Outside In Part 35

"You saved me from the fire. Consider us even," I said.

"No. You didn't hesitate. There was no moment of consideration."

He was right. "As I told my mother a while ago, it's what I do," I said.

Sloan snapped his fingers. "Almost forgot. The Doc's been trying to reach you."

When I pulled out my receiver and microphone, I laughed even though it sounded a bit like hysteria. Blackened and half-melted, the devices would never work again.

"What happened to them?" Sloan asked, marveling over the ruined pieces.

"Kill-zapped. Do you have more?"

Sloan stared at me a moment. "Not if you keep frying them." But he dug into one of his pockets and handed me two more sets. "One for Riley."

Inserting the receiver into my earlobe, I clipped the mic on, hailing my mother. The relief in her voice came through, but she remained professional, reporting that she was in position and would await our signal.

Logan estimated he would have the computer working in fifteen minutes. It was week 147,027, hour twenty-eight. Time for my speech.

I stood on a table as Sloan used a loud and high-pitched whistle to get everyone's attention. Quiet descended and they focused on me with various expressionsa"all unhappy. I sought the little group of smiling faces and took courage from Riley and his family.

"Thank you for being willing to listen to me. Scrubs and uppers coming together is vital now. But I first want to apologize for turning your lives upside down and then abandoning you. For letting a Committee make important decisions without your input. For dismissing your beliefs in the Controllers and life Outside.

"But these people who have entered our world are not the Controllers. They're Outsiders and they plan to exile us. Send us into Outer s.p.a.ce to die."

Voices rose, yelling I was crazy or deluded. Others reminded everyone I had gotten them all into this mess. Sloan used his whistle to settle them down again.

"I understand why you won't believe me." I glanced at Logan; he gave me a thumbs up. "Even if you can't trust me, at least you can trust your own eyes."

The lights dimmed and a large bright rectangle lit up the north wall. Images appeared. First of the transport s.h.i.+p clinging to our world, then of the port. Outsiders hustled people into the belly of the transports and then the scene switched to inside the s.h.i.+ps. Every image was crammed with people. Scared and frightened people.

The buzz rose again, but it had a more muted, uncertain sound.

"These are live images of what the Outsiders are doing," I said. "They pretended to be the Controllers so they could get into our s.h.i.+p. They're people from our world who had been exiled for crimes against us, and are now planning to exile all of us Insiders."

Sloan joined me on the table. "She's right," he said over the din. "We're trying to stop them, but we need your help. Trella freed us from the Pop Cops. She can free us from the Outsiders."

A man stood up and asked, "How can we trust her? The Committee and Mop Cops were just as bad as the Travas and Pop Cops."

"This time I promise not to let a Committee make the decisions. Youa" I swept an arm out. "You are going to make them." I waited until the ruckus died down. "You will vote for your leaders."

Then the image on the screen showed two Outsiders dragging Anne-Jade toward the transport vehicle. She fought and broke free for a second before the Outsider on the right tack led her to the ground. I glanced at Logan. He stared at the screen with his mouth gaping open in horror.

I turned back in time to see the other Outsider twisting a metal X.

"NO!" Logan screamed.

Everyone watching gasped as Anne-Jade bucked and shook in obvious agony. The Outsider kept zapping her over and over until she lay still. Her lifeless gaze stared at nothing.

Logan screamed again and bolted for the door. Sloan and Bubba Boom chased him down. Chaos erupted as fear and outrage rolled through the a.s.sembled. Numb with shock and horror, I couldn't move. Anne-Jade was my friend.

A third Outsider came into view. It was Fosord. He pointed at Anne-Jade's body and then pointed directly at the camera. Instant silence followed his gesture.

Fosord reached to the side. When his hands reappeared, he held a wipe board. Three words had been written on the board: Surrender or die.

My grief for Anne-Jade would have to wait until later. I shoved it deep down and took advantage of the stunned silence. "They're scared of us," I said. "We need to act now before they do."

"Before they can poison our air?" one man called.

"Before we die of thirst?" a woman asked.

"No to both. We have a team at the air plant. And we'll either win or lose by the time water becomes an issue." I conferred with Sloan.

"I'll need two groups of twenty each to secure the stair ways," he said. "I'll lead one team."

"And I'll lead the other," Riley called.

I wanted to say no, but as I told Bubba Boom, Riley knew how to fight. The teams formed quickly and I took heart from the eager helpers.

Sloan, Riley and Bubba Boom grouped together and I joined them.

"asuits then the stunners won't work unless they have their helmets off. In that case, aim for their heads," Bubba Boom said.

"Once we have the stairways, we can send bigger teams to advance up through the levels, securing each," Sloan said.

"How big?" I asked.

Sloan looked at Bubba Boom.

"Hank has at least two hundred maintenance people, plus four dozen Travas and five hundred Outsiders. Watch out for the armed Outsiders. They have this weapon that looks like a black metal tube, but it spits out round disks with razor sharp edges. It'll slice through skin and bone," Bubba Boom said.

"What do we do if we encounter armed Insiders working for the Outsiders?" Riley asked.

"Incapacitate, but don't harm," I said, handing him the communication set from Sloan.

"How?" Riley asked. "We only have two stunners and a handful of knives."

"We need more weapons," Sloan said.

I spotted Ivie and Kadar hovering by the door and gestured for them to join us.

Kadar carried a laundry sack. He handed it to me. "Five stun bombs. Yank the pin out and roll it toward your target. You'll have about four seconds before it goes off. It should affect anyone within a six-meter radius from the bomb."

"They'll help, but still not enough," Sloan said.

"We'll make more as long as we can," Ivie said.

"Thanks," I said. In the meantime, we still needed weapons. I asked Bubba Boom if the ISF's weapons were still locked in the safe.

"Hank removed a bunch for his men and the Outsiders, but the last time I saw there were a few left. But he changed the code for the lock."

I glanced at Logan. He huddled on the floor next to Domotor. Kneeling next to him, I hugged him close for a moment. Then I explained my need.

"Can you help?" I asked him.

He wiped his eyes. "On one condition."

I waited.

"That I get to kill-zap Fosord."

"I thought that wasn't your thing," I said.

"It is now."

"No. We're not killers. Anne-Jade wouldn't approve and you know it. You can stun him, how's that?"

"Can I at least kick him a couple times?" Logan sounded like a petulant child. "Yes."

"All right. I'm in." He went in search of a few supplies, calling to Emek and Rat to fetch items.

The Captain's voice startled me. He called through the receiver. Sloan cupped his ear.

"ahave us pinned down," Captain Trava said. "We disconnected the gas, but we won't last long."

"Hold on. We're on our way," Sloan said.

"Go up the Quad I stairs. Don't worry about securing the stairwell. Take two bombs, both stunners and go help the Captain," I said, digging into the laundry bag. The bombs had been built inside clear gla.s.s b.a.l.l.s. A metal pin had been stuck through a small hole.

I gave two to Sloan and one to Riley. They both looked surprised.

"If we don't have the air plant, we're done," I explained. "I'll take Logan, two bombs and we'll retrieve the weapons from the safe."

"How are you going to bring all of them down here?" Riley asked.

I thought fast. "Laundry chute. Make sure you have bins half full of towels to cus.h.i.+on their fall waiting below. And put together another team plus the follow-up teams. Once you have weapons, go up and secure all the levels. We'll all meet in level five at Hank's control room."

"Yes, sir." Riley snapped a salute. Sloan laughed then rushed off with his team to help the Captain. I helped Riley organize his team as I waited for Logan.

When Logan returned he had a small cleaning troll tucked under his arm.

"Zippy?" I asked, hoping somehow he found his way home.

"No. Still on level five," Logan said. "This is hisayounger brother, Zippy Too."

Bubba Boom boosted Logan into the air duct, but before I climbed in after him, I grabbed Riley's hand. "Be careful."

"Shouldn't I be telling you that?" He pointed to the burn mark on my chest. Riley slid his hands around my back, pulling me close. "Since you tried and failed to electrocute your self, does this mean you're done jumping in harm's way?"

"I doubt it. In fact, I need to give youa" I dug in my tool belt.

"Your heart?"

"Pretty close." I handed him the metal X. "Keep it safe for me."

"A dangerous move. I could use this to keep you out of trouble."

"But you won't."

"Why not?"

"Because you're one of the good guys. You'll do what it takes to neutralize the Outsiders even if that endangers me."

He grumbled. "Great. Go me."

"There are perks to being a good guy," I said, smiling.

"Ohhhado tell?"

"Well, after all is said and done, the good guy gets the girl."

"And then what happens?"

"Whatever he desires," I whispered in his ear.

He jerked back in utter surprise.

After I had scrambled into the duct, Riley shouted to me, "Promise?"

I poked my head out. "Yes." No need to add, "if we were both alive."

Climbing up to level four through the air ducts would be difficult so I led Logan to the near-invisible hatch on level one and entered the Gap between levels. One thing Hank had time to repair was the ladder attached to the Wall. It now spanned the entire four levels. I just hoped Hank forgot about it. Getting to the ladder remained tricky. I balanced on the thin I-beam that attached the level to the Wall. Without looking down, I crossed to the ladder.

Logan opted to crawl over and I worried he would fall. He reached it, but not without cursing. We climbed to level four and entered the air shafts. Quad A4 appeared to be deserted, but I wasn't going to trust my eyes.

Removing the vent without making a sound, I poked Zippy Too into the room. A red light glowed on his head.

"Motion sensors," Logan whispered.

I flipped the white switch on the troll's body and the light turned green. Lowering him to the ground, I followed. Then Logan climbed from the shaft. He headed toward the safe and removed a small device from his pocket. While he opened the heavy safe, I reprogrammed the lock on the main door.

So far so good. One problem remaineda"bypa.s.sing the weight sensor on the floor of the safe. Logan worked on the sensor and I counted at least thirty stunners and six kill-zappers inside.

"It's off," he said.

"Get back into the duct, I'll hand you weapons. There's a laundry chute about two meters east," I said.

He grumbled about all the climbing, but he scaled the wall like a pro. I handed him two at a time, waited while Logan dropped them down the chute and returned for two more.