I used my elbows to stop my fall. With the lower half of my body dangling from the vent, I glanced down. Sloan held my ankle and gave me a smirk. Damn.
“Come on out, little bug,” he said. “You aren’t supposed to be down in this level. You’re a bad little bug that’s about to get squashed and not by Chomper.”
The graphic image propelled me into action. I kicked back with my other foot. My heel connected with his eye. Not hard because of my awkward position, but it didn’t take much force to temporarily damage a person’s vision. He yelled and let go of my ankle. Without hesitating, I hauled the rest of my body into the shaft.
His curses followed me, echoing in the thin metal duct. The good news, I escaped. The bad, Jacy would soon know I had bypassed my tracer. Although with the Outsiders poised to enter Inside, I doubted anyone would care about me.
By hour fifty-nine, I returned to Anne-Jade’s office. Through the vent, I spotted a wall gaping open. It was the door to the safe. I had never noticed it before, which made sense.
A line of very unhappy ISF officers relinquished their weapons. One of Anne-Jade’s lieutenants kept track of the number. I was about to squirm into a comfortable position to wait when I noticed the stun gun. Light from the office illuminated the dial. It had been set to level five intensity—enough force to stun an average-sized man. I tucked it into my belt and left the glass for Anne-Jade.
I needed to swing by the infirmary to gather a few supplies before going back to Logan’s. Lamont found me stuffing a syringe, tweezers, and sutures into a cloth bag.
“Are you here to help me?” she asked.
“No.”
“What’s going on Trella?”
I hesitated.
“I think I’ve been more than understanding and patient with all your trips these last two weeks, but something zapped the computer and Domotor’s face…” She shivered and wrapped her arms around her torso. “I figured you already found Logan. Did he get into the network?”
I considered what to tell her. “Logan’s working on it and I’m helping him.” I added about the Controllers disbanding the Committee.
A crease of concern lined her forehead as she watched me as I finished packing the bag.
“I can see you’re spooked. What else is going on?” she asked.
“I’d rather not say.” It was an honest reply.
“You’re being smart. I shouldn’t have asked, and I don’t want to know. Because if someone threatens to harm you, I’ll do or say anything to protect you. Go on. I’ll cover for you.”
“Thanks.”
“You will warn me if I need to prep for casualties?”
If the Outsiders come in, there could be panic and injuries. “Yes.”
“Good. Now shoo.”
I arrived at Logan’s room a few minutes after his keepers had left. So far, they kept to their twenty hour schedule, which meant Logan and I had that much time to find him an untainted computer.
Over the next hour, I learned a few things about Logan. He hated needles, he vomited at the sight of his own blood, and he acted like a baby when it came to pain. Removing the tracer turned into an unexpected ordeal. I wished for Lamont’s cool confidence that surfaced whenever she dealt with a difficult patient.
Finally, Logan and I crept through the air shafts. Unused to any physical activity since the fire, he moved slow and we took frequent breaks. Plus, he babied the arm with the sutures. At this rate, it would take us hours to reach Sector D4.
Despite my impatience, we arrived at the edge of the Sector. Locked wire mesh air filters blocked the duct that led into the Travas apartments. I had encountered them before when sweeping for the active link, so it didn't take me long to unlock them.
I left Logan behind as I scouted for a computer. Looking for an apartment with only a couple Travas living there, I also wanted one close to where Logan waited. I found a small one bedroom apartment with three male Travas. They played cards on the table right below the air vent. It was almost perfect.
I grabbed the stun gun from my belt and flipped the safety off. Easing open the vent, I aimed at the farthest man and pulled the trigger. As the loud sizzle slap filled the room, the pulse of energy hit him in the torso, and he jerked. The chair toppled backward. Before he hit the floor, I had stunned the second man.
The third spotted me. He jumped to his feet and dashed toward the washroom. I dropped to the table, aimed, and caught him before he reached the door. Stunners overloaded a body's nervous system. When directly hit with a pulse, a person lost all feeling in their body and couldn't move for a couple hours or more, depending on the intensity. If hit on the arms or legs, then it just deadened that extremity. I had been hit below the waist, and it numbed both my legs and hip area.
I hurried back to Logan and led him to the apartment. Logan ignored the three men and aimed straight for the computer, loading Domotor's disk into it. With nothing to do, I straightened the cards and moved the guys into more comfortable positions.
The couch looked inviting, so I sat on the end, tucking my legs up under me. It had been only fifteen hours since I last slept, but the pace had been nonstop. I rested my head on the couch's arm.
