Outside In

by Maria V. Snyder

  It did. I mulled over what had happened. Why did the Committee fail? Then I remembered where they sat at the conference table. All the uppers sat along the left side, then Domotor, Jacy and the rest of the scrubs on the right side. Jacy had known the problem all along and so did I, but I’d hoped it would work itself out. That the uppers and scrubs would play nice together and forget all the Pop Cop propaganda.

  But they remained divided. And all the current problems just drove them further apart, which didn’t make sense. With saboteurs threatening all our lives, we should be banding together, not sitting on opposite sides.

  “Trell, you have that look. What are you planning?”

  “Maybe we should take the power back and start again,” I said, thinking a new smaller Committee could have people like Hank who viewed our world as a whole and not two groups.

  “Too late.”

  “Why?”

  “Because someone else beat you to it.”

  11

  “ARE YOU SAYING THE COMMITTEE NO LONGER HAS the power to make decisions?” I asked Anne-Jade.

  “Yep. They’re just following orders. And so am I.” A look of self-disgust creased her face.

  Even though I feared the answer, I asked, “Who is issuing these orders?”

  “The Controllers. They have hijacked the computer network, shutting down access to all but a few people. If the Committee doesn’t do as they say, they’ll erase the programs for running vital systems.”

  “But that would hurt them as well.”

  “They’re in the network, Trell. They don’t need air or water. Just electricity.”

  “Anne-Jade, you know better. Logan said they were an operating system. Nothing more.”

  “Well, Logan is blind and the Committee has him locked away somewhere. So as far as I’m concerned, I obey their orders.” She rubbed her face.

  A sudden surge of outrage consumed me. “I can find Logan for you.”

  “Not from the brig.”

  Surprised, I gaped at her. “I answered all their questions.”

  “And the Controllers will tell them what to do with you.”

  “I haven’t been involved with the Committee in weeks. Why would the Controllers consider me a threat?”

  “You planted those mics. You helped diffuse a bomb. Those aren’t the actions of someone who is uninvolved. And the last thing they want is for you to be involved.”

  My head spun with all the information from Anne-Jade. It seemed like an elaborate joke and I expected Anne-Jade to laugh at me for falling for it. But her shoulders dropped and worry filled her eyes.

  “Don’t let the Committee know I told you all this,” she said.

  “I won’t.”

  We were summoned back into the conference room. I noticed the vampire box on the table right away.

  I endured a lecture about planting the mics on my own and how I should have come to the Committee right away. No surprise.

  “Since you no longer wished to be a consultant to the Committee,” Domotor said, “we insist on your cooperation to stay out of our affairs, and to keep out of the air shafts, the Gap and the Expanse. Failure to comply will result in your incarceration in the brig.”

  Big surprise. How did they plan to enforce… The vampire box. A cold wave of dread swelled in my chest as I remembered those tracers Anne-Jade had invented. She must have told the Committee about them.

  Domotor met my gaze. His gray eyes held an impotent anger. “You’re also confined to level three and are hereby designated as Doctor Lamont’s intern.”

  Another shock. While I enjoyed helping patients, being forced to was another matter.

  “Do you agree to all these conditions?” Domotor asked.

  “What happens if I say no?”

  “The brig.”

  I thought so. No choice. I agreed.

  Anne-Jade removed the handcuffs and shoved my right arm into the vampire box. The pricks in my forearm just below my wrist stung more than usual. I wiped the blood on my shirt.

  “A tracer has been implanted into your arm,” Domotor said. “If you stray from level three for any reason, we will be informed. Should you be tempted to remove the tracer, we will also be alerted. The device monitors temperature.”

  Damn. He had read my mind. With access to the medical supplies, removing the device would have been easy. However, body temperature was approximately thirty-seven degrees centigrade while Inside’s ambient temperature was kept at twenty-two degrees centigrade.

  The meeting ended and the Committee members either milled about or filed out. Returning to my seat, I had to wait for Anne-Jade to escort me to level three. She discussed the lockdown with Takia. No one spoke to me. Jacy remained in his seat, studying me. I ignored him. Let him wonder.

  After most of the others had left, Jacob Ashon approached me. By the uncomfortable stiff-armed way he stood, combined with his queasy expression, I knew this wouldn’t be pleasant.

  “Trella, I…uh. I’m sorry things didn’t work out with Riley.” He cleared his throat, then his words rushed out. “It’s best if you make a clean break and forget about him.” True. And that’s when the full realization of no longer being with Riley stabbed me deep into my heart. Unable to utter a sound, I reached behind my neck and unfastened the clasp. Hooking it back together, I handed the pendant to Jacob.

  “I didn’t mean…you don’t need…”

  “Give it to him…please.”

  Jacob’s fingers closed around it. The edges of my vision blurred as black and white spots danced in front of my eyes. I closed them and inhaled deep, calming breaths, concentrating on that simple act only.

  When I opened my eyes, Jacob was gone along with Jacy. Anne-Jade tapped my shoulder, gesturing me to follow her. I did.

  The trip back to the infirmary occurred without incident. Lamont spotted me, but she continued to wrap bandages around a patient’s hand.

  “Do you want to inform the Doctor about your assignment or should I?” Anne-Jade asked.

  “Feel free.” I kept walking.

  “Where are you going?”

  Annoyance spiked. “To my room. Do I need to file a request with the Committee first?”

  “In triplicate.”

  I turned and made a rude gesture. She laughed. I couldn’t help but grin. It lasted a microsecond. All memory of it was erased when I entered my room.

  Sheepy was gone.

  Sitting on the edge of my bed, I stared at the cuts from the vampire box. I ran my finger along the skin, but couldn’t feel the tracer buried inside. If I hadn’t been there, I would never have believed if someone told me that helping diffuse a bomb would send Riley and Sheepy away.

  I lay in bed, curled under the sheet. Action was required. Plans needed to be made. A tracer to trick. I couldn’t let the Controllers or the Committee ruin what I had worked so hard for. What Cogon had died for. I hadn’t wanted the responsibility. No. If I was being honest, I had been…or rather was still terrified of the responsibility. And despite what Anne-Jade had said, it wasn’t too late.

  But for now, I needed to grieve for the loss of the world I had imagined with the Committee in charge. For the loss of Riley. And Sheepy.

  Lamont woke me. “An ISF officer is here to check on you.”

  “Why?” I blinked. Her presence had triggered the daylights.

  “You haven’t moved in eighteen hours.”

  An impressive amount of sulking time.

  Standing behind Lamont, an ISF officer nodded to me. “Just making sure you’re okay,” he said.

  “Yeah right. You’re more worried I’ve found a way to fool the tracer,” I said.

  He dropped the pretense. “AJ warned us not to underestimate you.”

  “AJ?”

  “Anne-Jade.”

  “Cute. Yet you still waited eighteen hours.”

  “The Doctor’s word was sufficient until she also became alarmed as well.”

  “Guess I was tired.” I stretched my stiff musc
les—the downside of being inactive for so long. However, my shoulder no longer ached, the swelling in my cheek had gone down and scabs covered the two cuts—the upside.

  “You should shower and eat. When you’re done, I need help with a couple patients,” Lamont said. She shooed the ISF officer out as she left.

  Ah, the glamorous life of an intern. I pushed the covers back and padded through the sitting area to the kitchen. Rebel that I was, I ate first then showered. Sad and pathetic.

  The water cleared my mind. I considered how to bypass the tracer as I helped Lamont with routine tasks. Rolling clean bandages, I figured I needed to find a way to keep it at a constant thirty-seven degrees and to move it around, but only on level three.

  Inserting it into another person would work. The next time Lamont has surgery, I could slip it in. Except as soon as the patient left this level, the ISF would pounce on the poor unsuspecting person. Avoiding the brig was imperative.

  I could use the newborn warmer, parking it in my room when I wanted to explore. But if it didn’t eventually move, the ISF would be suspicious. Absently, I reached to play with my pendant only to encounter smooth skin. The jolt of pain reminded me of when Vinco’s knife had found a sensitive spot.

  I wrenched my thoughts back to my current problem. The warmer could work if I moved it around the infirmary, wheeled it to the cafeteria and other areas on level three. Searching the patient area, exam room and surgery, I couldn’t find it.

  “Looking for something?” Lamont asked when I exited the surgery.

  “The newborn warmer.”

  She gave me a rueful smile. “Confiscated by the ISF.”

  Damn. “What if we need it?”

  “They’ll bring it back only when I have a newborn. We do have a few pregnant patients, but they’re not due for weeks.”

  So much for that idea. Again I grabbed for the pendant without thinking.

  Lamont noticed the gesture. “Did you lose your necklace in the riot?”

  “No. I lost it diffusing the bomb.”

  “Bomb?” Her voice squeaked. “The one found in the waste handling plant? You were there? But I thought the riot…”

  “I had a busy week.”

  She stared at me for a few seconds. “I can only imagine.” She gestured to my neck. “Is Riley upset that you lost it? Is that why he hasn’t come around?”

  Normally, I would have snapped at her, telling her to mind her own business. But I couldn’t produce the energy. Instead I had a moment of weakness and told her about the choice I had made when disarming the bomb.

  She drummed her fingers on the exam table. “I think I would have done the same thing. This Bubba Boom is an expert in explosives after all.”

  “Yeah, but it was a wiring problem. That’s Riley’s area of expertise.” I rubbed the spot where the tracer had been inserted. “Riley thinks I have a death wish. He may be right.” I stared at the floor. “Ever since Cogon floated away…I keep thinking it should have been me. He wouldn’t have been afraid to guide us through all these changes. He would have united the uppers and lowers by now. Sabotage and riots would never have happened if Cog was here.”

  “And what would killing yourself accomplish?” Lamont asked. When I didn’t answer, she continued. “It won’t bring him back. Cogon is gone. And from a purely medical point of view, you don’t have a death wish. If you did, you wouldn’t have fought for every single breath in those first critical hours after the fire. Your skin wouldn’t have healed as fast as it did.”

  Even though I hated to admit it, she had a point. And damn it. I felt a little better. Looking up, I was going to thank her, but she had her doctor’s purse on her lips as if reviewing a diagnosis in her mind.

  “Who also has Cogon’s way with people?” she asked.

  “Hank from maintenance. Emek’s people love him. And Riley. He’s been able to work with both uppers and scrubs.”

  “Then you need—”

  I waved my arm. “I can’t do anything. Remember? I’m stuck here.”

  “Let’s pretend you don’t have the tracer. What would you do first?”

  “I’d find Logan, rescue him and set him up at a computer terminal to bypass the Controllers.”

  “What if he can’t see?”

  “Then I’d find someone who knows enough about computers to sit next to him and be his eyes.”

  “Riley?”

  “No. He’s good, but not Logan good.” I considered.

  “Your father was Logan good.” Pride filled her voice.

  I waited for the pain and anger to flair inside me, but only sadness touched. However, his name reminded me of another. “Domotor would be perfect.”

  “Would he agree to help?”

  I remembered his anger. He couldn’t be content taking orders from the Controllers. “Yes.”

  “Then it’s an excellent plan. Let’s get started.” Lamont headed for the surgery, pushing through the double doors.

  Curious, I followed her. “But—”

  She handed me two syringes. “I think a local anesthetic should be enough. Grab the lidocaine and alcohol wipes.” Then she collected a few other supplies—sutures, scalpel and long curved tweezers.

  Understanding hit me hard; I grabbed the operating table to steady myself. “You realize the risk you’re taking?”

  “There’s no risk to me. You’re the one who will be in danger of being thrown into the brig. And you’ll still need to work here so you’re visible to others. Otherwise, they’ll get suspicious.”

  “You’ll have to stay on level three.”

  She shrugged it off. “I’m always here anyway.”

  The final concern was mine alone. Could I trust her? No. But she offered the only possible solution. If I wanted to make Cogon…and Riley proud of me, I couldn’t give up.

  With the two of us working together, it didn’t take long to remove the tracer from my arm and implant it in Lamont’s. The device had only been exposed to the ambient air for a second.

  Just to be sure, I stayed and worked in the infirmary for the next six hours. Then we went to the cafeteria in Quad G3 with the intent to eat and then stock up on food for our kitchen.

  Riley’s brother Blake worked behind the counter, serving soup. His resemblance to Riley sent a flash of pain across my heart.

  I wondered what he was doing up here. “New job?” I asked him, trying to sound casual.

  “Same job, new location.” He shrugged then tilted his head to the people sitting at the tables. “Change of scenery. Change is good. Right?”

  “Uh…yeah.” I wondered what he was implying. Was he glad Riley and I were no longer together? Hard to tell. I didn’t know Blake that well.

  After our excursion to the cafeteria I took a brief nap, then changed into my skin-tight uniform. As long as Lamont stayed in our suite or in the infirmary the ISF shouldn’t suspect anything.

  I climbed into the air duct, grinning.

  The Queen of the Pipes has returned.

  There weren’t many hiding places in Inside. I doubted the Committee knew the locations, but I didn’t want to leave anything to chance so I ruled them out right away. They had probably taken him to an empty apartment. Since I had been confined to level three, I suspected he would be on level four. The Travas filled Sector D4, so that meant I had to search Sectors E4 and F4. Doable in the time I had.

  I tried not to think about apartment number three-six-nine-five in Sector E4 as I carefully traveled through the air shafts and peered into rooms. At least there weren’t any air filters to bypass.

  After the rebellion we discovered that scrubbing air shafts and water pipes had been one of the jobs created purely for busy work. With a simple programming adjustment, the trolls cleaned the shafts and pipes without a scrub minder. Which worked well for me now.

  When I reached Riley’s apartment, I paused for only a moment. The empty living area and bedroom matched the hollow feeling in my heart. I didn’t see Sheepy and wondered where he was
. Moving on, I finished searching Sector E4 and crossed into F4.

  I found Logan in a small room in the far northeast corner of Sector F. Sprawled on the couch, his arm covered his eyes. His space also had a bed, refrigerator and a tiny washroom. The computer station had a screen, but no keyboard or box.

  No guards, but I checked the hallway to make sure. A complex series of locks had been installed on his door. And when I returned to the air vent, I noticed the thick bolts securing it. What I worried most about were microphones and other sensors.

  The air shaft was free of any sensors, and knowing Logan, any sensors within his reach would be dismantled by now.

  So taking a chance, I said his name.

  He sat up and squinted. “Trella?”

  “Up here,” I said.

  He jumped to his feet and whooped. “I knew you’d find me!” No microphones then. “Come down! It’s safe.”

  “I can’t.” I explained about the bolts. “Next time I’ll bring my diamond wire.”

  “Oh.” He dropped back onto the couch. “I can’t escape anyway.”

  “Did they inject you with a tracer?”

  “Yep. Nothing like having your own technology bite you in the ass. If you see Anne-Jade can you punch her in the face for me?”

  “She didn’t lock you in there.” I explained about the Controllers.

  “The Travas have a link into the network,” he said right away.

  “That’s what I thought. How’s your eyesight?”

  “Better, I can see about a meter so I can read the monitor if I had a working computer.”

  “Could you fix the damage to the network?”

  “Of course. First thing I did when we gained control of the computer systems was to secure backup in case something like this happened.”

  I considered his problem. “You can’t leave, but I can bring you what you need. Will you be able to hide it when your keepers come to check on you?”

  “I should with proper warning.” He surged to his feet, excited. “I have a sweet little sensor you can install in the ceiling of the hallway, and I’ll need—”