“This door leads to a spaceport.” He walked into the room.
I followed him. The area was much larger than I had first thought. It appeared to be as long as two Sectors, but only one Sector wide. Three doors at equidistant intervals were on each of the two long sides, including the open one. And one door at the end.
He gestured to the doors. “There are seven bays that contain two transport vehicles. The Scout and the bigger Cargo vehicle. They can come out here, then the doors all close and…” He pointed at the ceiling. A huge hatch occupied the center. “Fly out to Outer Space.”
“How do you know all that?”
“I read it on the wall.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“I thought you saw something.”
I drew in a deep calming breath. “Let’s keep looking for the air plant information.”
Keeping Logan focused, I hustled him along the port. We searched the next two bays, but didn’t find anything until we opened the third bay. Then he cried out with more excitement than the last ten times. He had found the information on how to manually run the plant.
I gave him a spare receiver and microphone, letting him explain it to Riley. Then we decided he should remain up here to explore and learn everything he could. I would tie a bucket to the rope so I could use the pulley and send up supplies, food and water.
“How are you going to get into the air plant?” Logan asked. “Hank’s people are there.”
“Anne-Jade has to make good on a promise.”
“But she doesn’t have any weapons or manpower, and you don’t have Zippy.”
“We’ll work it out.”
“Good luck. You’re going to need it.”
Anne-Jade had hidden a few stunners, and she also had a number of anti-stunners for our force. To tell the truth, it wasn’t much of a force. Word had already spread throughout Inside that the Outsiders were coming to reclaim control over us. While many worried, more seemed grateful, claiming the Outsiders would solve all of Inside’s problems. Hank and Bubba Boom hadn’t needed me to be their prophet after all.
At hour sixty, week 146,026, Anne-Jade led a group that contained three of her lieutenants, ten of Jacy’s goons, Sloan and Riley. I scouted ahead, crawling through the ducts over the air plant, counting how many maintenance workers—seven—and reporting their locations back to Anne-Jade.
It was a beautiful raid. Anne-Jade and her lieutenants charged into the plant and stunned most of the maintenance workers before they knew what hit them. A couple of Hank’s men fought back, swinging large wrenches. The supervisor pulled his stunner and disabled a few of Jacy’s goons before Anne-Jade shot him.
By the time I jumped down from the air shaft, the fight was over. We had taken the plant.
“We have the air plant. What’s next?” Anne-Jade asked.
“We disconnect the computer and work the controls the old-fashioned way.”
“Old-fashioned?” she asked.
“Manually.”
“You can do that?”
“Not me. Riley.” I pointed. He and Sloan had unscrewed the main console’s covering. They bent over the jumble of wires and circuits with rubber-handled pliers. “Logan’s talking him through it right now.”
Anne-Jade acted a bit strange. She kept glancing at the entrance where two of her lieutenants guarded the door. And she kept tugging the collar of her uniform as if it chafed her skin.
“Logan sounded in his glory when I talked to him earlier,” Anne-Jade said.
“He’s been exploring and learning all about the history of Inside and how it works. It’s only a matter of time until we get back control of our life systems, and send the Outsiders away.”
“I wish I’d known your plans before you rescued Logan,” Anne-Jade said.
“We’ve been sort of making them up on the fly. Why?”
Anne-Jade touched her neck. “When they had him in the brig on level five, the Outsiders threatened to put a command collar on him. You know he would have been a mess. He doesn’t do well with pain.”
“What are you trying to tell me?” I asked, even though I had my suspicions and they weren’t pleasant.
“I’m wearing the collar meant for him. I agreed to—”
“Work for us,” a familiar voice said.
I turned. Hank, Bubba Boom and Ponife stood in the doorway.
19
ANNE-JADE AIMED HER STUNNER AT RILEY. HE DIDN’T have an anti-stunner. I yelled a warning to him as I knocked her arm aside, causing her to miss. Riley ducked behind the console.
She cursed and pointed the gun at me. Now I knew why I didn’t get an anti-stunner as well. “Sorry, Trella. I really am. I guess I lost faith in the Force of Sheep.”
Hank’s people ran into the plant, shouting at Jacy’s goons to surrender. They were armed with kill-zappers.
Hank, Bubba Boom and Ponife drew closer to us. I glanced around. All the members of our force—except Anne-Jade’s men—knelt on the floor with their hands behind their heads.
I met Riley’s gaze. He inclined his head toward the air console. A tendril of smoke rose from it.
Lowering my voice, I said to her, “We know how to disable the collar.”
She covered her surprise as Hank and his smug entourage reached us. Ponife wore the standard off-duty clothes of an upper, but there was no hiding his sickly-colored skin.
The smoke thickened and puffed from the console.