“I think it’s obvious,” Anne-Jade said. When I failed to respond, she added, “Gloating over our problems for one, and just being difficult because she can. Plus she sees you as her ultimate enemy. If it wasn’t for you, she would still be in command of the Pop Cops.”
“Does she know I don’t have the authority to grant anything she asks for? That I would need the Committee’s approval.”
“Yes. And that may be part of the gloating.”
“Wonderful,” I grumbled. “Do I have to talk to her in the brig?”
“No. We’ll bring her to my office and secure her, then give you two privacy.”
This kept getting better and better. “When?”
“Now.”
The thought of negotiating with Karla Trava sapped my energy. I rubbed my hand over my eyes.
Logan said, “Trella, each second we stand here brings us closer to a collision. We need to fix the Transmission.”
“All right.” Let the fun begin.
Anne-Jade had commandeered half of Karla’s office in Quad A4, including her large desk and multiple computers. The other side held two smaller worktables for her lieutenants. The room remained almost the same from when Karla occupied it. Weapons and handcuffs hung from the side wall, Remote Access Temperature Sensitive Scanners (RATSS) lined a shelf and a bench with chains and cuffs bisected the area.
The couch had been removed and a variety of high-tech devices filled the long table. Anne-Jade’s little receivers and listening devices made the Pop Cop’s communicators look clunky and old.
While Anne-Jade and her lieutenants fetched Karla, I paced the room. I automatically noted all the points of escape—two air vents in the ceiling and four heating vents near the floor.
When the door banged open, I braced for the encounter. Sitting on the edge of a hard metal chair, I fidgeted with the buttons on my shirt. Wedged between the two ISF officers, Karla’s smirk didn’t waver as they cuffed her to the bench. She had twisted her long blond hair up into a knot on the top of her head. Her gaze swept my face and clothes, sparking amusement in her violet-colored eyes.
Now that I knew the doctors could change a person’s eye color, I wondered if Lamont had tampered with hers.
“We’ll be right outside.” Anne-Jade handed me a stunner. “Just yell if you need us.”
The door shut with a metallic clang that vibrated in my heart, matching my rapid pulse.
Karla laughed. “Still afraid of me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself. It’s disgust and not fear on my face. You reek of the brig.”
“And you should know, having spent many hours there.”
“Yes, I spent about thirty hours in your custody before I escaped. You’re up to…what? Fourteen hundred at least and counting. Big difference.”
Her humor faded. “We underestimated you. Something that won’t happen again. But who could blame us? Look at you. Leader of a rebellion and you’re still a scrawny little scrub.”
“What did you expect?”
“Better clothes.”
It was my turn to laugh, but it died when she said, “And more power. You risked your life for them, yet you have to beg for the Committee’s permission to do anything.”
“Unlike you, I’m quite content with my role as support personnel. I never desired power, just freedom,” I said.
“Uh-uh. And do you have your freedom?”
“Of course.”
She opened her mouth, but I cut in and said, “Let’s skip the small talk. We need the names of those who know how to repair the Transmission. What do you want in exchange?”
A sly half-smile teased the corners of her mouth as she leaned back, crossing her legs. “We never had that type of trouble when we were in charge. I think some of the scrubs miss us. And when you combine unhappy scrubs and bored prisoners, you can get an explosive reaction.”
