"Logan, he's not acting normally." Max protested. How she longed to have that temporary fix in the virus again. But at five grand a pop, it was like a once a year sort of thing.
"News flash, Max. He's not normal. You're not normal. You're transgenics." Logan shook his head.
"He's kept most of his past to himself. The first surprise was Rachel, and now with this Vada on the scene, he's all—I don't know. Human." Max jumped off the counter. "What's that?"
"Looks like a once-empty air force base is back in action." Logan replied, getting some zoom pictures. "Can't get too many details, but the place is called 'Rawlings Air Force Base'. It's in Connecticut. But not too many airplanes take off from it."
"News flash, Logan. The Pulse?" Max rolled her eyes.
"This might explain why White has been off your back lately. The government may have a change of heart." Logan muttered.
"For the better?" Max asked. But it seemed like a rhetorical question with the look in Logan's eyes.
"So you're saying that Manticore might be reforming?" Alec asked in a hushed tone, closing his locker with a slam.
"That's what it looks like. The pictures aren't too detailed." Max whispered.
"We need to go to New York this weekend." Alec muttered flatly.
"But--." Max began, but Alec interrupted.
"452, this is not the time for explanations. At this moment, I am your CO, and I'm telling you. We go to New York City, this weekend." Alec ordered. "Get the sector passes from Logan."
Alec walked away, and once again Max was confused.
"Leather?" Vada asked playfully.
Tristan shot her a look. "Like you care what I'm going to say."
"I do." Vada insisted unconvincingly.
"Hangover kit?" Tristan offered.
Vada smiled with an empty look in her eyes.
"You danced again, didn't you?" Tristan asked worriedly. "It's not healthy to keep obsessing over this."
"Spoken like a true Manticore soldier." Vada muttered. "I killed a guy."
"It was a mission, Vada." Tristan said in a low voice.
"A mission? That's all? I killed probably the only guy that would ever be naive enough to love me." Vada spat. "I'm off."
Vada grabbed her purse and swept out of the penthouse.
X6 510 would never forget his designation. He would never forget who he was sent out to capture, and bring back alive. He knew her DNA coding, her purpose, her designation, and he knew what she was supposed to look like.
He took another scotch on the rocks. He had to remember that he shouldn't drink while on a mission, but he couldn't help it. He had to blend in, and he wasn't a dancer.
"Hey, there." A bouncy brunette bartender chirped. He looked at her for a moment, and could already remember everything he could about the Virus.
"Hi." He replied softly. She bent closer to hear him better.
He studied her for a moment. She was wearing a top that did a horrible job of covering her from shoulder to hip, it was sparkly and bright red. She was also wearing a pair of leather pants that had no pockets. There was something gold attached to her belt, and her hair was in unruly, almost natural-looking curls.
"You're cute." She said upfront.
Why they called her the Virus, he had never really figured out.
"Want a drink?" He asked casually.
"Yeah, sure." Vada let it slip, she needed a drink. The night had been horrible so far. One horrible guy after another horrible guy, thinking pick-up lines from the nineteen-eighties were some sort of compliment.
Until this guy.
He might have passed for Tristan's brother. That is, if Tristan had one besides. Besides a guy they had nicknamed Zack. His mother had been like hers and 492's.
The point was, he had messy blonde hair and deep blue eyes. He was tan and by what she could tell through the black leather, muscular.
"VADA! You drinking?" A surly guy at the end of the bar asked.
"Duh, Mack!" She replied with the flash of a smile.
"If I have to-." But the blare of the music blocked him out.
"He's no fun." Vada said with another bright smile. "The name is Vada. And you are?"
"Did anyone ever tell you that the best things in life are anonymous?" He asked.
"No." Vada replied. "I suppose you have your right to privacy as much as I do."
"It's not a matter of privacy. I've just got this really dorky name and maybe if you get to know me, you won't judge me on it." If his anonymous line was bad, this one was absolutely horrible.
Vada smiled. "Riiiight."
"So, what is it you'll be drinking?" He asked her.
"Something loaded with alcohol. Just four of these can get me to pass out." Vada muttered, pouring herself a drink in a large glass. "You're paying, of course."
He laughed, to his surprise. "Of course."
Several drinks later, Vada was not looking too good.
"I'm taking a break, Mack." Vada muttered, grabbing her purse and heading upstairs to the employee lounge.
But before she could even get to one of the sofas that she found so easy to fall asleep on, she passed out.
Vada opened her eyes slowly. The gorgeous blonde guy was hovering over her.
"You wanted a name?" He muttered, heaving her over his shoulder like Santa Claus with a sack of toys. "X6 510."
510? Vada knew that designation from somewhere.
"But my friends call me Christian."
Friends? How could a lying weasel who got girls drunk to kidnap them have friends?
"Hope you're comfortable. It's a long ride to Connecticut."
And then Vada blacked out once more.