Chapter 17 #2
Riley couldn’t keep the smugness from his voice.
“Your description of life in the lower levels is completely different than how you described it to me when we first met. Perhaps uppers and lowers have more in common than you first thought.” He tried to suppress a smirk and failed. “Come on, admit it.”
“Did you come for a reason? I’m supposed to be resting.”
He held the bowl up. “Admit it and I’ll give you this stew.” He blew over the top, sending a delicious smell my way.
“You’re obnoxious.”
“I’ve been called worse.” He swept the food under my nose.
“All right. All right. Maybe I judged the uppers too soon.”
“Nope. Not good enough for this wonderful meal. I want three words: I. Was. Wrong.” He held up three fingers and waggled them.
“You’re mean. I’m injured and need nourishment to recover.”
“The stew’s getting cold.”
“Fine. I was wrong. Happy?”
“Ecstatic.” He gave me the bowl and a smile.
At least he didn’t gloat. After scraping my spoon to retrieve the last bit, I decided the stew was worth my admission.
Riley hovered. I moved my legs so he could join me on the couch.
“You look better,” he said. “Your face isn’t as pale.”
“I have you to thank. You risked a lot by fetching the doctor.”
He shrugged. “Doctor Lamont is a friend of my father’s.” He pulled at a thread on the couch. “Considering the extent of your injury and blood loss, the doctor was amazed you made it up here.”
“You know how stubborn I can be. I wanted to warn you about Domotor. Once they break him, he’ll tell the Pop Cops about you and Logan.” I looked at the clock. Hour twenty-one. Plenty of time for Vinco’s knife to do its job.
“They don’t have him yet,” Riley said.
I straightened, tugging my stitches. “What happened?”
“LC Karla knows he’s been using his port, but her computer experts can’t trace it back to an exact location. All she knows is he’s on level one. She’s been trying to search the entire level.”
“Trying?”
He grinned. “The Pop Cops have been besieged with a run of bad luck. Malfunctioning equipment, missing tools, miscommunications, and a broken water pipe.”
Jacy had headed my request, which meant he warned Logan and probably received my most recent communication. I wondered if Logan was the reason for Karla’s computer woes. “How do you know about her troubles?”
“One of the metal cutters overheated and injured an ensign. Doctor Lamont treated him. Nice, chatty fellow.” He leaned forward. “Now we have a little time to find Gateway.”
“Yes. But we’ll need Logan and a bunch of uppers to help.”
“We have me, my father, and Doctor Lamont. I have a cousin in mechanical that I can trust. Who else did Domotor mention?”
“Kiana Garrard, Hana Mineko, Takia Qadim and Breana Narelle. But one of them works for the Trava family. Logan might be able to tell us which one.”
Riley wound the couch’s thread around his hand.
“I’ve heard of Takia. She works in the control room.
One of only two people who are not Travas.
I’ve met Breana and Hana. They were part of my father’s training group, but he hasn’t visited with them in hundreds of weeks.
I never heard of Kiana Garrard. Do you know which system she works in? ”
“No. We need Logan.”
“You’re in no condition to bring him through the air shafts.”
I agreed. LC Karla was occupied with locating Domotor. Perhaps Logan could take the lift. It would be a matter of timing, and Logan being able to find the Pop Cop uniform I had hidden. I shared my idea with Riley.
“It could work as long as his nerves don’t give him away. How are you going to contact him?”
I showed Riley the listening device.
He whistled. “When you decide to break the law, you certainly don’t skimp. Illegal technology and a stolen Pop Cop uniform.”
“Borrowed. You’re not exactly Mr. Law and Order. In fact…” I had an idea.
“Oh no. This can’t be good.”
“Is there any way you can pick up an audio signal?” I asked.
He took the device and examined it. “If I had the frequency, yes. Why?”
“There is one hidden in Karla’s office. Knowing her plans will help us.”
His surprise didn’t last long. “Gee, I wonder how it got there,” he said with a hint of sarcasm.
“No idea,” I said, playing along. “Kids these weeks.” I tsked. “Always getting into trouble. Not like me, I’m the soul of conformity.”
He laughed. “We should make that your code name. Soul of Conformity or SOC for short.”
After Riley left, I contacted Jacy through the device, telling him about our plans. “Send Logan up at hour twenty-six. He tends to get nervous so it would be a good time for another distraction. I also need the frequency of the bug in Karla’s office.”
If all went as planned at hour twenty-six, Logan would dress in the Pop Cop uniform and take the lift to level four where Riley waited to escort him to our storeroom.
Realizing I used “our” instead of “Riley’s,” I grunted with amusement. Storeroom also failed as a descriptor. Recent events had transformed the room into an infirmary, a hideout, and a bedroom. Riley had ordered me to rest.
I wormed into a comfortable position, but my thoughts swirled with worries and my hip ached.
Giving up, I scanned the room for something to distract me.
Besides Riley’s electrical sketches, nothing caught my eye.
I could understand why Domotor hadn’t waited for Logan.
Boredom was worse than unclogging pipes for waste handling.
A little gray lump rested under the desk. Careful of my stitches, I eased to my feet and shuffled to pick up Sheepy. His mother was a few feet away. I carried them both to the couch. Small flecks of blood dotted their coats and I used the water in my drinking glass to clean them off.
I wondered about Riley’s brother. From his comments, I guessed the boy died right after birth. So where was Dada Sheepy?
Eventually, I dozed, dreaming about sheep.
I held a bleating lamb as I waded through a hallway filled with sheep.
A wet crunching sound chased me. It grew louder as I stumbled over the animals convinced Chomper’s blades would soon bite me.
I tripped. Rolling over, I pushed the lamb behind my back to face the threat, but Cog stood between me and darkness.
He offered his hand. I grasped it and he pulled me to my feet. Then he stepped aside and flung me toward the LC.
“Use her to ensure their cooperation,” he said.
His laughter followed me as she dragged me away.
“Game’s over Tre... Trella. Trella. Wake up.”
I squinted into the daylight. Riley stood next to a Pop Cop. Wide awake in an instant, I nearly tore my stitches sitting up before I recognized the face. “Anne-Jade? What happened?”
“Logan’s being monitored,” she said. “A Pop Cop noticed he was spending a lot of time on the computer.”
“I thought they were all busy with the search,” I said.
“Most are, but a few Pop Cops are convinced the missing scrub is being helped and are determined to be the one to find you and get a promotion. They’ve made life in the lower levels even more intolerable.
” Her gaze swept the room. “Although, I must say I’m disappointed in level four.
Is level three any better?” Anne-Jade asked Riley.
“No. It’s about the same.”
“Pity.”
“Anne-Jade, do you have any news?” I asked.
She settled on the couch, leaving Riley to sit on the floor. “The first thing I’m supposed to tell you is from Jacy.” Her nose creased with distaste. “He says you owe him big and when this whole mess is over, you’re his slave for a week.”
Nice of him to be optimistic.
Riley’s mouth opened in stunned outrage. “He doesn’t mean—”
“No.” I assured him. “Jacy will have me planting his bugs all over Inside. Go on, Anne-Jade.”
“Logan gave me a list of password questions to memorize. Do you have a wipe board?”
Riley rummaged through the desk, and wrote down the questions. All were vague yet with enough information to make it seem possible to answer. The third question mentioned a platitude about being unable to see. No quick answers jumped to mind.
“What about the uppers? Did Logan have time to check them?” I asked.
“Yes. He said he found one of the names mentioned as an informant in the security files. The rest had clean records.”
“Which one?” I asked.
“Kiana Garrard.”
Her name banged hard against my metal heart, sending vibrations along my skin. I shouldn’t be surprised. If she could abandon her child in the lower levels, she could rat out her husband and others.
“Anything else about the uppers?” Riley asked.
“Yes, Logan said Takia Qadim would be the best person to have on our side as she has access to multiple systems.”
“How will she and the others know to trust us?”
I shuffled through all the information Domotor had told me. “This is going to sound hokey, but tell them the force of ten is back in action.” Which was true. If I counted Logan, Anne-Jade, Riley, Doctor Lamont, and me, the number was ten.
“I don’t know if I can say that with a straight face,” Riley said.
“Just think of the consequences if they don’t help us.”
“Good point.”
Anne-Jade had been fidgeting with the top button on the Pop Cop uniform. Dipping her head down, she spoke to her chest. “Did it work?” Then she pressed a fingertip to her earring, cocking her head.
Riley and I exchanged a significant look. Had the pressure been too much for her?
“Okay. I’ll give it to her. Thanks.” Anne-Jade noticed our dubious expressions.
“I can’t keep playing messenger between you and the lower levels.
” She pulled the small blue earring from her earlobe.
“Receiver.” She dug into her pocket, and removed a strange metal device that resembled a rivet gun.
She placed the earing in the gun and pressed it to my left earlobe. “Hold still.”
Before I could protest, she squeezed and a loud pop sounded in my ear followed by a sharp pain. Anne-Jade batted my hand away as she finished, wiping my lobe with a medicinal-smelling cloth. It came away wet with my blood.
“Now you can hear Jacy.” She yanked on her top button. It popped off with ease and revealed an identical button underneath. “A listening device. It’s built into a standard issue button and attaches with ease. Go on, try it.”
I clipped the metal listening device to my top button.
“She’s on,” Anne-Jade said.
“Trella?” Jacy asked.
I started and glanced around. His clear voice sounded as if he stood next to me.
“Trella, are you there?”
“Yes.”
“No need to shout, I can hear you just fine. These devices of the Tech Nos are wonderful. Once they make more, we can coordinate our team’s efforts.”
“What team?”
Anne-Jade averted her gaze.
“The Gateway team of course.” Jacy’s matter-of-fact reply contrasted with his upsetting revelation.
“How did you—”
“He threatened to report us to the Pop Cops,” Anne-Jade said in her defense.
Under normal circumstances, Jacy wouldn’t interact with the Pop Cops.
“You fell for his bluff. How much did you tell him?” I asked her.
But Jacy answered. “Everything and you should have come to me right away instead of blundering around.”
Riley’s confusion increased as I talked to Jacy, but he keep quiet.
“Blundering? You would have done better?” I asked.
“Of course. I would have assigned people to cover your shift, to help smuggle food and to supply you with information.”
“But I couldn’t—”
“Trust anyone. I know.”
I had planned to say ‘get you in trouble,’ but he was right, too. “You’re helping now.” With Jacy, we were the force of eleven. It didn’t have the same cachet.
“Small consolation, considering the havoc down here.” Yet a gleeful challenge spiked his tone as if he looked forward to the upcoming difficulties.
“What’s the status?” I braced for his answer.
“Pop Cops everywhere, snooping around. It’s only a matter of time before they do a full level-wide search, and there are certain…things I’d rather they not find.”
“What about the negotiations with Karla?”
A pause. “There are none. Before you yell, hear me out.”
I growled my approval.
“Karla offered every enticement possible to get the scrubs to rat you out. Failing that, she has announced Cogon’s life could be spared if you turned yourself in.
Wait! Since nothing has resulted from her efforts, she believes you’re hiding in the ducts, wounded and close to expiring.
The air shafts are filled with RATSS. And I don’t want to bust her illusions. ”
“What about Cog?”
“He’s been protecting you since we were toddlers, and the worst thing you can do for him is to undermine his efforts and turn yourself in. Besides, once you open Gateway, it’ll be a whole new world.”
“But what if—”
“Stop! Don’t ‘what if’ me. Do your part and get Gateway opened, and I’ll do mine, making life miserable for the Pop Cops. Time to go. I’m needed elsewhere, but I’ll keep a man monitoring this frequency.”
His comment reminded me. “Jacy, what’s the frequency for Karla’s bug?”
“Ninety-eight megahertz.”
“Thanks for your help.”
He chuckled. “Don’t worry, you will return the favor. And once the Tech Nos build more of those receivers, I’ll contact you.”
I turned off the button listening device, and filled Anne-Jade and Riley in on what Jacy had said.
“What’s to stop the Travas from picking up the frequency?” I asked.
“Nothing, but with a large number of frequencies, the odds are small they would find it,” Riley explained. He stood and brushed off his pants. “I’ll escort Anne-Jade back to the lift.” He handed me the board with the password questions. “You work on these, and I’ll start recruiting uppers.”
I couldn’t help smiling at his bossy tone. “Who put you in charge?”
“Sheepy.”
“Are we the Force of Sheep now?”
“No. We are the Force of Onaaaaae.” He bleated the word as if he were a sheep.