Max sat on the floor next to Zack, trying to undo her bonds for the hundredth time. Whatever plastic they were made of, they weren't breaking. Pulling was just making them tighter. Her arms were pinned to her sides, her wrists behind her back, and ankles bound together. She knew Zack was similarly tied up, and from the look on him, was just as unsuccessful in freeing himself.
She had almost escaped from the Reds. When they had all come into the warehouse she had yelled out their weakness to Zack. Hit them hard in the implant. The fight had been on. She had taken down one, and jumped over another on the stairs. One strong kick in the neck had sent him sailing down the stairs. Then she realized that she was at the top of the stairs, and everyone else was below.
It would have taken a second for her to be out the window. She could be in the water in a flash, and four minutes under the water could have her in any direction. But, where was Zack? She glanced back, and her blood ran cold at the sight. Four of them had nailed him with their stunners at once. His body arched, and was thrown back, sinking down to the ground.
Another man, obviously not a Red, walked up to him, pulled out a gun and aimed it at Zack's head. Max screamed "NO!" at him, leaping down the stairs. He smiled and pulled the trigger. She heard a loud noise; not realizing it was her still screaming. He had killed Zack. Right there. She was trying to get away and Zack got killed to let her.
One of the Reds grabbed her around the waist, lifting her off her feet. She was about to fling him off when Zack moved slightly. She went very still and looked at the man with the gun. He smiled at her very charmingly.
"The next shot will be in his head, not an inch above it," he said calmly. She felt hands grab her arms, and her wrists were tied behind her back. While the gun was at Zack's head she wouldn't resist. Zack was coming around, but they got him tied before he could resist.
The man with the gun picked up the cell she had dropped. "Hello?" he said. "Hello? Did the phone break?" There were a few minutes of conversation. He hung up and smiled widely at Max and Zack. "It seems your friend, or partner, another X-5 maybe? He is quite willing to bring in the upgraded version of Manticore for a trade."
One of the Reds looked at him angrily. "We have what we need," he snapped.
"No, my boy," he replied cheerfully. "Why settle for two when you can have a third delivered on a silver platter. A spare if you will. There are enough of you to take out one measly little X-6."
"You said the X-6 is better," the Red said, unconvinced.
"Not really," he said. "Trust me, you'll take her down easily, and then have all that you want."
The Red didn't say anything. He walked away, and they began the three-hour countdown. Max couldn't see any way out. She knew Zack was angry with her for throwing away the chance to escape, but she wasn't going to let him die for her. Their only hope was Alicia. And that was only the remotest chance on the horizon.
They had waited for a couple of hours. The Reds were getting ticked. Max could tell that beneath the slick charm, the seller was getting anxious. How was Logan going to get Alicia? Max had a horrid feeling that Logan was going to try a rescue attempt. They would kill him in a heartbeat. The thought alone made her nauseous. In the months since they'd admitted their feelings for each other he'd become everything to her.
There was a simple knock at the door. No one moved. The door exploded inward, ripped off of the hinges. Two of the Reds jumped at the intruder. Max and Zack couldn't see what happened in the door opening, but the Reds were suddenly flung back like rag dolls. A third jumped in, and a shadow moved around him easily. There was a pounding, and he hit the ground, convulsing.
Alicia entered fully. It was Alicia, but she was different. She moved like liquid, and there was a smart-ass smirk marring her features. She didn't seem, well, human. Another Red tried to hit her with a stunner, but she leapt into the air. Max was shocked. She could get maybe eight or nine feet from a standing still position, but Alicia easily cleared fifteen feet straight up. She hit him hard, sending him flying across the room as she came down.
There was a moment of silence and she easily walked up to the Red leader and the seller. Even the way she walked was strange. Zack stared hard at her. It looked like her, but he knew she couldn't do that. She'd admitted the X-5's were a superior body type before. How was she doing this? She looked like she could take on all the Reds by herself. He'd seen her fight them before. This was not she, but it was.
Alicia knew Zack and Max were on the floor close by, but she didn't dare look at them. If she saw Zack for even a moment, she wouldn't be able to finish what she started. It was too late anyways, but he didn't have to know that. With luck, he'd never know.
"General Hepburn," she drawled to the seller. "What could possibly bring you to Seattle?"
Another Red tried to make a grab at her, but she disposed of him easily. The others hesitated. They had been told that they were stronger than a Manticore. But she was tossing them around like kittens.
"608," the general said firmly. "You are ordered to stand down immediately and surrender yourself to these men."
"There's your problem," she said teasingly. "You never took the time to study our chain of command. Orders come from the Director who gives them straight to Donald Lydecker. I don't see either of them here, so take your order and place it directly where the sun doesn't shine." With a contemptuous wave of her hand, she dismissed him.
She looked at the Red. The others were looking to him for orders. He looked like their leader anyways. "I presume you have the authority to negotiate?" she asked him.
"You got me here," she continued. "If you want to keep me, all you have to do is let them go." She shrugged. "I'm what you've wanted this entire time."
"Take them all," Hepburn said quickly. "We don't need anymore of those things running loose."
The Red looked at her. She caught his gaze squarely. "The moment they're free you'll run," he said firmly.
"Anything is possible," she replied. "But if I do, you'll catch them again. As long as you have me, you don't need them at all, do you? The general told you I have to protect the X-5's at all costs, didn't he? They go. I stay."
The general went to say something, but Alicia backhanded him, flinging him several feet back. She looked back up at the Red. "I hate interruptions, don't you?" She held out her hand. "Do we have a deal?"
"I think I'll just take all of you," he said, testing her.
"I'll be out of here before you can get a finger on me," she replied airily. "You can take them back to your lab and find out what the general already knows. The X-5's are missing a few things that you need. Things that I do have in my genes. You'll waste a few months, and from the looks of some of your men, they don't have months to waste."
"They'll attack the moment they're freed."
She pulled out her med case from her jacket. She opened it and pulled out two syringes. "There's a powerful sedative in here. It's specially designed for Manticore. Let me give it to them. They'll be out for hours."
"And you'll come quietly?"
She nodded. "With one exception," she said and looked at Hepburn, still on the floor. "You even think about making a call to Manticore to have these two picked up, and I'll tear your fucking heart out."
"You have a deal," the Red said. He motioned to two of the others. They pulled Max and Zack to their feet. She walked over to them, trying not to think. Her eyes met Zack's and she was amazed that the rush of feelings could overpower the effects of the drug's influence. She shouldn't feel anything really, but she could.
Max tried to fight to keep her from putting the needle in, but with her arms pinned down, it was easy for Alicia to get the needle in. Within a second, she had fallen forward, dead asleep. Now Zack. Do it, solider she ordered herself. If you don't all else is in vain. She'd been taught to finish what she'd started. But here was something else she'd started, and wanted to finish. Finish a lifetime from now. Your lifetime is very short at this point she reminded herself.
"Don't do this Alicia," Zack whispered. "Get out of here. Just go."
Her hands were shaking at the thought of hurting him. She forced them to be steady.
"I have to now," she whispered back, so softly the Reds couldn't hear. She slipped the needle in, and their eyes met. His were full of shock and terror that she really meant to do this. She was going to trade herself for them. "I have to," she repeated. She began to press the plunger. Because I love you she mouthed. His eyes widened at that admission, and then closed as the drug took effect.
The Reds lowered them to the floor. Alicia kneeled, and pulled her knife from her boot. She cut them free, and checked their pulses. Strong and regular. They needed to get out of there fast. She stood and looked at the Red leader.
"Lead the way," she said.
They didn't even bother to tie her up. She sat in the van, and crossed her arms tightly under her chest. The power boost from the drug was fading, and she knew what was coming. She'd taken three times what she should have. After the boost it becomes poisonous. In a small dose, an X-6 could deal with it. They'd be a little sick, but could sleep it off. She'd taken way too much so that she could prove herself better than the X-5. Her arms were crossed tightly so that the Reds couldn't see that her hands were beginning to shake.
The poison would take a little while to work. She had the other pills so that when the end came near her genetic code would be destroyed. A few hours, she thought, looking out the window into the night sky. A few hours and this will all be over for good. She passed where Logan was hidden, hoping he would see them and go to the warehouse. She settled back in her seat. The other sixers knew Hepburn was a traitor. They would deal with him. She closed her eyes and thought of Zack. At least at the end of her life she'd learned what caring and compassion really was. She had that now. What else was there? There was nothing left for her to do but wait for it to end.