Outside In Part 24

"I've decided I'd wrap my hands around your neck and crush your windpipe first."

"Not helping, Trella."

"That's the point."

He sighed. "I'd hoped my involvement with the Force of Sheep rebellion would have earned me some of your trust."

My gaze flicked to Sloan. "Why did he pull me from the shaft?"

"At first, I was just playing around," Sloan said. "I heard you up in the duct. I planned to let you go, but when I found out about those micsaI lost it. It was like the Pop Cops all over again."

"Captain Trava?" I asked Jacy.

"We need to get the Transmission fixed. He knew the right people and he knows the Controllers are nota They'rea"

"Outsiders," I said.

"I should have known you'd already have that figured out. Who told youa"Bubba Boom?"

I kept my mouth shut.

"James Trava is helping us. He knows what Inside can do. How fast we can travel, how to maneuver our world. It's probably too late, but something had to be done!" He pulled in a few breaths as if to calm down. "That's why I need to know what you've been up to. You could be compromising our efforts."

He had explained the two inconsistencies, but still. "I'm not."

"What about Logan?"

"You should know better than me. He's in protective custody by order of the Committee."

Jacy stepped toward me, balling his hands into tight fists. I feared he would strike me.

Instead, he uncurled his hands and tapped his fingers against his thighs. He looked at Sloan. "Last try?"

"Don't bother. She doesn't believe you, boss. We don't need her. She can stay in the Pit until we have the situation under control," Sloan said.

The Pit? That didn't sound good.

"I would, except we do need her. Go." Jacy cleared a spot off the work table and sat down.

"Is he bringing food and water?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

"No. But if this doesn't work, I'll make sure you're fed."

"Nice of you," I said with a flat tone. "Since we're having this lovely chat, did someone rescue Doctor Lamont?"

"Yes. And Bubba Boom, Hank and a bunch of the maintenance workers have been searching for you ever since, causing us trouble. That's why it took so long to get back here."

"Too bad." Sarcasm laced my words. And when the silence lengthened, I asked about the Pit.

Before he could reply, the door opened. I braced for their "last try" by clamping my lips tight. But when Riley stood there with Sloan, a little yelp of surprise escaped me.

Riley turned on Jacy. "What's this?" He gestured toward me. "You said you were going to talk to her. Let her go. Now!"

Not what I had been expecting. Maybe Riley's anger was part of the ruse.

"She thinks we're the saboteurs," Jacy replied mildly. "How was I supposed to get her to sit down with me for a nice conversation?"

I noted the use of "we're." Nausea rose in my empty stomach.

"That's why I wanted to be the one to convince her," Riley said.

"You're needed elsewhere. We're running out of time." Jacy jumped to his feet. "This has been a total waste of precious time. Sloan, take her to the Pit. We'll manage without her. Riley, are the wires in place?"

"Not yet."

"Then go. Get it done. They're already attached to us. Sloan'll deal with Trella."

Riley didn't move. He met my gaze. "Did Logan find a way around the Outsiders?" he asked.

I might not trust Jacy, but despite Riley's belief, I did trust him. I should have trusted him with the bomb, and I should have tried to figure out what he'd been doing all these weeks. But my own hurt feelings had kept me away from him. Now though, if Riley thought Jacy's gang was doing the right thing, then I had no qualms. "No. Not yet. We think we have one last chance, but it would require a coordinated effort from a bunch of people."

Jacy and Riley exchanged a look.

"I have the manpower," Jacy said. "We can combine our efforts?"

That last bit sounded like a question. "I thought your sources dried up when you joined the Committee."

"Things have changed."

Riley knelt in front of me. "Will you help us, Trell?"

Looking into his eyes, seeing the concern on his face, I couldn't resist him. "Yes."

Free at last, I stood and rubbed feeling back into my muscles.

"What do you need from us?" Jacy asked me.

"We have to confirm that our plan can work first, and then we'll need a few workers we can trust from every system."

"Okay, I'll find you three for each. Is that enough?" Jacy asked.

"Yes."

He nodded and turned to leave.

"Jacy, you said you needed me. What do you want me to do?" I asked.

He glanced at Riley. "You might as well tell her everything. Then get back to those wires."

Riley gave him a mocking salute. "Aye-aye, Captain."

Jacy smiled and left the room.

"Can you tell me in the cafeteria?" I asked. "I'm starving."

"No," Sloan said. "You'll have to be rescued by maintenance. I'll go get everything set up and come back for you." He shot me a sour look before leaving.

"I have a feeling I'm not going to like this," I said.

"I don't like it at all, but it's our best chance," Riley said.

"Just start from the beginning." I sat on the table in the place Jacy had cleared. No way I would sit in that chair again.

"Here's the condensed version. Bubba Boom is working for the Outsiders. He built those bombs and attacked Logan. We don't know how he contacted them, and we don't know who else is helping him. We suspect Hank, but have no proof. Jacy and I are trying to bypa.s.s the Outsiders by building another computer network independent of the existing one. Then we'll switch controls over to the new network. But we can't do that if Bubba Boom is just going to hijack the new network. We need to know more."

I connected the logic. "You want me to get closer to Bubba Boom and find out how he is communicating with the Outsiders?"

"You've been hanging out with him soayeah." He didn't look happy about it.

"He's supposedly helping me with finding the active link to the Outsiders. And searching for Sloan and company. But he doesn't know about Logan."

"That's good."

"Yeah. I guess he wanted to make sure I didn't join Jacy." Fooled me big time. Why was I so easily convinced? Perhaps because I had lost faith in my own judgment.

"He did save your life," Riley said.

"So did you. I'd never have washed off the chemical so fast."

He shrugged. "If you had trustedanever mind."

I grabbed his arms and forced him to look at me. "I do trust you. I would have told Jacy to go recycle himself if you hadn't come in here. I didn't trust myself. I now know I made a mistake by listening to Bubba Boom. A bigahuge mistake and I paid dearly for it." I huffed. "That's why I didn't want to be in charge. What if I make another wrong decision?"

"Then we'll deal with it. I'd rather have you make a mistake then have Outsiders tell us what to do."

"Are you sure? I've made some doozies."

"I'm positive. Besides, you're not the only one to mess up. Jacy screwed up your recruitment, I've done and said things I regret and your mother has had a couple lapses in judgment. Hopefully, Bubba Boom and the Outsiders will make mistakes that we can take advantage of."

He made me feel better, but I didn't fully agree with him. "You shouldn't have anything to regret."

A sad smile touched his lips. "I regret my harsh words. I regret my anger."

"You shouldn't. I needed to hear those words and to be woken up to Inside's problems. Although, I don't have a death wish!"

"I know. Just voicing my frustration. You'd dash off to the rescue, but couldn't see Inside needed more rescuing." His smile reached his eyes this time. "If I only knew to tell you to not get involved, it would have saved us a lot of trouble. Plus, Sheepy's been miserable these last few weeks."

Sloan returned. "The room's ready. Let's go," he said to me.

"What's going on now?"

"I'm gonna lock you in a maintenance closet, we'll tip off Bubba Boom to your location and he'll sweep in for the rescue," Sloan said.

"You can tell him Jacy didn't trust you and wanted you out of the way. Try to getaclose to him. Convince him you're on his side." Riley's queasy expression said more than his words.

I stepped closer to him and lowered my voice. "If you could change one thing, what would it be?"

He pulled the sheep pendant from his pocket. A question filled his eyes. I held out my hand. Riley placed it in my palm and I curled my fingers around the necklace, pressing the metal into my skin.

The trip to the maintenance closet with Sloan was part of the ruse. After giving Riley time to return to his wires, Sloan grabbed my elbow and pulled me along a few corridors in level one. We pa.s.sed a bunch of people who ignored us. I was supposed to look scareda"not hard to do considering I was with Sloan.

He shoved me into the closet. Only two meters wide by two meters long, the closet's shelves had been filled with mechanical parts. Sloan closed the door and turned on the light. No vents.

Sloan pulled out a roll of tape. "Turn around."

"Excuse me?"

Spinning me around, he yanked my wrists behind my back and taped them together, rolling the tape a few centimeters up my arms. He pushed me down to the floor, and did the same to my ankles.

"It's gotta look real," he said, but a perverse little smile played on his lips.

Being small may be beneficial when climbing through the ducts, but it sucked big time against Jacy's oversized goons. I needed to get my stun gun back.

"Did Jacy tell you to do this?"

"No. I really don't like you. Figured this is a little payback for not trusting us scrubs enough that you had to place a microphone over our barracks."

He ripped off another section of tape and slapped it over my mouth. My head jerked back and a stinging pain radiated over my jaw. I didn't know how or when, but I silently vowed that I would retaliate in some way.

"I hope it takes your boyfriend a long time to find you." He clicked off the light and locked me in the dark.

16.

AFTER I CONCOCTED A LIST OF CREATIVE WAYS TO pay Sloan back, I squirmed into a more comfortable position. Sloan had my arms pinned too tight for me to bring my hands forward.

Should I try to escape? From my brief glance of the parts and supplies on the shelves, I figured I could find something sharp enough to cut through the tape. If this were indeed a real abduction, then I would try my best to get free.

Getting up on my feet was harder to do than I expected. Once stable, I hopped over to the light switch. Or rather to where I thought the switch was located. I b.u.mped into the door, then rubbed my cheek on the cold metal wall to find the light. It was too high for my hands to reach, but I managed to flick the tab up with my shoulder.

I inspected the shelves, and discovered one positive aspect of my imprisonment. Sloan had taped my wrists so that my palms touched. If I found a sharp object, I could grab it with my fingers and saw through. If he had turned my wrists the opposite way, I wouldn't be able to manipulate an item as well.

I also searched for sharp edges jutting from the shelves that I could rub the tape against. The metal bins on the left side contained nuts, bolts, rivets and washers. Tubes, electrical connectors and rolls of wire filled the bins along the back wall. Finally on the right wall, I found a pile of nails. Long pointy nails.