ARCHIVE: No
By Valjean
Plan B
Herman Sandeman, his hand resting on his cane and his wizened, elfin face crinkled with concern, listened to Max, nodding gravely.
"I've done my part," Max said, keeping her voice steady, strong. "Your Special One has fulfilled her duty to mankind, and believe me it wasn't exactly easy. You know the pain I've gone through, the mental and physical torment. I figure now -- you owe me. And I'm here to collect my payment."
"And that payment would be my child--?"
Max turned around and looked at Alec who was standing slightly behind her, as always guarding her back. "His life," she said bluntly. "And also the lives of our child and the rest of our people. We've served you well, and you said we'd be safe. Now, it's time to make good on that promise."
Sandeman sighed, a light sound like a breeze fluttering through the leaves of a tree. Then he tapped his cane on the floor three times, as if punctuating his thought process. But finally, in a move that chilled Max to the bone, he looked away.
He can't meet my eyes. He can't keep his promise. Alec and Brac are going to die.
"You promised!" Max said loudly, her voice tinged with desperation. Then, more softly, a half sob, "you promised."
"How frequent are the seizures?" Sandeman said, the question directed at Alec.
Alec shrugged, but before he could open his mouth Max spoke for him, knowing her mate would downplay his malady. "Several times a week," she said. "Sometimes they last for a couple of days, then he'll have a spell, like now, when he's free of them."
"And he's taking the tryptophan?"
"Of course," Alec replied quietly. "Have been for a couple of years." He glanced at Max. "More now than before though, and it doesn't work as well."
"He's building a tolerance," Sandeman said, more to himself than to them.
"Dr. Makari was experimenting with a drug that was supposed to enhance the uptake," Max said. "But he says he can't make it work."
"I know the compound," Sandeman replied. "It should work ... in fact it does in true humans. But for some reason it fails in transgenics. I haven't been able to decipher why."
"Well decipher it!" Max cried out. "Or whip up some other magic brew in your lab -- anything to help them!" She gestured to Alec, but meant her entire race of people.
"I'm sorry," Sandeman whispered, his voice tinged with true sorrow. "I truly thought my original children would be my army. But that can't happen now. There's nothing that can help you, no way to stop the breakdown in brain chemistry, not in the long run."
"So what about your so-called army then?" Alec asked. "What are you gonna do if you lose us?"
"That's already been taken care of," Sandeman said gently.
And Max knew right then and there that the last nail had just been hammered into Alec's coffin.
*****
"Plan B was a doozy," Alec commented mildly, doing an admirable job of keeping his awe, not to mention his fear, in check.
"Sure was," Max said, taking a deep calming breath. "I can't believe he did all of this ..." she gestured at the contents of the cavern spread out before them, "in just a year's time."
"We always knew there was a chance our experiment with your people would fail," Sandeman said, a proud smile on his wizened face. "This contingency plan was in place almost from the beginning."
They were standing on a catwalk looking down into a large cave located beneath Sandeman's Calvi castle. Filling the space were several dozen plexiglass vats, each containing a naked human form connected by tubes and wires to a central station and computer located in the center of the complex.
"You're growing soldiers," Max said. "Transgenic soldiers just like Alec and me. X5's."
Sandeman nodded. "Your ova provided the basic genetic material." He gestured at the vats. "All of these are your children, my child. As much so as your natural born son."
Max felt slightly ill at the thought. "Who's the father?" she had to ask with a quick glance at Alec who in turn shook his head adamantly no, re-enforcing his earlier assertion he and his sperm had nothing to do with this project.
"494 would have been the ideal choice," Sandeman said. He turned to Alec. "But I knew you'd never agree, and we'd already taken her eggs. I couldn't bring myself to steal more from the two of you."
"How thoughtful," Alec said, not even trying to conceal his sarcasm.
"Therefore, we made do with what we had."
"Riley." Max supplied the name.
"Correct," Sandeman affirmed. "We used advanced cloning techniques to turn a dozen embryos into nearly a hundred."
"But those are adults," Alec said, nodding at the tanks. "You said you only started a year ago."
"Forced growth," Sandeman said. "Special hormones were infused into the fetuses. They matured within the womb in only three months time, and have grown exponentially ever since. A few have even graduated from the tanks to begin training." He was looking sad again. "Of course they will have abysmally short lifespans, a few years of existence at most, not to mention abbreviated mental capacity. But in that time they will serve their purpose and we'll be constantly cloning more to replace the ones that die of old age."
Alec shuddered. "What about us?" he had to ask. "Were we given any of those growth stimulants when we were children? Are our life spans shortened, by more than the seizures I mean?"
"A little, maybe," Sandeman admitted. "There were certain hormones administered during your years at Manticore, but nothing as radical as this project. Your growth patterns were relatively normal, all things considered."
"All things considered," Max echoed the statement, wondering again about Brac's future what with the odd medical history of his parents. "So," she said. "This is your new army -- our replacements. This is why you don't need us anymore."
"Your sacrifices and contributions will always be remembered," Sandeman offered. "You won't be forgotten, Max. In the annals of human history your name will be written alongside the saints--"
"Oh, cut the crap!" Alec cried out. "We don't wanna be in the annals of anything! We wanna be alive!"
"I'm sorry," Sandeman said. "That's not going to happen. I can't help you. No one can."
Which is when Alec looked over at the main entrance to the cavern and saw four newly cloned X5 soldiers waiting to escort them out.
*****
"We're gonna blow it up, aren't we," Alec said. It wasn't a question.
"Of course," Max replied easily. "What Sandeman's created in there is an abomination."
He moved in front of her as she headed at a brisk pace down the hallway of the castle, walking backwards so he could face her. "A lot of people think we're abominations, too, Max."
She clenched her jaw. "I know. But it's still not the same. We were children. We grew up. We're--"
"Human?" Alec said. "Not quite. Or rather 'more than'."
"I was going to say we're relatively normal." She was still walking, fast, and Alec had to move his booted feet quickly to keep up. "He's using part of me, Alec. He stole my eggs ... my future children ... and used them to create those ... things."
Alec swallowed hard. "I've gotta admit, the thought of Riley bein' the father of your babies bothers the hell outta me."
"It's not Riley's fault."
"No, that credit goes to Logan ... and Lydecker. They're the ones who lobotomized the poor guy."
"Where those soldiers came from don't really matter anyway," Max said quietly.
"It doesn't? Max, you just pointed out that they're really your children. We blow that cave, we're gonna kill 'em all. Can you live with that?"
"Yes," she said adamantly.
"How? How can you live with something like that?"
"Because if we destroy Sandeman's new army it means he'll have to make due with the old one ... with us. It means he'll have to help us if he wants to defeat the Familiars. It takes away all his other options."
"It won't be easy," Alec said. "We're gonna hafta fight some X5's ... your kids so to speak."
"It's never easy," Max replied coldly. "And as for those imitation X5's, I say bring 'em on. Mama's waiting."
To be continued ...
Also, I'd like to encourage all M/A DARK ANGEL fans to read Max Collins' official prequel novel BEFORE THE DAWN. True, Alec isn't in the story (yet), but there's lots of canon background material in the book that would be pertinent to Alec later on. Plus, Mr. Collins says that Alec and Joshua will be "centerstage" in the DARK ANGEL sequel novel SKIN GAME coming out next February. -- author's note