Outside In
Page 52
“No.”
Surprised, I asked, “Why not?”
“The Controllers are not the Travas.”
“Not all of them,” I said. “Jacy’s in charge, but he’s working with them.”
Domotor laughed. “Jacy? Where did you hear that?”
“I have my sources.”
“Well your sources are wrong.”
“Really? Then who are the Controllers?”
“Outsiders.”
14
“OUTSIDERS.” I REPEATED THE STRANGE WORD. “YOU think the Controllers are Outsiders? How… Why…” The concept was so outrageous, I couldn’t say more.
“Logan isn’t the only one who is good with the computer, Trella,” Domotor said. “I’ve been trying to find a way around the Controllers since they showed up. I managed to isolate a small part of the network, and I traced where the link is coming from. It’s not from anywhere in Inside.”
“Are you sure? Jacy—”
“He could be helping them. It wouldn’t surprise me. That boy’s an opportunist.”
“Do you know what the…Outsiders want?” I asked.
“To come in.”
I felt as if I had drifted into Outer Space—unable to breathe as ice stabbed deep into my bones. “Can they?” My voice squeaked.
“Yes, they can and will.”
No wonder he looked so haggard. “Maybe it would be a good thing. They could be in trouble or need our help.”
“Then why didn’t they ask? They infiltrated our network, they ordered us to lock down our people and they told us they’re boarding. Not the actions of a friendly group.”
“Can we stop them?” I asked.
“I’ve been trying, but since this last explosion they’ve shut down all access. I can’t get into my isolated system.”
My head spun. “Why are you telling me all this?”
“You need to give this…” He handed me a small round disk. “To Logan.” Domotor studied my face. “He needs this disk to get to the isolated system. I know you’ve been visiting him so don’t lie to me and say you can’t. This is vital to our world.”
“What can Logan do that you can’t?”
“Work his magic, get control back and stop the Outsiders from coming in.”
“What if he can’t?”
“Then we’re all at the mercy of the Outsiders.”
Logan didn’t mince words. “Holy crap, Trella, this is bad.” He had inserted Domotor’s disk into his computer and had been typing away.
“How bad?”
“We’re screwed.” He tapped the screen with a fingernail. “No wonder we couldn’t locate the link. I never considered an Outside source.”
His fingers flew over the keys as he murmured and cursed under his breath.
“But now that you know what’s going on, you can stop them. Right?” I prodded.
“No can do.”
My knees refused to hold my weight. I sank into a nearby chair.
He pushed back from the computer. “We’re blocked out of everything. Domotor isolated an area, but I would need an untainted computer to access it.”
“Untainted?”
“One that hasn’t been hooked into the network.”
“What about the computers in the Trava Sector?” I asked. “Anne-Jade said they were cut off from the network.”
Logan fiddled with the ends of his hair. He hadn’t bothered to cut it while in protective custody. “It would depend on when those computers were unhooked. If the Outsiders had already gained access, they won’t work.”
“How do we get you there without anyone knowing?”
His face lit up. “I rigged a device that feeds off the heat from the lamp. It’ll keep the tracer at a constant temperature.”
“If we wait until right after your keepers leave, we’ll have about twenty hours before the game is up.”
I considered the steps needed to get Logan to Sector D4. After I scouted out a computer, he could travel through the air shafts with me. However, what would we do with the Travas in the room?
Time to pay Anne-Jade a visit.
“You want to borrow what?” Anne-Jade sat behind her desk and blinked at me as if she could clear me from her vision.
I had waited until the ISF office emptied of her lieutenants before dropping in on her. Keeping close to the heating vent in case one of the others returned, I repeated my request. “A stun gun, Anne-Jade. Not a kill-zapper. I need it to help Logan.” And when she didn’t answer, I added, “Trust me.”
“Stun guns can kill if set high enough.”
“I know.” Cogon had killed a Pop Cop by accident because the Pop Cop’s gun had been set to maximum. “Can’t you lock it at a certain level?”
She crumpled. There was no other way to describe it. One second sitting straight and being stubborn, the next a defeated slouch. “You have the worst timing.” Anne-Jade spun her monitor around so I could see it. The white screen had a row of black letters that read, Collect all the weapons Inside and lock them in the safe, including your own.
“Is that—”
“Yes. Orders from the Controllers.”
“Do you know they’re not—”
“Yes. And they know exactly how many weapons we have because our inventory was in the computer.”
Surprised, I asked, “Why not?”
“The Controllers are not the Travas.”
“Not all of them,” I said. “Jacy’s in charge, but he’s working with them.”
Domotor laughed. “Jacy? Where did you hear that?”
“I have my sources.”
“Well your sources are wrong.”
“Really? Then who are the Controllers?”
“Outsiders.”
14
“OUTSIDERS.” I REPEATED THE STRANGE WORD. “YOU think the Controllers are Outsiders? How… Why…” The concept was so outrageous, I couldn’t say more.
“Logan isn’t the only one who is good with the computer, Trella,” Domotor said. “I’ve been trying to find a way around the Controllers since they showed up. I managed to isolate a small part of the network, and I traced where the link is coming from. It’s not from anywhere in Inside.”
“Are you sure? Jacy—”
“He could be helping them. It wouldn’t surprise me. That boy’s an opportunist.”
“Do you know what the…Outsiders want?” I asked.
“To come in.”
I felt as if I had drifted into Outer Space—unable to breathe as ice stabbed deep into my bones. “Can they?” My voice squeaked.
“Yes, they can and will.”
No wonder he looked so haggard. “Maybe it would be a good thing. They could be in trouble or need our help.”
“Then why didn’t they ask? They infiltrated our network, they ordered us to lock down our people and they told us they’re boarding. Not the actions of a friendly group.”
“Can we stop them?” I asked.
“I’ve been trying, but since this last explosion they’ve shut down all access. I can’t get into my isolated system.”
My head spun. “Why are you telling me all this?”
“You need to give this…” He handed me a small round disk. “To Logan.” Domotor studied my face. “He needs this disk to get to the isolated system. I know you’ve been visiting him so don’t lie to me and say you can’t. This is vital to our world.”
“What can Logan do that you can’t?”
“Work his magic, get control back and stop the Outsiders from coming in.”
“What if he can’t?”
“Then we’re all at the mercy of the Outsiders.”
Logan didn’t mince words. “Holy crap, Trella, this is bad.” He had inserted Domotor’s disk into his computer and had been typing away.
“How bad?”
“We’re screwed.” He tapped the screen with a fingernail. “No wonder we couldn’t locate the link. I never considered an Outside source.”
His fingers flew over the keys as he murmured and cursed under his breath.
“But now that you know what’s going on, you can stop them. Right?” I prodded.
“No can do.”
My knees refused to hold my weight. I sank into a nearby chair.
He pushed back from the computer. “We’re blocked out of everything. Domotor isolated an area, but I would need an untainted computer to access it.”
“Untainted?”
“One that hasn’t been hooked into the network.”
“What about the computers in the Trava Sector?” I asked. “Anne-Jade said they were cut off from the network.”
Logan fiddled with the ends of his hair. He hadn’t bothered to cut it while in protective custody. “It would depend on when those computers were unhooked. If the Outsiders had already gained access, they won’t work.”
“How do we get you there without anyone knowing?”
His face lit up. “I rigged a device that feeds off the heat from the lamp. It’ll keep the tracer at a constant temperature.”
“If we wait until right after your keepers leave, we’ll have about twenty hours before the game is up.”
I considered the steps needed to get Logan to Sector D4. After I scouted out a computer, he could travel through the air shafts with me. However, what would we do with the Travas in the room?
Time to pay Anne-Jade a visit.
“You want to borrow what?” Anne-Jade sat behind her desk and blinked at me as if she could clear me from her vision.
I had waited until the ISF office emptied of her lieutenants before dropping in on her. Keeping close to the heating vent in case one of the others returned, I repeated my request. “A stun gun, Anne-Jade. Not a kill-zapper. I need it to help Logan.” And when she didn’t answer, I added, “Trust me.”
“Stun guns can kill if set high enough.”
“I know.” Cogon had killed a Pop Cop by accident because the Pop Cop’s gun had been set to maximum. “Can’t you lock it at a certain level?”
She crumpled. There was no other way to describe it. One second sitting straight and being stubborn, the next a defeated slouch. “You have the worst timing.” Anne-Jade spun her monitor around so I could see it. The white screen had a row of black letters that read, Collect all the weapons Inside and lock them in the safe, including your own.
“Is that—”
“Yes. Orders from the Controllers.”
“Do you know they’re not—”
“Yes. And they know exactly how many weapons we have because our inventory was in the computer.”
