“Send reinforcements, alert the air controllers to prepare the poison gas canisters,” the captain ordered. He typed on his keypad. “I’ve had it with these bothersome scrubs.”
Panic spun and grew in my stomach.
“Sir? The air controller on duty just told me to blow the gas out my ass.” Shock whitened the upper’s face.
I suppressed a chuckle. Logan’s voice sounded. “We’re in.”
All I needed to hear. I finished loosening the screws on the vent cover and pulled the cover inside the duct. No need to mask my noise as the upper workers reported one by one to the captain that the mechanical systems failed to respond.
“What do you mean not responding?” The captain demanded.
I lowered Zippy a few inches into the room and flipped the switch. No hum or spark, according to Logan the pulse would be silent. Still I would have liked to at least see a flash. Trusting the technology, I yanked Zippy back.
The captain pounded on his computer. “Damn thing.”
“Engage the override, we’ll control the systems from here,” the admiral ordered.
My turn. I dropped down onto the admiral. A few cries of alarm had alerted him, but all he had time to do was look up. We landed together in a heap. The stun guns from all the Travas aimed at us, but none of them worked. I wore one of Anne-Jade’s anti-stunners just in case. Yanking my protected stunner from my belt, I neutralized the admiral, the captain, and the uppers working near the override controls.
It didn’t take long for the flaw in my plan to become obvious. I needed more time to aim and shoot than I expected. The other uppers left their seats to join in the fray, grabbing for me. Takia remained at her post.
Outnumbered, it was a matter of seconds before they unarmed me. Stunned bodies littered the ground and a few uppers moved awkwardly with half-stunned body parts. Two men held my arms with tight grips. Not part of the plan. I was supposed to stun everyone and open the control room door from the inside.
The admiral remained by his station. He glanced at his stun gun in his hand, then tossed it aside. “Report,” he ordered his team.
Except for the two holding me, the uppers returned to their posts.
“Override engaged, sir,” an upper said.
“Lieutenant Commander Karla is at the door,” Takia reported.
I suppressed a grin of triumph. The override would be knocked out as soon as the door opened and Anne-Jade, Jacy and his group stormed the room.
“Let them in,” the admiral said.
Preparing to join in the fray, I braced for action. The double metal doors slid aside with a hissing noise.
My heart shattered and the men beside me grunted and supported me as my legs turned to liquid.
Lieutenant Commander Karla Trava stood at the door with Commander Vinco on her right side and Doctor Lamont on her left.
CHAPTER 23
Speechless,I stared at my mother. Doctor Lamont’s expression fluctuated between fear and hope as she scanned the faces in the room with a frantic intensity. She clutched something in both hands. When she met my gaze, guilty pain flared for a moment. I marveled at my own stupidity. Even when we knew she had betrayed the last group of rebels, she had conned us again.
Karla swaggered into the control room with a smug smirk. Vinco followed with ten Pop Cops behind him. One of them pushed Doctor Lamont into the room. The door hissed shut with a thump that crushed the remains of my heart.
“Report, Lieutenant Commander,” the admiral said.
“The lower levels are secured, sir.”
“Excellent work. How did you manage it so quick?”
Karla glanced at Doctor Lamont. “We had a few hours’ notice.”
“Well done. Braydon, send instructions to our men below and have them separate the leaders.”
“Yes, sir,” an upper called and typed at his computer.
