The Millionth Week #4
“Sip. Don’t gulp or you’ll be throwing it up and I’ve already changed these sheets a dozen times.”
Yikes.
“Don’t worry that’s one of the infirmary beds you’re on.”
“Zavier why am I here and not in the infirmary?”
“Do you want something to eat? I’ve some broth the doctor brought for you.”
“I want—”
“No can do. Stop asking me questions and concentrate on healing.”
“Or what?”
He brandished a syringe. “Or I’ll inject this into your IV and it’ll make you sleep.”
She glared at him. “You wouldn’t dare. I outrank you.”
He sighed and did just that.
It took nine weeks for Adia to declare Cleo strong enough to find out what was going on in Inside. She sat in the recliner, which she’d walked to on her own, after taking a shower without help. She ate a thick soup and no longer had the IV in her arm.
Zavier had taken care of her without complaint, or sarcasm, or answering her questions. No snide comments or dragging up old arguments. If Adia didn’t tell Cleo she was doing well, Cleo would have worried she would soon be recycled.
Zavier sat on the chair he used when accessing the computer. His face was lined with exhaustion, and he’d aged. They were both about thirty-five centiweeks old, but he looked older.
“Do you want the current state of affairs or for me to start at the beginning?” he asked.
“Might as well start at the beginning.”
He rubbed his face and took a quick swallow of an acrid smelling liquid.
Most likely contraband. “I found you in Sector E1 with a knife in your back, lying in a pool of your blood.” He paused.
“I contacted Doctor Adia right away and she came with a trauma kit and a gurney. I helped Adia get you on the gurney and she performed emergency surgery right here.” He spreads his hands, indicating the living area.
”I assisted. It was good to see you actually have a heart. I always wondered.”
Cleo smiled at his jab. It meant she was getting better. “Why here and not in the infirmary?”
“There was a coup. After you were assassinated, a group of Insiders stormed the control room and took over control of Inside.”
Another reaction the committee had failed to anticipate. But then the reality of the situation sank in and her newly healed heart skipped a few beats. “Is…are they…are my team, okay?” No longer hungry, she set the bowl down.
Grief softened his expression. “No. They’ve been recycled. And you, too.”
“Me?”
“Kane, the man who knifed you and now calls himself captain, was convinced you wouldn’t survive.
With good reason. Foul air, Cleo, it’s a miracle you didn’t!
” He ran a hand through his hair. “It took a few hours before his crew came to collect your body. As Adia was prepping you for surgery, I messaged one of her loyal medics and asked them to bring down a body bag and mannequin, which they use to train the interns.”
He huffed out a breath. “I’m glad one of us didn’t panic.
By the time Kane’s people arrived, they had zipped up the mannequin in the bag and used your blood to stain the place where your injury would be.
Those bags are made of a thin fabric. The medic said they didn’t bother to check who was inside, just tossed you on top of the pile, but they made sure to take the knife.
Then they fed everyone to Chomper without ceremony. ”
No wonder he looked so haggard.
“No memorial parade through the hallways?”
“No, and thousands of citizens are upset by the coup.” Zavier took her hand in his and squeezed. “You were well liked.”
Small comfort. “What does Kane want?”
“Not to go to Outside. They’ve switched the direction of the transmission. We’re accelerating.”
Cleo wilted. She was an utter failure. “How did they switch it?”
“They didn’t recycle the chief officers. Ofira helped them.”
She sat straighter. “Rawson and his peace keepers! We can—”
“We can’t.” He gave her a defeated look.
“He’s part of the usurpers?” She slouched back in the chair at his nod. “Who else is part of the coup?”
“Kane’s the leader, Rawson and his peace keepers are all in, a few maintenance workers, and a dozen others. We don’t have all their names.”
“We?”
“Not everyone is going to just accept Kane and his crew. Doctor Adia is playing along to save people from being recycled. Same with Ofira. A bunch of us have been discussing a way we can take back control.”
She blinked at him. Take back control without the peace keepers? Unlikely. “And what way is that?”
“The control room is key. If we can regain access, then we can—”
“Do what? The peace keepers will just break in and stun us all.”
He grimaced.
“Now what?”
“Rawson and Kane have kill-zappers.”
“But they were destroyed over a hundred thousand weeks ago!”
“Apparently not. Someone long ago decided to keep a dozen or so just in case.”
“Is that how…” The words lodged in her throat.
“Yes. They used the kill-zappers on Mazin and your team.”
“Then why did Kane use…” Again, the words refused to be spoken. She made a stabbing motion.
“We don’t know. Right now, that’s low on the priority list. Getting into the control room is at the top.”
“They have kill-zappers. Kill. Zappers. It’s impossible.”
A ghost of a smile crossed his face. He released her hand and leaned back. “What do you know about the Force of Sheep?”
“A flock of sheep? Isn’t that as many sheep as we can fit into one sector?”
“No. The Force of Sheep. They ended the Trava takeover. The Trava family had taken control of all the systems in Inside, including the peace keepers, who were called the population control police at that time. The Travis had been armed with kill-zappers and yet the Force of Sheep managed to stop them.”
“That’s ancient history. Plus, things have changed.”
“Surprisingly not that much. I found files. Detailed files on how they accomplished the impossible. We can follow their example.”
Their example included Cleo crawling through an air shaft at the beginning of week 999,836. Yes, an air shaft of all places. The home of the air cleaning trolls. Apparently, the little critters could be quite useful. Who knew?
Why was Cleo chosen for this particular task?
She was the smallest of the Force of Sheep Part Two (FOSP2).
As she scrambled, crawled, and slid, trying not to make noise, she towed a troll named Sheepy.
Apparently, a man named Sheepy was an important part of the rebellion, helping overthrow the Trava family.
Cleo’s healing chest and back muscles protested every movement. FOSP2 couldn’t wait until she was fully recovered. Time was not on their side, which was rather ironic, considering they had had a million weeks of time. If they don’t slowdown in time, they would fly right by Outside.
All things considered, her job was rather simple.
If you deemed traveling through the air shafts until she reached the one over the control room simple.
Protective bars had been installed on all possible entrances to the control room, however, as captain, she could unlock them.
As captain, she had overrides to almost everything, but not the transmission, in Inside.
They limited the use of Cleo’s override in order to avoid alerting Kane of their plans. A good idea.
Cleo marveled over how Zavier had stepped up.
He led the FOSP2. He had found the schematics for various technology to counter kill-zappers and stunners.
Then he sought out the technicians to create these devices.
He recruited maintenance workers, laundry and kitchen staff, disgruntled peace keepers, the chiefs of all the systems, and others to join the FOSP2.
It was his plan that they were executing.
The first step had been causing small glitches in various life sustaining systems until Kane summoned Ofira to the control room to fix them. Then while she was there, one of his crew would pass out, and he would call for Doctor Adia.
Both Ofira and Adia should be in the control room when Cleo arrived.
Getting through the bars was easy. She hoped Kane didn’t know about the captain’s override.
When she was promoted, there had been a ceremony, where her biometrics had been entered into the system, giving her the ability to take back control if there was a revolt.
But with Kane having the peace keepers and kill-zappers, she couldn’t just bypass Kane, or he’d probably take hostages, threatening to recycle more people if Cleo didn’t cooperate. Of course, she’d cooperate!
Cleo reached the air vent above the control room and peered through the slats. Ofira leaned over the woman who sat in Ensign Hieu’s place, barking orders. Nice to know somethings didn’t change.
Adia knelt over a prone figure. “I think he’s dehydrated, and sleep deprived.” She glared at a tall broad-shouldered man standing nearby. “Don’t you give your crew any time off?”
“That’s not your concern.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but Kane yanked a weapon from his belt. “He’s weak. Stand aside.”
“No,” Adia said.
Without thought, Cleo flipped a switch on the cleaning troll, activating him to do his special job. Then she opened the vent, and dangled her legs out, dropping to the floor with a thud. She caught Sheepy before he could crash land.
Everyone turned to stare at her. She wore a skin-tight one-piece that left her hands and feet bare. Handy for traveling through the shafts but not for appearing intimidating. Not like Kane. Short brown hair, thick muscles, and scars on his hands. Probably one of the maintenance workers.
Kane huffed a laugh. “You’re harder to recycle than expected. No matter, I can rectify that.” He returned his weapon to his belt and withdrew his knife. “This time I won’t miss and I can enjoy the feel of your blood on my hands a second time.” Kane advanced on Cleo.
“You’re nothing but a sick coward, Kane,” Cleo said. “You stabbed me in the back. I had no chance to defend myself. What was the matter? Didn’t think you could best me in a fair fight?”