by Bill Doyle
“You didn't do the work!” she shouted over and over. “You have the answer, but you didn't do the work!”
When I woke with a start, my body was drenched in sweat.
Of course, the dream was my subconscious telling me that I was letting everyone down. And I mean everyone: The kids on the Elevator, my parents… the entire planet!
Outside my window, space was just as dark, but Earth was now much bigger. We're almost out of time! I thought. Any moment now, the virus will become airborne. We'll breathe it in, and then we'll be just like the adults. And when we reach Earth's surface at the end of the day…
When I went to check on my parents, I found Crockett just leaving their room. If it were possible, he looked even more tired than before. The bags under his wide eyes looked like permanent black tattoos.
“Any chance?” I asked him.
He nodded grimly. “Yes, but not a good one. Your parents and the other adults are getting worse, Otis. I don't know what I can do.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “I'm sorry.”
I went into my parents' room and sat with them for a while.
Teddy clicked and clacked and did a small, subdued leap when he saw me. He crawled into his favorite spot in my jacket pocket, where he curled up contentedly. But I didn't feel relaxed. Something was nagging at me. Something about math…
After tucking their blankets securely around my mom and dad, I returned to my own room. For the second time during this horrible journey, I took: out the Condition Reports that I had created for the works of art.
I ran my eyes carefully over the reports for a few minutes. I was just thinking that maybe I was on the wrong track after all—when I spotted it! Of course! The answer to all the mysteries was waiting for us on Level 5.
Not only was the missing statue there, but also the bad guy!
I would need help to go up there.
Judge had to keep an eye on Asyla. Crockett couldn't go. He needed to be close to the patients. Lysa was an option, but I could think of someone even better.
I rushed out of my room and down the hall to Charlotte's door. I knocked.
“What?” her muffled voice asked.
“It's me,” I called.
“Me who?”
“Charlotte, please open the door.”
She called back, “Aren't you worried about my being an evil clone? Aren't you scared that I'll attack you?”
“I need your help. The bad guy is on Level 5, and we need to go up there now.”
CHARLOTTE PEERED OUT AT ME.
There, was silence. Then I heard her say, “D'en. Just a crack, computer.” The door slid open several inches, and Charlotte peered out at me. “You need help? So you're here because you have no one else to go to?”
“No,” I said. “I'm here because I don't want to go anyone else”
“Right,” she said sarcastically.
“I'm serious.”'
She studied my face. And what she saw there made her anger recede. She stepped back and said, “D'en, computer.” The door slid the rest of the way open, and she said “Come on in.”
I followed her over to the couch, past her father, who was snoring gently in his bed. “How is he?”
“Crockett told me he's getting worse,” she said, tears up in her eyes.
“I might be on to a way to help him and the rest of the adults.”
She looked at me. “You trust me enough to tell me about your plan?”
“Yes,” I said.
Charlotte seemed to understand I really meant it. She gestured for me to take a seat on the couch and sat next to me.
She took a breath and started speaking. “When I was a baby, my real mom and dad died. A kindly neighbor took me in. It was Robert Noonan. He adopted me, and I changed my last name to his.”
“That's why your last name isn't an anagram for Notabe.”
She nodded. “Judge came here last night and told me all about that. Just so you Know, I had no idea I was a clone until yesterday. I changed my hair color from black to blonde for fun, that's all.
Not because I was trying to trick anyone… especially you.”
As she said “you,” her eyes met mine. And for the first time, I felt like we were really seeing each other. A long moment passed.
“So …,” she broke the silence. “How do you know the bad guy is on Level 5?”
“I dreamed my math teacher was trying to tell me something,” I said. “She kept saying, 'You have the answer.' Remember how we figured out that there are 650 pounds on Level 5 that shouldn't be there?”
“Sure,” she said, nodding. “That's because the real statue is probably on that level. Or do you think it's somewhere else now?”
I shook my head. “No, it's there. I know it. But I went over my notes again. The statue only weighs 510 pounds. That leaves a difference of 140 pounds.” I showed her the Condition Report for ESCAPE By A HAIR.
Realization dawned on her face. “Which means there is something—”
“Or someone. Someone who weighs 140 pounds and is hiding on Level 5.”
“But how would the bad guy get there?” she asked.
“He probably used the airlock hatch in the Control Room to get outside the Climber and make his way to Level 5.”
Charlotte's face showed her excitement. “Now it makes sense! That's why the Controller's body was slumped toward the airlock in the Control Room. Someone had opened that door to get to the outside. When they did, the change of pressure tugged the Controller in the direction of the door.”
I nodded. “You're right. I've looked at plans of the Climber. There's a work ladder that runs along the outside of it from Level 1 to Level 5.”
“You're going to make the trip?”
I nodded.
“You wouldn't dive into the depths of the ocean without a buddy, would you? Why should this be any different? I'm going with you.”
“Are you sure, Charlotte?”
“I've been locked up in my room for the past two days,” she said. “If you think you're going to lock me out of this, you've got another thing coming.”
Charlotte and I headed for the Common Room, where we found judge. “I'll go,” she said immediately after I brought her up to speed.
I shook my head. “Charlotte and I have it covered.”
JUDGE VOLUNTEERED TO GO
When the three of us got to the Control Room on Level I we forced open the closet that held the emergency extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) suits. The space suits looked like clear plastic jumpsuits. The hard, plastic helmets were the only parts of the outfit that were inflexible. They also contained the monitors. The closet had places for three space suits—but there were only two.
ONE SPACE SUIT WAS MISSING.
“The bad guy must have taken the third suit,” Charlotte said, and I nodded.
“I really should be the one to go to Level 5,” Judge said. “The trip would be so short my cells could make the trip without any extra oxygen. I wouldn't have to wear a mask. And I'm stronger than you. I'll prove it,” she added with a smile. “Want to arm wrestle?”
I smiled back but shook my head. “That's exactly why you can't go. Someone equal in strength to Asyla needs to stay here.”
“Crockett and Lysa are keeping an eye on her for the moment. Asyla seems content to sit and stare at her own reflection,” Judge said. “Besides, I'm afraid she might actually be stronger than I am.”
“Still, if something goes wrong, we wouldn't be any match for her,” I said. “You're the only one who'd even have a chance.”
For a minute, I thought we might witness Judge's famous stubborn streak. But then I saw her face change. “You're right,” she finally said. “I don't like it and I hate to miss out on this, but you're right.”
“Sorry, Judge,” I said softly.
She gave me a smile. “We'll have more adventures to share, I'm sure,” she said. “well, now that that's decided, I'd better go back and relieve Crockett and Lysa.” Judge reached up and tousled m
y hair and then Charlotte's. “Good luck, you two.”
CHARLOTTE STEPPED ONTO THE LEDGE.
The space suits were much easier to move around in than I had expected, and Charlotte and I had no problem making our way outside.
The airlock had two hatches. One opened from the Control Room into a small room. Another hatch opened from there to the outside.
Once we had closed the first hatch behind us, we waited a second for the room to depressurize. Then we opened the outside hatch—and stepped carefully onto the small ledge and into the darkness of space. I had to duck under the lowest rung of the steel ladder that ran up the side of the Climber. A flexible steel cable was connected at one end to Charlotte's suit and ran through a clip in my suit. I attached the opposite end of the cable to the bottom rung of the ladder.
There are only a few hundred people in the world who can say that they've gone on a space walk. And now Charlotte and I could be added to the list. Out there, there was no artificial gravity. We would have floated off into space if we hadn't been holding on to the handles on the outside of the hatch.
I could feel and hear the workings of the magnetic clamps on the other side of the Climber as they grabbed onto the ribbon and lowered us down. But if I hadn't known we were descending, I wouldn't have been able to feel it.
Not that I paid much attention to anything but the view. Imagine floating above Earth with nothing but a clear plastic helmet and space between you and the planet. It was a rush like I'd never had before.
I felt something bump against me. It was Charlotte. She placed her hand in mine. I looked up, thinking something was wrong. We weren't able to talk to each other—the communication equipment on the suits wasn't working. It must have been tied in with the system on the Climber.
Charlotte gestured toward Earth with her head and then looked back at me, her eyes wide, as if to say, “I can't believe how beautiful this is!”
STEPPING OUTSIDE THE ELEVATOR AND SEEING EARTH WAS AMAZING
Her hand stayed in mine for a second longer. Then it was time to climb up the ladder. Charlotte went first. We both moved very carefully, keeping one hand on a rung as the other hand reached for the next one up. The lack of gravity and the feeling of being nearly weightless reminded me of swimming.
As we climbed up, we passed windows set into the thick, smooth steel of the Climber. As we passed the windows for Level 3, I looked inside, hoping to catch a glimpse of Judge, Crockett, or Asyla. But none of the windows gave a view of the Common Room.
We were nearly to our destination. The windows to Level 4 were now on the other side of the ladder. Just a few more feet—
CRACK!
Suddenly, Charlotte was floating away from the Climber, a broken rung still in her hand! Somehow, it must have snapped off the ladder.
Instinctively, I reached for her.
My fingertips brushed against her suit, but I missed. I strained harder to grab her, and I lost my grip on the rung.
Now I was floating right behind Charlotte.
She managed to turn around so we could see each other's faces. I tried to give her a reassuring look. We would be okay, I wanted to say. We're still connected to the ladder by the cable. We just have to pull ourselves back to the Climber.
I started to do just that when there was another CRACK The rung the cable was attached to had broken free. The cable looped and danced around us like a lazy snake.
Now Charlotte and I were both moving away from the Climber—out into space.
Charlotte's eyes widened. If I panicked now, I knew we'd be lost. Every single second counted.
I quickly formulated a plan. I pulled on the cable that still connected me to Charlotte until we were bumping up against each other. I managed to turn our bodies so that I was facing the Climber and she had her back to it.
She looked at me like I was crazy.
“Kick off me!” I mouthed. “Do it!”
She understood. Her face lost some of its panic as she held onto my shoulders and brought up her feet so they were pressed against my lower chest.
CHARLOTTE PULLED ME BACK
Then, as if I were a springboard, Charlotte pushed off from me. Her feet dug into my suit, and I prayed that it wouldn't rip. Then she was drifting quickly back toward the Elevator.
She gripped the t side of the ladder this time, not the rungs. Once she had one arm looped around the ladder, she slowly reeled me back in like a giant fish.
“Good work, Charlotte!” I shouted, even though I knew she couldn't hear me.
I took. a quick look at where the broken rungs had connected to the sides of the ladder. The bottom half of each remaining nub was rough, but the top half was smooth. It was clear that someone had filed halfway through the rungs. Someone had sabotaged the ladder to keep from being followed.
If Charlotte hadn't come with me, I probably would have been lost in space.
Charlotte had paused to look at the broken rungs as well. Our eyes met, and I mouthed, “Thank you.”
She gave me a harried smile and mouthed, “Let's go.”
We couldn't take a chance that any more of the rungs had been filed, but we could still climb up to Level 5 and return later by pulling ourselves along the sides of the ladder.
A few minutes later, we had finished our climb. Luckily, there was no way to lock the hatch for the airlock from the inside. We tumbled through the outer door and into the small depressurizing chamber.
OUR ONLY LIGHT CAME FROM THE FINGERTIPS OF OUR GLOVES.
JANUARY 6, 2031
Day 6 of 6 4:30 PM
I held a finger in front of my mouth to indicate that we should be quiet.
Charlotte shrugged and pulled a face, and I knew what she meant. Our entrance through the airlock must have made enough racket to alert anyone on the level that someone had entered.
A thin strip on the sleeve of my suit glowed green, indicating that there was now oxygen in the chamber. We quickly unsnapped our helmets and set them silently down on the floor.
As we opened the inner hatch, my ears were filled with the loud hum of working machinery. Much of the mechanical equipment that ran the magnetic clamps was housed on this level. I could only hope that noise had been enough to cover our entrance.
The lights were off and the space was dark, but I knew it held stacks of boxes, large crates, and pieces of scientific equipment as well as most of the artworks from the auction. I didn't dare call for lights, knowing that they would give us away to whoever was hiding here. The working lights on the fingertips of our suits would have to be enough. We were forced to walk like zombies, our hands stretched out in front of us as we shuffled forward as quietly as we could.
“Otis,” Charlotte breathed into my ear, startling me. I turned and raised my eyebrows, as if to say, What's up?
She fluttered her fingers. The fingertip lights had started to dim. I looked at my own fingers, and saw those lights were fading, as well. Too late, I realized that the batteries for the lights must be housed in the helmets. Soon we would be plunged into total darkness. But we had come too far. We couldn't turn back now.
“Let's just look a little longer,” I whispered in her ear as quietly as I could. She nodded, and we continued working our way through the crates. It grew darker and darker.
I turned to look at Charlotte just before the lights went out. She was shaking her hands, like you might shake a flashlight, as if that might make the lights stay on longer. But the lights dimmed even more and then died. The last thing I saw was her wide, frightened eyes. “Oh, no,” she whispered.
I pulled off my gloves and reached out to take her hand… and felt nothing.
There was no one there. She must have wandered away from me in the darkness.
I risked a whisper. “Charlotte?”
No answer. We were now separated. One of my groping hands bumped into something sharp. Very sharp. I pulled back my hand and sucked on my fingers. The skin hadn't been broken.
What on Earth had I just touched?<
br />
Of course! SHARP TEETH!
I remembered that I had asked the 'bot to store the artwork on Level 5 to keep it from hurting anyone. I never dreamed that I might find myself being the one it hurt!
I was just about to move along when I smelled petunias.
It's said that smells create the strongest memories. And, at least in my case, it's totally true. As the petunia-scented perfume struck my olfactory nerve, a vivid image flashed into my mind. I saw Ms. Jenkins, the customs guard, grabbing my jacket and spinning me around.
My mind zoomed in on part of the image. I watched her fingers as they closed around my arm. They landed on the exact spot where I'd found the DNA that matched that of Charlotte, Lysa, and Mrs. Benato.
My probe should have picked up different DNA for Ms. Jenkins, even though it wouldn't have been able to match it to a name since I hadn't recorded it.
But it had only picked up DNA for the three clones.
Ms. Jenkins must be yet another clone of Asyla Notabe!
I was thunderstruck. It seemed there was an army of them. Only Ms. Jenkins must be the bad guy we were looking for! She was perfectly placed to switch the statues. After I had instructed the worker 'bots to load the real statue onto Level 2, Ms. Jenkins could have told the 'bots to take the real statue to Level 5 instead. Then she must have set up the fake statue on Level 2. She could easily move about the Climber with her security clearance.
IT WAS MS. JENKINS!
I had to find Charlotte and tell her of my discovery.
But I was too late.
“Lights!” The cry echoed off the walls, and the room blazed with light.
It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the glare. But I wasn't surprised to find Ms. Jenkins standing there, her hands on her hips like a mighty conqueror. She took. off the night goggles she'd been wearing and tossed them to the floor. Clearly, she had been using them to watch us stumble around in the dark. Behind her was the real ESCAPE BY A HAIR statue.