Solina runs a trembling hand over her left ear. “We’ll need to remove our tags.”
A ripple of relief goes through me. She’s not going to turn me in. “Ayma,” I say in an urgent tone. “How do we take off our tags?”
Solina presses her ear tight to mine, a new resolve in her posture.
“The admin building has a processing wing where everyone is taken as soon they arrive,” Ayma replies. “That’s where you’ll find the tagging tools, simply reverse the lever to remove your tags.”
“Okay,” I say. “I’ll need you to touch base with Rennan. Tell him to expect a runaway guard from the foraging party in the morning. He’ll know what to do.”
The door to the dormitory opens and three women traipse in, laughing over some shared joke.
“Gotta go,” I whisper to Ayma. “We’ll let you know when we’re ready.”
Solina points subtly to a bunk on the opposite wall and I head over to it and slip under the rough blanket. I lay there staring up at the wooden underside of the cot above me, wondering where the girl who escaped today is. Rennan probably took her to the caves. Where else is there to go? She could take her chances in the mountains, like Caldan, but she wouldn’t last long alone out there.
Hours go by before all the bunks fill up and the welcome sound of snoring permeates the room. I wait until I’m certain everyone is in a deep sleep before I sit up and swing my legs over the edge of my bed. I pad quietly across the floor to Solina and prod her in the shoulder. She sits up, apprehension flickering in her eyes.
“You haven’t changed your mind, have you?” I whisper.
She gives a quick shake of her head before slipping out of her bunk and following me from the dormitory into the main living area.
I activate my MicroComm and pass the word to Ayma to kill the cameras and alarms and unlock the doors in our housing unit and the admin building. “Let’s do this.” I nod to Solina.
I grab a stool from the dining area and carry it into the bathroom stall farthest from the door. “We’re both going to stand on this and then I need you to give me a push up so I can reach the vent,” I say.
The seat of the stool is barely big enough for both of us to stand on even on our tiptoes—which makes it a precarious balancing act—but we don’t have time to look for anything more suitable. I reach up and grip the edge of the vent.
“I’m ready,” Solina says. She leans against the wall for support and interlocks her fingers for me to use as a step.
“Going somewhere?” a cold voice cuts across the room.
19
I spin around at the nasally voice, almost losing my balance when the stool wobbles precariously beneath Solina and me. The overhead light in the bathroom comes on and I flinch like I’ve been shot. The sharp-faced woman with the close-set eyes leans against the doorframe, her scrawny arms folded in front of her like claws on a crab.
My pulse pounds at the back of my throat.
“This is none of your business, Jevyn,” Solina snaps as we hastily jump down from the stool.
“Everything around here is my business.” Jevyn unfolds her arms and prances across to us like a cat approaching cornered prey. She narrows her eyes at me until they’re nothing more than glittering pinpricks. “I knew you were trouble the moment I set eyes on you.”
She snatches a strand of my hair and winds it tightly around her fist until I wince. “This is all wrong, for starters.” She sticks her face in close to mine. “Dyed, isn’t it?”
I open my mouth to protest, but she cuts me off with a wave of her other hand. “Don’t bother to deny it. I saw your hair in the shower drain. Red roots are hard to miss.”
She releases me with a disdainful shove. “The question is why would anyone be stupid enough to sneak into the collective on the forager transport?” She drums her nails on the bathroom stall beside her. “Let me guess, your lover is here?”
Solina shoots me a troubled look, but I say nothing. The last thing I want is for Jevyn to connect me to Velkan.
She hikes her brow up disapprovingly. “Well, we can’t allow an unapproved union on the collective, can we? You know what Preeminence thinks of sub-par breeding. I’m going to report you before you get us all in trouble.” She pulls her lips into a syrupy smile laced with vinegar, then swings around and minces back toward the door.
I don’t stop to think it through before lunging after her. I take her down hard on the tile floor. Before she can yell out, I clamp a hand over her mouth. “Ssh! If you promise not to make a sound, I’ll take my hand away. If you scream, I’ll snap your neck,” I growl into her ear.
She gives an awkward nod, her small frame trembling beneath me.
Slowly, I draw my hand back and climb off her. She scoots into a sitting position and backs away from me. Her eyes, glittering orbs of scorn only moments before, are filled with fear now that she’s felt the strength of my hunting hand over her mouth. I could have choked her to death and she knows it.
“Now what are we going to do?” Solina whispers to me, her brow puckered. “We can’t trust her not to blab.”
“No, we can’t,” I say in an even tone. “But, she’s dragged herself into this, so she can make herself useful.”
“How?”
Frustration and disillusionment are mingled in Solina's voice. For a few brief moments she had believed she might be able to escape from the collective. Now, that hope has been replaced by a paralyzing dread of the consequences of being caught.
“Jevyn can keep watch for guards while we’re inside the admin building,” I say.
A sheen of sweat glistens on Solina's face under the light. “What if she alerts a guard instead?”
“How’s she going to explain the fact that she’s out of her quarters after curfew?” I ask. “Trust me, she’s not going to want to engage a guard.”
Solina frowns and rubs a hand over her brow.
I walk across to Jevyn and haul her to her feet. “You stuck your nose in our business, so now you’re going to get more than you bargained for. You’re coming with us.”
Her face blanches. “I won’t say anything, I swear. But I can’t sneak out of here with you. If they catch us, they’ll terminate us.” Her eyes flit to Solina. “Tell her, Solina! She’s crazy!”
I shove Jevyn across the floor to Solina. “Push her through the vent first,” I say. “If it’s clear, we’ll follow. If not, then oh well, she’s on her own.” I tug a mocking smile across my face, noting with satisfaction the quiver in Jevyn’s bottom lip. Serves her right for being the rat that she is. I’m far from thrilled about having to drag her along, but we can’t leave her behind now. I’ll work out what to do with her later.
Solina wastes no time hoisting Jevyn up toward the vent.
“Please! Don’t make me do this!” Jevyn begs. “The windows and doors are alarmed. We’ll never make it.”
“Calm down!” I say. “The alarm’s been taken care of.”
“Climb!” Solina barks at her from below.
Jevyn whimpers some more, scrabbling to get a handhold. Solina scowls and shoves her the rest of the way up to the vent with a grunt.
“What do you see?” I call up to Jevyn. “Is there any way to climb up to the roof?”
She shakes her head vehemently. “It’s too high, there’s nothing to hold onto.”
“Then jump,” I order her.
“It’s too far,” she whines.
“Jump, or I’ll push you,” I say through gritted teeth. “And if I do that, you’ll probably land on your head and break your scrawny neck, which would be a good thing because then we won’t have to bring you after all.”
She throws one last stricken look over her shoulder and then scrambles the rest of the way through the vent and drops to the ground beneath with a dull thud.
Solina wastes no time helping me through next, and then claws her way up after me, her height allowing her to balance on her tiptoes on the stool and pull herself through the vent without my assist
ance.
Outside, we huddle in the shadows by the building for several minutes until our eyes grow accustomed to the dark and we’re certain no one heard us.
Jevyn looks tinier than ever standing under the stars beside the statuesque Solina. Her bravado and cocky attitude have evaporated, and her demeanor is more like a shell-shocked child after a bombing blitz. Hopefully it’s a good indication she’ll cooperate while we procure the IDs and uniforms.
Using the signals Phin taught me, I motion with my fingers to indicate the direction we need to go. I lead the way, my heart quivering as we leave behind our quarters and cross the yard to the male housing complex. The building is shrouded in darkness and we skulk past the gable wall without incident, making our way soundlessly over the deactivated electric fence.
I tread softly up the concrete steps to the front door of the admin building and take a quick breath before pushing down on the handle. To my relief, the door clicks open. Not that I doubted Ayma’s ability to override the locks, but the way things have been going lately, it wouldn’t have surprised me if someone had noticed the door was unlocked and secured it again before we got here.
I wave the others inside and close the door behind us.
“Where—” Jevyn begins, but I slap my hand over her mouth before she can say anything else. I shake my head angrily and then direct her to follow me down the gleaming corridor. I count the doors and quietly push open the third door on the right.
The stark space consists of a row of screens and a large printer lined up against one wall, a long workspace with chairs pushed neatly underneath it, a small window, a cabinet full of drawers, and a door to an adjoining room. Solina pads over to the door and cautiously opens it. “Supply closet,” she says. “Cables and stuff.” She reaches inside and pulls something out. “And a tagger,” she announces with a grin.
“We’ll deal with that later,” I say. “You and Jevyn keep watch by the door.” I head over to the nearest screen and power up my MicroComm.
“Trattora here,” I say when I pick up on a familiar crackling in my ear.
“Are you inside the admin?” Ayma asks, her voice tense.
“Sitting in front of a screen in the ID office.”
“Good, follow my instructions.”
I lean over the workspace, concentrating on the unfamiliar onscreen swipe sequences Ayma patiently walks me through to log in and print out the IDs. All the while, my pulse pounds a crescendo of fear, forcing me to stop and wipe my sweating palms on my tunic. I remind myself that Solina will warn me if anyone is coming, and then try to focus back on the task at hand.
“Okay, we’re done,” Ayma finally says.
I sag back in my seat, weak with relief.
In the corner of the workspace, the printer whirs to life and spits out two IDs. I groan as I retrieve them, realizing my mistake.
“What’s wrong?” Ayma’s voice is taut with apprehension.
“I forgot to tell you that we picked up a third woman along the way.” I throw a disgruntled look across at Jevyn huddled by the doorway with Solina. “Long story. Can you issue another ID?”
“Give me a few minutes,” Ayma replies.
I hear a sharp intake of breath and my head spins back toward the door. Solina signals frantically to me as she yanks Jevyn inside the room. Slowly, she pulls the door shut behind them so it doesn’t make a sound. “Someone’s coming,” she hisses at me as she kills the light.
I switch off the screen, straighten my chair, and race to squeeze into the small storage room with Solina and Jevyn. We wait in the darkness, bodies pressed tightly together, our hearts booming wildly for what seems like an eternity before the door to the office opens and someone enters. Drawers are yanked open and then slammed shut again in quick succession. A woman mutters something under her breath and then footsteps cross the room toward the storage room.
I brace myself, ready to pounce on whoever opens the door, but I don’t move nearly as quickly as Solina. The guard’s face doesn’t even have time to register surprise before Solina's sizable fist lands smack in the middle of it. The guard reels backward on her heels, fumbling for her gun, but Solina has already retrieved it and brings its handle down hard on one side of the guard’s head. The guard falls to her knees and tips forward, blood oozing from the wound on her head. Jevyn lets out a muffled yelp behind her hands.
Wordlessly, I help Solina drag the guard inside the storage closet and set about tying her up with a cable wire and gagging her with her gloves. Once the job is done, we close the door on her and stare at each other in stunned silence for a moment. “No turning back now,” I say handing Solina her new ID.
“What about me?” Jevyn looks plaintively from me to Solina.
“We don’t have time to wait on another ID to print now.” I yank open the closet, rip the ID tag from the unconscious guard and thrust it into Jevyn’s hands. “Here, you just got promoted.”
She frowns down at the ID, and then stuffs it in her pocket.
“Bring the detagger with you,” I say to Solina. “We need to hurry and find some uniforms.”
I head back out of the admin building and down the deserted street to the laundry facility next to the kitchens. As we draw closer, the sound of machines humming and water draining reaches my ears. “Does the laundry run all night?” I whisper to Solina.
She nods. “I don’t know how we can get a hold of any uniforms tonight. I could switch shifts with someone in the morning.”
“We can’t wait that long,” I say. “Someone will find the guard by then.” I cast a quick glance around and my eyes settle on a narrow duct at ground level. It’s too small for Solina or me to crawl through, but Jevyn could probably fit through it.
“I have a job for you,” I say grabbing her by the shoulder.
Her eyes flick to the duct, instantly seeing what’s going through my mind. “No! Please!”
“I need you to crawl inside and grab three uniforms from the shelves,” I whisper.
“I can’t,” she whines. “I’m claustrophobic.”
“You can, and you will.” I shove her to her knees. “Because if you don’t, Solina and I will turn you in for attacking that guard in admin.”
Jevyn stares up at me, her close-set eyes marbled with fright. “You can’t pin it on me.”
“Why not? Her ID is in your pocket, and your slick fingerprints are all over it.”
She lets out a high-pitched whimper and crawls forward.
Solina reaches down and pulls off the duct cover.
Jevyn twists her head around and gives me one last pleading look, but the expression on my face is enough to tell her that my patience is wearing thin. She wriggles into the duct like the rodent she is and disappears from sight.
Solina and I retreat into the shadows at the side of the laundry facility to wait.
“What do we do after we have the uniforms?” Solina asks.
“That depends.” I check up and down the street to make sure no one is coming. “Zero, gamma,” I whisper.
“Ayma here, go ahead.”
“Were you able to stop that transfer shuttle to NeuroOne?”
“Negative. It’s locked in. It’s the charcoal shuttle at the front gate.”
I scrunch my eyes shut. Velkan’s fate is sealed if I can’t save him. The thought of him being assimilated into the insidious neural network that has taken over Mhakerta shreds me to pieces inside. I won’t let that happen. I freed him from serfdom for so much more.
“Assign me to the transfer shift,” I whisper.
“You understand where you’re going, don’t you?” Ayma says quietly.
“Into the heart of the beast,” I reply.
“What about the other women?”
“Assign Solina to the foraging party in the morning. And alert Rennan to look for her by the traps. Forget the third woman. The best I could do was borrow an ID for her. She’s on her own.”
“Copy that. Good luck, Trattora.” The MicroComm goes sil
ent in my ear. A tiny shiver crosses my shoulders. That might be the last time I ever hear Ayma’s voice.
I turn at the sound of Jevyn sliding back out through the duct. She scrambles to her feet, clutching an armful of clothing, her face flushed and her hair disheveled. “Almost got caught,” she gasps, tossing down the uniforms in front of us. “I grabbed a handful of sizes.”
“You’re the smallest so you’ll have to fit into what’s left,” I say to her, sorting through the pile.
Solina and I quickly peel off the shapeless collective tunics, stuff them into the duct, and dress in the guards’ uniforms. “Here you go.” I drop the remaining jacket and pants at Jevyn’s feet. “It looks too big, but maybe you can pull it off.”
She narrows her eyes at me and reaches down for the uniform.
“Don’t move!” a voice bellows from across the yard as a blinding search beam floods our faces.
20
My brain kicks into gear without hesitation. “We found an escapee!” I yell back in a commanding tone.
“Pull your hair over your tag,” I hiss at Solina.
The light pans away from us and down the side of the building searching for a fleeing figure and I don’t waste my opportunity. I swing around and plant a fist to Jevyn’s head, something I’ve had a hankering to do. She crumples beneath the blow without a sound. I pull the guard’s ID from her pocket, snatch up her uniform and stuff both inside the duct. Despite what I said earlier, I’m not going to pin the attack on the guard on Jevyn and make the situation worse for her than I’m about to make it.
“Grab a leg!” I mutter to Solina.
“Over here!” I yell, dragging Jevyn’s limp body out from the shadows. The searchlight travels back up the side of the building and settles on us again. I blink, and wait until the light finds Jevyn. Footsteps pound toward us across the yard.
Girl of Stone (The Expulsion Project Book 2) Page 15