Outside In Part 31

Feeling returned in a sudden rush. I gasped as pins and needles attacked my skin. But the pain was a small distraction compared to the self-satisfied gleam in Hank's eyes.

"You can tell us where your boyfriend is hiding, or Bubba Boom will invite your mother up here for a little visit."

An impotent fury burned in the pit of my stomach. I bit my lip. "Level one, Sector H1."

"That wasn't so bad now, was it?" Hank's condescending tone grated on my nerves. He lumbered to his feet and moved toward the door.

"Why didn't the EMP disable the collar?" I asked Ponife before he could follow Hank.

"It is protected," he said.

I ran my fingers over it. "What's it made of?"

"Living metal. An ingenious piece of technology we have perfected."

After they had secured the cell's door, I lay on the mat and wondered how long it would be until they figured out I had sent them to the waste-handling plant. Not to any hiding places. I didn't know Riley's or Jacy's location.

Then it occurred to me that if my collar had been working all along, Ponife knew all the places I'd been. Hank hadn't asked about the Expanse or the port. Which might mean Ponife had kept that information from him. An interesting possibility that I may be able to use to my advantage.

Ponife returned hours later with Fosord, the other Outsider. No Hank. I pushed up to my elbow and regarded them. They both wore uppers' clothes and solemn expressions. Ponife held the metal X in his right hand.

Fosord gestured to me. "Come."

No real choice, I gained my feet and followed Fosord. Ponife stayed behind me as we navigated the brig on level five. The closed doors with the red light glowing near the lock meant the cell was occupied. I stopped counting after tena"too depressing.

At one door, Fosord stopped and slid back the metal panel.

"Look," he said.

Dread rose like bile in my throat. I swallowed it down. Peering into the cell, I saw Jacy. Bruises covered his face and he tugged at something invisible around his necka"probably a collar. Fosord shut the panel before I could say anything.

He did the same thing at the next cell. I refused to move, but his gaze slid behind me.

"Trella," Ponife warned.

Bracing for another shock, I glanced inside. Logan sat on the mat with his head buried in his hands. We moved to the next cell. Riley lay on a mat as if asleep, but he could have been unconscious. Blood dripped from a large gash across his forehead and temple. My legs refused to hold me up and I sank to the ground. Fosord closed the panel.

Ponife crouched next to me. "See? We have all your friends. You will cooperate now."

"You don't need me," I said. "Unless you have injured?"

"No. Come."

Once again wedged between the Outsiders, we left the brig and walked through level five toward Quad A5. The hallways were filled with Outsiders. I shouldn't have been surprised. Many of them still wore their white suits and helmets.

"They're getting used to the air," Ponife said.

We climbed up to the top of the half-completed level ten. I stopped in amazement. Bright daylights filled the Expanse, reflecting off the ceiling. And the Outsiders had attached a lift to the west Wall, explaining the smooth groove and tracks I had noticed on one of my early explorations.

An odd thought occurred to me. It seemed we've been stumbling around in the dark for thousands of weeks, while these Outsiders had no trouble making everything work for them. Maybe our ancestors had stolen this ship from them.

I turned to Ponife. "Why didn't you try to talk to us? We probably could have worked out an agreement between us."

"We do not want to beaa part of your world. We want our ship back."

His answer confused me. "You want to be in charge, right? And make the rules?"

Ponife attempted to smile. I shuddered at the creepy effort and hoped he wouldn't do it again. "No. We want our ship back and youagone."

Oh. No. "As in gone gone?"

"Like your ancestors had done to us." He gestured to the ceiling. "Put you in transports with little food and supplies and send you all out to die in s.p.a.ce."

My emotions flipped from horrified to terrified and back. "Why did theya""

"It does not matter why!" Fosord shouted, grabbing my shirt and slamming me into the Wall. "No crime deserves such punishment. Your people areasavages. You kill your own and crush them intoapulp."

I thought it best not to argue with him.

He released me. "Tell her," he said to Ponife.

"You will help us find everyone," he said. "Hank says you know all the hiding places. We want everyone gone."

Even overwhelmed with the information, I still couldn't help asking, "Even Hank?"

"Yes. Everyone," Fosord snapped.

Ponife glared at him. Fosord wasn't supposed to tell me that. Good to know they can make mistakes.

"Does Hank know?" I asked.

"No. And you will not tell him," Ponife said. He held up the X. "Understand?"

"Yes." I just needed a little time alone with Ponife and his X. For him to forget to keep his distance from me. Just one lapse in judgment.

Fosord led us onto the lift. It rose up the Wall. Hanging next to it in the bright daylights was my safety rope. We reached the ladder and the pulley remained in place.

"You are certainly resourcefulafor a savage," Fosord said to me.

A section of the ceiling had been removed. The lift shot through the gap and stopped level with the floor. Outsiders milled around the Bubbleaeratransport vehicles.

"We are preparing them for yourajourney," Ponife explained.

"Will we know how to operate them?"

"Yes. Several of your people are quiteaable," Fosord said.

"When are we leaving?"

"As soon as the Transmission is repaired. We will not make the same mistake and let you catch us." Ponife gestured to the bays. "Hank says you did not know this place, or Outer s.p.a.ce existed until recently?" He seemed amused.

"We had a bit of trouble about fifteen thousand weeks ago."

Ponife and Fosord exchanged a glance. Interesting.

"What trouble?" Ponife asked.

"Another rebellion. According to the records, saboteurs deleted a bunch of computer files. The Trava family defeated them and took over control of Inside to avoid any more issues. We thought the sabotage was a ruse by the Trava family to justify their takeover, buta" I shrugged. "Maybe it had happened. We thought the Controllers were a fabrication as well."

Another look pa.s.sed between the Outsiders.

"There is some truth. We controlled all Inside's mechanical and life systems." Ponife thumped his chest. "While the nine families bred like rabbits and took care of all the soft jobsa" He cast about as if looking for the right words. "Soft like growing and cooking food, cleaning clothing and raising children. The Trava family were the saboteurs. They wanted more." His speech had winded him even though, of the two, he had seemed to adjust to our air faster.

I mulled over his story. Fosord mentioned a crime when he had been upset, which didn't match this explanation at all.

When he regained his breath, I asked, "Why are you working with Karla Trava then?"

"She offered her help," Fosord answered instead.

"But you can't trust her."

"She doesn't know. The Trava family created a new history and deleted all records of the old. After enough time pa.s.sed and the following generations grew up learning this false history, no one questioned it," Ponife said.

Yet they had. Stories of Gateway had persisted. The Controllers had transformed into mythical beings. Beings the Travas listened to. As Logan had explained, the Controllers were Inside's operating parameters, fail-safes and the keeper of directives set by the builders. If I believed Logana"which I dida"then when the Travas took over, they naturally accessed the Controller files to learn how to run our world.

So who were the Outsiders?

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"Once all your people are on the ships, you can tell the others why they have been exiled," Ponife said.

"Really? Sounds like you're feeling guilty." The comment sailed from my mouth without censure. Big mistake.

Their expressions hardened.

"We do not tolerate insolence." Ponife played with the X, bending the one leg back and forth.

The first wave of pain brought me to my knees. The second jolt forced me to the floor and the third seized my muscles and wouldn't let go. Each one lasted longer than the last until they all blurred together.

I woke back in my cell. As I lay on the mat, I reviewed everything Ponife had told me. Besides being touchy over the reason for their exile, all I had was their version of the events fifteen thousand weeks ago. I tried to think of a way to counter their plans, but failed to come up with a brilliant strategy.

Time pa.s.sed and I wasn't any closer to a solution. I marked the hours by the arrival of food and water. The meals were delivered on trays slid through the panel into my cell. If Hank would believe me, I'd tell him he was going to be exiled with the rest of us. But Hank never came to my cell without Ponife.

The metallic sc.r.a.pe of my panel opening woke me from a light doze. A hand held the end of the tray. I recognized the thick callused fingers and an idea popped into my head. I removed the meal and seized his wrist, yanking his arm inside my cell.

The element of surprise would only net me a few seconds. "Listen, please," I said before Bubba Boom could break free. "One minute."

He stopped. "Thirty seconds," Bubba Boom said.

"You once told me the Controllers wouldn't torture or trick people. But I've been tortured and tricked."

"You lied and were spying for Jacy," he said.

"So? When the Committee was in charge, we didn't torture or trick the Travas. We treated them well. Anne-Jade wouldn't even resort to strong-arm methods to get them to help us repair the Transmission. And we had no plans to recycle the Travas either."

"The Controllers won't kill anyone. You're trying to confuse me."

"No, I'm not. Think about it, Bubba Boom. I'm at Ponife's mercy. He's forcing my cooperation. Just like the Pop Cops did to you long ago."

Silence. I pressed my advantage. "You also told me we're their children who have run away. Do you even know why we ran?" I released his arm.

Bubba Boom drew it back and closed the panel. I hoped he would think about what I had said, but I had no idea if I had reached him or not.

A few meals later, my panel slid open. No tray came through, but Bubba Boom peered at me from the other side.

"The Transmission is repaired," he said.

No time left. No idea how to stop the Outsiders. No hope of rescue. Anyone who had the resources or determination had been captured.

"Did they tell you what's next?" I asked.

"Yes." He waited.

"Are they still planning to send everyone out into Outer s.p.a.ce?" I asked.

"How do you know?"

"Ponife told me."

"Did he tell you that those who aided the Controllers will be allowed to stay?"

"No. Fosord said everyone."

"You're lying."

"I wish I were."

Bubba Boom shut the panel.

The next time my door opened, Ponife rushed in. His agitation was clear. I braced for pain, but he yanked me to my feet and dragged me from the cell. It was the first time he had touched me. He was surprisingly strong. Unfortunately, he didn't have the X in his hand.

He hurried me to a room in Sector E5. Five Outsiders lay on a row of beds. Blood drooled from their mouths and they were all curled on their sides as if in agony. Bubba Boom, Hank and a few others hovered nearby, but they looked panicked.

I didn't wait for orders. Running to the closest Outsider, I felt her pulse. It raced and her skin felt clammy. She shook as a spasm seized her muscles. I opened her eyes. The whites were stained red.

"They had acclimated and were doing fine," Ponife said.

"We need to get them to Doctor Lamont, now." I shouted to Hank and Bubba Boom to help me carry them. The beds didn't have wheels.