Inside

by Maria V. Snyder

  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!”

  Chapter 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 w
rong 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 rigged 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?

  Bubba Boom ambled to his feet and grinned. “Okay. I’m willing to wait until everything is mended. I’m sure all these troubles will soon settle down.” He gave me a mock salute and left.

  I collapsed back into my chair. My mind swirled. Between his accusations about Jacy and advances, I had no idea what to think. The thought of being close to another man… No. I couldn’t even contemplate it without my skin crawling.

  Why could I run into a burning room, climb up sheer walls, diffuse a bomb and defy the Committee without hesitation, yet be terrified to admit my feelings for Riley? My own fear had really screwed up not only my life, but Inside’s potential for peace and harmony. I hoped it wasn’t too late for all of us.

  The glass tube didn’t glow during my first sweep through the Trava Sector. I had covered about half of the Sector before I needed to return to the infirmary for my shift. Lamont had created a schedule in keeping with the intern ruse. It worked, except I spent my free time crawling through air and heating vents searching for an active computer.

  And as the hours passed, I felt more pressure to accomplish something. Anything besides how to determine if a wound was infected or not. Halfway through week 147,024, I completed the fourth and final sweep through the Trava Sector. Still no results. However, by spending so much time in the ducts above the Travas, I learned a few things.

  One—they were dangerously bored. Two men had pulled apart a heap of computers to build a couple of hand-held devices. They could be weapons or a way to communicate, I had no idea. But my glass tube didn’t glow so it wasn’t a link to the Controllers.

  Two—they planned to escape and release their comrades in the brig.

  Three—they wanted to regain control of Inside and protect something or somebody. Which didn’t make sense to me. They already had control. So why didn’t the so-called Controllers tell the Committee to release all of the Travas?

  My agitation grew and the tension in Inside filled every space. Fights broke out and a number of riots erupted. Anne-Jade’s ISF officers were swamped and many were injured.

  When she stopped by the infirmary to check on Yuri, I pulled her aside and informed her about the Travas’ plans.

  “They can have it,” she snapped. “Nothing is getting done besides the repairs to the air plant, and everyone has reverted to acting like the Pop Cops are back. They’re keeping to themselves and not helping despite the food rationing.”

  “And the Committee—”

  “Does nothing! They’re too afraid. I wish the Controllers would just lay it on the line and tell us what they want.”

  Interesting strategy. “Is the Transmission working?” I asked.

  “No. The three Travas who Karla named had no clue how to work it.”

  “If the Transmission isn’t fixed, eventually it won’t matter who has control.”

  “You don’t need to tell me, but the Controllers don’t seem worried about that.”

  Odd. “What about Hank? Can he fix the Transmission?”

  “He’s busy with the air plant repairs. And trying to help us find the saboteurs.”

  “Did Bubba Boom tell you who they are?” I asked.

  “Yeah. But the five of them disappeared when we tried to arrest them.”<
br />
  They could have been tipped off. “There aren’t many places to hide.”

  “You think? Such stellar intellect, I’m going to promote you to captain.”

  “No need to be nasty.”

  Anne-Jade rubbed her eyes. Exhaustion had etched deep lines into her face. “Sorry. I don’t have the manpower to search those places. If it wasn’t for Hank’s offer to keep an eye out, Sloan and his cohorts could be lounging in the dining room without having to worry about the ISF.”

  “At least with them on the run, there shouldn’t be any more attacks.”

  “One good thing,” she said.

  “One thing at a time.” Which reminded me of my task. “Anne-Jade, I know you’re swamped, but can you search the Trava Sector for the active computer? I’ve done all I can through the shafts and came up with nothing.”

  “We do regular inspections. Too regular from what you’ve told me.” She sighed. “I think it’s time for a surprise visit.”

  “Take the glass tube with you. It should pick up anything that is hidden.” I hurried back to my room and retrieved the detector and Zippy for her.

  She raised her right eyebrow. “You keep Zippy in your room?”

  “In case I need him. Can you bring him back when you’re done?”

  Anne-Jade left muttering about smoke damaged wits. I had told her the truth about Zippy, but not the entire reason I kept the little cleaning troll near my bed. He’s been with me through some tough times. And he filled the void left by Sheepy.

  At hour sixty, Anne-Jade returned with Zippy and the glass detector. Although her surprise inspection had netted her an interesting and scary array of illegal devices, weapons and contraband, she didn’t find a computer linked to the network.

  Which meant another person or group were the Controllers. Not good. Two hours later, I hurried over to Logan’s room.

  Faint voices rolled through the shaft as I neared his vent. I slowed, keeping as quiet as possible as I slid the final meter. Logan’s aggravated tone was easy to recognize. The other two sounded calmer and were harder to discern.