Chapter 14
Clarke and Octavia had been thinking about trigger words and had drawn up a list of words or phrases to use with each person. The ones they thought were the most likely to trigger people were at the top and the others were listed in their most likely use. Miller, Monroe, Drew, Sterling and Jones were ones they wanted to trigger. They really wanted Monty and Harper triggered too but they didn't know how they would react. Clarke checked on where each of their targets were and they split up. Miller, Drew and Jones were inside and Monroe and Sterling were still free.
When they'd been freed and had some spare time, Erin had taken Octavia all over the guts of the Ark and had shown her where to enter certain stations. When Kane needed help with his new office and the hidden room, Monty had checked the schematics and had shown them the way from the skybox to the Chancellor's office. Erin had looked at alternative routes to other parts of the skybox and had run all over them with Octavia. Honestly, it was the most fun she'd had since being found! Now though, she would use them to get close enough to the people she needed to trigger. Miller would be first, though.
She crawled around until she found herself above his cell. It was night time and Miller had a cell to himself - his cellmate having been released because of lack of evidence - and Octavia pried up one of the panels. She didn't enter the room, but she stuck her head inside and called out to him.
"Miller!" She whispered as loud as she dared. He stirred but didn't wake up.
"Miller!" she said a little louder. He shot up wide awake and looked around. "Look up," Octavia whispered.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought you'd been freed?"
"I was and still am. Look, I need you to remember a past life. I know that sounds stupid, but Clarke, Kane, Raven and I all remember a previous life. We landed on the ground and fought with the clans already there and eventually because of Jaha senior, a second deathwave happened and we all died."
"You're right, that does sound stupid!"
"Ring of fire," Octavia said. Miller just looked at her.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to trigger your memories. Clarke and I have compiled a list of words and phrases that may work. Please just humour me and let me say them?"
"Fine!" Miller said, laying back down and covering himself with his blanket, intending to go back to sleep.
"Second Dawn Bunker."
"Acid fog."
"Skaikru." That was the one. Miller shot up again and held his head as the memories assailed him.
"What the fuck!" he hissed.
"Oh, good, that one worked," Octavia said with a sigh of relief. "Do you remember?"
"Yeah," he said, sitting on the edge of his bed, head in hands.
"Do you remember who won the conclave for the bunker?"
"You did. You waited until they took each other out and then when there was only Luna left, you ran her through from behind," he said.
"Yeah, hopefully that won't happen again!" she said.
"What's happening?" Miller asked.
"Short version: Jaha sent four people to the ground, Raven, Jake Griffin, Aurora Blake and Sol Armstrong."
"Don't know that last one."
"She's from factory and came down with the station." Miller winced, remembering that only one person survived that crash.
"What else?"
"They made contact with Indra and Anya, they took the four to Tondc and they met the Commander. Only four on the ground remember; Anya, Lexa, Indra and Lincoln. They were somehow triggered accidentally by hearing certain words or phrases. They triggered Raven and she confirmed what they'd told the four. Raven triggered Kane, myself and Clarke. Several others have been helping secretly including Erin Armstrong, Sol's younger sister, Monty, Harper, Bellamy and Abby. We all found out about the four being sent to the ground and we joined the clues together. Kane led a one man coup and arrested Jaha. Kane's now Chancellor. He remembers so he's on our side. He's got Sinclair and Wick building more ships for everyone to go to the ground. We want to leave the stations here, especially Farm station. No more Azgeda murders and when Pike comes down, he's definately one for the chop - if you get what I mean."
"Anything else?"
"Yeah, Kane triggered Murphy and Murphy found so much incriminating evidence Jaha thought was hidden. This goes back to the war, Miller. He's got people including your father rounding up as many of the others as he can including Shumway. Raven and Sol built a radio and secretly got in touch with Monty. They also came up with a plan to free some of the prisoners in here - especially those due to be floated soon. Keep that to yourself, but when the time comes, you'll be coming down with us. We want trusted people down there to keep the ones who died before we were sent down in line.
"You've been busy, but how do we get out of here if we're still prisoners?" Octavia smiled a feral smile.
"Jailbreak," she told him. "I'll tell you more later, but now I need to try to trigger Drew and Jones. Any ideas?"
"What have you got so far?" Octavia passed the list to him and he took it to the door to see it in the light of the corridor.
"If nothing on this list triggers them, I don't know what will," he admitted.
"Well Jones died in the ring of fire, and Drew just before when we tried to make a break for it."
"Try it," Miller said.
"Will do," Octavia said. She was about to move away and replace the panel when she looked at him.
"Hey, Miller?" He looked at her. "Thank you for being there for me in the bunker. I don't think I could have gotten through that without you. Only a handful of us hundred were still alive by that point and only you were in there with me who I knew well. I think there were only about six others in there."
"No, problem, my queen," Miller said, jokingly.
"Fuck off!" Octavia said and Miller smiled. Octavia smilled back and replaced the panel before moving on to the next cell she needed to find.
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Drew was harder to get to. Miller's cell was on the top floor and Octavia could access his cell from the crawl space above, but Drew was on the second level. She'd been behind the walls too, but not every level had accessible places. The second level was one of them. Octavia tried to think of a way to get to him inside the skybox, but there was just no way. She sighed. It would either have to be a visit or try to get Murphy to trigger him. She was thinking about where Jones was and realised he was in a cell on the top level too - just on the other side of the skybox! Octavia sighed again and made her way around the skybox to get to him.
She saw that Jones had a cellmate and she had no idea if she'd trigger them both. Troy Gibbons also died in the fight just before the ring of fire. Octavia remembered him as the blonde boy with dreadlocks. He did any job he was asked to do, but was influenced by Bellamy. Miller and Drew had minds of their own and even though they followed Bellamy, they also used their own minds too. Troy seemed to need a mentor and he picked Bellamy for that slot on the ground. Octavia didn't know if he would be on their side or not. Again, she would have to think about it some more before Jones was triggered. She backed out and went back to the quarters she shared with Erin.
Erin was now her best friend and even when she was on the ground the last time, she never had a friend like that. Raven and even Clarke at times came close, but Erin was the one who knew what it was like to be a second child and live under the floor. She knew the pressure of an older sibling trying to protect her but she'd found a kindred spirit with Erin. The only thing was when she went to the ground, she'd make her life with Lincoln and the Trikru. Erin didn't have any connection to the ground other than her sister was now there. A sister that had died the last time- same as Erin. From her talks with Sol, she knew that Erin had not been found and she had died without anyone else knowing she even existed. Octavia found it sad that one person on the whole Ark was an unknown because she wasn't supposed to exist, just like herself.
Octavia couldn't wait until all of them were on the ground.
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Monty and Harper had talked about whether to go to the ground or not in the escape pod. Monty had tried to pay devil's advocate and looked at the pro's and con's for it. In the end they both decided to wait on the Ark as long as they went when the dropship did, taking the hundred down. By helping Kane, they hoped to have everything sorted sooner so they could get to the ground more quickly. Both of them could barely wait to feel the ground under them again, breathing fresh air, drinking clean, chemical free water and eating real food. Neither remembered that they'd done that before, but they were looking forward to it.
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The next time Kane took Murphy to his office through the secret passageway, Monty and Octavia were there to meet him. Murphy knew Octavia remembered but Monty didn't. He waited for Monty to go stash some more files and then went to Octavia and hugged her.
"I can't believe how young we look!" he said, looking at her. Octavia laughed.
"I don't feel 15, Murphy, I feel like I'm just about to turn 18 again."
"Were you even 18 when the world blew up again?"
"Not quite. 16 when sent down and three months shy of my 18th birthday when it all went to hell." Muphy nodded.
"So what now?" Octavia looked around and watched Kane looking through another pile of files taken from one of the drawers in the filing cabinet.
"I need to visit you officially in the Skybox, I need to give you some information that Monty doesn't know about." Kane nodded and Murphy saw it.
"Alright, my first visitor not a guard or Kane," he said, smirking.
"I'll see you tomorrow sometime," she said. Murphy nodded as Monty came back into the room.
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Monty searched through Kane's - or rather Jaha's files on the computer - and found some more evidence. He printed it off and handed it to Kane. The next file has schematics on it with places marked. Monty looked at them, trying to figure out the meaning of them.
"Shit!" he exclaimed, sitting back in his chair.
"What?" asked both Murphy and Kane.
"I've found Ark schematics and there are places marked on it. Look, here's this office and behind it, that secret room. Both are marked on the map as are a couple of others near here. I think these are stash spots!" Murphy and Kane rushed over. Monty pointed out where some of them were and Kane said he'd have Colonel Byrne go check some out.
"Yeah, good," Monty said, distractedly. "But look at this one. Murphy, you need to check this one out."
"Why?" he asked.
"Because this one's INSIDE the Skybox!"
"What?!" Kane said.
"Yeah, look," Monty said, pointing to the station housing the child prisoners.
"That's on my level!" Murphy said.
"Is Miller on your level?" asked Octavia."
"Yeah, he's on the other end of it," Murphy replied.
"I triggered him last night," Octavia said. "Maybe both of you can check it out."
"That may be hard, Octavia," Monty said. "They'd need to get through this access panel and they are locked from the other side." Octavia looked at it.
"Not a problem," she said. "I can get that undone then the boys can explore it."
"How, without others seeing us?" asked Murphy. Kane spoke up.
"I'll come and let you out after lockup at night?" he offered. All three kids looked at each other.
"Do it," Octavia said. Kane nodded, realising the kids had taken charge again. "Monty, not a word to anyone, not even Harper until we know what's going on, okay?" Monty nodded.
"Good, anything else we need to do in this room?" she asked. "Other than making it look like we haven't taken anything out, no," said Kane.
"Then we'll tidy up and leave," she said, and went about straightening things up.
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Clarke had decided that she'd visit Drew and Monroe. Drew was in prison and Monroe hadn't yet committed the crime that had gotten her arrested. She started with Monroe. She searched her out after school and joined her as she sat in a quiet corner of Factory station.
"Hey, Monroe, right?" Clarke said, after sitting down. Monroe looked up from the book she was reading, frown on her face.
"Yeah?"
"Sorry, I'm Clarke Griffin, Alpha station, newly released from solitary confinement in the skybox," she said. She was hoping to show Monroe she wasn't a snob and elitist.
"Councillor Griffin's daughter?" Monroe said. "You were in the skybox? Why?"
"Jaha put me in there when he found out dad knew about the air supply running out, he didn't want anyone to know just yet, so he had my dad floated and me thrown in prison. Turns out though, dad was sent to the ground with three others." Monroe put her book down, and gave her full attention to Clarke.
"Who?"
"Raven Reyes, Aurora Blake and Sol Armstrong."
"I don't know them," she said, after running their names through her head, trying to identify them.
"Aurora Blake is the mother of Bellamy Blake and Octavia Blake."
"Two kids?"
"Yep, Octavia lived under the floor of their quarters for the first fifteen years of her life. When she was discovered, Aurora was taken for floating, but she was offered a deal. Go to the ground and Octavia could take her place on the Ark. She accepted, but Octavia was never released, Jaha reneged on the deal. Solange Armstrong is the sister of Erin Armstrong. Their parents were floated when she was discovered over a year ago. Jaha made the same deal with Sol, go to the ground and Erin would be freed. She was - until Sol was off the Ark and then she was rearrested and put into a cell with Octavia."
"And the other one, Raven?"
"Raven Reyes, is one of dad's best engineers. She volunteered to go down as the pilot."
"So why are you telling me?"
"I need your help. We are trying to find people to go to the ground ahead of the others. We can make a deal with the people already living there."
"Your dad and the others?"
"No, there are people already living on the ground. We called them grounders." That was the trigger word for Monroe. Her eyes got wide and her mouth opened as she remembered.
"What the hell!" she said.
"Shh, Monroe, quietly." Monroe looked at her.
"Clarke?" she said, really looking at her and seeing the young girl from before she went to the ground - the last time. Clarke nodded and grinned.
"What do you need?" Clarke looked around and bent her head towards Monroe.
"Do you know a way to Orchid station through the tunnels?" Monroe nodded.
"Tonight, get to section B room 624. I'll meet you there at 8pm, okay?" Monroe frowned and then nodded. "I'll tell you everything then. Don't tell anyone else. Most of those who went down and are still free, don't know." Monroe nodded.
"See you tonight, Monroe," Clarke said, getting up and leaving. Monroe watched her go and then returned to her book, but she didn't read it, instead she was using it as a shield in case anyone was watching her. She was thinking back to the other lifetime, sorting out what had happened in what order and what they could do differently. With hindsight, there was a lot they needed to fix. She hoped that she could help them and get to the ground again.
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Clarke met Monroe in the corridor just outside their radio room and led her inside. Monroe looked around at the radio and at Octavia Blake sitting by the radio. Octavia looked at her.
"Monroe?" she asked, suspicious at why she was there.
"Yeah, Octavia, Clarke made me remember." Octavia broke into a smile.
"Welcome back, Monroe." Monroe smiled this time.
"This will take some getting used to. I don't even know what's happened."
"With what Jaha senior did up here this time and the fact that it's just under a year before we are sent to the ground, we need help in getting others to the ground without Kane knowing about it until it's too late."
"How?"
"Jailbreak," Octavia said, breaking into a grin. Monroe was astonished.
"Really?"
"Oh, yeah." Octavia and Clarke sobered and sat down and told Monroe exactly what had happened so far.
"So there are four people on the ground and only Raven remembers?"
"The other three died. Jake and Rory up here by floating and Sol and her sister were in Factory station when it came down." Monroe nodded sadly.
"So how can I help?"
"Because of the time gap, we need to try to save those kids due for floating before we were sent down last time. At the moment, there are about 82 kids in the prison. Some of them are our kids and we will be triggering some of them to wake up and remember. We'll be taking them and anyone we can that are due to be floated in the next nine months."
"Nine months? That takes us to July. We were sent down in September," Monroe said, frowning again.
"We are trying to get down earlier this time. We need a place to live - all of the Ark. That's why us kids need to go down there. I'm the leader and Commander Lexa will only deal with me. Right now, she's dealing with Raven and Sol, but all three have been telling Kane that I'm the leader and therefore she'll only deal with me in these things. Lex and Raven could hash it out themselves, but this gives us a legitimate reason to go down early," Clarke said.
"So what's needed?" asked Monroe.
"Right now, we're just trying to get trusted people to remember. Octavia's triggered Miller and Kane triggered Murphy. Right now, me, Octavia, Kane and Raven all remember along with you three. Monty and Harper are with us but don't remember. Right now, we need them working with Kane. If they remember, theyll want to come to the ground as well. We decided not to trigger them becase of what happened to them. Harper's time in the mountain is not one I really want her to remember just yet and Monty had to kill his own mother to save my life."
"He did? When? I don't remember that."
"Sorry, Monroe, but you'd died a few days before."
"That poison cloud," Monroe said with a sigh.
"Yeah, anyway, Hannah Green was with Pike in Farm up in Azgeda territory and she'd become another Pike. She was hell bent on establishing their version of how things should be run that she pulled a gun on me when I wouldn't agree with them. Monty came upon us and he had to make a decision, her or me. He knew his mother wouldn't change and that I was trying to do the right thing, so he shot her to save me."
"Shit! No wonder you don't want him to remember!"
"So only a few of us remember. On the ground, only four people remember. Anya, Indra, Lexa and Lincoln."
"Lincoln." Monroe said. "Did he live?" she asked.
"No," said Clarke flatly. "Pike executed him and Bellamy did nothing to stop it!" Monroe looked at Octavia who had become closed off.
"Sorry, Octavia. I was trying to find a way of getting them out. I'd been all through the guts of that wreckage, trying to find a spot weak enough we could get through it into the prison section. I didn't find it in time. Sorry."
"At least you tried, Monroe. More than my brother did!"
"Well this time, we can do better. Now we know what's going on down there, we can plan to avoid it or embrace it." Clarke nodded.
"Right now, we are looking into how to get to the escape pod that's still attached to the underside of the skybox. We need a way to get our people and those due to be floated, to reach the pod. Wells is training to be a pilot along with about a dozen others. Once he's a pilot, he'll be flying us down. We think - Raven thinks we can get maybe 35 or 36 people in the escape pod, we just have to figure it out."
"I can help with that," Monroe said. "I've been all over the Ark using the tunnels."
"And I've been crawling around the back of the skybox too," Octavia said.
"Good, you two can figure out a route for us," Clarke said. Octavia nodded.
"I'm due to go to the Skybox tonight and help Miller and Murphy search for a hidden stash of Jaha's or at least his people."
"How?" asked Monroe. "You can't let them out of their cells."
"Kane can. He's going to do it tonight after the final lockup. We'll have about an hour to figure out where the stash is."
"They hid stuff in the skybox?"
"Apparently. Monty found a schematic among Jaha's files with stash spots marked. He's gonna get Major...err Colonel Byrne and some trusted guards to go check a couple of them out. If they are stash spots, then we can raid most of them and find even more incriminating evidence against them," Octavia told them.
"Shumway was really arrested?"
"Yep. Colonel Byrne went to Kane's old office when he gave her the job of Head of Security and the only official key to his office. She caught Shumway and two other guards in there. She had them arrested for trespassing and insubordiation when they told her to fuck off back to the lower levels where she belonged!"
"He said that? To Byrne? Man, he must have a death wish!" Monroe said, grinning.
"Oh, he didn't believe she was the new Head of Security so he resisted arrest, so she charged him with that too. He was pissed when the Arkwide announcement of her promotion came over the tannoys."
"So he was floated?"
"Not yet, I think they want to make an example of them for what they were going to do."
"Which was?"
"Steal the exodus ship and most of the supplies and leave the rest to die when the air ran out," Clarke told them. Both were quiet for a while until the radio came to life. It was Raven calling just to check in. Octavia grinned and motioned to Monroe to take the mike.
"Raven's den, Raven's den, come in," Raven said.
"Raven's den here," said Monroe.
"Who's this?" asked Raven, suspiciously.
"Oh, come on, Raven. You don't remember me?" Monroe said, grinning while Octavia was silently laughing in the background.
There was silence as Raven tried to figure out who it was.
"No, not at the moment," Raven said.
"Okay, clue one. I'm one of the delinquents."
"That's not much of a clue, you know?" Raven said.
"There were only 100 of us, Raven, it should be easy to at least narrow it down."
"Well you're not, O, Clarke, Harper or… Monroe?" Raven said, incredulously.
"Bingo!" Monroe said.
"You remember?"
"Yup. Clarke triggered me this afternoon."
"They got you up to speed yet?"
"Mostly, still talking about stuff."
"Good Clarke, what's been discussed so far?"
"Miller's been triggered as has Murphy. We want to trigger Drew and Jones, both are in the skybox, though. Octavia will visit one of them and I'll visit the other."
"What about Sterling?"
"We'll trigger him nearer the time we leave. I don't want too many people triggered. Those in the skybox can't do anything so having them triggered isn't too much of a problem. Those still free, however, could make trouble."
"And you trust me to behave?" asked Monroe.
"Yep. You proved yourself down on the ground, Monroe, first when you were the first to volunteer to go find Octavia and then when we went to the mountain."
"Yeah, but I left when the others did, Clarke. Only you and Octavia stayed to get our people out. Thank you," Monroe said, quietly, humbled by their faith in her.
"Alright," said Raven. "What else is happening or we need to know about?"
"Not much. Octavia and Miller and Murphy are going to check out one of Jaha's stash spots inside the skybox, and we still need to trigger people. Other than that, it's just wait and see until we can get the right people in the right position to get our people down."
"Has anyone checked the escape pod?"
"Not yet, I don't want to draw too much attention to it yet. I was hoping to find a route to it from behind the walls and then we can look at it without others knowing."
"Good thinking," Raven said. "Monty can help with checking it out as well."
"Yep, already on that, we just have to wait for the right time."
"Speaking of time, I need to go and get into position for that search tonight," Octavia said, getting up.
"Talk to you later, O," Raven said. "Lincoln's off picking the last of some medicinal plants and won't be back for another week or so. I'll let you know when he's back. Your mom's healing up nicely and has thrown away her crutches. She's been keeping company with Nyko."
"My mom's dating Nyko?!" Octavia said.
"I wouldn't say dating yet, but they are in each other's company a lot. Not sure they've figured it out yet even though everyone else can see it."
"Mom? Dating? Not sure how to take that," Octavia admitted.
"Better get used to it, though. If you want her to accept Lincoln, you may have to accept Nyko. God knows what Bellamy's gonna think about all this!" Raven said.
"Don't want to think about how big a fuss he's gonna kick up about it either," Octavia said. "Okay, gotta go, see ya." She left the room and Clarke took over.
"Is dad there?"
"No, he's helping Torvan with building a new watchtower on top of the main building. Your dad mentioned them and Torvan wanted to know more so your dad told him and now Anya and Indra have asked him to make one for the main building. Your dad's enjoying himself. He said it was because he was still making things and advancing their technology even if they didn't know that was what he was doing. Sol showed Indra a telescope and now when we go raiding other places, we always try to find telescopes and binoculars for them. Apparently they don't see that as tech!"
"Way to go, dad," Clarke said, grinning.
"Well, got to go, Sol and I are going on another hunt tomorrow. We're going after something called a snow rabbit. Not sure what that is, but we need some more food, so we are helping out."
"Good, keep up the good relations, Raven. We hope to be down there within a couple of months, but more likely nearer the start of spring. Bringing 35 odd people down with nothing would not be a good thing. At least if we come down in early spring, we can help plant seeds and things to grow more food."
"And the weather should be a bit milder then as well. Ark clothing should be warm enough as long as we don't get a later cold snap."
"True. Well, we'll sign off and we'll talk again later."
"Bye Clarke, bye Monroe." they signed off and went off to their own quarters.
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Kane opened the door into the skybox and looked around. All lights were dimmed to their lowest level without knocking them off and all doors were locked. He made his way up to the top level and opened Miller's door and put his finger to his lips and motioned for Miller to come with him. Miller just laid there, wondering what was going on. Kane sighed to himself.
"I remember, we need your help," he whispered and motioned again. This time, Miller went with him and they moved quietly past the other cells to the one at the far end. Kane opened Murphy's cell and Murphy came out, smirking. Kane led them down the stairs to the bottom level and the access hatch they needed to get through. Kane knocked on the hatch gently, twice. They heard a little noise as Octavia unscrewed the hatch and opened it. She moved back and motioned them through. Kane stayed in the prison, but went back to Murphy's cell saying he'd be back in an hour to lock them back up. They reluctantly nodded and followed Octavia and waited until she'd put the hatch back.
They moved through the tunnels running behind the walls of the skybox and through a hatch before Octavia stopped.
"Okay," she whispered. "The place we need to be is just further down here. Murphy, Kane said you could spot traps so you'd better go first. It's the first hatch on the right, just around the corner to the left." Murphy nodded and moved past her. Miller just stayed at the back and watched. Murphy looked through the dim light and looked for anything out of place. When he couldn't find anything, he moved forward a few feet and stopped, checking again. He did that for the entire length up to the hatch itself. He carefully looked and then felt for anything. He knew if it was him, he'd have had at least an intruder alert set up if anyone opened the hatch.
He moved his fingers very gently over the edges of the hatch and finding nothing, he moved to the handle. There he saw a very simple tripwire. He smiled and looked around. He saw the small electronic box it was attached to and saw that it was more of a visual deterrent than anything else. All he had to do was move it and no-one would be the wiser. He moved the box to the hatch and put it on the floor. He opened the hatch just enough to get through but not enough to break the wire. Octavia and Miller also slipped through. Murphy then turned his attention to the room. After a few minutes he knew there weren't any more traps inside. It was like they did the bare minimum to say they had traps on it.
Octavia moved into the centre of the room and motioned for Murphy to do a visual check before they moved anything. He nodded and moved off to a desk. There was a lamp on it and he switched it on.
"Don't worry, there's no more traps in here." He looked through some of the files on the desk and then moved to check the drawers. Octavia was looking at a cupboard and then she opened it. It too was full of ration packs and other foodstuffs they could have used a few years ago. Miller was looking at the back wall. He saw another hatch, but it didn't look right.
"Murphy," he whispered. When Murphy looked up, he pointed to the wall and hatch. Murphy went over to it and checked for signs of tampering. When he found none, he opened it and found yet another secret room. He went through and found a hatch in the floor. Octavia and Miller came over and looked at it. Octavia gasped.
"Murphy, check that hatch very carefully. I think I know where it leads to."
"Where?"
"There's one large escape pod still attached to the underside of the skybox. Raven and Clarke have come up with a plan for us to steal it and take some of those due to be floated down to the ground. We can't take everyone, but when the dropship is launched next year, we'll have more of our people on it. This pod will be used for a few of us and whoever is due to be floated within the next few months." Murphy nodded and started checking it. Octavia was looking through the files on top of a table and Miller went back to check the desk drawers Murphy was going to look at.
Both Octavia and Miller found more files with incriminating evidence in them. They moved them to the hatch, intending to take them out of this secret place and somewhere the guards wouldn't find them. The food would be taken out later - or if Clarke and herself remembered, they'd take a stash with them when they went down.
"Clear," Murphy whispered. Both of them came back as Murphy opened the hatch. He looked in and saw the escape pod. He went in and looked around.
"Someone's been here," he whispered. "There's clothing and personal stuff in here. I can't tell if someone is living here or just has it stashed for when they take it themselves!"
"Is there anything you can do to make sure they don't?" asked Octavia.
"I'm not a tech person, Octavia, I'm a thief."
"Me too," said Miller.
"We need Monty," Octavia said.
"We need Raven, she's better at this stuff," Miller said.
"Unfortunately, she's on the ground and can't come back up here," Murphy said.
"We talk to Clarke and then Monty. We need that escape pod." They both nodded and Murphy made sure that everything was put back as they found it, minus the files. Those were taken with them and left in the ducting of another pipe leading to the top level. Octavia had found it on her last journey through the skybox guts. Octavia led them back to the hatch and let them through. Kane took them back to their cells and then left. Octavia went back to her quarters. Erin had radio duty so she didn't have to answer any questions about where she'd been. She took a quick shower and went to bed. Sneaking around was exhausting.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
Three days later they all met in the radio room. Miller and Murphy had to stay in prison, but with visits from Clarke and Octavia, they would be kept up to date. Monroe looked around at everyone. She knew only herself, Kane, Clarke and Octavia remembered, but there were others who were helping with everything. Monty, Harper, Bellamy, Abby who she knew and Erin Armstrong, another second child and sister to Sol who had been sent down to the ground. She wondered how they were helping without knowing what had gone on before. She knew Abby had been a martinet when she was in charge and was wondering if she would do it again if she remembered when she got to the ground. Kane had been Chancellor, but seemed to enjoy being second in command instead. Monty and Harper were just beginning their romance when Monroe had died so she didn't really know them together, and Bellamy was Bellamy. She realised why he wasn't chosen to be one of those who remembered. The things he did were stupid at times, and childish at others. If they repeated their time on the ground, with hindsight, she'd do it differently. She wouldn't team up with Bellamy, she'd go with Clarke. Whatever the hell you want was okay for a group of delinquents when no-one lived on the ground, but once they found out that people were there, they should have organised like Clarke had wanted and figured out how to survive alongside them instead of thinking they needed to be slaughtered before they slaughtered them. Monroe shook her head and hoped this time, they'd succeed in getting and keeping peace with the grounders.
Clarke took charge of the meeting. When Kane and Abby looked surprised, Clarke explained that as the Commander only saw her as the leader, she should lead from the beginning and that meant before they went down. They reluctantly nodded and Clarke talked about the need for a full list of all child prisoners, their crimes and when they were due to be floated. Kane said that he halted the floating until the crimes had been reviewed. Clarke asked how many had been released and why had no-one else been released when they knew a lot of the kids were innocent victims of Jaha's totalitarian ways. Kane admitted that only six had been released and Clarke asked that Colonel Byrne to look into it. Clarke had no doubt about Colonel Byrne's sense of justice would be piqued and she would make sure that the reviews were done fairly. Kane agreed and said he would ask her.
Next Clarke asked how the pilot training was going and Kane said that all twelve candidates were doing well. Wells was the most studious of them all. Clarke smiled, hopefully their plans could happen sooner. Kane also told them of the plans for the new ships and how that was progressing quite well. Sol's idea of lowering the ceilings was making more room than they needed and they were debating making one level all cargo.
Abby said all medicines were accounted for and would be ready to go as soon as the ships were ready. Clarke did ask about the health of the prisoners. She was worried that someone may be ill and wanted them checked out before they went down. Of course, she wasn't going to tell them that so she couldn't ask for those who were due to be floated to be checked first. Abby said she'd organise a health check for all of them.
Octavia spoke of those on the ground and that right now, they were just learning to be grounders. Their negotiations were on hold until Clarke could come down and talk to the Commander. Clarke said she was looking for a place for them all, but it would be dependent on where it was.
Those who didn't remember left and the others talked about what really was going on.
"Kane, that stash spot in lockup is right on top of that old escape pod. Murphy found personal possessions in it. He didn't know if they were just stored there or if someone was living in it. Either way, if that pod launches, it could be disasterous for us. Raven had said that the pod was left behind because the nav system doesn't work," Octavia said.
"What do we do?" he asked.
"We need to make sure that it's either fit to launch or make sure no-one else can launch it. If it's still attached to the skybox, then it could rip a hole in it, killing everyone inside."
"Could we get Monty to look at it?"
"Yes, but we need to make sure that whoever is using it is locked up or already floated. How many of Jaha's poeple have been floated?" asked Clarke.
"None. We put them in that other wing of the skybox," Kane admitted.
"Kane! If those people escape, they could cause all kinds of havoc! Jaha, Shumway or Sydney would try to take over, some would try to take the ships and others would take revenge on those they think grassed them up!" Clarke said.
"I don't want to float them if I can help it, Clarke. This is a new start for everyone."
"No it's not, Kane. If you bring them to the ground, I'll order their executions on the grounds that they are rebels and traitors. The Commander will back me on this, Kane. Indra will back me. Those people are dangerous and will stop at nothing to keep themselves in control and in the way they are used to. They don't give a damn about anyone else. Float them, you have enough evidence against them," Clarke ordered. Kane's jaw hardened and he looked like he was going to ignore the order.
"Do it, Kane. Take control back from them and stop them from doing it again. You may not like floating them now, but you were only too happy to float people before you went to the ground last time!" Octavia said.
Kane looked at her and then at Clarke and reluctantly nodded.
"Leave Jaha to last, Kane. We need to protect Wells from the rest of the Ark as much as possible. It may be better to find a way to hide him. How much longer until his pilot training is done?"
"Another three weeks," Kane said. Octavia and Clarke looked at each other.
"Wait until he's finished his training and then we can hide him."
"Where?" asked Kane.
"I don't know, maybe Monroe can find someplace. She's been all over the Ark." Monroe nodded.
"I can find a place to keep him safe."
"Where?" Kane asked again.
"It's better you don't know, Kane. The less people who know, the less people can be overheard talking about it." Kane nodded.
"Okay. I'll start with the guards."
"Start with Shumway. At the moment, he's the most dangerous," Octavia said. "With him out of the way, some of the others are more likely to confess to their crimes or give someone else up. They may also be more prone to telling everything they know for leniency."
"How lenient?"
"Not at all, but they don't need to know that," said Octavia.
"You mean lie to them?"
"No, just don't tell them the true extent of your leniency. Hand down jail sentences for the first few guards, those who have comitted minor crimes or were just on the fringes of Jaha's lunacy. If the others see you being lenient, then they'll think you will be with them. Tell those people that the others told you everything in exchange for it. Hopefully they'll tell you everything and then you can float them all."
"You have to, Kane." Monroe said. "You have to set an example. You have to be the Chancellor and not soft-hearted, Kane."
"I don't want to kill people anymore," Kane admitted, softly.
"I know, but this is the hard part of leadership, Kane," Clarke said. "Killing those that are too disruptive to conform to your ways. I hated that part as well, but I had to do it."
"When did you do that?" asked Kane.
"When we banished Murphy. It was my fault that he was nearly hanged, but I had to banish him for trying to kill Charlotte." Kane slowly nodded.
"I guess this is the part of leadership that no-one likes," he said, sighing.
"Except Queen Nia," Clarke said, smirking. Kane gave a short, weak smile in return.
"I'll get with Colonel Byrne and get this started."
"It may be better to use her second in command and let her rout out those that are still left. As we said, that stash spot needs to be cleaned out and that escape pod checked to see if anyone was going to launch it."
"I'll ask her," Kane said, getting up.
"We'll ask Monty to have a look at the escape pod. I wish Raven was still up here, she'd know if something was wrong with it," Clarke said wistfully.
"Maybe she can listen in somehow from the ground and help out that way?" asked Monroe.
"Maybe," Clarke said, thoughtfully. "Anyway, we'd better be going too. Mom wants a family dinner." Clarke rolled her eyes while the others smiled. They waited until Kane had left.
"Monroe, pick out a place for Wells to stay until this is all cleared up or we leave. I'd prefer for Wells to live aboard the escape pod instead, but until Byrne sorts it out and officially clears it, he'll have to stay elsewhere. You've got three weeks to figure out where."
"I'll have a place by the end of the week," Monroe promised.
"Nice!" Octavia said, grinning. "I get the feeling we're going down fairly soon."
"Three weeks, maybe four," Clarke said. "We just need to figure out some things first, including just how we're going to do it and where we're going to land."
"We'll figure it out, Clarke, don't worry." Octavia told her. "After all, if we can survive on the ground, we'll survive for a month more up here. Can't wait to see my boyfriend though!" Clarke and Monroe laughed as they got up and hugged Octavia.
"Me too!" Clarke said, "Me too!"