A/N: Lest anyone think that I sold out to the censors and rewrote anything,
please be assured that the only thing that was changed in this story was
the rating.
Chapter Ten
It was early afternoon and Logan still wasn't getting very far in his searches. Frustrated, he decided to take a break and start again. His cell phone rang - the private Eyes Only line that only a few carefully selected people knew about. He reached for it in anticipation. Maybe one of his contacts had finally come through.
The voice on the other end startled him. It was Lydecker.
"I caught your hacks," he said. "Looks like you and I are on the same side again. I've got some information for you. We need to meet."
"Where? When?" Logan grabbed a note pad.
"Uh-oh, some one's coming. I gotta go. I'll call you back." The phone went dead.
"Damn!" Logan almost threw it across the floor. He had no choice but to wait for Lydecker to call back. In the meantime, he decided, he better be ready for whatever Deck had in mind, so he logged out and shut down the computers. Slipping the cell phone into his shirt pocket, Logan wheeled back into his bedroom.
He transferred to the edge of the bed and stripped off his pants. Unbuckling the fasteners on the exoskeleton, he struggled into it. He turned on the servomotor and carefully stood up. Balancing on unfeeling feet, he adjusted it with a small wrench and screwdriver, then did a couple of deep knee bends to test it out. It seemed to be working all right. As he reached for his pants, his cell phone rang again.
"Yeah?" he said tersely, unsnapping the legs of the pants he had bought the previous year from a catalogue of handicapped-specific clothing. They were comfortable and easy to put on, which was the whole point, he supposed.
"OK. It's safe now," Lydecker said. "I'm at the warehouse where we planned the raid on Manticore." The warehouse was just inside the city limits in Sector Three. "Meet me at three."
Logan snapped the pants legs over the exoskeleton. He was in such a hurry that he didn't fasten all the snaps.
"No," he replied, "I wanna do it now."
Obviously, his impatience annoyed Lydecker, who protested.
"Yeah, right now!" Logan insisted, and Lydecker finally agreed. "Okay. I'll meet you there." He rang off.
As he headed toward the door, Logan put the cell phone back in his pocket and grabbed his keys from the table. He opened the door, just in time to nearly knock over Asha on the outside, carrying a large, heavy box. He quickly discovered that the box contained guns for the S1W, which she didn't want the checkpoint police to see. That was only natural, so he quickly told her that it was all right to leave it at his place for a day or two. Then he hurried off to his meeting with Lydecker.
*****
The meeting didn't go well at first. As Logan got out of the car, Lydecker approached him. But then another man, a black man with an eyepatch, stepped from behind a pillar, with a gun pointed at him. Logan was sure that the older man had betrayed him, especially when two armed soldiers came up behind him. Lydecker didn't disabuse him of that idea when he said "Sorry, son."
But just when Logan thought that it was all going to end right there, with more bullets in his body, Lydecker elbowed the other man in the mouth and grabbed his gun. He yelled at Logan to duck, which he did, but not quickly enough in the bulky exoskeleton. As Lydecker and the other man were struggling, the gun went off, grazing Logan's arm as he crouched by the Aztek. Lydecker shot the two soldiers behind Logan, dropping them like rocks. Then he knocked the other man to the ground.
"You shot me!" Logan cried, clutching his bicep. He glared at Lydecker.
"I told you to duck," Lydecker replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "It just winged you."
Logan was still in shock, but was about to get out of his crouch and approach Lydecker when the man with the eyepatch, recovered from Lydecker's intrusive elbow, started to yell at the colonel. Logan didn't catch all of the conversation, but knew it was angry when Lydecker wrenched the man's arm behind his back, pulled out his own weapon, and pointed it at the man's head. Logan stayed put, still in his crouch.
Lydecker was ranting about his "kids" - Logan assumed he was referring to the X5s - and going on about Renfro murdering them. He pushed the other man to the ground and threatened him. But the guy wouldn't stay down. Whatever they were discussing, the man didn't seem to know much about it. Logan assumed he was some sort of Manticore flunky.
The other guy touched his bloody lip and asked Lydecker to take him to the hospital. But Lydecker said there was a small problem with that. He gestured toward Logan and indicated that the other man had gotten a look at him, and that this was a bad thing.
The black man protested that he had hardly seen Logan, that his depth perception was shot, that all white boys looked alike, which irked Logan.
Lydecker turned to Logan and asked him, "What do you think?" It sounded to Logan that Lydecker was trying to protect his Eyes Only persona. But before he could answer, the black guy went for his gun, which Lydecker had tossed on the ground behind him. Without turning around, Lydecker shot him dead.
Logan had heard stories about Lydecker's ruthlessness from Max, but this was the first time he'd seen it up close. Lydecker had always treated him with some deference, even paternally at times, so this came as a shock to him. Warily, gun in hand, Logan approached Lydecker.
They both looked down at the body on the floor. Without missing a beat, Lydecker commented, "We never really liked each other, did we?"
Then he turned to Logan and said, "So you want to know about Manticore?"
Logan nodded. "Do you mind if I record this, just for my own files?"
"No, go ahead. I'll tell you whatever you want to know. I want this over as much as you do."
*****
Several hours later, tired, sore, and almost overwhelmed by the information Lydecker had provided, Logan arrived back at his penthouse. His arm hurt like hell where he had been grazed by the stray bullet and he ruefully figured he'd have to throw his shirt away.
He threw his keys on the table in the hall and wearily made his way to the kitchen for a glass of water. He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a voice from the living room.
"Hey, how'd it go?" Asha's head popped up from the couch, where she had been napping.
"Weird. But at least I got what I wanted."
"Good." Asha got up and came over to join him. "My God, Logan, what happened? You're bleeding!"
"I was grazed by a bullet. It's nothing, just hurts."
"Well, at least let me look at it. I've got some first aid training - another fun aspect of membership in the S1W. Do you have a kit somewhere?"
"In the bathroom. In the cabinet."
Asha trotted off to get the first aid kit while Logan, glass of water in hand, sat down at his computer, took the tiny tape recorder out of his pocket, and put it on the desk. Now that he had so much information on Manticore, he had to decide what to do with it, how it would all fit into his plan to destroy the project. He had an urgent need for sleep. But first, that wound needed attention.
"OK, Logan. Strip off that shirt," Asha said in a matter-of-fact voice.
"-Asha, it's just my arm," Logan protested.
"So, roll up your sleeve then. It's not like I haven't seen you naked, you know."
Logan took off his shirt and examined the damaged sleeve to see if it could be repaired. It didn't look too bad. He'd try to stitch it up later, if the dried blood would wash out.
"Ow!" he cried suddenly. Asha had applied a cotton ball full of alcohol to his bicep.
"Hold still and don't be such a wuss!" she ordered. "Honestly, Logan, about your pain threshold."
"My pain threshold is just fine, as I've found out continuously over the past year or so."
"Sorry," she apologized. "I'm almost done here. It's only a nasty scratch. Just needed cleaning and a bandaid."
Asha finished cleaning the wound and covered it with a square, flesh- colored bandage. Stepping back, she admired her handiwork and Logan's bare chest.
"There, all done. It should heal quickly. Just be sore for a few days."
"Thanks, Asha. Sorry I snapped at you. It's been a - tense day."
"I guess so. When was the last time you were shot at?"
"March, April, something like that," Logan said wryly. "At least this time, I came away with the information I was looking for."
"On Manticore? That's great."
"Yeah, now all I have to do is sort through it all so I can - get it to Eyes Only in a form he can use for his hacks."
"Sounds like a real breakthrough. I'm so happy for you." Asha hugged Logan. He grimaced a bit in pain.
"Thanks. Now, did you get through the sector check OK?"
"Yes, thanks for letting me hide that box here. It's gone - I took it to the safe house for the rest of the guys."
"I don't recall that the S1W was heavily into firepower."
"No, we're not, but we need to protect ourselves, especially since that little caper at the VA. You never know when we'll need more than handguns."
"Well, be careful. I can't afford to lose any more - friends" Logan said. "Look, Asha, I am beat. I've got to get some sleep. You're welcome to stick around if you want."
"That's OK. I've got some things to do. I can come back and fix dinner, if you like."
"Yeah, that would be nice. Give me, ah," Logan looked at his watch, "three hours."
"Fine. I'll be back at six. See ya then. Get some rest."
Asha kissed Logan on the cheek, grabbed her backpack, and left.
*****
Logan went into his bedroom, sat down on the bed, and got undressed. He turned off the exoskeleton and got out of it, took off his glasses, then lay down to take a nap. He decided against taking a sleeping pill, since those were good for eight hours and he wasn't planning to be asleep that long.
He shut his eyes and tried to relax, but as usual, it didn't happen. For a while he just lay there, thinking about what Lydecker had told him. There was so much information to process: the genetics experiments; the harsh military training; the culling of 'imperfect' soldiers and the exploratory autopsies Lydecker had witnessed; the various locations he knew about and the hints that there were more that he didn't know about; the controlling Committee and the names of some of the members; Renfro and her experiments.
When Logan finally slipped into sleep, his dreams were disturbing. He dreamt of Max, as a child, undergoing the strict training and inhumane drills Lydecker had described. He dreamt of her wondering what had happened to her less-than-perfect companions who disappeared, and he dreamt of what her life might be like if she had remained at Manticore. Would she have become an assassin like Jace or an unfeeling soldier like Brin? Would her seizures have rendered her the object of an autopsy, or would she have been cured of them as Brin had been?
At least she was at peace now, his dreams told him. At least she had had a few happy times, like his cousin Bennett's wedding, the dinners and chess games they had shared, the basketball games she had watched him play. He was grateful that he had been able to give her that. And now, with the information Lydecker had just given him, he would be able to give her vindication, and avenge the death of his dark angel.
His sleep was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. He opened his eyes and peered at the clock; it was nearly 6 PM. Asha must have returned. Logan pulled himself up into a sitting position, noticing that his pillow was damp, and put his glasses on. Once again, sleep had not brought him rest. He sighed as he transferred to the wheelchair and went to the closet for a change of clothes.
A few minutes later, he emerged from the bedroom wearing a red tee shirt and a pair of black cargo pants. His feet were bare.
"Hey," he said to Asha.
"Hey, yourself. Feel any better?"
"Not really, but thanks for asking."
"I brought some groceries. Figured if I was gonna cook, the least I could do was provide the ingredients. And I seem to recall that you like grilled salmon."
"Wow, salmon." Logan was impressed. "Should I ask where you found salmon around here?"
"Just like you, I have my sources," she teased. "Well, you can relax for a change. Tonight I have kitchen duty."
"OK." Logan wheeled over to the computer room and turned on his computer, preparing to transcribe what Lydecker had told him. While Asha puttered in the kitchen, Logan put on his headset and plugged the cord into the tape recorder. As Lydecker's voice droned on, Logan rapidly typed up the transcript, pausing every now and then to annotate a particular point. He was practically holding his breath, so devastating was the information Lydecker had given him.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when Asha tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, dinner's ready, Logan. Back to reality."
Reluctantly, he turned off the tape recorder, shut down the computer, and wheeled into the dining room. Asha had outdone herself. The table was set with candles and a small vase of flowers. There was a platter of perfectly grilled salmon, a bowl of wild rice, and a tossed salad on the table.
"Whoa! Who did you have to kill for all this food?" Logan asked.
Asha grinned. "I have my contacts, you have yours. I didn't even have to sleep with anyone. It's amazing what some people will do for a .357."
"You swapped a gun for food?" Logan queried, setting his brakes.
"Well, the poor guy was getting ripped off almost on a daily basis by a couple of Steelheads. I just helped him level the playing field. He was so grateful. He'll keep me in fresh fish for a long time."
"You have obviously learned the lesson of 'quid pro quo' well," Logan said, a smile on his face.
"I learn from the best," Asha replied. "Eat. You look like you need it."
Logan hadn't realized how hungry he was until he tasted the salmon. Then he ate like a condemned man. Asha beamed, knowing that she had been able to match his culinary prowess at last, and that she also had been able to distract him momentarily from his obsession with Manticore. But her efforts to draw him out about the circumstances of his meeting with Lydecker or how he got shot at were fruitless. Logan was in his own world - no girls allowed.
Dinner concluded with fresh fruit and a nice, unpretentious dessert wine.
"My compliments to the chef," Logan said at last. "I don't normally get wined and dined like this."
"Yeah, I'm guessing that you do the wining and dining," Asha stated, a smile in her voice.
Logan replied sadly. "Kinda makes up for not being able to take them dancing."
Asha rolled her eyes and began to clear the table. "I'm not even going there."
"Let me do that. After all, you cooked."
"Nah, go back to your tape recorder. It looks like you've got something important there and I don't want to hold you up."
"It's OK," Logan insisted, torn between getting back to work on the tape and thanking Asha in a really unique way. Nonetheless, he unlocked his brakes and headed back to the computer room.
"I'll make a deal with you," Asha said. "You go work on whatever it is you're working on, and I'll clean up the kitchen. When I'm done, I'll tap you on the shoulder again and see how far you jump, and we'll take it from there."
Logan looked down apologetically. "I'm sorry. It's just that this is really important.."
"I know it is." Asha carried the dishes into the kitchen. It always is, she thought.
*****
The dishes were washed and put away. The wine bottle had been re-corked and gently laid in the wine rack; the leftovers had been put in the refrigerator. The kitchen was all tidy. Asha untied the apron and hung it on a peg, then headed over to the computer room. Logan was furiously typing the transcript, his attention focused totally on the tape.
Asha came up behind him and gently massaged his shoulders. Logan smiled contentedly and switched off the tape recorder.
"Mmmm, that feels good."
"Yeah, I thought you were tense. How about quitting for the night? It's nearly ten."
Logan rubbed his neck, his hand touching Asha's. "I probably should. I'm beat." Asha withdrew her hand as he leaned over. He shut down the computer, locked the tape recorder in a drawer, and took off the headset. As he wheeled into the kitchen, he asked Asha if she wanted another glass of wine.
"I probably shouldn't. I have to drive home," she said expectantly, hoping he would ask her to stay the night.
"One small glass won't hurt you," he insisted. His back was to her, so he couldn't see the hurt expression on her face.
"Well, if you insist," Asha replied as she moved to the living room and sat on the couch. A few minutes later, Logan joined her, rolling up next to the couch with the bottle of wine and two wine glasses in his lap. He placed the bottle and glasses on the coffee table, locked his brakes, and transferred to the couch next to her.
He took her hand. "Dinner really was wonderful. Thanks so much. I needed that. Today was - intense. I found Lydecker, or rather, he found me. We arranged a meeting. When I got there, I thought he had sold me out to Manticore - he was with some guy from Manticore, and two soldiers came up behind me, guns drawn."
"My God!" Asha turned toward Logan and put her other hand on his shoulder.
"But Lydecker had a few tricks up his sleeve. He wrestled the gun away from the Manticore guy - that's how I got shot - knocked him to the ground and shot the two soldiers. I still wasn't sure what was going on, but the Manticore guy wouldn't stay down. He went for the gun and Lydecker shot him down where he stood. Then Lydecker spilled his guts to me all about Manticore. I've got what I need to have Eyes Only take Manticore down."
Asha moved closer to Logan and put her arm around him. "Logan, I'm so glad. I know how hard this has been on you. Your mission's almost complete. Once you get that information to Eyes Only, maybe you can finally have some peace."
"Peace, yeah, maybe. That would be nice, wouldn't it?" He lay his head on Asha's shoulder and wept.
Chapter Ten
It was early afternoon and Logan still wasn't getting very far in his searches. Frustrated, he decided to take a break and start again. His cell phone rang - the private Eyes Only line that only a few carefully selected people knew about. He reached for it in anticipation. Maybe one of his contacts had finally come through.
The voice on the other end startled him. It was Lydecker.
"I caught your hacks," he said. "Looks like you and I are on the same side again. I've got some information for you. We need to meet."
"Where? When?" Logan grabbed a note pad.
"Uh-oh, some one's coming. I gotta go. I'll call you back." The phone went dead.
"Damn!" Logan almost threw it across the floor. He had no choice but to wait for Lydecker to call back. In the meantime, he decided, he better be ready for whatever Deck had in mind, so he logged out and shut down the computers. Slipping the cell phone into his shirt pocket, Logan wheeled back into his bedroom.
He transferred to the edge of the bed and stripped off his pants. Unbuckling the fasteners on the exoskeleton, he struggled into it. He turned on the servomotor and carefully stood up. Balancing on unfeeling feet, he adjusted it with a small wrench and screwdriver, then did a couple of deep knee bends to test it out. It seemed to be working all right. As he reached for his pants, his cell phone rang again.
"Yeah?" he said tersely, unsnapping the legs of the pants he had bought the previous year from a catalogue of handicapped-specific clothing. They were comfortable and easy to put on, which was the whole point, he supposed.
"OK. It's safe now," Lydecker said. "I'm at the warehouse where we planned the raid on Manticore." The warehouse was just inside the city limits in Sector Three. "Meet me at three."
Logan snapped the pants legs over the exoskeleton. He was in such a hurry that he didn't fasten all the snaps.
"No," he replied, "I wanna do it now."
Obviously, his impatience annoyed Lydecker, who protested.
"Yeah, right now!" Logan insisted, and Lydecker finally agreed. "Okay. I'll meet you there." He rang off.
As he headed toward the door, Logan put the cell phone back in his pocket and grabbed his keys from the table. He opened the door, just in time to nearly knock over Asha on the outside, carrying a large, heavy box. He quickly discovered that the box contained guns for the S1W, which she didn't want the checkpoint police to see. That was only natural, so he quickly told her that it was all right to leave it at his place for a day or two. Then he hurried off to his meeting with Lydecker.
*****
The meeting didn't go well at first. As Logan got out of the car, Lydecker approached him. But then another man, a black man with an eyepatch, stepped from behind a pillar, with a gun pointed at him. Logan was sure that the older man had betrayed him, especially when two armed soldiers came up behind him. Lydecker didn't disabuse him of that idea when he said "Sorry, son."
But just when Logan thought that it was all going to end right there, with more bullets in his body, Lydecker elbowed the other man in the mouth and grabbed his gun. He yelled at Logan to duck, which he did, but not quickly enough in the bulky exoskeleton. As Lydecker and the other man were struggling, the gun went off, grazing Logan's arm as he crouched by the Aztek. Lydecker shot the two soldiers behind Logan, dropping them like rocks. Then he knocked the other man to the ground.
"You shot me!" Logan cried, clutching his bicep. He glared at Lydecker.
"I told you to duck," Lydecker replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "It just winged you."
Logan was still in shock, but was about to get out of his crouch and approach Lydecker when the man with the eyepatch, recovered from Lydecker's intrusive elbow, started to yell at the colonel. Logan didn't catch all of the conversation, but knew it was angry when Lydecker wrenched the man's arm behind his back, pulled out his own weapon, and pointed it at the man's head. Logan stayed put, still in his crouch.
Lydecker was ranting about his "kids" - Logan assumed he was referring to the X5s - and going on about Renfro murdering them. He pushed the other man to the ground and threatened him. But the guy wouldn't stay down. Whatever they were discussing, the man didn't seem to know much about it. Logan assumed he was some sort of Manticore flunky.
The other guy touched his bloody lip and asked Lydecker to take him to the hospital. But Lydecker said there was a small problem with that. He gestured toward Logan and indicated that the other man had gotten a look at him, and that this was a bad thing.
The black man protested that he had hardly seen Logan, that his depth perception was shot, that all white boys looked alike, which irked Logan.
Lydecker turned to Logan and asked him, "What do you think?" It sounded to Logan that Lydecker was trying to protect his Eyes Only persona. But before he could answer, the black guy went for his gun, which Lydecker had tossed on the ground behind him. Without turning around, Lydecker shot him dead.
Logan had heard stories about Lydecker's ruthlessness from Max, but this was the first time he'd seen it up close. Lydecker had always treated him with some deference, even paternally at times, so this came as a shock to him. Warily, gun in hand, Logan approached Lydecker.
They both looked down at the body on the floor. Without missing a beat, Lydecker commented, "We never really liked each other, did we?"
Then he turned to Logan and said, "So you want to know about Manticore?"
Logan nodded. "Do you mind if I record this, just for my own files?"
"No, go ahead. I'll tell you whatever you want to know. I want this over as much as you do."
*****
Several hours later, tired, sore, and almost overwhelmed by the information Lydecker had provided, Logan arrived back at his penthouse. His arm hurt like hell where he had been grazed by the stray bullet and he ruefully figured he'd have to throw his shirt away.
He threw his keys on the table in the hall and wearily made his way to the kitchen for a glass of water. He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a voice from the living room.
"Hey, how'd it go?" Asha's head popped up from the couch, where she had been napping.
"Weird. But at least I got what I wanted."
"Good." Asha got up and came over to join him. "My God, Logan, what happened? You're bleeding!"
"I was grazed by a bullet. It's nothing, just hurts."
"Well, at least let me look at it. I've got some first aid training - another fun aspect of membership in the S1W. Do you have a kit somewhere?"
"In the bathroom. In the cabinet."
Asha trotted off to get the first aid kit while Logan, glass of water in hand, sat down at his computer, took the tiny tape recorder out of his pocket, and put it on the desk. Now that he had so much information on Manticore, he had to decide what to do with it, how it would all fit into his plan to destroy the project. He had an urgent need for sleep. But first, that wound needed attention.
"OK, Logan. Strip off that shirt," Asha said in a matter-of-fact voice.
"-Asha, it's just my arm," Logan protested.
"So, roll up your sleeve then. It's not like I haven't seen you naked, you know."
Logan took off his shirt and examined the damaged sleeve to see if it could be repaired. It didn't look too bad. He'd try to stitch it up later, if the dried blood would wash out.
"Ow!" he cried suddenly. Asha had applied a cotton ball full of alcohol to his bicep.
"Hold still and don't be such a wuss!" she ordered. "Honestly, Logan, about your pain threshold."
"My pain threshold is just fine, as I've found out continuously over the past year or so."
"Sorry," she apologized. "I'm almost done here. It's only a nasty scratch. Just needed cleaning and a bandaid."
Asha finished cleaning the wound and covered it with a square, flesh- colored bandage. Stepping back, she admired her handiwork and Logan's bare chest.
"There, all done. It should heal quickly. Just be sore for a few days."
"Thanks, Asha. Sorry I snapped at you. It's been a - tense day."
"I guess so. When was the last time you were shot at?"
"March, April, something like that," Logan said wryly. "At least this time, I came away with the information I was looking for."
"On Manticore? That's great."
"Yeah, now all I have to do is sort through it all so I can - get it to Eyes Only in a form he can use for his hacks."
"Sounds like a real breakthrough. I'm so happy for you." Asha hugged Logan. He grimaced a bit in pain.
"Thanks. Now, did you get through the sector check OK?"
"Yes, thanks for letting me hide that box here. It's gone - I took it to the safe house for the rest of the guys."
"I don't recall that the S1W was heavily into firepower."
"No, we're not, but we need to protect ourselves, especially since that little caper at the VA. You never know when we'll need more than handguns."
"Well, be careful. I can't afford to lose any more - friends" Logan said. "Look, Asha, I am beat. I've got to get some sleep. You're welcome to stick around if you want."
"That's OK. I've got some things to do. I can come back and fix dinner, if you like."
"Yeah, that would be nice. Give me, ah," Logan looked at his watch, "three hours."
"Fine. I'll be back at six. See ya then. Get some rest."
Asha kissed Logan on the cheek, grabbed her backpack, and left.
*****
Logan went into his bedroom, sat down on the bed, and got undressed. He turned off the exoskeleton and got out of it, took off his glasses, then lay down to take a nap. He decided against taking a sleeping pill, since those were good for eight hours and he wasn't planning to be asleep that long.
He shut his eyes and tried to relax, but as usual, it didn't happen. For a while he just lay there, thinking about what Lydecker had told him. There was so much information to process: the genetics experiments; the harsh military training; the culling of 'imperfect' soldiers and the exploratory autopsies Lydecker had witnessed; the various locations he knew about and the hints that there were more that he didn't know about; the controlling Committee and the names of some of the members; Renfro and her experiments.
When Logan finally slipped into sleep, his dreams were disturbing. He dreamt of Max, as a child, undergoing the strict training and inhumane drills Lydecker had described. He dreamt of her wondering what had happened to her less-than-perfect companions who disappeared, and he dreamt of what her life might be like if she had remained at Manticore. Would she have become an assassin like Jace or an unfeeling soldier like Brin? Would her seizures have rendered her the object of an autopsy, or would she have been cured of them as Brin had been?
At least she was at peace now, his dreams told him. At least she had had a few happy times, like his cousin Bennett's wedding, the dinners and chess games they had shared, the basketball games she had watched him play. He was grateful that he had been able to give her that. And now, with the information Lydecker had just given him, he would be able to give her vindication, and avenge the death of his dark angel.
His sleep was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. He opened his eyes and peered at the clock; it was nearly 6 PM. Asha must have returned. Logan pulled himself up into a sitting position, noticing that his pillow was damp, and put his glasses on. Once again, sleep had not brought him rest. He sighed as he transferred to the wheelchair and went to the closet for a change of clothes.
A few minutes later, he emerged from the bedroom wearing a red tee shirt and a pair of black cargo pants. His feet were bare.
"Hey," he said to Asha.
"Hey, yourself. Feel any better?"
"Not really, but thanks for asking."
"I brought some groceries. Figured if I was gonna cook, the least I could do was provide the ingredients. And I seem to recall that you like grilled salmon."
"Wow, salmon." Logan was impressed. "Should I ask where you found salmon around here?"
"Just like you, I have my sources," she teased. "Well, you can relax for a change. Tonight I have kitchen duty."
"OK." Logan wheeled over to the computer room and turned on his computer, preparing to transcribe what Lydecker had told him. While Asha puttered in the kitchen, Logan put on his headset and plugged the cord into the tape recorder. As Lydecker's voice droned on, Logan rapidly typed up the transcript, pausing every now and then to annotate a particular point. He was practically holding his breath, so devastating was the information Lydecker had given him.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when Asha tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, dinner's ready, Logan. Back to reality."
Reluctantly, he turned off the tape recorder, shut down the computer, and wheeled into the dining room. Asha had outdone herself. The table was set with candles and a small vase of flowers. There was a platter of perfectly grilled salmon, a bowl of wild rice, and a tossed salad on the table.
"Whoa! Who did you have to kill for all this food?" Logan asked.
Asha grinned. "I have my contacts, you have yours. I didn't even have to sleep with anyone. It's amazing what some people will do for a .357."
"You swapped a gun for food?" Logan queried, setting his brakes.
"Well, the poor guy was getting ripped off almost on a daily basis by a couple of Steelheads. I just helped him level the playing field. He was so grateful. He'll keep me in fresh fish for a long time."
"You have obviously learned the lesson of 'quid pro quo' well," Logan said, a smile on his face.
"I learn from the best," Asha replied. "Eat. You look like you need it."
Logan hadn't realized how hungry he was until he tasted the salmon. Then he ate like a condemned man. Asha beamed, knowing that she had been able to match his culinary prowess at last, and that she also had been able to distract him momentarily from his obsession with Manticore. But her efforts to draw him out about the circumstances of his meeting with Lydecker or how he got shot at were fruitless. Logan was in his own world - no girls allowed.
Dinner concluded with fresh fruit and a nice, unpretentious dessert wine.
"My compliments to the chef," Logan said at last. "I don't normally get wined and dined like this."
"Yeah, I'm guessing that you do the wining and dining," Asha stated, a smile in her voice.
Logan replied sadly. "Kinda makes up for not being able to take them dancing."
Asha rolled her eyes and began to clear the table. "I'm not even going there."
"Let me do that. After all, you cooked."
"Nah, go back to your tape recorder. It looks like you've got something important there and I don't want to hold you up."
"It's OK," Logan insisted, torn between getting back to work on the tape and thanking Asha in a really unique way. Nonetheless, he unlocked his brakes and headed back to the computer room.
"I'll make a deal with you," Asha said. "You go work on whatever it is you're working on, and I'll clean up the kitchen. When I'm done, I'll tap you on the shoulder again and see how far you jump, and we'll take it from there."
Logan looked down apologetically. "I'm sorry. It's just that this is really important.."
"I know it is." Asha carried the dishes into the kitchen. It always is, she thought.
*****
The dishes were washed and put away. The wine bottle had been re-corked and gently laid in the wine rack; the leftovers had been put in the refrigerator. The kitchen was all tidy. Asha untied the apron and hung it on a peg, then headed over to the computer room. Logan was furiously typing the transcript, his attention focused totally on the tape.
Asha came up behind him and gently massaged his shoulders. Logan smiled contentedly and switched off the tape recorder.
"Mmmm, that feels good."
"Yeah, I thought you were tense. How about quitting for the night? It's nearly ten."
Logan rubbed his neck, his hand touching Asha's. "I probably should. I'm beat." Asha withdrew her hand as he leaned over. He shut down the computer, locked the tape recorder in a drawer, and took off the headset. As he wheeled into the kitchen, he asked Asha if she wanted another glass of wine.
"I probably shouldn't. I have to drive home," she said expectantly, hoping he would ask her to stay the night.
"One small glass won't hurt you," he insisted. His back was to her, so he couldn't see the hurt expression on her face.
"Well, if you insist," Asha replied as she moved to the living room and sat on the couch. A few minutes later, Logan joined her, rolling up next to the couch with the bottle of wine and two wine glasses in his lap. He placed the bottle and glasses on the coffee table, locked his brakes, and transferred to the couch next to her.
He took her hand. "Dinner really was wonderful. Thanks so much. I needed that. Today was - intense. I found Lydecker, or rather, he found me. We arranged a meeting. When I got there, I thought he had sold me out to Manticore - he was with some guy from Manticore, and two soldiers came up behind me, guns drawn."
"My God!" Asha turned toward Logan and put her other hand on his shoulder.
"But Lydecker had a few tricks up his sleeve. He wrestled the gun away from the Manticore guy - that's how I got shot - knocked him to the ground and shot the two soldiers. I still wasn't sure what was going on, but the Manticore guy wouldn't stay down. He went for the gun and Lydecker shot him down where he stood. Then Lydecker spilled his guts to me all about Manticore. I've got what I need to have Eyes Only take Manticore down."
Asha moved closer to Logan and put her arm around him. "Logan, I'm so glad. I know how hard this has been on you. Your mission's almost complete. Once you get that information to Eyes Only, maybe you can finally have some peace."
"Peace, yeah, maybe. That would be nice, wouldn't it?" He lay his head on Asha's shoulder and wept.