Not too far from Trent's HQ, about fifteen minutes later
They pulled up slowly, knowing they needed to be very careful. They observed the large building standing just a few feet away. They scanned for the way in that had been shown to them by their parents. Finally, they found it. It was a window on top of the place. They got out of the car and walked off to the side of the building.
Zack shot two ropes with hooks up to the top of the wall and made sure they were holding tightly. He confirmed it to his sister and they climbed quickly. Once they were up, they raised the ropes out of the way and hid them so that they could just throw them back down if it came that they would make their escape with them.
They crept silently across the roof, making their way to a mostly hidden sky view, with just a small square for them to look through. They approached the square, almost afraid of what they'd see down below. Zack could hold his emotions in just fine. Jenna, however, would have more trouble. When they saw, she bit her tongue to prevent herself from yelling, and soon she tasted her own blood in her mouth.
The four children sat huddled in a corner, their little arms and legs tied with rope and a piece of cloth in their mouths tied behind their heads to keep them from screaming. There was terror on their young faces. All three of the girls were weeping, the sound muffled. Patrick was trying to be strong for them, but he was still frightened.
There were no guards IN the room, but they assumed there were some outside the door, which made the need to be very quiet even more important. They would have to cut out the window square before anything. Zack took care of that while Jenna was preparing. Both finished at the same time. She nodded and they began.
Jenna verified that the harness was secure and handed the rope to Zack, who arranged a makeshift pulley to pull her up and down throughout the procedure. She positioned herself and soon was being lowered into the room. She was quick to make the kids see that it was her, and that they had to remain as quiet as possible.
She eventually came to the floor and spun to land on her feet. She was lucky that she landed very close to them. She grabbed the nearest one, Patrick, and returned below the window. She tugged on the rope and Zack began pulling her up. Once she was high enough, he steadied the rope, then pulled Patrick out. He then lowered Jenna back down. While waiting for the next tug, he untied the boy's restraints.
Jenna hurried and grabbed one of the girls. She couldn't tell them apart quite yet, but she was almost sure it was Emily. She did the same as before and was lowered a third time. But as she picked up the one she thought to be Shelby, she heard what sounded like someone running towards the room and yelling. She had no other choice, so she picked up Riley as well.
Knowing there was no point in being completely silent anymore, she called up to Zack. "Pull hard! All the way!" Before long, the three found themselves high in the air. Knowing what was to happen for sure, she brought the girls really close to herself, to shield them. She closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the oncoming blow.
She heard the door open and dared to open her eyes, even though she knew there were risks. She saw the man right before... She felt the glass crash over her back, pieces flying all over. On the roof, she landed on her back, with the girls still in her arms. She felt Zack release the rope from the harness and quickly, they ran with the children in their arms, towards their waiting ropes, which they kicked over the wall.
They instructed the children to hold on very tightly to them, which they did. They hiked down the wall and arrived to the ground, immediately running. They could hear alarms in the building and they knew they had to get out of there right then, and the sooner the better. A few meters away from the car, Zack put Patrick and Emily on the ground and told them to run to the car. Zack was beyond them and opened the door.
The two jumped in the back seat, while Zack headed for the front seat. Jenna ran with the two bound girls and set them down next to the others as fast as she could, before shutting the door and running to the other side and her seat.
"Do we have everyone?" asked Zack as he started the car.
"Yes! Go!" yelled Jenna. He did just that and they were gone.
*
Soon after, back at the penthouse
They all sat around the room, waiting. Rachel and Anna sat side by side, a firm grasp on the other's hand. Sarah, Lisa, Jack, Ricky and Steve were by them, but found it very hard to talk about anything anymore. So, they just waited. Logan and Max were still in the other room, doing some research.
Suddenly, they heard the door open, then close a few seconds later. Anna and Rachel got up slowly, soon followed by their husbands. No one could breathe as they waited. They felt tears of relief roll down their cheeks when the four children came running at them. The room was flowing with emotion as everyone came forward to welcome the children back, but mostly to assure they were alright.
When they were calming down, they heard Logan and Max come into the room. "What'd you find?" Zack asked, as he and his sister finally stepped forward, which gave the others the first opportunity to get a good look at them.
Zack was fine, but Jenna looked not so well. She had a large cut by her right eye, which still bled on her face, even though she'd wiped many times at it. She had removed her jacket, revealing another cut, larger, which must have been very painful when she'd removed the jacket, the piece of glass still slightly in there. There were also a few little droplets of blood on the back of her shirt.
"Jenna! What happened to you?" Max asked her daughter as she quickly walked over to her.
"It's no big deal. We had to make a... crashing exit. I'm fine."
"Oh really?" said Max, as she pulled the piece of glass lodged in Jenna's shoulder, making the girl howl in pain. She staggered then fell on the couch.
"What was that for?"
"Well, I HAD to get it out of there." Jenna sent a look towards her mother, but let it pass.
"Did you find out anything more about these people while we were gone?" Zack asked his father. Logan and Max looked to each other, and it sent a chill through Zack and Jenna.
"Why don't I like the way you two just looked at one another?" asked Jenna as Sarah was tending to her shoulder. Logan sighed, then spoke.
"Let's just say we found more than we wanted to."
"Is it really that bad?" asked Zack calmly.
"And worse," said Max. No one could speak, waiting for them to tell what they'd discovered.
"The people who took them," started Logan, indicating the children, who'd already fallen asleep on the couches, "They... It seems that they are tied to something that has to do with Manticore."
"You're kidding... right?" said Jenna hopefully.
"I wish I was, and believe me, that's not even our biggest problem." Logan hesitated, then showed them a picture.
"That guy was there, I saw him as I was being pulled out," said Jenna.
"This is the man in charge of all the operations at that place. His name is Andrew Trent... or at least that's what his name is in papers."
"You're losing me," said Jenna.
"I did some looking around in what was available, made some phone calls. From Sarah's drawing and Max's information, I was able to piece it together. Found something about a project, something they referred to as G.E.R.I.K.... or in other words, 'Genetically Engineered Replacement Iota Kappa'..."
"What is that supposed to be exactly?" asked Zack.
"Well, it seems that 25 years ago, after our last encounter with him, Lydecker did some work..." said Max.
"What kind of work?" asked Jenna.
"I'm guessing he realized he wouldn't always be able to continue his Manticore work. So he... made himself a replacement for when he would be gone, someone that could carry on with it all... in his own image," said Max, feeling chills of her own.
"Excuse me?" said a bewildered Jenna, "You don't mean he..."
"He made himself a genetically-enhanced son," said Zack with slight disgust as the room fell into complete silence.
"So... this Trent guy is part of the G.E.R.I.K. project?" asked Jenna after a few minutes.
"No," said Max slowly, "He IS the project."
They pulled up slowly, knowing they needed to be very careful. They observed the large building standing just a few feet away. They scanned for the way in that had been shown to them by their parents. Finally, they found it. It was a window on top of the place. They got out of the car and walked off to the side of the building.
Zack shot two ropes with hooks up to the top of the wall and made sure they were holding tightly. He confirmed it to his sister and they climbed quickly. Once they were up, they raised the ropes out of the way and hid them so that they could just throw them back down if it came that they would make their escape with them.
They crept silently across the roof, making their way to a mostly hidden sky view, with just a small square for them to look through. They approached the square, almost afraid of what they'd see down below. Zack could hold his emotions in just fine. Jenna, however, would have more trouble. When they saw, she bit her tongue to prevent herself from yelling, and soon she tasted her own blood in her mouth.
The four children sat huddled in a corner, their little arms and legs tied with rope and a piece of cloth in their mouths tied behind their heads to keep them from screaming. There was terror on their young faces. All three of the girls were weeping, the sound muffled. Patrick was trying to be strong for them, but he was still frightened.
There were no guards IN the room, but they assumed there were some outside the door, which made the need to be very quiet even more important. They would have to cut out the window square before anything. Zack took care of that while Jenna was preparing. Both finished at the same time. She nodded and they began.
Jenna verified that the harness was secure and handed the rope to Zack, who arranged a makeshift pulley to pull her up and down throughout the procedure. She positioned herself and soon was being lowered into the room. She was quick to make the kids see that it was her, and that they had to remain as quiet as possible.
She eventually came to the floor and spun to land on her feet. She was lucky that she landed very close to them. She grabbed the nearest one, Patrick, and returned below the window. She tugged on the rope and Zack began pulling her up. Once she was high enough, he steadied the rope, then pulled Patrick out. He then lowered Jenna back down. While waiting for the next tug, he untied the boy's restraints.
Jenna hurried and grabbed one of the girls. She couldn't tell them apart quite yet, but she was almost sure it was Emily. She did the same as before and was lowered a third time. But as she picked up the one she thought to be Shelby, she heard what sounded like someone running towards the room and yelling. She had no other choice, so she picked up Riley as well.
Knowing there was no point in being completely silent anymore, she called up to Zack. "Pull hard! All the way!" Before long, the three found themselves high in the air. Knowing what was to happen for sure, she brought the girls really close to herself, to shield them. She closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the oncoming blow.
She heard the door open and dared to open her eyes, even though she knew there were risks. She saw the man right before... She felt the glass crash over her back, pieces flying all over. On the roof, she landed on her back, with the girls still in her arms. She felt Zack release the rope from the harness and quickly, they ran with the children in their arms, towards their waiting ropes, which they kicked over the wall.
They instructed the children to hold on very tightly to them, which they did. They hiked down the wall and arrived to the ground, immediately running. They could hear alarms in the building and they knew they had to get out of there right then, and the sooner the better. A few meters away from the car, Zack put Patrick and Emily on the ground and told them to run to the car. Zack was beyond them and opened the door.
The two jumped in the back seat, while Zack headed for the front seat. Jenna ran with the two bound girls and set them down next to the others as fast as she could, before shutting the door and running to the other side and her seat.
"Do we have everyone?" asked Zack as he started the car.
"Yes! Go!" yelled Jenna. He did just that and they were gone.
*
Soon after, back at the penthouse
They all sat around the room, waiting. Rachel and Anna sat side by side, a firm grasp on the other's hand. Sarah, Lisa, Jack, Ricky and Steve were by them, but found it very hard to talk about anything anymore. So, they just waited. Logan and Max were still in the other room, doing some research.
Suddenly, they heard the door open, then close a few seconds later. Anna and Rachel got up slowly, soon followed by their husbands. No one could breathe as they waited. They felt tears of relief roll down their cheeks when the four children came running at them. The room was flowing with emotion as everyone came forward to welcome the children back, but mostly to assure they were alright.
When they were calming down, they heard Logan and Max come into the room. "What'd you find?" Zack asked, as he and his sister finally stepped forward, which gave the others the first opportunity to get a good look at them.
Zack was fine, but Jenna looked not so well. She had a large cut by her right eye, which still bled on her face, even though she'd wiped many times at it. She had removed her jacket, revealing another cut, larger, which must have been very painful when she'd removed the jacket, the piece of glass still slightly in there. There were also a few little droplets of blood on the back of her shirt.
"Jenna! What happened to you?" Max asked her daughter as she quickly walked over to her.
"It's no big deal. We had to make a... crashing exit. I'm fine."
"Oh really?" said Max, as she pulled the piece of glass lodged in Jenna's shoulder, making the girl howl in pain. She staggered then fell on the couch.
"What was that for?"
"Well, I HAD to get it out of there." Jenna sent a look towards her mother, but let it pass.
"Did you find out anything more about these people while we were gone?" Zack asked his father. Logan and Max looked to each other, and it sent a chill through Zack and Jenna.
"Why don't I like the way you two just looked at one another?" asked Jenna as Sarah was tending to her shoulder. Logan sighed, then spoke.
"Let's just say we found more than we wanted to."
"Is it really that bad?" asked Zack calmly.
"And worse," said Max. No one could speak, waiting for them to tell what they'd discovered.
"The people who took them," started Logan, indicating the children, who'd already fallen asleep on the couches, "They... It seems that they are tied to something that has to do with Manticore."
"You're kidding... right?" said Jenna hopefully.
"I wish I was, and believe me, that's not even our biggest problem." Logan hesitated, then showed them a picture.
"That guy was there, I saw him as I was being pulled out," said Jenna.
"This is the man in charge of all the operations at that place. His name is Andrew Trent... or at least that's what his name is in papers."
"You're losing me," said Jenna.
"I did some looking around in what was available, made some phone calls. From Sarah's drawing and Max's information, I was able to piece it together. Found something about a project, something they referred to as G.E.R.I.K.... or in other words, 'Genetically Engineered Replacement Iota Kappa'..."
"What is that supposed to be exactly?" asked Zack.
"Well, it seems that 25 years ago, after our last encounter with him, Lydecker did some work..." said Max.
"What kind of work?" asked Jenna.
"I'm guessing he realized he wouldn't always be able to continue his Manticore work. So he... made himself a replacement for when he would be gone, someone that could carry on with it all... in his own image," said Max, feeling chills of her own.
"Excuse me?" said a bewildered Jenna, "You don't mean he..."
"He made himself a genetically-enhanced son," said Zack with slight disgust as the room fell into complete silence.
"So... this Trent guy is part of the G.E.R.I.K. project?" asked Jenna after a few minutes.
"No," said Max slowly, "He IS the project."