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 slowly 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 so I could scout 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 his 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 had 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.

A weight settled next to me and I startled awake. Logan slouched beside me.

“Well?”

“No luck. Everything’s blocked.”

“What about Domotor’s isolated system?”

“I can retrieve data from it, but I can’t get into the executable files. The ones that run the systems.”

“What type of data?” I asked.

“Useless stuff like the population control stats, fuel data, hydroponic fertilizer mixtures and sheep feeding times.”

“Useless to you, but not to those workers.”

“True,” Logan said.

Checking the time, I calculated how long we had until the Travas recovered. Hour sixty-five. They would get feeling back soon. And we had fifteen hours until Logan’s escape was discovered.

“Let’s get out of here.”

“Do you want to see the Outsiders?” he asked.

I almost fell off the couch. “How?”

“One of the isolated systems is the Video Cameras pointed to Outside. I took a quick look to confirm my suspicions.”

My brain stumbled over his words. I felt as if I was always the last person to know. “Just tell me, Logan.”

“I studied the damage to the Transmission. Bad, but not five explosions worth. One did the job. So what were the other four trembles? I guessed the saboteurs used the blast at the Transmission to cover the Outsiders attaching to Inside.”

“Attaching?”

“Yep. They have to line up and attach to Gateway in some way or risk being exposed to Outer Space.” Logan returned to the computer.

I stood behind him as the screen turned black. Then the view changed and spots of dim daylights illuminated a bumpy rectangle made out of black metal…a bubble monster! I had forgotten all about them in the craziness of the past few weeks. Eight long arms hooked onto an otherwise smooth metal wall…Inside. At least, I had been correct in assuming the monsters were a conveyance. Small comfort.

Logan pointed to the arms. “When these clamped on, they caused those tremblers. I’m guessing they attached two at a time. See this?” He tapped on a spot on the belly of the monster. “That’s their Gateway. Even though they’re moving slow, they’ll link theirs up with ours soon.”

“How soon?”

“Depends on them. They have control of our computer. We’re completely unprepared and nothing can stop them.”

“Thanks for staying optimistic,” I said.

Maybe we weren’t as unprepared as Logan thought. I wondered if those bubble…ships in the top level could stop them. Would they have weapons or could we use those arms to pull the Outsiders off? No idea.

I helped Logan back into the shaft and followed, closing the vent behind us. With no closer options, I led him to Riley’s storeroom.

The room had an abandoned feel to it. Or was that just my heart?

Logan plopped on the couch. Dust puffed and I sneezed.

“This is just temporary. Once we figure out our next move, I’ll find you a better place to hide,” I said.

“There is no next step. The Outsiders will come in. The end.”

“Unacceptable. Try again.”

He groaned and massaged his forehead. “I’d think better without these headaches.”