Max drove wildly through the streets, whipping around the few other cars. Most everyone was heading towards the explosion. They got away from the populated area, and headed as fast as they could for the tunnel. The base was coming alive with MP's and assorted others trying to find out what happened. Red alarm lights were flashing all over the base.
One MP tried to stop them, but got nearly run down in the process. The MP gave out a warning to the others around about the wild jeep. Two of the Special Forces units picked up on it, and realized who might be in the jeep when the MP said there was a blonde female driving.
Max started to relax as they headed out of the main area until the helicopter started up behind them. A spotlight flooded the jeep, but they didn't slow for a second.
"Get Max down now!" Alicia yelled when Zack relayed they were being followed by helicopter. She had heard Bailey's last message. Zack didn't hesitate. He grabbed Max, and yanked her towards the seat, a fraction of a second before the headrest practically exploded from gunfire.
The jeep, freed from control, skidded, nearly tumbling over. Max hit the brakes from the flattened position to try and keep them from flying off of the road uncontrolled. Zack glanced up, not sure what to do next when his eyes caught a spark from behind the helicopter. It suddenly exploded in a ball of flame. That was all they needed. Max sat up, put the pedal to the metal, and roared off into the night again.
"Air traffic eliminated," Alicia heard Xander speak up. She almost laughed at his tone. He always sounded like that when he did what he was being mischievous. He sounded serious, but she could hear the laughter waiting to come out.
"You goddamn idiot!" someone screamed. "That was one of ours!"
"All air traffic is to be eliminated," he replied calmly, almost robotically. "That's the directive."
"It meant all foreign air traffic!"
"It said air traffic. There was no designation. Since our people knew it, they wouldn't be using air conveyance. Therefore, all air traffic is enemy forces until the directive is rescinded."
Now Alicia laughed. "We get treated like robots, we behave like robots," she said, more to herself than Logan. He gave her a strange look. "The other sixers think it's only me too," she said with a smile. "They'll deal with me themselves, but they won't let anyone else touch me." Her smile fell. She wasn't ever going to see any of them again.
With Max driving like a maniac, they reached the tunnel entrance a few minutes later. She slammed the brakes to let Jhondie out so she could open the doors. In less than twenty minutes they should be in the plane, and headed towards freedom. Bryn was still out of it, but that would be OK for now.
They had driven up in pitch-blackness. Max had long before turned off the headlights, and relied solely on her night vision to pierce the dark road ahead of them. As Jhondie jumped out of the jeep, something seemed wrong to Zack. Then it hit him. It was still pitch black. When they came through the tunnel the first time, there was a light for the guards at this end. And what was that odd smell?
"Stop," he yelled. Jhondie instantly dropped to the ground next to the jeep. It was dead quiet. They could hear their own heartbeats.
At the edge of the entranceway to the tunnel, deep within the shadows, a single orange-red light flared, and then dimmed slightly. Now Zack could place that smell. Cigarette. In the post Pulse world, not many people could afford the luxury of smoking, so it wasn't nearly as common as it had been twenty years before. He leaned next to Max, and turned on the headlights.
The shadows parted, and they saw Cole leaning against the doorframe casually, obviously waiting for them. He was dressed in black, and knew how to blend in with the shadows so that even their night vision would have a hard time spotting him. He took another drag, blew the smoke out, and then dropped the butt, grinding it out with his boot. He looked at them, a small smile on his face.
Cole had been waiting patiently for them. Norms would have used an insertion point close to the hospital so that they could make a quick getaway. Someone who has absolute faith in their abilities, and knew about it, would use Antelope Island. He had been a little surprised that Alicia wasn't with them. She'd want to be here. Cole lit a cigarette and contemplated how Zack managed to keep Alicia out of here. The only thing he could think of was duct tape. Guy was good; he had to give him that credit.
He listened, amused as heck, to the broadcasts. There was a blonde in the group that was running. They thought it was Alicia. He had to snicker when Xander took out the helicopter. It was rather quiet over here though. He had told the guards to get lost when he showed up a little but ago, and they moved out quick. One had a split lip. Yeah, this was their route.
He had turned off the lights and stepped into the shadows. There was a squawking sound overhead at one point and a few feathers drifted down. He heard a car approaching at high speed, and pressed back a little more. There weren't any lights, but his ears told him the vehicle was very close. Finally it roared up, and a girl jumped out. He deliberately held up his lit cigarette and took a drag, causing the tip to flare up a little. It was time for phase two of the plan.
Zack jumped out of the jeep, and Jhondie got to her feet. Zack made a gesture to Max to order her to stay with Bryn. It really didn't matter since Cole obviously knew the signals they did. Max climbed into the backseat as the other two slowly approached Cole, who started walking towards them. It looked like an old west gunfight. They had no idea what his game was, and they didn't care. The fivers were faster and stronger than the sixers. Two of them should be able to take him down within a minute or two.
Zack attacked first. He punched at Cole, who sidestepped easily, ducked the kick Jhondie had aimed at him, and grabbed her leg, flipping her back. Zack tried a leg sweep as fast as he could, but Cole's feet were already off the ground as he somersaulted over them to get a better vantage point. Jhondie's kick made contact with his back, throwing him towards Zack. Zack punched, but Cole moved to the left, and grabbed Zack's arm, using the momentum to swing him into Jhondie.
Max watched the fight for a few minutes. She was going to jump in, when something hit her. Cole's reflexes weren't as fast, but he was still outmaneuvering both of them. They were moving much faster than him, but he wasn't getting hit like he should. Zack was awesome at hand-to-hand combat. Not as good as Tinga, but a very close second. He was moving so fast it was hard for her to keep up, but Cole was still ducking his blows, and fending off Jhondie.
The three of them parted, forming a triangle. They were all panting. There was a little blood at the corner of Cole's mouth, and a red blotch on his face, but he wasn't down by a long shot. Max stood up, everything suddenly falling into place. Watching him fight, it was suddenly blatantly obvious what was happening.
Cole! She yelled as loud as she could, but only in her mind. He glanced up at her. Max felt her jaw drop, and she snapped it shut, leaping out of the jeep.
"You heard me!" she accused. Zack and Jhondie shot her a glance that clearly stated they thought Max had lost her mind. Cole had been rather relaxed during the fight, looking smugly amused the entire time, but now he wasn't happy. "You heard me," Max said again, this time her voice filled with wonder.
"Don't bother going after him," she said, putting her hand on Zack's shoulder. "How do you fight a solider that knows everything you're going to do before you do it?" Her eyes met with Cole's. "The latent genetics aren't always latent are they?"
Zack and Jhondie realized what Max was talking about. Cole paused for a long moment, looking a little unsure for the first time. They weren't supposed to realize this.
"Not always," he said simply. He glanced at Jhondie. "No, not X-7, my genetics just picked up some recessive traits." She paled and stepped back. X-7 was the first thing she'd thought.
Cole backed out of the defensive stance he was in, and wiped the blood on his mouth. "Good one," he said to Zack. "I didn't hear that one coming. And stop worrying about Alicia. I can't pick up on her thoughts unless they're real loud and close by." He smiled smugly. "It's how I knew she wasn't around here."
"That's how you knew she was going to run," Zack accused. Cole nodded. He'd been staying close to the institution so that he would know when it was time. He knew her well enough to know she would do it, and when she did start to break out, he'd picked up on the flashes of emotion rather than actual thought. When he knew she'd cleared the perimeter, he'd gotten things in gear. "Why'd you tell me?"
"I wanted her to see you," he replied. "She needed to be reminded why she needed to come back. So her kid wouldn't end up like you."
"Free?" Max snapped.
Cole snorted disdainfully. "Always running and hiding is free? You got a warped definition of free." He looked back at Zack. "Alicia's Manticore to the bone. You think she's going to be waiting for you? Maybe. You better keep a close eye on her though. She'll come back where she belongs. She always has. Just like when she left you cold before."
He stepped to the side a little. "Get on out of here. Take your sister. She's not really needed for stage three. Stage three isn't really needed at all, come to think about it. We'll have a true X-7 soon enough without her."
"He's trying to play with your head," Jhondie, said, seeing Zack ready to spring again. "He knows that Alicia will be killed if she comes back. She knows it too."
"Don't be naïve," Cole sneered. "Our minds are so much stronger than a norm's. If I can catch your thoughts, what do you think I can do to a norm's mind? Alicia will come back. We'll take care of the director, and I'll just have to make sure Dad gets put in her place. Alicia knows we can do it. We'll be running the whole project then."
"So why let us go at all?" Jhondie, always the investigator, asked.
"Let's just say I have my own games to play. It suits my needs to let you go for now." The look on his face turned pure evil. "Don't worry Zack," he said, sounding like the devil himself. "When we're raising the boy the way a Manticore solider should be, I won't have him call me Dad."
Max couldn't hold Zack back. He sprang at Cole, and decked him hard. Cole was thrown back against the frame of the tunnel opening, hitting his head hard against the metal. He sank down to the ground. The trio glanced at each other, a little shocked. Guess he isn't as good as he thought, was their unspoken consensus.
Max and Zack jumped back in the jeep while Jhondie opened the doors. The cameras were still running the loop. She jumped in the jeep and they sped off down the tunnel, the tires peeling rubber as Max hit the gas.
Cole lay there for a moment, still shamming unconsciousness as he listened to the sound fade. He had let Zack hit him. Those fivers had a heck of a swing. His head ached, and he could feel blood trickling down his neck. That was good in a way he supposed. Phase two of the plan was completed. He let his mind fly outward, zeroing in on Lydecker. It was amazing how three years ago, he and Dana had first started getting "funny feelings" about things, and now he could easily manipulate a norm's mind. He had to know the norm somewhat to really do anything, but picking up on thoughts was pretty easy.
Lydecker still had not turned back on the command frequency. Cole keyed his. "I'm letting them go 'Leecee," he said softly. "It's a peace offering to you. The director has a team just around the corner with orders to shoot to kill. They could be ready to shoot down a plane before your people could get to theirs. I don't mind trading a sister for a sister. Come home."
He keyed it off, dropping it beside him, and then pulled out a zip tie from his pocket, and bound his own wrists. It was a little awkward doing it behind his back, but possible. He waited another ten minutes, and then keyed the general frequency.
"Suspects in AI tunnel," he muttered, sounding like someone who'd been knocked senseless. "Three…two females…one male…608 not there. Take down all aerials. Can't escape." He fell back like he'd lost consciousness. A few minutes later he could hear several jeeps heading towards him. He closed his eyes and made his face perfectly neutral. Everything was going just as scheduled. Now it was Alicia's move. He thought about what he'd said to her. Of anyone, she'd understand what he'd meant. He hoped she would make the right decision. For everything that he'd learned from Dana, he hoped she would.