His matter-of-fact tone about the exact time had an ominous ring. A cold unease crept up my spine. “How can you be so sure?”
“Vinco’s next shift starts at hour ten. I can take a beating and I can endure most pain. But two hours of Vinco’s knife is all I can bear.”
The bell rang for the hundred hour assembly as I climbed from the bag filter’s chamber. Damn. No time to change the stained and sweat-soaked uniform. I raced to my assembly station—the cafeteria—and ended up last in the short line. Only three scrubs between me and LC Karla. She leaned against a table, watching the check-in process. I wondered why she was here again.
My voice didn’t waver when I repeated my stats, but my heart beat a faster rhythm when Karla eyed my work suit with a contemplative purse on her lips. I tried to sidle past her.
“Running late?” she asked.
“Sorry, sir.” I stepped toward the dining room.
She blocked my way. “You weren’t scheduled to work. What have you been doing during your off time?”
Her stare could have frozen the warmest heart. I blinked. Caught by surprise, my mind blanked.
“Hey, Trella,” another scrub called. An older man with short gray hair and a stooped posture, he had gone through check-in just before me. “Thanks for helping with that clogged drain. Without your little hands, I don’t know what we would have done.”
“Any time,” I said, waving.
Karla snatched my hand and inspected my short fingernails.
“No dirt under your nails?” She waited.
“I washed my hands, sir. They were in raw sewage.”
She dropped my hand as if I was contagious and gestured for me to join the scrubs assembled in the cafeteria. I stood next to the man who had covered for me. As Karla pushed her way to the front, I leaned close and whispered my thanks.
“Any time,” he said, winking.
LC Karla climbed on a table to address the crowd. “Citizens, welcome to the end of the week celebration. Now begins week number 147,003.” She scanned the scrubs. “I have good news. We have caught the man responsible for my officer’s untimely recycling, and we will find Broken Man soon. However, if you know of anyone who may have helped hide Broken Man, you are to tell me immediately. Rewards for accurate information may result in promotion to the upper levels.”
Absolute silence filled the room. All moisture evaporated from my mouth and gushed from my pores. I couldn’t helpglancing at the man beside me. Why didn’t he raise his hand and tell the LC about lying for me? He didn’t move. No one did.
LC Karla’s body stiffened and she shook as if waves of pure anger pulsed off her. She glared at the crowd. “Fine, then youallwill be interrogated. One at a time.”
She relinquished her table-top position to the ensign on duty. As he read the weekly announcements, murmurs circled the room. But the whispers held a timbre of outrage.
The man leaned over. “She’s made a mistake.” He met my gaze. “Whatever you’re up to, do it quick. I think you’ll be first on her interrogation list.”
I listened to the rest of the ensign’s message without hearing a word he said. My thoughts tumbled in circles, ending at the same point. I stifled the desire to jump on a tabletop and shout to the scrubs, “Don’t get your hopes up!”
When the assembly was over, I bolted into the kitchen. Karla stood at the exit and I didn’t want to remind her about me. If she caught me later, I could say I needed to start my cleaning shift. True to a point.
No Pop Cops had arrived yet, and the kitchen scrubs took my presence in stride, preparing food for the next meal. I could reach the air vent above the countertop, but would have difficulty getting inside. Scanning the kitchen, I searched for a stool to stand on.
A thud sounded behind me and I turned. On the counter rested a step-ladder. The type with only a few rungs and used to reach into high cabinets. Without delay, I climbed on the counter and up the ladder.
“Thanks!” I called as I pulled my body into the air shaft. The ladder was gone by the time I closed the vent’s cover. I traveled through the shaft to the hallway outside the care facility in Sector H2. Once there, I glanced down. A stream of scrubsheading toward their work assignments flowed below me. I waited a few minutes then dropped down on the stragglers.
No curses. No taunts. I could get used to it. Although if I failed to help the scrubs, the verbal abuse would resume. I laughed. If I failed, the scrubs would be the least of my worries.
Logan paced the hallway, biting a nail. I scanned the hallway to make sure no Pop Cops lingered nearby. He stopped when he saw me. I pulled his hand down.
“Try not to look so nervous,” I said. “How do you manage to work on Zippy and the other technology without giving yourself away?”
“Anne-Jade. She has nerves of glass. It has to be pretty hot for her to melt.”
“We’ll be out of sight soon.” I guided him to a small door near the care facility. Taking his decoder from my tool belt, I whispered, “Keep an eye out.” Then placed the device near the door’s lock, pressing the button.
