Trapped!: The 2031 Journal of Otis Fitzmorgan (15 page)

CHARLOTTE PEERED OUT AT ME.

There, was silence. Then I heard her say, “D'en. Just a crack, computer.” The door slid open several inches, and Charlotte
peered out at me. “You need help? So you're here because you have no one else to go to?”

“No,” I said. “I'm here because I don't want to go anyone else”

“Right,” she said sarcastically.

“I'm serious.”'

She studied my face. And what she saw there made her anger recede. She stepped back and said, “D'en, computer.” The door slid
the rest of the way open, and she said “Come on in.”

I followed her over to the couch, past her father, who was snoring gently in his bed. “How is he?”

“Crockett told me he's getting worse,” she said, tears up in her eyes.

“I might be on to a way to help him and the rest of the adults.”

She looked at me. “You trust me enough to tell me about your plan?”

“Yes,” I said.

Charlotte seemed to understand I really meant it. She gestured for me to take a seat on the couch and sat next to me.

She took a breath and started speaking. “When I was a baby, my real mom and dad died. A kindly neighbor took me in. It was
Robert Noonan. He adopted me, and I changed my last name to his.”

“That's why your last name isn't an anagram for Notabe.”

She nodded. “Judge came here last night and told me all about that. Just so you Know, I had no idea I was a clone until yesterday.
I changed my hair color from black to blonde for fun, that's all.

Not because I was trying to trick anyone… especially you.”

As she said “you,” her eyes met mine. And for the first time, I felt like we were really seeing each other. A long moment
passed.

“So …,” she broke the silence. “How do you know the bad guy is on Level 5?”

“I dreamed my math teacher was trying to tell me something,” I said. “She kept saying, 'You have the answer.' Remember how
we figured out that there are 650 pounds on Level 5 that shouldn't be there?”

“Sure,” she said, nodding. “That's because the real statue is probably on that level. Or do you think it's somewhere else
now?”

I shook my head. “No, it's there. I know it. But I went over my notes again. The statue only weighs 510 pounds. That leaves
a difference of 140 pounds.” I showed her the Condition Report for ESCAPE By A HAIR.

Realization dawned on her face. “Which means there is something—”

“Or someone. Someone who weighs 140 pounds and is hiding on Level 5.”

“But how would the bad guy get there?” she asked.

“He probably used the airlock hatch in the Control Room to get outside the Climber and make his way to Level 5.”

Charlotte's face showed her excitement. “Now it makes sense! That's why the Controller's body was slumped toward the airlock
in the Control Room. Someone had opened that door to get to the outside. When they did, the change of pressure tugged the
Controller in the direction of the door.”

I nodded. “You're right. I've looked at plans of the Climber. There's a work ladder that runs along the outside of it from
Level 1 to Level 5.”

“You're going to make the trip?”

I nodded.

“You wouldn't dive into the depths of the ocean without a buddy, would you? Why should this be any different? I'm going with
you.”

“Are you sure, Charlotte?”

“I've been locked up in my room for the past two days,” she said. “If you think you're going to lock me out of this, you've
got another thing coming.”

Charlotte and I headed for the Common Room, where we found judge. “I'll go,” she said immediately after I brought her up to
speed.

I shook my head. “Charlotte and I have it covered.”

JUDGE VOLUNTEERED TO GO

When the three of us got to the Control Room on Level I we forced open the closet that held the emergency extra Vehicular
Activity (EVA) suits. The space suits looked like clear plastic jumpsuits. The hard, plastic helmets were the only parts of
the outfit that were inflexible. They also contained the monitors. The closet had places for three space suits—but there were
only two.

ONE SPACE SUIT WAS MISSING.

“The bad guy must have taken the third suit,” Charlotte said, and I nodded.

“I really should be the one to go to Level 5,” Judge said. “The trip would be so short my cells could make the trip without
any extra oxygen. I wouldn't have to wear a mask. And I'm stronger than you. I'll prove it,” she added with a smile. “Want
to arm wrestle?”

I smiled back but shook my head. “That's exactly why you can't go. Someone equal in strength to Asyla needs to stay here.”

“Crockett and Lysa are keeping an eye on her for the moment. Asyla seems content to sit and stare at her own reflection,”
Judge said. “Besides, I'm afraid she might actually be stronger than I am.”

“Still, if something goes wrong, we wouldn't be any match for her,” I said. “You're the only one who'd even have a chance.”

For a minute, I thought we might witness Judge's famous stubborn streak. But then I saw her face change. “You're right,” she
finally said. “I don't like it and I hate to miss out on this, but you're right.”

“Sorry, Judge,” I said softly.

She gave me a smile. “We'll have more adventures to share, I'm sure,” she said. “well, now that that's decided, I'd better
go back and relieve Crockett and Lysa.” Judge reached up and tousled my hair and then Charlotte's. “Good luck, you two.”

CHARLOTTE STEPPED ONTO THE LEDGE.

The space suits were much easier to move around in than I had expected, and Charlotte and I had no problem making our way
outside.

The airlock had two hatches. One opened from the Control Room into a small room. Another hatch opened from there to the outside.

Once we had closed the first hatch behind us, we waited a second for the room to depressurize. Then we opened the outside
hatch—and stepped carefully onto the small ledge and into the darkness of space. I had to duck under the lowest rung of the
steel ladder that ran up the side of the Climber. A flexible steel cable was connected at one end to Charlotte's suit and
ran through a clip in my suit. I attached the opposite end of the cable to the bottom rung of the ladder.

There are only a few hundred people in the world who can say that they've gone on a space walk. And now Charlotte and I could
be added to the list. Out there, there was no artificial gravity. We would have floated off into space if we hadn't been holding
on to the handles on the outside of the hatch.

I could feel and hear the workings of the magnetic clamps on the other side of the Climber as they grabbed onto the ribbon
and lowered us down. But if I hadn't known we were descending, I wouldn't have been able to feel it.

Not that I paid much attention to anything but the view. Imagine floating above Earth with nothing but a clear plastic helmet
and space between you and the planet. It was a rush like I'd never had before.

I felt something bump against me. It was Charlotte. She placed her hand in mine. I looked up, thinking something was wrong.
We weren't able to talk to each other—the communication equipment on the suits wasn't working. It must have been tied in with
the system on the Climber.

Charlotte gestured toward Earth with her head and then looked back at me, her eyes wide, as if to say, “I can't believe how
beautiful this is!”

STEPPING OUTSIDE THE ELEVATOR AND SEEING EARTH WAS AMAZING

Her hand stayed in mine for a second longer. Then it was time to climb up the ladder. Charlotte went first. We both moved
very carefully, keeping one hand on a rung as the other hand reached for the next one up. The lack of gravity and the feeling
of being nearly weightless reminded me of swimming.

As we climbed up, we passed windows set into the thick, smooth steel of the Climber. As we passed the windows for Level 3,
I looked inside, hoping to catch a glimpse of Judge, Crockett, or Asyla. But none of the windows gave a view of the Common
Room.

We were nearly to our destination. The windows to Level 4 were now on the other side of the ladder. Just a few more feet—

CRACK!

Suddenly, Charlotte was floating away from the Climber, a broken rung still in her hand! Somehow, it must have snapped off
the ladder.