Tigrou
When he opened his eyes again, he looked straight into the face of the anti-christ.
"Good morning, son. "
Logan closed his eyes and opened them again, trying hard to ignore the maddening headache.
At least he could still feel...well, at least not more feeling was missing. He looked around and analyzed his surroundings as far as his short-sighted eyes allowed him to.
He was in an old warehouse, it was still day and the storm was over, as the faint light of sunset was falling through the windows wherever dirt and cobwebs let enough glass free for the last rays of sun to enlighten the room. In the background he could see the black SUVs and several young people in black cat suits. He was lying on a field bed and next to him sat...
"When I helped you to take down Manticore, didn't you promise me to look after my kids?" said Donald Michael Lydecker. "Now, could you please tell me where Max and Zack are?"
Lisa
Logan took in his surroundings and decided that he was a patient, not a prisoner. He could feel something taped over his right eye, at the spot where his head hit the dashboard, and his shirt had been removed, allowing him to see gauze dressing adhering to the scrapes on his arm and a cold pack reducing the swelling in his shoulder. The place felt like a hide out rather than a jail. Even though Lydecker glowered at him with fierce, intimidating disapproval, Logan could see the others, Max's "brothers and sisters", watching him with concern.
"Will someone tell he what the hell is going on?" Logan demanded with all the strength and authority he could muster.
Tigrou
"She's waking up" said the med tech Max had bitten during her prior struggle.
"Quick, the sedative!"
But before they had the chance to inject the next syringe full of nightmares into her beaten body, Bling could see her lips move.
"Red..." she whispered and her perfect features filled with fear. "Mercenaries..."
Donald Lydecker looked at Logan with an amused smile.
"Does the name Manuel Sonrisa ring a bell?"
Sim
"Manuel Sonrisa is behind this?" Asked Logan, brow furrowing as he analyzed the new information. "Well, at least now we know why he's going after me."
"And why's that?" called out Krit from the other side of the room.
"Manuel's brother Edgar was selling drugs intended for VA hospitals on the black market," Logan stated matter of factly. "Eyes Only tried to take him down in court, but we were ambushed escorting the only witness prepared to testify against him. In the end, Max tricked one of his own bodyguards into killing him." Logan's expression had grown distant; he snapped back into the present. "Has Zack checked in yet?"
"No; d'you know where he is?" Asked Syl anxiously.
"He took a tracker off my car and rode off with it to lead the trail away from Max. I told him where she was; he'll meet us there as soon as he's got rid of the bug." Logan reached out for the edge of the bed to push himself upright and stopped suddenly, a faint grunt the only sign he was in pain.
"Take it easy, son," said Lydecker. "Your shoulder was dislocated in the crash; that arm will be sore for days.
"Don't call me son, Lydecker," Logan snapped. "And next time you show up and run me off the road in black SUVs, make sure I've had notice. Preferably in writing." The X5s exchanged guilty glances.
"Duly noted," said Lydecker calmly. "Now tell me, where is Max?"
Shywriter
"You haven't told me what's going on, with all of you here..." Logan fought for any shred of toughness he could find left in himself, his strength starting to wane.
"Son," Lydecker ignored his last demand, "you're not in much of a position to be making demands."
"If you want me to trust you with Max's location..." Logan managed.
Lydecker considered him, his eyes narrowing, and suddenly started putting things together. "Did something happen with Max?" When he saw Logan's unwitting reaction, he became more intense. "Tell me! What happened to Max?"
Logan's thoughts suddenly flashed back to a broken, unconscious Max, and admitted, "she showed up at my place, and was hurt, like she'd been attacked. She's being treated..."
He was vaguely aware that a couple of her siblings reacted – they hadn't known Max had been injured? Lydecker too reacted, but his response barely gave anything away."You didn't take her to a hospital..." Lydecker barked.
"No, of course not. She's at ... a private clinic. Safe, I promise. Is all this..." he waved around the large room, "part of what got her injured?"
"Actually ... it's connected to your 'friend,' Sonrisa. Manuel apparently was ambivalent about what happened to his brother, given that the 'empire' Edgar had established wasn't totally lost with his death, and that Manuel managed to capture most of what remained for himself. In fact, he's taking some steps to ensure that he can be nearly as successful as Edgar was."
Logan's eyes narrowed, wracking his brain for any clue as to why Lydecker would know this or, more to the point, why he would care. He looked across the faces of the X-5s nearby, and, gaining no insight from them, glanced back at Lydecker. "And, what, you and your kids have nothing better to do, since you've taken out Manticore's local office, and you're freelancing in black market terrorists, now?"
Lydecker's mouth hardened at Logan's bravado, not buying it for a moment, and losing interest in gaining his guest's good graces. "Son, there are some things even more dangerous for these kids than Manticore ever was. We'd gotten word of a South African operation which was building their own super-soldiers, a bit differently than we were, but with ... similar ... results. With only a little investigation we determined that they were looking for us ... for Max..."
"...the Reds..." Logan breathed.
"You know about them?" Lydecker's eyebrows raised, impressed in spite of himself.
"They went after Max a while back... " Logan's thoughts suddenly flashed back to a broken, unconscious Max, the unusual wounds, her agitation, and he fought to sit up, "was that it? Max was attacked again by the Reds?"
"If she was hurt, it would have had to have been them." Lydecker went on, "our intel told us just three days ago that the remaining group was back here, on a mission, and ..." for the first time, Lydecker glanced back to the X-5s around him, including them, "we decided to join forces and see if we can do what we could to neutralize them."
"But... Max made it sound like they were after me, not them..." He nodded toward the assembled kids.
Lydecker nodded slowly. "Apparently they've struck a deal: Sonrisa has decided that the best way to re-establish his brother's empire is to eliminate Eyes Only and his network of operatives, the only force able to take out his brother. Manuel stumbled on some mercenaries for hire who specialize in 'tough jobs.' Once contacted, these mercenaries were absolutely delighted to make a return trip to Seattle. So..." Lydecker's mouth twisted from its grim line into a cold smile, full of humorless irony. "Seems they're here looking for you this time, not Max..."
Mari
"Bling, I think we got him."
Hearing the voice of one of Sebastian's assistants, the therapist turned around, gently loosening Max's grip on his hand that even in her drugged sleep was remarkably strong. He followed the guy to Sebastian's command centre that was stuffed with computers, monitors and every other kind of electronic devices and always brought an ecstatic look to Logan's face.
He wasn't even halfway through the door when Sebastian's metallic voice started to fill him in on his findings. "One of my informants at the traffic police just told me that there was a car crash in sector 11, involving Logan's vehicle and three others. An ambulance is already on it's way, just in case, but John here", upon hearing his name, the assistant nodded, "will drive you there."
Seeing Bling's hesitant look, John smiled crookedly, rightly guessing his reluctance to endanger more people. "I'm trained for such situations. Besides", he added, his smile widening, "Sebastian's friends are my friends."
As he followed John , Bling pondered about the likelihood that Logan's abductors just had a simple car accident… or whether things had gotten even more complicated – and more dangerous.
Shywriter
Even with a sector point to cross, John's knowledge of the streets and skilled driving got them to the scene of the accident in record time. As they pulled up, John's phone rang and as he listened, his mouth set grimly. "Right. We'll see if anything turns up here." He pulled up to a nearby curb, across from Logan's Aztek, which was still sitting in the road, lonely and battered, with no sign of the other three vehicles which had allegedly been involved in the crash.
As they sat in the van and watched the traffic arm of the sector police crawling over the scene, John said quietly, "Sebastian's guy called him back – by the time the cops got there, the other three vehicles had all vanished. Only way they knew there were others involved was because one of the homeless guys, over there, came forward to say he saw the wreck. They only half-way took him seriously; he was babbling about black ninja tanks, and a death squad full of super fast soldiers..." he looked at Bling knowingly.
Bling hesitated, almost afraid to take it as the good news he thought it might be. "Any sign of Logan?"
"No, he couldn't really see much from where he was hiding, but he did see a couple of them get into the passenger compartment – when the three 'black ninja' vehicles sped off, the guy sneaked over to your friend's car, and no one was inside."
Bling considered, hoping against hope that the 'black ninja' vehicles and 'super fast soldiers' meant Max's family – and from John's expression, it seemed he suspected the same thing. Putting aside for a moment the fact that some of Sebastian's crew was in on Manticore too, Bling asked, "what if we go check around a bit ourselves?"
"Sounds good to me," John agreed. "Probably not enough to get the cops' interest, though, right?"
"Right with you on that," Bling agreed as he got out. His progress was halted, though, as before he took more than a couple steps, he saw a form, at a distance, slowly and silently roll into view on a large, black motorcycle. As he made eye contact, he barely saw Zack tip his head his way, then move the cycle back into the shadows...
Lisa
Motioning for John to wait by the car, Bling carefully approached the dark figure hiding in the shadows. He recognized Zack, and quickly reviewed everything he had ever learned about the man. He knew that Max trusted him like a brother, but he also knew that Logan didn't share that sentiment. While he suspected the rivalry had more to do with Max than anything else, he also knew that this X5 had no love for Logan. He decided that Zack could very well be the reason Logan was missing in the first place. But Bling knew he needed answers, so he was prepared to listen to what the man had to say.
"I need you to take me to Max," Zack shot out by way of greeting. "She needs me."
"She's in good hands," Bling assured him.
Zack pursed his lips in anger and glowered at the man who was slowing him down. "Whoever she's with won't be able to protect her from what's out there. Your people won't be equipped to handle them. And if she needs a blood transfusion, I'm the only one that can help. Stop wasting time and tell me where she is so I can help her.
"Any idea where Logan is?" Bling asked, knowing he could use his knowledge about Max's location as a bargaining chip.
"I'm not sure," Zack answered in a tone that indicated that he really didn't care. "The police scanner said there was an accident with some black SUVs. If that's true, I don't know where he is, but I have a pretty good idea who he's with. They'll look out for him."
Deciding Zack was probably right about the blood transfusion if nothing else, Bling made his decision. "Follow us," he said, heading back to the car.
Sim
Logan's eyes narrowed on Lydecker. Even when mildly concussed his brain was invaluable when it came to figuring out a bad guy's next move.
"Do you have any way to get in touch with Zack?" He asked.
"Disposable cell phone; but he's not picking up," said Zane.
"Forget Zack," said Lydecker. "He can take care of himself. Just tell me; where is Max?" Logan met the icy blue eyes of Max's nemesis, and read concern and frustration and... hunger?
"What aren't you telling me?" he asked. Lydecker abruptly leaned back, sensing that he'd revealed too much; Logan's protective instincts for Max jumped into overdrive, lending him strength. "You have something else working here, don't you?"
"If he does, it's nothing he's told any of us about," said Jondy mistrustfully.
"There is nothing to tell," Lydecker insisted. "I've done everything I could to help you; you'd never have taken down Manticore without me."
"Then you won't mind explaining how exactly you knew the Reds were coming to town to look for Eyes Only," said Logan.
"They're one of the few things that can threaten my kids; I keep tabs on them," the former Colonel replied.
"I might buy that if your information was sketchier; but I do this for a living. There's no way you could have intell this good without a man on the inside."
"I have some excellent sources."
"I believe you. But why Max, specifically? You have all these X5s doing your bidding but for some reason you're desperate to get your hands on her. Why?"
"You're not the only one the South Africans are after, son," said Lydecker simply.
Blue
Zack followed the dark blue Chrysler van on it's way through town. The driver was skilled, Zack realized with some respect, dodging strongly frequented streets and crossing the sector at a fast pace.
The X5 had narrowed his eyes, set his mouth in a firm line. His serious expression was well hidden behind the black helmet. He was anxious to get to Max. Years ago he had promised to watch out for his siblings; he'd vowed to take care of them. And now Manticore was gone, the threat of capture and reprogramming erased for good, only to be replaced by the new threat the Reds posed.
DAMN, he swore silently. But he wouldn't allow his thoughts to dwell on the recent events, nor would he wallow in self-pity. He just wasn't made that way. His first priority was to make sure Max was safe. Then they would assess the situation, make a plan how to solve the problem and take care that plan was thoroughly executed. End of story.
Zack was just a bit concerned about Lydecker's involvement. It was hard to work with Lydecker … it was disgusting and nerve-wracking, and the Colonel seemed always able to put Zack's teeth on edge. Krit had assured him that the man was helping them to fend off the Reds, and that they needed his sources and intel. But still, there was this uneasy feeling building in the pit of his stomach. Lydecker had always had his own agenda and surely this time wasn't a exception.
Zack breathed sigh of a relief when the vehicle in front of him finally eased into parking position. He secured his bike and followed both men inside, forcefully pushing all dark images of his injured sister into the back of his mind. She's going to be okay, he assured himself. But when they hurriedly entered the building, his throat tightened and the pace of his heartbeat quickened.
Mari
Before Logan had a chance to process this new piece of information into a question, Lydecker abruptly stood at the call of one of the X5 and walked over to join their heated discussion.
Logan was left to his own, unheeded by the group even though several of the females repeatedly looked over to him, their expressions unreadable without his glasses.
Frustrated his hand started to rub on some blood stains on his injured arm while his mind restlessly analyzed his options – or lack thereof. Even in the trickiest situation Logan normally could always be sure that either Max or Bling might come to his rescue. Now however Max was in no state to rescue anyone and while he was sure that Bling was mobilizing every possible source to find him, he hadn't exactly left him much of a clue. Logan cursed inwardly, the headache resulting from his crash with the dashboard not exactly helping with his thinking. Speeding of as fast as possible had seemed like the best solution, but now, without his chair, his cell phone and a hurting shoulder that further limited his mobility it suddenly sounded like a very stupid idea.
His only hope was on Zack, the one person who knew both about his and Max's location but Logan had a sinking feeling that he didn't rank very high on other man's list of priorities.
Lisa
When Zack first glimpsed Max, a sickening nausea made his gut churn. She was lying on an examination table, restrained so she wouldn't injure herself. Her skin was pale and had a greenish tinge to it, and her face showed the tension she couldn't let go of, even in unconsciousness. She was sedated, but still twitching, the aftereffects of her seizures and the constant pain she was enduring.
Zack wasted no time in ripping off his jacket and rushing to her side. He rolled up his sleeve and viciously jabbed a needle into his arm, attaching himself to Max's IV tubing. A lab tech silently brought a chair to his side and he watched her face intently as he transfused her.
After a long time, Zack gave in to the fatigue that was starting to overtake him. Just as he started to fall asleep in his chair, he saw the color returning to Max's face and her eyes beginning to flutter open.
