A/N: The story starts to intersect with Designate This now, so if
situations or dialogue sound familiar, that's why.
Chapter Five
Logan gradually came back to consciousness, feeling more rested than he had in weeks. Half awake and eyes still closed, he realized that some one lay next to him, arms around him, head snuggled against his chest. He reached over to stoke her hair, murmuring sleepily. His Max had returned to him. Somehow, she wasn't dead; she was here next to him.
But her hair was short and fine, not long and thick. Reluctantly, Logan opened his eyes. Asha, not Max, lay beside him. She stretched like a cat and mumbled his name. Reality seeped in and Logan sadly closed his eyes again. He would have to ask her what was going on when she woke up.
Still, it felt good to have a warm female body in his bed. He didn't realize how much he had missed that. Sighing, he slid toward the edge of the bed, carefully so as not to wake her. He transferred to the chair, grabbed a change of clothing, and headed toward the bathroom.
*****
By the time Asha got up, Logan had been working away at his computer for several hours. One of his contacts had come through, and he now knew where to find the hidden Manticore files. As he had suspected, what he had been looking for wasn't online anywhere; it was buried in boxes of paper at a Veterans' Administration office somewhere in Seattle. Now, all he had to do was find the right office, then find the right box of papers. Not as hard as a needle in a haystack, but right up there. It was time to do an Eyes Only hack and get the ball rolling.
Asha shuffled into the computer room, yawning.
"Good morning. Is it still morning?" she said sleepily.
"Yeah, still morning," Logan replied, a question in his voice that Asha didn't pick up on.
"Is there any coffee? I feel like I've been beaten."
Logan cocked an eyebrow at that remark. "Yeah, in the coffeemaker on the counter. Um, Asha.?"
Asha went to the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee. Carefully carrying it, she went into the computer room & sat on the chair across from where Logan was working. After a few sips, she seemed awake enough to answer his unspoken question.
"What? Oh, you woke me up in the middle of the night. You were shouting. I went in to check on you, thinking some one had broken in. You were having a hell of a nightmare - "
Logan blinked at her, then hung his head.
"I couldn't wake you up. Believe me, I tried. Then I remembered when you had nightmares over that kid who had been shot in the gang crossfire, I slept next to you and held you. So that's what I did last night. It must have helped because you stopped thrashing around and slept soundly."
"Thanks, Asha," Logan said softly. "I haven't been sleeping well lately."
"I figured that when I saw the bottle of sleeping pills on the nightstand. Want to talk about what's bothering you?"
Logan did not reply.
"Didn't think so. You never do. So, to change the subject, how's the research coming?"
"Very well. My contact in the Department of Defense came through. The files I need are at a VA office here in Seattle. I just need to narrow down the search to a particular office. Then Eyes Only can start to apply the pressure. Shouldn't take me very long."
"Great. Sounds like a plan."
"So I think we should get the rest of your S1W guys together and brainstorm. I've got some ideas on how to get to those files, but I'd like to hear what you guys have to say."
"Should I assemble the troops here?"
"If you don't mind. It will be easier," Logan admitted.
"Not a problem. When do you want them?"
Logan looked at his watch. "How about 3 PM? That should give me plenty of time to narrow down the search."
"OK. I'll make sure everyone is here."
"You want to take my car to pick them up? Or did you all drive up?"
"We took a bus. It was easier to disappear into the crowd if we needed to. I'd appreciate the loan of your car."
"Fine. As long as you can figure out the hand controls."
"Logan, you know damn well that I can drive anything with wheels! Shouldn't be a problem. Now, I want to throw myself into the shower. May as well take advantage of the hot water."
*****
As Asha walked out the door of his apartment, Logan handed her his car keys. "It's the blue-gray Aztek, Level 1. See you later."
"Thanks, Logan, catch you at three."
Logan waited a few minutes, then wheeled back into the computer room. He set up all the equipment he needed for an Eyes Only hack, took off his glasses, and hit the switch.
"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is a streaming freedom video bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly sixty seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in this city. Since the early 1990s, billions of your tax dollars have been diverted from legitimate government programs to fund secret experiments in genetic engineering."
Logan fought back the tears as he described the Manticore project. He hoped that his voice didn't seem to be breaking: it wouldn't be appropriate for Eyes Only to lose it in public.
"This covert operation is known as Project Manticore. Its goal: to create the perfect soldier, genetically enhanced for superior strength and speed. These children are subjected to relentless training and propaganda. In the winter of 2009, twelve of them escaped from a facility in Gillette, Wyoming. Some of them were captured; some of them were tortured; some gave their lives fighting to stay free. Since these cable hacks began, Manticore has consolidated its operations to a secret location. Eyes Only will find it, and the people responsible for these crimes will be brought to justice. This has been a streaming freedom video bulletin."
Logan ended the hack and wheeled over to his computer. He put his glasses back on and brought up a shot from the surveillance video he had made during the raid on Manticore, a shot of Max, looking directly at the camera. He enlarged the picture and touched the screen as if he were stroking her cheek. This time he didn't fight the tears.
*****
Asha was back, promptly at three o'clock. By then, Logan had narrowed the records search to two different VA offices. By the time they were ready to move on it, Logan was confident that he would have the right office targeted.
Asha introduced the rest of the S1W contingent to Logan. She curled up on the couch, between Pete and Lee. John and Bill occupied the chairs on either side of the couch. Logan had situated his wheelchair in front of the couch, on the other side of the coffee table, on which he had spread out blueprints of the two VA offices.
"The old records are in boxes, locked up in cages. I haven't been able to determine if they are in any order, or just stacked any which way. Maybe a couple of you can reconnoiter ahead of time to find out. That way, when we get there, we won't have to waste time looking around. We'll know where to go."
"We?" Asha looked at Logan. "Are you going to be personally involved in this?"
"Yes, I am."
"-How? I mean - ?" Lee blurted out, gesturing toward the wheelchair. Asha shot him a dirty look.
"Well, who better to get a look at the files than a disgruntled disabled vet unable to get his ration card?" Logan smiled mischievously.
"Logan, you're brilliant!" Asha clapped her hands. "But just in case subtlety doesn't work on bureaucrats, how about a Plan B?"
"Of course. I always like to have a Plan B in case something goes sideways. What do you have in mind?"
"Don't know yet, but I'll think of something. Just in case they don't buy your ploy, maybe we should let the vets know who we are and that we're there for them. Then let nature take its course. We could probably get into the file room in the midst of the chaos."
"OK. I'll need more details, but it sounds like a plan," Logan said. "Great. We should be good to go in a day or two."
"I hope Eyes Only will be pleased."
"Oh, I think he will."
They brainstormed for an hour or so, until they had a solid Plan A and Plan B. Logan was pleased with the progress they had made in such a short time. Asha was happy that he seemed less depressed. In fact, he had been animated, excited, and very much "up." Now that the culmination of their plans was approaching, he appeared to have found a reason to snap out of whatever mood he had been in that he hadn't wanted to talk about.
*****
But as soon as Asha and the rest of the S1W activists left, Logan was back at the computer, staring at the surveillance picture of Max. He continued to check his mail and delve into whatever records he could find, but every now and then, he would return to the picture and sigh.
He heard the door open and Asha's voice greet him, so he hurriedly closed the file and wheeled around to meet her.
"Logan, the guys are so excited. And they all think you're brilliant. I've talked about you for so long, and they finally got a chance to meet you and find out that I wasn't just shining them." Impulsively, she leaned over and hugged him. Taken aback, Logan was rooted in place.
"Have I ever told you how wonderful you are?" She kissed him on the cheek, breathing in his ear. Hot tears rose in his eyes.
"No, I don't think you ever have," he managed to blurt out.
"Well, let me take this occasion to tell you. Logan, you're wonderful. Now, we should get this place cleaned up. It's a mess. It'll distract us for a while."
Logan looked around and had to admit to himself that Asha was right. He had neglected the apartment for too long, lost in his grief. Papers had been piling up on his desk and various tables, and threatened to topple over onto the floor; he hadn't done laundry in weeks. The place was dusty too. Only the kitchen was spotless.
"Where's your cleaning stuff?"
"Uh, under the sink. Here, let me show you."
They spent a couple of hours cleaning the apartment and shredding documents that were no longer needed. Then Logan went back to the computer to see if he could find out which of the two VA offices held the records he sought. That kept him occupied until late that evening, when he decided that he had enough evidence to determine the right office. Some of the S1W guys could do reconnaissance tomorrow. The day after that, they would all descend on the office and retrieve the files. He was looking forward to it; he had been too long out of the action.
Then he could destroy Manticore and vindicate Max. That was all he wanted to do with his life now. It didn't matter what happened to him any more. All that mattered was that Manticore would never be able to do to anyone else what it had done to Max - and to Brin, Tinga, Eva, and the others he didn't know about. For now, that was good enough for him.
Sighing, he logged out and shut down. Asha looked up from the magazine she'd been reading. She uncurled from the couch.
"Calling it a day?"
"Yeah, I found what I was looking for. We're good to go. If you get your guys to check the place out tomorrow, we can get the show on the road."
"Great, I'll get on it first thing in the morning. You should get some sleep."
"I'm gonna try," Logan said ruefully.
"You want me to - ?"
"Let me see what happens. If you hear me yelling again tonight, you know what to do." He smiled sadly, wheeling past her toward the bedroom." "OK. Next time I won't come in with guns blazing. Get a good night's sleep."
*****
But once again, Logan's sleep was plagued by nightmares. Max, dying in his arms, trying to tell him something. Lydecker butt-stroking him to get him out of the woods and back to safety. His nights sitting and staring into space, then the climbs up to the top of the Space Needle. It all came rushing back to him. He wasn't sure what was worse - the inability to sleep, or when he did get to sleep, the horrible visions that bedeviled him.
He opened his eyes in a panic, not quite certain where he was. Then a gentle hand stroked his hair and kissed his cheek. A voice whispered his name.
"Logan, it's OK. I'm here. Go back to sleep." Asha climbed into bed next to him.
The warmth of her body soothed him and he closed his eyes again.
Asha lay there in the dark next to Logan, sadly wondering about the source of his nightmares and wishing that he would confide in her. Tentatively, she put an arm around him. Asleep now, he pulled her closer and nuzzled her face. His ever-present stubble tickled, and she smiled at him, wishing they could take up where they had left off. Maybe after they completed their mission at the VA, she thought. Yes, maybe then.
She fell asleep with a smile on her face.
Chapter Five
Logan gradually came back to consciousness, feeling more rested than he had in weeks. Half awake and eyes still closed, he realized that some one lay next to him, arms around him, head snuggled against his chest. He reached over to stoke her hair, murmuring sleepily. His Max had returned to him. Somehow, she wasn't dead; she was here next to him.
But her hair was short and fine, not long and thick. Reluctantly, Logan opened his eyes. Asha, not Max, lay beside him. She stretched like a cat and mumbled his name. Reality seeped in and Logan sadly closed his eyes again. He would have to ask her what was going on when she woke up.
Still, it felt good to have a warm female body in his bed. He didn't realize how much he had missed that. Sighing, he slid toward the edge of the bed, carefully so as not to wake her. He transferred to the chair, grabbed a change of clothing, and headed toward the bathroom.
*****
By the time Asha got up, Logan had been working away at his computer for several hours. One of his contacts had come through, and he now knew where to find the hidden Manticore files. As he had suspected, what he had been looking for wasn't online anywhere; it was buried in boxes of paper at a Veterans' Administration office somewhere in Seattle. Now, all he had to do was find the right office, then find the right box of papers. Not as hard as a needle in a haystack, but right up there. It was time to do an Eyes Only hack and get the ball rolling.
Asha shuffled into the computer room, yawning.
"Good morning. Is it still morning?" she said sleepily.
"Yeah, still morning," Logan replied, a question in his voice that Asha didn't pick up on.
"Is there any coffee? I feel like I've been beaten."
Logan cocked an eyebrow at that remark. "Yeah, in the coffeemaker on the counter. Um, Asha.?"
Asha went to the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee. Carefully carrying it, she went into the computer room & sat on the chair across from where Logan was working. After a few sips, she seemed awake enough to answer his unspoken question.
"What? Oh, you woke me up in the middle of the night. You were shouting. I went in to check on you, thinking some one had broken in. You were having a hell of a nightmare - "
Logan blinked at her, then hung his head.
"I couldn't wake you up. Believe me, I tried. Then I remembered when you had nightmares over that kid who had been shot in the gang crossfire, I slept next to you and held you. So that's what I did last night. It must have helped because you stopped thrashing around and slept soundly."
"Thanks, Asha," Logan said softly. "I haven't been sleeping well lately."
"I figured that when I saw the bottle of sleeping pills on the nightstand. Want to talk about what's bothering you?"
Logan did not reply.
"Didn't think so. You never do. So, to change the subject, how's the research coming?"
"Very well. My contact in the Department of Defense came through. The files I need are at a VA office here in Seattle. I just need to narrow down the search to a particular office. Then Eyes Only can start to apply the pressure. Shouldn't take me very long."
"Great. Sounds like a plan."
"So I think we should get the rest of your S1W guys together and brainstorm. I've got some ideas on how to get to those files, but I'd like to hear what you guys have to say."
"Should I assemble the troops here?"
"If you don't mind. It will be easier," Logan admitted.
"Not a problem. When do you want them?"
Logan looked at his watch. "How about 3 PM? That should give me plenty of time to narrow down the search."
"OK. I'll make sure everyone is here."
"You want to take my car to pick them up? Or did you all drive up?"
"We took a bus. It was easier to disappear into the crowd if we needed to. I'd appreciate the loan of your car."
"Fine. As long as you can figure out the hand controls."
"Logan, you know damn well that I can drive anything with wheels! Shouldn't be a problem. Now, I want to throw myself into the shower. May as well take advantage of the hot water."
*****
As Asha walked out the door of his apartment, Logan handed her his car keys. "It's the blue-gray Aztek, Level 1. See you later."
"Thanks, Logan, catch you at three."
Logan waited a few minutes, then wheeled back into the computer room. He set up all the equipment he needed for an Eyes Only hack, took off his glasses, and hit the switch.
"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is a streaming freedom video bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly sixty seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in this city. Since the early 1990s, billions of your tax dollars have been diverted from legitimate government programs to fund secret experiments in genetic engineering."
Logan fought back the tears as he described the Manticore project. He hoped that his voice didn't seem to be breaking: it wouldn't be appropriate for Eyes Only to lose it in public.
"This covert operation is known as Project Manticore. Its goal: to create the perfect soldier, genetically enhanced for superior strength and speed. These children are subjected to relentless training and propaganda. In the winter of 2009, twelve of them escaped from a facility in Gillette, Wyoming. Some of them were captured; some of them were tortured; some gave their lives fighting to stay free. Since these cable hacks began, Manticore has consolidated its operations to a secret location. Eyes Only will find it, and the people responsible for these crimes will be brought to justice. This has been a streaming freedom video bulletin."
Logan ended the hack and wheeled over to his computer. He put his glasses back on and brought up a shot from the surveillance video he had made during the raid on Manticore, a shot of Max, looking directly at the camera. He enlarged the picture and touched the screen as if he were stroking her cheek. This time he didn't fight the tears.
*****
Asha was back, promptly at three o'clock. By then, Logan had narrowed the records search to two different VA offices. By the time they were ready to move on it, Logan was confident that he would have the right office targeted.
Asha introduced the rest of the S1W contingent to Logan. She curled up on the couch, between Pete and Lee. John and Bill occupied the chairs on either side of the couch. Logan had situated his wheelchair in front of the couch, on the other side of the coffee table, on which he had spread out blueprints of the two VA offices.
"The old records are in boxes, locked up in cages. I haven't been able to determine if they are in any order, or just stacked any which way. Maybe a couple of you can reconnoiter ahead of time to find out. That way, when we get there, we won't have to waste time looking around. We'll know where to go."
"We?" Asha looked at Logan. "Are you going to be personally involved in this?"
"Yes, I am."
"-How? I mean - ?" Lee blurted out, gesturing toward the wheelchair. Asha shot him a dirty look.
"Well, who better to get a look at the files than a disgruntled disabled vet unable to get his ration card?" Logan smiled mischievously.
"Logan, you're brilliant!" Asha clapped her hands. "But just in case subtlety doesn't work on bureaucrats, how about a Plan B?"
"Of course. I always like to have a Plan B in case something goes sideways. What do you have in mind?"
"Don't know yet, but I'll think of something. Just in case they don't buy your ploy, maybe we should let the vets know who we are and that we're there for them. Then let nature take its course. We could probably get into the file room in the midst of the chaos."
"OK. I'll need more details, but it sounds like a plan," Logan said. "Great. We should be good to go in a day or two."
"I hope Eyes Only will be pleased."
"Oh, I think he will."
They brainstormed for an hour or so, until they had a solid Plan A and Plan B. Logan was pleased with the progress they had made in such a short time. Asha was happy that he seemed less depressed. In fact, he had been animated, excited, and very much "up." Now that the culmination of their plans was approaching, he appeared to have found a reason to snap out of whatever mood he had been in that he hadn't wanted to talk about.
*****
But as soon as Asha and the rest of the S1W activists left, Logan was back at the computer, staring at the surveillance picture of Max. He continued to check his mail and delve into whatever records he could find, but every now and then, he would return to the picture and sigh.
He heard the door open and Asha's voice greet him, so he hurriedly closed the file and wheeled around to meet her.
"Logan, the guys are so excited. And they all think you're brilliant. I've talked about you for so long, and they finally got a chance to meet you and find out that I wasn't just shining them." Impulsively, she leaned over and hugged him. Taken aback, Logan was rooted in place.
"Have I ever told you how wonderful you are?" She kissed him on the cheek, breathing in his ear. Hot tears rose in his eyes.
"No, I don't think you ever have," he managed to blurt out.
"Well, let me take this occasion to tell you. Logan, you're wonderful. Now, we should get this place cleaned up. It's a mess. It'll distract us for a while."
Logan looked around and had to admit to himself that Asha was right. He had neglected the apartment for too long, lost in his grief. Papers had been piling up on his desk and various tables, and threatened to topple over onto the floor; he hadn't done laundry in weeks. The place was dusty too. Only the kitchen was spotless.
"Where's your cleaning stuff?"
"Uh, under the sink. Here, let me show you."
They spent a couple of hours cleaning the apartment and shredding documents that were no longer needed. Then Logan went back to the computer to see if he could find out which of the two VA offices held the records he sought. That kept him occupied until late that evening, when he decided that he had enough evidence to determine the right office. Some of the S1W guys could do reconnaissance tomorrow. The day after that, they would all descend on the office and retrieve the files. He was looking forward to it; he had been too long out of the action.
Then he could destroy Manticore and vindicate Max. That was all he wanted to do with his life now. It didn't matter what happened to him any more. All that mattered was that Manticore would never be able to do to anyone else what it had done to Max - and to Brin, Tinga, Eva, and the others he didn't know about. For now, that was good enough for him.
Sighing, he logged out and shut down. Asha looked up from the magazine she'd been reading. She uncurled from the couch.
"Calling it a day?"
"Yeah, I found what I was looking for. We're good to go. If you get your guys to check the place out tomorrow, we can get the show on the road."
"Great, I'll get on it first thing in the morning. You should get some sleep."
"I'm gonna try," Logan said ruefully.
"You want me to - ?"
"Let me see what happens. If you hear me yelling again tonight, you know what to do." He smiled sadly, wheeling past her toward the bedroom." "OK. Next time I won't come in with guns blazing. Get a good night's sleep."
*****
But once again, Logan's sleep was plagued by nightmares. Max, dying in his arms, trying to tell him something. Lydecker butt-stroking him to get him out of the woods and back to safety. His nights sitting and staring into space, then the climbs up to the top of the Space Needle. It all came rushing back to him. He wasn't sure what was worse - the inability to sleep, or when he did get to sleep, the horrible visions that bedeviled him.
He opened his eyes in a panic, not quite certain where he was. Then a gentle hand stroked his hair and kissed his cheek. A voice whispered his name.
"Logan, it's OK. I'm here. Go back to sleep." Asha climbed into bed next to him.
The warmth of her body soothed him and he closed his eyes again.
Asha lay there in the dark next to Logan, sadly wondering about the source of his nightmares and wishing that he would confide in her. Tentatively, she put an arm around him. Asleep now, he pulled her closer and nuzzled her face. His ever-present stubble tickled, and she smiled at him, wishing they could take up where they had left off. Maybe after they completed their mission at the VA, she thought. Yes, maybe then.
She fell asleep with a smile on her face.