Carina, Carina&Jake, and Forest are all inspired by DA and originally posted on forums.delphiforums.com/darkangelfans which explains the format. As they are continued there will be formatted better. -Puppy
This is the spin off to Carina, which every one should read ;), although I think it can stand alone. Oh and you are suppose to be confused out the past, it's a mystery.
Warning: contains stonger language then most of my stories and I don't have Cat's artistic gift for writting it other ways.
In the last episode of Carina:
"It was the disk with Carina's schematics." Jade opened her mouth in disbelief.
"You're a God d**n idiot Zack," she yelled at him. "Did you forgot every f*cking thing Manticore taught you?"
"What are you talking about?" Zack retorted.
"Oh God," Jade said and as she realized how much he had screwed her over, the blood drained out of her face.
"What?" he asked, suddenly on alert.
"The tracking device, it'll lead them right here," she said as she began to pace.
"What tracking device what are you talking about?" he said as he placed himself in her path.
"The tracking device in me," she said as her eyes grew sad. "Don't you think I tried to escape again? After the first few times they put a tracking device in somewhere during one of their experiments. And think Zack. Remember Lydecker always said know your enemy Zack. He's the kind of sick f**k who would review those disks every night before he went to bed. So he would know their weaknesses. Especially Carina because she just slipped through his fingers," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He'll think it was me," she added. Zack's mind raced.
"What if you leave? They'll just follow that signal until they find you," Zack said.
"But I've been here for hours. They're too smart to just pass this place by. Especially with the information they think I have. We have to get everyone out now."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This isn't the inspiration just the mood setter and source for the title.
William Blake
The Tiger
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forest of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And What shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally we get to the story. Enjoy -puppy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the forest of the night
Part 1
Sebastian's people were there in 5 to 10 minutes and a hour later the lab looked like it should have tumbling weed blowing across it while "the good the bad and the ugly" played in the background. Max and Zack watched the perimeter and I stayed with Carina and Jake. I can't say that I was completely disappointed that Carina hadn't woken up yet. Something inside me just wasn't ready to face her.
So when the civilians were out of harms way and Carina was safety tucked into Logan's ugly a** Aztec I rode off. I left a letter with Jake that said something like "Hey Carina, I hope you're well," and all that family friendly bull[deleted]. Tell you the truth I can't recall what I wrote. I must have started forgetting that memory first. I had to laugh at my dramatic exit but that's the way it's got to be. I made that choice long ago. Now I'll just have to run until they find me and hope they kill me before I remember her. It's an ironic thought, dying for someone you can't remember.
Jade raced down the streets of Seattle heading west. There were caves along the coast that would dampen the signal; it would give her a opportunity to think. She didn't tell Zack or the others but this was her last chance. Lydecker promised her cancellation if she ran again. The fear loomed in Jade's mind as she rode at top speed.
"D**n you Zack," she muttered to herself. Just then she heard it, the whir of an engine. She passed another alley and she heard it again. She reduced her speed and as she passed another alley she saw another biker ridding on a parallel street. It could have been anyone out riding but to test it she turned and rode a block away from the biker then resumed her original direction. Sure enough the biker appeared on the street next to her.
She stopped her bike before the next street and waited. She heard him turn around and head back down her alley. He slowed down and listened. He could see her, he couldn't hear her, this was bad although he didn't know just how bad until he found himself clothes lined and pinned to the ground. Jade ripped off the riders helmet to see the ever-stoic face of Zack.
"Are you f**king mad Zack," she screamed at him as she threw the helmet aside, "I thought you were trained as a soldier." She waited for his response but none came. She narrowed her eyes at him the stood up suddenly. "Get your sorry excuse for a Ken doll out of her,"
"I can't leave until I know you're safe," Zack said after jumping to his feet.
"Yeah well I'm not going to be safe Zack so just get out of here before Lydecker catches you," she said harshly as she went for her bike
"You think I'm going to leaving you to him again Jade?" he retorted. She didn't answer him just got on her bike and started it up. She was about to take off when Zack grabbed her from behind and pulled her off the bike. She wrapped her legs back around his, held his arms tighter to her and flipped the two of them to the ground. He landed beneath her with a grunt and she turned and held Zack by his collar. It wasn't a move that would subdue him physically but the urgency to get to the caves was growing. The closer they got to her before she got there, the more they would have her location pinpointed.
"Just let me go," she pleaded.
"I can't," he responded stubbornly. Jade sighed and Zack could see the tears welling up in her eyes. She reached down and pushed a few pressure points in his neck. His eyes went wide then he passed out. She sniffled and brushed a quick kiss across his lips.
"Good bye Zack," she whispered before raising herself to her feet. She stoically wheeled Zack's misplaced bike beside him and took one last look at the escapee's fearless hero before mounting her bike and driving off.
Jade: Now I think I know how death row inmates feel. You go on living, going through the motions and all the while knowing the warden's going to walk down that hall and tell you it's time. Part of me wants to lay down and let them come. But there is still apart of me who's afraid I'll break. It's amazing how the most important secret in your life is the hardest to forget.
My real world swearing skills are getting a little out of control and I think it might have something to do with this story so I'm going to tone it down a little. Oh and I don't know if the Seattle coast has any caves or not but I'm taking artistic license for lack of evidence -puppy
In the forest of the night
Part 2
(She couldn't swim forever)
Zack suddenly snapped awake. His mind went racing trying to remember what had happened as he jumped up and got on his bike. She was going west, probably headed for the coast. He didn't know the area but maybe she had a hide out of some kind. He turned his bike east and raced to Logan's. He had followed Max there two weeks ago before the first time they had met face to face. If wheels had the kind of technology that could knock out Carina he might be able keep Lydecker off Jade's tail while getting her position.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile Jade paced inside the cave. It had been an hour since she knocked Zack out and before morning Lydecker would show up. At least in here she had more time to prepare for the most important fight of her life. She stopped and looked around her for a place to sit. She found a large rock and began to meditate. She counted breaths in cycles of ten (one for inhale two for exhale). She pushed away everything clouding her mind and focused on her counting while keeping a light awareness of her surroundings. She entered a relax state and switched to counting once for every in and out breath, up to ten. An hour passed and even in her relaxed state the thoughts of her future continued to hunt her no matter how much she pushed them away.
Her breath caught in her throat as she realized that she wasn't alone. Her eyes flashed open and she found herself nose to nose with Kret.
"Are you getting soft in your old age?" he asked with warm amusement. Jade looked on her prodigy and almost smiled.
"So they've sent you to find me?" she asked, already knowing the answer. Kret sat back on his heels and studied her face. Her features were stone cold.
"They said you wouldn't be harmed. They just want the disk back." Jade looked at the little one she thought of as a son or brother of sorts.
"I don't have the disk, I never did." Kret looked down and sighed. He had never been as stone as Jade had but for all the training he had received he kept a glimmer of humanity burning in his eyes. Then again he had never had and lost freedom like her. He looked back up at her and she saw that he was pleading for forgiveness with his eyes. "You never believed their promise did you?" she said proudly.
"No but I have my orders. Please just come with me and everything will be alright," he pleaded as he signaled to her that he was bugged.
"I can't," she said reluctantly, "now I know too much."
"But can't you forget about her like you were trained?" he asked desperately, tears were starting to form in the thirteen year old's eyes.
"What if I can't?" she calmly argued, "Then I'd die in the interrogation cell knowing I…" she stopped herself. "That's all I can say I don't want you to know too much." Jade stood up to go but Kret was suddenly in her way.
"You know I can't let you go," Kret said as he used hand motions to tell her where Lydecker's men were hiding.
"Then you're going to have to stop me," she said as she gestured her plan to knock him out and swim down the beach to safer ground. He nodded his approval.
"Take care of my bike," she mouthed to him before hugging him.
"Write me," he mouthed back jokingly. She graced him with a smile before they held their mock fight for the bug and she put him under. She ran out across the sand and dove into the water. The tracking device couldn't transmit under water but it was only a temporary fix. She couldn't swim forever.
Lydecker walked into the cave and grimaced/snarled at the prone figure on the floor. He turned around to his men, who were awaiting instructions. "Hicks call in the chopper and search the coast line. I want 10 men to ride out 5 miles in each direction and sweep back. The rest I want to start from here and rendezvous with the other teams half way. Use extreme caution."
Forest
Part 3
(a little boy-playing soldier)
Deck expected me to run as far and as fast away from here as possible. He doesn't know me as well as he thinks. I didn't spend my years at Manticore for nothing, I learn their patterns. Studied the man behind it all so one day I could escape again. I swam straight out into the sea until my lungs burned and then I waited. They would send teams down the coast and rendezvous back at my original escape point. They would wait there, maybe set up a temporary post but eventually they would assume I was gone some how. I could wait. Zack would come for me. It wasn't in his nature to let one of his flock get taken by the big bad wolf.
~~~~~~~~
It was dark inside Cale's penthouse and Zack was found his assumption about their plan to be wrong. He didn't like the fact that she was with the civilians, they would slow the escape down, but at least she appeared to be running.
It took Zack nearly an hour to bypass the security system on Logan's computer. From there he used Logan's system to patch into Lydecker's com signal. He sat for nearly a half-hour, listening to the normal check ins for any indication of their location. In the distance he could hear the ocean and an occasional seagull but nothing else. Maybe if he had better equipment he could triangulate the position but Cale didn't seem to have anything useful.
Suddenly Zack heard the elevator ding and open on this floor. He got up and silently ran to the door. He waited behind it as key turned in the lock slowly. The person was trying to be as quiet as possible. Did he trip an alarm? No he hadn't seen anything. It was only one person so it couldn't have been Lydecker. The door opened slowly and a gun protruded out from around the door. Zack kicked the gun and caught it in thin air. Without even thinking about it he put the safety on took out the clip and threw the gun aside and the intruder didn't even had time to think before he was pinned to the wall.
"Who are you?" Zack asked in his most menacing voice. The man didn't even flinch only looked at Zack calmly.
"My name is Bling, I work for Cale."
"Prove it."
"I have the key," Bling said trying not to smile let alone laugh at the situation. He knew what Max was, only another person like her could move to fast.
"Could be a copy," Zack retorted.
"My sister's wedding pictures, they're one the table over there," Bling said while gesturing with his head. Zack gave him a look that said "You try anything it will be the last thing you do." Zack turned his head and zoomed in on the stack of photos on the glass table. Sure enough Logan, Bling, and a very attractive woman where smiling back at him. Zack released him and stepped back. "Now you want to tell me what you're doing here?" Bling asked calmly.
"Helping a friend," Zack said defensively.
"Does Logan know you're here?"
"No." Bling nodded and he had an expression that Zack could quite place but it made him feel juvenile none the less. Bling took out his cell phone and speed dialed Logan's number. "Hey man,"
"Did you do it yet?" Zack heard Logan say on the other side.
"No not yet."
"What? Was there a problem?"
"No not at all. I just though you should know you have a guest."
"Zack?"
"Right." There was a long pause.
"What does he want?" Logan said with a slight edge to his voice.
"He say's he's helping a friend." Bling deliberately looked back at Zack as he spoke. His tone was genuine and it was an attempt to gain trust.
"I understand. Get him whatever he needs,"
"Got it. See you later." There was a click and Zack stood apprehensively. "He said for me to get you whatever you need," Bling repeated to him.
"I heard," Zack said with annoyance in his voice. "I need some kind of metal detector."
"I'll see what I can do. Anything else?" Zack started to pace as he thought for a moment. Logan wasn't 100% trusted but what options did he have?
"Do you have any contacts who keep tabs on military operations in the city?"
"I'll have to call Logan back to do the contacting but I'm certain he knows the right people." Bling couldn't help but smile a little at the man in front of him. There was something about him. Bling was getting the image of a little boy-playing soldier. He was so serious and steadfast, no worry.
"Good," Zack turned and walked back to the computer to monitor the COM while Bling made his calls.
In the forest of the night
Part 4
(flashback)
The ghostly sound of children's laughter filled Jade's head as she sunk to the sandy bottom of the ocean. Her heart rate thumped it's slow beat in her ears and she concentration on slowing it further. She had set her watch for a half-hour to alert her when to go up for air.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A young Zack stalked through the tall wheat field. He knew he was being followed but he couldn't tell where his tail was. The sun beat down unmerciful on him and he was about to wipe the sweat off his forehead when the breeze blew the wheat to reveal something dark. He blinked and it was gone. He stopped and listened. Just below the sound of the wind, there was a slight crunching sound of shoes on dry dirt. It suddenly grew more persistent and closer. Zack ducked and grabbed the object that went flying through the air towards him and pulled it to the ground.
"Hi Zack, we weren't expecting you till July" said the red head pinned under his foot.
"I had to get out of town," Zack said in his noncommittal way. "Carina, where's Jade?" he said suspiciously. Carina smiled up at him as he suddenly became very alert.
"Around, she…" Carina was suddenly was cut off by Zack's hand motion. His head whipped around as the wind started to blow again. He tried to listen for movement but there was too much noise. Almost as if by command it stopped and the field grew eerily silent. A bird sang off in the distance and then suddenly he hit the ground with a grunt.
"Hi Zack," a young girl said brightly. Zack looked into a pair of sparkling brown eyes. He would be indignant about being pounced but she seemed so dang happy about it.
"Hey," he responded grinning a little.
"Zack are you alright," she said with a serious expression.
"Yeah, why?" he asked confused.
"Cuz I swear I saw you smile," she said with a side ways grin. He responded by pushed her off and getting up.
Beep beep, beep beep, beep beep
Jade could hear Carina's giggling as the persistent alarm invaded her flashback and brought her back to reality. She opened her eyes and looked up towards the surface of the water to check for boat before pushing off the floor.
In the forest of the night
Part 5
(bite me)
Jade floated at the surface for a long time. Her head was starting to swim from lack of oxygen. She had thought it was necessary to stay under water for the first few hours. After that, Deck would send the men further out, thinking she would swim as far and fast away as possible. Manticore training had taught them to stay under for prolonged times but she had crossed even her own personal time barrier and it had zapped her strength. The sun was starting to set and the air temperature was getting colder. With every breath she took and every wave that passed she grew colder. She told herself over and over again that it was all within acceptable limits and that she was strong. Jade looked out at the shore again to see a man walking along it and for a moment it looked like her father. Soon the apparition morphed and she could quite tell if the dark spot in the distance was a man or tree.
She took a deep breath and tucked her head back under the water. It wasn't necessary to sit at the bottom of the ocean any more now that the soldiers had already disbursed so she just tucked her knees up to her chest and floated beneath the surface.
Drive
Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear.
And I can't help but ask myself how much I'll let the fear take the wheel and steer.
It's driven me before, and it seems to have a vague, haunting mass appeal.
But lately I am beginning to find that
I should be the one behind the wheel.
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there with open arms and open eyes.
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there
I'll be there
So if I decide to waiver my chance to be one of the hive
will I choose water over wine and hold my own and drive?
It's driven me before and it seems to be the way that everyone else gets around.
But lately I'm beginning to find that
when I drive myself my light is found.
So whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there with open arms and open eyes. Yeh.
whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there
I'll be there
Would you choose water over wine....
hold the wheel and drive?
whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there with open arms and open eyes
whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there.
I'll be there
"...-- ...-- ----- ....-" a persistent clanging interrupted her haze and she realized she had been falling asleep.
"3304" she mumbled, her mind automatically translating the sound without a conscious thought.
". ---- --... ..--- ----."
"1729"
".---- ..... ----. ----."
"Zack?" she whispered. She was getting so tired and the water was taking away her body temperature even in the survival position she was in. She uncurled herself and tried to swim for shore. Her muscles resisted every effort she made to pull herself along but she was determined.
~~~~~~~~~
Jade ran to the edge of the building and looked down the wall. An adolescent Carina and Zack were back up against it Lydecker's men with in a horseshoe around them. Donald Lydecker, the great man himself stood in the back of the group giving orders. In her mind flashed the thought that this was it. If she did nothing her sister and Zack were going back to that hell.
With grim determination she took a few steps back, ran, and leapt over of the roof. She cleared the soldiers and landed exactly where or on who she had intended to. She picked up the man and used him as a human shield. As the soldiers followed her flight it was just enough of a distraction for Zack and Carina to break through the line.
"Let them go or I snap your neck," she commanded in an eerily calm voice. Lydecker said nothing only watched as his soldiers aimed at the fleeing kids. She hadn't expected him too but her sister was escaping and she had half of the soldier's attention, things were better than they could have been. "Back off," she commanded to the approaching half that stayed behind. They stopped their approach but kept their laser sights on her. "You know I could put infront of everyone of those bullets," she said quietly to Lydecker.
"Put you weapons down," he ordered. He wasn't scarred. This was one of his kids, she wouldn't kill him. Jade started to pull him backwards away from the group and some how he knew what she was going to do. As she pulled away to run he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Just as she was about to lay a punch on him she felt it and then heard it. The bullet penetrated her abdomen and she looked up at him in shock, not really believe he had bested her. She began to fall but Lydecker caught her and eased her down to the pavement.
"I'm sorry," he said and as she looked into his eyes for a moment she believed he was. He was taking her life away and all he had to say was 'I'm sorry'?
"Bite me," she said weakly but full of venom. She starred at him with the most hatred she had ever felt and he flinch. He didn't quit back away quick enough before she swung her arm up making contact with his jaw and sending him to his butt on the pavement. His men quickly pinned her down to bond her for transport and medical attention. She took the opportunity to spit in his general direction before they dragged her away.
This is the spin off to Carina, which every one should read ;), although I think it can stand alone. Oh and you are suppose to be confused out the past, it's a mystery.
Warning: contains stonger language then most of my stories and I don't have Cat's artistic gift for writting it other ways.
In the last episode of Carina:
"It was the disk with Carina's schematics." Jade opened her mouth in disbelief.
"You're a God d**n idiot Zack," she yelled at him. "Did you forgot every f*cking thing Manticore taught you?"
"What are you talking about?" Zack retorted.
"Oh God," Jade said and as she realized how much he had screwed her over, the blood drained out of her face.
"What?" he asked, suddenly on alert.
"The tracking device, it'll lead them right here," she said as she began to pace.
"What tracking device what are you talking about?" he said as he placed himself in her path.
"The tracking device in me," she said as her eyes grew sad. "Don't you think I tried to escape again? After the first few times they put a tracking device in somewhere during one of their experiments. And think Zack. Remember Lydecker always said know your enemy Zack. He's the kind of sick f**k who would review those disks every night before he went to bed. So he would know their weaknesses. Especially Carina because she just slipped through his fingers," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He'll think it was me," she added. Zack's mind raced.
"What if you leave? They'll just follow that signal until they find you," Zack said.
"But I've been here for hours. They're too smart to just pass this place by. Especially with the information they think I have. We have to get everyone out now."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This isn't the inspiration just the mood setter and source for the title.
William Blake
The Tiger
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forest of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And What shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally we get to the story. Enjoy -puppy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the forest of the night
Part 1
Sebastian's people were there in 5 to 10 minutes and a hour later the lab looked like it should have tumbling weed blowing across it while "the good the bad and the ugly" played in the background. Max and Zack watched the perimeter and I stayed with Carina and Jake. I can't say that I was completely disappointed that Carina hadn't woken up yet. Something inside me just wasn't ready to face her.
So when the civilians were out of harms way and Carina was safety tucked into Logan's ugly a** Aztec I rode off. I left a letter with Jake that said something like "Hey Carina, I hope you're well," and all that family friendly bull[deleted]. Tell you the truth I can't recall what I wrote. I must have started forgetting that memory first. I had to laugh at my dramatic exit but that's the way it's got to be. I made that choice long ago. Now I'll just have to run until they find me and hope they kill me before I remember her. It's an ironic thought, dying for someone you can't remember.
Jade raced down the streets of Seattle heading west. There were caves along the coast that would dampen the signal; it would give her a opportunity to think. She didn't tell Zack or the others but this was her last chance. Lydecker promised her cancellation if she ran again. The fear loomed in Jade's mind as she rode at top speed.
"D**n you Zack," she muttered to herself. Just then she heard it, the whir of an engine. She passed another alley and she heard it again. She reduced her speed and as she passed another alley she saw another biker ridding on a parallel street. It could have been anyone out riding but to test it she turned and rode a block away from the biker then resumed her original direction. Sure enough the biker appeared on the street next to her.
She stopped her bike before the next street and waited. She heard him turn around and head back down her alley. He slowed down and listened. He could see her, he couldn't hear her, this was bad although he didn't know just how bad until he found himself clothes lined and pinned to the ground. Jade ripped off the riders helmet to see the ever-stoic face of Zack.
"Are you f**king mad Zack," she screamed at him as she threw the helmet aside, "I thought you were trained as a soldier." She waited for his response but none came. She narrowed her eyes at him the stood up suddenly. "Get your sorry excuse for a Ken doll out of her,"
"I can't leave until I know you're safe," Zack said after jumping to his feet.
"Yeah well I'm not going to be safe Zack so just get out of here before Lydecker catches you," she said harshly as she went for her bike
"You think I'm going to leaving you to him again Jade?" he retorted. She didn't answer him just got on her bike and started it up. She was about to take off when Zack grabbed her from behind and pulled her off the bike. She wrapped her legs back around his, held his arms tighter to her and flipped the two of them to the ground. He landed beneath her with a grunt and she turned and held Zack by his collar. It wasn't a move that would subdue him physically but the urgency to get to the caves was growing. The closer they got to her before she got there, the more they would have her location pinpointed.
"Just let me go," she pleaded.
"I can't," he responded stubbornly. Jade sighed and Zack could see the tears welling up in her eyes. She reached down and pushed a few pressure points in his neck. His eyes went wide then he passed out. She sniffled and brushed a quick kiss across his lips.
"Good bye Zack," she whispered before raising herself to her feet. She stoically wheeled Zack's misplaced bike beside him and took one last look at the escapee's fearless hero before mounting her bike and driving off.
Jade: Now I think I know how death row inmates feel. You go on living, going through the motions and all the while knowing the warden's going to walk down that hall and tell you it's time. Part of me wants to lay down and let them come. But there is still apart of me who's afraid I'll break. It's amazing how the most important secret in your life is the hardest to forget.
My real world swearing skills are getting a little out of control and I think it might have something to do with this story so I'm going to tone it down a little. Oh and I don't know if the Seattle coast has any caves or not but I'm taking artistic license for lack of evidence -puppy
In the forest of the night
Part 2
(She couldn't swim forever)
Zack suddenly snapped awake. His mind went racing trying to remember what had happened as he jumped up and got on his bike. She was going west, probably headed for the coast. He didn't know the area but maybe she had a hide out of some kind. He turned his bike east and raced to Logan's. He had followed Max there two weeks ago before the first time they had met face to face. If wheels had the kind of technology that could knock out Carina he might be able keep Lydecker off Jade's tail while getting her position.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile Jade paced inside the cave. It had been an hour since she knocked Zack out and before morning Lydecker would show up. At least in here she had more time to prepare for the most important fight of her life. She stopped and looked around her for a place to sit. She found a large rock and began to meditate. She counted breaths in cycles of ten (one for inhale two for exhale). She pushed away everything clouding her mind and focused on her counting while keeping a light awareness of her surroundings. She entered a relax state and switched to counting once for every in and out breath, up to ten. An hour passed and even in her relaxed state the thoughts of her future continued to hunt her no matter how much she pushed them away.
Her breath caught in her throat as she realized that she wasn't alone. Her eyes flashed open and she found herself nose to nose with Kret.
"Are you getting soft in your old age?" he asked with warm amusement. Jade looked on her prodigy and almost smiled.
"So they've sent you to find me?" she asked, already knowing the answer. Kret sat back on his heels and studied her face. Her features were stone cold.
"They said you wouldn't be harmed. They just want the disk back." Jade looked at the little one she thought of as a son or brother of sorts.
"I don't have the disk, I never did." Kret looked down and sighed. He had never been as stone as Jade had but for all the training he had received he kept a glimmer of humanity burning in his eyes. Then again he had never had and lost freedom like her. He looked back up at her and she saw that he was pleading for forgiveness with his eyes. "You never believed their promise did you?" she said proudly.
"No but I have my orders. Please just come with me and everything will be alright," he pleaded as he signaled to her that he was bugged.
"I can't," she said reluctantly, "now I know too much."
"But can't you forget about her like you were trained?" he asked desperately, tears were starting to form in the thirteen year old's eyes.
"What if I can't?" she calmly argued, "Then I'd die in the interrogation cell knowing I…" she stopped herself. "That's all I can say I don't want you to know too much." Jade stood up to go but Kret was suddenly in her way.
"You know I can't let you go," Kret said as he used hand motions to tell her where Lydecker's men were hiding.
"Then you're going to have to stop me," she said as she gestured her plan to knock him out and swim down the beach to safer ground. He nodded his approval.
"Take care of my bike," she mouthed to him before hugging him.
"Write me," he mouthed back jokingly. She graced him with a smile before they held their mock fight for the bug and she put him under. She ran out across the sand and dove into the water. The tracking device couldn't transmit under water but it was only a temporary fix. She couldn't swim forever.
Lydecker walked into the cave and grimaced/snarled at the prone figure on the floor. He turned around to his men, who were awaiting instructions. "Hicks call in the chopper and search the coast line. I want 10 men to ride out 5 miles in each direction and sweep back. The rest I want to start from here and rendezvous with the other teams half way. Use extreme caution."
Forest
Part 3
(a little boy-playing soldier)
Deck expected me to run as far and as fast away from here as possible. He doesn't know me as well as he thinks. I didn't spend my years at Manticore for nothing, I learn their patterns. Studied the man behind it all so one day I could escape again. I swam straight out into the sea until my lungs burned and then I waited. They would send teams down the coast and rendezvous back at my original escape point. They would wait there, maybe set up a temporary post but eventually they would assume I was gone some how. I could wait. Zack would come for me. It wasn't in his nature to let one of his flock get taken by the big bad wolf.
~~~~~~~~
It was dark inside Cale's penthouse and Zack was found his assumption about their plan to be wrong. He didn't like the fact that she was with the civilians, they would slow the escape down, but at least she appeared to be running.
It took Zack nearly an hour to bypass the security system on Logan's computer. From there he used Logan's system to patch into Lydecker's com signal. He sat for nearly a half-hour, listening to the normal check ins for any indication of their location. In the distance he could hear the ocean and an occasional seagull but nothing else. Maybe if he had better equipment he could triangulate the position but Cale didn't seem to have anything useful.
Suddenly Zack heard the elevator ding and open on this floor. He got up and silently ran to the door. He waited behind it as key turned in the lock slowly. The person was trying to be as quiet as possible. Did he trip an alarm? No he hadn't seen anything. It was only one person so it couldn't have been Lydecker. The door opened slowly and a gun protruded out from around the door. Zack kicked the gun and caught it in thin air. Without even thinking about it he put the safety on took out the clip and threw the gun aside and the intruder didn't even had time to think before he was pinned to the wall.
"Who are you?" Zack asked in his most menacing voice. The man didn't even flinch only looked at Zack calmly.
"My name is Bling, I work for Cale."
"Prove it."
"I have the key," Bling said trying not to smile let alone laugh at the situation. He knew what Max was, only another person like her could move to fast.
"Could be a copy," Zack retorted.
"My sister's wedding pictures, they're one the table over there," Bling said while gesturing with his head. Zack gave him a look that said "You try anything it will be the last thing you do." Zack turned his head and zoomed in on the stack of photos on the glass table. Sure enough Logan, Bling, and a very attractive woman where smiling back at him. Zack released him and stepped back. "Now you want to tell me what you're doing here?" Bling asked calmly.
"Helping a friend," Zack said defensively.
"Does Logan know you're here?"
"No." Bling nodded and he had an expression that Zack could quite place but it made him feel juvenile none the less. Bling took out his cell phone and speed dialed Logan's number. "Hey man,"
"Did you do it yet?" Zack heard Logan say on the other side.
"No not yet."
"What? Was there a problem?"
"No not at all. I just though you should know you have a guest."
"Zack?"
"Right." There was a long pause.
"What does he want?" Logan said with a slight edge to his voice.
"He say's he's helping a friend." Bling deliberately looked back at Zack as he spoke. His tone was genuine and it was an attempt to gain trust.
"I understand. Get him whatever he needs,"
"Got it. See you later." There was a click and Zack stood apprehensively. "He said for me to get you whatever you need," Bling repeated to him.
"I heard," Zack said with annoyance in his voice. "I need some kind of metal detector."
"I'll see what I can do. Anything else?" Zack started to pace as he thought for a moment. Logan wasn't 100% trusted but what options did he have?
"Do you have any contacts who keep tabs on military operations in the city?"
"I'll have to call Logan back to do the contacting but I'm certain he knows the right people." Bling couldn't help but smile a little at the man in front of him. There was something about him. Bling was getting the image of a little boy-playing soldier. He was so serious and steadfast, no worry.
"Good," Zack turned and walked back to the computer to monitor the COM while Bling made his calls.
In the forest of the night
Part 4
(flashback)
The ghostly sound of children's laughter filled Jade's head as she sunk to the sandy bottom of the ocean. Her heart rate thumped it's slow beat in her ears and she concentration on slowing it further. She had set her watch for a half-hour to alert her when to go up for air.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A young Zack stalked through the tall wheat field. He knew he was being followed but he couldn't tell where his tail was. The sun beat down unmerciful on him and he was about to wipe the sweat off his forehead when the breeze blew the wheat to reveal something dark. He blinked and it was gone. He stopped and listened. Just below the sound of the wind, there was a slight crunching sound of shoes on dry dirt. It suddenly grew more persistent and closer. Zack ducked and grabbed the object that went flying through the air towards him and pulled it to the ground.
"Hi Zack, we weren't expecting you till July" said the red head pinned under his foot.
"I had to get out of town," Zack said in his noncommittal way. "Carina, where's Jade?" he said suspiciously. Carina smiled up at him as he suddenly became very alert.
"Around, she…" Carina was suddenly was cut off by Zack's hand motion. His head whipped around as the wind started to blow again. He tried to listen for movement but there was too much noise. Almost as if by command it stopped and the field grew eerily silent. A bird sang off in the distance and then suddenly he hit the ground with a grunt.
"Hi Zack," a young girl said brightly. Zack looked into a pair of sparkling brown eyes. He would be indignant about being pounced but she seemed so dang happy about it.
"Hey," he responded grinning a little.
"Zack are you alright," she said with a serious expression.
"Yeah, why?" he asked confused.
"Cuz I swear I saw you smile," she said with a side ways grin. He responded by pushed her off and getting up.
Beep beep, beep beep, beep beep
Jade could hear Carina's giggling as the persistent alarm invaded her flashback and brought her back to reality. She opened her eyes and looked up towards the surface of the water to check for boat before pushing off the floor.
In the forest of the night
Part 5
(bite me)
Jade floated at the surface for a long time. Her head was starting to swim from lack of oxygen. She had thought it was necessary to stay under water for the first few hours. After that, Deck would send the men further out, thinking she would swim as far and fast away as possible. Manticore training had taught them to stay under for prolonged times but she had crossed even her own personal time barrier and it had zapped her strength. The sun was starting to set and the air temperature was getting colder. With every breath she took and every wave that passed she grew colder. She told herself over and over again that it was all within acceptable limits and that she was strong. Jade looked out at the shore again to see a man walking along it and for a moment it looked like her father. Soon the apparition morphed and she could quite tell if the dark spot in the distance was a man or tree.
She took a deep breath and tucked her head back under the water. It wasn't necessary to sit at the bottom of the ocean any more now that the soldiers had already disbursed so she just tucked her knees up to her chest and floated beneath the surface.
Drive
Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear.
And I can't help but ask myself how much I'll let the fear take the wheel and steer.
It's driven me before, and it seems to have a vague, haunting mass appeal.
But lately I am beginning to find that
I should be the one behind the wheel.
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there with open arms and open eyes.
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there
I'll be there
So if I decide to waiver my chance to be one of the hive
will I choose water over wine and hold my own and drive?
It's driven me before and it seems to be the way that everyone else gets around.
But lately I'm beginning to find that
when I drive myself my light is found.
So whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there with open arms and open eyes. Yeh.
whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there
I'll be there
Would you choose water over wine....
hold the wheel and drive?
whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there with open arms and open eyes
whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there.
I'll be there
"...-- ...-- ----- ....-" a persistent clanging interrupted her haze and she realized she had been falling asleep.
"3304" she mumbled, her mind automatically translating the sound without a conscious thought.
". ---- --... ..--- ----."
"1729"
".---- ..... ----. ----."
"Zack?" she whispered. She was getting so tired and the water was taking away her body temperature even in the survival position she was in. She uncurled herself and tried to swim for shore. Her muscles resisted every effort she made to pull herself along but she was determined.
~~~~~~~~~
Jade ran to the edge of the building and looked down the wall. An adolescent Carina and Zack were back up against it Lydecker's men with in a horseshoe around them. Donald Lydecker, the great man himself stood in the back of the group giving orders. In her mind flashed the thought that this was it. If she did nothing her sister and Zack were going back to that hell.
With grim determination she took a few steps back, ran, and leapt over of the roof. She cleared the soldiers and landed exactly where or on who she had intended to. She picked up the man and used him as a human shield. As the soldiers followed her flight it was just enough of a distraction for Zack and Carina to break through the line.
"Let them go or I snap your neck," she commanded in an eerily calm voice. Lydecker said nothing only watched as his soldiers aimed at the fleeing kids. She hadn't expected him too but her sister was escaping and she had half of the soldier's attention, things were better than they could have been. "Back off," she commanded to the approaching half that stayed behind. They stopped their approach but kept their laser sights on her. "You know I could put infront of everyone of those bullets," she said quietly to Lydecker.
"Put you weapons down," he ordered. He wasn't scarred. This was one of his kids, she wouldn't kill him. Jade started to pull him backwards away from the group and some how he knew what she was going to do. As she pulled away to run he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Just as she was about to lay a punch on him she felt it and then heard it. The bullet penetrated her abdomen and she looked up at him in shock, not really believe he had bested her. She began to fall but Lydecker caught her and eased her down to the pavement.
"I'm sorry," he said and as she looked into his eyes for a moment she believed he was. He was taking her life away and all he had to say was 'I'm sorry'?
"Bite me," she said weakly but full of venom. She starred at him with the most hatred she had ever felt and he flinch. He didn't quit back away quick enough before she swung her arm up making contact with his jaw and sending him to his butt on the pavement. His men quickly pinned her down to bond her for transport and medical attention. She took the opportunity to spit in his general direction before they dragged her away.