Chapter 19 #3
“It’s like hydroponics,” Logan said. “But the plants are huge and the sheep’s special grass is all over the place. Look at the ceiling, it’s blue and goes on forever.”
“Does anyone live there?” I asked.
“I don’t quite know. The text states numbers and details for things like breathable air mixture, compatible food source, mineral deposits, drinkable ground water and something called wildlife. Which, as far as I could tell, are animals without any real intelligence.”
“In order to obtain the information, someone has been Outside.” Even though thrilled with the news, I wondered how long ago the data was collected. Everything changed with time. “Can you find out when?”
“No. The information was pulled from various files and dumped together. A few sentences are incomplete, and the topic changes abruptly. Some of the files are damaged and I can only read about half of what’s in them.”
“It doesn’t matter when,” Domotor said, dismissing my concern. “Most likely it was before the Trava’s took control. Perhaps after the scouting mission, the Trava’s panicked, thinking they would lose power in such a big place. We know it’s safe to go Outside.”
“And we know the code to open Gateway.” Logan typed at the keyboard and numbers marched across the computer screen.
I committed the code to memory.
“Something else…” He pointed. “Colored buttons. Green to open. Red to close. Any ideas?”
“To get back Inside,” Domotor said. “There would have to be controls on Outside. Proof that no people live there or they would have opened the door by now.”
He had a point.
Finally, Logan announced he had no more useful info. “Wish we had those last three passwords.”
“What about the file with my birth week on it?” I asked.
Domotor glanced at me in surprise. “There’s a file with your birth week on it?”
“And the hour of her birth. I forgot about that one.” Logan’s fingers flew and he hummed under his breath. A white screen flashed and he paused for a second. “Uh…Trell, you’d better read this. It’s from your mother.”
I backed away. “She couldn’t have… No way to know I would be involved… A trap?”
Domotor leaned closer to the screen. “No. She admits the chances of you finding this letter is little to none.” He continued to read.
“It’s similar to a diary entry. Written more for herself than you, explaining what had happened.
Interesting… A confession. Why didn’t you tell me Kiana was the spy? ”
I plopped on the couch. “A lot has happened since I last saw you.”
“Do you want to know her reasons for—”
“No. Four people were recycled because of her. I’ve no desire to hear her pathetic excuses.”
He frowned at me. “Someday you’ll want to know.”
“Then I will ask you. It’s not important right now, she isn’t one of the uppers who have agreed to help us.”
Domotor brightened when he heard this, and I explained what I had been doing in the upper levels, but I didn’t tell him Doctor Lamont’s name or Riley’s cousin who worked in mechanical.
He knew of the others, but those two were new.
Despite my conviction that Kiana was responsible for my father and Riley’s mother’s fates because she had spied for the Travas, Domotor had been the one to name them.
“Excellent news,” he said when I finished updating him. “Just imagine, we’ll open Gateway and usher out all the scrubs and uppers who want to go, leaving behind the Travas with no one to rule.”
I laughed at the humorous picture.
After I escorted Logan back to his barracks, I borrowed a few supplies from maintenance, filled my tool belt and headed to the Gap. With visions of blue ceilings and grass rugs filling my mind, I didn’t stop until I reached the outer wall near Quad G1—Gateway’s location.
I removed my new flashlight and shone it on the insulation.
The thick yellow foam rippled on the wall, and I couldn’t see any marks indicating a doorway underneath.
Starting at the southwest corner, I sprayed water from the floor to level two’s support beams and worked my way west. Made from vegetable starch, the biodegradable foam dissolved and dripped.
It didn’t take long to realize two bottles of water wouldn’t be enough.
One meter thick foam had been sprayed onto the wall.
When the bottles were empty, I pulled the insulation off. The bottom layers were brittle and easy to break apart with my new screwdriver. Logan had said Gateway would be between three to four meters from the corner. I planned to clear at least five meters.
The air around me cooled as I worked. My breath made smoke clouds, but the cold felt good against my sweaty skin. Foam piled on the ground, and I reveled in the effort.
Bits of foam clung to my student’s uniform and hair. I stopped well past four meters. Panting in the icy air, I grabbed my light. The beam lit specks of floating insulation. My attention focused on the exposed wall as I swept the light across the surface.
Its appearance matched the interior walls—metal panels riveted together with support beams. No obvious doorway. I searched for a near-invisible hatch.
Nothing.
I drew in a deep breath. Once again, I scanned the wall, but this time I started from the corner and concentrated on each section in a systematic way.
Nothing.
Emotions soured, but I ignored them. We had coordinates and codes and pictures. I ripped another meter of insulation from the wall.
Nothing.
We had uppers willing to risk their lives, and knew which colored buttons to use to return to Inside.
Another meter piled on the floor. I choked on the dust, but pulled off another half meter convinced it would be here.
It had to be. Otherwise, I would have made the worst mistake of my entire life.
Believing before seeing. Another meter landed on the pile.
Nothing.
I lost track of how long I worked or of how many meters of wall I exposed or of how many times I scanned the wall. My body transformed into a machine with one task. Find Gateway.
Eventually the fuel was depleted and the machine broke down. It was unable to complete its task. There was nothing to find.