Smoke & Mirrors by Star24

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters are property of Twentieth Century Fox and James Cameron and Charles Eglee. This original story is property and copyright 2003 Star24.

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Chapter One

San Francisco

The night was black in San Francisco, and one of the city's frequent fogs had rolled in from the bay. There was no moon to break the darkness and the city street lights were muffled by the fog. The doors of the War Memorial Opera House on Van Ness Street opened and shot a beam of light out into the mist. On the street in front, limousines were lined up awaiting their passengers. Even in the broken world that existed after the Pulse, there were still those with the time and money left to enjoy what had once been known as the finer things in life.

Hidden in a doorway across the street, a figure dressed all in black stared intently at the richly dressed, departing patrons of the opera as they streamed down the steps.  "Target has been identified," was whispered into a throat mike. The figure waited and then whispered once more, "Affirmative. Will proceed with termination." It raised a rifle to its shoulder fitting the sophisticated gun site to one eye.

Pffffftttt… There was soft pop from the silenced weapon as the figure squeezed the trigger.  Across the road there was a sudden commotion as a tall, white haired man slumped to the ground.  Several men surrounded the fallen man as another half dozen fanned out, running across the street toward the origination of the shot. They were clearly Secret Service protective types, each one carrying a handgun, and they were all communicating with each other through headsets.

The first one to reach the doorway that had only moments before been occupied by the sniper, reached down and picked up a shell casing. "The shooter was here. Cover the area," he ordered. "Jones, get on the horn to the police and order a cordon of the city. Now."

On the rooftop above, the figure laughed softly and pulled off its dark hood to reveal a fall of long dark hair. She turned and leapt, catlike, to the rooftop of the next building, a distance of at least 30 feet, landing softly.

"Mission accomplished. Target eliminated. I'm returning to base." She spoke softly into her own mike as she swiftly vanished across the San Francisco rooftops.

Seattle, WA -- Fogle Towers

"This has been a breaking news bulletin…Senator John Watkins has been killed, shot down in cold blood by an unidentified assassin as he was leaving the San Francisco Opera this evening.  San Francisco is in a state of high alert and police cordons have been set up.  No one is being allowed to leave or enter the city…"

The television broadcast droned on, giving the details of the Senator's life and political career, and Logan Cale impatiently pressed the mute button on the remote as he turned from the set.

"Damn. That's the third one in as many months."

"Third what, Logan?" Bling glanced up from packing up his PT equipment.

"The third death of someone who's asked a few too many questions about government backed genetic experimentation. Kinda makes you wonder what's going on."

"The news said they have the city shut down. Maybe they'll get the shooter."

Logan laughed harshly. "Not if the shooter is what I think they might be."

He turned from Bling in dismissal, and wheeled over to stare out the window. Bling regarded him silently for a moment and then with a shrug said to him, "I'm gonna call it a night. Need anything before I go?"

"No thanks, Bling. I'm good. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Night, man." Bling let himself out, leaving Logan to his lonely vigil.

Max and Original Cindy's Crib  8:00 AM September 20th, 2021

Original Cindy walked into her small kitchen, bleary eyed from a late night at CRASH the night before. She fixed herself a cup of coffee and as she drank it, her eyes fell on the motorcycle sitting in the corner of the living room.  The smart thing would be to sell it and free up the space, as well as giving herself some extra spending money, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. 

When Logan had first asked her about the bike, telling her that he had it in his condo parking garage her first impulse had been to tell him to just get rid of it. But that felt too much like giving up and Original Cindy wasn't ready to let go of her home girl just yet. So she had asked Logan to send it over to her place, and there it sat in solitary splendor, waiting for its rider to return.

Cindy sighed and finished her coffee, stopping only to run a gentle hand over the Ninja before she headed out for another day at Jam Pony.

Seattle, Fogle Towers--11 AM September 20th, 2021

Logan was completely involved in his bank of computer equipment, alternating between typing in commands, and spending long minutes staring at the results on his various monitors.  The man now sitting at the keyboard was a far cry from the sophisticated, urbane picture he had presented a few short months ago.

His hair was shaggy and unkempt and he hadn't shaven in days. Instead of his former style of neatly pressed khakis and casual sweaters, he had on a pair of baggy, painter style khaki pants and a dark green t-shirt that had seen better days, its arms cropped off to reveal well muscled shoulders and arms. A camouflage vest was thrown carelessly over a shelf in the corner of the room.  He looked more like a tough streetwise denizen of Seattle, than the wealthy, well-educated sophisticate he had been raised to be.

Bling entered the room, taking in Logan's state with a glance, and sighed heavily.

"Man, you know you really need to lose the urban guerilla look already. Don't do you justice."

Logan turned impatiently and stared at Bling, "I've got other things on my mind besides aspiring to model for Polo, Bling." He paused then muttered, almost to himself, "It's not like my looking good helped keep her alive anyway..."

Bling gave Logan a hard look. "I heard that. You think Max would want to see you doing this to yourself? When's the last time you had a decent meal anyway? A diet of peanut butter sandwiches and beer doesn't exactly qualify as nutritionally balanced."

"Leave Max out of this." Logan's eyes blazed with anger and something else, as he glared at Bling.

"Logan, this is all about Max. Do you really think I don't know that? The only thing I haven't figured out is whether you're trying to avenge her or to commit slow suicide to be with her. If it's the latter you're doin' a damn good job of it." He paused then continued, "I'm gonna fix some real food. If you get some sense into that thick head of yours, you're welcome to join me."

With that he turned and headed out to the kitchen, leaving Logan to mull over his words.

End Chapter 1