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.
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Author's Note: I just wanted to say a few words about character pairings (even though I know this is probably gonna get me in trouble with at least half of the readers). I feel the need to address this topic to try to impress upon anyone reading this that character pairings are something that I take very, very seriously.
First off, let me preface this by saying that I am not necessarily planning this to be M/A (it just happened that they spent a great deal of the first chapter together… doesn't mean it'll still be that way at the last chapter). All I can/will say right now is that I haven't decided which way this'll likely end up (well, not totally, anyway). I don't believe Max has to end up with Logan, just because that's how it was in the first 1-½ seasons (before she dumped him), or because she happened to be holding his hand in the last scene. (Wasn't that just about as inconsistent as anything else they came up with in Season 2? Perfect way to end the series, I think.) Max is, like, 19 years old. How many people out there know many 19-year olds that end up forever with whoever they're going out with then? How many out there actually think a 19-year old girl and a 32-year old man have enough in common that they could make a relationship work? Now add in the various and sundry complications that they have added in… do you still think it would really work? Tough questions, right? I'm not saying that Max can't end up with Logan, I'm just saying that there's a lot to ponder, and I refuse to keep them together just because that's how it was in Season 1. (Also, I'm not entirely convinced the writers intended her to finally get together with Logan in Season 3, anyway.) Now, if Max and Logan can't make things work, does that mean that she and Alec should necessarily happen? Maybe. Maybe not. All I can say is that if (and that's a big if) they get together, I'll try to have it make as much sense as it would if she and Logan get together. So, to sum up, all I can promise is that whichever way it goes, I'll do my best to make certain it makes sense. That's really all I can really do (since there's no way to satisfy every reader out there). Thanks for putting up with my rambling explanation.
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II – Know Thy Enemy"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is a Streaming Freedom Video bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly 60 seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in the city." Here we go again, Zack thought with irritation. He put down the papers he'd been going over and turned his full attention to the television screen, wondering what precious nugget of information Logan had come up with this time. Virtually every one of Eyes Only's recent reports had been related to the transgenic situation, and Zack was beginning to awe at Logan's ability to come across fairly sensitive information. It's certainly making my job far easier. Now if only he'd get someone else to do the reporting, so I wouldn't have to put up with his holier-than-thou, know-it-all voice…
"The government doesn't want you to know about a plague that's sweeping through a fairly isolated area within Israel and Palestine. This plague appears to be 100% contagious and 100% lethal. Not since the Black Death of the mid-14th century has mankind faced a pestilence that wipes out entire villages and towns at a time. The authorities, those in the area and specialists that have been consulted around the world, have been unable to find a cure. Now Eyes Only has information on an antitoxin that's been developed by the transgenics. Though persecuted by normal humans, though threatened with extermination by their would-be peers, the transgenics have devoted time and energy to assisting with the cure of this disease before it can spread any further. And why do they do it? After all, the transgenics were designed with a heightened immune system that could very likely make them resistant to any bacteria or virus this world can produce. They would probably have been better off letting this plague take its course, decimating the human population that seems so badly to want them dead. As humanity may learn, though, that's not what the transgenics are about. They were designed and trained to help humanity, and that's what they're doing, despite the fact that they might be better off letting us die. Isn't it about time we at least start to wonder why we keep seeing them only with suspicion and hatred?"
"It'll never happen, Logan," Zack grumbled as he switched off the television, turning back to the papers in front of him. Captured in a raid his people had undertaken earlier that evening, he hoped these records would give him some kind of a lead on a new Familiar target to strike at. Once again he stuffed down the fury that struggled to rise up within him, to take him over in its thirst for vengeance. I was so close, he lamented for the umpteenth time. If only Set hadn't interfered… if only Max hadn't sacrificed herself for those goddamned genocidal ordinaries.
The records were like so many others his people had procured within the past three weeks. Consisting mostly of numbers and cryptic phrases that were obviously code for the writers' true intent, the documents did little to help clear up the big picture. But I don't need the big picture just yet, Zack reminded himself. All I need right now is another target.
His eyes flashed over the words as his fingers deftly turned page after page, his mind absorbing the content several times faster than most ordinaries could ever hope to. Most of the decipherable information, what little there was, appeared to be genealogical charts for many of the Familiars. The charts were not overly valuable in Zack's eyes – after all, they simply provided him with one or two targets that may yet be alive, and none of the charts said anything about the potential targets' locations. Most of the data was simply background material that allowed Zack to understand more fully the dizzying scope of the breeding program and the potential strength of the enemy he had sworn to destroy.
As he continued on, his mind cataloguing the material so that he could go over it more thoroughly later, Zack's attention was grabbed unexpectedly and his eyes screeched to a halt as he saw two rather interesting words. The senator? he wondered, hoping that he had finally gotten his hands on some information that would give the identity of a high-ranking government official involved with the breeding cult. Like Logan and Max, Zack was reasonably certain that the Familiars had placed people in all walks of life, including the government. But how do you single out one or two people in a group of hundreds… or even thousands? The only possible tactic he had ever come up with was to look for individuals that were exceptional in some way, but that hadn't ever gotten him very far. Many governmental bodies, especially on the national level, were absolutely packed with intelligent, ivy-league-educated men and women, many of whom had an athletic or military background. And couple that with the fact that every single one of them is protective of the details of their pasts, and coming up with potential suspects is all but impossible.
Now he hoped he had finally made a breakthrough. Senator, he thought, running through his own mental list of each of the senators currently serving on Capitol Hill. But which one of them is it? And is there only one?
"Sir," a stiff, female voice said from the entrance to his office. Zack looked up immediately, locking his eyes on Brin as she snapped a formal salute then dropped her arms stiffly at her sides, awaiting leave to speak.
"Report."
"I've just come from the infirmary," she told him. "Our two injured X6's will make a full recovery."
"And our prisoner?" Zack asked curiously. He knew it was still too early to expect to have learned anything useful, but sometimes Cassius, his X7 'interrogator,' surprised him with his effectiveness.
"The prisoner is dead," Brin reported. "It seems his injuries were too severe to withstand Cassius'… eagerness."
"I see," Zack replied evenly. Cassius was a true prodigy in the realm of inflicting pain in order to gain information, but occasionally he became sloppy, concerning himself more with getting his subject to speak rather than keeping the subject alive for later use. Zack reminded himself to speak to Cassius about this unfortunate tendency. "Have you finished going over your stack of papers?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," Brin stated. "I found two pieces of information that might be of particular interest. The first is a reference to something called 'The Venetian Contingency.' As with everything else, most of the associated text appears to be encoded, though my guess is it's some kind of Latin/Linear-A hybrid," she explained. "I've never seen this particular code before."
"Get Cipher on it," Zack ordered, referring to the X6 linguist that had joined Lydecker's forces before Zack was recruited. Cipher was a valuable asset, and one of the only people Zack had persuaded to join him. All the rest had signed up with 'Kilroy,' an anonymous soldier that Lydecker had apparently been grooming for leadership all along, behind Zack's back. It still gnawed at him that while Lydecker had treated him as his second-in-command, he had always planned to have someone else take control of his private army if he ever fell.
"I already gave Cipher copies of everything," Brin answered.
"And the second piece of information?" Zack inquired.
"It's another safe house," she told him. "I could be mistaken, but the encoding leads me to believe it's located not far from here, about ten miles south of Vancouver."
"Any details?" Zack asked curiously, his mind already going over his army's roster, selecting a team that he felt would be perfect for this job."
"Not much," Brin admitted. "I think it's the home of one of their priestesses."
"So it'll be well guarded," Zack muttered. He sat in silence for several minutes, trying to decide what kind of resources this next assault would demand. "How badly was Osbourne shot up?" he finally asked.
"Not too badly," Brin answered curtly. "He's expected to be at operational status again within seventy-two hours."
"Fine," Zack said. "I want you to begin getting a team together," Zack instructed. "Tell Osbourne to do the same. Each of you gets eight people – you're the primary, and he's back-up."
"Yes, sir," Brin replied.
"Get your team up north as soon as possible and begin recon," Zack continued. "Once Osbourne is ready, his team will rendezvous with you and you'll fill him in on the details."
"Mission priority?" Brin asked. Zack smiled at the question, which effectively translated to, "How long do we get to train before we go in there?"
"Mission priority yellow," he answered, telling her to be thorough with her preparations, but to nevertheless get the job as done as soon as possible. "And tell Cipher to let me know immediately if he starts making any kind of sense of that captured intel."
"Yes, sir," Brin said with a sharp salute, turning on her heel and heading out of her general's office.
Thank God we got a lead, Zack told himself with a sigh of relief. His teams had been struggling to find targets to continue their war against the Familiars, and every strike left him afraid that he might reach a dead end. Seems like we'll be able to keep this war going at least one more week, anyway. The Familiars won't last forever, and once they're gone, I can finally turn my attention to the ordinaries. The world will be safe for my transgenics. I swear it.
To be continued……………………………