Everything but the Squeal

Originally published in the anthology [|17332280] under the title “Utere Nihil Non Extra Quiritationem Suis”

In the not-so-distant future, life is good... if you’re one of the lucky few to live in the new, ecologically-minded city-states that dot the landscape. Outside their walls, in the “wilds” -- the rotting suburbs and exurbs of America -- things have become rather more precarious.

Benjamin Washington is a kid in New St. Louis, who is on the verge of getting the boot into the wilds if he doesn’t take a job. In a last-ditch effort, he takes the only gig available to Biological Systems Interface Management... which is to say, he’s about to become a high-tech pig farmer.

It’s a letdown for Benjamin, who has always expected better things for himself. But then comes the day when New St. Louis is under attack, from without and within. The only person standing between attackers and their goal is one young pig farmer, who never even wanted to be there... but who now has to make a choice whether to co-operate with the intruders, or make a stand for his city.