Outside In
Page 44
“Trella?” Her shocked expression didn’t last long. “What are you doing here?” she demanded. “How—”
I held up a hand. “If you try to open Logan’s door, you’ll set off an alarm.”
“How—”
“He can’t be rescued anyway. He has a tracer.”
“Really?” Anne-Jade didn’t sound convinced. “Yet you managed to circumvent the tracer in your arm.”
I noticed she didn’t put her weapon away. Although I felt Riley’s gaze burning on my skin, I resisted glancing at him. “What I did won’t work for him.”
“I already anticipated the tracer. We’re planning to cut it out,” she said.
“And alert the Controllers?”
“We have a safe place to hide him,” Riley said.
Now I met his gaze. Even though my insides twisted—I missed him more than I realized—I kept my voice even. “You’ll still alert the Controllers, who will be on guard. Right now they think Logan isn’t a threat.”
“Think?” Anne-Jade asked.
“He’s been busy.”
“I’m assuming so have you,” she said.
“I’m not at liberty to say.”
“Why not?”
I glanced at her weapon. “You still haven’t put that stunner away. And I don’t know if you’re going to arrest me or not.”
The tension in the hallway pressed against my skin.
“They’ve been using Logan to force my cooperation,” she said. “If I had him somewhere safe—”
Logan’s door swung open. He poked his head out. “Get in here before someone sees you.”
We hurried inside and he closed the door. Wires hung down from below the knob. Anne-Jade rushed to her brother, wrapping him in a hug. Not wanting to intrude on the siblings, I inspected the wiring by the door.
“Interested in electrical circuits now?” Riley asked. The tone in his voice bordered on sarcasm, but could be teasing.
Looking at him was too painful so I traced the loops of wires instead. “Yes. I thought I’d try electrocution next. Since a bomb, a fire, Vinco’s knife and a brief encounter with Outer Space didn’t kill me.”
“There’s not enough juice in those. You’ll just get a nasty shock. The best place to get electrocuted would be in the power plant.”
“Thanks for the tip.”
He huffed. “Trella, what are you doing here?”
“Visiting Logan.”
Riley stepped in front of me. “You know that’s not what I meant. Why are you helping him? You didn’t care what the Committee was doing before. Why now?”
I stared at his chest. “I always cared.”
“You didn’t act like you did. You let—”
“Everyone down. I know. It’s because I cared too much.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Now I met his gaze. “I didn’t want to screw it up. It was terrifying to have the entire population of Inside counting on me to make our world a perfect place. It was too much responsibility. Too much to expect me to suddenly know exactly how to combine a society that has been divided and brainwashed for so long.”
“What changed?” He whispered the question.
“They ordered me to stay away.”
He laughed.
I punched him in the stomach. “I’m serious.”
“I know, but you have to admit, it’s funny.”
“What’s funny?” Logan asked.
Riley gestured to him and Anne-Jade. “This. Us. Trying to find a way to bypass the Controllers… Again.”
“That’s easy,” Logan said. “Trella’s gonna find the active computer in the Trava Sector and disable it.”
Unease rolled through me as I remembered when Anne-Jade had commented that the Pop Cops’ downfall had been due to overconfidence. Lamont had said the same thing about my father. His confidence had made him cocky and sloppy, leading the Pop Cops right to him.
“And then what?” Anne-Jade asked.
“We regain control of the network and start over with a new Committee,” Logan said.
“What about the saboteurs?” I asked.
“We’re close to finding them, and there haven’t been any more attempts,” Anne-Jade said.
“Was it the stink bombers? Ivie and Kadar?” I asked.
“No. They taught a bunch of maintenance scrubs how to build bombs. The suspects sleep in Sector F1. I just need to narrow it down.” She peered at me as if I were one of the bombers.
Logan shooed us out so he could repair the locks before his keepers came to check on him. “They usually come every twenty hours, and the new week starts in thirty minutes.”
Anne-Jade and Riley headed back through the corridors, while I climbed into the air shafts.
Before Riley left, he shot me a significant look. I mulled over what he tried to communicate to me as I crawled through the ducts. Did he want to talk about us? Or just about the situation? At least he knew I had realized my fears and acknowledged my mistakes.
I returned to the infirmary to make an appearance. My mind remained on the task of finding the live computer in the Trava Sector while I disinfected the examination table.
“...see you. Trella, are you listening?” Lamont asked from the doorway.
“Sorry. What did you say?”
“That Bubba Boom is here. He’s waiting out in the patient area.”
I held up a hand. “If you try to open Logan’s door, you’ll set off an alarm.”
“How—”
“He can’t be rescued anyway. He has a tracer.”
“Really?” Anne-Jade didn’t sound convinced. “Yet you managed to circumvent the tracer in your arm.”
I noticed she didn’t put her weapon away. Although I felt Riley’s gaze burning on my skin, I resisted glancing at him. “What I did won’t work for him.”
“I already anticipated the tracer. We’re planning to cut it out,” she said.
“And alert the Controllers?”
“We have a safe place to hide him,” Riley said.
Now I met his gaze. Even though my insides twisted—I missed him more than I realized—I kept my voice even. “You’ll still alert the Controllers, who will be on guard. Right now they think Logan isn’t a threat.”
“Think?” Anne-Jade asked.
“He’s been busy.”
“I’m assuming so have you,” she said.
“I’m not at liberty to say.”
“Why not?”
I glanced at her weapon. “You still haven’t put that stunner away. And I don’t know if you’re going to arrest me or not.”
The tension in the hallway pressed against my skin.
“They’ve been using Logan to force my cooperation,” she said. “If I had him somewhere safe—”
Logan’s door swung open. He poked his head out. “Get in here before someone sees you.”
We hurried inside and he closed the door. Wires hung down from below the knob. Anne-Jade rushed to her brother, wrapping him in a hug. Not wanting to intrude on the siblings, I inspected the wiring by the door.
“Interested in electrical circuits now?” Riley asked. The tone in his voice bordered on sarcasm, but could be teasing.
Looking at him was too painful so I traced the loops of wires instead. “Yes. I thought I’d try electrocution next. Since a bomb, a fire, Vinco’s knife and a brief encounter with Outer Space didn’t kill me.”
“There’s not enough juice in those. You’ll just get a nasty shock. The best place to get electrocuted would be in the power plant.”
“Thanks for the tip.”
He huffed. “Trella, what are you doing here?”
“Visiting Logan.”
Riley stepped in front of me. “You know that’s not what I meant. Why are you helping him? You didn’t care what the Committee was doing before. Why now?”
I stared at his chest. “I always cared.”
“You didn’t act like you did. You let—”
“Everyone down. I know. It’s because I cared too much.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Now I met his gaze. “I didn’t want to screw it up. It was terrifying to have the entire population of Inside counting on me to make our world a perfect place. It was too much responsibility. Too much to expect me to suddenly know exactly how to combine a society that has been divided and brainwashed for so long.”
“What changed?” He whispered the question.
“They ordered me to stay away.”
He laughed.
I punched him in the stomach. “I’m serious.”
“I know, but you have to admit, it’s funny.”
“What’s funny?” Logan asked.
Riley gestured to him and Anne-Jade. “This. Us. Trying to find a way to bypass the Controllers… Again.”
“That’s easy,” Logan said. “Trella’s gonna find the active computer in the Trava Sector and disable it.”
Unease rolled through me as I remembered when Anne-Jade had commented that the Pop Cops’ downfall had been due to overconfidence. Lamont had said the same thing about my father. His confidence had made him cocky and sloppy, leading the Pop Cops right to him.
“And then what?” Anne-Jade asked.
“We regain control of the network and start over with a new Committee,” Logan said.
“What about the saboteurs?” I asked.
“We’re close to finding them, and there haven’t been any more attempts,” Anne-Jade said.
“Was it the stink bombers? Ivie and Kadar?” I asked.
“No. They taught a bunch of maintenance scrubs how to build bombs. The suspects sleep in Sector F1. I just need to narrow it down.” She peered at me as if I were one of the bombers.
Logan shooed us out so he could repair the locks before his keepers came to check on him. “They usually come every twenty hours, and the new week starts in thirty minutes.”
Anne-Jade and Riley headed back through the corridors, while I climbed into the air shafts.
Before Riley left, he shot me a significant look. I mulled over what he tried to communicate to me as I crawled through the ducts. Did he want to talk about us? Or just about the situation? At least he knew I had realized my fears and acknowledged my mistakes.
I returned to the infirmary to make an appearance. My mind remained on the task of finding the live computer in the Trava Sector while I disinfected the examination table.
“...see you. Trella, are you listening?” Lamont asked from the doorway.
“Sorry. What did you say?”
“That Bubba Boom is here. He’s waiting out in the patient area.”
