Chapter Five

Author: Catherder

Disclaimer: Dark Angel is owned by Charles Eglee, James Cameron, and Fox. I claim no rights to these characters, alas, although I like to play with them.

Summary : Continuation of "Encounter." Renfro grabs Logan for experimentation and Lydecker has to deal with the consequences.

Spoilers/Timeframe: Between Pollo Loco and Hit a Sistah Back

Rated: PG for language

A/N: This is in response to the reviewers who asked me to continue the story. Great thanks to a fan for reviewing and making excellent suggestions. Reviews are appreciated.

Encounter, Chapter Five

Logan wheeled himself down the hallway, following Lydecker to the lab. He noted that Lydecker had not offered to push his chair or help him in any way. As they proceeded down the long, sterile hallway, Logan noted the numbers on the doors and the heavy locks on some of them. While the hallway was brightly lit, it still felt cavelike to him and he wondered whether this part of the building was underground. He hadn't noticed any gradual downward slope, but he nevertheless felt like he was descending.

They reached the lab where Lydecker had been supervising his experiments. It too was brightly lit, and full of cages. There was an overwhelming, acrid odor of animals and chemicals. Squeals, yips, and yelps filled the air. Lydecker introduced Logan to a lab tech who would escort him around and explain the various stages of the experiment. While Lydecker entered data onto a computer screen at his desk, Logan rolled down the aisles of cages, asking questions about the animals in them.

He stopped at a large cage full of small dogs, all of which dragged their hind legs painfully. The lab tech explained that the animals had had their spinal cords severed to induce paralysis. Logan shivered. Been there, done that, he thought, a lump rising in his throat. They would be injected with the nanocells the next day and carefully observed, the lab tech said cheerfully.

A few cages down the aisle, Logan saw more dogs stumbling around in their cage, their hind legs wobbly and barely able to support them. These animals had been treated for a month and were beginning to recover, he was told.

"How many animals were in this batch originally?" he asked, noting that there were seven dogs in the cage.

"Let's see … Hmm. Twenty–five."

"Uh, what happened to the rest?"

"They, ah, they died, sir."

"I see. Thank you. And the dogs in this cage?" Logan rolled over to another large cage. The animals in questions were romping and playing with one another.

"They've been treated for three months, sir," The lab tech replied enthusiastically. "They're almost completely cured."

"Thanks. You've been very helpful." Logan wheeled himself back to Lydecker's desk. Lydecker was staring intently at the computer screen. Logan moved behind the desk to look at the screen. There was an image of a body on it; Lydecker was turning the image around, studying it from various angles.

"Is that me?" Logan asked.

"Yes. From an MRI taken this morning." He enlarged part of the image and pointed to a dark spot. "What's this?"

Logan peered at the screen. "What am I looking at?"

"Right here. Next to your spinal column." Lydecker swiveled the computer monitor so Logan could see it more clearly, then pointed with the end of his pen to a tiny spot near the juncture of three arteries.

"Oh, probably a bullet fragment. They couldn't get them all during the first surgery. I had another operation a couple of months ago to remove more of them. I guess Sam – my neurosurgeon – still wasn't able to get them all."

"Hmm. That's going to complicate matters," Lydecker said ominously.

"How so?"

"Well, we've only worked with clean wounds. Surgically severed nerves, nothing to complicate the healing process. Frankly, I don't know what would happen with a bullet fragment in the mix. That's one of the reasons I want more animal trials. What we've done so far is very limited. We need to add complications."

"So, I take it that you won't try it on me?" Logan asked, almost disappointed.

"Renfro, in a heartbeat. You, no." Lydecker replied. "Too many 'what-ifs'. If you died in the process of a straightforward experiment, that would be one thing, but to subject you to too many unknowns would be unethical." He leaned back in his chair. "Now I get to think about what I tell She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. She's going to be mightily pissed off."

"I can imagine."

"Oh, no you can't. She went to all the trouble of kidnapping you, and now I can't use you as a subject even if I wanted to. That'll really tick her off. Next, I have to figure out what to do with you."

"Get me out of here?" Logan suggested hopefully.

"Yeah. Somehow. Well, let's get you back to your room before Renfro becomes suspicious. I'm sure the only way she'd want to see you in this lab is strapped to a gurney with tubes in your arms, not taking the Grand Tour."

Yeah, well. I guess you're right. This place is beginning to creep me out anyway."

Lydecker shut off his computer and accompanied Logan back to his room. At the door, he said softly, "I'll be back later. We'll come up with a plan to get you safely out of here and beyond Renfro's reach. In the meantime, just play it cool and you don't know anything."

"That shouldn't be a problem." Logan smiled for the first time since he'd been abducted. "I don't know much, in any case."

Lydecker said good-bye and turned to walk back to the lab. Logan leaned back in the wheelchair, closed his eyes, and sighed deeply. His thoughts were tangled. On one level, he had been tempted to try Lydecker's experiment; it sounded like a simple, elegant solution to his problems. On the other hand, he understood Lydecker's reluctance to use him as a lab rat. There was no evidence yet that the nanotechnology would work on people. He thought it odd, from what he'd heard about Lydecker, that the man would hesitate to try an experiment on anyone, but given his previous military record, maybe something of the character traits that had made him such a highly respected, decorated soldier still remained in him.

"Damn!" Logan said aloud, just as the orderly came in with another tray of food. The man jumped, almost dropping the tray.

"Sorry," Logan apologized. "I was just thinking about something."

"Here's your dinner."

"Thanks. Just leave the tray." The orderly placed it on the bedside table and left.

Logan wheeled over to the table and took the tray. He ate the food, thinking that he should keep up his strength for whatever the hell these people had in mind for him, unless of course, they were drugging him, in which case, maybe he shouldn't eat anything. He wondered what Lydecker would come up with and if they could pull it off.

He finished eating and looked around for a radio or television, anything to occupy the hours while others made the decisions that would impact his life. Finding nothing, he thought maybe he'd take a spin down the hall to find something or some one to help him relieve the boredom. But he held that thought when he saw Elizabeth Renfro walk toward him.

"Good evening, Mr. Cale. We meet again. Remember me?" she said cheerfully. "How are you feeling this evening?"

"Fine. When can I leave?"

"Not quite yet. We're still reviewing your test results. Let me introduce myself. I'm Dr. Renfro."

"Well, Dr. Renfro, if you're in charge here, please let me know what's going on. Where am I? What tests have you run? What are you testing for? Have you contacted Dr. Carr?"

"One thing at a time, Mr. Cale," she said sweetly, sitting down on the metal chair and crossing her legs. Her skirt was very short and she hiked it up a bit. "You're at a private medical facility…"

"Yes, I know that," said Logan, exasperated. "Everybody's told me that. But what 'private medical facility?' And where?"

"That doesn't matter. You're our guest and we'll take care of you."

"Sorry, but it does matter, at least to me. There are bars on the windows. That implies certain things."

"We're a private nursing home and research facility, out in the country," she said by way of explanation.

Right, Logan thought. "And the tests?"

"Some one found you passed out at Fremont market and dialed 911. Our ambulance was in the area, so it responded. Since it was obvious that you suffer from a neurological condition, we started there with our tests."

Logan closed his eyes. I'm a freaking paraplegic, he thought. What is this 'neurological condition' crap? She's trying to set me up for a course of 'treatment' – Lydecker's experiment.

He opened his eyes and stared at her. "And have you found anything?" he asked disingenuously.

"A possible … anomaly that may be causing some of your problems," she lied with a perfectly straight face, a face with a faint smile on it.

Logan returned her smile, thinking anomaly, my ass. Sam has made sure I know all the facts about my 'problems.' Other than the pluripotents from Max's blood, which might still be around, there have been no anomalies.

"And you can treat that here?" Aquamarine eyes met black eyes. Neither pair blinked.

"I think so. We've been doing research on spinal cord injuries here and we've got a good track record in treating them." She uncrossed and re-crossed her legs, inviting Logan's admiration. It was not forthcoming.

"Have you consulted with Dr. Sam Carr, my neurosurgeon?"

"We've tried to contact him, but haven't been able to reach him. We'll keep trying."

"I won't agree to any treatment until I've talked to him." Logan stated.

Renfro stood up and took a few steps toward him. She took his hand in a gesture of sincerity; her nails dug into his flesh painfully. "I really must insist. If we don't treat you, it will only get worse. You wouldn't want that to happen, would you?"

It sounded like a threat to him. "No, I wouldn't." Logan wheeled away from her, breaking her grip. She didn't take it well. Her eyes flashed, an eerie ebony glow of anger.

"Very well. I'll be back with consent forms. Then some one will come and fill you in on the treatment options. You've made a wise choice, Mr. Cale." The cold smile was back.

"No doubt," Logan said, trying to plot his next move.

Renfro turned on her heel and walked out of his room.