I traced the wire. It wrapped around all five bars before continuing down the air shaft.
“We still don’t have the clamps and wires,” Logan said when I described it to him.
“I have Zippy and my tool belt.”
It was as if I had told him his computer access had returned. He stood under the vent and explained in an excited tone what I needed to do to bypass the current. I performed surgery on Zippy, removing wires and various parts, following his instructions.
Well aware that the Outsiders or Hank could come in at any time, we hurried. But it still took time to rig the bypass, cut the bars and pull Logan into the shaft with me.
“Will it hold?” I asked, pointing to the loop of Zippy’s wire.
“It should. Unless a cleaning troll comes by and rips it off.”
“Let’s go.” I put a finger to my lips. “Keep quiet until we get there.”
“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 place—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 worked—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…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, but…” His gaze returned to the wall. “These markings… 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’s… It’s…” 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 like—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 Space. Which meant that Outer Space 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 cocked his head. “Why are we clinging for dear life?”
“I thought Outer Space 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?”