The Hunger
Novelette 12,398 words Recommended by 2 award/anthology sources
"Madam Zieliński, we’d really appreciate it if you could embark for the Guyana Elevator at your earliest convenience. A helicopter has been sent to offer you passage.” You can tell I’m an old, respected engineer because when they give me orders, they’re very polite about it these days."
Quasar links out; the story lives on Analog, where the author gets the click.