I waved my arm. “I can’t do anything. Remember? I’m stuck here.”
“Let’s pretend you don’t have the tracer. What would you do first?”
“I’d find Logan, rescue him and set him up at a computer terminal to bypass the Controllers.”
“What if he can’t see?”
“Then I’d find someone who knows enough about computers to sit next to him and be his eyes.”
“Riley?”
“No. He’s good, but not Logan good.” I considered.
“Your father was Logan good.” Pride filled her voice.
I waited for the pain and anger to flare inside me, but only sadness touched. However his name reminded me of another. “Domotor would be perfect.”
“Would he agree to help?”
I remembered his anger. He couldn’t be content taking orders from the Controllers. “Yes.”
“Then it’s an excellent plan. Let’s get started.” Lamont headed for the surgery, pushing through the double doors.
Curious, I followed her. “But?—”
She handed me two syringes. “I think a local anesthetic should be enough. Grab the lidocaine and alcohol wipes.” Then she collected a few other supplies—sutures, scalpel, and long curved tweezers.
Understanding hit me hard, I grabbed the operating table to keep from falling over. “You realize the risk you’re taking?”
“There’s no risk to me. You’re the one who will be in danger of being thrown into the brig. And you’ll still need to work here so you’re visible to others. Otherwise, they’ll get suspicious.”
“You’ll have to stay on level three.”
She shrugged it off. “I’m always here anyway.”
The final concern was mine alone. Could I trust her? No. But she offered the only possible solution. If I wanted to make Cogon…and Riley proud of me, I couldn’t give up.
With the two of us working together, it didn’t take long to remove the tracer from my arm and implant it in Lamont’s. The device had only been exposed to the ambient air for a second.
Just to be sure, I stayed and worked in the infirmary for the next six hours. Then we went to the cafeteria in Quad G3 to eat and stock up on food for our kitchen. After a brief nap, I changed into my skin-tight uniform. As long as Lamont stayed in our suite or in the infirmary the ISF shouldn’t suspect anything.
I climbed into the air duct, grinning.
The Queen of the Pipes had returned.
There weren’t many hiding places in Inside. I doubted the Committee knew the locations, but I didn’t want to leave anything to chance so I ruled them out right away. They had probably taken him to an empty apartment. Since I had been confined to level three, I suspected he would be on level four. The Travas filled Sector D4, so that meant I had to search Sectors E4 and F4. Doable in the time I had.
I tried not to think about apartment number three-six-nine-five in Sector E4 as I carefully traveled through the air shafts and peered into rooms. At least there weren’t any air filters to bypass.
After the rebellion we discovered that scrubbing air shafts and water pipes had been one of the jobs created purely for busy work. With a simple programming adjustment, the trollscleaned the shafts and pipes without a scrub minder. Which worked well for me now.
When I reached Riley’s apartment, I paused for only a moment. The empty living area and bedroom matched the hollow echo in my heart. I didn’t see Sheepy and wondered where he was. Moving on, I finished searching Sector E4 and crossed into F4.
I found Logan in a small room in the far northeast corner of Sector F. Sprawled on the couch, his arm covered his eyes. His space also had a bed, refrigerator and a tiny washroom. The computer station had a screen, but no keyboard or box.
No guards, but I checked the hallway to make sure. A complex series of locks had been installed on his door. And when I returned to the air vent, I noticed the thick bolts securing it. What I worried most about were listening devices and other sensors.
The air shaft was free of any sensors, and knowing Logan any sensors within his reach would be dismantled by now.
