Twelve: Difference of Opinion

Bryn raised an eyebrow and slowly turned around to face Lydecker's stormy expression.

"What the hell was that?" Lydecker growled pointing back over his shoulder at the transport.

She glanced over his shoulder in the direction he was pointing and then calmly back at the older man, "What is what?" She asked innocently.

"That…your treatment of the prisoner." He said as he folded his arms angrily across his chest.

She smiled as if she was talking to a moron, "The committee has given me broad powers in regards to this mission."

"Do those powers including stripping the prisoner down and risking his health by putting him on ice? Did that include beating a possible source of information nearly to death? You left one hell of a mess behind soldier. You risked everything that we were trying to accomplish here, for what?"

"Cale is fine, especially if your theory about him is right. The cold shouldn't effect him, it was just to dull his edge," She shrugged, "In Kito's case, he wasn't going to cooperate, and the order stands that all Transgenics outside the fold are to be terminated. I used my judgment about how to take care of him."

"'Terminate' does not mean maliciously torture and then kill. You took pleasure in the pain, Bryn, what the hell has gotten into you?"

"I did what I had to, to ensure the objective was accomplished," She said suddenly her eyes narrowing, "Just as you taught us to."

"'Did what you had to'?" Lydecker spluttered "you went way over board, that was never suppose to happen!

"No?" She nodded minutely, "That must be why so many of your projects are still running loose in the world even after twelve years," She said very quietly. "That is why you are still on a backwater little base in the middle of the forest, pretending like you mean something to this project. That must be why you are not on the Committee…and why I am." She spat at him in disgust, "Because I do what it takes, no matter what."

Lydecker took a deep breath straightening sharply, "You ungrateful, self serving bitch! That was all I was to you all those years, a stepping stone to more power? I nursed you back to health, I straightened out your head, and you repay me like this? You've hung out with Renfro way too long girl if you think you can talk to me like that."

"Get over it, Donald," Bryn Growled adding insult to injury, "We...The Committee is seeing you as a liability. You failed to kill the X-10, Tima, when she returned to the base after her eleven year absence."

"She was rescued," Lydecker said firmly, "By Cale."

"Regardless," She snapped, "Then you allowed Kito to escape, with the knowledge about X-5-452's where a bouts. A Transgenic whom had been reported to us as being dispatched when the impregnation experiments on her failed," Lydecker looked down his lips pursing, "And to top it off, he returns with a contingent of Manticore Renegades to free her and your troops are unable to prevent it!" Lydecker pursed his lips.

Bryn went on maliciously, "My objectives are met, every time…But you…You've stepped over the line time and again with impunity. They will tolerate no more…I will tolerate no more. You'd better be glad that they haven't issued a warrant for your death, or else you'd be finding yourself in an unlamented grave right now," By this point Lydecker's jaw had dropped slightly, almost as if he was about to speak.

"You're dismissed." She said sharply, cutting him off before he could speak, as if he was a junior officer. She then crisply turned away from him.

She left Lydecker standing there in shock and walked the ten feet to Torri. Bryn handed Torri a piece of paper as she said, "Is the prisoner prepared?"

"Yes ma'am," Torri said automatically, looking a little like a deer in the headlights. She had heard the whole exchange between the two leaders, and she was as yet unsure what to think of it. She watched as Lydecker stormed up behind Bryn looking intent to continue their argument. "He is dressed and the shackles are in place." She said quickly as Bryn's eyes narrowed.

"Good get him moved to the transport, we leave in twenty minutes," Bryn said and started to turn away from her.

"Now wait a minute!" Lydecker interrupted, however Bryn continued to ignore him, moving away again.

"But Ma'am?" Torri sputtered. Bryn pivoted sharply to face her, "I thought…I thought now that my work was done…that I would be returning to my permanent duty station back in Washington."

Bryn glanced down at the paper still unopened in Torri's hand, one eyebrow raised. Torri's gaze followed, and she quickly opened and scanned the document. She swiftly met Bryn's eyes again, this time in shock. They were orders transferring her permanently under Bryn's command, "You've done well, I requested that you stay under my command…consider it a promotion. Now get that prisoner moving soldier." Bryn said and turned away.

Lydecker followed her as she made her way toward her own vehicle, and grabbed her arm spinning her back to face him, "Don't walk away from me," He threatened.

Bryn didn't even hesitate, she stepped back and lashed out with a foot catching the older man in the jaw. He landed heavily several feet back, slowly he propped himself on one elbow, shaking out the pain. She stepped back up to him, "I am the committee in this matter and I am your superior officer now, Donald, like it or not. I owe you nothing! Not an explanation, not a thank you…nothing! You'll do what your told, and without complaint." She smiled with a small tilt of her head and then left, entering a black Humvee hidden underneath one of the nearby trees.

Torri stepped up to her former leader, helping him to his feet. He held his smarting jaw as he watched his errant child walking away from him. She had cut her apron strings to him rather spectacularly.

"Sir…" Torri said, as he steadied himself, "These orders…" She held up the crumpled piece of paper in her hand.

"I know," He said softly, "Go with her. Don't get yourself in trouble for any loyalty to me."

"But sir!" she whispered hotly, "I don't trust her…there is something wrong with her."

"I know that too," He answered her, "That's why it would be best for you to go." She started to protest again, "Torri you're not always going to work for someone you like, in fact most of your life will be under someone who irritates you. Go with her…I want you to be the level head, keep her from doing something rash with Cale. I'm not sure that she has the committee's interests in mind…I'm not even sure whose interest she does have in mind."

"Sir?" She said and as he looked up at her she snapped to attention and saluted him, "I hope one day to return to your command."

Lydecker straightened returning her salute as he replied, "I do too, Torri…I do too."

Logan was treated as if he was a mass murderer on his way to trial. He had been relegated to a heavily armed group of soldiers, Norm or Transgenic he wasn't sure, as he was made to dress in a formless, two size too big light blue coverall. His arms were pinned back behind again, only this time there was no way for him to maneuver his hands back to his front. They had utilized the shackle around his waist and locked the chain to the ring at the backside of it. It afforded him little movement and he was unable to exit the truck as they had instructed him too. They had been forced to help him down, carrying him like a sack of grain from the bed of the truck to the ground. He had been momentarily tempted to put up a fight then, kick the man carrying him…something. He thought better of it though, reminding himself that he wanted to live to see freedom again.

He now stood under the open sky and looking up he blinked. It was a bright cloudless day, and compared to the temperature he had been kept at to this point it seemed balmy. Slowly Logan surveyed his surroundings taking in any details that might help identify where he was. They were to one side of a large paved lot, the asphalt was broken here and there over the span of it, and in one or two places he could see faded white lines. About halfway between them and the other end of the lot were several buildings. They were in a severe state of disrepair as was shown by the boarded windows and the weeds proliferating from the cement. Trees surrounded them on all sides with the exception of one end where the road came and went to the seldom-used freeway that was not visible, for the entrance curved away from him and the trees lining the side of it blocked all but a glimpse of light from that asphalt snake. It looked to be an old rest area, one of those conveniences the state had provided when travel cross-country was an everyday occurrence. His mouth thinned, not good, there were hundreds of rest stops along the many different freeways in the state of Washington, he could be anywhere. As long as they had been traveling it was very possible that they were not even in Washington anymore. Logan's heart sank again at the thought of his rescue getting farther and farther away.

A few moments later Torri stormed his direction, anger in every inch of her frame, in her hand she was holding a crumpled paper, as if it was something that she was trying to choke to death. She made a beeline through the surrounding soldiers straight to him, grabbing him roughly by the arm. Logan balked planting both of his feet and ripping the arm from her grasp. All guns came up, Torri's was quickly and firmly pressed into his neck just below his ear. Her eyes were wide in frustration and anger and her lips were pressed tightly together in her fight to regain control.

"I told you not to touch me," Logan whispered hotly, closing his eyes at the feel of the gun barrel being pushed painfully further into his neck.

"Cale… you'd better move your ass, because right now, I don't give a shit what the committee wants with you. I'm your warden now like it or not, and how easy this goes depends on you. You give me any more crap like that and I'll make sure they get their prize post mortem."

Logan opened his eyes, his gaze darting back and forth but he no longer tried to look at her. She was like a big cat suddenly and he was afraid that if he stared at her she would consider it a challenge and attack him. He swallowed hard, his jaw set in a taut line, and finally he nodded blinking several times with his own half-formed anger. She lowered her weapon as the others covered Logan, and again she roughly grabbed his arm, and this time he made no attempt to pull from the viselike grasp just above his left elbow.

She escorted Logan to one of the Humvees half hidden by the shade of the tall pine trees all around throwing him roughly into the back seat and then physically pushing him over so that she could sit in next to him. Logan awkwardly shuffled himself into a half-seated position propped up against the opposite frame.

They transferred once again and his hope of rescue dwindled to nearly nothing as he boarded the unmarked helicopter for God knew where. Torri again accompanied him in the back, but on this leg of the journey they were also joined by Bryn, who to this point had deemed herself too lofty to mix with the rabble. She sat up front with the pilot and paid him or Torri no more attention than a blank wall.

Max had told him about Bryn…how Zach had enlisted her help because Bryn had been captured. She had said that Bryn had been sick, some kind of genetic defect that caused her to age rapidly and they had left her for Manticore because Lydecker had said that they could cure her. She had run into Bryn again shortly thereafter, but Bryn had changed. Lydecker had cured her ailment it seemed but had twisted her mind in the process. He had returned her to a near mindless fighting machine, sure she had remembered Max, but she had treated Max as an enemy and it had nearly cost Max her life.

When Max had labeled the dark hared woman as Bryn in the apartment he had been possessed of a sinking feeling, a sure knowledge that all of their plans had come to naught. He immediately didn't like her, and not because she was there to take him away or try to kill Max. He sensed something off, something unstable in her, a danger that was both deadly and unpredictable. Her aura in his head was bright and dangerously red, a constant threat, that told him.

That Lydecker had not joined them on this journey set Logan to wondering; he had been expecting Lydecker to be behind this little escapade. It was obvious now that it was not the case, someone higher up the food chain was calling the shots.

He glanced out the window of the helicopter looking down at the scenery as they gained altitude. Mentally he noted their general direction, by the position of the sun in the sky he could tell that they were going southward. He wondered again just where they might be taking him, and why they felt it necessary to utilize a different facility from the one he had been accustomed to seeing. He looked down at his hands making small motions that belied his nervousness. Perhaps that was the whole point, every Manticore in Seattle knew of the facility now, that would make it a likely target. "Great," He thought, "Now they think of that."

Despite Logan's nerves the hours had worn him down and eventually, almost against his will, he fell into a fitful sleep. When he awoke it was to the change in the pitch of the rotor blades. His neck ached from the odd angle at which he had slept. He blinked several times trying to get his still sleepy eyes to focus, but he didn't move, unwilling to give away that he was actually conscious. It made it easy for him to look out and down at the scenery again, as distorted as the view was through the curved glass of the window. He looked down on rugged, barren looking mountains framing a small desolate valley. Nestled against the hills was a complex of buildings and a mid-sized airstrip. Running what he judged was east west was a small sliver of a highway or freeway seemingly to either horizon, eerily there was no traffic that he could see from either direction. The complex was the only thing in the area and it was quickly apparent that it was their destination.

When they landed Torri ushered him out onto the tarmac. Logan immediately began to swelter, and Torri looked none to comfortable with the desert weather either. Being born and raised in the Great Northwest he was none too prepared for the arid desert air or the temperature which had to be a good thirty to fifty degrees hotter than what he was used to. He was immediately drenched in sweat, which in turn was quickly stolen from his body by the blow dryer hot air that blasted his skin. Already he was thirsty, something that he hadn't even noticed on the whole of the trip down here, now it was double urgent in him that he get some water.

He slowly looked around him, the base looked forlorn, as if it was depressed to exist in this place. There were about ten buildings near where they had landed and he assumed that they were barracks. All of the buildings were a uniform sand color standing in neat oppressive rows with barely twenty feet between them. Off to one side was an exercise yard that at one point must have been expensively watered to maintain the grass. Now they only existed in dried out tufts struggling to maintain a hold of the sandy soil. There was a red clay track neatly maintained in the middle of the exercise yard and in the middle of it was a variety of exercise gear to keep the troops in shape and out of trouble. Behind the track and to one side was a long building with palm trees lining it's front, they seemed to be the only plant thriving in this arid land. The building was the only one within view that looked any kind of inviting to him.

Off in the distance he could see the wavering outline of large hangars surrounded by many smaller buildings. He frowned, Manticore must have snatched up all the military bases on the West Coast as the government fragmented and the centralized military became a thing of history, each area making up it's own rules and its own military as it saw fit.

He glanced to the young Manticore standing next to him, she seemed as struck as he was by their surroundings, and that is when it dawned on Logan that she must new to Bryn's command. She must have been stationed under Lydecker's for some time, possibly since she was little. Vaguely he wondered what she thought of her new leader. By her expression he would say not favorably.

Marching up to meet their small party was about fifteen soldiers completely clad in long sleeve black fatigues. They wore berets on their heads, and each carried a fully automatic weapon at their side. Logan became hotter just looking at them, and wondered how it was that they were not drenched in sweat or passing out from the heat.

Emblazoned on each uniform over the left breast was the symbol of Manticore, they said Cadre Rojas under each, and Logan wondered what exactly that meant. They stopped centered perfectly on the chopper and executed a right face. The leader, a young Manticore, smartly marched to and stopped in front of Bryn saluting sharply, "Welcome back, Ma'am!" Logan heard crisply reported.

Bryn returned the salute and relayed instructions to the young man, he saluted her again and returned the way that he had come. Bryn stepped directly over to him, looking him in the eyes, "Welcome to your new home, Cale."