A man stood up and asked, “How can we trust her? The Committee and Mop Cops were just as bad as the Travas and Pop Cops.”
“This time I promise not to let a Committee make the decisions. You…” I swept an arm out. “You are going to make them.” I waited until the ruckus died down. “You will vote for your leaders.”
Then the image on the screen showed two Outsiders dragging Anne-Jade toward the transport vehicle. She fought and broke free for a second before the Outsider on the right tackled her to the ground. I glanced at Logan. He stared at the screen with his mouth gaping open in horror.
I turned back in time to see the other Outsider twisting a metal X.
“NO!” Logan screamed.
Everyone watching gasped as Anne-Jade bucked and shook in obvious agony. The Outsider kept zapping her over and over until she lay still. Her lifeless gaze stared at nothing.
Logan screamed again and bolted for the door. Sloan and Bubba Boom chased him down. Chaos erupted as fear and outrage rolled through the assembled. Numb with shock and horror, I couldn’t move. Anne-Jade was my friend.
A third Outsider came into view. It was Fosord. He pointed at Anne-Jade’s body and then pointed directly at the camera. Instant silence followed his gesture.
Fosord reached to the side. When his hands reappeared, he held a wipe board. Three words had been written on the board: Surrender or die.
My grief for Anne-Jade would have to wait until later. I shoved it deep down and took advantage of the stunned silence. “They’re scared of us,” I said. “We need to act now before they do.”
“Before they can poison our air?” one man called.
“Before we die of thirst?” a woman asked.
“No to both. We have a team at the air plant. And we’ll either win or lose by the time water becomes an issue.” I conferred with Sloan.
“I’ll need two groups of twenty each to secure the stairways,” he said. “I’ll lead one team.”
“And I’ll lead the other,” Riley called.
I wanted to say no, but as I told Bubba Boom, Riley knew how to fight. The teams formed quickly and I took heart from the eager helpers.
Sloan, Riley and Bubba Boom grouped together and I joined them.
“…suits then the stunners won’t work unless they have their helmets off. In that case, aim for their heads,” Bubba Boom said.
“Once we have the stairways, we can send bigger teams to advance up through the levels, securing each,” Sloan said.
“How big?” I asked.
Sloan looked at Bubba Boom.
“Hank has at least two hundred maintenance people, plus four dozen Travas and five hundred Outsiders. Watch out for the armed Outsiders. They have this weapon that looks like a black metal tube, but it spits out round disks with razor sharp edges. It’ll slice through skin and bone,” Bubba Boom said.
“What do we do if we encounter armed Insiders working for the Outsiders?” Riley asked.
“Incapacitate, but don’t harm,” I said, handing him the communication set from Sloan.
“How?” Riley asked. “We only have two stunners and a handful of knives.”
“We need more weapons,” Sloan said.
I spotted Ivie and Kadar hovering by the door and gestured for them to join us.
Kadar carried a laundry sack. He handed it to me. “Five stun bombs. Yank the pin out and roll it toward your target. You’ll have about four seconds before it goes off. It should affect anyone within a six-meter radius from the bomb.”
“They’ll help, but still not enough,” Sloan said.
“We’ll make more as long as we can,” Ivie said.
“Thanks,” I said. In the meantime, we still needed weapons. I asked Bubba Boom if the ISF’s weapons were still locked in the safe.
“Hank removed a bunch for his men and the Outsiders, but the last time I saw there were a few left. But he changed the code for the lock.”
I glanced at Logan. He huddled on the floor next to Domotor. Kneeling next to him, I hugged him close for a moment. Then I explained my need.
“Can you help?” I asked him.
He wiped his eyes. “On one condition.”
I waited.
“That I get to kill-zap Fosord.”
“I thought that wasn’t your thing,” I said.
“It is now.”
“No. We’re not killers. Anne-Jade wouldn’t approve and you know it. You can stun him, how’s that?”
“Can I at least kick him a couple times?” Logan sounded like a petulant child.
“Yes.”
“All right. I’m in.” He went in search of a few supplies, calling to Emek and Rat to fetch items.
The captain’s voice startled me. He called through the receiver. Sloan cupped his ear.
“…have us pinned down,” Captain Trava said. “We disconnected the gas, but we won’t last long.”
“Hold on. We’re on our way,” Sloan said.
“Go up the Quad I stairs. Don’t worry about securing the stairwell. Take two bombs, both stunners and go help the captain,” I said, digging into the laundry bag. The bombs had been built inside clear glass balls. A metal pin had been stuck through a small hole.
I gave two to Sloan and one to Riley. They both looked surprised.
“If we don’t have the air plant, we’re done,” I explained. “I’ll take Logan, two bombs and we’ll retrieve the weapons from the safe.”
“How are you going to bring all of them down here?” Riley asked.
I thought fast. “Laundry chute. Make sure you have bins half-full of towels to cushion their fall waiting below. And put together another team plus the follow-up teams. Once you have weapons, go up and secure all the levels. We’ll all meet in level five at Hank’s control room.”
“Yes, sir.” Riley snapped a salute.
Sloan laughed then rushed off with his team to help the Captain. I helped Riley organize his team as I waited for Logan.
When Logan returned he had a small cleaning troll tucked under his arm.
“Zippy?” I asked, hoping somehow he found his way home.
“No. Still on level five,” Logan said. “This is his…younger brother, Zippy Too.”
Bubba Boom boosted Logan into the air duct, but before I climbed in after him, I grabbed Riley’s hand. “Be careful.”
“Shouldn’t I be telling you that?” He pointed to the burn mark on my chest. Riley slid his hands around my back, pulling me close. “Since you tried and failed to electrocute yourself, does this mean you’re done jumping in harm’s way?”
“I doubt it. In fact, I need to give you…” I dug in my tool belt.
“Your heart?”
“Pretty close.” I handed him the metal X. “Keep it safe for me.”
“A dangerous move. I could use this to keep you out of trouble.”
“But you won’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re one of the good guys. You’ll do what it takes to neutralize the Outsiders even if that endangers me.”
He grumbled. “Great. Go me.”
“There are perks to being a good guy,” I said, smiling.
“Ohhh…do tell?”
“Well, after all is said and done, the good guy gets the girl.”
“And then what happens?”
“Whatever he desires,” I whispered in his ear.
He jerked back in utter surprise.
After I had scrambled into the duct, Riley shouted to me, “Promise?”
I poked my head out. “Yes.” No need to add, “if we were both alive.”
Climbing up to level four through the air ducts would be difficult s
o I led Logan to the near-invisible hatch on level one and entered the Gap between levels. One thing Hank had time to repair was the ladder attached to the Wall. It now spanned the entire four levels. I just hoped Hank forgot about it. Getting to the ladder remained tricky. I balanced on the thin I-beam that attached the level to the Wall. Without looking down, I crossed to the ladder.
Logan opted to crawl over and I worried he would fall. He reached it, but not without cursing. We climbed to level four and entered the air shafts. Quad A4 appeared to be deserted, but I wasn’t going to trust my eyes.
Removing the vent without making a sound, I poked Zippy Too into the room. A red light glowed on his head.
“Motion sensors,” Logan whispered.
I flipped the white switch on the troll’s body and the light turned green. Lowering him to the ground, I followed. Then Logan climbed from the shaft. He headed toward the safe and removed a small device from his pocket. While he opened the heavy safe, I reprogrammed the lock on the main door.
So far so good. One problem remained—bypassing the weight sensor on the floor of the safe. Logan worked on the sensor and I counted at least thirty stunners and six kill-zappers inside.
“It’s off,” he said.
“Get back into the duct, I’ll hand you weapons. There’s a laundry chute about two meters east,” I said.
He grumbled about all the climbing, but he scaled the wall like a pro. I handed him two at a time, waited while Logan dropped them down the chute and returned for two more.
Working together, we managed to empty the safe. We also managed to alert the Outsiders. The door’s lock beeped. I glanced at the clock. It had taken us two hours to complete our task.
“Go,” I said to Logan. “Get back to level one.”
“How?”
“Laundry chute. Wait thirty seconds after you send the last weapons. I’ll let them know you’re coming.” I closed the vent and signaled Riley.
More beeps emanated from the door, then pounding and, finally the buzz of a cutter.
“And when can we expect you?” Riley asked.
“I’ll meet you on level five.”
“You better,” he grumped.
I removed the vent from the heating duct as the door flew open. By the time five people rushed into the room aiming their weapons at me, I had the stun bomb in hand. I recognized Phelan, one of Hank’s supervisors.
“Don’t move,” Phelan said.
Counting on my collar’s protection, I yanked the pin on Ivie and Kadar’s stun bomb and rolled it toward the group. They all glanced down, but nothing happened. A dud. Damn.
“Made you look,” I said.
“Ha. Ha.” Phelan deadpanned. He gestured to the door with his stunner. “Let’s—”
A bright flash cut him off. I dove for the heating vent as a wave of energy exploded from the bomb. The glass shards pelted the walls as the men grunted. When quiet returned, I peeked out from the duct. Lying on the floor, Phelan and his team remained motionless. A few sported cuts from the glass.
I checked to make sure the gashes weren’t too deep and they all had strong pulses. Then I removed all their weapons and anything else that looked interesting, like Phelan’s communication device.
Back in the air shaft, I signaled Riley, warning him of incoming and sent my loot down to the laundry room. I kept one stunner. “Any damage?” I asked him.
“One really annoyed Tech No, but otherwise all came through fine. How many did you neutralize?”
“Only five.”
“Better than getting caught. What are you planning now?”
Good question. “I’ll spy around level five. See what we’re up against.”
“Be careful. We’re starting our ascent. Bubba Boom is leading the Quad I team, and I have the Quad A stairs.”
I ghosted through the air shafts on level five for the next hour. No one guarded the brig. It was my first clue of something strange. Groups of Hank’s supporters raced through the hallways, but I didn’t see any Outsiders. And Lamont failed to answer my hail.
Sloan reported success in the air plant.
Riley and Bubba Boom encountered only a token resistance as they secured each level.
The fight to reach Hank’s control room in Quad A5 lasted a mere five minutes. We met up outside the double doors. They opened without trouble.
The control room appeared the same. Banks of computers. Half-completed consoles leaking wires. And Hank, sitting in the big captain’s chair in the center. He was alone.
Chapter 22
“Right on time,” Hank said.
“For what?” I asked.
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. All thanks to you,” he said.
Riley and Bubba Boom flanked Hank, but he was unarmed. All his supporters had been stunned, but a threat still hung in the air.
“Okay, I’ll bite. What are you talking about?” I asked.
“The Controllers have made some changes to their plans. They’ve acknowledged their growing sterility so they’re going to keep that transport full of people alive to breed with. That’s the good news.”
“And the bad?”
“They’re going to clean house.” Hank swept his arm out, indicating all the people standing in the control room. “They’re going to kill us all.”
“How?” Riley asked. “We have the air plant.”
“They’re going to hide in those transport ships and turn the power plant off,” Hank said.
No power meant no electricity, no heat and no pumps to move the air around. It would be a slow death. So much for not wanting to dispose of corpses.
“How?” I gestured to the computers. “They don’t have control of the network.”
“They don’t need all this for control,” Hank said. “There’s an antenna on the Outside. That’s what they used to hijack our network.” He explained how the Outsiders could communicate with the network without wires.
“Maybe Logan can bypass the power plant controls,” I said. I signaled and asked him to join us.
“Logan’s one sharp fellow,” Hank said. “The Controllers are well aware of his knowledge and don’t plan to wait for us to save ourselves.”
“Why are you telling us all this?” I asked.
“I’m in the same position you’re in. Since I couldn’t handle one small problem,” he glared at me, “I was left behind. Ponife couldn’t handle you either, but that didn’t seem to matter to him.” He continued to stare at me. “You know, Karla was right. I should have kill-zapped you long ago. Before Ponife put that damn collar on you.” Hank mimed shooting me with his finger and thumb.
“Where is Karla?”
“Up with the Controllers. Along with your mother and Jacy.”
Worry mixed with relief. Lamont would be safe with the Outsiders. They would need her expertise if they planned to repopulate.
“What did you mean by the Controllers don’t plan for us to save ourselves?” Riley asked.
“They’re not playing around this time. They’re going to open up Gateway and all our air will blow out into Outer Space. I’m guessing it’ll take us four to six minutes to die of asphyxiation.”
“You don’t seem upset,” I said.
“Well…when your saviors turn out to be thugs from the past and you’ve been nothing but a fool, endangering the entire population of Inside, then dying seems insignificant in comparison.”
I understood the feeling.
“How do we stop them?” Riley asked.
“You can’t. Not in time,” Hank said. “They’re already up in the port.”
“And even if the lift is working, we could only get a few people up there at a time. Easy pickings.” I considered. “What abo
ut their transport? Is it still attached to Gateway?”
“No. They flew it up to the port,” Hank said. “All they left is a couple of their space suits and a bunch of empty gas cylinders.”
“Space suits? Can you survive in Outer Space wearing one?” I asked.
“Yes, but that would only save four or five people and not for long. As you said, easy pickings,” Hank said.
He was right. Except I hadn’t been thinking along those lines. “Can you install a sheet of metal over Gateway?”
“It’ll still leak air,” Hank said.
“But it’ll give us some more time.” I glanced at the people who had volunteered to fight. Not many had the arm strength to climb up the Expanse. “And I have an idea. I’ll need those suits, a few volunteers, safety harnesses and some magnets. Can you help us, Hank?”
His considered for a moment, keeping his gaze locked on mine. “Ponife underestimated you. Hell, we all underestimated you. Yes, I’ll help.”
Riley, Sloan and Bubba Boom all volunteered right away. By the time Hank had collected the other supplies we needed, Logan had joined us.
“Logan, do you remember seeing the symbols about the port?” I asked.
“Sure. I read a bunch of them when I was up there. Until the Outsiders came for me.”
I explained my plan to him. “Will it work?”
“It should, but I’d better come along to make sure,” Logan said.
“It’s suicide,” Riley said.
“Do you have any better ideas?” I asked.
“No.”
“Then let’s move.”
Hank shouted orders and we dressed in the Outsiders’ suits. Captain Trava rushed up from the air plant with the gas cylinders now full of our air. We hurried to Gateway before the Outsiders could open it. The code to open it hadn’t changed from when Cog and I had used it—our first lucky break.
The outer door swung open. Squeezing into the inner room, which wasn’t designed for five people in space suits, I gave the signal. Hank and his crew closed the door and would seal it with a sheet of metal. Once he finished with that, he had another job to do.
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