“But if you’re locking them—”

“The floor of the safe has a weight sensor in case anyone decides to try to steal anything.”

My mind raced. “Then add in extra weight. You can’t lock up all the weapons! That’s suicide.”

“I don’t have much time.” She pointed to the bottom of the screen. A small clock counted down. She had less than an hour. “If I don’t do as they say, they’ll gas Sector D2.”

“Sleeping gas?”

“I wish.”

I sorted through the potential problems. “If I find you the weight, will you loan me a stun gun?” “Sure.”

Anne-Jade gave me the approximate weight of each weapon. While she called in her officers, I returned to the air shafts.

As I slid through them, memories of other panicked scrambles through the tight shafts replayed in my mind. I had hoped never to be in this situation again. In order to put a positive spin on my rushed descent to level one, I considered this trip practice. If the Outsiders did gain entry into our world, we would have one advantage of being in familiar territory.

The best place to pick up items of various weights was in the recycling plant. I peered through the vents, searching for a pile away from the bustle of activity and near a vent. Part of me was glad to see people working to recycle the large amount of waste that had collected during the last six weeks, but the other half worried one of the workers would recognize me. Too bad I didn’t have time to don a pair of the drab gray overalls and boots.

A few people picked through a couple piles as if searching for something so at least in that regard, I wouldn’t be calling attention to myself. I spotted a mound of broken glass items. They would be heavy enough to stand in for the weapons.

Easing from the air shaft, I dropped to the floor with a light thump. My heart added its own thumping that I swore the entire recycling plant could hear. A couple people glanced over, but resumed working. Careful of where I stepped, I tried to keep the glass pile between me and the others.

I filled my bag with a hefty amount—enough, I hoped, for three or four weapons. The beauty of taking glass was Anne-Jade could break off pieces if they didn’t match the weight. Tying the bag to my belt, I climbed the wall, using the rivets. In the recycling plant, the air vents were at the top of the walls and not in the ceiling.

When I reached the vent, I pulled my body in. Except before I could draw in my legs, a hand clamped around my ankle and yanked.

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 doesn’t take much force to temporarily damage a person’s vision. He yelled and let go of my ankle. I didn’t hesitate to haul 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.