Disclaimer: Don't own them, don't profit from them, just like to play with them.
Logan was startled from sleep by the sound of his cel phone ringing. Reaching out to the stand beside the bed he grabbed the phone and answered, looking around for Max. The bed next to him was rumpled but empty.
"Cale here" his voice was husky with sleep but the words he heard brought him instantly awake.
"Logan, things are breaking. You and Max are going to have to move quickly." It was Sebastian's synthesized voice.
"Explain." Logan answered wondering where Max had gotten to.
"I've figured out how to disable the transmitter. I was able to hack into the Reds mainframe and turns out the implant is not a simple one-way transmitter. It contains a fairly sophisticated computer chip. Once the home base picks up its signal they send back an activating signal and establish a two-way communication. "
"So how does that help us?" Logan asked.
"A simple transmitter would be extremely difficult to disable without physically destroying it which would probably kill Max in the process. This thing actually has a microchip in it and can receive commands. By breaking into the transmission-reception we should be able to send a command that will shut down the chip."
"Well then let's do it." Logan responded.
"Problem is I haven't been able yet to break the encryption of the transmission frequency. That could take days and we don't have that kind of time. The other information I have is that Manticore is actively working with the Reds and they've set up a perimeter around Seattle. They plan on starting the tracking in about 3 hours. They'll gradually expand their perimeter until they pick up the signal."
"So what do we do?"
"The only way I can disable the chip quickly is to wait until they acquire signal then break into the transmission…" Logan picked up on his thought and cut in.
"Hijack it, of course, and send your own disabling signal." Logan finished for him. "That means Max has to deliberately go within range and let them pick up her signal. That's extremely risky. What if you can't disable it before they pinpoint her location?"
"I should be able to grab the signal and disable the chip within 3 minutes. We would have about 5 minutes before they pinpoint her location once they lock in."
"Cutting it close."
"Cutting what close?" Max's voice broke into the conversation.
"Hold on Sebastian." Logan turned and explained the situation to Max quickly.
"So we have two choices here, try to keep running until Sebastian breaks the encryption or deliberately let them find me and hope he can disable it in time." Max summarized. "You know I'm not much for sitting around waiting Logan. I vote for door number 2"
"Max, what if Sebastian can't disable the signal in time? You'd be a sitting duck." His concern was reflected in his eyes as he gazed at her.
"Sebastian how confident are you that you can meet the time limitation?" she grabbed the phone from Logan and asked.
"With the software I have it should be no problem. The problem will be location. If I'm not close enough to you Max my signal may not be strong enough to override. You'll have to come here."
Logan caught the last. "No way Sebastian. We're not putting you at risk that way. Damn. There has to be something else."
"Do you have your laptop, Logan?" Logan smiled grimly seeing where Sebastian was going.
"Of course. I can tie into your mainframe and use the laptop to send the signal. It should work. You give me the program and I'm a good enough hacker for this even if I'm not quite in your class." Logan replied.
"Pretty close to my class, Logan. That will work."
"But that puts Logan right on the firing line." Max protested.
"Max, there's no other choice. You've put yourself out there for me enough times. You can't stop me from doing it for you." Logan and Max locked eyes for a long moment. Finally seeing that he was not about to back down she shrugged and gave in.
"So what's the plan?" They spent the next few minutes discussing tactics and location. Sebastian was able to give them the locations of the Manticore perimeter posts and they decided to head for a section on the outskirts of Seattle in the old rail yards. It was located a fair distance from a post and would provide good cover if the Manticore troops closed in. They planned to arrive shortly before dawn the time when the soldiers on duty would be most sluggish. The plan settled, Max started packing up the things they would need while Logan dialed into Sebastian's mainframe and downloaded the software he would need.
Too soon it was time to leave. Logan wheeled himself to the door while Max checked that all the fires were out before they closed up the cabin. As she came to stand next to him he grabbed her hand and quickly pulled her down next to him. Taking her face in his hands he pulled her to him for an urgent kiss.
"That's for now, Max. Once this is over we're going to do some talking." Shaken by his kiss and the promise of his words Max could only nod her head in agreement. She gazed at him for a long moment and then said softly.
"Take care Logan. Watch your back." He nodded and together they left the cabin and climbed into the car.