James Cameron and Charles Eglee own Dark Angel. My use is in no way meant to challenge their copyrights. This piece is not intended for any profit on the part of the writer, nor is it meant to detract from the commercial viability of the aforementioned (or any other) copyright. Any similarity to any events or persons (either real or fictional) is unintended.
5
I sit back against the side of the van and try to relax, telling myself over and over that I have to keep myself relaxed. It's gonna be a long trip, and there's no point in getting anxious now. That'll only serve to burn off some of the energy I'm gonna need later. I wish we could go faster, but once the van hits 70 M.P.H. the vehicle starts to shake uncomfortably. Seems the South Africans didn't bother to get the alignment taken care of.
So here we are, six fools embarking on a mission that we never would have considered trying just a year ago. Of course, back then, not so long ago, we were still full of the asinine idea that we were unstoppable. In the past year, Brin was afflicted by some strange aging effect that led her to voluntarily return to Manticore for treatment, to rejoin our almost-forgotten siblings; Ben wigged out and started whacking people, that whole fiasco ending with him begging Max to kill him rather than allow him to be retaken by Manticore; then there was our latest loss – Tinga. Three of the twelve, twenty-five percent of the escapees, have been either killed or recaptured within the past year, and the rest of us have realized just how vulnerable we are. I hate the idea of this attack, but I'll be the first to admit that it seems we have very little choice in the matter.
Deck is driving, keeping his eyes focused on the road, not even looking at Logan sitting in the passenger seat next to him. Max's main squeeze is busy with something on his computer, probably getting some decryption programs ready to transfer over to the equipment in the van. Then there's the four of us in the back, the super-soldiers that have to do the really hard work. Krit is leaning back against the side of the van in an odd position... I think he's asleep. Figures. Syl is reading Nietzsche's Will to Power. Can't say I'm surprised by her literary tastes; it's not like she was ever one to go in for crappy fiction. Max is sitting in the rear corner, tracing over every line of the schematic that Lydecker gave us. Once in awhile she closes her eyes, and I can almost make out the images she's calling up in her head, faint memories from her childhood that help her more accurately imagine exactly what our surroundings will look like once we get in. And what am I doing? I'm simply sitting here, letting my mind wander. How's that for being hard as nails?
I really wish I could focus on the task at hand, but I can't. At least not yet. I think that for now I'd rather just try to pretend that we're all just going on some kind of trip together, a social outing that doesn't include any explosives or firearms. I know that it's unlikely that all of us will make it out of this, despite all of Lydecker's assurances. I know Syl realizes it, too – she wouldn't be reading over her personal hero's writings like this if she were fully confident in her chances of survival. She's preparing herself for death.
I find my gaze directing itself toward Max. She's so beautiful... What if she doesn't make it out? I wondered. I question whether I should tell her how I feel, but I quickly decide against that. What would that accomplish, anyway? I'd only end up either distracting her or pissing her off. Neither one of those options is desirable when we're preparing to attack the Gillette facility.
For hours and hours it continues like that, with the only break being two fuel stops that Lydecker makes along the way. Finally we reach our destination, and Logan immediately hooks his laptop into the van's computer and gets to work while the rest of us get the weapons together and wake up Krit (I can't believe he never woke up during the entire trip!). Krit and Syl seem strangely relaxed, but Max seems pretty wound up, her eyes drifting towards Logan every once in awhile. Lydecker seems happy as a pig in shit, his eyes running over me and the rest of 'his kids.' I bet he sees this mission as a very personal statement against those he used to work with. He had his own vision of the Manticore Project, and apparently there were others that disagreed. Now he's going to show them all that he was right all along, that a small group of super-soldiers can be more dangerous than anyone had ever imagined.
Logan starts typing frantically on the computer, and I can see that he's using a military satellite he somehow hacked into to break his way into Manticore's mainframe. I'll give him this – he's good. Very good. He may not be as smart as my sibs or me, but he's got experience and skills that put us to shame. I make a mental note to keep in touch with Logan after this, just in case I need some help with a computer system someday. I place the map of the facility down on the ground outside the van, all five of us gathering around to go over the plan one last time as Logan watches over us from his position in front of the computers.
"Syl and Krit will proceed via service corridor 4 alpha to the main and auxiliary generators and set charges," I say, though I know we should all have the plan down by now. It never hurts to be thorough, though, so we'll walk through this again, just to make sure. "Max and I will take the basement to the east air shaft and proceed to the DNA lab. At 0430 we set charges. By 0440 the firing sequence will commence."
"We'll detonate the charges from here," Lydecker chimes in.
"I'm in," Logan suddenly announces, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief. He had assured Lydeker and me that he would be able to get past Manticore's encryption codes, but I understandably had my doubts. Now that that one last major uncertainty has been taken care of, I allow myself a brief second to believe that this mission might be a success. Okay, time's up, I announce silently. Time to get back to work. "I've accessed the internal surveillance system," Logan explains. "I'm copying loops into each camera feed so they won't be able to see you, but we will. So we can monitor you, steer you around any obstacles."
"We rendezvous here by 0448," I add. "Questions?"
"What happens if we run into Brin in there?" Syl asks, though I'm pretty sure she already knows the answer. This question is for Max's benefit.
"She'll kill you without a second thought," Lydecker says immediately, something in his voice seeming disappointed that the Brin that had developed on the outside world was apparently gone forever. "The sister that you knew doesn't exist anymore – she's dead."
"No, she isn't," Max insists stubbornly. I knew this wasn't gonna go smoothly. "She's alive and that means we still have a chance to get her back." You're a fool, Max, I want to say, though I bite my tongue. I simply hope that Brin is nowhere to be seen, so that Max doesn't end up doing something tactically unsound.
"Here's your clearance to the lab," Lydecker says as he hands me a container. I almost thank him aloud for changing the topic of conversation.
"You know what you have to do," I tell my team. "Move out." We all start to move away, but then Max holds back a bit as Logan walks up to her. I make certain I keep my back to them, knowing it won't help me at all to see them hug and kiss again. Just because I can't see them, though, doesn't mean I can't hear them.
"I'd kiss you, but I have to keep my head in the game," she mutters, her words tearing into my heart as I vividly imagine her wonderful body in the arms of another.
"Just come back," Logan replies softly.
We move out quickly, racing across the grounds of the facility as we approach the inner perimeter. Part of me screams out that this is too easy, that someone on the inside knows we're coming, and that they're baiting us in. I immediately suspect Lydecker of setting us up, of buying his own life by betraying us to his superiors. It's a move that makes sense, and something I've been pondering ever since he suggested this mission. Once again I wonder why I agreed to this, but then I see Max, Syl, and Krit as they keep pace with me, their faces full of resolve. That's right, I remind myself. I came along because this is where my soldiers are. They'll need me tonight, perhaps more than ever. I'll do anything for them. They're my responsibility.
We finally reach the edge of the tree line at the top of a small hill, looking down on the main facility. Back when I was a kid, this was simply home. It was what it was, and it encompassed my entire world. Now I've been on the outside for awhile, and I realize just how banal the buildings appear from the outside. If it weren't for the spotlights scanning the area and the ten-foot high chain link fences topped with barbed wire, I imagine that I might almost be able to mistake the large building as a college dormitory. Yeah, a dormitory in hell, I think, reminding myself of some of the things that went on here when I was a child. Images flash through my mind, but surprisingly, the one memory that I really grasp a hold of is the escape. That was the last time I was here, the last time I saw my childhood home. Right after I turned my back on Manticore, I ended up disabling several guards before I was tasered and brought down. There's a large, gaping hole in my memory after that. I know I completed my escape, though I'm not certain how. Maybe running around the compound tonight will help stir up a few of those old, repressed memories.
"This is for Tinga," Max mutters, though I all but ignore her. If she wants to avenge the memory of a dead woman, that's fine. Just as long as she gets the job done. Me... I'm fighting to secure the safety of the ones that are still alive.
To be continued.............................