Summary: The raid on the VA office approaches; Logan confuses Asha.
Chapter Six
The next morning, they both awoke early, rested and eager to complete the reconnaissance of the VA office. If all went well, the raid would take place the next day. Asha headed for the shower, while Logan wheeled into the kitchen to fix breakfast. He figured he'd grab a shower after she left to make final preparations with the S1W.
By the time Asha strolled into the kitchen, Logan had prepared omelets, sausage, toast, and a pot of coffee.
"Hey, smells wonderful," she said, toweling her hair dry.
"Well, eat up. Today will be a busy day."
"And tomorrow will be even busier," Asha added as she took the plates over to the table. Logan brought the silverware, while Asha went back to the kitchen to get the coffee. They sat in silence for a few minutes, savoring the food and inhaling the coffee fumes.
"I'll be off in a few minutes to get the guys up to speed on final preparations. Anything you need?"
"I'm OK. Just glad this is finally going down. I just hope that what I'm looking for is in that office, because if it's not, then I don't have a clue where it would be."
"Yeah, and that wouldn't make Eyes Only happy - having to start over again from scratch."
"Well, I guess we'll find out tomorrow," Logan commented, sipping his coffee.
"Yeah, I guess."
*****
Once again, Asha took Logan's car and drove to the safe house to meet with her crew. The guys were antsy, pacing back and forth, finding the waiting difficult. When Asha entered the house, they rushed to meet her, hoping that something was going down at last.
"OK guys, here's what's happening," she said by way of greeting. She went over to the dining room table and cleared most of the cups and doughnut and pizza boxes away with a sweep of her arm. She spread out the blueprint of the VA office.
"Logan finally pinpointed which office has the files. I know you've seen this before, but I just want to refresh your memories. We'll do the recon today so we can move on it tomorrow."
She pointed at a small room toward the back of the facility. "Here's the cage with the file boxes. It's locked, but we can work around that for now. If Logan can't get them to open it tomorrow, we'll have to either pick the lock or find the key. Today, I just want to know if those boxes are arranged in any order or just randomly stacked. What kind of security does the place have? Will we need firearms and if so, how hard will it be to get them into the building? You know, the usual stuff." She smiled.
"OK," Lee said. "This shouldn't be hard. Anything else?"
"Not for today. But for tomorrow, I want one thing above all from you, no matter what happens."
"Yeah, what's that?" John asked.
"I want Logan protected." Asha turned and looked at them seriously. "He's putting himself in the line of fire on this mission. He's been through enough and I don't want anything to happen to him. OK?"
They all nodded.
Asha handed out the assignments. Synchronizing watches, they gathered what equipment they would need and headed out the door. They piled into the car, happy to be away from the cooped-up environment of the safe house.
*****
Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at their destination, a grimy, one- story shop front office with a dingy "Veterans Administration Office" sign on the door. Asha parked the car a half block away from the office. As they walked to it and split up to check out the front and back doors, Asha noted that the entrance was wide and flush with the sidewalk. There was no doorframe or anything else to obstruct the passage of a wheelchair.
She surveyed the front of the building, checking out security (one fat, bored guy with a gun). There were bars on the windows, but that was SOP for first floor windows these days. She leaned against the wall, waiting for the others to complete the case job.
A few minutes later, Pete, who had gone around the back, returned.
"Nothing out of the ordinary. No guard at the back door. It's locked. The door's not very sturdy just in case we need to ah, break out."
"Fine. I've got the front covered."
The two of them lounged around, blending in with the rest of the shabby folk on the street.
Inside, John and Bill strolled up to the guard and asked about the procedures for filing claims and requests for assistance.
"Do I look like a clerk to you?" he asked with annoyance. "Take a number and have a seat," he added, nodding toward the waiting area filled with people exhibiting varying degrees of restlessness and frustration. They checked out the crowded office, noting the number of desks and chairs, where the hallways led, and possible escape routes.
Lee casually eyed the locked cage full of boxes. He surreptitiously fingered the tiny spy camera in his shirt pocket, then palmed it. He moved as close as he dared to the cage and snapped a photo. Sidling up to the vacant desk next to it, he snapped a couple more, certain now that the boxes were arranged in some sort of order. One of the bored bureaucrats looked up at him.
"Hey, you gotta take a number. Get in line, buddy."
"Oh, sorry. Thanks. I will." Lee beat a retreat back to the waiting area. He lingered long enough to avoid suspicion. Bill nodded slightly to him, then left. Five long minutes later, John threw away his number and also left. Lee looked at his watch, then looked at the waiting room full of restless men. A new client walked in.
"Here. You take it. I'm tired of waiting." Lee handed him his number and shouldered the door.
Individually, the S1W members headed back to Logan's car.
"Hey, how'd it go?" Asha asked.
"Mission accomplished," they replied, one after the other.
"Got photos of the boxes. Used the zoom, so we should be able to read the labels. They seem to be in chronological order. I'll need to get the film developed, but I'm sure that's the case."
"Let's see if we can find a quickie photo developing place on the way to Logan's."
*****
Two hours later, photo diskette in hand, they headed to Fogle Towers. Asha suggested that they stop to pick up pizza on the way, an idea that was roundly applauded. Once underway again, they excitedly discussed the projected mission.
A short time later, they pulled into the garage of the high rise and took the elevator up to the penthouse. Although Asha had a key to Logan's apartment, she decided to ring the doorbell, just in case he needed time to get himself together.
But on the first ring, the door was pulled open. Logan, screwdriver between his teeth, ushered them in.
"Mmph," he grunted as he wheeled backward. He took the screwdriver out of his mouth. "Sorry, just doing a little tune-up on the exoskeleton for tomorrow. It's kind of cranky and I don't want it shorting out on me."
"Oh, I hadn't - I didn't - think - " Asha didn't know what to say.
"Hey, come on in guys. Looks like you've brought dinner." Logan led the way into the dining room, then rolled into the kitchen to pick up dishes and silverware.
"Ah, what do you people want to drink? I've got beer, some wine -" Logan looked into the refrigerator.
"It's OK, Logan, we brought stuff to drink too. Our treat. It's even cold. So, come on back here and join us," John said.
Grinning, Logan quickly spun around and headed back to the table. With an appetite he hadn't felt in weeks, he grabbed a slice of pepperoni and dug in.
"Well, we've got the place all scoped out. Even got photos," Asha said eagerly. Lee pulled the photo diskette out of his pocket and handed it to Logan. "Got 'em blown up too."
"Thanks, all of you. Eyes Only will really appreciate this. I appreciate this. Now, eat up. An army marches on its stomach," Logan said, then wondered where he had heard that before. A shiver went down his back when he recalled the circumstances.
As they gobbled pizza and drank beer, they discussed the upcoming raid. Logan was excited to be in on the action after more than a year of what he considered inactivity. His escapade at Cape Haven notwithstanding, he was tired of literally sitting around handling the communications and the research. With the exoskeleton, it seemed now that he would be able to participate at a more physical level, do some of his own legwork, as it were.
While he had to admit that the original reason for using it was to be on a more equal basis with Max, now that she was gone, maybe he could use it for more altruistic purposes. Otherwise, he reflected, there was not much purpose in having it around. He'd gotten used to doing the everyday tasks of life in the wheelchair, and he doubted that he'd visit the Space Needle again - he'd gotten that out of his system.
He was jolted out of his thoughts by Asha asking a question.
"So, when is this going down tomorrow?"
"I figure that late in the afternoon maybe a half hour or hour before the office closes, the harried civil servants will probably be more harried, trying to get everyone processed. More distracted. That's when we should make our move," Logan explained.
"Sounds good. Here's what we found out today."
One by one they reported their findings. There was one guard, armed, bored, and apathetic. He wouldn't be a problem. In a worst-case scenario, he could be easily disarmed. There were no metal detectors; they could carry weapons. There were three processing clerks, none of whom were armed, who did most of the work. The place was easy to get in and out of and was wheelchair-accessible. They couldn't find out who had the key to the cage, but the lock could be shot off if need be. It wasn't very sophisticated or heavy-duty. All in all, it didn't look like a difficult or dangerous situation.
Logan wheeled himself over to the computer and popped in the photo diskette. He brought up the pictures of the file cage and zoomed to the labels on the boxes. It was as Lee suspected - the boxes were stacked in chronological order. All he had to do was determine which box or boxes they needed. If he could gain access to the cage, he could do that fairly quickly.
They determined that they would gather at the VA office at 3 PM the next day and put the plan into action. Logan would go in first, posing as a vet trying to get a ration card. The others would drift in behind him and wait for his signal. If he were able to get into the records cage, they would hold off on any other actions. If he couldn't access the records, they would then undertake Plan B.
The guys cleaned up the dining room, dumping the pizza boxes and beer bottles in the trash bin. Asha then ushered them out of the apartment, leaving Logan to put the final touches on the plan.
*****
When she returned, it was nearly dark. She let herself into the penthouse, expecting to find Logan at his computers. Instead, she found him walking around the place, testing out the exoskeleton. She could hear the low whir of the gears as he moved. When he saw her, he stopped and put his foot up on a chair. He took a small wrench out of his pocket and applied it to a bolt at the ankle.
"Gotta make sure it works," he said in explanation.
"I didn't know you were using that tomorrow. I thought you were using the chair."
"I am, but I'll wear the exoskeleton just in case. You never know if we're going to have to beat feet out of there and I want to be prepared. I can move pretty quickly in the chair, but if it's crowded or chaotic in there, I may not be able to get out in time."
"Oh, OK. Just confused me there for a minute. I'm never quite sure what you're up to." Asha sat down on the couch, tired after all the activities of the day.
"Want a glass of wine?" Logan asked. "It's been a long day for you."
"What? Oh, sure. I'd like that. Thanks."
Logan went into the kitchen and got the bottle of wine and two wine glasses. He put them on the coffee table and sat down next to Asha. "I'm afraid I'm out of the good pre-Pulse stuff, but this shouldn't be too bad."
"I'm sure it's fine, Logan. You always drink good wine. I've never known you to buy rotgut."
He poured the wine and handed her a glass, then poured one for himself. They both leaned back against the cushions, thinking about what would happen the next day. It felt so good to relax and let the tensions of planning the raid drain from them.
*****
Sitting there on the couch in Logan's living room, sipping wine almost like in the good old days of the Pacific Free Press, it was so easy to slip back into the intimate embraces they'd shared a few years ago. Logan felt so lonely without Max and he longed for a loving touch. Asha missed Logan more than she realized.
She put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. He stroked her hair, tentatively at first, then when she sighed in contentment, with more assurance. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. She put her arms around him.
They held each other close for a long time before Logan cupped Asha's chin in his hands and kissed her. She reciprocated, and soon they were deep in an embrace with her fingers tangled in his hair, kissing hungrily.
Logan broke off the kiss abruptly. Confused, Asha couldn't help feeling she had done something wrong. She stared into Logan's eyes. The question in her eyes was obvious. The turmoil in his was more difficult to read: loneliness, need, grief. Grief? Asha wondered why there would be grief in his eyes.
"Asha, I can't do this." Logan turned away from her.
"Why, Logan? What's the matter?" She was puzzled, since as far as she was concerned, he had started the session.
"Nothing. - I just can't."
Exoskeleton whirring, he got up from the couch and walked away. Asha shut her eyes in frustration. A moment later, she heard his bedroom door shut. She shook her head and sighed; funny guy, Logan. She hoped he wouldn't have a nightmare tonight; she wasn't inclined to join him in bed after that rejection, she thought. If only she could get through to him, find out what was eating away at him so much. He never had been much for discussing his problems - or anything else for that matter - with her. She knew it wasn't anything personal; he'd always been closed off, in his own little world. She didn't remember a single person in whom he had confided.
Still, Asha felt that his actions a few minutes ago were a slap in the face. She was confused. It wasn't as if she had tried to seduce him, after all. She was sensitive enough to realize he was hurting somehow, but she just didn't know what was bothering him or what to do about it. Damn the man, anyhow. She got up from the couch and dragged herself to the guest bedroom. She had to be at her best the next day; she didn't have time to worry about Logan tonight.
Chapter Six
The next morning, they both awoke early, rested and eager to complete the reconnaissance of the VA office. If all went well, the raid would take place the next day. Asha headed for the shower, while Logan wheeled into the kitchen to fix breakfast. He figured he'd grab a shower after she left to make final preparations with the S1W.
By the time Asha strolled into the kitchen, Logan had prepared omelets, sausage, toast, and a pot of coffee.
"Hey, smells wonderful," she said, toweling her hair dry.
"Well, eat up. Today will be a busy day."
"And tomorrow will be even busier," Asha added as she took the plates over to the table. Logan brought the silverware, while Asha went back to the kitchen to get the coffee. They sat in silence for a few minutes, savoring the food and inhaling the coffee fumes.
"I'll be off in a few minutes to get the guys up to speed on final preparations. Anything you need?"
"I'm OK. Just glad this is finally going down. I just hope that what I'm looking for is in that office, because if it's not, then I don't have a clue where it would be."
"Yeah, and that wouldn't make Eyes Only happy - having to start over again from scratch."
"Well, I guess we'll find out tomorrow," Logan commented, sipping his coffee.
"Yeah, I guess."
*****
Once again, Asha took Logan's car and drove to the safe house to meet with her crew. The guys were antsy, pacing back and forth, finding the waiting difficult. When Asha entered the house, they rushed to meet her, hoping that something was going down at last.
"OK guys, here's what's happening," she said by way of greeting. She went over to the dining room table and cleared most of the cups and doughnut and pizza boxes away with a sweep of her arm. She spread out the blueprint of the VA office.
"Logan finally pinpointed which office has the files. I know you've seen this before, but I just want to refresh your memories. We'll do the recon today so we can move on it tomorrow."
She pointed at a small room toward the back of the facility. "Here's the cage with the file boxes. It's locked, but we can work around that for now. If Logan can't get them to open it tomorrow, we'll have to either pick the lock or find the key. Today, I just want to know if those boxes are arranged in any order or just randomly stacked. What kind of security does the place have? Will we need firearms and if so, how hard will it be to get them into the building? You know, the usual stuff." She smiled.
"OK," Lee said. "This shouldn't be hard. Anything else?"
"Not for today. But for tomorrow, I want one thing above all from you, no matter what happens."
"Yeah, what's that?" John asked.
"I want Logan protected." Asha turned and looked at them seriously. "He's putting himself in the line of fire on this mission. He's been through enough and I don't want anything to happen to him. OK?"
They all nodded.
Asha handed out the assignments. Synchronizing watches, they gathered what equipment they would need and headed out the door. They piled into the car, happy to be away from the cooped-up environment of the safe house.
*****
Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at their destination, a grimy, one- story shop front office with a dingy "Veterans Administration Office" sign on the door. Asha parked the car a half block away from the office. As they walked to it and split up to check out the front and back doors, Asha noted that the entrance was wide and flush with the sidewalk. There was no doorframe or anything else to obstruct the passage of a wheelchair.
She surveyed the front of the building, checking out security (one fat, bored guy with a gun). There were bars on the windows, but that was SOP for first floor windows these days. She leaned against the wall, waiting for the others to complete the case job.
A few minutes later, Pete, who had gone around the back, returned.
"Nothing out of the ordinary. No guard at the back door. It's locked. The door's not very sturdy just in case we need to ah, break out."
"Fine. I've got the front covered."
The two of them lounged around, blending in with the rest of the shabby folk on the street.
Inside, John and Bill strolled up to the guard and asked about the procedures for filing claims and requests for assistance.
"Do I look like a clerk to you?" he asked with annoyance. "Take a number and have a seat," he added, nodding toward the waiting area filled with people exhibiting varying degrees of restlessness and frustration. They checked out the crowded office, noting the number of desks and chairs, where the hallways led, and possible escape routes.
Lee casually eyed the locked cage full of boxes. He surreptitiously fingered the tiny spy camera in his shirt pocket, then palmed it. He moved as close as he dared to the cage and snapped a photo. Sidling up to the vacant desk next to it, he snapped a couple more, certain now that the boxes were arranged in some sort of order. One of the bored bureaucrats looked up at him.
"Hey, you gotta take a number. Get in line, buddy."
"Oh, sorry. Thanks. I will." Lee beat a retreat back to the waiting area. He lingered long enough to avoid suspicion. Bill nodded slightly to him, then left. Five long minutes later, John threw away his number and also left. Lee looked at his watch, then looked at the waiting room full of restless men. A new client walked in.
"Here. You take it. I'm tired of waiting." Lee handed him his number and shouldered the door.
Individually, the S1W members headed back to Logan's car.
"Hey, how'd it go?" Asha asked.
"Mission accomplished," they replied, one after the other.
"Got photos of the boxes. Used the zoom, so we should be able to read the labels. They seem to be in chronological order. I'll need to get the film developed, but I'm sure that's the case."
"Let's see if we can find a quickie photo developing place on the way to Logan's."
*****
Two hours later, photo diskette in hand, they headed to Fogle Towers. Asha suggested that they stop to pick up pizza on the way, an idea that was roundly applauded. Once underway again, they excitedly discussed the projected mission.
A short time later, they pulled into the garage of the high rise and took the elevator up to the penthouse. Although Asha had a key to Logan's apartment, she decided to ring the doorbell, just in case he needed time to get himself together.
But on the first ring, the door was pulled open. Logan, screwdriver between his teeth, ushered them in.
"Mmph," he grunted as he wheeled backward. He took the screwdriver out of his mouth. "Sorry, just doing a little tune-up on the exoskeleton for tomorrow. It's kind of cranky and I don't want it shorting out on me."
"Oh, I hadn't - I didn't - think - " Asha didn't know what to say.
"Hey, come on in guys. Looks like you've brought dinner." Logan led the way into the dining room, then rolled into the kitchen to pick up dishes and silverware.
"Ah, what do you people want to drink? I've got beer, some wine -" Logan looked into the refrigerator.
"It's OK, Logan, we brought stuff to drink too. Our treat. It's even cold. So, come on back here and join us," John said.
Grinning, Logan quickly spun around and headed back to the table. With an appetite he hadn't felt in weeks, he grabbed a slice of pepperoni and dug in.
"Well, we've got the place all scoped out. Even got photos," Asha said eagerly. Lee pulled the photo diskette out of his pocket and handed it to Logan. "Got 'em blown up too."
"Thanks, all of you. Eyes Only will really appreciate this. I appreciate this. Now, eat up. An army marches on its stomach," Logan said, then wondered where he had heard that before. A shiver went down his back when he recalled the circumstances.
As they gobbled pizza and drank beer, they discussed the upcoming raid. Logan was excited to be in on the action after more than a year of what he considered inactivity. His escapade at Cape Haven notwithstanding, he was tired of literally sitting around handling the communications and the research. With the exoskeleton, it seemed now that he would be able to participate at a more physical level, do some of his own legwork, as it were.
While he had to admit that the original reason for using it was to be on a more equal basis with Max, now that she was gone, maybe he could use it for more altruistic purposes. Otherwise, he reflected, there was not much purpose in having it around. He'd gotten used to doing the everyday tasks of life in the wheelchair, and he doubted that he'd visit the Space Needle again - he'd gotten that out of his system.
He was jolted out of his thoughts by Asha asking a question.
"So, when is this going down tomorrow?"
"I figure that late in the afternoon maybe a half hour or hour before the office closes, the harried civil servants will probably be more harried, trying to get everyone processed. More distracted. That's when we should make our move," Logan explained.
"Sounds good. Here's what we found out today."
One by one they reported their findings. There was one guard, armed, bored, and apathetic. He wouldn't be a problem. In a worst-case scenario, he could be easily disarmed. There were no metal detectors; they could carry weapons. There were three processing clerks, none of whom were armed, who did most of the work. The place was easy to get in and out of and was wheelchair-accessible. They couldn't find out who had the key to the cage, but the lock could be shot off if need be. It wasn't very sophisticated or heavy-duty. All in all, it didn't look like a difficult or dangerous situation.
Logan wheeled himself over to the computer and popped in the photo diskette. He brought up the pictures of the file cage and zoomed to the labels on the boxes. It was as Lee suspected - the boxes were stacked in chronological order. All he had to do was determine which box or boxes they needed. If he could gain access to the cage, he could do that fairly quickly.
They determined that they would gather at the VA office at 3 PM the next day and put the plan into action. Logan would go in first, posing as a vet trying to get a ration card. The others would drift in behind him and wait for his signal. If he were able to get into the records cage, they would hold off on any other actions. If he couldn't access the records, they would then undertake Plan B.
The guys cleaned up the dining room, dumping the pizza boxes and beer bottles in the trash bin. Asha then ushered them out of the apartment, leaving Logan to put the final touches on the plan.
*****
When she returned, it was nearly dark. She let herself into the penthouse, expecting to find Logan at his computers. Instead, she found him walking around the place, testing out the exoskeleton. She could hear the low whir of the gears as he moved. When he saw her, he stopped and put his foot up on a chair. He took a small wrench out of his pocket and applied it to a bolt at the ankle.
"Gotta make sure it works," he said in explanation.
"I didn't know you were using that tomorrow. I thought you were using the chair."
"I am, but I'll wear the exoskeleton just in case. You never know if we're going to have to beat feet out of there and I want to be prepared. I can move pretty quickly in the chair, but if it's crowded or chaotic in there, I may not be able to get out in time."
"Oh, OK. Just confused me there for a minute. I'm never quite sure what you're up to." Asha sat down on the couch, tired after all the activities of the day.
"Want a glass of wine?" Logan asked. "It's been a long day for you."
"What? Oh, sure. I'd like that. Thanks."
Logan went into the kitchen and got the bottle of wine and two wine glasses. He put them on the coffee table and sat down next to Asha. "I'm afraid I'm out of the good pre-Pulse stuff, but this shouldn't be too bad."
"I'm sure it's fine, Logan. You always drink good wine. I've never known you to buy rotgut."
He poured the wine and handed her a glass, then poured one for himself. They both leaned back against the cushions, thinking about what would happen the next day. It felt so good to relax and let the tensions of planning the raid drain from them.
*****
Sitting there on the couch in Logan's living room, sipping wine almost like in the good old days of the Pacific Free Press, it was so easy to slip back into the intimate embraces they'd shared a few years ago. Logan felt so lonely without Max and he longed for a loving touch. Asha missed Logan more than she realized.
She put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. He stroked her hair, tentatively at first, then when she sighed in contentment, with more assurance. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. She put her arms around him.
They held each other close for a long time before Logan cupped Asha's chin in his hands and kissed her. She reciprocated, and soon they were deep in an embrace with her fingers tangled in his hair, kissing hungrily.
Logan broke off the kiss abruptly. Confused, Asha couldn't help feeling she had done something wrong. She stared into Logan's eyes. The question in her eyes was obvious. The turmoil in his was more difficult to read: loneliness, need, grief. Grief? Asha wondered why there would be grief in his eyes.
"Asha, I can't do this." Logan turned away from her.
"Why, Logan? What's the matter?" She was puzzled, since as far as she was concerned, he had started the session.
"Nothing. - I just can't."
Exoskeleton whirring, he got up from the couch and walked away. Asha shut her eyes in frustration. A moment later, she heard his bedroom door shut. She shook her head and sighed; funny guy, Logan. She hoped he wouldn't have a nightmare tonight; she wasn't inclined to join him in bed after that rejection, she thought. If only she could get through to him, find out what was eating away at him so much. He never had been much for discussing his problems - or anything else for that matter - with her. She knew it wasn't anything personal; he'd always been closed off, in his own little world. She didn't remember a single person in whom he had confided.
Still, Asha felt that his actions a few minutes ago were a slap in the face. She was confused. It wasn't as if she had tried to seduce him, after all. She was sensitive enough to realize he was hurting somehow, but she just didn't know what was bothering him or what to do about it. Damn the man, anyhow. She got up from the couch and dragged herself to the guest bedroom. She had to be at her best the next day; she didn't have time to worry about Logan tonight.