Outside In

by Maria V. Snyder

  “Slow down, Logan. Remember it’s me. Start with the most important and we’ll work from there.”

  He listed several items and I determined how many trips I would need.

  “Zippy can pull the skid I rigged,” Logan said in excite ment. “Then you can bring more.”

  “Where’s Zippy?” I hadn’t seen the little cleaning troll since the rebellion.

  “Under the bed in my room.” Ugh. Too close to the Committee for my comfort, but almost all the gadgets he needed could be found there, including the computer.

  “Okay, Logan. I’ll be back with your supplies, but it may be a while.” I used more time to locate Logan than planned so I hurried back through the shafts as fast as I could without making noise, which wasn’t very fast at all.

  At least I arrived in my room without encountering trouble.

  It was hour thirty-five. I changed my clothes and joined Lamont in the exam room. She helped an elderly man down from the table.

  “I’m not sure when your ears will stop ringing, Ben,” she said. “You were close to the blast and are lucky you didn’t lose your hearing.” Lamont handed him a bottle of small white pills. “Try these, one pill every ten hours. They might help.”

  He thanked her and shuffled through the patient room.

  She watched him go then said, “When we move to a bigger place, I’d like a separate waiting room for walk-ins.”

  “You should be the one to design it,” I said. “Do you know how to use the blueprint program?”

  “No.”

  “Here, I’ll show you.” I went into her office and sat at the computer. The blueprint program was the only one I used. After the rebellion, Hank had me draw out the layout of the Gap between levels.

  “You might have trouble,” she said. “Something’s wrong with the network. I can’t access patient records right now.”

  I wondered why the Controllers would block them. No idea, but the program I sought popped up without hesitation, and I demonstrated to Lamont how easy it was to draw lines and type in labels.

  I surrendered the chair to her. She caught on pretty quick. “This is fun.”

  Her comment reminded me of my trip through the shafts. I asked her if she had any problems while I was gone.

  “Not really,” she said.

  “That’s not an answer.”

  “One man stopped by to talk to you, but I said you were asleep and he said he’d come back later.”

  “ISF?”

  “No. Big guy with freckles. Kind of cute.” Bubba Boom. I wondered why he came by.

  “No trouble from him,” she said. “But what if the ISF comes by and you’re not here?”

  That could be a problem.

  “I need a way to contact you,” Lamont said.

  I touched my earlobe, but remembered I’d lost my receiver in the riot, and the microphone on my uniform had been thrown into a hazardous waste bag. “I’ll see what I can find.”

  “Did you locate Logan?”

  “Not yet.” I lied, but thought the less she knew the better.

  I spent the rest of week 147,023 fetching supplies for Logan. Sneaking into his room next to the main Control Room caused my pulse to race. And even though I had been here two times before, I still sweated.

  This last trip was for me. I had planted all those mics and they remained in position. Why not listen in? Logan had a device I could use. I also picked up a set of communication buttons and receivers for me and Lamont. Logan would program them so no one could overhear our conversations.

  Back in the duct, I used Zippy to haul the supplies. Round with cleaning brushes and a vacuum, he rolled along, pulling the skid. The noise hadn’t bothered anyone so far. I’d encountered a few other cleaning trolls in the air ducts.

  I reached Logan’s without incident and opened the vent. The diamond wire had sawed through the bolts and we had rigged them to appear as if they still secured the vent. I dropped the supplies I brought to him, then swung down. He had managed to disguise most of his new toys. I hoped his keepers wouldn’t check under his bed or under the couch.

  “Who brings your food? ISF?” I asked him.

  “No. The same two guys. Uppers, but not part of the ISF and I would know. Anne-Jade had me check into the background for all her officers to make sure they were trustworthy.” He chuckled. “They’re armed with stunners, but they have no idea their weapons won’t work in here.”

  “Any luck?” I pointed to his computer. It looked the same, but according to Logan, he had installed all the important components behind the screen and the keyboard could be hidden before all the locks on the door were opened.

  “No. They have built a wall around the important systems. I’m trying to find a way to slip inside without anyone noticing, but it’s been difficult.” He rummaged in the cushions of the couch, pulling out a long glass tube. It resembled a light bulb. He handed it to me. “A Trava computer in Sector D4 has to be connected to the network. Use that to find which one.”

  “How?”

  “Get as close as possible and if the tube glows green, you’ve found it. Then…” He knelt next to his bed and reached under the mattress. Logan tossed me a small box. “Insert that into Zippy’s undercarriage and he should be able to knock out that computer.”

  “Like when I used him to disable all the weapons in the Control Room?”

  “Yep.” He straightened and wiped the dust from his pants.

  “Why not use a stronger pulse and hit all the computers in Sector D4 at once?”

  “It’s too risky over a large area.”

  “But after the computer’s zapped, you’ll be able to take back control?”

  “Don’t see why not.”

  Between sleeping, working for Lamont and searching Sector D4, I didn’t have much time for listening to the mics or for implementing the other part of my plan—talking to Hank and Emek. I tried to think of a better way to organize my time.

  Logan picked up the button mic I had brought and fiddled with it. He snapped it onto my uniform. “All you have to do is turn it once to the right and it’ll go to this receiver only.” Dropping a small earring into my palm, he grabbed the other mic, adjusted it and gave it to me. I placed the set into my tool belt.

  When he handed me the other receiver, I went into the washroom. The cut on my earlobe had healed, but a tiny hole remained. It wasn’t big enough, but it was better than nothing. I pushed the receiver through my earlobe in one quick motion. It stung and I guess I could have waited until I returned to the infirmary and used lidocaine. Oh well. Waiting had never been one of my best traits. And looking at my reflection in the mirror, keeping my hair neat seemed to be another impossible task.

  I contemplated cutting my hair as I untangled my messy braid. The knots in my hair resisted my fingers and I couldn’t find a comb. When I peeked out to ask Logan, he sat cross-legged in the middle of the room with one of his gadgets nestled in his lap. I noticed how he squinted and brought objects up close to his eyes.

  The computer beeped. He hopped up and sprinted to the monitor. “Someone’s coming,” he said.

  My cue to leave. “See you later.” I crossed the room and climbed up the wall to the open shaft.

  “Trella, wait.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s not my keepers. Look.”

  I glanced over and almost lost my grip. On the screen was a moving picture of Anne-Jade and Riley walking down the hallway. They kept peering back over their shoulders as if worried someone followed them.

  “Wow, Logan, that’s amazing! How did—”

  “They’re here to rescue me,” Logan said. He grinned, but an instant later alarm replaced his excitement. “If they mess with the locks, we’re done. They’re wired to set off an alarm if not opened in the proper order. You have to stop them!”

  12

  “WHAT’S THE PROPER ORDER?” I ASKED.

  “No time and it doesn’t matter.” He waved his arm.

  The tracer. How
could I forget?

  “Hurry,” he said.

  I pulled myself into the air shaft and crawled the short distance to the hallway in front of Logan’s locked door. Anne-Jade’s hushed voice drifted up. Without hesitation, I popped the vent open and dropped down almost on top of them.

  They both jumped back in surprise. Anne-Jade pulled her stunner. I braced for the sizzle slap of the weapon, but she lowered it.

  “Trella?” Her shocked expression didn’t last long. “What are you doing here?” she demanded. “How—”

  I held up a hand. “If you try to open Logan’s door, you’ll set off an alarm.”

  “How—”

  “He can’t be rescued anyway. He has a tracer.”

  “Really?” Anne-Jade didn’t sound convinced. “Yet you managed to circumvent the tracer in your arm.”

  I noticed she didn’t put her weapon away. Although I felt Riley’s gaze burning on my skin, I resisted glancing at him. “What I did won’t work for him.”

  “I already anticipated the tracer. We’re planning to cut it out,” she said.

  “And alert the Controllers?”

  “We have a safe place to hide him,” Riley said.

  Now I met his gaze. Even though my insides twisted—I missed him more than I realized—I kept my voice even. “You’ll still alert the Controllers, who will be on guard. Right now they think Logan isn’t a threat.”

  “Think?” Anne-Jade asked.

  “He’s been busy.”

  “I’m assuming so have you,” she said.

  “I’m not at liberty to say.”

  “Why not?”

  I glanced at her weapon. “You still haven’t put that stunner away. And I don’t know if you’re going to arrest me or not.”

  The tension in the hallway pressed against my skin.

  “They’ve been using Logan to force my cooperation,” she said. “If I had him somewhere safe—”

  Logan’s door swung open. He poked his head out. “Get in here before someone sees you.”

  We hurried inside and he closed the door. Wires hung down from below the knob. Anne-Jade rushed to her brother, wrapping him in a hug. Not wanting to intrude on the siblings, I inspected the wiring by the door.

  “Interested in electrical circuits now?” Riley asked. The tone in his voice bordered on sarcasm, but could be teasing.

  Looking at him was too painful so I traced the loops of wires instead. “Yes. I thought I’d try electrocution next. Since a bomb, a fire, Vinco’s knife and a brief encounter with Outer Space didn’t kill me.”

  “There’s not enough juice in those. You’ll just get a nasty shock. The best place to get electrocuted would be in the power plant.”

  “Thanks for the tip.”

  He huffed. “Trella, what are you doing here?”

  “Visiting Logan.”

  Riley stepped in front of me. “You know that’s not what I meant. Why are you helping him? You didn’t care what the Committee was doing before. Why now?”

  I stared at his chest. “I always cared.”

  “You didn’t act like you did. You let—”

  “Everyone down. I know. It’s because I cared too much.”

  “That doesn’t make sense.”

  Now I met his gaze. “I didn’t want to screw it up. It was terrifying to have the entire population of Inside counting on me to make our world a perfect place. It was too much responsibility. Too much to expect me to suddenly know exactly how to combine a society that has been divided and brainwashed for so long.”

  “What changed?” He whispered the question.

  “They ordered me to stay away.”

  He laughed.

  I punched him in the stomach. “I’m serious.”

  “I know, but you have to admit, it’s funny.”

  “What’s funny?” Logan asked.

  Riley gestured to him and Anne-Jade. “This. Us. Trying to find a way to bypass the Controllers… Again.”

  “That’s easy,” Logan said. “Trella’s gonna find the active computer in the Trava Sector and disable it.”

  Unease rolled through me as I remembered when Anne-Jade had commented that the Pop Cops’ downfall had been due to overconfidence. Lamont had said the same thing about my father. His confidence had made him cocky and sloppy, leading the Pop Cops right to him.

  “And then what?” Anne-Jade asked.

  “We regain control of the network and start over with a new Committee,” Logan said.

  “What about the saboteurs?” I asked.

  “We’re close to finding them, and there haven’t been any more attempts,” Anne-Jade said.

  “Was it the stink bombers? Ivie and Kadar?” I asked.

  “No. They taught a bunch of maintenance scrubs how to build bombs. The suspects sleep in Sector F1. I just need to narrow it down.” She peered at me as if I were one of the bombers.

  Logan shooed us out so he could repair the locks before his keepers came to check on him. “They usually come every twenty hours, and the new week starts in thirty minutes.”

  Anne-Jade and Riley headed back through the corridors, while I climbed into the air shafts.

  Before Riley left, he shot me a significant look. I mulled over what he tried to communicate to me as I crawled through the ducts. Did he want to talk about us? Or just about the situation? At least he knew I had realized my fears and acknowledged my mistakes.

  I returned to the infirmary to make an appearance. My mind remained on the task of finding the live computer in the Trava Sector while I disinfected the examination table.

  “…see you. Trella, are you listening?” Lamont asked from the doorway.

  “Sorry. What did you say?”

  “That Bubba Boom is here. He’s waiting out in the patient area.”

  I peeked past Lamont. No missing the big uncomfortable man who tried to stay out of everyone’s way, but ended up in the wrong place each time.

  Curious, I joined him. “You wanted to talk to me?”

  Relief flooded his features and he smiled. His pleasure at seeing me was a nice change of pace. Plus he reminded me of Cogon.

  “Is there somewhere private we can go?” he asked.

  “Sure. Come on back.” I led him through the exam room and to our sitting area.

  He settled on the couch and I perched on the edge of the chair.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “I examined that bomb.” Bubba Boom shifted with unease, focusing on his hands in his lap. “I think I know who built it.”

  “Why aren’t you telling Anne-Jade?”

  “It’s complicated.” He laced and unlaced his fingers together.

  “One of your colleagues?” I guessed.

  He glanced up. “Yeah. And…it’s hard. He works with me sometimes. But…I don’t want him to damage any more systems.”

  I waited, letting him work through the logic.

  Taking a deep breath, he said, “It’s Sloan. He’s getting everyone in Sector F1 riled up and has been talking about forming a resistance and storming the upper levels.”

  I’d never forget that name, but it seemed a little too convenient. “Sector F1 was rioting at the time.”

  “Exactly. They planned it as a distraction.”

  Which made sense, yet they didn’t know I would be in the ducts. “But I started the riot.”

  “Yes, but how did Sloan know you were there?” he asked.

  “He heard me in the shaft.”

  “You? The Queen of the Pipes?”

  “My tool belt banged the metal. I’m out of practice.”

  Bubba Boom shook his head. His shaggy hair puffed out with the motion. It reminded me of when Cog had decided to grow his hair as long as mine—what a mess.

  “If you had spent any time in the barracks, you would know it’s too noisy in there to hear anything, let alone a bump in the air duct. Sloan knew you were coming.”

  “How?” I still wasn’t convinced.

  “Jacy rigg
ed the bag of mics he gave you with a little sensor, tipping Sloan off.”

  The bag I no longer had. “Why would Jacy set me up? I was supposed to be helping him.”

  He leaned forward. “Supposed to be? There you go. Jacy doesn’t take kindly to people who lie to him or double-cross him. He makes the Pop Cops seem nice.”

  I scoffed. “You’re exaggerating. Jacy helped with the rebellion.”

  “Of course. All so he can get more power.” His cheeks flushed, causing his freckles to almost disappear.

  “No. He doesn’t even have enough people to maintain his information network.”

  “Because they’re all afraid.” He sagged back against the cushions. “Why would I lie? I’m gonna tell all this to Anne-Jade.”

  “Good.” Confusion tugged. I thought I could trust Jacy.

  “You need to know Jacy isn’t your friend. He hoped the angry mob in Sector F1 would send you to Chomper.”

  An icy finger of fear touched the back of my neck. I rubbed my cheek, remembering the fury in Sloan’s gaze.

  Bubba Boom scooted closer to me. “Be very careful.” He rested his warm hand on my knee. “I know you’re confined to level three, but you shouldn’t stray from the infirmary. When I save someone’s life, I expect them to stay safe.”

  “Which time? Helping to diffuse the bomb or rescuing me from the fire?”

  He laughed. “Maybe I’m expecting too much from you.”

  I swatted him on the arm. “Well, thanks for both.”

  “Anytime. In fact, I think I should visit more often just in case you need saving again.” His hand inched up my thigh.

  Oh no. Just when I thought I might have found a friend who wasn’t incarcerated or the head of ISF, I thought wrong. And I really didn’t need another person keeping track of me. I moved my leg away. “Don’t worry. As you said, if I stay close to the infirmary I should be fine.”

  His good humor died. “I thought you and Riley…”

  News traveled fast. “We did, but I’m not ready to get involved in another…friendship. Besides, with all the troubles and sabotages, it’s best if I just concentrate on helping Doctor Lamont for now.”

  He studied me as if I was a complicated explosive device, seeking weaknesses. I resisted the urge to squirm. Instead, I stood and said, “Make sure you tell Anne-Jade about Sloan and Jacy.” I held my breath. Would he take the hint?