Blake! I had forgotten about him and Riley"s dad. And if I thought harder, I could name a number of others who would support me. Unless they had been arrested? Too bad I couldn"t go anywhere.
"Bubba Boom also asked fora Trella, you have that gleam in your eyes. What are you thinking?"
"How are your persuasive skills?"
I had two hours, but we had six until the first transport left. Lamont ran around Inside, recruiting the people I named. They trickled in at first, Jacob, Blake, Emek, Rat and even Sloan came, although he didn"t look happy to see me. Then Domotor rolled into the infirmary, followed by the remaining free members of the Force of Sheepa"Takia Qadim and Hana Mineko. Breana Narelle had already been evacuated. Kadar and Ivie arrived along with Wera and Caina"Sloan"s friends. And the last person to arrive was Captain James Trava.
They had come, but they sat or stood in little peer groups or alone as if they couldn"t trust each other. That would be the first thing I"d fix.
"Stop it," I said to them. "Stop thinking about being a scrub or an upper. About being a Trava or an Ashon. We"re all Insiders. And we"ve been boarded by hostile Outsiders who are going to take our world and kick us out unless we stop them."
I waited as their protests about not having weapons or access to the computer network dwindled.
"Doesn"t matter," I said. "We"ll work around it."
"How?" Sloan demanded.
"We have weapons. Blake, how many knives do you have in the kitchen?"
"Dozens," he said. "And we have meat cleavers and some nasty serrated blades."
"Can you gather them all and hide them in Quad A1?" I asked. It was a common area and would be the last level to be evacuated. His resemblance to Riley made it hard for me to look at him for too long.
"Hide them where?" he asked.
"The ducts should work. Can you do it now?"
"Sure," he said.
I then turned to the stink bombers. "Kadar and Ivie, how many bombs can you make?"
"Depends on how much time we have, and how big of a blast you need," Ivie answered. Dirt stained her overalls and she had a smudge on her cheek. She was a pretty girl with long golden brown hair twisted into an oversized bun.
"I need distractions that won"t injure people or damage equipment. Something like a stunner, but more widespread. You"ll have about five hours," I said.
"One an hour."
"When you"re done, bring them to Quad A1 and someone will tell you what to do with them."
"What are you planning?" she asked.
I wasn"t sure, but it wouldn"t be good for morale for me to confess this. "A coordinated attack from all sides."
"What about the air plant?" Domotor asked. "If we resist, the Outsiders will fill the air with poison."
"We can disconnect the poison gas canisters," James Trava said.
"What"s he even doing here?" Domotor asked me. "The Travas are cooperating with the Outsiders."
James answered before I could. "I"m an Insider. I don"t want them taking our ship. Some Travas are helping, but the rest are being loaded onto the transports with everyone else."
"Trella, you aren"t going to trust him, are you?" Domotor asked.
Jacy and Riley had trusted him. That was good enough for me. "Do you know where the gas canisters are and how to disable them?" I asked the Captain.
"Yes, I do. But I"ll need a few helpers."
Wera and Cain volunteered without hesitation. The three of them rushed off.
In order for us to be effective, we needed more Insiders. Many of them won"t believe unlessaunless they see it for themselves! "Domotor, can you put together a working computer that isn"t tainted by the Outsiders?"
"If I had the right supplies," he said with a surly tone, still annoyed.
I turned to Emek and Rat. "Can you fetch for Domotor?"
"Yes," Emek said.
"Jacob, can you rig the electricity for the computer?"
"As long as there"s juice nearby," he said.
"Where do youa"Quad A1, right?" Domotor asked. He stroked his narrow chin with his long fingers.
"Yep. Call it our headquarters." Then I had another idea.
"Any way to make the monitor bigger? So a lot of Insiders can see it at the same time?"
"We have a projector," Emek said.
"A projector?" I asked.
"It"s old tech. It has a light and lenses." When he realized we didn"t understand, he said, "Basically, it takes a small picture and makes it bigger. You can aim it at a wall."
"I"ll take a look at it," Domotor said. "Couldn"t hurt."
They left. Emek pushed Domotor"s wheelchair, Rat wrote down supplies on a wipe board and Jacob added items.
Sloan, Takia, Hana and Lamont remained. They waited for their orders. I squelched a moment of doubt. This wasn"t the time for second thoughts.
"Takia and Hana, I"m going to need you to be evacuated with the others."
The women were alarmed and unhappy until I explained why. "I"ll have to find them first, so if you can hide in one of the rooms in Sector F4 that would be perfect."
They agreed and went to get into position.
I drew in a deep breath. Sloan and Lamont remained. Since I"d been collared, I needed an admiral to bring this whole attack together. Who to trust? My mother, who betrayed us during the last rebellion or the man who started the riot and slapped me?
Deciding I needed both, I addressed Sloan. "You"re in charge of getting recruits. You"ll need to bring them to Quad A1 and convince them about the Outsiders. Then you"ll be needed to lead teams up to level five."
He laughed. "And then I"ll grow a metal skin so I"m invincible. See? I can be ridiculous, too."
I stared at him until he frowned. "Why are you here, Sloan?"
"Guilt. I failed to protect Jacy and the Outsiders got him."
"Leading those teams will save him," I said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"I don"t know how I"ll be able to convince everyone about the Outsiders."
"If Domotor and Emek get the computer and projector working, you won"t have to."
Sloan straightened his shoulders. "We"ll need to coordinate. Do you have any microphones?"
"No. Mine busted ages ago."
He pulled out a couple sets from his tool belt. "For you and the Doc. I"ll make sure the others get them as well."
I couldn"t wear mine yet so I slid them into my pocket. "Thanks."
"If you manage this thing, I might change my opinion about you," Sloan said.
"Just when I thought there wasn"t a reason to stop the Outsiders, you go and provide me one." For a moment I almost forgot the pain he"d caused me. For a moment.
He gave me a sly grin. "After that crack, I can"t like youaever."
"Fine with me. Then I won"t feel guilty when I slap you later."
"If we survive to later, I"ll give you a free shot."
"There it is! That"s all the motivation I need."
After Sloan left, I discussed Lamont"s job with her. "You have a legitimate reason to be on level five. You need to check on their health, see if others might be on the verge of having a seizure. Plus you need to discuss their fertility problems and see if it"s widespread."
"And incapacitate as many Outsiders as possible when the attack starts?" she asked.
"Unless it goes against your doctor"s creed?"
"I"ll be a doctor up until that moment, then I"ll change jobs for the duration."
Curious. "To which job?"
"A mother."
"Fighting Outsiders isn"t in that job description."
She laughed. "It is when the child is you. No one hurts my little girl and gets away with it."
Bubba Boom and Ponife arrived right at hour twenty-six. I had just finished changing into my blue climbing suit, and adding a few special items to my tool belt.
Ponife gestured to the belt. "Why do you need that?"
"Since you destroyed the air plant, there are a number of air filters blocking the ducts. I need my tools to get through them. Unless you want me to climb down and bypa.s.s all of them. It would take up more time." I shrugged.
"No. Bubba Boom, make sure she does not have any weapons in there."
d.a.m.n. I unhooked my belt and gave it to him.
He inspected the various pockets. Handing it back to me, he said, "Looks good to me."
I hooked it around my waist, suppressing a relieved grin. He knew exactly what a few of my special gadgets did, yet he"d kept quiet. An excellent sign.
The Outsiders had the stairway blocked so no one could go to the upper level. I"d a.s.sumed they guarded the other stairs and the lift as well. I hoped Takia and Hana had found a way to bypa.s.s them.
As we climbed to level four and walked down the deserted corridors, I asked Ponife how they managed to convince everyone to leave.
"A trick," he said. "We asked them to come along on aatour of the great Expanse. To see their world beyond the white metal walls. To go inside the vehicle to see the Outside."
"It"s an effective trick." I tried to meet Bubba Boom"s gaze. He ignored me.
"Fosord"s idea. We also avoid them begging to bring personal belongings along. There is no s.p.a.ce for frivolous things."
"Are food and water included as frivolous things?" I asked.
"No. But there won"t be enough. However, our ancestors did not have enough either and they survived."
"How?"
"Survival was the reward for the bravest, the smartest and the strongest. All the others died quickly."
He avoided answering my question, but from his comment, I could guess it hadn"t been pretty.
All the living quarters had been emptied by now. The Outsiders corralled those they found in Sector H4 and the few holdouts in the main Control Room. I started my sweep in Sector F4. Ponife and Bubba Boom stayed close, but couldn"t be with me the entire time.
I spotted Takia and Hana in one of the apartments and the tightness in my throat eased. Takia slouched on the couch while Hana paced. I caught a snippet of their conversation as I pa.s.sed above them.
"asure this is a good idea?" Hana asked.
"Doesn"t matter," Takia said. "This is our only idea."
Hurrying to the room where they had kept Logan, I dropped from the vent and searched for those little Video Cameras. None in the living room. I glanced at the clock. Ponife would grow suspicious if I took too much time. I checked the washroom and the bedroom. Nothing.
My whole plan hinged on finding them. I never claimed it was a stellar plan. It was the best I could devise in two hours. These thoughts weren"t helping. I stood in the center of the room and put myself in Logan"s place. Where would he hide his most prized device? His most fragile device. His smallest creation.
I returned to the bedroom and picked up his pillow. Stripped of its case, it had been tossed into a corner. Examining the edges, I found new loose thread. I ripped the seam open and dug inside the pillow. Four video cameras were nestled in the stuffing.