"Lydecker." Mathews' tone was one of disappointment. "I expected better from you. I thought you of all people would want Manticore to move ahead into the future."
Lydecker stepped toward the screen with Mathews' face. It was difficult to try and intimidate someone who was safe miles away in their office. "The future lies in genetics Mathews, not making our kids dependant on machines."
"You never understood did you Lydecker. No wonder the Triumvirate chose me to take command."
"You only got your position by kissing ass."
Mathews looked unimpressed. "Don't you remember the dream Manticore was born from, Lydecker? Instead of sending a thousand soldiers to their doom, send ten perfect soldiers and lose none. Well there is no need to wait anymore. The dream is at our fingertips. Why do you refuse to be a part of something you have been trying to achieve for most of your life?"
"My goal was to create a supersoldier, a perfect human." He stressed the word 'human'. "Not some programmable machine that wears the face of a human. I cared for my X5 like you will never care for any one of your creations. Each one of my kids is a precious human life. A child gifted to rise above the rest. But you, you are turning Manticore into a production line. Rifling half humans out to create an army which contradicts the very dream you think you believe in."
"And you, Lydecker, never could understand that that is exactly what they are. Creations. Just because you took part in the gene splicing process does not mean they are your children. You have lost your wife. She is not coming back. But you could never let that go, could you? You always had that sick mentality that they were the children you never had with her. Like Max right? What a daughter might have looked like. And Zack, blonde hair, blue eyes, a perfect son."
"You son of a bitch."
"I actually remember a time when I respected you and your work Lydecker. And I remember the day I was disillusioned to your ways. But turning away from Manticore like this, you knew there was only one way this would end for you. I guess I can admire the fact that you are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for your 'children'."
Lydecker stood tall, his chin straight out, "At least there is something in my life worth dying for."
In response Ty nodded his head and smiled. "Ty," Mathews called his soldier forward.
"Yes sir."
Mathews never took his eyes off Deck as he relayed his instructions to his soldier. "Send a few expendable soldiers with Lydecker back to Manticore. We will deal with him here."
"Yes sir."
Ty looked over his shoulder to the two soldiers who stood at the door, each old enough to be his father. They both nodded their heads to the silent instructions and walked to either side of Lydecker, roughly guiding him to the door.
Raven, who had been standing in the corner all this while, watched in silence as they took Lydecker away. All the while he held his head high. He did not yell in protest or struggle against their grip. His hands and feet were not bound and yet he walked freely to his death. The look in his eyes betrayed that he had known this is how it would all end. Lydecker had left Manticore fully aware of the consequences. How strange that he easily took on this fatherly role for children who despised him so.
Mathews looked over Ty's shoulder. "Raven."
At her name, Raven quickly turned her attentions back to the screen and stepped forward.
"Yes sir."
"My apologies for cutting short your mission."
"No apologies are needed sir. I only ask that next time I be informed of the updated mission objective. Had I known, I would have facilitated the effort."
"I will keep that in mind soldier. In any case I commend you on what you did accomplish."
"Thank you sir."
"Earlier you mentioned some sort of serum that made the X5 stronger. Were you able to acquire some for further study?"
Raven reached her hand in her pocket and felt the two plastic tubes, each holding a syringe filled with the liquid that Mathews referred to. "Yes," she said, pulling one of the needles out and holding it out for Mathews to see, "I was only able to secure one sample. I should warn you however that it seems this serum is highly addictive and the body soon becomes dependant."
"Leave it with Ty."
For a moment, Raven paused. Why was he asking her to give the syringe to Ty, when she could have just as easily returned it to Manticore? "As you wish," she said simply and handed the serum over to her brother.
"Now, I suggest you get some rest. When you return to Manticore you will resume your training."
"Yes sir."
"Dismissed."
After a quick nod, Raven left the room.
Mathews waited a moment before he addressed Ty again, "Ty. Monitor Raven's actions."
"Monitor her actions, sir?"
"I do not believe she is fully on our side."
"But I saw her, sir. She beat on the X5 with no signs of guilt. She even killed their human affiliate…"
"Was it not you who first brought to my attention that there was a good possibility X6-r had turned from Manticore?"
"I know sir, I was…" Ty wanted scared, but there was no such word in his vocabulary, "concerned. But I see now that she had to do many things to gain the trust of the X5. A necessary step in completing the objective she had set out to accomplish."
"You are too quick to defend her Ty. But I am not so quick to believe. We cannot yet be sure of her alliances. Only when she returns to Manticore, and she is retrained may we be confident. Play along with her charade until she is either back at Manticore, or she reveals her true loyalties."
Ty breathed in slowly. It could be true that his trust in his sister was blinding him to her true intentions. But then it wouldn't make sense that she allowed the X5 to be captured. He swallowed, conflicted, but ultimately realized that Mathews' words held weight. "Yes sir."
"Now what is the status the of remaining X6?"
"They are all deployed throughout Seattle and are currently sweeping the city. We will return to Manticore by midnight."
*****
For an hour Raven roamed the compounds of the Seattle Manticore base. There were few places to run and even fewer to hide. Upon studying the doorways Raven noted that virtually all of them were electronically controlled.
Finally her meandering path lead her to the mess hall where she found Ty sitting alone eating a late lunch. She could have sworn he had not seen her enter, and so his greeting took her off guard.
"Hello Raven, here for a little snack?"
"Yeah, needed a little sustenance." She headed into the back to grab something from the fridge. When she came back out she set her tray down and sat in front of her brother. After a few silent bites of the bland food Raven tried to start a conversation. "So, how have things been at Manticore? I would like to say I was surprised that Mathews got promoted, but that was a long time coming."
"No one was surprised, except for maybe Lydecker. But then again, he never thought the Triumvirate would unseat him."
"He must have known. I mean his head was already in the guillotine when the X5 escaped, it was only a matter of time before the blade fell."
Ty poked at his food. "You should have kept up your communications."
"I had to go silent, there were rare opportunities where I could have sent a message."
"You could have found the time."
"What is wrong with you? I have gone silent before, and for longer periods than this."
"And even then you communicated more often."
Raven beheld her brother. She caught the vein of hurt in his words. He had seemed truly upset that she had cut off communications with them. "I would never abandon my family Ty. You must know me well enough by now to know that is the truth." She felt guilty speaking the words, when she knew it was only a few days ago that she thought of leaving Manticore and living a free life just like Max and Zack and the other escapees.
"It was just a mission, Ty." Raven stood and put her tray away, walking out of the mess hall to leave the awkward silence behind.
Just outside the door she inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. She would have to worry about her siblings later, right now she had to check on something.
*****
Fox and Quince were sitting down in front of the wall of security monitors.
"I can't believe we are doing this." Fox admitted as he leaned back in his chair stretching his arms over his head.
"I don't know why we have to watch everything Raven does. She hasn't turned. I know she would never turn. You saw her in the van, she hasn't changed a bit."
"Mathews is just a little paranoid. Though I guess I was a little paranoid too at first. But seeing her off that guy in the alley," he turned his head to the screen, "Wait, she's heading toward the brig."
*****
Max lay on the bunk in her cell. These were the same cells they had been locked in when they tried to rescue Brin. Everything was the same except for the fact that her hands and feet were firmly secured, by someone who knew her capabilities. And this time there were no human guards to confuse. All she could do was lie there and stare at the ceiling.
In the cell next to her should could hear some rustling. Zack was finally coming to.
"Where… Max?"
"Zack, you're awake. How are you feeling?"
"I'm… fine…" Zack slowly maneuvered himself into a sitting position, taking in his surroundings, "Sanders…What's going on? Last thing I remember was climbing into Lydecker's." His voice turned to acid, "Lydecker…"
"No. Raven." Max told him everything that happened after he passed out in the van. How Fox and Quince had somehow disposed of Lydecker's soldiers and sat in their place. How Raven was upset with her siblings for interfering with her mission. How Raven shot Logan dead.
As she told the story, Zack remained silent. She looked over at him and could see the disappointment fill his eyes. She couldn't help but feel guilty being the one to lay this all down in front of him.
Raven was the only person that he had learned to trust that wasn't an X5 and she had been lying to them all along. Max could almost watch as the walls Zack had constructed around himself over the years, walls he had brought down to let Raven in, went slamming back up. After this he would never be able to trust anyone again. That is, if he was ever given the chance.
For the next little while, what seemed to stretch an eternity, there was just silence. Neither of them had moved, Max still lay on the bunk staring above her and Zack was sitting up, his head bowed down, eyes closed. He had said nothing in response to Raven's betrayal but instead just sat there, frozen in disbelief.
The silence was shattered as a door opened and they could hear light footsteps of a single person entering the room. They both turned their heads to lay their eyes on whoever intruded upon their locked sanctuary.
It was Raven.
Immediately Max leapt to her feet, albeit clumsily since her ankles were bound, and unconsciously let out a growl. "You bitch."
Raven looked at her. There was no semblance of an expression on her face.
"I'll never forget what you did. Nothing at Manticore can make me forget that."
Still Raven did not respond and instead stared blankly at Max.
"Do you have nothing to say for yourself? Is this the kind of life you want to lead? Logan was an innocent man and you just take his life without a second thought. You aren't a soldier, you're just a cowardly murderer doing Manticore's dirty work."
Still Max couldn't get anything out of Raven and it was frustrating her more than these plastic ties around her wrists.
"I don't fucking care if you were made from my genes. To think I took a bullet for you… I should have let you die. Doesn't matter, I'll fix that mistake."
Finally Raven stepped toward her and said in a cold steely voice, "Don't say things you will regret in the future."
"I was trained at Manticore, unless you have forgotten. I know how to become a cold blooded killer."
Raven turned away from Max, seemingly tired of her little rant, and stood directly in front of where Zack still sat on his bunk. His piercing blue eyes, so like her own, had been following her movements ever since she had entered the room.
"I see you are awake. Are you well?" she asked him, in that same cold uncaring voice. "I would hate to deliver damaged goods."
He did not respond right away, instead they locked sapphire glares. After a tense moment, he finally spoke, this own voice matching Raven's callous tone, "I trusted you."
If it were possible, Raven's body went even more rigid. "And that was your fatal mistake," she said before she abruptly left.
*****
Fox watched as Raven left the X5, "That was pointless. Did you see her slip them any secret plans to escape?"
"No."
"Neither did I. Fuck this, let's get something to eat."
*****
"Donovan." Eden called when she saw him guiding his bike out of the complex. "Where are you going?"
"Out to help the others sweep the city," he paused only briefly to acknowledge her question before he continued on his way.
She crossed her arms, "Why? They won't need the help."
Donovan stopped again. "The more people out there to search the faster we can get out of this city and back to Manticore."
"What's the rush?"
He answered quicker then he wanted to. "This mission is boring me."
"There is something else." Eden squinted her eyes.
"No." Donovan shook his head as casually as he could manage.
"Something has been bothering you. It started yesterday." She lay a hand on his shoulder concerned. "You seem a little out of it…"
"I don't know what you're talking about, I feel fine."
"When we were scaling the building, what happened to you?"
"I just got a little dizzy, lost my footing, that's all."
"Donovan, you've free climbed cliffs and buildings with us in training before. You were always the first to the top."
"Maybe it was just the rush of the hunt." Donovan shrugged off her concerns. "I'm fine really, I just need to get out of here."
"Either way you can't leave Manticore." Eden said flatly.
"What does that mean?"
"We need you here at the base."
"Why? There's already a crowd. You, Ty, Fox, Quince, and Raven," he counted them on his fingers, "That is more than enough to handle the X5 we have captured."
"That's what I thought, but Ty sent me to seek you out to make sure you didn't leave the base. He wants you to stay close to him."
"So I'm just supposed to sit around and wait here at the base. Isn't that considered a waste of resources? I could be out-"
"Donovan," Eden cut him off, "Those are your orders."
Donovan let out a long breath and relaxed his shoulders in resignation. Turning his bike around he headed back into the compound.
Eden watched his movements carefully. Maybe it was just the mission getting to him. But Eden knew that is was more than likely that all this was because he had been sent on his first mission too soon. The Triumvirate had been too eager to use him and Eden feared that her carefully planned training of Donovan would slowly unravel if they didn't get him back to Gillette now.
*****
Raven left the room with a sick feeling in her gut. They hated her even more than she had anticipated. Though they had the right to considering what she had done. In fact she expected no less from Max, considering what she thought she had seen Raven do in the alley. But the look on Zack's face, she couldn't stand to see him so disappointed.
She began to wonder if they would listen to her when the time came, because if they didn't this last minute plan of hers would fall through and she will have condemned them to a life in Manticore.
Regardless, there was no time to waste. Within the minute she was knocking gently on the surveillance room door.
"Hello?" she called quietly. She waited for a moment, focusing her hearing to what lay behind the door. There was no movement, only the dull hum of several television monitors. After a quick look down the hall, she silently slid into the room. Her hearing had not failed her, the room was void of life and the only thing to light the room was the grey glow of the screens. There were four monitors dedicated to the prisoners, the rest seemed to be dispersed on the base in the typical manner. She studied the scenes captured by the cameras and plotted out the possible points on the base that remained unmonitored. By the looks of things they seemed few and far between. But she did not give hope. Surely the General who had previous control of this base would have had his personal quarters off limits to prying eyes.
As silently as she had entered the room, she left it, leaving everything as it was. Mere minutes later she entered the private quarters of the General and ducked into his bathroom. Out of habit, she turned on the shower, before she pulled out a cell phone.
*****
Logan knew he was safe. The X6 thought him dead and they had their quarry. There would be no need for them to return. But it wasn't the thought of the X6 returning that haunted him as he walked around his apartment. The crunch of shattered glass underfoot from his skylight was easy to ignore because his thoughts were elsewhere. Like every other moment of his life since he had met her, his thoughts were on Max.
He sat at his computer trying to access anything that had anything to do with Manticore. It was a frustrating task, even with his skill. If not a faulty path, then a firewall. If not a firewall, then a security check with an encryption code that he would have no hope of breaking with his current programs. After three hours it seemed beyond hopeless and yet he continued.
Maybe it was because he was distracted by another question. Why was he still alive? When he heard Raven speak of being relieved to return to Manticore and her family, he had thought for sure that she truly was a traitor. A suspicion he had always held onto ever since he had first seen her in his apartment.
The last phrase she spoke to him ran circles through his brain. 'You don't know the half of it.'
'Then tell me the other half!' he wanted to scream. What did she mean? She had left him alive for what? Was there something he was supposed to be doing right now?
With eerily good timing the phone rang. It did not have the chance to finish its first ring before Logan had the receiver to his ear.
"Hello?"
The voice on the other line was steady and concise. "Stop trying to hack into the system."
"What?"
"If they detect you it will be over for all of us."
"Who is this?" he asked though he already knew the answer.
The voice on the other line paid him no attention. "You have three hours to pack up clothes and rations to last you over a month. Bring your hard drive with you, if they return it will be the first thing they will sift through. Head north on the I 90."
"But the city lockdown…"
Raven sounded annoyed, "I will inform the checkpoints along your route to give clearance to a civilian James Greyson. I know you already have a fake ID with that alias. When you reach city limits continue until you get to marker 44. Another mile down there will be a run down rest area. Park on your right as close to the forest edge as possible. If Max and Zack aren't there by an hour after nightfall it means I have failed. Stay out of Seattle for at least a month, your apartment should be safe by then."
"What about you? Will you be with them?"
"Don't concern yourself with what I do. I'm with my family now."
Logan was not given a chance to speak as he heard the dull click of the line disconnecting.
Lydecker stepped toward the screen with Mathews' face. It was difficult to try and intimidate someone who was safe miles away in their office. "The future lies in genetics Mathews, not making our kids dependant on machines."
"You never understood did you Lydecker. No wonder the Triumvirate chose me to take command."
"You only got your position by kissing ass."
Mathews looked unimpressed. "Don't you remember the dream Manticore was born from, Lydecker? Instead of sending a thousand soldiers to their doom, send ten perfect soldiers and lose none. Well there is no need to wait anymore. The dream is at our fingertips. Why do you refuse to be a part of something you have been trying to achieve for most of your life?"
"My goal was to create a supersoldier, a perfect human." He stressed the word 'human'. "Not some programmable machine that wears the face of a human. I cared for my X5 like you will never care for any one of your creations. Each one of my kids is a precious human life. A child gifted to rise above the rest. But you, you are turning Manticore into a production line. Rifling half humans out to create an army which contradicts the very dream you think you believe in."
"And you, Lydecker, never could understand that that is exactly what they are. Creations. Just because you took part in the gene splicing process does not mean they are your children. You have lost your wife. She is not coming back. But you could never let that go, could you? You always had that sick mentality that they were the children you never had with her. Like Max right? What a daughter might have looked like. And Zack, blonde hair, blue eyes, a perfect son."
"You son of a bitch."
"I actually remember a time when I respected you and your work Lydecker. And I remember the day I was disillusioned to your ways. But turning away from Manticore like this, you knew there was only one way this would end for you. I guess I can admire the fact that you are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for your 'children'."
Lydecker stood tall, his chin straight out, "At least there is something in my life worth dying for."
In response Ty nodded his head and smiled. "Ty," Mathews called his soldier forward.
"Yes sir."
Mathews never took his eyes off Deck as he relayed his instructions to his soldier. "Send a few expendable soldiers with Lydecker back to Manticore. We will deal with him here."
"Yes sir."
Ty looked over his shoulder to the two soldiers who stood at the door, each old enough to be his father. They both nodded their heads to the silent instructions and walked to either side of Lydecker, roughly guiding him to the door.
Raven, who had been standing in the corner all this while, watched in silence as they took Lydecker away. All the while he held his head high. He did not yell in protest or struggle against their grip. His hands and feet were not bound and yet he walked freely to his death. The look in his eyes betrayed that he had known this is how it would all end. Lydecker had left Manticore fully aware of the consequences. How strange that he easily took on this fatherly role for children who despised him so.
Mathews looked over Ty's shoulder. "Raven."
At her name, Raven quickly turned her attentions back to the screen and stepped forward.
"Yes sir."
"My apologies for cutting short your mission."
"No apologies are needed sir. I only ask that next time I be informed of the updated mission objective. Had I known, I would have facilitated the effort."
"I will keep that in mind soldier. In any case I commend you on what you did accomplish."
"Thank you sir."
"Earlier you mentioned some sort of serum that made the X5 stronger. Were you able to acquire some for further study?"
Raven reached her hand in her pocket and felt the two plastic tubes, each holding a syringe filled with the liquid that Mathews referred to. "Yes," she said, pulling one of the needles out and holding it out for Mathews to see, "I was only able to secure one sample. I should warn you however that it seems this serum is highly addictive and the body soon becomes dependant."
"Leave it with Ty."
For a moment, Raven paused. Why was he asking her to give the syringe to Ty, when she could have just as easily returned it to Manticore? "As you wish," she said simply and handed the serum over to her brother.
"Now, I suggest you get some rest. When you return to Manticore you will resume your training."
"Yes sir."
"Dismissed."
After a quick nod, Raven left the room.
Mathews waited a moment before he addressed Ty again, "Ty. Monitor Raven's actions."
"Monitor her actions, sir?"
"I do not believe she is fully on our side."
"But I saw her, sir. She beat on the X5 with no signs of guilt. She even killed their human affiliate…"
"Was it not you who first brought to my attention that there was a good possibility X6-r had turned from Manticore?"
"I know sir, I was…" Ty wanted scared, but there was no such word in his vocabulary, "concerned. But I see now that she had to do many things to gain the trust of the X5. A necessary step in completing the objective she had set out to accomplish."
"You are too quick to defend her Ty. But I am not so quick to believe. We cannot yet be sure of her alliances. Only when she returns to Manticore, and she is retrained may we be confident. Play along with her charade until she is either back at Manticore, or she reveals her true loyalties."
Ty breathed in slowly. It could be true that his trust in his sister was blinding him to her true intentions. But then it wouldn't make sense that she allowed the X5 to be captured. He swallowed, conflicted, but ultimately realized that Mathews' words held weight. "Yes sir."
"Now what is the status the of remaining X6?"
"They are all deployed throughout Seattle and are currently sweeping the city. We will return to Manticore by midnight."
*****
For an hour Raven roamed the compounds of the Seattle Manticore base. There were few places to run and even fewer to hide. Upon studying the doorways Raven noted that virtually all of them were electronically controlled.
Finally her meandering path lead her to the mess hall where she found Ty sitting alone eating a late lunch. She could have sworn he had not seen her enter, and so his greeting took her off guard.
"Hello Raven, here for a little snack?"
"Yeah, needed a little sustenance." She headed into the back to grab something from the fridge. When she came back out she set her tray down and sat in front of her brother. After a few silent bites of the bland food Raven tried to start a conversation. "So, how have things been at Manticore? I would like to say I was surprised that Mathews got promoted, but that was a long time coming."
"No one was surprised, except for maybe Lydecker. But then again, he never thought the Triumvirate would unseat him."
"He must have known. I mean his head was already in the guillotine when the X5 escaped, it was only a matter of time before the blade fell."
Ty poked at his food. "You should have kept up your communications."
"I had to go silent, there were rare opportunities where I could have sent a message."
"You could have found the time."
"What is wrong with you? I have gone silent before, and for longer periods than this."
"And even then you communicated more often."
Raven beheld her brother. She caught the vein of hurt in his words. He had seemed truly upset that she had cut off communications with them. "I would never abandon my family Ty. You must know me well enough by now to know that is the truth." She felt guilty speaking the words, when she knew it was only a few days ago that she thought of leaving Manticore and living a free life just like Max and Zack and the other escapees.
"It was just a mission, Ty." Raven stood and put her tray away, walking out of the mess hall to leave the awkward silence behind.
Just outside the door she inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. She would have to worry about her siblings later, right now she had to check on something.
*****
Fox and Quince were sitting down in front of the wall of security monitors.
"I can't believe we are doing this." Fox admitted as he leaned back in his chair stretching his arms over his head.
"I don't know why we have to watch everything Raven does. She hasn't turned. I know she would never turn. You saw her in the van, she hasn't changed a bit."
"Mathews is just a little paranoid. Though I guess I was a little paranoid too at first. But seeing her off that guy in the alley," he turned his head to the screen, "Wait, she's heading toward the brig."
*****
Max lay on the bunk in her cell. These were the same cells they had been locked in when they tried to rescue Brin. Everything was the same except for the fact that her hands and feet were firmly secured, by someone who knew her capabilities. And this time there were no human guards to confuse. All she could do was lie there and stare at the ceiling.
In the cell next to her should could hear some rustling. Zack was finally coming to.
"Where… Max?"
"Zack, you're awake. How are you feeling?"
"I'm… fine…" Zack slowly maneuvered himself into a sitting position, taking in his surroundings, "Sanders…What's going on? Last thing I remember was climbing into Lydecker's." His voice turned to acid, "Lydecker…"
"No. Raven." Max told him everything that happened after he passed out in the van. How Fox and Quince had somehow disposed of Lydecker's soldiers and sat in their place. How Raven was upset with her siblings for interfering with her mission. How Raven shot Logan dead.
As she told the story, Zack remained silent. She looked over at him and could see the disappointment fill his eyes. She couldn't help but feel guilty being the one to lay this all down in front of him.
Raven was the only person that he had learned to trust that wasn't an X5 and she had been lying to them all along. Max could almost watch as the walls Zack had constructed around himself over the years, walls he had brought down to let Raven in, went slamming back up. After this he would never be able to trust anyone again. That is, if he was ever given the chance.
For the next little while, what seemed to stretch an eternity, there was just silence. Neither of them had moved, Max still lay on the bunk staring above her and Zack was sitting up, his head bowed down, eyes closed. He had said nothing in response to Raven's betrayal but instead just sat there, frozen in disbelief.
The silence was shattered as a door opened and they could hear light footsteps of a single person entering the room. They both turned their heads to lay their eyes on whoever intruded upon their locked sanctuary.
It was Raven.
Immediately Max leapt to her feet, albeit clumsily since her ankles were bound, and unconsciously let out a growl. "You bitch."
Raven looked at her. There was no semblance of an expression on her face.
"I'll never forget what you did. Nothing at Manticore can make me forget that."
Still Raven did not respond and instead stared blankly at Max.
"Do you have nothing to say for yourself? Is this the kind of life you want to lead? Logan was an innocent man and you just take his life without a second thought. You aren't a soldier, you're just a cowardly murderer doing Manticore's dirty work."
Still Max couldn't get anything out of Raven and it was frustrating her more than these plastic ties around her wrists.
"I don't fucking care if you were made from my genes. To think I took a bullet for you… I should have let you die. Doesn't matter, I'll fix that mistake."
Finally Raven stepped toward her and said in a cold steely voice, "Don't say things you will regret in the future."
"I was trained at Manticore, unless you have forgotten. I know how to become a cold blooded killer."
Raven turned away from Max, seemingly tired of her little rant, and stood directly in front of where Zack still sat on his bunk. His piercing blue eyes, so like her own, had been following her movements ever since she had entered the room.
"I see you are awake. Are you well?" she asked him, in that same cold uncaring voice. "I would hate to deliver damaged goods."
He did not respond right away, instead they locked sapphire glares. After a tense moment, he finally spoke, this own voice matching Raven's callous tone, "I trusted you."
If it were possible, Raven's body went even more rigid. "And that was your fatal mistake," she said before she abruptly left.
*****
Fox watched as Raven left the X5, "That was pointless. Did you see her slip them any secret plans to escape?"
"No."
"Neither did I. Fuck this, let's get something to eat."
*****
"Donovan." Eden called when she saw him guiding his bike out of the complex. "Where are you going?"
"Out to help the others sweep the city," he paused only briefly to acknowledge her question before he continued on his way.
She crossed her arms, "Why? They won't need the help."
Donovan stopped again. "The more people out there to search the faster we can get out of this city and back to Manticore."
"What's the rush?"
He answered quicker then he wanted to. "This mission is boring me."
"There is something else." Eden squinted her eyes.
"No." Donovan shook his head as casually as he could manage.
"Something has been bothering you. It started yesterday." She lay a hand on his shoulder concerned. "You seem a little out of it…"
"I don't know what you're talking about, I feel fine."
"When we were scaling the building, what happened to you?"
"I just got a little dizzy, lost my footing, that's all."
"Donovan, you've free climbed cliffs and buildings with us in training before. You were always the first to the top."
"Maybe it was just the rush of the hunt." Donovan shrugged off her concerns. "I'm fine really, I just need to get out of here."
"Either way you can't leave Manticore." Eden said flatly.
"What does that mean?"
"We need you here at the base."
"Why? There's already a crowd. You, Ty, Fox, Quince, and Raven," he counted them on his fingers, "That is more than enough to handle the X5 we have captured."
"That's what I thought, but Ty sent me to seek you out to make sure you didn't leave the base. He wants you to stay close to him."
"So I'm just supposed to sit around and wait here at the base. Isn't that considered a waste of resources? I could be out-"
"Donovan," Eden cut him off, "Those are your orders."
Donovan let out a long breath and relaxed his shoulders in resignation. Turning his bike around he headed back into the compound.
Eden watched his movements carefully. Maybe it was just the mission getting to him. But Eden knew that is was more than likely that all this was because he had been sent on his first mission too soon. The Triumvirate had been too eager to use him and Eden feared that her carefully planned training of Donovan would slowly unravel if they didn't get him back to Gillette now.
*****
Raven left the room with a sick feeling in her gut. They hated her even more than she had anticipated. Though they had the right to considering what she had done. In fact she expected no less from Max, considering what she thought she had seen Raven do in the alley. But the look on Zack's face, she couldn't stand to see him so disappointed.
She began to wonder if they would listen to her when the time came, because if they didn't this last minute plan of hers would fall through and she will have condemned them to a life in Manticore.
Regardless, there was no time to waste. Within the minute she was knocking gently on the surveillance room door.
"Hello?" she called quietly. She waited for a moment, focusing her hearing to what lay behind the door. There was no movement, only the dull hum of several television monitors. After a quick look down the hall, she silently slid into the room. Her hearing had not failed her, the room was void of life and the only thing to light the room was the grey glow of the screens. There were four monitors dedicated to the prisoners, the rest seemed to be dispersed on the base in the typical manner. She studied the scenes captured by the cameras and plotted out the possible points on the base that remained unmonitored. By the looks of things they seemed few and far between. But she did not give hope. Surely the General who had previous control of this base would have had his personal quarters off limits to prying eyes.
As silently as she had entered the room, she left it, leaving everything as it was. Mere minutes later she entered the private quarters of the General and ducked into his bathroom. Out of habit, she turned on the shower, before she pulled out a cell phone.
*****
Logan knew he was safe. The X6 thought him dead and they had their quarry. There would be no need for them to return. But it wasn't the thought of the X6 returning that haunted him as he walked around his apartment. The crunch of shattered glass underfoot from his skylight was easy to ignore because his thoughts were elsewhere. Like every other moment of his life since he had met her, his thoughts were on Max.
He sat at his computer trying to access anything that had anything to do with Manticore. It was a frustrating task, even with his skill. If not a faulty path, then a firewall. If not a firewall, then a security check with an encryption code that he would have no hope of breaking with his current programs. After three hours it seemed beyond hopeless and yet he continued.
Maybe it was because he was distracted by another question. Why was he still alive? When he heard Raven speak of being relieved to return to Manticore and her family, he had thought for sure that she truly was a traitor. A suspicion he had always held onto ever since he had first seen her in his apartment.
The last phrase she spoke to him ran circles through his brain. 'You don't know the half of it.'
'Then tell me the other half!' he wanted to scream. What did she mean? She had left him alive for what? Was there something he was supposed to be doing right now?
With eerily good timing the phone rang. It did not have the chance to finish its first ring before Logan had the receiver to his ear.
"Hello?"
The voice on the other line was steady and concise. "Stop trying to hack into the system."
"What?"
"If they detect you it will be over for all of us."
"Who is this?" he asked though he already knew the answer.
The voice on the other line paid him no attention. "You have three hours to pack up clothes and rations to last you over a month. Bring your hard drive with you, if they return it will be the first thing they will sift through. Head north on the I 90."
"But the city lockdown…"
Raven sounded annoyed, "I will inform the checkpoints along your route to give clearance to a civilian James Greyson. I know you already have a fake ID with that alias. When you reach city limits continue until you get to marker 44. Another mile down there will be a run down rest area. Park on your right as close to the forest edge as possible. If Max and Zack aren't there by an hour after nightfall it means I have failed. Stay out of Seattle for at least a month, your apartment should be safe by then."
"What about you? Will you be with them?"
"Don't concern yourself with what I do. I'm with my family now."
Logan was not given a chance to speak as he heard the dull click of the line disconnecting.