“Interesting.”
“Good or bad?” Riley asked. I recognized the tight tension in his voice.
Bubba Boom ignored him. “Trella, I need to see where the second wire on the left ends.”
All the wires were covered in black. I pointed to my guess. “This one?”
“No. One over. That’s it,” he said when I touched the next wire.
Running a finger along it, I followed it until the end and repositioned the mirror. I rubbed my sweaty palms on my uniform.
“Well?” Riley asked.
“I’m thinking.”
“Eight minutes left,” I said.
“Not helping. Riley, I need a wipe board to draw out the circuit.”
“Emek’s office,” I called, remembering the neat stack of them on the corner of his desk.
The desire to scream at him to hurry lodged in my throat. His pounding feet faded then returned. Through the gap in the machinery, I watched Bubba Boom draw on the board. Riley peered over his shoulder. Dark gray sweat stains covered his gray shirt and strands of damp hair clung to the side of his face.
Bubba Boom instructed me to move the mirror a few more times. He discussed the circuits with Riley as they figured out how to cut off power. I clamped both hands over my lips to keep quiet. The need to urge them to move faster filled my mouth and pushed against my teeth.
Finally Bubba Boom told me to cut the wire I had traced for him. I placed the wire in the cutters and drew in a deep breath.
“Stop!” Riley yelled. He argued with Bubba Boom. “Trell, you need to cut that wire and the one on the other end at the exact same time,” he said.
I found the other wire. “This one?”
“Yes,” Riley said.
“No,” Bubba Boom said. “He’s wrong. Cut only the wire I told you.”
“No, don’t. I’m right, Trell. He’s going to get us all killed.”
My fingers refused to work. Who to trust? Bubba Boom, the explosives expert or Riley, the electrical expert. Less than two minutes left. I listened to Bubba Boom and cut his wire.
The numbers stopped counting down, but they flashed red. The box started to beep.
“Break the glass on one of the containers,” Bubba Boom yelled. The beeping increased its pace. “Now!”
“Avert your face,” Riley shouted.
I rested the wire cutters on the glass with the clear liquid. Turning to the left, I covered my face with my arm and then struck the container as hard as I could. The glass shattered. Shards rained as the chemical splashed on my chest and stomach.
Yanking me out by my ankles, Riley picked me up, threw me over his shoulder and ran toward the shower in Emek’s washroom. Shoved under the cold spray, I caught on and helped Riley tear off my chemical-soaked uniform. He ripped his shirt off and we scrubbed our skin, removing the last traces of the acidic substance before it could burn holes into our bodies.
I shivered and hugged my chest. “I’ve been wanting to take another shower with you,” I said. “This wasn’t quite how I imagined it.”
His lips quirked into a brief smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. And it disappeared just as quick. Turning his back on me, he grabbed a couple of towels, handing me one without looking at me.
I dried off, then wrapped the towel around my body. Riley’s shirt lay in a heap on the shower’s floor tangled with my ruined uniform. They needed to be disposed of properly so I stuffed them into a hazardous waste bag.
“Trella, I…can’t do this anymore,” Riley said.
Cold dread stabbed me. “Do what?”
“Me and you…us.” He gestured between us with both his hands.
Shivers raced across my skin as I realized Riley wasn’t just angry at me for trusting Bubba Boom over him. This ran deeper.
“Trella, you have no qualms risking your life for Inside, sweeping in to save people, yet you don’t want to stick around and deal with the cleanup. You’d rather let others come in and decide how to organize our world. It’s frustrating and terrifying for me. I keep hoping the Queen of the Pipes will return and put a stop to all the Committee’s nonsense. Only you can help them focus on the real issues.” Riley dropped his hands. “Plus you don’t need me. You’ve been pushing me away since we won control of Inside. Since you accepted my pendant.”
“That’s not true,” I said.
“Really? How about when you discovered the fire in the air plant? I was right around the corner. You could have easily turned on your mic and called me to help, but you didn’t.”
“There wasn’t any time,” I tried, but knew by his cold expression he thought it was a lame excuse. “I called you when I found the bomb.”
“You ordered me to fetch Bubba Boom. If he had his own receiver, I doubt you would have bothered and we would be having this conversation in the infirmary while you once again grow new skin. Every time I try to get close to you, Trella, you turn to someone else. You only need me to clean up after you. You don’t trust me. I’m sorry, but I can no longer be with you. It’s too…painful to watch you self destruct.”
Did he believe I cut the wrong wire on purpose? Shocked over his announcement, I couldn’t form a coherent response.
Riley left Emek’s office and the waste handling plant, ignoring Bubba Boom and Emek who waited for us.
Before they could question me about Riley or before I could fall apart, I asked, “What about the bomb?”