True. If I had known she’d arrest me, I’d have slept in the ducts. She’d been to our storeroom and the small control room where we had hidden Domotor. That was back when I could trust her. I needed to find a new hiding place. The image of the bubble monster sitting on top of the Expanse filled my mind. No one would find me there.
Our little parade entered the lift and went up to level four. When the door swished open, a horrible possibility struck me. I resisted Anne-Jade’s pull.
“What?” she asked.
“You’re not taking me to the brig, are you?” I couldn’t keep the panic from my voice. The thought of being there with Karla and Vinco, even in separate cells, caused me to sweat.
“It’s up to you. The Committee has a number of questions for you. If you refuse to cooperate, they’ll send you to the brig to think over your decision.”
We bypassed Anne-Jade’s office and walked down the main corridor to Quad G4. Inside didn’t seem so big until I was handcuffed and stared at by every single person we passed in that hallway. The time it took us to reach the conference room off the main control room seemed like hours.
My relief to be out of the public’s eye disappeared in a heartbeat when I faced the nineteen Committee members. They sat around the long oval conference table. Domotor’s wheelchair faced the front of the curved end. Scanning the faces, I did a quick calculation. Five members gave me encouraging nods, twelve people wore a variety of unhappy expressions from pissed off to mildly annoyed, one wouldn’t meet my gaze—Riley’s father and one kept a neutral demeanor—Jacy.
Anne-Jade pushed me into the empty chair at the end opposite Domotor. I perched on the edge since my hands were still cuffed. She stood behind me as if I might try to escape or harm someone. I would have laughed, but I couldn’t missthe heavy tension that filled the room. The lines of strain, dark circles and signs of fatigue were the common denominator from all eighteen members. Jacy wasn’t giving anything away, and that scared me more than anything else.
Domotor took the lead. It was a good sign as he had been one of the encouraging nodders. The mics sat on top of the bag on the table. Computers were another new feature on the table. Each member had a small monitor in front of them.
Domotor started asking me questions about the riot.
I was honest to a point. Admitting I planted the listening devices, I got a little creative with why. “I hoped to overhear the saboteurs.” Which was the truth.
“Why didn’t you and Logan tell us about them?” Domotor asked.
I noted the lack of Anne-Jade’s and Riley’s names. They were both aware of the sabotage and failed to inform the Committee. Funny, I had been the one to argue to tell the Committee. “The evidence was circumstantial. We didn’t want to accuse anyone without proof.” Also true.
“Where did you plant these listening devices?” he asked.
“The air shafts above Sectors E1 and F1.” I pointed my chin at the mics. “I planned to do more but was…interrupted.”
“She means caught,” Anne-Jade said. “The scrubs in Sector F1 heard her in the air shaft.”
“I haven’t climbed through the ducts in weeks. I’m a little rusty,” I said in my defense.
A few Committee members smiled at my play on words. I wouldn’t go as far to say I was winning them over, but it was better than nothing.
Anne-Jade wanted to know who pulled me from the air shaft and incited the riot.
“I started the riot. It all happened so fast, I didn’t get a good look at him.” Just because I protected the bastard who slappedme, didn’t mean I would forget him. Oh no. I owed him a visit. I just didn’t need the scrubs to think I was an informer as well as a traitor.
The questions then turned to the bomb in waste handling. Those I answered with complete honesty. Jacy relaxed back in his chair. His gaze contemplative. Probably wondering why I hadn’t told them about his request to plant his mics over sensitive areas. Right now they assumed Logan provided the mics. I’d like to say I had a grand scheme in mind, but at this point, I operated on pure instinct.
When all the questions had been answered, Anne-Jade escorted me out to the main control room so the Committee could discuss… I wasn’t exactly sure what.
We waited near the door. “Thanks for not mentioning me,” she said in a quiet voice. “I owe you one.”
“Great. Take off these damn cuffs,” I said.
“Not until the Committee gives me permission. Sorry.”
I stared at her. “Come on, it’s me. Youcan’tbe happy with how they’re running our world.”
“Do you really think I like being called the Mop Cops?” She balled her hands into fists. “I worked so hard tonotbe the Pop Cops and look what happened. Bombs, computer failure, and someone tries to kill my brother. It’s a mess and I wouldn’t even know how to fix it at this point.” Anne-Jade punched the wall. The control room workers glanced at us as the loud bang vibrated. “It’s our fault you know.” She rubbed her knuckles absently. “The Force of Sheep gave them the power. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
It did. I mulled over what had happened. Why did the Committee fail? Then I remembered where they sat at the conference table. All the uppers sat along the left side, then Domotor, Jacy and the rest of the scrubs on the right side. Jacy had known the problem all along and so did I, but I’d hoped itwould work itself out. That the uppers and scrubs would play nice together and forget all the Pop Cop propaganda.
But they remained divided. And all the current problems just drove them further apart, which didn’t make sense. With saboteurs threatening all our lives, we should have been banning together, not sitting on opposite sides.
“Trell, you have that look. What are you planning?”
