But I couldn’t get the image of her standing with Karla Trava in the main control room out of my mind. She had searched all the faces in the room and didn’t recognize me. Shouldn’t a mother recognize her own daughter no matter how old she was? Plus the fact that she had been there with Karla in the first place, cooperating with her, endangering thousands of people for her own selfish desire.
However, if I was being fair, I endangered everyone with our rebellion. Was I being selfish as well?
Too confused to say anything but thanks for the skin cells, I collapsed on the clean bed and closed my eyes. Too much of a coward to meet her gaze.
Riley visited me around hour ten. He smiled and sat on the edge of the bed. “How are you doing?”
“Great. I’m ready to go. Do you think your dad would mind if I sleep on your couch?”
“Nice try. But you’re not leaving here until Doctor Lamont gives you permission.” He took my hand gently in his. “Did you even stop and think about the danger to yourself before you rushed in to save Logan?”
“No time. I hope you didn’t come here to lecture me.”
“Actually, I came to see how Sheepy is doing. He doesn’t like sleeping in strange places.” Riley picked up the stuffed sheep and smoothed his gray fuzzy hair made from real sheep’s wool. The little toy had been sharing my pillow.
At my age—1535 weeks or 17.5 years in the old time—it seemed silly to lavish so much affection on a toy. But with the limited amount of play things available while growing up in the care facility with nine others, and the all-work-and-no-free-time structure of my upbringing, Sheepy filled a void.
“Sheepy’s been keeping me company,” I said. “Thanks.”
“He does have an ulterior motive,” he said with a sly smile.
“And that would be?”
“Spying on you. Making sure you’re listening to the Doctor’s orders and not… What’s that?” Riley put Sheepy up to his ear as if listening to the toy. “Not staying in bed? Bothering Logan?” He tsked.
“Anne-Jade really needs to learn the difference between her job and basic friendship.” I grumped. “I don’t suppose she has any suspects for the attack on her brother?”
“She’s questioning the two stink bombers, but that’s all she has right now.” He fiddled with his shirt. “Inside has been locked down. It’s worse than when the Pop Cops had been in charge.”
An outrage on her behalf surged through me. I struggled into a sitting position. “She’s dealing with a very different type of rebel than the Pop Cops ever did. We didn’t blow anything up, or kill any innocents or set fires. The only people to get hurt were our own and a few Pop Cops.”
He refused to meet my gaze. “There has to be a better way.”
“I’m sure she’s open to ideas. Have you talked to her?”
“I would if I had one. I’m more of a support person.” He finally looked me in the eye. “You’re the one who has the knack for coming up with new ideas.”
I flopped back. Notthisagain. Time to change the subject. “What have you been doing since the fire?”
Pressing his lips together, he swallowed his obvious ire over my dodge. “Once I knew you and Logan would live, I’ve been checking the computer network. Logan said it had been compromised, but I’ve yet to find evidence.”
“Did Anne-Jade search the Travas’s rooms?”
“Yep. None of the computers they found were connected to the network.”
Interesting word choice, I asked, “Do you suspect they have a hidden connection?”
“It’s possible, but not probable. I think we have another person or persons with Logan’s ability to ghost through the network. They would be all but impossible to catch.”
This conversation was familiar, and I wondered if eighteen weeks ago, Karla Trava had a similar discussion with her lieutenants. The arrival of Lamont to check my vitals wasa welcome distraction. Although she declared they were all strong, she remained vague about when I’d be able to leave the infirmary.
When she went to check on Logan, Riley raised his eyebrows. “You were…civil to her.” He sounded surprised.
“With my tendency to end up as her patient, there’s no sense being nasty. Besides everyone else seems to think she’s okay.”
“Oh no. I’m not going to believe you’d be influenced by others. That’s not the Trella I know. Are you sure it isn’t because she saved your life?”
I shrugged. “Well…it helps.”
