A/N: The blood and shoes quote is a paraphrase from a Laurell k. Hamilton novel, Obsidian Butterfly. I do not lay claim to that line. The rest are all mine.
A/N#2: It has been pointed out that Case did not in fact have a barcode until Lydecker got to him. *sigh* My bad. However, I will figure something out to explain it. Thanks, ElleMsa! And of course there's no offense!
Cold War Chapter 7 - Exchanges-by Infie
Rhys' hands danced across the dials and buttons of his radio transceiver with the ease of long practice. Earphones were clamped tightly over his ears, and his brow was furrowed with concentration. His eyes were closed. Suddenly he stiffened, flinging out one hand and snapping his fingers wildly. "Alec! I've got it."
Alec was at his side in an instant, Joshua a footstep behind. "Put it on speaker," he ordered curtly. Rhys flipped the headset off and flicked the switch to the speaker.
[... you know what you're doing, Ames.] Zane's voice came through with the faintly muffled tone that signified a subcutaneous transmitter. [I think you may be underestimating 494.]
White's snort came through clearly. [I've dealt with 494 before.] he said dismissively. [I captured him shortly after the whole Manticore burning fiasco.]
[Really?] Zane sounded amused. [What happened?]
[We tasered him, then offered to let him go if he brought us three other barcodes.] White laughed. [He actually tried to double cross me! But we put a microexplosive in his head for ... motivational purposes.]
Zane's voice was bored. [I'm surprised you could handle him when he woke up. You must have been impressively armed.]
[We had a cage ready.] White laughed again. [All in all, 494 was not particularly impressive, Andrei.]
Rhys risked a look at Alec, whose face was tight and still. Alec shifted to look back at him, and Rhys flinched from the icy rage in his eyes.
Zane's voice rolled with amusement. [I am surprised that you're still alive, Ames. The last person who put 494 in a cage met a somewhat premature... and messy... end.]
[Ashkovich was a fool.] White told Zane pointedly. [He should have shot 494 on sight.]
[Ashkovich needed him, Ames. For the virus testing.] *pause* [You didn't know about that? I thought the Conclave told you everything.]
[Apparently not.] White's voice got louder and more menacing as he got closer to Zane. [I think you should fill me in.] Rhys snuck another look at Alec, puzzlement in his face.
Zane's smile was clear in his voice. [494 survived Orono, Ames. It's why he was sent to Ashkovich in the first place. We needed to know if his immunity would cover our latest version as well.]
[And he survived again.] White's voice was flat with rage.
[It's how Manticore got the vaccine, Ames. 494 brought Ashkovich's compound down on our heads and took the cure home with him.] Zane laughed out loud. [The look on your face! Don't tell me that you had the answer.. the real answer... to our questions about the trangenics' resistance to the virus in your hands and let him go?]
There was a choked sound, and White's voice came through very clearly. He had to be speaking right against Zane's ear. [452 will give me all the answers I need, Andrei.] The choking noise stopped, and the listening transgenics heard a rustle.
[I hope so, Ames.] Zane was still amused. [Cause I think that when 494 finds out that you have his girlfriend, the rest of us will just be trying not to get too much blood on our shoes.]
White snorted. [The transgenics are all dead. They just haven't had the sense to lie down yet.]
Alec drew his hand across his throat, and Rhys immediately cut the speaker, double checking that the equipment was recording. He nodded at Alec, who rose and began to pace.
"It's time, Alec. You can't put this off any longer." Mole spoke up from where he had approached unnoticed, Dix at his side. Other transgenics began filing in from the various entrances to the room, drawn by some instinctive knowledge.
"We need a leader, Alec. You." Joshua told him softly.
Alec snorted. "Please, enough sunshine already. You are all more than capable of leading yourselves. Christ... the X-series was built for charisma and leadership skills, and the rest of you have demonstrated more than your share of those things yourself. You don't need a leader at all. You just want someone to agree with you." The last came out bitterly.
Dix spoke, as grave as Alec had ever seen him. "We have those qualities, yes. But Alec, we also have one other one, one that was built right into our genes." He paused, then pushed on determinedly. "We know how to give orders, Alec. But we know... we need to take orders, too. And that is a vulnerability that you overcame long ago." His eyes flicked to Rhys, who looked away. "We need a leader to keep us going in the same direction. One who won't give in to the need to have a higher authority."
Alec stared at him blankly, then moved his gaze to Mole, who shifted under his scrutiny. He moved on to Dix, then spun to look at Rhys, and Joshua, and Johan, who had joined them. Slowly he swept the room, meeting the eyes of each transgenic in turn. They all returned his gaze steadily, if not comfortably. "You all feel this way?" He spoke to Joshua, who nodded sombrely. "Damn." Alec closed his eyes. "Look, guys, I'm flattered." He stopped, looked at the hopeful faces around him. "I'll think about it, ok?" Joshua nodded unhappily. "For now, let's just concentrate on finding Max. Rhys, Dix... find me surveillance video of the intersection where we found Max's bike. Mole, I want you and Joshua to get ready to head out. We may need to track her. The rest of you, business as usual." He sat down beside Rhys and leaned back, the very picture of nonchalance. Only the tightness around his eyes betrayed his disquiet. When no one moved, he looked around casually. "I don't recall that being a request," he said gently, and everyone leaped into action. When he turned back to the computer screens, Rhys was watching him with still eyes.
"You're the right one for the job." Rhys told him softly. "You've been filling the role all along, anyway."
"Shut up, Rhys." Alec sounded tired. "Get to work."
Four hours later, both Rhys and Dix were sweating under Alec's increasingly cold stare. Finally, Dix leaned back and grinned. "I've got it!" He announced proudly. "I found a camera with an angle on the intersection. Zane picked his spot pretty carefully. Just not carefully enough!" Alec grunted, but leaned forward to look.
Rhys blew out his breath thankfully. "Let's look," he said, bringing up the video feed on his own screen. They watched the van screetch to a halt, and collectively held their breath as Max stood the Ninja on its nose to avoid hitting it. They watched Zane come appear beside Max, and fire the taser. Zane dropped it beside the bike, then gave a long stare directly at the camera before gently placing Max in the van.
"Well, fuck me," Rhys breathed. "He knew it was there."
Alec nodded, squinting at the screen even more closely. "He wants us to see something."
Dix tapped the glass, drawing their attention to the back of the van. "The license plate," he said softly. "He stopped so we could see it."
Alec ran his hands through his hair, then stood abruptly and began to pace again. "Goddamnit. I hate this spook shit." He stopped and closed his eyes. "OK. Rhys, capture the info and find me that van. Dix, wipe all record of this from where you got it. I'm sure White's got people looking to see who his new pet traitor is." He shook himself, started away from them. "I need a coffee."
Rhys and Dix exhanged a look. "Hey.. do you think he'll agree to lead us?" Dix asked in a stage whisper.
Rhys' lips quirked. "I think he already is."
Forty minutes later, they found the van, near the edge of sector five. They studied the video of the area carefully, but saw no sign of Zane after he left it there the first time. Once again he had parked so that the license plate was clearly visible to the only camera in the vicinity, a bank's external video feed. Alec narrowed his eyes at the screen.
"Zane is playing a very dangerous game." Rhys commented to himself. "If White finds out that Zane was the one that took Max, or that we have Max back, Zane is dead."
"If I get my hands on him, he might end up dead anyway." Alec growled, but his brow was furrowed in thought. "Mole, Joshua, let's go get her. Rhys, monitor us from here. If it's a trick, you'll need to call out the troops."
They arrived at the van in record time, and Alec made short work of the lock on the sliding door. He checked the van over in microscopic detail before waving Mole forward to open the door.
Max was huddled in the back of the van, sleeping peacefully under a warm blanket. Alec leaped in and checked her pulse. It beat strong and regularly against his fingertips and he closed his eyes in relief. He gathered her into his arms and eased backwards out of the van. Joshua turned at gave the bank camera a thumbs up, then tenderly took Max from Alec to cradle her against his massive chest. Alec heaved a breath, then flipped open his cell.
[Rhys here.]
"Alec."
[Yeah. Glad she's okay. I'll put Lise on standby.]
"No." Alec paused, shaking his head at himself. "No... we can't risk anyone seeing Max and it getting back to White. Not yet."
[Okay.] Rhys was dubious. [So, what's the plan?]
"I'm not sure yet. I'm going to send Max with Joshua and Mole. Lise can meet them there. Mole will call with the location when they get there. I'm coming back in."
[Consider it taken care of.]
Alec flipped shut his phone, still staring at Max. "Shit." He muttered. "Shit."
Logan's earnest face peered at Alec from the computer screen. "Lise says the er..package.. is fine, Alec. No damage."
"Good. Any signs of activity?"
"Not yet. Lise says it'll be another 8 hours or so before the batteries recharge." Logan smirked.
Alec grinned despite himself. "It's probably the longest that package has been inactive, ever."
"Yeah." Logan sighed. "Look, Alec, I know it wasn't easy for you to come to me on this..." The cellphone in Alec's pocket rang, and he brought it out and stared at it for a long moment, before killing the connection to Logan mid-word.
"Rhys!" He shouted. "Showtime!"
Rhys vaulted the steps and landed beside Alec, taking a deep breath before flipping open the phone. He held it so that Alec could hear. "Yes?"
"I understand you're ready to deal." White's oily voice came through clearly.
"I have what you want." Rhys replied defiantly. "You're gonna give us what we want."
"Sounds fair." White paused. "I want 452 alive, delivered to me, at Main and Peliza, in four hours. Oh, one more thing." his voice turned threatening. "I want 494, too. If he isn't delivered, the deal is off." The phone clicked dead.
Rhys shut the phone slowly, face dark. Mole strode up the steps, cigar clenched between his teeth, and Alec turned away to lean against the table, head bowed, chewing his thumb. Finally he stood, and turned to face the room.
"All right." He announced loudly, gaining the attention of everyone around. "All right. You win. You want me, you've got me." He help up a hand to forestall the cheer. "But this is going to be done my way." There were nods all around, and then the room exploded into cheering and backslapping. Alec shook his head.
"You're gonna call it off, right, Alec?" Dix asked anxiously. "You can't turn yourself over to White. You can't turn Max over to White, either."
"No." Alec's eyes were bleak. "We're going ahead with the exchange."
A/N: The Blue Lady has informed me that only NWP should recieve the offering of my efforts, so goodbye. If you wish to read my DA fiction, including the Cold War conclusion, go to: http://nunwithpens.hyperboards.com. My thanks go out to all who reviewed!
Infie