Chapter 9 #2
“No.” The word ground out as if it originated deep within him.
He held up both hands in a stopping motion.
“I’m trying to understand why you automatically assumed I’m a spoiled brat.
And I wanted you to think about where you’ve gotten your information.
It’s either from the Pop Cops or from the computer system which is run by the Controllers. Both can’t be trusted.”
“Gee, thanks for that little nugget of advice. I wondered how I survived all these weeks without it.” I headed to the ladder. What a waste of time.
“Wait.” He grabbed my arm.
I yanked a screwdriver from my tool belt. He let go.
“Please listen,” he said to my back. “This isn’t going the way I thought it would. When my father asked why I was so interested in the scrubs, I told him—”
I rounded on him. “I knew this was a trap! Is your father waiting outside with a troop of Pop Cops?”
“No.” This time the word growled. Riley’s hands shook as if he fought to keep from grabbing me again. “I told him I wanted to help the scrubs, to do something…anything to ease their horrid living conditions.”
“Really?” Disbelief tainted my voice.
“Yes.” He practically shouted the word.
“Why?”
“Because of what you told me when you…er…visited last week. Before you dropped in, I thought scrubs were…” His arms moved in a vague all-encompassing gesture.
“Were like your little device there, but bigger. We’re taught nothing more about scrubs than they clean and work.
We’re threatened to be exiled to the lower levels if we do anything really bad.
It’s implied that if we survive, the rest of our weeks would be filled with hard physical labor.
” He held a hand up, stopping me from contradicting him.
“Look. There are no pictures in our training computers. Truthfully, I hadn’t really thought about who lives in the lower levels at all.
But there you stood, a real human being.
My age, with…” He dropped his arms, slapping his hands against his legs.
“Never mind, you wouldn’t believe me. My father said there was nothing I could do to help.
He was right until Domotor went missing and I caught you in LC Karla’s office. ”
“Caught?” I feigned innocence—all I could manage. His speech rolled around in my mind, and I couldn’t quite grasp the significance. “Don’t you mean found?”
“No. Caught. You didn’t see the petrified look on your face when you turned around. It was gone in an instant, but I’ll never forget it.” He smiled at the memory.
He could smile. He wouldn’t be fed to Chomper if caught. “Is there a point to all this? My work shift starts in an hour.”
“My father had told me about a few uppers who tried and failed to circumvent various security systems in the computer network long ago. Domotor was rumored to be trying again before his accident and banishment to the lower levels. When you showed up looking for Domotor’s port, I guessed you know where he is and you’re helping him. ”
“Why would I care if Broken Man is trying to bypass computer systems?”
Riley stepped closer. “If the other upper families regain control of Inside, then we can make life in the lower levels better.”
I studied his expression for signs of deceit. Broken Man had said the upper families wouldn’t want to help. Or did he tell me that so I would focus all my energy on finding Gateway? Riley seemed sincere and he already knew most of it. How much worse could it be for him to know?
“You’re right. I’m here to fetch Broken…Domotor’s port.”
“You’ll let me help?”
He managed to downplay his triumph. Impressive. I nodded.
“I’m monitoring the electrical usage for level four during the next shift. I can’t disable the motion sensors because it will be recorded, but I can hide the spike from your device.” He glanced at the little cleaning troll. “Smoke was coming out of it before. Will it work?”
“Yes.” Logan had repaired Zippy before I left.
“Good. I wasn’t able to find the code for the lock. How do you plan to get into the evidence closet?”
“I have another…ah…device.”
He raised his eyebrows, inviting me to elaborate.
“It’s better you don’t know.”
“As long as it works fast,” he said. He slid his hand into a pocket.
I tensed, but relaxed when he withdrew a port. He handed it to me.
“What’s this for?” I examined the white interface.
The size and shape mimicked three molars in a row, but underneath a square-shaped metal piece stuck out.
Small numbers had been etched into the metal box.
It was hollow except for a line of copper pins.
I guessed the bottom piece was inserted into a person’s jawbone to anchor the port.
“To exchange for Domotor’s. An empty spot will alert LC Karla. Do you know his ID number?”
“Yes, but what about the LC? She’s also scheduled to work the next shift.”
“All the high-ranking officers have a sixty-hour meeting in the control room. It lasts about an hour. She’s usually there.”
“Usually?”
“Wait to enter her office a few minutes past hour sixty. The computer lists the whereabouts of important people so if there’s ever an emergency they can be contacted. If she’s not listed in the meeting room, I’ll flash the lights in her office to let you know.”
“Do you always know where she is?”
“No. I only have second degree security clearance. The sixty-hour meeting and its attendees are general knowledge.”
General knowledge to the uppers. The scrubs hadn’t a clue, and what we did know was doubtful.
“Get in position now,” Riley said. “I don’t want to open the door until you’re hidden from sight. Just in case someone is out in the hall.”
“How come you’re the only one who uses this room?”
“It’s hard to find and has been forgotten. I doubt anyone is outside, but it never hurts to be too careful.”
I agreed with him, being extra careful should be our motto. Turning away so Riley couldn’t see my smirk—our motto, like we were a gang—I opened the heating vent and slipped inside, taking Zippy with me. Riley helped to replace the cover.
“Be careful,” he said through the slats.
I paused. Cog constantly told me to be careful, but Riley’s voice sounded different. I wondered if it was fear or genuine concern.
“You, too,” I said. Rolling Zippy ahead of me, I slid through the vent toward Karla’s office.
My mind reviewed the strange conversation with Riley as I traveled. Could the Controllers be as bad as the Pop Cops? It was hard to imagine and yet I couldn’t shake the image of blood dripping from his arm.
I reached Karla’s office and slowed. Creeping toward her vent, I listened for any noise. The soft bluelight shone through the vent cover, signaling an empty room. My body was so used to the ten hour system, I felt rather than knew when it was hour sixty. So much for reporting to my shift on time.
The glow remained steady. After a few minutes, I removed the vent’s cover.
Another couple passed before I turned Zippy on and pushed him out.
When the alarm failed to sound, I hurried over to the gray evidence closet.
Opening the doors, I pulled out Logan’s device and placed it under the keypad, pressing the button.
It hummed and a series of numbers filled the small screen. Typing in the code, I braced for an alarm, but the bolt slid back. I exchanged the fake port for Broken Man’s, checked the ID numbers twice, then relocked the closet.
The room’s daylights flashed a few times. I grabbed Zippy and dove into the vent. Voices sounded beyond the office door. The vent cover stuck in the hole. I tugged on it as the pings of someone entering a code rang. It jerked free. I placed it over the vent as the door opened.
“Alarm off,” Lieutenant Commander Karla said.
Daylights swept over the blue glow, trapping me and illuminating a frowning Karla. Did the women ever smile?
“This had better be important,” she said to the lieutenant following her into the room.
“Our detainee just gave us a clue to Domotor’s location. I need your permission to assign a search team,” the lieutenant said.
“Has he implicated anyone else?”
“No, sir.”
“Hard to believe he managed to hide a physically disabled man without help.” Frustration tainted her voice.
“He’s strong and has a high pain tolerance, sir.”
My heart stumbled. Only one way to discover how much pain a person could tolerate.
Karla grunted. “But he’s too big to fit in the air shafts. Another scrub had to be involved.”
“But we have no real evidence, sir. That cloth bag could have been blown down to the floor. It’s light enough to have been sucked up by the return air.”
“No. I know a scrub was there, and I’ll find out who was in the air shaft.” She vowed. “No scrub gets away from me.”
“What about the search team, sir?”
“Take team four and report back to me immediately. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.” The lieutenant strode from the room.
The LC scowled at his retreating form. She stood gazing at the door as if lost in thought then left her office, pausing only to reactivate the alarms.
I waited a few minutes to ensure she was gone.
The need to act pulsed in my body. Cogon suffered while I wasted time.
I headed toward Riley’s room with a reckless speed.
Even knowing Riley wouldn’t be there, disappointment still jabbed me when I reached the place.
I hid Zippy under the couch and hurried to Domotor’s room.
My shift be damned. Cogon would not suffer in vain.