off, the Force of Sheep freed them, not me. And second, they have a better life. No Pop Cops, grueling work schedules and we’ll soon have plenty of room. How could you possibly see that as breaking a promise?”
“There wouldn’t have been a rebellion or the Force of Sheep without you. You started everything and you need to finish it.”
Words jammed in my throat. How could he think I didn’t finish it? I shook my head. “We can argue about this later. Logan’s waiting for us.” Before he could reply, I slid into the air duct, heading toward the control room.
Riley’s voice followed me, echoing through the metal shaft. “Logan called you, Trell, not me about the sabotage. Think about that.”
As I traveled in the duct, I dismissed his comment. It was a matter of semantics, nothing more.
I arrived at the control room and took a few seconds to see who worked below. Logan sat in front of a computer, frowning at the monitor. Riley hadn’t arrived. No one else was in sight.
The noise from opening the air vent should have alerted Logan to my presence, but the poor guy jumped a meter when I landed behind him.
“Would you stop doing that?” he asked. “You’re going to give me a heart attack.”
“You knew I was coming.” I studied him. He still had bags under his eyes, but he no longer looked as if a hundred-week-old could knock him over.
Logan flinched when the door opened, but relaxed when he spotted Riley. Something had him rattled.
“Time to explain,” I said.
He typed on the keyboard for a minute. The screen changed to tables and charts that meant nothing to me.
“The explosion in the power plant was caused by sabotage,” Logan said.
“That’s—”
He cut me off. “It’s the only explanation. My first clue was the location of the blast. Damage to the plant itself was minimal, but it hit the Transmission in the perfect spot.”
“The Transmission?” Riley asked.
Logan glanced at me. “Didn’t you tell him?”
“You made me promise not to.” I shot Riley a look. “And I keep my promises.”
“Oh. Well you could have told him,” Logan said.
“Then next time you swear me to secrecy, you need to include that exception.” I quickly explained the Transmission to Riley. “Did you fix it yet?” I asked Logan.
“No.”
“What about being on a collision course?” Riley asked.
“We should have plenty of time to avoid it. As I was saying, the Transmission’s controls were damaged, but not the equipment. Repairs should be easy if we knew how the controls worked.”
“I could look at it for you,” Riley offered.
“It couldn’t hurt,” Logan said.
“How do busted controls lead you to sabotage?” I asked.
“Second clue is this.” He pointed at the screen.
Riley bent closer, but I wasn’t going to try and decipher it. “And?”
“Operating data for the plant right before the explosion,” Riley said.
“And?”
“All the machinery was operating within normal parameters,” Logan said. “There is nothing here to warn of an impending explosion. No spike in power, no jammed valves, no fire or anything unusual.”
“But the computer might not have registered it in time. Did you examine the plant?”
“Of course. Went over it with a couple of the supervisors. They’re equally puzzled about the cause.”
“But that isn’t enough to suggest sabotage,” Riley said.
Logan uncovered a glass container. “Final clue. At the explosion site, I found an oily residue coating the walls, and pieces of a timer and switch. And before you try to explain them, I tested the residue and it’s a flammable substance not found anywhere in the power plant. It’s used in the recycling kilns on level one.”
Riley picked up one of the twisted hunks of metal from the container. As he examined it, a shocked horror filled his eyes. “This could detonate a bomb.”
A bomb. Spoken aloud, the words slammed into me. Someone had set off a bomb, killing people on purpose, risking all our lives—thousands of people. I let the stunned outrage roll through me. It took me a few minutes to pull my emotions together and think.
“Who did this? Why?” I asked.
“Who would have to be someone who knew about the Transmission, and had enough knowledge to make and place the bomb so it didn’t blow a hole to Outside,” Logan said. “As for why, I can only guess. Since the Transmission was the target, either someone doesn’t want us traveling through Outer Space or someone wants to get our attention.”
“Do you think they will make demands or threaten to damage another system if we don’t comply?”
“I’ve no idea, Trell. This is all new territory for me.”
“If they plan to make demands, it should be sooner rather than later,” Riley said. “Actually, if they do contact Logan or the Committee, we might be able to find out who they are.”
“Have you informed the Committee?” I asked Logan.
“No.”
“Why not?” I demanded.
“I just connected the clues. And this information needs to be handled with care. Knowing we’re dealing with a saboteur gives us an advantage. If nothing is said, maybe the person will relax and give himself away.”
“And if word gets out, there could be panic,” Riley added.
“This is too big. The Committee needs to know.”
“Nineteen people can’t keep a secret. It’s statistically impossible,” Logan said.
“What if the saboteur makes a demand?” I asked.
“The Committee will know then, won’t they?”
I huffed in frustration. “You need to tell someone,” I said.
“I did.”
“Besides us.”
“I think that’s unwise.”
“Do you have any suspects?” Riley asked.
“Don’t encourage
