Okay, part three is here. After finding the copy corrupted, I panicked and checked every one of the stories I am currently working on. It seems this was the only one in need of a complete rewrite. Lucky for me I don't sleep much.
Deck is on the trail of something. What that something is he doesn't know but a not so old ally might be able to shed some light on the mystery. He makes a call to Eyes Only and events just start falling into place. Whose place they are falling into is the real question.
Still considering this pg-13. Still wishing DA was on the air. Always wished I was writing the show. The last handful of reviews has been going straight to my head and I find myself wanting more. I think I'm getting addicted so tell your friends at FF.net and have them tell their friends…
All right, I'll stop now. I won't stop writing so just don't stop reviewing. Let me know what you think. Above all else, though, I hope all of you enjoy.
Colonel Donald Lydecker
Colonel Donald Lydecker didn't have the greatest of Military careers. He wasn't the best example of a soldier in the world in his day. He had been on a fast track and had made Colonel despite his short-comings but in the end, the drinking had made him a mediocre CO at best. Manticore had been his salvation.
In a Chaotic society, though, the true Donald Lydecker had free will to do as he pleased and as he pulled the trigger killing the man in front of him, he smiled. He stood. The bullet that had torn through his arm was just a nagging flesh wound. The fight had been bad. He came in with twenty soldiers. All of them were Manticore special ops loyal to him. Out of twenty-one there were only ten left and three of those were injured. It shouldn't have happened that way. The three men they came here after were revved some how.
"Sir?" The tall man beside him asked. "Orders, Sir?"
"Clean the site. Rendezvous at the forward base in sector nine." Deck said. "Get the wounded there as quick as possible. I'm going to go check on the information. I have to contact someone." He turned to leave the area of the battle. "And get me a blood sample from each of them." He hollered over his shoulder.
Donald Lydecker took one last look at the three bodies lying on the floor. It went against protocol to kill Homeland Security or FBI and Deck had just done both or so it appeared. The secret must be preserved at any cost though and he believed himself the only person left preserving that secret.
There was one person he could trust, however. He knew that person didn't trust him. He knew that person would never trust him but he also knew that person had a network of trained soldiers rallied to his cause. Thoughts of his days with Manticore played in his mind as he climbed into the Homeland Security vehicle and prepared one of the dead agents IDs to read as his own.
He had joined Manticore under Dr. Sandemann. The man had noble goals but in the beginning this country had been about noble goals. He had seen it as a way to redeem his failed military career. That changed fifteen years into the project when they lost thirteen from the 5 series on a very cold winter night.
He had never shot one of his own troops before that day. He had never knowingly harmed a child in his life. That cold winter day he did both.
Misery was his only friend after the escape. They had yanked his clearance and pulled his mission out from under him. They told him to retrieve what he had lost at any cost to the project. He was getting close too but then the unthinkable happened. A nuclear air burst threw the world into a tailspin and the US bore the brunt of the damage. Everything he had planned had suddenly spiraled into a whirlpool of confusion and madness.
No single agency had been prepared. Not one standing business went unaffected. The people were hit the hardest. It had been a blessing in disguise. The blessing was simply the ability to move about without having to worry about anyone asking who he was. His soldiers made a lot of peoples jobs easier. The people made his job harder. Too many thought he had come to help them and so he always had a team working for them and one for his primary mission.
The problem always centered on his inability to track a group of children. He used to laugh that he had trained his kids to well. Well most of them anyway. X5-493 had been the key. He had snapped somewhere along the way. It is inevitable with all recruits that one or two will get away from you in the training and no matter how hard you try you just can't 'fix' them.
493 had left a trail of bodies from what was left of Florida and the swamplands in the south-east to the city of Seattle. After eight years of searching for anything he had found what seemed to be a focal point for the Rogues. The City of Seattle. Seth had died there. 493 committed another murder there. 599 made regular trips into the city. 452 lived there.
X5-452. She was the best of them. She was the one Sandemann studied and fussed over. He had grown fond of her. He had taken to watching her more closely than the others.
She was the one that chose her name first. He had watched the argument holding back security as she fought Zack over her designation.
"My name is Max." She had said. She was defiant with some wild fire in her eyes.
"Your designation if 452." Zack had shouted.
"I don't want to be a number." She yelled back. "I want a name. They have names. I want my own and I choose Max."
"What's it mean?" Syl had asked.
"It means me." Max had said defiantly. She stood proud and strong in front of her siblings in the group. 382 stepped forward and smiled at Max. He stepped in line beside her and announced his new name would be Jack. 299 stepped in line on the other side of Max and announced she would be called Jondy.
"Why Jondy?" Zack had asked.
"Why not?" She asked. Of all of them, Max and Jondy were the youngest and most unruly. Deck had followed both of them throughout the halls of Manticore on more than one occasion. Each one fell in line against Zack announcing their 'secret' designations. Krit and Syl were next. Brin and Seth joined after that followed by Tinga, Zane, Ben, Jace, Kai, Reed, Finn, Stamp, Dylan, Rik and Kay. They all chose names and secretly when they were alone or in very hushed tones they would use those names.
Deck had no idea what those children would do to him in just a few short years. He had no idea he would eventually shoot Eva or torture Zack for information on Max and the other Rogues. He had never seen it coming. Ben had led him to the right path, though, and he had managed to get Brin back.
Seth had given his own life to avoid going back to Manticore. Deck had to admit that he had thought long and hard while staring into but not drinking from that bottle of Wild Turkey he kept in the footlocker in his apartment. Seth may have had the right idea. Deck had come so close after that whole brood gang thing to just giving up and running away. Somewhere out there in the rest of the world was a quiet little beach with two palm trees just far enough apart for a cheap hammock where he could go to sleep and not have to ever wake up again.
The year spent chasing Max and Zack in Seattle led him to a conclusion. The Rogues truly had been the best of the children of Manticore. He had lost the cream of the crop on that cold winter night. Now, he hated the cold and snow.
The drive had been a simple one and the sector cops hadn't questioned his credentials. He pulled up outside of the abandoned RCF building and waited. The place required some surveillance before he just headed into its dark interior. It was as good a time as any to make the call.
"Hello." A man's voice said.
"Hello, son." Deck said. "This is Colonel Lydecker."
"I'm not your son." The man said. "How did you get this number?"
"I'm not without skills of my own. Listen to me. There is something I'm working on that will affect you and Max." The phone was silent. "I know she's alive and I know what you did back in Manticore. I am impressed. I could have used a man like you on my team but that's neither here nor there. I'm on to something that I can't discuss without further investigation but I may need your help…" Deck was interrupted.
"No deals, Deck." Logan Cale said. "I'm not without my own resources. I can make your life…"
"No hostilities are necessary. I'm on your side here. I've been on your side since Renfro killed Tinga. I've learned some things about that wench that I know you will be interested in but I have to do some investigation first."
"Plain and simple, Deck." Logan said.
"I've discovered a link to Manticore that goes beyond our government. I need to check out this information to verify its basis but when I do I'll have the stuff couriered over to you and you can use your resources to investigate it with your extensive reach. I'll continue my own research and get back to you when I can find something." Deck said.
"What's in it for you?" Logan asked. "How do I know that you aren't trying to rebuild Manticore as we speak?"
"I assure you that is not my intention. I do however have a few obstacles to remove concerning Manticore. I have some loyal soldiers and black ops still working with me and I think we can work together on this."
"I will not let you or anyone else from Manticore get your hands on the Rogues or any of the others." Logan challenged.
"That is not my intention. There is a greater threat to you and the kids. I am trying to help here. Look at my information and I'll get back to you. We have a similar goal here."
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, eh Deck?" Logan said.
"A simple truth I have learned to trust over the years." Deck answered. "I'll call you same time tomorrow." He said before disconnecting the call. He noted the time on his watch and prepared his pistol for the RCF incursion.
RCF was indeed abandoned. The building was completely deserted and not even squatters had found their way into the building. There was, however a strange noise coming from the lower lever just beyond what at one time was probably the lobby. Deck dropped into stealth mode and moved quickly to the scaffolding erected in the depths of the collapsed floor.
A lone man was dozing on a chair in the only light the room held within it. An old Wolverine comic was lying across his chest. The guy was snoring softly. Lydecker climbed down the scaffold and dropped silently to the floor beside the dozing guard.
Deck smiled. He loved this part. A quick chop to the guard's throat left the guy gasping and struggling to get out of the chair. Deck laughed out loud and hit the guy again knocking him into a heavy daze on the floor. He pulled a digital camera from his pocket and walked over to the small roped off area dimly lit by yellow lamps. Searching the area, he found a power switch and turned on the flood lamps showing him a grisly burial mound. Two small skeletons that seemed to have become a part of the ground were partially exposed. Both were obviously children and they had holes in their skulls. Deck wasn't an expert but simple logic told him the kids had been killed that way. The third skeleton was small but obviously an adult. 'Probably the mother or an older sibling.' Deck's reasoning was sound but the one thing he didn't understand was the painting on the back wall behind the mound.
It was a painting of the Manticore symbol. It was the same symbol on top of the cane that Sandemann used. The red and yellow pigments outlined the ancient symbol perfectly. Deck also noticed that someone had been cleaning and trying to restore the painting. He snapped a dozen pictures before he heard the guard behind him stirring.
"Who do you work for?" Deck asked, slapping the man.
The man gave him a strange look. He was still dazed. Deck wanted it that way.
"What is this place?" He demanded. The man mumbled something inaudible before Deck hit him again. "Where are we?" Another hit. "What does that symbol mean?" Deck swung again.
"I don't know…" The man managed to yell. He spit blood onto the floor. Deck hit him again. A closed fist connected with the guys jawbone.
"Who is buried here?" He punched the guard twice this time. The guy was forced to his knees. "Who are these people?" Deck screamed the question at the man. "What is that symbol and what does it mean?" He punched the guard before kneeing him in the face. The guy's head bounced in a puddle of blood on the floor.
"I… don't know…" he coughed. "I, just watch the place…"
"What do you mean?" Deck squatted just outside of the man's reach. "I'm not going to hurt you anymore." Deck said. He smiled to himself. It was easy to fall into the old ways of an interrogation. It had always been something he enjoyed.
"The woman hired me to keep my eye on the scientists." The guy said between his coughs. "Her name was Renfro." Deck certainly knew that name. "Blonde bitch with an attitude." The guy added.
"Did she speak about this place at all? Do you know what any of this is?" Deck demanded. He didn't want to do what he was about to but if this is what he suspected it to be.
"No. She spoke quietly to the techno-geeks. They said something about an ancient sacrificial site of some kind. I'm just a grunt. I don't know anything, I swear." The man said. He saw Deck reaching for his gun. "Oh man… Please…"
Two bullets and a short climb later; Deck was satisfied there would be no loose ends. Renfro was dead. He was sure Max and Logan had taken care of her inside Manticore. Manticore was essentially gone. This new situation was getting out of hand though and he knew only one man that would be able to help.
Logan Cale. Eyes Only.
Deck climbed into the truck and drove off. A few blocks away he found a mostly deserted courier service. It was a small dingy place run by a strange but simple man called Normal. Purchased a small box he folded some discs in paper sliding them in the box with the camera. He scribbled a short note and wrapped the box in tape.
"I have to send this to the penthouse in Fogle Towers." Deck said.
"You mean, Logan Cale's penthouse?" Normal asked.
"You know him?" Deck asked.
"Only by reputation. Spoiled rich boy. He's got a couple of my girls enraptured with his charm and money. He's trouble that one. Mysterious." Normal said. "HOT RUN!" He shouted. "Here you go." He tossed the package to a short, busty Nubian.
"Unh uh. Original Cindy ain't doing no more runs. I've been busting my ass all day Normal."
"It's going to Logan Cale. I know you know him." Normal said. "Everyone in the city knows the Cale name." He said facing Deck again. "Boys rich so you'll get a decent tip and I'll accept the signature tomorrow."
"This is for Logan?" OC asked. She took a good long look at Lydecker.
"Will that be all, Mr.?" Normal paused waiting for the man's name.
"Lydecker." Deck said turning to pay his bill.
"BIP!!!" Normal shouted. OC took a second long look at the short man and hurried out of the shop. "That Cale even has Sappho's daughter wrapped around his little finger." Normal muttered.
Deck laughed. He had seen the looks Max and Logan traded during the DNA fiasco. He knew what kind of a man Cale was after his dealings with Eyes Only and the Rogues just a few months back. He knew the man had affected Max in a way he didn't think possible for the Children of Manticore. It was pure Max, though. She was always to strong-willed for the project. He was proud of her. Those two were cut from the same cloth.
"Thanks for using Jam Pony." Normal said. Deck turned and left without speaking. He now had other things on his mind. The main clues to today's little mystery would find their way to Logan. Everything was running according to Deck's schedule.
He just had one lead left to follow up on. The three agents that cost him eleven soldiers today may have worked for The HSF and/or the FBI but they were revved up in some way. He knew where they had been staying. One of them had been carrying a key to the motel in sector six. He would investigate.
Getting to the sector was no problem. The sector guards warned him against entering though. Something about a turf war and some group called Riding 40. He told the sector cop something about being able to handle himself before heading through the checkpoint. He never noticed the two guys on their bikes tailing him.
Deck's cell rang. "Yes." He said.
"What the hell are you trying to pull?" Max demanded.
"Hello Max. I trust the package arrived with your friend." He asked. "Has Logan had a chance to look over that information?"
"Yes." Max said. "He's still looking it over. What are those pictures all about? I want to know what the hell is going on." She demanded.
"Everything is on the discs I sent and the digital camera. Logan will know what to do with it." Deck said. He noticed several gang members heading toward his car. "I've got a situation here in sector six. I have to go." He announced before disconnecting the call.
"LYDECKER!" Max shouted but he was gone.
Deck pulled the car to a stop as three gang members lowered their weapons at his truck. They were prepared to open fire.
"Official Government business. I have no concern for your little battle here. You can go about your business." He said.
"Don't matter who you are. This is our territory." The tall Brother said. He pulled a pair of Mac 10s from his belt and leaned on the truck. "You trespassin on our turf."
"I'm going over to that motel at the end of the block to investigate the murders of three government agents found dead in another sector and then I'm leaving to make my report." Deck smiled. "You're turf is fine by me."
"We won't be tolerating no cops in this sector."
"The kind of agents these men were won't draw any undue attention to your turf." Deck said. The nod from the brother told him his negotiations were failing.
"This is me not caring." The brother shouted. He pulled back as if to fire the weapons he carried. Deck ducked down in the truck. A few seconds passed before he realized no one was shooting the truck. He risked a glance and noticed that two young men were making short work of the gang-bangers before moving over to Deck's truck.
"Who are you?" Deck demanded. The one looked exactly like Ben. He had heard of the twin project although he had been out searching for the Rogues for the last ten years. He hadn't actually seen one of them.
"I'm Alec. This is Biggs." Deck looked at both of them. He knew immediately what they were.
"Designation." Deck ordered.
"I'm Alec. This is Biggs." Alec repeated. Deck smiled. These two were definitely X-5. "We picked you up outside of Jam Pony. Eyes Only contacted us as you were entering the sector and told us to keep our eyes on you."
"Guess we're your back-up." Biggs said. "Lucky for you we were nosy about the ex-Manticore CO wandering around Seattle talking to the boss."
"I have to follow-up on a lead in that Motel over there. Throw your bikes in the back and get in." Deck ordered.
"Does this have anything to do with that package you shipped off at the shop?" Biggs asked.
"It has everything to do with that package. My men and I killed three government agents in another sector today. They were revved up some how." Deck started.
"How? You mean they were like us?" Biggs asked.
"No. They were different. They weren't as fast or as strong but we couldn't hurt them. It took eighteen bullets to bring one of them down. I lost eleven good soldiers today." Deck said. "There were only three of them."
"Well, you have two of us now." Alec said. Deck took a long look at him. The twin thing was disturbing. The last time he had seen Ben, he was dead in the forest obviously killed by a superior opponent. Whether it had been Max or Zack he wasn't sure. He was sure it was one of them though. "What?" Alec asked.
"I was just getting used to your face. The last time I saw 493, he was dead and lying broken in a forest."
"Yeah. The psycho. Don't remind me." Alec said. "We doing this?" Deck nodded and they exited the truck heading for the numbered room matching the key. Biggs took a signal from Deck and disappeared around the back of the motel.
"You armed?" Deck asked. Alec nodded pulling a Desert Eagle and smiling. Deck smiled. He used to carry one of those. It was a good memory. Bouncing around foreign lands killing important people was one of the few good memories he had left.
"Let me guess, you want me to go first?" Alec asked. He didn't have to go in though. Biggs was already inside.
"Clear." Biggs said as he opened the front door. Deck walked in and looked around. There were signs of a struggle but it was plain to all three soldiers that any evidence they thought they might find was already gone.
"So you going to tell us what's going on?" Alec asked.
"I'm investigating a few leads on something going on inside of Manticore. I don't exactly know what I'm looking for but something was going on inside of the project. There was a secret faction working within the facility here and in Gillette. The R & D section in Phoenix seems to have remained clean although they were shut down as soon as Eyes Only took down Manticore permanently."
"You mean someone outside of the project leaders dismantled the project?" Biggs asked.
"That is what I'm trying to prove." Deck said.
"Who?" Biggs asked.
"I don't know." Deck said. "My information at this time is sketchy and unreliable at best."
"Maybe they know." Alec said pointing out the front door of the Motel room. He pulled his cell and called Max and Logan. Logan answered. Deck walked to the door looking out.
"Identify yourself." A voice outside said. Deck attached the voice to a tall brown haired man of about thirty, maybe thirty-five. "You have twenty seconds."
"I am a federal agent investigating a murder." Deck said. He pulled his real ID and stepped in the doorway. They had already seen Alec but not Biggs. Biggs stayed out of their range of vision.
Deck walked out and stood in front of eight men. They were armed with AK-47s and Uzi subs. They each had a long Kukri style blade strapped to their right leg running the length of their thighs. He walked up to the man that had spoken.
"Are you in charge?" Deck asked.
"We are asking the questions." The man said. He turned his head and looked at another of his men. They stared at each other for a minute before the man turned back to Lydecker. "You aren't one of the traitors." The man said. "You're human."
"Am I to assume you are not?" Deck asked.
"Is that one of the transgenics?" The man asked. "I've never seen one."
"What's going on here?" Deck asked. "Who are you?"
"We are Fifth Column." The man said. "There are those among us seeking to destroy the freedoms we have held sacred for over seven thousand years. They are not comfortable sharing this planet with your kind or the transgenics. They seek to destroy you. We are trying to stop them."
"If I'm not mistaken, a fifth column is a resistance cell within a larger group. Are you telling me that you are connected to Manticore?" Deck asked.
"There were members of Fifth Column within Manticore. There were also members of the Phalanx and the Council within the project." The man said.
"Sir. We have Incoming!" A Fifth Column soldier shouted. "Sniper capped two before going down."
"You have to leave. You can't fight them. We are prepared for this."
A set of matching black hummers barreled toward the motel and screeched into a defensive position. Sixteen heavily armed soldiers jumped out and opened fire on the exposed group. Two members of Fifth Column fell as everyone went for cover. Biggs grabbed the weapons tossing one to Alec as they pulled Deck to safety behind a burned out SUV.
"Yeah. We're under attack here." Alec was shouting into the phone. "You need to get over here now!" He yelled as he threw the phone down and opened fire on the approaching squad. "They've got body armor. These weapons aren't going to work!" He shouted.
"Aim for the neck. It's a weakness." Someone shouted. Alec pulled himself up for a quick search from behind the burned out car he, Biggs and Deck were behind. Alec dropped and rolled out to the side and aimed. An armored soldier fell. He rolled back to safety and smiled at Biggs.
"That's one."
"My turn." Biggs said. He popped up over the hood of the car and took a quick glance. The armored soldiers were moving on Fifth Column positions. Only two were moving toward Alec, Biggs and Deck. Biggs dropped behind the truck and rolled to the opposite side of the vehicle. He fired once. A flurry of bullets ripped across the ground towards him. He fired a second time as the first soldier fell to the ground dead, blood spurting from his neck. Deck reached out and grabbed Biggs by the collar pulling him behind the SUV as the second dying soldier fell, bullets sprayed Biggs previous position and ripped into the front of the SUV. A bullet ripped through Deck's forearm but he didn't let go of Biggs.
"Did you get them?" Deck asked. Biggs nodded.
He looked at Alec. "That's two, buddy."
"Good. Go back up Fifth Column. I need to answers so KEEP THEM ALIVE!" He ripped off a large part of his shirt and tied off his arm. Alec moved to help him but he ordered theX-5 into battle. Alec hesitated just long enough to prove he didn't take orders anymore. "Just go. I've had worse." Deck said.
Alec disappeared instantly and try as he might Deck could not locate the boy. He stretched out and pulled a rifle from the dead soldier Biggs had recently dropped before pushing himself back behind the car and going back to work on his arm.
"OVER THERE!" Someone shouted.
"GOT IT!" Someone else yelled. A man screamed. Deck lifted himself and peered over the burned out shell of a car he was using for cover. He noticed two things. There were three Fifth Column soldiers. He couldn't see Biggs or Alec but the attacker's numbers had dwindled to a single squad. He was still outnumbered. Dropping down behind the car, Deck dug his cell phone out of his pocket. He had intended to call Seattle PD. They probably wouldn't arrive in time but he had to try anyway.
"OVER THERE!" Another voice shouted.
"DECK!" Biggs shouted from somewhere. Deck pulled up his weapon as a reflex just in time to shoot an incoming armored soldier. Eight bullets ripped up and over the body armor. One ricocheted and imbedded itself in Deck's leg. He winced in pain but the ninth bullet tore through the neck and the attacker fell over Deck's legs. He looked at the patch on the shoulder. It was an ancient symbol he didn't recognize and had the word Phalanx in Latin arced over the top of the symbol and English, arced underneath. Deck reached out and ripped the patch from the sleeve as another Phalanx warrior stepped up and aimed her weapon at his head.
She was smiling.
Deck was holding a cell phone in his right hand. He had a Phalanx patch in his left. A dead body was stretched across his lap.
