“I’ve heard. Come back to the exam room, I want to take a look.”
No arguing with the doctor, I sat on the examination table as she used various diagnostic tools to inspect the collar.
I explained how we had thought the device broken before the air plant raid. “Ponife called it living metal.”
“It’s quite amazing,” she said. “As far as I can tell, it’s connected to your body’s electrical system and using it to power itself.”
“I have an electrical current inside me?” I asked.
“Yes. A body produces a small electrical charge.”
“Any way to turn off the current?”
“It turns off when you die, but that’s not an option.”
I considered. “Why? In a controlled situation, you could stop my heart and?—”
“Absolutely not.” She shot me her fiercest frown. Impressive. “Besides,” she said, “it might not work. The collar is also linked to your nervous system, which is why it causes such intense agony.” Her voice softened. “You have some nerve damage. Did they…”
“Yeah, but don’t worry. I can handle it.” I lied to my mother, and I half expected the collar to zap me. “Would my nervous system shut down if I died?”
“Not an option, Trella. You’ll have to find a way to get that X from Ponife.”
“He won’t come close enough. And most of the time he has a couple of the maintenance guys with him.”
“You’ll have to wait for the right opportunity.”
Easy for her to say.
Ponife visited the recovering Outsiders at hour twenty four. Bubba Boom and Egan accompanied him. I’d recovered a bit and was almost optimistic even. Amazing what a long shower and eight hours of sleep on a real bed could do.
Lamont and I answered his questions about his colleagues’ health. Then Ponife dismissed Lamont. Shooting me a significant look, she headed to her office.
“We have started to load the first transport ship,” he said. “In six hours all the residents of level four will be on board.”
I did a quick mental calculation. “The ships can fit over two thousand people?” I asked.
“They are designed for one thousand. They were intended to ferry people down to a planet’s surface and not to live on.” Bitterness laced his tone. “We have eight ships, and your population is currently at 22,509 people.”
This calculation was a bit harder. “You’re going to put a little over twenty-eight hundred people on one ship?”
“You are fast. Seven ships will have 2,813 and the eighth will have 2,818,” he said.
I glanced at Bubba Boom. Did he catch that? Ponife had counted everyone. Bubba Boom wouldn’t meet my gaze. Instead, he told Ponife he needed to speak with the doctor and went into the back.
“But that’s too many.” I tried.
“Not your concern. We are going to need you to do a sweep of each level and in all the ducts as boarding progresses,” he said. “No one is to be left behind.”
They were trusting me with an important task. Too important. There had to be a catch. “What if I miss someone?”
“We plan to fumigate before we move in. Anyone still here will die from the poison. Try not to miss anyone. We do not wish to dispose of too many corpses.”
Lovely. “Do you need me now?” I asked.
“We will start in two hours.” He gestured to my clothes. I had changed from my climbing suit to my medical clothes. “Make sure you are ready, and the doctor has a suitable assistant.”
“Okay.”
