Chapter 49
Two days later, an exhausted Monty and Raven had finished the mobile radios. They had outfitted two of the cases and somehow, managed to get a rechargeable battery in each of them. The batteries were, like most things here, vacuum-packed in one of the storage rooms. The charging cables were solar powered, so it would be able to be charged anywhere above ground. They had also squeezed in everything they needed to mask their position.
"So, these are able to send to each other, but no-one trying to listen in can hear us? Adara asked Monty.
"Yes," he said. "We also used the old military satellites that are still around. We've come up with a solution we think will work. We're going to bounce the signal around the satellites and make it look as if the signal is coming from the lower part of what was Florida."
"It'll be far enough away that the mountain men won't be able to go there, but they will be looking at that area. They'll know we won't have gotten that far, but with walking every day, we could have made it down to the border by now. Hopefully, they think we're going to the site of the transmission in the Florida Keys," said Raven.
"Well done, you two. Now, go and get some sleep. You both look like hell," she said with a smile and a gentle shove towards the door. Both of them nodded and left to get some much needed sleep.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
Octavia had found one person who wanted to work inside. He didn't really like being outdoors too much, so Octavia asked him what he'd like to do instead and found that he always wanted to learn to cook. Up on the Ark, cooking was the same practically every day and was uninspiring. Down here, though, he liked the different tastes and textures and began thinking of ways to combine them. Octavia asked if any of the kitchen staff would like to become a hunter and forager. One of the girls said yes, so Octavia swapped both people and then told Clarke about it. Clarke approved the changes and made a note on the rosters.
Other than that, Octavia didn't really have anything to report. She had seen hills and dips, but she didn't know if they were natural or not. Murphy, on the other hand, had his people looking for anything that could be a buried building. They used old maps to help them figure out where buildings used to be and marked them on the ground. Troy Gibbons and Kate Cameron, two of Murphy's people, were good at drawing and were mapping out the area. They found that they enjoyed the job and wondered if they could do the job after the mountain fell.
Atom had Roma and Seth mapping the areas they'd been to with everything they had found. The tunnel systems were looking okay, no great amount of blockages were found, small ones only that they could either move or move around. They had moved out to the east first, going past the big station and decided to follow the blue line towards Farragut West. All three lines went there, but the orange line peeled off towards New Carrollton whereas the Silver and Blue lines went towards Largo Town Centre afterwards. Atom and Roma were hoping that the town centre meant shops and goods they could use.
Monroe and Clarke had found enough double beds to put in the unused offices. They had used the ones on the third floor as those weren't anywhere near other places or dorms, so people using them wouldn't wake anyone else or disrupt anyone working nearby. All in all, Adara was happy with her people. Now all they needed to do was take down the mountain. Piece of cake - not.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
A couple of days later, Adara walked into the command centre and saw Monty, Harper and Jones working with the computers.
"Hey," said Adara.
"Hey," they chorused in reply.
"Monty, have you figured out what you can do to the Mount Weather computers yet?" she asked.
"Some, I can insert orders if necessary, but the words they use might be different. There are some words they use - possibly codewords - that are understood in the mountain, but we have no clue what they mean. Other than that, I can turn off the acid fog from here. Problem with that is that someone in the mountain can turn it back on again, so I think if we do that, we need to do it just before we get to the mountain. I don't have access to the main doors, but I've found a way in through one of the ventilation systems. The person or people going in there would have to be skinny, though. It's a small vent."
"How small a person?" asked Adara. Most of the Skaikru were slim due to the reduced food intake on the Ark. Now they were down on the ground and getting regular meals filled with nutrients and calories, they were starting to fill out.
"Hmm… maybe Drew or Sterling thin?"
"Okay, I think we can work with that. Would Jasper fit?"
"Yes, but he doesn't remember."
"If we told him, do you think he can save Maya without jeopardising the mission?"
"I honestly don't know. I do know he would have a hard time with it because he would remember what happened last time. Even if he saves Maya this time, he will remember last time too and I don't know if he would let it go."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. What about Octavia? She remembers and she's been in the mountain. Would she fit? Or maybe Miller?"
"Miller might be too big. Maybe if you told him about the mission and put him on a diet, it might work."
"Hmmm. Can you find a piece of pipework or something the same dimensions as the vent opening? We could test people to see who fits."
"Good thinking. I'll check with Raven and see if she has anything we could use."
"Cool," said Adara, wondering if she would fit. She was a leader that led from the front. She never understood how you could lead while staying behind. You're a leader so lead.
"Jones, Harper, you got anything?"
"More unrest among the civilians but other than that, no," said Jones.
"I haven't got…." Harper stopped suddenly and put her hand over the headset. She suddenly pushed buttons and unplugged the headset and suddenly voices could be heard.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
"...do something about them, Dad!" Cage's voice said.
"Son, these are our people, what do you want to do, kill them? Arrest them? Imprison them? For what? For daring to ask to see the savages? We can't do that, Cage. We can't hurt our people for trying to be kind to the ones that saved them." Dante said.
"Those savages didn't save them! We did! WE did that, Dad. We had to use the savages blood to keep us alive!" Cage was raging now.
"CAGE!" Dante said, raising his voice. "You're the one who told the civilians that the savages were helping them. We could have passed it off as a medical breakthrough, but no, you had to tell them the savages were helping them! The previous generations were told that it was transfusions run through machinery that removed the radiation from their blood to help them survive. But you? You wanted the praise our people bestowed on you because of your saviour complex. You need to calm down and think about this!"
"Dad! We need to do something to stop them from trying to get into the medical wing!"
"And what do you want to do?"
"We need to subdue them. We need to put them in prison or at least a room they can't get out of. We need to start now, Dad, before it gets out of hand!"
"It's already out of hand, boy! You had Emerson attack Vincent Vie, all because he wanted to meet the savages! Get out, Cage and think about what you're doing."
They all heard the door slam and Dante sighed.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
"Ah, shit!" The expletive slipped out before Adara could censor it. "Monty, fire up that mobile radio thingy and get in touch with Clarke. The Commander needs to know about this." Monty nodded.
"I've recorded what we heard of the conversation, Adara," said Harper, looking over to her.
"You did? Outstanding!" Adara praised. "When Monty's got hold of Clarke, can you play the conversation for her and the Commander?" Harper nodded and started working again. Monty came over to them with the radio.
"This 'thingy' is called a field radio. Here, I have Clarke on the other end," he said, holding out the receiver. Adara took it. "You speak into this part and listen through this one," Monty said, pointing out each part. Adara nodded and held it to her ear and mouth.
"Clarke?"
"Yes, I'm here and so is the Commander,"
"Good. We've heard a conversation between Dante and Cage. We think you and the Commander need to hear it. Wait a moment," Adara said as she thought of something. "Monty, is there a way for both of them to hear at the same time?"
"Only if they have their heads side by side by the receiver and they move the phone so the listening part is upwards, then they may hear it. Other than that, no I don't think so."
"Monty says-"
"I heard him. We're both listening."
"Good can you both hear me?" The Commander nodded and Clarke said yes.
"Harper, play the recording, please." Harper pressed play and they all listened as Dante and Cage argued. When it was finished, Adara put the receiver back to her ear.
"You heard all that?" Both said yes.
"This means there's dissent in the mountain. If we could get the civilians on our side, we would have a more powerful base. Those civilians would rise up against their leaders if they knew how your people were really treated, Commander, I'm sure of it."
"How do we get into the mountain, though," asked Clarke.
"Monty's sure that he can turn off the acid fog from here, someone would have to work from here to make sure that if they switch it back on, we can switch it back off. We can also see what the cameras see. At the moment, we've been looking at the military cameras, but Jones is now checking the civilian ones and monitoring them and conversations they have. We don't know if we can send recordings to them, but I want Monty to figure out if we can divert recordings from the harvest chamber to the mess hall. If the civilians can see the true extent of the deception by their leaders, they may do the job for us and get rid of them. Doubt it, but it could happen."
"We need a plan," said the Commander.
"Yes, we do. I'd like to come to you overland. I'll bring three others who fit into the clothing you gave us and we'll do some hunting along the way, in case any mountain men are in the area."
"When?"
"Today, as soon as I can get the group I want."
"We'll see you soon."
"We'll be there in a few hours." Adara then gave Monty the receiver and he put it back in its cradle to turn it off.
"Who's going with you?" asked Harper.
"I want Octavia, Sterling and Miller if possible. Sterling and Miller know how to keep their mouths shut and eyes open, Octavia knows how to hunt so it'll look authentic and I'll be there to back her up if need be."
"We need more Trikru clothing so more people can be dressed like them. It'll help the sentries blend in more," said Harper.
"Well maybe we can trade the skins of the caught animals for extra clothing in various sizes. Pity Trikru don't wear hats, it would cover up the short hair on the boys."
"Maybe Miller will go bald, he's halfway there already," said Monty.
"I'll ask him." said Adara, turning to go. "Keep up the good work, guys." she gave a backwards wave and left.