Outside In Part 10

"Probably." His smile didn't last long.

"What's the damage?"

"Ten airafilter bays. The computera""

"I meant you."

"Oh. Burns over fifty percenta"" he puffed "a"of my body." He pressed the mask to his face and inhaled deeply for a few minutes. "Lost my visionabut it might beatemporary."

Horror swept over me and I squeezed his hand. "Might? That's vague."

"Doctor Lamontawill know betterain time."

"How much time?"

He shook his head. "Don't know."

I waited as he drank in more of the oxygen-rich air flowing from the mask. "I have a million questions, but I'll ask you them later. Just answer this one. Do you think the fire was an act of sabotage or an attack aimed at you?"

"Both."

The news inflamed the burns on my skin, sending a hot surge of fear. "Why aren't you surrounded by guards?" "He's protected," Anne-Jade said. She poked her head in between the curtain's overlap.

I jumped. "How long have you been listening?"

"I've been here the whole time."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?"

She smiled. "I didn't want to interrupt."

"Yeah right. You were hoping to overhear something juicy."

Parting the fabric, she stood next to her brother's bed. Anne-Jade glanced at him and then me. "And just how much juice do you think I could get from a couple of overcooked mutton chops like yourselves?"

Logan's laughter turned into a coughing fit.

"Okay. Point taken. Who else knows about the attack?"

"The Committee has been informed of both sabotages and the attempt on Logan's life."

She gripped the rail on Logan's bed as if a great weight rested on her shoulders. All humor fled her eyes and I realized she teetered on the edge of exhaustion.

Even though I was reluctant to ask, and I could probably guess the answer, I had to hear it from her. "And the Committee's response?"

"Lockdown and search of all levels."

Now I had to grab the rail or risk falling to the floor. We had come full circle. Instead of Pop Cops policing the lower levels, we now had ISF officers. They would confine everyone to their barracks until they could do a thorough search for evidence. At least, they included the upper levels.

Anne-Jade said, "Do you have any better ideas? We can't let them keep blowing and burning up vital life systems. We also brought Ivie and Kadar in for questioning."

"How dida""

"We found your wipe board in the hallway outside the air plant. I remembered the names from our discussion with Bubba Boom."

"But you don't have any proof they're involved. Just his suspicions."

"Doesn't matter. There could be another explosion or at tempt to get to Logan or you."

"Me? Why would theya""

"To prevent you from discovering any more surprises. They're still reeling from the fact we're in a big ship and we have all this extra room to spread out."

Good thing I'd kept the bubble monster to myself.

Anne-Jade then asked me how I had gotten to the air plant so fast. "Did someone ask you to meet there?"

"No." I explained about leaving Riley's, but omitted the fact I had been going to find her. Any chance to discover what Ivie and Kadar had been up to had been ruined. And if they had been working with anyone, it would be impossible to find out now.

"A lucky coincidence," Anne-Jade said. She smoothed Logan's hair. "By the time the fire response team arrived they could only go a few meters into the plant. If you hadn't dragged Logan closera"

"Who pulled us out?"

"Bubba Boom carried you and Hank from maintenance grabbed Logan."

"How's the plant?"

"Bad. Smoke spread throughout Inside and made a bunch of people sick. Half the air filters are burnt to a crisp. The air workers are rigging up a temporary cleaning system, but it won't last long. When you're feeling better, they're going to need you to help install filters in the air ducts. It's another temporary measure."

Logan lifted his mask again. "Plant fire alsoaa distraction."

"And a lure to get you in harm's way," Anne-Jade said.

"No. A distraction fromacomputer."

Dread twisted and I wished I had stayed in my bed. "What's wrong with the computer?"

"Compromised."

My chest felt as if my body had gotten stuck in a tight pipe. "How bad?"

"Don't knowaI need toasee."

I considered. Besides the burning from the smoke, my vision hadn't been affected by the heat. "Logan, was there an explosion in the air plant before the fire?"

"No. Light exploded froma"" Another coughing fit seized him. "Fromathe computer monitor. It burnedamy eyes."

Anne-Jade and I shared a horrified look.

"Who coulda?" I couldn't even say the words.

"I could," Logan said.

"Who else?" his sister demanded.

"A fewaof the Travas. Maybe Riley." He drew on the mask for a few breaths. "Domotor. Trella's father."

"Nolan's been fertilizer for over fifteen centiweeks," I said, dismissing him.

"According toaKarla Trava." He shrugged. "She didn't recycle youa""

"We don't know that for sure." I squelched any and all hope. It was ludicrous. "Besides, he would have revealed himself after the rebellion."

Another shrug. I mulled over his list. Not Riley and I doubted Domotor, so that left the Travas. "Are there any working computers in Sector D4?"

Anne-Jade scowled at me. "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"We disabled them," Logan said.

"Could they have hooked them back up?" And before Anne-Jade could snap at me, I added, "They don't have anything else to do. And you and Logan made a number of amazing devices just from recycled parts so it's a valid question."

She scratched her arm absently. "I guess it's possible. I'll have a team go in and check." Huffing in annoyance, she slid her hand under her sleeve and rubbed harder.

Logan reached out blindly and touched her arm. "Stop it. Doctor Lamont saidato leave itaalone or it'll get infected."

"But it itches," she said between gritted teeth.

"What happened?" I asked her.

She pushed up her sleeve, revealing white bandages like the ones on Logan and my arms. "I donated skin so the Doctor could grow my brother a new coat."

Logan smiled. "I'm covered with girl germsadon't tell Riley."

"Maybe you'll be smarter now," she quipped. "I'd like to think you will appreciate having a sister more, but I doubt it."

I remembered he had said he had been burned on over fifty percent of his body. "He needed skin grafts from you to live. Didn't he?"

"Yes. I matched his skin type, which doesn't always happen with siblings."

Glancing at my own bandaged arms, I wondered how badly I had been burned. I met Anne-Jade's steady gaze.

"You weren't as bad as Logan, but you needed skin grafts to survive as well," she said.

She shifted her stance as if challenging me to ask her who donated skin cells for me; either that or she prepared for a fight. I didn't have the energy to deal with either so I said goodbye and shuffled back to my bed.

The effort to visit Logan had exhausted me. Grateful for the flow of clean air, I inhaled large lung-filling breaths from my mask. Funny how I had taken something as vital as breathing for granteda"not paying it one bit of attention until it had become a problem.

The next time I woke, the daylights brightened the infirmary and half of my curtain had been pushed back. Lamont rolled a small table toward me. Stocked with clean bandages, salve, a bowl of water and a sponge, I grimaced in antic.i.p.ation. She planned to change my dressing and clean the burns.

Hour two glowed on the clock. Another ten hours lost to injury. Another week gone. We were now on week 147,022.

Lamont tried a smile, but thought better of it. She kept her tone and mannerisms all business. Doctor to patient. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been stuffed into an oven and twice baked."

Amus.e.m.e.nt flashed on her face. She tucked a long strand of her hair that had escaped her braid behind her ear. Wearing her light green shirt and pants, she looked ready for surgery. "You know I need toa""

"Just get it over withaplease."

With deft fingers, she peeled the bandages from my left arm, starting at the wrist. "You might not want to see your skin. It's not fully healed yet and will look likea"

I waited.

"Raw meat. But it will return to normal healthy skin. I even removed the scars on your arms and legs fromabefore."

"You can do that?"

"It's considered cosmetic surgery. I normally wouldn't do it for arms or legs. Faces, yes. But since you needed so much skin alreadya"

"Oh. Thanks."

Without the dressing the air stung my skin. I braced for the touch of water and it didn't disappoint, feeling like liquid fire as it ran down my arm. I hissed in pain.

"Do you want a pain pill?" she asked.

"Noathank you. They make me sleepy and I've slept enough." Why was I being so polite? Because this woman saved your life.

I kept that thought in mind as she changed all the bandages. My extremities fared the worst. When she finished my bedding and gown were soaked, and so were her sleeves. She pushed them up to help me switch to a clean bed and I froze.

White bandages peeked out from under the wet fabric on both of her arms. I stared at them, knowing what they meant, but not wanting to really believe it. Finally, I pulled my gaze away and met hers.

"You were going to die," she said. "We needed to find you a match."

8.

"AND YOU MATCHED MY SKIN TYPE?" I ASKED.

Struggling to keep her professional demeanor, Lamont nodded. Impressive considering I stood less than a meter from her. The fact we matched meant I was her daughter. The daughter she had thought had been fed to Chomper over fifteen hundred weeks ago. Alive andanot quite well, but living and breathing.

How would I feel if Cogon returned from Outer s.p.a.ce and he hated me for leaving him out there? Thrilled and awful at the same time.

But I couldn't get the image of her standing with Karla Trava in the main Control Room out of my mind. She had searched all the faces in the room and didn't recognize me. Shouldn't a mother recognize her own daughter no matter how old she was? Plus the fact that she had been there with Karla in the first place, cooperating with her, endangering thousands of people for her own selfish desire.