Project Manticore's Director's Office, Location Unknown…
"You've done nothing of value!" the Director raged at Lydecker. Cole was next to him, standing at attention. She had torn into Lydecker for over an hour about insubordination, his failure to control "his kids", not finding 608, and basically everything else that had gone wrong. Cole was waiting for her to say that Lydecker had run her stockings that morning.
She finally slowed to a stop. Every motion displayed outrage the likes they'd never seen. All it would take was the slightest word and she'd kill them both without a second's hesitation. Cole wanted to remind her that it was all her fault, but he rather liked living. It was her fault though. Alicia wanted to stay. He knew that and Dad knew that. Dad had handled her the right way because he knew Alicia. Then the director had to screw it up.
She sat down in her high-backed leather chair. "What exactly have you done to capture this rogue, 608?"
"She'll be heading for the Canadian border," Lydecker said firmly. "Unfortunately we lost three days," he continued, glad to see her flinch slightly with that sting, "but I believe we can still get to her in time before she can get out of Canada."
The Director had not notified Lydecker about Alicia's escape until two days after the fact. She'd been sure that capture was imminent, but then the slippery sixer had easily dispatched about twenty of her men. Only half a dozen had survived the explosion, but four would never be able to return to duty again. The girl was fabulous, the Director had to admit that. She'd written most of the training manuals that her men had learned from, and when they followed their training, she'd stomped them flat. Lydecker's people hadn't caught the scent of her yet.
"I want her in a cell yesterday," the Director snapped. She looked at Cole. "The reason that you are in here is because I want to make sure you understand your orders. 608 is to be brought back here by any means, do you understand?"
"Yes ma'am," Cole said. He paused. "Permission to speak?"
She leaned back slightly. "Don't waste my time. Speak."
"X-6 will capture 608 and bring her home," he said firmly. "But she is just as well trained as we are, and it may take some time to do so. She's very good at not being found, and has proven that she will do anything required to accomplish a goal. She is not afraid of death," he continued, emphasizing the last sentence strongly.
"When she left custody, she left a very strong message," he stated.
"I'm aware of all of this," the director snapped. This sixer was just wasting her time.
"The message was specifically for you." That stopped the Director. "She once told me that Kellman was one of six norms that she respected in this world. She did not have to kill him. She did so to let you know that there is nothing that she will not do."
His eyes met hers. "If I may make a suggestion ma'am? From this point on I would never be without a contingent of bodyguards. Until the day she's captured, pregnant or not, she's going to hold you personally responsible for breaking her faith in the one thing that she believed in."
"Is that what you believe I did?" she snapped.
"I believe that you did what you felt was proper. But I know 608. I know how she reacts. I know how she thinks. She believed in Manticore with everything. When she was given an order and told to complete it by any means necessary, she was willing to kill herself to complete it. She almost did. Right now, she's thinking that she was lied to, betrayed if you will, by the one thing she held as a constant. She's very upset, and angry. Most people make mistakes when they're angry, but she doesn't."
The Director took that in, keeping herself neutral. "Dismissed," she said as an answer. As they left, she thought of the X-5. They'd been on the run for eleven years now. Could 608 stay on the run that long? As much as she didn't want to admit the possibility, it could happen. The girl was very well trained. The director wasn't sure if she could stand spending the rest of her life guarded, waiting for a maniac X-6 to show up. Lydecker better catch her. That was all there was to it.