“Maybe we should take the power back and start again,” I said, thinking a new smaller Committee could have people like Hank who viewed our world as a whole and not two groups.
“Too late.”
“Why?”
“Because someone else beatyouto it.”
CHAPTER 11
“Areyou saying the Committee no longer has the power to make decisions?” I asked Anne-Jade.
“Yep. They’re just following orders. And so am I.” A look of self-disgust creased her face.
Even though I feared the answer, I asked, “Who is issuing these orders?”
“The Controllers. They have hijacked the computer network, shutting down access to all but a few people. If the Committee doesn’t do as they say, they’ll erase the programs for running vital systems.”
“But that would hurt them as well.”
“They’re in the network, Trell. They don’t need air or water. Just electricity.”
“Anne-Jade, you know better. Logan said they were an operating system. Nothing more.”
“Well, Logan is blind and the Committee has him locked away somewhere. So as far as I’m concerned, I obey their orders.” She rubbed her face.
A sudden surge of outrage consumed me. “I can find Logan for you.”
“Not from the brig.”
Surprised, I gaped at her. “I answered all their questions.”
“And the Controllers will tell them what to do with you.”
“I haven’t been involved with the Committee in weeks. Why would the Controllers consider me a threat?”
“You planted those mics. You helped diffuse a bomb. Those aren’t the actions of someone who is uninvolved. And the last thing they want is for you to be involved.”
My head spun with all the information from Anne-Jade. It seemed like an elaborate joke and I expected Anne-Jade to laugh at me for falling for it. But her shoulders dropped and worry filled her eyes.
“Don’t let the Committee know I told you all this,” she said.
“I won’t.”
We were summoned back into the conference room. I noticed the vampire box on the table right away.
I endured a lecture about planting the mics on my own and how I should have come to the Committee right away. No surprise.
“Since you no longer wished to be a consultant to the Committee,” Domotor said, “we insist on your cooperation to stay out of our affairs, and to keep out of the air shafts, the Gap and the Expanse. Failure to comply will result in your incarceration in the brig.”
Big surprise. How did they plan to enforce… The vampire box. A cold wave of dread swelled in my chest as I remembered those tracers Anne-Jade had invented. She must have told the Committee about them.
Domotor met my gaze. His gray eyes held an impotent anger. “You’re also confined to level three and are hereby designated as Doctor Lamont’s intern.”
Another shock. While I enjoyed helping patients, being forced to was another matter.
“Do you agree to all these conditions?” Domotor asked.
“What happens if I say no?”
