Chapter Ten: Reunion…of Sorts
Tima, Kito and Logan moved from her place to his to make use of his extensive informant net to find the contacts that Logan was looking for. Kito watched for a moment as Logan immersed himself in the Internet.
Then looking away Kito moved over closer to Tima, "What is he doing?"
Tima's eyes were unfocused as she replied, "He knows some other Manticore's, X-5's, that he is going to try and enlist the help of."
Kito looked at her a moment incredulously, "He knows the other X-5's?"
"The ones that are still alive, yeah. Max introduced him to several of them I guess, back when they had first started working together. Not to many of them left though from what Logan's told me. Most of the twelve were either recaptured or killed. Lydecker's standing orders changed I guess in 2020 or 2021 to a policy of whatever force it took to take care of the X-5 situation, even if it meant killing them. There are about five that are still around, six if you include Max. It surprised me, to be honest, that Lydecker kept Max alive, if those were his standing orders."
"Have… have you ever met any of them?"
She shook her head smiling crookedly and looking up at him, "No… wish I had but, no. Logan doesn't maintain contact with them. Actually he'd rather not be involved with this, except that it's Max. Anybody else and he would have probably just pointed the rest at the problem and remained in the background."
"Why? He fights as well as any of us," Kito grudgingly admitted, "He could probably even take Kenai on."
She smiled again, "It's just not him… its not his style to fight, not physically anyway. He only learned out of necessity, Max made him after what happened to him."
Kito's brows furrowed at that comment, "What is he a pacifist? And what do you mean after what happened."
"No, an activist actually, he's a Cyber-journalist, has been for a long time," Tima corrected, "And well, really it's not my place to tell what happened to him, it's a really long story."
"Go ahead Tima, I'm not shy about it," she heard Logan say from the other room and then he entered through the door, "Tell him how I went from Wheels to wailing," Logan jibbed her smiling all the while.
Tima actually blushed at having been overheard, she still had to remind herself that he could hear as well as any of them. He handed her and Kito a stack of pictures and maps, "Zach's coming, so's Tinga, but Jace, Zane and Jondie can't make it. They're either too far out of town or they have their own matters to attend to."
Kito and Tima shared a confounded glance, he had only been online for ten minutes maybe, "Between now and the time that they arrive we need to figure out just how we are getting in there and the best way to get us and Max back out of there. All my intelligence shows that there have been no transfers from the area so we stand a pretty good chance of catching them before they move Max," Logan looked up at them as they continued to stare, "What?" He said smiling, "I told you it was a custom computer, including a multitasking feature… on a good day I can do five things at the same time," and his smile broadened at their widening eyes.
Tima just shook her head, "You really have to teach me that," she said thinking on how he had directed the inherent Manticore Talents in a totally untaught and unheard of ways. She guessed that is what came from not being taught as a soldier your whole life, Logan saw things from a very different perspective than she or Kito did, or any of the Manticore's did for that matter.
They had almost cemented a plan of attack, all the general points were worked out and the only thing left was to brief the rest of the group when they arrived and assign specific tasks to carry out. About that time the phone rang, and Logan was quick to answer it, "Yeah, go ahead and send them up Mark," he said after a moment of listening. And that was it before he hung up the phone and returned to the small gathering, "Their on their way up," Logan told the two of them with a sigh. Kito looked at Logan a moment seeing that despite his outward calm appearance, Logan looked to be anxious to get this going, just as Kito felt. He saw Logan's need to find out if this was all true, it was the same hunger and longing that he had seen in Max's eyes when she had confided her thoughts about Logan, to him.
Kito's lips thinned a moment, wondering just a little what it would feel like to be that dedicated to someone, to be willing to share the rest of his life with one person. It was a strange thought process for him, he had never before had personal thoughts, always thoughts and decisions dealt with the group not with individuals.
Being on the outside was like a virus, and a virulent one at that, independent thought once there spread like a fast moving cancer through his mind. Yet he was unsure if that was a bad thing.
Logan rose and moved to the door opening it before the bell had rung and Kito and Tima caught a glimpse of two people standing there. Logan greeted them individually, "Zach," Logan said shaking the younger man's hand, "Thanks for coming."
"It's for Max," Zach said simply, "You know I had to come."
Logan smiled, and Kito could tell there was a rivalry and tension there between them immediately, "You haven't changed a bit."
As Logan greeted the woman coming through the door, a girl she barely caught the name Tinga on, she watched as Zach gracefully entered the room. He had to be the most amazing specimen that she had seen. He was about Kito's height, with a shock of dishwater blond hair. His features were chiseled as if from stone, his cheeks standing out in sharp relief, and his ice blue eyes were intense and focused. His shoulders were broad and his arms muscular. He was dressed in a black Leather jacket and painted on blue jeans with combat boots on his feet. He was ruggedly handsome. Tima had to force herself to stop staring and harder yet not to blush when Zach looked at her directly.
Tima made herself look at the other entrant in their newly forged group. She was tall and slim distinctly Asian in appearance, her skin was a golden brown color. Her dark almond shaped eyes were calculating and measuring, and she looked to be a cautious and deadly adversary.
"Tima, Kito, this is Zach and Tinga, two of Max's fellow X-5's," Logan introduced, and each group greeted the other then Logan looked to Zach, "Kito is the one who brought us the information… he's got the best idea about how to get us in."
They briefed over the next several hours, Kito explaining the layout of the base and the access tunnels that were under all of the buildings. He pointed out a small auxiliary power building that was near the perimeter fence in one of the deserted sections of the base. They would enter the service tunnels there and then proceed to their objective. Kito now was glad that he had been assigned to the perimeter patrol, it gave him the added advantage of knowing the nightly schedule of shift changes and the most opportune times to breach the fence.
"That settles it then," Zach said at the conclusion of the brief, "I got the gear down in the van."
Logan looked grim, nodding, "Let's do this," He closed his eyes a moment thinking, "We're coming for you Max."