“I’ll wait here for you,” he called.

It took me a few minutes to get my bearings and head in the right direction. Despite Bubba Boom’s suggestion to hurry, I slowed as I crossed over the Committee’s offices. Bluelights glowed from most of them. No sounds or voices drifted, but that didn’t mean no one was below.

The bright square of daylights reflecting off the metal duct marked Jacy’s office well before his voice reached me.

“...don’t know…she…problem,” Jacy said.

Two almost-familiar male voices answered him, and I crept with care for the last two meters. The front half of Jacy’s desk and two sets of legs facing it were visible from my vantage point. I strained to match the voices with faces and names.

“All your plans sound feasible, but you need to repair that Transmission before you can do anything else,” said an authoritative and scary voice. Why scary? I searched my memories.

“We tried,” Jacy said. “Karla sent us a trio of idiots.”

“No surprise. She was having fun with that little scrub. I’ll send you the right people.”

I tucked that tidbit away for now.

“How do we get them past Hank?” asked the third man.

My hand flew to my cheek. I couldn’t forget that voice. Sloan. Bubba Boom was right. Jacy had set me up!

“He has people in the power plant all the time,” Sloan said.

“How long would they need?” Jacy asked.

“A couple hours at most,” Authoritative and Scary said.

“We’ll stage a distraction. If they wear the maintenance coveralls, they’ll blend right in,” Jacy said.

While Jacy working with Sloan was a bad thing, fixing the Transmission wasn’t. I guessed Jacy had used the sabotage and the attack on Logan as a distraction so he could grab control of the computers and therefore Inside. It would make sense that he’d want to fix the Transmission once he gained power.

“What happens once the Transmission is repaired?” Sloan asked.

“We implement your plan,” Authoritative and Scary said.

That comment supported my mutiny theory. Sloan and the other man stood and each shook Jacy’s hand over the desk. I willed the unknown man to turn left to leave instead of right so I could see his face.

For once, I had my wish. I caught a glimpse of his beak of a nose and black mustache. His features were familiar. An upper, but not one I’ve seen more than once or twice.

I chased the logic as I traveled back to where Bubba Boom waited. Scary had been one of my initial reactions, which meant I must associate him with a frightening event. Perhaps he had been a Pop Cop. But from the commanding tone of his voice, he was used to giving orders. Unfortunately, I knew most of the higher ranked Pop Cops. The answer slammed into me.

The other man was Captain James Trava.

13

AS SOON AS I PULLED THE VENT OPEN, BUBBA BOOM appeared below. I hung down. He grabbed me around my waist and lowered me to the floor.

He stared at me a minute before releasing me. “Now do you believe me?”

“Yes. How did you know about the Captain?”

“Hank never trusted Jacy, and one of our guys found a maintenance panel that had been tampered with in Sector D4.”

“Maintenance panel?”

“There’re these covers on the walls that blend in and are easy to remove in case you need to get to the pipes and wires inside. It’s better to pop off a panel than cut a hole in the wall. The Travas have been using the one in Sector D4 to sneak in and out.”

“But there are ISF officers all over the place.”

“Not up here. Heck, anyone wearing an upper’s shirt and pants can stroll around levels three and four without any problems.”

Sounded familiar. I had traveled the halls of the upper levels without notice when the Pop Cops had been in charge. Why? Not enough Pop Cops and people who kept to themselves too scared to get involved. Same thing, different names. There had to be a way to break that cycle, to unite us. The answer eluded me.

We headed back to the infirmary. I mulled over the information.

Jacy could no longer be trusted so everything he had told me should be considered a lie. The biggest threat to Jacy and Captain Trava was Logan. Even though it had been for the wrong reason, the Committee had actually done the right thing when they put Logan into protective custody.

As we neared the infirmary, Bubba Boom asked me to accompany him to the dining room. Since we needed to make plans, I agreed. I poked my head into the patient area to inform Lamont. Because of the tracer, she had to tag along, but she claimed it was a good idea.

Bubba Boom had been quick to hide his frown, but she noticed and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t sit with you two.”

No one spoke as we turned south toward Quad G3. My thoughts still sorted through all that I had learned in the last few hours. Lamont filled her tray and joined a group of friends while Bubba Boom and I found an empty table as far away from everyone as possible. My plate contained a greenish-colored casserole, but I had no memory of scooping it.

I watched my mother. She appeared relaxed and when she smiled it changed her whole face, reaching all the way to her eyes. I realized she hadn’t been happy in a very long time. Which should seem obvious, but I held no memory of her ever showing any joy or peace even before she betrayed us.

What was different? Her daughter was alive and despite her tendency to downplay the risk, she put herself in considerable danger by carrying the tracer for me. I thought about what I’d done without hesitation for my friends.