Riley shouted, “Fire,” and dove to the floor as a bright light flashed.
I followed his example. A microsecond later a boom shook the room. A wave of energy knocked anyone on their feet to the ground. Riley and a few others bolted toward the door during the ensuing confusion. I was close behind them when a sharp pain ringed my neck, knocking me flat. We hadn’t disabled my collar after all. And now, Hank and the Outsiders knew our plans to bypass the computer. Knew about the instructions on the walls of the port.
They had let me escape and allowed Logan to be rescued. A ruse to discover Jacy and Riley’s strategy. It had worked. I’d been a fool.
Awareness crept back. Shapes coalesced from my haze of agony and sharpened into Hank and Ponife. Their words reached me, but failed to make sense inside my head until I concentrated. My memory returned. I had been taken to another cell on level 5—this one without any vents—and questioned. Repeatedly.
“Her vitals off the scale. Her heart will not…tolerate more at this time,” Ponife said. “Another…session will stop it.”
Hank hovered over me. “Do you understand him? One more blast and you’ll die.” I nodded.
“Last chance, Trella. Where are Riley and Jacy?”
“Level one.” My words were just audible.
Hank leaned close. “Where on level one?”
“Sector…”
He cocked his head to the side to hear me better.
“Sector…” I wrapped my hands around his throat and squeezed with all my strength.
Ponife twisted the metal X and my body numbed from my neck down. The up side—no more pain. The down—Hank removed my hands.
“Damn, she’s stubborn,” Hank said, rubbing his throat.
“We can threaten to harm her friend… Anne-Jade wears a collar,” Ponife said.
“I don’t think they’re friends anymore. But…” He considered. “We can find someone she does care about. Release her.”
Feeling returned in a sudden rush. I gasped as pins and needles attacked my skin. But the pain was a small distraction compared to the self-satisfied gleam in Hank’s eyes.
“You can tell us where your boyfriend is hiding, or Bubba Boom will invite your mother up here for a little visit.”
An impotent fury burned in the pit of my stomach. I bit my lip. “Level one, Sector H1.”
“That wasn’t so bad now, was it?” Hank’s condescending tone grated on my nerves. He lumbered to his feet and moved toward the door.
“Why didn’t the EMP disable the collar?” I asked Ponife before he could follow Hank.
“It is protected,” he said.
I ran my fingers over it. “What’s it made of?”
“Living metal. An ingenious piece of technology we have perfected.”
After they had secured the cell’s door, I lay on the mat and wondered how long it would be until they figured out I had sent them to the waste-handling plant. Not to any hiding places. I didn’t know Riley’s or Jacy’s location.
Then it occurred to me that if my collar had been working all along, Ponife knew all the places I’d been. Hank hadn’t asked about the Expanse or the port. Which might mean Ponife had kept that information from him. An interesting possibility that I may be able to use to my advantage.
Ponife returned hours later with Fosord, the other Outsider. No Hank. I pushed up to my elbow and regarded them. They both wore uppers’ clothes and solemn expressions. Ponife held the metal X in his right hand.
Fosord gestured to me. “Come.”
No real choice, I gained my feet and followed Fosord. Ponife stayed behind me as we navigated the brig on level five. The closed doors with the red light glowing near the lock meant the cell was occupied. I stopped counting after ten—too depressing.
At one door, Fosord stopped and slid back the metal panel.
“Look,” he said.
Dread rose like bile in my throat. I swallowed it down. Peering into the cell, I saw Jacy. Bruises covered his face and he tugged at something invisible around his neck—probably a collar. Fosord shut the panel before I could say anything.
He did the same thing at the next cell. I refused to move, but his gaze slid behind me.
“Trella,” Ponife warned.
Bracing for another shock, I glanced inside. Logan sat on the mat with his head buried in his hands. We moved to the next cell. Riley lay on a mat as if asleep, but he could have been unconscious. Blood dripped from a large gash across his forehead and temple. My legs refused to hold me up and I sank to the ground. Fosord closed the panel.
Ponife crouched next to me. “See? We have all your friends. You will cooperate now.”
“You don’t need me,” I said. “Unless you have injured?”
“No. Come.”
Once again wedged between the Outsiders, we left the brig and walked through level five toward Quad A5. The hallways were filled with Outsiders. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Many of them still wore their white suits and helmets.
“They’re getting used to the air,” Ponife said.
We climbed up to the top of the half-completed level ten. I stopped in amazement. Bright daylights filled the Expanse, reflecting off the ceiling. And the Outsiders had attached a lift to the west Wall, explaining the smooth groove and tracks I had noticed on one of my early explorations.
An odd thought occurred to me. It seemed we’ve been stumbling around in the dark for thousands of weeks, while these Outsiders had no trouble making everything work for them. Maybe our ancestors had stolen this ship from them.