Seven Valves Below the Ice

About this book

In July 2049 the Mourin Glacier above the Valais village of Arolaz is kept alive by machines: a federally funded array that pumps lake water onto the ice at night and refreezes it. The array pays for the school and the hotel season, and it has one licensed operator, Maëlle's uncle Aimé. When Aimé has a stroke on the access road, sixteen-year-old Maëlle, who has a place at a Lausanne lycée in late August, is the only other person who can work the old hand-wheel valves. She agrees to cover a few nights. On the first night the numbers at the seven valves do not match the contractor's calm screen, and she cannot decide who she can ask.