Logan paced the floor impatiently. Max was late, again. He always kept her waiting, a quality in her he hated. It wasn't like time was a luxury for him, nowadays Max seemed to forget that. She had the resources, the intelligence and was really cute but she always missed dinner appointments, rendezvous times and god knows what else. Logan stopped, and tried to calm down. He looked out the window of Max's mansion and observed the people who walked around on the dirty streets of Seattle. The Crash had hit them all hard, but recovery was proceeding but very slowly, he had observed. Logan focussed his attention onto Max's house, it was really impressive, on the outside, but the inside was seriously messy. Max didn't hire a housekeeper, and never washed up any of her dishes, didn't tidy up or give a damn whether her two goldfish, Blinky and Bill, were alive or not under the strange green goo that had formed on top after months of not cleaning the tank out. But Logan sighed, and just let it go. He wasn't here to criticize her house, or he sloppy habits, just to pick up some information she had rooted out about Manticore.
Manticore, Logan's thoughts wondered back to that, as they did most of the time. His team had been deep undercover now for three and a half years; it had been a very long time since he'd returned. The taste of freedom had tantalised his senses after a few weeks outside the confinement of Manticore, and after that he had craved more of it. So Logan didn't bother returning. He had no idea who was still out here, if any, and who had gone back to Manticore after the three-week period.
It seemed to be a simple mission, a find and retrieve of a missing scientist who had skipped the country a couple of weeks before. Manticore was slow to react, Logan's line of SMS had just reached the completion stage, and they had no other ready soldiers to send. A Doctor Tinga Davis had disappeared after refusing to continue serving Manticore as the Chief Medical Operator, a job that meant the dissection of any faulty soldiers. Logan and five others (the only current members of the SMS line) were given all the equipment they needed and orders, then sent out into the field. Logan sat on a chair, remembering the last words spoken to him by the head of the whole Manticore operation:
'You are Super Manticore Soldier number 1 Mark 01. You will bring these soldiers back, and if you do not, we will hunt you down and kill you as if you were nothing but a worthless dog'
Logan shook as he remembered the greying man's words. Major Sketch was a hardcore man, a reason why he was placed in this business.
"Logan? I am so sorry I'm late..."
Logan snapped out of his daydream and looked up at a dishevelled young woman who struggled in, carrying two bags full of groceries. Both Max and the food were dripping wet, they had been caught in a storm.
Logan stood up and took up the soggy paper bags, and dumped them on an empty work surface. He turned to face Max again, who was removing her wet overcoat, and then she took off her glasses to wipe the rain off them. Her black hair was tangled and clinging to her head in clumps, Logan noticed that her blouse and black trousers were also sticking to her body in places. He walked over and helped her place the heavy coat onto the radiator, then picked up her briefcase that she had dumped on the floor.
"Logan...I can't apologise enough, I was caught up at the office again...my secretary was telling me about how her kids were coping after the Crash...she went for ages..." Max paused as her glasses slipped off her nose, "oh...then I had to go shopping...you know the prices nowadays are just awful.... oh, oh, yes, I got the papers too...there're in there..."
Logan pulled the bag open, and sorted through the mess of files and papers, until he found a printout of a web site with a mark on top, which he recognised immediately.
"This is it," he confirmed "the SMS line, their numbers exceed to over..." Max looked up from her shopping as Logan paused.
"What? What does it say? I didn't have time to look at it before I left...."
Logan read the paper over again. Then he spoke up, and raised his eyes to look at her.
"Their numbers exceed to over 200. Three of the original six are still missing...we're presumed AWOL, and they are still looking for all of us..." Logan laughed, and then laughed louder, "they mustn't be doing a good job if they still haven't found us!"
Max sat down by her computers and twisted her chair around to look at Logan.
"Does it say who's still out?"
Logan shook his head slowly, "no, it only says 'the group leader and two other of the SMS'"
Max yawned and stretched. It had been a long day, and her woman's intuition told her that she wasn't going to get an early night.
"So...where do we go from here?" she inquired. Her saucepan in the kitchen began to boil over, so she got up, and left Logan to consider that for himself.
Logan thought that over. Where do we go from here? At least now I know how many of my team are out there...many less then I expected. I have to find them...somehow...
Manticore, Logan's thoughts wondered back to that, as they did most of the time. His team had been deep undercover now for three and a half years; it had been a very long time since he'd returned. The taste of freedom had tantalised his senses after a few weeks outside the confinement of Manticore, and after that he had craved more of it. So Logan didn't bother returning. He had no idea who was still out here, if any, and who had gone back to Manticore after the three-week period.
It seemed to be a simple mission, a find and retrieve of a missing scientist who had skipped the country a couple of weeks before. Manticore was slow to react, Logan's line of SMS had just reached the completion stage, and they had no other ready soldiers to send. A Doctor Tinga Davis had disappeared after refusing to continue serving Manticore as the Chief Medical Operator, a job that meant the dissection of any faulty soldiers. Logan and five others (the only current members of the SMS line) were given all the equipment they needed and orders, then sent out into the field. Logan sat on a chair, remembering the last words spoken to him by the head of the whole Manticore operation:
'You are Super Manticore Soldier number 1 Mark 01. You will bring these soldiers back, and if you do not, we will hunt you down and kill you as if you were nothing but a worthless dog'
Logan shook as he remembered the greying man's words. Major Sketch was a hardcore man, a reason why he was placed in this business.
"Logan? I am so sorry I'm late..."
Logan snapped out of his daydream and looked up at a dishevelled young woman who struggled in, carrying two bags full of groceries. Both Max and the food were dripping wet, they had been caught in a storm.
Logan stood up and took up the soggy paper bags, and dumped them on an empty work surface. He turned to face Max again, who was removing her wet overcoat, and then she took off her glasses to wipe the rain off them. Her black hair was tangled and clinging to her head in clumps, Logan noticed that her blouse and black trousers were also sticking to her body in places. He walked over and helped her place the heavy coat onto the radiator, then picked up her briefcase that she had dumped on the floor.
"Logan...I can't apologise enough, I was caught up at the office again...my secretary was telling me about how her kids were coping after the Crash...she went for ages..." Max paused as her glasses slipped off her nose, "oh...then I had to go shopping...you know the prices nowadays are just awful.... oh, oh, yes, I got the papers too...there're in there..."
Logan pulled the bag open, and sorted through the mess of files and papers, until he found a printout of a web site with a mark on top, which he recognised immediately.
"This is it," he confirmed "the SMS line, their numbers exceed to over..." Max looked up from her shopping as Logan paused.
"What? What does it say? I didn't have time to look at it before I left...."
Logan read the paper over again. Then he spoke up, and raised his eyes to look at her.
"Their numbers exceed to over 200. Three of the original six are still missing...we're presumed AWOL, and they are still looking for all of us..." Logan laughed, and then laughed louder, "they mustn't be doing a good job if they still haven't found us!"
Max sat down by her computers and twisted her chair around to look at Logan.
"Does it say who's still out?"
Logan shook his head slowly, "no, it only says 'the group leader and two other of the SMS'"
Max yawned and stretched. It had been a long day, and her woman's intuition told her that she wasn't going to get an early night.
"So...where do we go from here?" she inquired. Her saucepan in the kitchen began to boil over, so she got up, and left Logan to consider that for himself.
Logan thought that over. Where do we go from here? At least now I know how many of my team are out there...many less then I expected. I have to find them...somehow...