He rocked back on his heels as if slapped in the face. “Wait. You didn’t say you were going to Gateway.”
“Logan showed me a picture of Outside and I was…excited.” I could have substituted stupid, naive or brainless.
“Really? What did Outside look like?” Even knowing Gateway didn’t exist, Riley couldn’t contain the excitement in his voice.
“Doesn’t exist, remember? It was just a picture.”
He sat next to me on the couch. If he wondered why Zippy was in my lap, he didn’t show it. “Are you sure about Gateway? Were you at the right location?”
“I cleared at least six meters of insulation off the west Wall outside Quad G1. From the floor to the next level.”
“Those files are old. Perhaps the coordinates are wrong.”
“The age of the files is all part of the scheme.”
“What about Logan? Is he part of the ruse?”
If Domotor duped me with ease, so could the others. “I don’t know anymore. I guess those who don’t get arrested are in on it.” Karla and the Pop Cops must be enjoying the show. I wondered when they would spring their trap on us.
Riley wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. I sank against him, breathing in his warm scent.
“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Riley said. “You’re suspicious of everyone. Domotor would have had to be a heck of a liar to convince you to help him.”
“Deep down I wanted to believe. I probably saw what I wanted instead of the truth.”
He rubbed my arm. “I don’t know. It’s a pretty complicated setup. The Travas don’t have the imagination for it. Unless someone else is involved or something else is going on.”
I straightened. “The Controllers?”
He frowned. “It’s possible.”
“Do you know who they are?”
“No. When I think about them in a logical way, I believe they don’t exist. The Travas desire control of all systems, and I don’t see them obeying orders from mysterious Controllers. I’m sure they invented them to have someone to blame when things don’t go well. However, when I access the computer network, I feel like I’m being watched. That every time I go into the system I lose a part of myself, and when I’m done I have a horrible headache. Sounds silly. My dad says the pain is from eye strain.”
“It’s not silly. I wish I knew why someone went to all this trouble. Maybe Karla will grant me a last request and explain it all to me.” Doubtful, but a girl could try.
“Don’t say that.”
“Why not?”
“Because we’ll figure it out.”
I didn’t share Riley’s optimism. Instead I checked the clock. Hour ninety-four. Six hours until Cog’s final walk, until I…
No. I wouldn’t think those thoughts. At least, not yet. Riley’s arm remained around me. I set Zippy on the floor and turned toward him. My sudden desire to be closer to Riley drove out my scary future. Our lips met. A wave of heat rushed through my body as we kissed.
He pressed against me; his hot hands splayed on my back. Wherever our bodies met, tremors vibrated on my skin. I twined my fingers in his hair.
Too soon, Riley pulled away. “My break’s over.” Regret flashed in his eyes. “I need to get back.” He stood. “Don’t do anything rash. Don’t go anywhere. Please. You’re safe here.” He hesitated as if he wanted to say more, but instead, squeezed my arm then hurried away.
When the door clicked shut all warmth fled my body. Reality returned and time continued. My dreamy thoughts solidified and I planned my next move. I would have to find the perfect spot to approach Karla.
My head throbbed. I stared at the opposite wall, counting rivets. Twenty for each sheet of metal. No more, no less. The builders of Inside had never deviated from their plans. No creativity. No surprises.
However, the Pop Cops had managed quite the surprise with a fair amount of creativity. Impressive.
Time marched like Pop Cops on patrol. I located my scrub uniform balled up in a corner of the room. The musty-smelling fabric was stiff with dried sweat and blood, but I pulled it on anyway. No need to dress up for the Pop Cops. I covered the large hole and biggest bloodstain by ripping a part off the student’s uniform and tying it around my waist. My goal was to get as close as possible to Karla and Cog before some other overenthusiastic Pop Cop arrested me.
I debated about bringing the microphone and receiver. Should I tell Jacy the bad news? He could be working for the Pop Cops. Yanking the earring from my lobe, I set it on Riley’s desk with the button. No sense letting the Pop Cops find the technology on me.
Hour ninety-nine. Time to go. I glanced around the room, memorizing the details, and decided to write Riley a quick note. The words refused to come. I scrawled an inappropriate thank-you and an “I’m sorry for causing so much trouble for nothing” message.
Back into the air shaft, I proceeded to the lower level not caring if RATSS spotted me. I reached the bottom without encountering a single one. Figures.
As I crawled through the duct, a strange droning noise vibrated the metal. It grew louder as I drew closer to the vent. Scrubs packed the hallway below. In a few places, scrubs stood three deep on each side, leaving a narrow space.
Pop Cops tried to get them to move, but stubbornness radiated from tight jaws and hard eyes. The hundred-hour assembly bell rang—a faint ring compared to the general murmuring. Again, Pop Cops demanded they report to their assembly locations, screaming and harassing the scrubs to no avail. I wondered how long it would be before they started stunning people. They seemed reluctant to pull their weapons. I wondered if they feared a panicked stampede if they started shooting.
I stayed in the duct until I found a location without Pop Cops. When I dropped to the floor, the closest scrubs jerked in surprise, but soon they beamed at me. The line of people shifted, creating an opening my size. Sliding into the spot, I swallowed, trying to push my heart back down to its proper place, but it refused to budge, choking me.
While waiting for a sign of Cog, my body felt as if it held too much water. My nose dripped and tears blurred my vision. I concentrated on the floor, counting the lines of rivets. If I couldn’t see and was barefoot, I could probably navigate through the hallways of Inside by feeling the little bumps. At least, Inside’s predictability would benefit the blind.
The sudden jolt of insight felt as if I’d just connected two live wires in my brain. I had the answer to question number three, Your eyes can see, but mine don’t work, yet I see what you can’t. What am I? It was the reason I couldn’t find Gateway.
The noise level rose to my left, and Cog’s head bobbed through the crowd. I gasped when he came into view. New bruises covered his swollen face, patches of blood soaked his coveralls and his hands were cuffed behind his back.
But the most astonishing aspect was his smile. He grinned at everyone.
I leaned out past the scrubs. Four Pop Cops led the way, pushing back the edges of the crowd, and four were behind him. Lieutenant Commander Karla wasn’t there. Instead, Lieutenant Arno followed the procession.
I turned to a woman on my right, and stood on my tiptoes so I could talk into her ear. “Can you take a message to Jacy for me?”
She nodded. Her face pale and serious. When I told her the message about Gateway she gazed at me in frank astonishment.
“It’s very important,” I said. “Promise?”
When she promised, I stepped into the middle of the corridor. An angry frown replaced Cog’s smile as soon as he spotted me.
“I found it,” I yelled over the buzz and babble of many voices.
I knew he couldn’t stay mad. His whoop of joy rang through the hallway. Everyone stopped talking. The silence became an eerie almost living presence.
Th
e Pop Cops in front finally noticed me. They shouted and pulled their stunners.
Maximum damage, I thought and rushed them. The element of surprise was the only reason I managed to knock one of the Pop Cops over. I yanked his gun from his hand and stunned him.
“No one recycles Cogon!” I yelled, pleased the ad hoc battle cry rhymed.
Then everyone moved as if my shout were a signal. Scrubs overwhelmed the rest of the Pop Cops, taking their weapons and knocking them down. A short and brutal attack. I gaped at the unexpected turn of events.
The chant rippled through the lower levels. No one recycles Cogon.
It didn’t take long for the scrubs to overpower the Pop Cops. A few scrubs were stunned, and little blood was shed on both sides. Cuffed with their own handcuffs, the Pop Cops huddled in the middle of the dining room. All the tables had been pushed back and scrubs surrounded Cog, slapping him on the back.
Cog organized teams to secure entrances. Every resident of the lower two levels had come to level one for Cog.
Understanding ripped through me as I watched them look to Cog for answers, for plans on what they should do next and for praise.
Broken Man wasn’t their prophet, Cogon was the true prophet of Inside.
Karla made a huge mistake in wanting to parade him through the scrubs as an example. The Pop Cops had grown overconfident and now her lieutenant knelt with the rest.
After a few minutes, I pulled Cog aside.
“Can you believe this?” Cog gestured to scrubs nearby.
I had been surprised, but shouldn’t have been. The signs had been there; I was too wrapped up in my own problems to notice.
“They think I know all the answers.” He shook his head in amazement, then sobered. “We can’t hold out for long. The uppers control everything but the food. All they need to do is send gas through the air shafts or shut off our air. Unless…” He shouted at one of the maintenance crew to install air filters in the ducts. “Now tell me everything about Gateway,” he ordered me.
“Yes, sir.” I dodged his playful swat, then told him how we discovered the location from the files. “I need to get a few supplies to be absolutely sure Gateway is there.”
“I’ll come along,” Cog said.
“You can’t fit through the shaft.”
He laughed. “Trell, you’re still thinking we need to sneak around. Hank,” Cog yelled.
A large maintenance scrub hustled over to us. “What do you need, boss?”
“A hole.”
Raiding a maintenance closet, we found the needed items and climbed through the air shaft. A huge section had been cut open, revealing the Gap above. Hank and his team muttered in amazement and wanted to ask questions, but the urge to hurry pulsed through my veins. The scrubs might have filters, but they wouldn’t last without fresh air.
I raced through the Gap. Cogon kept pace despite his size. We stopped at the uncovered west Wall. I shone my flashlight over the exposed metal, counting to twenty.
Rows and columns of twenty rivets. Starting from the corner and moving right.
Twenty. Twenty. Twenty. Twenty. Twenty. No deviations.
Twenty. Twenty. Twenty. No creativity.
Twenty. Twenty-two. I found the blind. A sheet of metal covering Gateway. I pointed and Cog pulled a chisel from his tool belt and removed twenty-two rivets from each side. The metal blind had been connected to the wall for so long, it remained in place despite the removal of the rivets. Inserting the edge of a crowbar Cog pulled with all his strength. Then moved to another spot.
The metal groaned and squealed and finally dropped down. A loud clang echoed throughout the Gap. We didn’t care who heard it.
Behind the sheet was Gateway.
Wild joy shone on Cog’s face. An ecstatic sizzle pumped through my veins. Gateway even appeared different than a regular door with its rounded corners and a black substance shoved into the crack between the door and the wall. The bulging substance ringed the entire door and was smooth and hard. When I tapped it with my fingernail, it didn’t clang like metal but produced a solid thumping sound.
Cut from one piece of metal, the door also lacked a knob or latch. But a small computer screen had been installed next to it. I pressed my ear to Gateway. Nothing to hear, but the Hum. The icy surface sucked warmth from the side of my head.
I pulled away. Now I knew why Inside was always heated. Outside was cold.
“Do you know how to open it?” Cog asked with a reverent tone in his voice.
“I have a code. But the uppers will be alerted.”
“Trell, there’s been a rebellion in the lower levels. I think the uppers are probably a little busy helping the Pop Cops to restore order. Besides, I doubt we’ll get another chance.”
Good point. Steeling myself, I touched the screen. It grumbled and grunted as if I had woken it from a deep sleep, then it glowed. Squares with numbers shone from the display.
With my heart slamming, I typed in the number code and hit the enter button. For a moment, nothing happened.
Then a horrible sucking noise sounded and Gateway’s door sunk in first before swinging to the side with a loud squeal of protest. Weak light emanated as a puff of stale air blew in our faces. We coughed.
Nothing jumped out. Water did not flood Inside. No unknown substance oozed through. No strange beings flew through. No voices called or cheered in welcome.
Only a small room waited within. I stepped in and flinched. Silence greeted me. I looked around. A light panel on the ceiling illuminated the empty, metal rectangle-shaped space, which had another Gateway. No screen was next to this new door, just a panel of oversize square keys lit from underneath with different colored lights. One red button remained unlit.
Cogon joined me. His face showed his disappointment until he spotted the other door. “Do you have another code?”
“No. Logan didn’t mention this little surprise. We couldn’t open all the files.” One of the keys glowed green. “But he did say green to open and red to close, perhaps that was for this part.” I pressed the green button. Nothing happened.
He stared at the lights. “Ten buttons with ten colors. Perhaps…” He pointed to the one on the far left. “This one is the number one. Assuming they’re in numerical order, you can try the code for the outside door.”
I pressed the first number/color and the light under it turned off. Then I inputted the rest of the numbers, noticing that none of the numbers repeated. Nothing except the remaining key lights turned off.
“Or maybe not,” Cog said.
After a few seconds, the lights returned.
“Perhaps the numbers are in descending order.” I tried again. Still nothing. “Or, the numbers start with zero and go to nine.”
This time all the numbers darkened—except the green one.
“Green to open,” Cog said, and pushed it.
The door behind us hissed closed. The green light pulsed. A sucking hydraulic noise sounded, but the other door remained shut. Cogon pushed on it to no avail.
I struggled to pull air into my lungs. No one knew the code to enter. We could be trapped in here. I felt light-headed and my insides bloated as if I had eaten too much.
Cog turned, leaning on the door. The panic on his face matched mine. He clamped his hands to the sides of his head as if holding his skull together.
Without a sound, the other Gateway opened. Pure black waited on the other side. A bone-killing cold reached us. White spots sparked from the blackness, but it was hard to know if they were real or not. Black and white spots swirled in my vision. My eyeballs felt as if they would burst.
My stomach dropped and spun as if I fell from a tall ladder. I glanced down to see my feet no longer touched the floor, but floated. Cog twisted and his body dri
fted past the door. He pointed.
The red key burned bright. Red to close. On the edge of unconsciousness, I reached for the button. But Cog was Outside. I needed to help him.
He gestured again, but I didn’t press it.
Cog threw his hammer. It sailed toward me as he somersaulted backward. Then the darkness claimed me.
Chapter 21
I would like to have said that I went to a better place. However, the skin-freezing cold woke me. Dumped onto the floor of the small room, I untangled my legs and stood. My skin felt stretched and saggy. I wanted to crawl under a heavy layer of blankets to press my body tight. Red fog tinted my vision.
The outer Gateway was closed, but the door to Inside was open. The panel of colored lights glowed brightly and I wanted to smash them into tiny bits. Cog wasn’t with me and I doubted he’d made it through the door in time.
No way could he survive in that airless, weightless…void. But I had to try. No living with myself unless I tried. I punched in the first few numbers.
“Stop!” a most unwelcome voice ordered.
I ignored Lieutenant Commander Karla, getting in another two numbers before she stunned me. A wall of energy slammed into my body. My last thought was of Cog.
The next time I woke, my situation hadn’t improved. Rows of black bars, the stench of unwashed bodies, excrement and fear and the hard metal bunk underneath me all clued me in. I was under arrest and incarcerated in the holding cells.
When Commander Vinco arrived with the LC at his heels, I wished I had floated away with Cog.
“Just so you don’t think you’ll be rescued by your scrub friends, we have secured the lower levels,” LC Karla said. Her lips flattened into a pleased smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Do you want to know how?”
“No.” The truth. The game had ended badly. Cog was gone. Outside didn’t exist. Nothing was left that Trella cared for. Ella, on the other hand, planned to keep her mouth shut.
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