Free The Last Place to Stand by Aaron K. Redshaw

went outside to where the fire pit had a bright red set of coals already stoked from a previous user.
    Odysseus, seeing his wife stir in the other room, sneaked over to her and whispered into her ear, “Jane. Jane, I have something to ask you.” She muttered something unintelligible. “Jane, how would you like to have your own place out here.”
    She was still tired. But in half consciousness she said, “Uh huh,” with an almost childlike girlishness. The kind that made him love her.
    Going back to Sydney, he took the paper from his hands, put it on the table and said, “So, what are the terms?”
     

Chapter 22
    Samuel and his men knew chances were that they would be safe for most of the time they were in the building, but if they did anything suspicious, the cameras would take note. Cameras were monitored by a computer that would alert the authorities if it noticed anything unusual. This mission was only for information, so Samuel would take them inside, but their best tool for finding what they needed was Wallace.
    “Wallace,” Samuel said. “Where can we find out about new developments?”
    “On floor 398, unless things have changed,” he said. “You should find the developments awaiting approval or rejection. I know the woman who does this. Perhaps we can find out what we need from her.”
    “Great,” said Samuel. “For now, we should refrain from talking unless we’re alone and out of camera range. It would look suspicious. Conversations don't happen much now that they use the feeds.”
    “That's right,” said Wallace. “I almost forgot.”
    The five of them moved cautiously. On the first floor, their main goal was to get to a vertical transportation unit. The floor was enormous. It was where all technological ideas were submitted and converted into searchable feeds. There were seven long lines of people awaiting their chance to submit their ideas and plans. It was very seldom that a project was accepted, but when it happened it was the fulfillment of a lifetime goal for the inventor. Since technological advances were the highest achievement of man, the highest goal of an individual was to be a part of making such advances. The desire to be part of this great system was instilled since childhood. It drove much of what they did, dreamed about, and lived for.
    Even before reaching one of the lines they had to pass through a check-in booth where a robot asked mechanically, “reason for entry?”
    “Submission,” said Samuel. They were each given a green badge. After getting past the booth they walked up to the submission line. They stood there for a while and then pretended that they had to meet to discuss their submission in a corner. The corner just happened to be near the vertical lift. When the doors opened, Wallace whispered with urgency, “face the wall and take off your badges.” They did this. Turning around, he pointed to the camera above the door.
    “Good thinking” said Samuel. He pressed the button for the 398th floor. Almost as soon as he pressed it, they were there. Gravity dampers kept the G-Force down, so they had no feeling of acceleration whatever. The door opened.
    In front of them stretched a long hallway with wooden panels on the lower half of the walls. They walked with purpose as though they worked here. Their chips gave all the right signals, so they were not worried about being identified as not belonging. If a person was here, then that meant they must work here since the system would not allow others to enter. Good covert chip design on their part.
    They walked down the hallway, going by doors on both sides, mostly closed. Another group of men walked by and Samuel and his men were careful not to say hi or do anything else to cause suspicion. They just looked straight ahead and tried to ignore everyone. Just like the average workers, receiving feeds and sending information, paying no attention to the world around them.
    Toward the end of the hall, they saw a hatch on