Mountain Top

Vicky stood in front of the open substation cabinet while one of the Hacienda robots worked inside.

“How bad?”

The Oracle’s assessment appeared on her tablet.

SUBSTATION SERVICEABLE.

“Then why is everything dark?”

AVAILABLE TRANSFORMER CAPACITY IS LIMITED.

Vicky looked across the parking lot.

The strip mall wasn’t much to look at. At one end stood a supermarket. At the other was a lumber and building-supply yard. Between them were seven smaller stores.

All nine wanted power.

“How limited?”

FIFTY PERCENT OF PREVIOUS PEAK LOAD DUE TO ONE OF TWO TRANSFORMERS BEING DESTROYED.

“That’s not enough.”

CORRECT.

A man hurried across the parking lot toward her.

“I’m Tom Brennan. I own the supermarket.”

“Vicky Harper.”

“I know who you are. We need power.”

“So does everybody else.”

“My freezers are down. I’ve got two refrigeration units we think we can get running, but we need electricity to test them. If we don’t get those freezers back, there’s no point bringing meat or frozen food in.”

Another man approached from the opposite direction.

“And if he gets all the power, we’re screwed.”

Vicky turned.

“Who are you?”

“Mike Sanders. Lumber yard.”

“What do you need?”

“Capacity. We’ve got four electric forklifts. Two are dead and two are almost dead. Without them, we can’t unload trucks or move half the material in the yard.”

“Can you operate with two?”

“If I can keep them charged.”

Before Vicky could answer, several more people approached from the row of smaller stores.

One of them pointed toward the substation.

“We’ve been closed for weeks. If you’re turning the power back on, we want ours back too.”

“So do I,” another said.

“We all paid for electricity before this happened.”

Vicky looked at the group.

“And right now there isn’t enough electricity for all of you.”

Nobody said anything.

She turned to the tablet.

“Oracle, what happens if we reconnect everybody?”

OVERLOAD IS LIKELY.

“And then?”

PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT WILL DISCONNECT THE CIRCUIT.

“So everybody gets nothing.”

CORRECT.

Vicky looked at the supermarket.

“How much power to run refrigeration, lights, and registers? Nothing else.”

The answer appeared.

She looked toward the lumber yard.

“Two forklifts. Alternate charging so only one is charging at a time. Enough power for the office, loading area, and essential equipment.”

Another figure appeared.

“And the seven stores?”

INSUFFICIENT CAPACITY FOR CONTINUOUS SERVICE.

One of the store owners threw up his hands.

“So that’s it? The big businesses get electricity and the rest of us stay closed?”

Vicky looked at him.

“No.”

She studied the numbers again.

“Oracle, supermarket refrigeration runs twenty-four hours?”

REQUIRED FOR FOOD SAFETY.

“Fine. That’s permanent load.”

She pointed toward the lumber yard.

“You charge one forklift at a time.”

Mike started to object.

“One,” Vicky repeated. “When it’s charged, unplug it before you plug in another.”

Mike nodded reluctantly.

Then she looked at the seven shop owners.

“You get the remaining capacity.”

“There isn’t enough.”

“Not for all seven at once.”

Vicky pointed down the row.

“Three stores open from eight until one. The other four open from one until six. Tomorrow you switch.”

One of the owners frowned.

“Five hours?”

“Five hours of electricity is better than zero.”

Nobody argued with that.

Tom from the supermarket stepped closer.

“What about my freezers?”

Vicky looked at him.

“You said they need work.”

“Yes.”

“Then you don’t get full refrigeration capacity until they’re repaired. We’re not wasting scarce power on equipment that doesn’t work.”

Tom’s face fell.

“Can your robot fix them?”

Vicky looked at the machine working inside the substation.

“Maybe.”

She tapped the tablet.

“Oracle?”

POSSIBLY. INSPECTION REQUIRED.

“Inspect them when you’re finished here.”

Mike laughed.

Tom looked at him.

“What’s funny?”

“For once, somebody told you no.”

Vicky pointed at Mike.

“Don’t get too comfortable. I’m coming over to see those forklifts next. If they’re wasting power, you’re going to hear no too.”

Mike stopped laughing.

One of the Iron Horsemen grinned.

Vicky looked over the group.

“Here’s how this works. The supermarket gets enough power to keep food from spoiling. The lumber yard gets enough to move building materials. The rest of you share what’s left.”

A woman who owned one of the smaller stores asked, “Who decides when there’s more power?”

“I do, until Chas tells me otherwise.”

“And if we don’t like it?”

Vicky looked toward the robot rebuilding their substation.

“Then you can wait for the utility company.”

Nobody said anything.

Vicky nodded.

“Good. Let’s get some lights on.”

Three hours later, half the supermarket’s ceiling lights flickered to life.

A refrigeration compressor coughed, stopped, then started again.

Across the parking lot, an electric forklift began charging.

Then lights appeared in three of the seven smaller storefronts.

People standing in the parking lot applauded.

Vicky didn’t.

She was already looking at tomorrow’s load schedule.

“How is Mountain Top doing, Link?” Chas asked.

“Vicky restored power to nine businesses.”

“Good.”

“She also established a power-allocation schedule. The business owners have asked her to remain in charge of it.”

Chas stopped.

“She did what?”

“The community requested that she remain in charge of it.”

Chas smiled.

“Of course they did.”

“Oracle, what do you think of Vicky?”

VICKY HARPER USES ME CORRECTLY.

“Meaning?”

SHE ASKS ME WHAT IS POSSIBLE.

SHE DOES NOT ASK ME WHAT SHE SHOULD DO.