AS2.05: Viridae by Star24 

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters are property and copyright 2001-2002 Twentieth Century Fox and James Cameron and Charles Eglee. This original story is copyright 2003 Star24.

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Chapter One

Jam Pony

When Max walked into Jam Pony after finishing up her morning runs she found it strangely subdued. Small groups of messengers were gathered in clumps talking quietly.  Surprisingly enough Normal wasn't screaming at them to "bip bip bip".

"Who died?" she said flippantly as she walked up to where Original Cindy was standing next to Sketchy and Druid. 

Original Cindy looked at her with a somber face. "Nobody…yet."

"Hey, I was only kidding…what happened?" Max instantly sobered.

"Blue's in the hospital. We think she's gonna make it, but she's in bad shape." Druid informed her.

"Why? What went down?" Max thought about the petite blonde messenger. She was small and cute and sported a butterfly tattoo on her left shoulder, along with a smart ass attitude that rivaled Max's own.

"A messenger from Steel Wheels found her in an alley. The one off of Prospect. She was beat up pretty bad and her bike was trashed."

"Kind of off the turf for the gang bangers." Max observed with a frown.

"It weren't no gang bangers, boo. Blue told the guy who found her that it was the Guild. Sendin' a message to Jam Pony." Original Cindy said.

"What in hell is the Guild?" Max wanted to know.

The three others looked at her in surprise that she didn't know. Cindy hastened to fill her in. "Oh right. You been away. 'Bout two months ago these pieces of beef started showin' up outside messenger services. Invitin' the messengers to join the Guild. S'posed to be an organization to promote the welfare of Seattle's bike messengers. Truth is the only welfare they're promotin' is their own. Messengers who don't pay their so called dues seem to turn up hurt more often than not."

"They started out mostly down near Clemson but lately they've been movin' in this direction. Coupla them hung out here a few weeks back but some of the guys chased 'em off." Sketchy chimed in.

"So they beat up Blue today to send a message to the rest of the Jam Pony crew?" Max mused. "What's Normal have to say about it all?"

"Not much. But it ain't his butt in the line of fire." Original Cindy shot a look of disgust at Normal. "Best you can say for him is he ain't pushin' no one out that door right now. And I did hear him on the phone to Seattle's finest. Like that's gonna do any good."

Max gave Original Cindy a level stare. "Maybe I have some ideas. I might have a friend who could help us out with this."

Original Cindy met her look and nodded slowly, "I kinda thought you might say that. But this ain't gonna be easy. These guys play hit and run. It won't be a piece of cake to track 'em down."

"Let me see what my friend has to say about that." Max smiled. "In the meantime what are we doin' about safety on our runs?"

"We all told Normal that we ain't goin' out on no solo runs right now. It's the buddy system or nothing. He's bitchin' but he knows if he don't go along with it he won't have no packages at all bein' delivered." 

Sketchy and Druid nodded in agreement with Cindy's words.

Max smiled at Original Cindy. "Well then, I got your back girlfriend."

"Never doubted it for a minute. You ready to eat some lunch?"

"How'd you guess that I'm starving?"

Fogle Towers, that evening

"…so she's in the hospital. They beat her up pretty bad. Trashed her bike as well. I think she's more upset about that than about her injuries. Without a bike it's kind of hard to do the messenger thing." Max finished telling Logan about what had happened to Blue, pacing restlessly across his living room as she did so.

Logan sat there lost in thought. "So you say these guys started showing up at Seattle bike messenger services a while back, and moved on to Jam Pony a few weeks ago?"

"According to what the gang told me today. Do you think you can get a line on them?"

"I'm going to try. It might be hard because street gangs don't tend to rely too much on on-line communication methods."

"I hear you." Max looked disconsolate as she flopped down onto Logan's couch.

"I didn't say it couldn't be done. Just that it's going to take some digging. If money is what they're about, there's a chance there's a money trail. Especially if the head guys are more than just some street toughs. Let's hope that's the case."

Max was silent for a moment. "Thanks Logan. I appreciate it."

He watched her for a minute and then got up from the chair he was sitting in and went to sit next to her. He dropped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed them briefly. "No problem. Blue's a particular friend of yours?"

Max answered slowly, "I can't say that she has been in the past. But she's a straight up kid, and seeing her lying there in that hospital bed..." She hesitated, then went on, "I guess I was thinking that if I'd been paying more attention lately to what's been going down around JP, maybe I could have prevented it." She let out a short, harsh laugh. "Seems like I've been hangin' around a certain do-gooder too much. That save the world mentality seems to have rubbed off." Max relaxed into his shoulder, letting his presence soothe her tangled feelings.

"Not to mention hospitals and doctors don't exactly bring back the most pleasant memories?" he stated astutely.

"Yeah." Max sighed.

"I've been dealing with some of that stuff lately myself," he said softly.

Max looked up at him and their eyes locked as understanding flowed between them. "It isn't easy is it?" she said.

"No, it isn't."

"So how do you get past it?"

They weren't talking about Blue anymore and both of them knew it.

"I'm still trying to figure that out." He shrugged.

"Let me know when you have the answer."

"Believe me, Max, you'll be the first to know."

She smiled at him. "Good thing we found each other, huh? I mean who else would put up with us?"

Logan smiled back, the first genuine smile she'd gotten from him in days. "You have a point."

Before Max could respond, Logan frowned at something that caught his eye on the monitor he had set up to show the local newscasts. He reached for the remote and raised the volume so that the sound reached them from the computer room.

"…several more patients have been admitted today to Metro Medical, all suffering from the same symptoms. Doctors have now identified the mysterious fever as a rare viral illness known as Zycinor. This illness is not known to occur naturally. In fact, its origins rest in bio-warfare work done in the late twentieth century and early years of this century. Authorities are at a loss to explain its emergence at this time. Citizens are urged to report any of the following symptoms to their medical professionals immediately…"

The reporter droned on as a list of symptoms appeared on the screen. Logan glanced over at Max. She sat there frozen, her face white.

"Max? What is it?" he asked, concerned.

"Zycinor.  Manticore was testing that when I was there as a child. As a bio-weapon. They have it."

"You think Manticore is behind this?" he asked her.

"I don't know. But we have to find out. That stuff could kill every man, woman and child in Seattle."

End of Chapter One