I
hear Brinn in the next room. She sounds agitated. And I hear the unmistakable
sound of damage being dealt out. For a split second I flinch, wondering how I
managed to screw up my life //this// badly on such short notice. Then I
resolutely get up and sprint for the next room.
Brinn
is looking just this side of losing it. She's got Cale pulled halfway off the
bed and is slapping him repeatedly. So far she hasn't done much damage, but she
doesn't look likely to stop any time soon.
"Brinn!"
I spit out in command tone. "Desist that action, soldier!"
For
a second she comes up sharp, then I can see the hand that's got Cale's clothing
tighten. She turns to me, and the face that looks back at me has none of the
baby sister I remember. It's even less human-looking than Lydecker's.
"C'mon,
Brinn," I say, more softly. "We need him alive. Relatively
undamaged."
Something
ugly moves behind her eyes. "Wasn't going to damage him...much," she
says, deceptively light. "What's with the Manticore soldier talk, sis? You
think you're in charge here, or something?"
In
charge. What a joke.
"You're
not exactly reacting in a fashion that makes a lot of sense, Sis," I say
softly.
It's
the wrong thing to say. She flinches again, and real anger flickers behind her
eyes. It may not make much sense to me, but it obviously makes sense to her,
and she's angry that I don't understand. We've both rejected everyone who even
nominally supported us at this point, and have only each other. And now I've
"turned" on her, too.
"Well,
let me see if I can introduce you to my logic," she says as she drops Cale,
mercifully silent during this, and springs over to me. I block the punch that's
aimed at my face.
Why
is it always the face?
Following
through on the block, I grab her arm and use its momentum to tumble her. She
easily transforms the fall into a controlled roll, landing lightly on her feet.
My eyebrow raises in surprise and admiration.
"Like
that? //You// should try the //refresher// course Manticore is offering.
//Just// a few short months of //hell// and you too can be on //top// of your
game," she says hotly, punctuating the words with a flurry of kicks and
blows, faster than even Zack is capable of.
Correction.
Faster than Zack fighting one of us. He is so loathe to hurt us, even when
we're "working out" our differences. As I defend myself, I wonder if
it's a given that we end up working out our differences by fighting. It's the
only way I've ever done things with my family: follow orders, or duke it out.
But
Brinn's left some edge behind. I hope it's not the one her sanity was on. She's
fighting me like I've never seen, going all out. Man, I must've pissed her off
something fierce.
I'm
in trouble, I realize. She lands several strong kicks to my abdomen, driving me
farther and farther back into the next room. I start to concentrate on merely
avoiding the blows and getting out of her reach, but I'm not having any
success. I manage to connect on a few moves, but she seems to barely register
them.
What
in God's name did they //do// to her? I can hear Cale yelling in the next room,
but I can't take the time to listen. And Brinn's beyond listening. As I look at
her, trying to dodge the next blow before it lands and mostly failing, I
realize she's left herself behind somewhere, too. All I can see on her face is
hurt and pain and confusion.
"Baby
sister," I say gently, and see something come back to life in her face.
At
precisely the wrong time, I drop a little of my guard. The blow she's too far
into to stop falters as her anger does, and comes at me from the wrong
direction. Neither one of us is ready for the way it lands, and I'm sent
hurtling backwards, completely out of control.
The
front door to the hotel room opens, framing someone I see in a flicker as I
turn my eyes to where I'm flying, realizing with growing horror that the
extremely solid desk is on a direct path with my head.
//Oh
my, this is going to hurt,// is the last thing to pass through my head as stars
spring forward and the world explodes in a kaleidoscope of images, Brinn
fighting me, Max, Zack, Manticore, Lydecker, the faces of the men I've killed…
A
moan escapes me and I feel something wet slide down my forehead. Lydecker's
screaming at me and I'm late for reveille…
Point of View: BRINN
*****************************************
Damn
Cale. Damn him for knowing what's going on in my head. My hand rises up and I
deliver two more blows to that pretty face of his. All I can think about is how
much I wish it were Max or Zack that I was slapping. And for a moment, I am
slapping Zack.
"Brinn!
Desist that action, soldier!" Tinga's voice reminds me of Manticore. Of
Zack. Of Lydecker.
Who
does she think she is ordering me around?
"C'mon,
Brinn, we need him alive. Relatively undamaged." She tries the soft
approach.
"Wasn't
going to damage him...much," I reply, lightening my tone. She's stupid if
she falls for it. "What's with the Manticore soldier talk, sis? You think
you're in charge here, or something?"
"You're
not exactly reacting in a fashion that makes a lot of sense, Sis," she
says softly.
That's
it. "Well, let me see if I can introduce you to my logic." I drop
Cale on the floor, where he lands in an untidy heap. My fist speeds towards
Tinga's most prized asset, her face. Then we're fighting. Fast and furious. I couldn't
stop even if I wanted to.
"Baby
sister," she says. I feel my defenses start to fall. She does care. But
it's too late to stop the blow I give her. I watch with horror as she flies
through the air into a desk. Her body crumples to the ground just as the door
to the hotel room opens.
What
have I done?
"Who
trained you people?" This comes from a guy in the doorway. "None of
your barcodes have a 90210 in them."
"Huh?"
I'm stunned. What is he talking about? And who is he? More importantly, how
does he know about barcodes? While I'm wondering about this, his eyes are
exploring the room, searching for something . . . or someone. He takes in
Tinga's crumpled form and walks over to her. Carefully, he feels for a pulse,
then lifts her hair and looks at her barcode. I'm too stunned to stop him. He
looks up at me and I can see on his face that she's alive, but badly hurt.
"I'm
guessing you're Brinn," he says. "That's not a nice way to treat your
sister."
What
does he want? I have to get rid of this guy.
"Who
the hell are you?" I spit. He ignores me and barges into the next room. I
follow and find him picking Cale up off the floor.
Yeah
right, I'm gonna let this moron take Cale. The only one that gets him is Max.
"Sorry,
pal, he's already taken." I lash out and plant a karate chop on the arm
he's holding Logan with. It cracks sickeningly and he lets Cale drop back to
the floor. Without a word, he stretches out his arm. The break becomes
apparent. Then his arm stretches even further. He winces like he's scratching
somewhere that's really hard to reach. The cracked bone slips forward as the
muscles around it move like a giant snake trying to find a good position. Then
everything contracts back and he clenches and unclenches his fist like he just
worked out with a dumbbell. His eyes flash and he advances on me.
Holy
Sh!t.
I
block the hand that reaches for my throat, twisting it out of the way. He
manages to block the punch I throw at him, but not as quick as another
Manticore would have. He's transgenic, but he's not from Lydecker.
Before
I can wonder who sent him, he tries to sweep my legs out from under me while
grabbing at my hair.
"Do
NOT touch the hair," I yell, spinning out of his reach and aiming a kick
at his chest. It's like hitting a steel belted tire. He grabs my leg and pulls.
I fall to the floor, but quickly regain my feet. He lands a lucky punch on my
shoulder, and moves in for another one. I block and he reaches for me. Using
his weight for momentum, I get a little leverage and throw. But he's holding on
tightly, so I fly across the room with him.
I
end up going through the wall. Just before impact, I force myself to go limp so
that it won't cause as much damage. I stand up and look through the me-shaped
hole at him. He's flexing his arm, the one I broke. I take the opening and
throw the side table at him. I don't stay to see whether he catches it or not.
Outside
there's a Harley parked next to our jeep. I start for the jeep, but then stop.
Why the hell not? Max has one. And the jeep just isn't me. Soon I'm racing off
on the freak's motorcycle back to Seattle. Tinga can take care of herself. I'm
off to do what I should have done a while ago.
Point of View: TREAD*****************************************
Damn
she's fast!!! I feel like I'm on the wrong end of bullet time!! I try to grab
something but she spins out of my reach and does some weird running across the
wall bit before racing at my midsection.
Max
put some serious damage on me before I pinned her down long enough to see she
was one of the escaped. Brinn here… is way meaner. She's trying to hurt me.
I
catch her foot as she rebounds off my chest. She twists in mid air and lands
crouched, but she was distracted and didn't see me fire off my left roundhouse
punch. I glance off her shoulder knocking her off balance a little. I wonder
why the hell I pulled my punch!! Before I can answer myself I try to swing
again. She block the hit and starts using my force to throw me off balance, but
to do that she has to stay in contact with me long enough to finish the move. I
manage to get one of my Paws on her.
We
both flip through the air, but the hand that's holding her is on my busted arm,
and when I hit a funny angle I twinge and she slips free. DAMMIT!
The
pent up momentum slingshots her, and she goes clean through the sheet rock
wall!
I
land on my feet barely. Trying to massage the pain out of my arm with my
constrictor muscles. A table launches at me from a doorway and as I smash it to
pieces with my good arm I'm aware of a streak of black racing out the front
door.
I
decide to just let her run. It's her problem. I have to figure out how I'm
going to get to unconscious people back to Seattle. Neither of them is in any
condition to drive.
That's
when I hear it.
My
adrenalin goes through the roof.
I
race outside in time to watch the b*tch take off on my Harley!!!
I
walk back in cursing a solid string of expletives. I walk over to Logan who's
on the floor still out cold. I check him out and there's no serious damage. I
pick him up and bring him over to a couch near the girl. I check look her over
and see she's got a nasty head trauma.
Guess
the driving dilemma is solved.
The
girl speaks. "The failure is not the fault of the training, sir. It's my own."
"No it's not." I say.
"Why they hell they though abused children would make good soldiers in crazy
beyond me."
I pick her up gently, she starts to become more agitated.
She whimpers, moans, in a voice that breaks my heart, "Zack! Don't go!
You're the only family I've got!"
"Calm
down. It's Ok." I answer.
As
I carry her out to the Humvee she starts mumbling something else. I can't make
out anything but a single word.
"mwmmmwa … Bling … mwmwm"
Only Bling I know is that butler dude of Logan's.
She reaches up and touches my face gently. Her eyes glazed.
"I'm glad your Ok."
The
hotel manager starts to come up screaming at me as I place her in the back of
the vehicle.
I
growl at him, and he gets the idea to back away.
I
go in and pick up Logan. I place him in the front of the car and as I reach
around to buckle his seatbelt his head falls over on my shoulder.
"HmmMMmmm…
I knew you'd rescue me… Max."
HE
GOES TO KISS ME!!!
I grab his face and shove his head up straight.
"Down
Boy!"
He
starts to come too and blinks a few times. Then he sits up straight and start
to turn beat red.
"Tread… I… I mean."
"Yeah.
Careful where you point that thing. I almost had to finish killing you."
As
I walk around to the driver side I see the hotel manager still sulking around.
I throw him a wad of $50 and take the opportunity to deliver a line from the
sacred trilogy.
"Sorry
for the mess."
Logan
looks straight ahead as I start the car.
"I
didn't have my glasses on."
"I
don't know, you're kind of pretty for a straight guy."
He
glares at me and says nothing.
Point of View: LOGAN***************************************
My
head hurts.
A
lot.
Once
again, I'm returning to consciousness and trying to figure out where the hell I
am. It's painful.
At
least, that's the only excuse I can give myself right now, because even if I
don't know where I am, I know what I did. I JUST TRIED TO KISS TREAD.
Oh
God.
Talk
about your unknown quantities. Tread is not my favorite person. But he can be
useful, I guess, and at the moment I need all the help I can get. I look around
at the inside of the Humvee, at the unconscious figure on the back seat.
"What
happened?"
He
grins. "You were feeling pretty affectionate, and my pretty face was too
much to resist."
I
grit my teeth. "Right. And before that?"
"Manticore
One went through the wall and swiped my Harley. Manticore Two is in the back
seat. Got a nasty bump to the head, seems to think she's back in training. When
she's not muttering about that butler of yours."
Her
head probably feels like mine, then. But speaking of butlers...and I remind
myself never to call him that...I feel in my jacket pocket. Cel phone is
intact. Tinga and Brinn must have been more rattled than I thought, to forget
to search a prisoner.
Tinga
starts getting agitated. She's thrashing around, yelling something about Eva.
About getting out. About protecting her face. She's ranting and off balance,
but she's trying to get out of the car. Tread goes back to control her.
I look at my phone, trying to figure out where, or who, to call. Max will be
the most worried. At least, I hope she will. But I don't know what Tread is
thinking, and I need to get someone on the phone immediately, without waiting
for a callback.
Hopefully
Bling should still have his cel on him. Hopefully he's got Max with him as
well. Keeping one eye on Tread, wrestling Tinga into a seat belt, I dial the
number.
Point of View: TINGA*****************************************
My
head hurts. A lot. It's hard to think.
I
see Eva, dead all these years, right in front of me. Whole. Healthy. And nine.
Something about that bothers me, but I can't figure out what. She's smiling at
me, assuring me it'll be all right. We have to get out of here.
And
then she's dead, falling before my stunned eyes, her head blooming a red puddle
that swiftly spreads. I want to scream. But that would be a tactical error.
Suddenly
I'm running, crossing a field in an exercise. No, I'm in a club, dancing. I've
got several pairs of male eyes looking at me...some with a glint of danger to
them. I like danger.
And
now Lydecker's tying me up, in front of the pool. I'm being webbed into a
cocoon and he's going to throw me in! He's making too many knots, more than I
ever remember. There's no way I can get them all undone in time, even if I
start before the signal! I struggle, flailing out, trying to free myself. The
others are all watching, solemn eyes wide and serious. Why aren't they helping
me? Lydecker finishes the webbing with a final //click// of something locking
into place. I break training and give voice to my frustrations. "NO!"
I cry out, pleading and rebellious and angry and frustrated and fearful all in
one word. I hear voices off in the background, someone saying
"Bling". I look up.
And
suddenly Lydecker is Bling, looking down at me with sadness and disapproval.
"It could have worked, soldier," he said softly. "If only you
weren't such a screwup." His face and tone of voice show infinite regret.
His actions are just like Lydecker's. Using his foot, he shoves me toward the
pool.
"NO!"
I shriek again. "BLING, DON'T!" And then I'm falling into darkness,
bound and helpless...
Point of View: BLING*****************************************
My
head hurts… A lot!
Brinn whacked me a good one in the car.
So
does my face. Tinga really sent me for a loop.
Feels
like I've been running on automatic since the hospital. Like I've been totally
out of it.
I'm
carrying some of Logan's computer equipment into his cabin.
Logan's
Cabin!
"Max,
I just had a bad thought. Your military buddy back there knows where Logan
lives. He can find this place too."
She
stops for a moment. "I know. But it's the most secure place we've got. It
should buy us a day or two. I'll figure something else out then."
She
takes the computer stuff out of my hands and puts them on the dining room table
where she's setting everything up. She's trying to be all business, but I can
see she's worried.
"Max,
they have no real reason to hurt Logan. He's got to be worth more to them in
good shape."
She
looks at me, and her brow furrows.
"This
is all my fault Bling. If I had listened to Logan… if I hadn't trusted Tinga…"
"I
was a little less than objective myself." I touch the bruise on my cheek.
"It
doesn't look… that bad?" She smiles meekly at me and I can tell she's lying.
"Thanks…
Let's get things set up and go get Logan back."
"Right."
She nods. Then she gets back to work.
I
pass Kendra and Cindy who are both carrying in other stuff. They surround Max
and start to try and cheer her up a little.
As
I head back outside I hear something. It's a phone! My cell phone!
I
rush back in and start trying to find my jacket. The ringing gets louder as I
lift it into the air. Everyone else has heard it now too and comes around. I
pat the coat down, trying to find the pocket with the phone.
In
a moment eight hands are squeezing and feeling the coat. The phone is still
ringing.
Max finds the pocket with the phone in it.
"Hurry
Max! Hurry!" Kendra whines.
"C'mon girl!" Cindy add.
There's
a ripping sound, and the phone flips out of the pocket and bounces under the
couch.
Max
flips the couch over and we all dive for the phone now spinning amidst a small
group of dust bunnies.
Max
reaches it first. She flips it open…
"Hello?
Hello?"
Her
face goes flat…
"They
hung up."
She
hands me the phone and goes back to the computer.
I look down at the small LCD screen. It says 'Logan Cell' and flashes back and
forth between that and his cell number.
"Hey
guys, it was Logan's Cell phone!" I hit a key and it dials the last number that
called.
The
phone rings and Logan picks up almost immediately.
"Logan?
You okay?" Max rushes over and leans her head up to the phone, I turn it so we
can all try and hear.
"I've
been better, but I think I'm Okay for the moment."
In
the background I hear Tinga mumbling incoherently except for one phrase…
"NO!
BLING DON'T"
"Was
that Tinga?" I ask Logan.
"Yeah,
she and Brinn got into it, she hit her head pretty bad, she's kind of out of
it."
In
the background I hear a third voice, a rough male one.
"Cale!!! Will you do something, she's trying to get out of the car and I'm
trying to drive." The muffled voice commands.
"What
the hell am I supposed to do with a delusional X-5? Pull over!"
There's
a tire screeching sound. I hear Logan in the background.
"What
the hell is this?" He asks.
"Myotron…
It's a kind of stun gun. Disrupts brain waves that effect voluntary muscular
control and aggression."
There's a pause. The same voice speaks again.
"It doesn't work on me. Wonky brain chemistry. Just in case you get any ideas."
Logan
gets back on the phone.
"Sorry… a little preoccupied here."
"Who
was that?" I ask Logan.
"Tread."
I can here the irritation in Logan's voice. In the background Tread responds.
"Yeah, I love you too."
Max
chimes in…
"Tread? How did he get involved?"
"Hi
Max. I haven't asked him yet." Logan says.
"Hi Max!" Tread calls out.
"HrrmmrmphMax." Tinga mumbles in the background.
"Where
are you?" She asks.
"Where
headed back to Seattle." Logan responds.
"NO
DON"T! Logan, we had to break down everything and go to the cabin." Max
exclaimed.
"Lydecker… he was right in front of the building. He's probably on to you."
"Lydecker?
Max you might not be safe at the cabin." Logan answered with concern.
Tread's
voice added from the background.
"Deck's been taken care of. He's a whole new man now."
Max
and Logan both said it at the same time.
Max: "What did he do?"
Logan: "What did you do?"
There
was no response but a slightly cruel laugh.
"We'll
meet you at the cabin Max." Logan said.
"We
have to stop in Seattle first." Tread added.
"What
for?" Logan asked.
"I
have to pick up a couple of important things."
"You
heard my Chauffer." Logan jibed.
"Careful
Logan" Max responded.
"Will
do."
Logan
hung up.
"You
sure he's going to be alright with guy." I ask Max.
"If
Tread was going to hurt him, he would have done it already. He sounded in a
good mood anyway." Max responded.
"This
is the guy who crucified Mayor Steckler off the Space Needle after almost
killing you and Logan, and wreaking the apartment a few months back?"
She
just nods and goes back to setting up the computers. He had no trouble stunning
Tinga, even though she's in bad shape. And he ALREADY took care of Lydecker? It
probably won't do any good, but I'm loading the shotgun with slugs.
