She stared at me for a few seconds. “I can only imagine.” She gestured to my neck. “Is Riley upset that you lost it? Is that why he hasn’t come around?”

Normally, I would have snapped at her, telling her to mind her own business. But I couldn’t produce the energy. Instead I had a moment of weakness and told her about the choice I had made when disarming the bomb.

She drummed her fingers on the exam table. “I think I would have done the same thing. This Bubba Boom is an expert in explosives after all.”

“Yeah, but it was a wiring problem. That’s Riley’s area of expertise.” I rubbed the spot where the tracer had been inserted. “Riley thinks I have a death wish. He may be right.” I stared at the floor. “Ever since Cogon floated away…I keep thinking it should have been me. He wouldn’t have been afraid to guide us through all these changes. He would have united the uppers and lowers by now. Sabotage and riots would never have happened if Cog was here.”

“And what would killing yourself accomplish?” Lamont asked. When I didn’t answer, she continued. “It won’t bring him back. Cogon is gone. And from a purely medical point of view, you don’t have a death wish. If you did, you wouldn’t have fought for every single breath in those first critical hours after the fire. Your skin wouldn’t have healed as fast as it did.”

Even though I hated to admit it, she had a point. And damn it. I felt a little better. Looking up, I was going to thank her, but she had her doctor’s purse on her lips as if reviewing a diagnosis in her mind.

“Who also has Cogon’s way with people?” she asked.

“Hank from maintenance. Emek’s people love him. And Riley. He’s been able to work with both uppers and scrubs.”

“Then you need—”

I waved my arm. “I can’t do anything. Remember? I’m stuck here.”

“Let’s pretend you don’t have the tracer. What would you do first?”

“I’d find Logan, rescue him and set him up at a computer terminal to bypass the Controllers.”

“What if he can’t see?”

“Then I’d find someone who knows enough about computers to sit next to him and be his eyes.”

“Riley?”

“No. He’s good, but not Logan good.” I considered.

“Your father was Logan good.” Pride filled her voice.

I waited for the pain and anger to flair inside me, but only sadness touched. However, his name reminded me of another. “Domotor would be perfect.”

“Would he agree to help?”

I remembered his anger. He couldn’t be content taking orders from the Controllers. “Yes.”

“Then it’s an excellent plan. Let’s get started.” Lamont headed for the surgery, pushing through the double doors.

Curious, I followed her. “But—”

She handed me two syringes. “I think a local anesthetic should be enough. Grab the lidocaine and alcohol wipes.” Then she collected a few other supplies—sutures, scalpel and long curved tweezers.

Understanding hit me hard; I grabbed the operating table to steady myself. “You realize the risk you’re taking?”

“There’s no risk to me. You’re the one who will be in danger of being thrown into the brig. And you’ll still need to work here so you’re visible to others. Otherwise, they’ll get suspicious.”

“You’ll have to stay on level three.”

She shrugged it off. “I’m always here anyway.”

The final concern was mine alone. Could I trust her? No. But she offered the only possible solution. If I wanted to make Cogon…and Riley proud of me, I couldn’t give up.

With the two of us working together, it didn’t take long to remove the tracer from my arm and implant it in Lamont’s. The device had only been exposed to the ambient air for a second.

Just to be sure, I stayed and worked in the infirmary for the next six hours. Then we went to the cafeteria in Quad G3 with the intent to eat and then stock up on food for our kitchen.

Riley’s brother Blake worked behind the counter, serving soup. His resemblance to Riley sent a flash of pain across my heart.

I wondered what he was doing up here. “New job?” I asked him, trying to sound casual.

“Same job, new location.” He shrugged then tilted his head to the people sitting at the tables. “Change of scenery. Change is good. Right?”

“Uh…yeah.” I wondered what he was implying. Was he glad Riley and I were no longer together? Hard to tell. I didn’t know Blake that well.

After our excursion to the cafeteria I took a brief nap, then changed into my skin-tight uniform. As long as Lamont stayed in our suite or in the infirmary the ISF shouldn’t suspect anything.

I climbed into the air duct, grinning.

The Queen of the Pipes has returned.

There weren’t many hiding places in Inside. I doubted the Committee knew the locations, but I didn’t want to leave anything to chance so I ruled them out right away. They had probably taken him to an empty apartment. Since I had been confined to level three, I suspected he would be on level four. The Travas filled Sector D4, so that meant I had to search Sectors E4 and F4. Doable in the time I had.

I tried not to think about apartment number three-six-nine-five in Sector E4 as I carefully traveled through the air shafts and peered into rooms. At least there weren’t any air filters to bypass.