Neither Max nor Zack
had any idea as to what they were going to do to stop the traitor from leaving
when they ran out of the door. Hepburn
was in the helicopter trying to get it in the air. There was a man crumbled on the ground beside him in a flight
suit. The front of the suit was soaked
in blood. Hepburn had flown helicopters
before, but it had been a while. He
flipped the switches, and it was coming back to him.
When he had run out,
the Reds were after his blood. That
vicious little X-6 bitch had made up the whole thing about him knowing she'd
kill herself. He had no idea that it
would self-destruct. It was supposed to
come up with a way to get freed. There
wasn't a way, but it didn't know that. He felt vindicated in some ways though. It had proven that it would accomplish a goal no matter what. With this one out of the way, Manticore was
going to be shut down. The other X-6
would be terminated. If the Reds didn't
kill them first.
Reds outside were
starting to shoot at the X-6 still clinging to the walls as he ran to the
helicopter. His pilot had started it,
but one of the X-6 had repelled to the ground. The stupid pilot went to shoot it, and got riddled with bullets for his
trouble. Now Hepburn was going to have
to tell his sister that her eldest got killed. Oh well, the kid knew the risks when he agreed to this.
Hepburn felt the
helicopter start to leave the ground. He grinned fiercely. Maybe he
could show the X-6 had been working with the Reds. He'd be a hero, and 'Deck wouldn't have the slightest chance at
saving them. He heard a girl's voice
yell something and there was a tug as the helicopter rose smoothly into the
night.
He glanced out as he
began to move over the water. There was
someone clinging to the side of the landing skids. He'd been ten or twelve feet up when the person had jumped
on! It was a male, but it wasn't one of
the X-6. Only a Manticore could pull a
stunt like that. There wasn't any time
to ponder who he was. The kid was
starting to climb up.
He dipped the
helicopter, making it jerk hard. The
kid slipped back but didn't fall. He
tried a few other moves, but the stupid kid would not fall. He dropped the altitude getting maybe ten
feet off of the water trying to shake the kid. Suddenly the kid lurched up, and swung his arm. He looked like he was trying to get hold of
the door, but lost his balance, and fell towards the water.
Hepburn
grinned. He was rich and free. There was something at his feet. He looked down, the grin becoming a mask of
horror. The hand grenade already had
the pin pulled.
Zack had grabbed the
skid before Max could do anything. But
she had grabbed something from an X-6 before they'd run out. Sometimes having a great deal of practice at
being a pickpocket helped. The sixer
hadn't even noticed. She'd yelled to
Zack. He glanced back and she threw the
grenade up to him. He caught it easily
as the helicopter moved over the water.
Zack let go of the
skid when the grenade went into the helicopter. He arched into a dive position, and then the force of the blast
around him pushed him down faster. He
hit the water, shrapnel streaking after him. He went deep and swam towards shore. He could see the fire in the water above him, and swam till he was out
of the inferno's range.
Max had waded out
into the water when she saw Zack's head come up. She had seen him fall before the explosion, and could only hope
that he hadn't been hit with anything. He started coming out of the water, and she grabbed him, and helped him
the rest of the way. He sat down on the
sand for a second breathing hard.
They grinned at each
other for just a second. They didn't
have the number of years of training the X-6 did, but they could still kick
some serious ass when they wanted to.
Zack got to his feet
and they both ran back to the hanger. Cole glanced up at them and gave a smile for the unasked question. Max was surprised at how relieved she felt. A matter of hours before she thought she'd
kill Alicia herself, and now she was glad she hadn't died.
Zack knelt beside
Alicia. She was still unconscious, but
breathing on her own. He didn't notice
the odd glances between the sixers as he took her hand. Her eyes fluttered slightly. He wasn't sure she could see him, but her
hand tightened around his. It relaxed
as she slid back into unconsciousness.
In the distance they
could hear sirens wailing. Cole
motioned Zack and Max over to him. "We
already called in reinforcements," he said urgently. "Dad's on his way. In a
few minutes this place is going to have soldiers everywhere."
"Zack, we have to go
now!" Max said, grabbing his hand to pull him away.
"She's going to be
OK?" Zack asked, oblivious to Max trying to haul him off.
Cole didn't want him
to ever even see Alicia again. There
was something up. He didn't like the
vibes he was getting. Still, he owed
them one for helping save her life.
"Same way you got a
hold of me, I'll call you," Cole whispered. He didn't want the other sixers to know about the Knights. The sirens were getting louder. "Go now!"
Zack caught one more glance at Alicia, and then let Max drag him off to where Logan and Bling were waiting frantically. Cole heard the sound of tires grating against dirt, and then the sirens overrode that.