Outside In Part 30

"Where are we going?"

"To the roof."

Logan's rescue had gone smoothly. That worried me as I guided Logan to the top of level ten. My safety rope remained in placea"another good sign. I had the pulley hooked onto my belt and I found a few extra kilograms to attach as well.

Before climbing up the Wall of the Expanse, I said, "Even with the pulley, I'm not strong enough to hoist you all the way to the top. So I'm going to use myself as a counterweight. As I sink down, you should rise up. Once you're at the top, grab onto the ladder and climb up a few rungs. I'll join you as soon as I can."

It had been five weeks since I had scaled the forty-five meters to the bottom rung of the ladder. Five hectic, muscle-bruising, energy-sapping weeks. And I felt every single one of them as I pulled myself from handhold to handhold.

Sweating, panting and nauseous, I finally reached the last rung. I clung to it as cramps and spasms plagued my body. It seemed like I lost another week while waiting to recover.

I secured the pulley to the rung, and threaded the rope through the wheels, dropping the end down to Logan. Vibrations traveled up the fibers as he tied it to his safety harness.

My plan workeda"not exactly as I had hoped since I had taken on too much weight and fell faster than expected, but without any dire injuries. Returning to the top was a test of my endurance; I almost gave up around thirty meters, but pushed on.

We didn't encounter any new problems during the rest of the trip to the ceiling. I opened the near-invisible hatch and collapsed on the floor of level seventeen.

The daylights snapped on and Logan yelled in surprise over the sudden appearance of the Bubble Monster and his kid brother.

"Transport vehicles like the Outsiders used," I said to calm him.

"Oh."

"Ignore them, look at the walls." I didn't have the energy to play tour guide so he explored on his own.

From his cries of glee, moans of delight and pure ecstatic woots, I knew he understood the symbols and diagrams on the walls.

When I recovered, I found him tracing an array of.a.glyphs. His mouth hung open and his finger moved along the raised metal with reverence.

"Did you find out how to work the air plant manually?" I asked.

"Huh?"

I snapped my fingers in his face. "Air plant. Outsiders. Remember?"

"Yes, buta" His gaze returned to the wall. "These markingsa They're incredible. They're our history! They're blueprints for our whole world! I'm sure there are schematics for the whole network. Our ancestors or the builders put this here in case we lost the computers, or forgot why we're here. It'sa It'sa" He stroked the wall again.

"Focus, Logan. Will it help us?"

"Oh yes." He shuffled along the wall, exclaiming over various symbols.

"So you found the data for the air plant?"

"No."

I yanked on his ear until I had his full attention. "Logan, we need to reclaim the air plant. We don't have much time. You can drool over all this later. How can I help?"

He described what the schematics of the air plant would look like. I searched the south and then west walls, while he continued with the east. He moved faster than me and had looped around the room, reaching the north wall before me.

The series of beeps alerted me. I would never forget that sound. Running as fast as possible, I still couldn't reach him before he finished entering the code.

"It's just likea"oof!"

I tackled him to the ground.

"What's wrong?" he asked. The squeal of metal filled the room. "Oh."

Logan had opened the large door on the north wall. It was big enough to fit the huge transport vehicle. That same vehicle that could probably fly through Outer s.p.a.ce. Which meant that Outer s.p.a.ce must be waiting on the other side of the door.

The noise rattled my teeth and vibrated in my bones. Not wasting a second, I dragged Logan over to one of the legs of the transport.

"Hang on," I said, bracing for the absence of air, the skin freezing cold and the floating sensation.

The door finished moving with a bang. Daylights clicked on beyond the entrance, revealing an empty room with walls covered with more symbols.

Logan c.o.c.ked his head. "Why are we clinging for dear life?"

"I thought Outer s.p.a.ce was on the other side. That door reminded me of when Cogon and I had opened Gateway."

"Sorry. I guess I should have told you."

"Told me what?"

"This door leads to a s.p.a.ceport." He walked into the room.

I followed him. The area was much larger than I had first thought. It appeared to be as long as two Sectors, but only one Sector wide. Three doors at equidistant intervals were on each of the two long sides, including the open one. And one door at the end.

He gestured to the doors. "There are seven bays that contain two transport vehicles. The Scout and the bigger Cargo vehicle. They can come out here, then the doors all close anda" He pointed at the ceiling. A huge hatch occupied the center. "Fly out to Outer s.p.a.ce."

"How do you know all that?"

"I read it on the wall."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I thought you saw something."

I drew in a deep calming breath. "Let's keep looking for the air plant information."

Keeping Logan focused, I hustled him along the port. We searched the next two bays, but didn't find anything until we opened the third bay. Then he cried out with more excitement than the last ten times. He had found the information on how to manually run the plant.

I gave him a spare receiver and microphone, letting him explain it to Riley. Then we decided he should remain up here to explore and learn everything he could. I would tie a bucket to the rope so I could use the pulley and send up supplies, food and water.

"How are you going to get into the air plant?" Logan asked. "Hank's people are there."

"Anne-Jade has to make good on a promise."

"But she doesn't have any weapons or manpower, and you don't have Zippy."

"We'll work it out."

"Good luck. You're going to need it."

Anne-Jade had hidden a few stunners, and she also had a number of anti-stunners for our force. To tell the truth, it wasn't much of a force. Word had already spread throughout Inside that the Outsiders were coming to reclaim control over us. While many worried, more seemed grateful, claiming the Outsiders would solve all of Inside's problems. Hank and Bubba Boom hadn't needed me to be their prophet after all.

At hour sixty, week 146,026, Anne-Jade led a group that contained three of her lieutenants, ten of Jacy's goons, Sloan and Riley. I scouted ahead, crawling through the ducts over the air plant, counting how many maintenance workersa"sevena"and reporting their locations back to Anne-Jade.

It was a beautiful raid. Anne-Jade and her lieutenants charged into the plant and stunned most of the maintenance workers before they knew what hit them. A couple of Hank's men fought back, swinging large wrenches. The supervisor pulled his stunner and disabled a few of Jacy's goons before Anne-Jade shot him.

By the time I jumped down from the air shaft, the fight was over. We had taken the plant.

"We have the air plant. What's next?" Anne-Jade asked.

"We disconnect the computer and work the controls the old-fashioned way."

"Old-fashioned?" she asked.

"Manually."

"You can do that?"

"Not me. Riley." I pointed. He and Sloan had unscrewed the main console's covering. They bent over the jumble of wires and circuits with rubber-handled pliers. "Logan's talking him through it right now."

Anne-Jade acted a bit strange. She kept glancing at the entrance where two of her lieutenants guarded the door. And she kept tugging the collar of her uniform as if it chafed her skin.

"Logan sounded in his glory when I talked to him earlier," Anne-Jade said.

"He's been exploring and learning all about the history of Inside and how it works. It's only a matter of time until we get back control of our life systems, and send the Outsiders away."

"I wish I'd known your plans before you rescued Logan," Anne-Jade said.

"We've been sort of making them up on the fly. Why?"

Anne-Jade touched her neck. "When they had him in the brig on level five, the Outsiders threatened to put a command collar on him. You know he would have been a mess. He doesn't do well with pain."

"What are you trying to tell me?" I asked, even though I had my suspicions and they weren't pleasant.

"I'm wearing the collar meant for him. I agreed toa""

"Work for us," a familiar voice said.

I turned. Hank, Bubba Boom and Ponife stood in the doorway.

19.

ANNE-JADE AIMED HER STUNNER AT RILEY. HE DIDN'T have an anti-stunner. I yelled a warning to him as I knocked her arm aside, causing her to miss. Riley ducked behind the console.

She cursed and pointed the gun at me. Now I knew why I didn't get an anti-stunner as well. "Sorry, Trella. I really am. I guess I lost faith in the Force of Sheep."

Hank's people ran into the plant, shouting at Jacy's goons to surrender. They were armed with kill-zappers.

Hank, Bubba Boom and Ponife drew closer to us. I glanced around. All the members of our forcea"except Anne-Jade's mena"knelt on the floor with their hands behind their heads.

I met Riley's gaze. He inclined his head toward the air console. A tendril of smoke rose from it.

Lowering my voice, I said to her, "We know how to disable the collar."

She covered her surprise as Hank and his smug entourage reached us. Ponife wore the standard off-duty clothes of an upper, but there was no hiding his sickly-colored skin.

The smoke thickened and puffed from the console.

Riley shouted, "Fire," and dove to the floor as a bright light flashed.

I followed his example. A microsecond later a boom shook the room. A wave of energy knocked anyone on their feet to the ground. Riley and a few others bolted toward the door during the ensuing confusion. I was close behind them when a sharp pain ringed my neck, knocking me flat. We hadn't disabled my collar after all. And now, Hank and the Outsiders knew our plans to bypa.s.s the computer. Knew about the instructions on the walls of the port.

They had let me escape and allowed Logan to be rescued. A ruse to discover Jacy and Riley's strategy. It had worked. I'd been a fool.

Awareness crept back. Shapes coalesced from my haze of agony and sharpened into Hank and Ponife. Their words reached me, but failed to make sense inside my head until I concentrated. My memory returned. I had been taken to another cell on level 5a"this one without any ventsa"and questioned. Repeatedly.

"Her vitals off the scale. Her heart will notatolerate more at this time," Ponife said. "Anotherasession will stop it."

Hank hovered over me. "Do you understand him? One more blast and you'll die." I nodded.

"Last chance, Trella. Where are Riley and Jacy?"

"Level one." My words were just audible.

Hank leaned close. "Where on level one?"

"Sectora"

He c.o.c.ked his head to the side to hear me better.

"Sectora" I wrapped my hands around his throat and squeezed with all my strength.

Ponife twisted the metal X and my body numbed from my neck down. The up sidea"no more pain. The downa"Hank removed my hands.

"d.a.m.n, she's stubborn," Hank said, rubbing his throat.

"We can threaten to harm her frienda Anne-Jade wears a collar," Ponife said.

"I don't think they're friends anymore. Buta" He considered. "We can find someone she does care about. Release her."