“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 147,026 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 people 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 wiresand 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 chaffed her skin.
“Logan sounded in his glory when I talked to him earlier, “ Anne-Jade said.
I agreed. “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’s 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.
CHAPTER 19
Anne-Jade aimedher 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 people—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.
