The next installment of my S1 Future History begins.  Things have barely had time to calm down since Logan's takeover of Cale Industries but its business as usual in the penthouse.  Unfortunately, the events of the past several days have left Jondy in pretty bad shape and as seizures set in, she begins to remember things from the past that she has kept locked away for a long time now.

The usual disclaimers apply.  Not mine and probably never will be.  I was kind of disappointed in the small amount of reviews I received for my last couple of stories.  I'm very interested in knowing what you guys think of my words but if you don't review then I won't know so come on people.  Read and review.  It does mean a lot to us writers to hear the feedback from the readers.  We want the feedback.  We need the feedback.  Personally, I'm a junkie for the feedback so read and review.

For those who have already reviewed… I can't thank you guys enough for them.  I really appreciate hearing from all of you, especially when you tell me that I'm a better writer than I think I am.  Keep feeding my ego.  That's what makes me happy.

As always, enjoy!

Running Down

Chapter One

Wyoming 2009

Somewhere in a forest…

          She ran.

          She ran hard and fast darting between trees searching for the shadows and pockets of darkness.  The cold snow burned her feet as she sped along the thick white carpet.  Occasional bursts and sporadic gunfire mixed hauntingly with the sound of snowmobile engines and shouting soldiers.  Choppers flew overhead screaming through the night sky, their searchlights scanning the deep blanket of snow for any sign of the escapees.

          She felt the cold air clinging to her face as she ran.  She was angry at herself for being so defective.  Her eyes kept dripping and it was messing with her vision, causing problems with her sight as she ran.  She was confused.  Her eyes had worked fine up until now.  They had never been defective before.  She didn't understand.  She was suddenly glad she had escaped.  With defective eyes they would take her away like they did with Jack when he wouldn't stop shaking.  Her thoughts turned back to the pond, the ice and the water continued to seep from her eyes.

          Max…

          The wet, dripping distraction left cold, solid lines frozen in streaks on her face.

          Max…

          'I'm sorry.  I'm so sorry.'  She couldn't get the thought out of her head as she ran.  It flew through her mind over and over again.  'I failed you.  I'm so sorry.'  It continued.  She cried not realizing what the wet, icy streaks falling over her cheeks really meant.  'I failed you.'

Seattle 2021

The Penthouse  Fogle Towers…

          Jondy rolled over and pulled the blankets around her.  She swallowed three more tablets of tryptophan and huddled against the edge of the bed wrapped tightly in the thick comforter.  The nightmares had always been there.  She was sure they would always be there.  She was sure because she didn't have a man like Logan to take her nightmares away.  Not like Max.  They had talked that first night after Logan had as much as rescued her from Ames White outside the truck stop just north of Frisco.  She had been hiding in the bushes.  Her location was about to be discovered when Logan backed his beat up old Aztec to the gas pumps.

          She worried.  How he had known…

North of San Francisco

Nine weeks earlier…

          She had ducked into some thick standing weeds and bramble tucked out of view behind the gas pumps, unnoticed by the weird, twitchy guy pouring the precious liquid from the spout for far too much money.

          She noticed the stranger immediately.  He was walking through the scene, displaced from it, like he wasn't really there.  He walked with a confidence in his stride as if he alone possessed some secret knowledge that no one else could know.  Whatever it was, she watched him walk just a few yards from White's position.  The man called White, her obsessed fan turned hunter/stalker, had been involved with pointing out a truck driver's failings and hadn't even noticed the man.  None of White's men noticed him as he walked to his car.

          The strangest part was not his apparent ease in passing the feds but the fact that he turned calmly and looked directly at Jondy where she was hiding.  He smiled and climbed into his car, backing it up to the pumps.  He popped the hatch and started speaking to the attendant.  She hesitated, but the brush behind her was suddenly disturbed by several men with weapons and she was essentially unarmed.  Climbing quickly and quietly into the back of the Aztec, she held onto the latch as he drove out of the lot.

          "Stay down until I tell you…" The stranger said.

          How had he known?

          He had known because of Max of course.  He had been involved long before she realized he was.  She had come into their lives not knowing what Max and her man had lived through.  She didn't known about the red series.  She knew nothing of Lydecker's ex-communication from the project.  She was not aware at the time that Manticore had fallen and was essentially no more.  She knew none of these things.

          She only knew that a man named Ames White had wandered into the lounge one night.  It was late and she was finishing her last set.  She was singing what the piano man called 'an old staple' or something like that.  White had noticed her outfit first.  The cherry red spaghetti strap dress with the flouncy skirt which gave the illusion that she was showing everything as she rolled around on top of the piano, singing in the husky passion-filled tones her audience loved her for.  One day out of seven when she wasn't pouring drinks for drunks in that dive downtown, she sang songs in a mob lounge.  She had been doing it for a while and every final set for eleven weeks; he showed up and sat in the darkest corner sipping gin and juice.  She was certain he was no harm.  She had convinced herself that he wasn't.  She still had Lydecker and Manticore to worry about.  When the Eyes Only hack came she had no idea she was being pursued by the same man until she looked down from the rooftops expecting to see Lydecker.  Instead, she saw the short, little man called Ames White.

          She had nowhere to turn.  She had nowhere to run.  She was out of options.  This set her on the course to find Eyes Only and low and behold he had been ahead of the game all along.  The conversation with Max just a few weeks earlier had been the kicker.

          They were sitting on top of the needle watching the approaching storm.  It had been a quiet couple of weeks and there was nothing much going on.  Max had seemed restless as if it had been quiet too long.  Jondy watched and listened as Max would whisper quietly to Logan in his office, saying things about news events.  Occasionally she would ask or if he needed her to do anything.  Jondy suspected but didn't have the concrete proof that she wanted, the proof she needed.

On the edge of a storm…

          "Max."  Jondy asked.  "Can I ask you a question?"

          "Of course."  Max said.  The girls were staring out over the bleak city of Seattle.  It had rained all day, the showers had dropped off to a light, cold drizzle.  It didn't deter the two from visiting the space needle.

          "Have you ever heard of Eyes Only?"  She asked.  Max continued to look out over the city.  Jondy was watching closely for a reaction.  "You have.  Right?"

          "Of course.  I live in Seattle."  Max said.  She had spoken about this with Logan when Original Cindy and Bling went down to Frisco to meet her and bring her home.  They had no idea that White had been so close so fast which led Logan to believe that White was looking for Jondy even before the fall of Manticore.

          "You say that like you know he's in Seattle."  Jondy noted.

          "It's the popular theory."  Max said.  She looked at her sister.  "Why are you trying to find him?"

          Now it was Jondy's turn to stare out over the city.  The wind made the only sound as the two young women sat there waiting for the second storm front to approach.

          "Jondy…"  Max said.

          "What were you doing when his cable hack came?  Where were you?"  She asked Max.

          "That's complicated."

          "Tell me.  I need to know."  Jondy said.  "Please, Max."

          "I was having dinner with LoganZach called and told me he had just escaped from Manticore.  I went after him although Logan told me not to.  Lydecker had implanted a tracking/transmitter chip.  I didn't know and in my desperation to find you and Tinga and the others I got Zach to talk about where you guys were.  That's when we heard the choppers and figured out they were listening."

          "But how did you get word to Eyes Only?"  Jondy asked.  "You know who he is, don't you?"

          "Zach and I barely escaped Deck's little snare.  We, I actually yanked the chip out of his head.  We sent it down a stream we were using for cover.  We went back to Seattle and that's when we saw the hack."

          "But you didn't see it did you?"  Jondy asked.  "You were there while he broadcast it."

          "It wasn't like that."  Max said.

          "Max.  We may not have kept in touch over the years.  You, of all our brothers and sisters, you could never lie to me.  You are lying to me right now."  Jondy said.  Max looked into her eyes.

          The girls stared at each other for a long time.  Jondy could see turmoil in her sister's eyes.  She was fighting, struggling with something.

          "What?"  Max asked finally.

          "Is Logan Eyes Only?"

          Dead silence filled The High Place.  Even the wind was listening.

          She should have put it all together.  She should have seen it, but the Eyes Only broadcasts were mostly at night while she was at work.  There was only one time when she had been in the penthouse while Logan was working in his office.  Three days before she had cornered Max about Eyes Only.  She was wandering into the room from the kitchen when Logan exited the office closing the door behind him.  He sat down and turned on the TV to see what the stations were running.  He was watching some Australian rules football when the picture went snowy.

          The familiar crackle and pop of the coming cable satellite hack emerged from the snow and Jondy sat there mesmerized beside Logan as Eyes Only spoke of some corruption in the local school board.  Three of the boards top officials had been extorting money from the system and the kid's educations were suffering because of it.

          She remembered it like it had just happened and she had gone to Max just a few days later and demanded to know if Logan was Eyes Only.  She just hadn't bought the fact that he was sitting beside her during the broadcast.  It seemed, arranged as if he somehow knew she had been snooping around.  It had been like he set it up to try and prove that he was just a rich guy with connections.

          Max hadn't broken.  She had taken Jondy back to the apartment that night and promised to help her find Eyes Only.  She had been so convincing that Jondy wanted to believe that Max was just Logan's girlfriend but the next morning; Jondy stepped out of her room to find Logan sitting in his office waiting for her.

Logan's office early one morning…

          Jondy stepped into the office wondering what was going on.  Logan was watching her closely.

          "Good morning, Jondy."  He said.

          "Hey Logan.  What's up?"  She asked.

          "Not much.  Max told me you two were up on the needle last night."  Logan said.

          "Yeah.  We were chatting."  Jondy said.

          "About me?"  Logan asked.

          "Not directly."  She said warily.  She was telling the truth.  They had been talking about Eyes Only and not directly speaking about Logan.  "I was asking her some questions.  We talked about some things."  She said evasively.

          Suddenly, everything in the room lit up.  Logan hadn't moved but his entire rig came on.  Every screen in the office was running.  Jondy jumped, startled as she looked around.  There was definitely something about this man.

          "How'd you…"  She started to ask, stopping only when she turned to the shelves and noticed the three monitors.  The first one held a blank screen where the digital video camera recorded a blank wall.  The second one held that same blank wall grayed out and bordered by blue and red.  The third held the blank wall and border with scrolling words crossing in opposite directions on top and bottom.

          "I'm Eyes Only."  Logan said.  "Tell me why you are looking for me."

          She had suspected it.  She had believed that he could be.  She even wanted him to be.  Now that she knew, and she knew he wasn't lying, she was hesitant to tell him her deepest, darkest secret.  There was something suddenly holding her back, although she knew he was probably the only one that could help.


          She had been looking for the only man that had ever protected her in the past.  She had little information and knew nothing more than his name but had desperately wanted to find him.  He had been there for her five years earlier when a gang of punks tried to rape her in a dark alley.  They had her severely outnumbered and had planned to take her back to their hideout to have their fun.

          A low rumble that shook the walls and rattled glass around them entered the alley.  Jondy had been cornered and couldn't do anything against their numbers but this guy on a giant Harley rode calmly down the alley and easily dispatched over fifty of her attackers.  She had been too stunned to help.  His movements were fluid and fast and he strode through them in a matter of minutes leaving them groaning and broken in the ratty alleyway.  She squeezed him tight about his waist as he drove her home on the thunderous hog.

          After some convincing, she spilled her story in Logan's lap and he promised to do everything he could as soon as they returned from their trip to the cabin.  Events leading to Logan's purchase of Cale Industries and the death of Pierpont Lempkin had reared its ugly head.  Things she didn't understand got in the way and she learned some things about Max and Logan in the previous four days.  Things had changed suddenly.  The events of the previous week had gotten in the way and she now understood her sister better and why she stood by this man.  Why she protected this man.  Why this man protected her...

          Now, here, alone, she found herself struggling to maintain her consciousness as wave after wave of tremor and convulsion ripped through her entire body.  Sweat poured from her and she finally gave into the pain and frustration at not being able to do anything about it.  She thought she heard a whimpering moan from somewhere else in the apartment.  As she tumbled to her side a bright light opened in the darkness and she fell over, her body thumping to the floor.  The nightmares soon followed…

          Jondy sat on the floor in the center of a group of girls.  All six of them were about twelve or thirteen years old.  Callie was the oldest at fifteen but she had been sick for a few days and was lying in front of the rest.  She had been in charge as it were but the flu-like symptoms had taken it out of her.

          Nemitt was the old man that owned the warehouse they were staying in.  They had trusted him.  He had fed them and bought them clothes even before Jondy had come along.  She knew right away he had been doing things with Callie.  She seemed willing and it did get the girls food and clothes and Callie didn't seem to mind.  When she came down with the illness, his demeanor changed.  His smile was gone.  His eyes were different.

          Today, she knew why.

          The girls were huddled in the center of the floor.  Jondy didn't have to look at the rest of them to know they were terrified.  They had all heard the stories of what happens to young girls out on the streets.  It had been Callie who admitted to them that she had first hand knowledge of such things.  This was the reason why she tried to protect them from those things.

          When Nemitt entered the scene, Jondy was immediately put off.  He had a greasy hairdo and one of those smiles that you just don't trust.  His eyes were dark.  Jondy never really trusted him and somewhere deep down inside, she always knew she would have to do something about him one day.  She knew this but said nothing.

          The first few months were awkward but the girls had fixed up the warehouse Nemitt owned.  He bought them things and brought clothes and food.  Some other girls started to show up and before anyone realized there were over twenty of them ranging in age from ten to nineteen.  The older girls worked for Nemitt doing things they didn't discuss.  They seemed happy enough.  Somewhere though, Jondy knew they weren't working counter jobs or running cash registers.

          Jondy started to wander around like she and Max did back in Manticore.  She managed to find him talking to a girl named Senna.  She was one of the older ones and as Jondy listened, she realized that she would have to take out Nemitt sooner than she thought.  The ten months spent in this warehouse was part of a plan, a diversion to get the girls ready.  Jondy grew suspicious when four girls disappeared in the middle of the same night.  Callie said they found jobs.  The plan had been for a single, mass sale but samples had been demanded.  A small collection had been necessary and the four teenagers were prepared for a man named Chou and his sidekick, a young tough with dangerous, evil eyes called Gerhard.

          Jondy knew she would have to move fast.  The grown men were multiplying and she would need to do something before there were too many of them for her to handle.  If she didn't, then her 'friends' would have first hand knowledge of the horrible stories they had heard out here on the streets.  She made a plan.  She would be prepared when they came for her and the others.

          They came a few days later.  It was the middle of the night.  The young punk, Gerhard had been there with two henchmen.  They carried big shiny weapons and devious looks.  The girls were rousted from their beds and brought to the central room where they were roughly shoved to the floor in a group under threat of gunshot wound.

          "Don't make me use this on any of you.  I doubt you'd survive."  The one called Gerhard said.  He laughed.  He was young but he wasn't stupid.  She wanted to get to him.  She didn't know why but she needed to get to him as quickly as possible.  He was the key in this situation.

          "This is it?"  An Asian man asked.  He wasn't much taller than Colonel Lydecker.  He had a vicious glare in his eyes.  "This is all you have?"

          "Look Chou, you already took my best girls for you sampling.  Right now this is what I have left."  Nemitt said.

          "You can get more?"  Chou asked.

          "Always.  These things are a dime a dozen out here.  Flash some clothes and food and they do anything you want."

          "What's wrong with that one?"  Chou asked.

          "She's sick.  Flu or something."  Nemitt said.

          "Will she get better?"  The young punk asked.

          "If she doesn't, then we have somewhere to use her."  Chou said.  "Her health wouldn't matter in that kind of a film anyway…"

          That had been too much for Jondy.  She moved fast.  Faster than anyone there knew she could.  Gerhard fell first.  She stripped his weapon leaving him with a broken arm.  She fired two perfect shots at his henchmen dropping them instantly.  Noticing the door opening, she saw three more Asian men rushing into the room.

          She ignored them for now and turned her attention to Nemitt.

          "Susan!"  He called her false name.  He had a weird look in his eyes.  He was confused, yet he knew it wouldn't be painless.  Jondy knew exactly where to hit him to make him suffer the most and still end his life.  When he died, he screamed like a girl.

          The Asian man fell next.  He tried to defend himself but he wasn't that fast and his new thugs weren't close enough to protect him.  She turned, facing the three new men that had rushed in.  They had guns and were aiming at her.  When they fired on Jondy's location she wasn't there.  She spun and ran at a very odd angle along the wall toward her first target.  Grabbing his chin, she snapped his neck as she passed.  Bullets from the other two ripped into his body as she moved toward the second one.  She disarmed him and turned his gun up under his sternum firing three times while using his body as a shield against the third.  That one was reloading his clip when Jondy stepped forward and pointed Gerhard's gun at him.  He raised his hands.

          "Go out the back!"  She shouted at the girls.  Most didn't hesitate.  Callie did though and when she glanced at the older girl, Jondy noticed the young punk's body was missing.  Gerhard had escaped.  The last Asian man took her glance to mean she was distracted.  He moved toward her.  She unloaded the clip into his chest at point blank range.

          Just then, the main door of the warehouse was kicked open and Jondy could see eight more men pouring through the doors.  She turned and ran…

          Logan pushed open the door to the penthouse.  The trip to the open market had been uneventful.  He glanced around as he walked toward the kitchen with the stuff from the market.  Piling everything on the counter, he walked over to the fridge to start putting stuff away when he heard a slight sound.  He listened, but could hear nothing.

          Finishing with the freezer, he reached for the door to the other side just as he heard a noise that sounded like a groaning gasp for air.  Placing it in the vicinity of the bedrooms, he moved toward the guest room quickly and threw open the door in time to see Jondy collapse on her side to the floor.

          "Jondy!"  He said.  He could see her pills spread out all over the floor where she obviously dropped the bottle.  She was shaking uncontrollably.  He was at her side in an instant and had dropped to the floor next to her trying to pull her up into his arms.  She was mumbling…

          "Is… really you… Zack?"  She muttered.  "Zack…"  She whispered, then passed out.  Logan pulled her up against him, wrapping her blanket tighter as he calmly whispered soothing words to her and gently stroked her hair back from her face.

          "Shhh…"  He said.  "It'll be okay."

          When he was certain she had calmed somewhat and was asleep, he reached for his cell phone and dialed Max.

          "Go for Max."  She said.

          "Max.  Where are you?"  He asked.

          "I'm in sector six, why?"

          "It's Jondy.  She's had some really bad seizures.  We're in her room now.  I found her on the floor mostly unconscious, mumbling something about Zack."

          "Zack?"  Max asked.  "What was she saying?"

          "Not much, but I think she thought I was Zack."  Logan answered.

          "Probably a flashback.  I used to get them when I went into seizures although mine were mostly about Manticore."  Max said.  "I'm already on my way."

          "We'll be here."  He said.

          Twenty minutes later, Max rushed into the apartment just as Logan was pulling the covers up over Jondy on the bed.  She was looking up at him with a sad smile and wide green eyes.

          "Hey."  Max said.

          "Hi." Jondy whispered.  "I'm sorry."

          "Stop that."  Logan smiled.  "You didn't do anything wrong."

          "Screwed up genetics?"  Max asked with a half smile.  Jondy nodded.

          "I had a really bad seizure."  She said.  "Logan took care of me."

          "Yeah.  He's good at that."  Max said.  She kissed him as he headed out of the room.  "So what happened?"

          "I had a seizure.  That's all."

          "Logan said you kept calling him Zack."  Max snickered.  "That couldn't have made him to happy."

          "I did?"  Jondy asked.  "I don't remember…"

          "Why Zack?"  Max asked.  "My seizures always brought on bad memories.  I know Zack can be a pain in the ass at times but…"

          "I promise I'll tell you sometime, soon."  Jondy said.  "I… it, it was about the first time I met Zack after the escape.  The seizures brought the memory back."  She paused and looked at Max.  "It's not a good memory."

          "Of Zack?"  Max asked.

          "No.  Zack showed up just in time."  Jondy said.

          "Doesn't he always?"  Max asked.  She remembered more than one occasion when he came out of night to protect her.  "I'll be out front with Logan if you need anything.  Call if you need us."

          "I will."  Jondy said.