Private Corporation, Part Thirteen
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centerMax/center
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"I've got your disk," Max said into the phone. She could tell that Michaela was pissed off, and hoped that she wasn't too out of it.
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"Bring it here, to the house."
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"Sorry, no can do. You meet me at this place in Sector Three, and I'll give you the disk. Anyone else turns up, on either side, deal's off."
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"All right then."
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Hah! Max thought. Bitch 0, Max 1. "Good. I'll meet you there tomorrow, six pm."
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"Wait a minute," Michaela said in a sly voice. "You wouldn't happen to have a little transgenic boyfriend, would you?"
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iAlec/i. Bitch 1, Max 1. "What have you done with him?" Max asked through gritted teeth. "If you've done anything -"
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"Calm down," Michaela said airily. Max felt, just as Alec had, that Michaela was much scarier when she was in a good mood - or pretending to be. "He's safe enough. I'll swap him ofr the disk, if you meet me at the place you've mentioned in two hours."
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Bitch 2, Max 1. This wasn't good. "Prove he's with you," Max said, "and I'll meet you. If not, you can kiss your sorry ass goodbye."
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Bitch 2, Max 2. "All right then. I'll put him on." There was silence, and Max held her breath. But then there was a click, and Alec came on the phone.
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"Max!"
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"Alec. What the Hell were you doing out there?"
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"No time," Alec said quickly. "Max - do you remember? The enemy of my enemy. Tiger in the well. Remember the lesson?"
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"What -" Max began, but the phone was taken off him and Michaela came back on. "Two hours. Do you understand?"
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She hung up and Max turned to Logan. "Great," she said unhappily. "I have to meet her in two hours, with no other people. She has Alec."
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Logan frowned. "So what are you going to do?"
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"Go meet him. Then I'll give Michaela the disk." Max paced the floor. "But there was something he said -"
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"What?"
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"He said something about lessons. The enemy of my enemy - that's easy enough to figure out. But the tiger in the well. I don't know if I stuck around long enough to earn that one."
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"The enemy of my enemy?" Logan asked. "It makes no sense to me."
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"iThat/i one's easy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Basically, if a third party enters who is fighting the same people you are, join forces with them. But i can't think who that would be."
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Max paced some more, muttering to herself. Bits and pieces of Manticore lessons came back to her, but little were of any use, except for sentimental value: eva whispering to Zac, Ben make pictures on the projector when Lycecker wasn't looking, the day they'd decided to piss him off by answering all the lessons wrong. Brin and Tinga facing each other off in defence class.
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But finally, something came to her. "The tiger in the well was one of the last things we learned at Manticore. I couldn't see how it fitted in with the lessons until Zac came up with the answer. The tiger in the well was an old story - Chinese, I think."
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"So what did it mean?" Logan asked impatiently. "Explain."
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"If I can remember it." Max sighed. "Ok. There was a little village in China, where they got water from a well. One day, a little boy ran up the path screaming. 'iThere's a tiger in the well/i!' he shouted. All the village people came running with sticks, ropes, anything that came to hand. They crowded around to look, and there was the tiger." Max paused, thinking. "Then... The tiger was crouched down on a little platform about halfway down, and it couldn't get out. They - the villagers - couldn't get water, because the tiger destroyed the buckets. They couldn't kill it or it would pollute the well. And they couldn't get it out alive."
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"I thought you said you couldn't remember it," Logan interrupted.
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"It's all coming back to me. And I can't remember the little bits that make it sound good. Anyway, they prayed to the Gods, apparently. And it rained, and the well flooded, and then... The tiger drowned and they pulled it out."
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"I still don't get it," Logan said after a few minutes."
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"It's not that hard," Max said. "The people needed a third party to help before they could manage to beat the tiger. The point of the Tiger In the Well was to explain to us kids that sometimes, much as we hated it, we needed someone's help."
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"How does that fit in with the 'enemy of my enemy'? I don't understand what Alec meant."
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"We need help, an enemy of the CIA, obviously," Max paced, thinking. "The only person I can see in this is Lydecker."
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"And let me gues: You can't use him because he might get killed," Logan said, standing up. "Did you ever think he might iwant/i to help?"
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"That's not the point!" Max said. "It's not: he might get killed; it's nearly a certainty!"
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"You wouldn't have cared before," Logan said with a bit of a grin.
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"Things change," Max grumbled. When Logan just stared at her, she frowned. "Ok, ok!" she gave in. "Give me the phone."
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centerAlec/center
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"iWhat/i did you tell them?" Michaela shouted.
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Alec just stared at her. She'd gone from that wierd state where she was dragging up all her old wounds to absolutely insane again. He wondered vaguely if she was beyond help or if it was just the CIA holding her back.
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"I don't know what you're talking about," Alec said.
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"Michaela frowned. "Lucky for you, I can't test that right now." She went to the door. "Jack!" she yelled. "Blair! Get in here now!"
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Two men came to the door. "Yes Boss?" one of them asked.
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"Get him into the truck," she ordered. "And get ready to leave. Full arms. Just the two of you, do you understand? And get me that laptop that's in the computer room. I want to check that disk when I get it, before I hand him over."
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iNow/i, Alec thought. The fun begins now. I only hope Max got the message in time, or we're all as good as dead.
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A/N: Review me!!
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centerMax/center
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"I've got your disk," Max said into the phone. She could tell that Michaela was pissed off, and hoped that she wasn't too out of it.
br
br
"Bring it here, to the house."
br
br
"Sorry, no can do. You meet me at this place in Sector Three, and I'll give you the disk. Anyone else turns up, on either side, deal's off."
br
br
"All right then."
br
br
Hah! Max thought. Bitch 0, Max 1. "Good. I'll meet you there tomorrow, six pm."
br
br
"Wait a minute," Michaela said in a sly voice. "You wouldn't happen to have a little transgenic boyfriend, would you?"
br
br
iAlec/i. Bitch 1, Max 1. "What have you done with him?" Max asked through gritted teeth. "If you've done anything -"
br
br
"Calm down," Michaela said airily. Max felt, just as Alec had, that Michaela was much scarier when she was in a good mood - or pretending to be. "He's safe enough. I'll swap him ofr the disk, if you meet me at the place you've mentioned in two hours."
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br
Bitch 2, Max 1. This wasn't good. "Prove he's with you," Max said, "and I'll meet you. If not, you can kiss your sorry ass goodbye."
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Bitch 2, Max 2. "All right then. I'll put him on." There was silence, and Max held her breath. But then there was a click, and Alec came on the phone.
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"Max!"
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"Alec. What the Hell were you doing out there?"
br
br
"No time," Alec said quickly. "Max - do you remember? The enemy of my enemy. Tiger in the well. Remember the lesson?"
br
br
"What -" Max began, but the phone was taken off him and Michaela came back on. "Two hours. Do you understand?"
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She hung up and Max turned to Logan. "Great," she said unhappily. "I have to meet her in two hours, with no other people. She has Alec."
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Logan frowned. "So what are you going to do?"
br
br
"Go meet him. Then I'll give Michaela the disk." Max paced the floor. "But there was something he said -"
br
br
"What?"
br
br
"He said something about lessons. The enemy of my enemy - that's easy enough to figure out. But the tiger in the well. I don't know if I stuck around long enough to earn that one."
br
br
"The enemy of my enemy?" Logan asked. "It makes no sense to me."
br
br
"iThat/i one's easy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Basically, if a third party enters who is fighting the same people you are, join forces with them. But i can't think who that would be."
br
br
Max paced some more, muttering to herself. Bits and pieces of Manticore lessons came back to her, but little were of any use, except for sentimental value: eva whispering to Zac, Ben make pictures on the projector when Lycecker wasn't looking, the day they'd decided to piss him off by answering all the lessons wrong. Brin and Tinga facing each other off in defence class.
br
br
But finally, something came to her. "The tiger in the well was one of the last things we learned at Manticore. I couldn't see how it fitted in with the lessons until Zac came up with the answer. The tiger in the well was an old story - Chinese, I think."
br
br
"So what did it mean?" Logan asked impatiently. "Explain."
br
br
"If I can remember it." Max sighed. "Ok. There was a little village in China, where they got water from a well. One day, a little boy ran up the path screaming. 'iThere's a tiger in the well/i!' he shouted. All the village people came running with sticks, ropes, anything that came to hand. They crowded around to look, and there was the tiger." Max paused, thinking. "Then... The tiger was crouched down on a little platform about halfway down, and it couldn't get out. They - the villagers - couldn't get water, because the tiger destroyed the buckets. They couldn't kill it or it would pollute the well. And they couldn't get it out alive."
br
br
"I thought you said you couldn't remember it," Logan interrupted.
br
br
"It's all coming back to me. And I can't remember the little bits that make it sound good. Anyway, they prayed to the Gods, apparently. And it rained, and the well flooded, and then... The tiger drowned and they pulled it out."
br
br
"I still don't get it," Logan said after a few minutes."
br
br
"It's not that hard," Max said. "The people needed a third party to help before they could manage to beat the tiger. The point of the Tiger In the Well was to explain to us kids that sometimes, much as we hated it, we needed someone's help."
br
br
"How does that fit in with the 'enemy of my enemy'? I don't understand what Alec meant."
br
br
"We need help, an enemy of the CIA, obviously," Max paced, thinking. "The only person I can see in this is Lydecker."
br
br
"And let me gues: You can't use him because he might get killed," Logan said, standing up. "Did you ever think he might iwant/i to help?"
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"That's not the point!" Max said. "It's not: he might get killed; it's nearly a certainty!"
br
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"You wouldn't have cared before," Logan said with a bit of a grin.
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"Things change," Max grumbled. When Logan just stared at her, she frowned. "Ok, ok!" she gave in. "Give me the phone."
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centerAlec/center
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"iWhat/i did you tell them?" Michaela shouted.
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Alec just stared at her. She'd gone from that wierd state where she was dragging up all her old wounds to absolutely insane again. He wondered vaguely if she was beyond help or if it was just the CIA holding her back.
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"I don't know what you're talking about," Alec said.
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br
"Michaela frowned. "Lucky for you, I can't test that right now." She went to the door. "Jack!" she yelled. "Blair! Get in here now!"
br
br
Two men came to the door. "Yes Boss?" one of them asked.
br
br
"Get him into the truck," she ordered. "And get ready to leave. Full arms. Just the two of you, do you understand? And get me that laptop that's in the computer room. I want to check that disk when I get it, before I hand him over."
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iNow/i, Alec thought. The fun begins now. I only hope Max got the message in time, or we're all as good as dead.
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A/N: Review me!!