authenticated the location of the clips. Valdo covered the projection with the crushed box and carried on. Waiting for the answer would cost more than the pieces. Nael put his mouth to the façade's receiver. Antônio, I gave your name at the stake. I also gave the upper curve to Valdo. The company is going to look for the colony on the bank. When you come back, you can tell me to leave the house. The network confirmed delivery pending. No answer came. Valdo finished the last fastening when the light touched only the top of the buriti. He pulled the mat three times. On the first, two strips gave way. On the second, the magnetic clip dragged a fragment of metal out of the slope. On the third, the passage held firm, and the line of saúvas turned towards the bank. Under the fragment stuck to the magnet there was a thin cable, older than the company's map, running in the direction of the hollow stone. Valdo cleaned five centimetres of it with the tip of the blade. Nael recognised the sheathing used in the first drilling surveys. The containment markers appeared in the distance. Valdo covered the cable with clay, fastened the edge of the mat over it and went down the curve carrying the blade in his injured hand.