I don't respond and turn back to watch the screens closely. So, this is what happens every night. I'm flabbergasted. It probably sounds naïve, but a part of me thought all I'd have to do is get past the fence and stay indoor at night. This is beyond my imagination. How will my friends and I ever get through all that? Maybe I shouldn't be in such a hurry to break out. Clearly, our defenses are working. For the time being. Just thinking it causes the urgency to flair. No. I can't sit and wait it out. I sigh.
Grit continues to watch me silently. I gaze back. "What would happen if the defenses lost power?"
She clicks her tongue. "You finally asked the right question. As you see, we are solely dependent on the safeguards, which in turn, are solely dependent on their power source. I've been trying to get to the bottom of that. As you may have heard," she raises an eyebrow at me, "the work force on the outside don't tend to stay past five o'clock. No one's manning the station so to speak at night. So, what's keeping the power going here? Who's in charge of it?"
"Is that what you and Xavier are working on together? He's researching the compound and how it runs?"
She narrows her gaze at me. "You sound pretty interested in what Xavier is up to. Something going on there?"
I begin to blush. "Nope. We're just friends."
"Mm, hm." It doesn't pass my notice that she hasn't answered my question. I don't bring it up again. I don't know her well, and I don't know how far I can push.
"Why are you showing me all this?" I point to the screens spread in front of us.
"I think you should know the obstacles you're facing. Leaving the Refuse is no easy feat. What you're asking from me is extremely complicated." She stands up and walks over to another table where papers are strewn across haphazardly. I follow and stand next to her, taking in the mess in front of us. "You're right about Xavier. He's working for me. He's goal is to gather as much information about the compound as he can. Things I can't see. I hacked the security and school systems as soon as I got here. But the government has installed their own programs in certain departments and lab's on campus that I haven't cracked yet."
I stare at her in amazement. She's some kind of genius hacker. No wonder she's gained the reputation she has. Grit is the eyes, ears, and brain of the compound. Can she control the whole system from this room? I ask, "Which departments?"
She points to areas on the map of the campus. "This building here, and here."
It's the Magnet Lab and another one of the research facilities I'm not familiar with. "Because the Department of Defense and Energy controls the first one. What about the second?"
She seems surprised I know about the DDE's involvement. "That one's under the thumb of NASA."
"What? NASA? What's that about? I didn't think they had research facilities in schools." I'm beginning to get a little lightheaded from the overload of information. It kind of makes sense, but I'd never given it much consideration. Now that she's pointing these things out, pieces of the puzzle are beginning to click in place. Still, the total picture remains fuzzy.
She answers me with, "Of course they do. Why else do you think they offer space grants? They're highly interested in any scholar that invents or proposes viable designs in the AES program." She's flipping through papers on the desk, not paying much attention to my reactions.
I'm trying to flip through my memory bank on any grant I came across that mention space or AES. I'm drawing a blank. "What?" I finally ask.
She glances back to me. "AES. Advanced Exploration Systems. They want feasible ways to explore deep space."
YOU ARE READING
Terror By Night
Science Fiction*Whatever you do, don't go out at night. The only safety you have is in the light.* A young girl will do whatever it takes to reunite with her family when the unbelievable occurs. No one is prepared for the attack that comes. They're being called t...
