Breakdown by Star24
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Manticore, Situation Room
Elizabeth Renfro aimed her icy gaze at the two soldiers standing at attention in front of her. "I want a complete Tac team assembled and ready to move out on my command. X5-452 may have been compromised and the mission will be to extract her, and to eliminate Eyes Only. How long will it take to mobilize?"
The Captain answered without hesitation. "I can have a team ready for deployment in less than thirty minutes, Ma'am. Do you have the coordinates available for the X5's location?"
"Not yet but we're working on it. A latent tracking device was inserted into her arm, set to activate if she hasn't returned to base by 24:00 hours tomorrow. Operations is attempting to activate it sooner. Have your team on alert and ready to move out when I give the order. Destination will be Seattle. Dismissed."
"Yes, Ma'am." The Captain saluted and started to give the nod to his lieutenant to leave, but Renfro stopped them.
"There's one more thing Captain, I want an X5 included on the team. I'll personally assign an appropriate one. If the team plus the X5 are unable to contain and retrieve X5-452, deadly force is authorized as per Directive 399. Acknowledge and confirm that order."
"Acknowledged, Ma'am. The team will include an X5 assigned by the Director. X5-452 is to be returned at all costs. In the event of failure to contain and retrieve, deadly force is to be used to terminate the X5. Directive 399 is in force."
"That will be all soldier." Renfro turned on her heel and left.
The Captain watched her leave and when she was safely out of earshot he turned to his lieutenant and said, "That is one ice cold, ball breaking bitch."
Fogle Towers 12:00 Noon
"…let me know. I worry about my homegirl 'specially after what's gone down."
Bling looked at Syl as they listened to Original Cindy's message play on Logan's answering machine. "I think we should bring her into the loop. Except for Logan, she's closer than anyone else is to Max. From what you say, we may need all the help we can get to break that conditioning."
Syl considered Bling's words. "That means telling her about Manticore. How do we know she won't freak out?"
"She already knows. The South Africans used her to try to get to Max last year, and Max clued her in to who and what she is. She doesn't know that Logan is Eyes Only, but I don't think we need to tell her that. It's my strong opinion that Original Cindy needs to be a part of this thing." Bling's voice was strong and sure.
Syl thought hard then shrugged, "I'm gonna defer to you on that. We're working virtually blind if we can't contact Deck, and if she's that close to Max, she may be what we need to tip the scales. Call her back and get her over here. As soon as we locate Max and Logan we're gonna need to move. The stuff I read in those Psyops files about the drug reaction is making me nervous. I don't think we have much time to act. I only hope Logan is still okay."
Bling stopped in the act of dialing the phone, and stared at Syl with a look of alarm on his face, "You think Logan is in immediate danger from Max? She still needs him to get into the Net. I thought he'd be safe unless she managed to get into it."
"Max is going to be going through an extreme drug withdrawal shortly. It may have already begun. To quote the Psyops files 'hallucinations and psychotic episodes are likely side effects'. Max may not even recognize Logan if she has a psychotic episode. That's why we need to get to them as quickly as we can."
Without another word, Bling went back to work trying to track activities at the two safe houses.
Safe House
Max was still on the floor, curled into a ball and shaking uncontrollably. After that one scream, she had subsided into whimpers and soft moans.
Logan had lowered himself off of the sagging bed to the floor when it became clear that Max wasn't going to get up on her own. At first he had begun to drag himself over to where she lay shaking. Halfway there he stopped and reversed direction, realizing that it was essential that he have full mobility if he was going to try to help Max.
The floor was made of rough wooden planks and he picked up more than one splinter as he dragged himself over to where the exo-skeleton lay discarded in the corner of the room. When he finally reached it, he looked down at his scratched and bleeding hands and forearms and shrugged. He donned the exo-skeleton with the ease of long practice, then pulled his pants back on over it. A look of relief crossed his face when he touched the switch and it powered up with a soft hum.
He came to his feet and swiftly crossed to where Max lay shaking on the floor. Kneeling beside her, he gently placed a hand on her forehead.
"Damn, you're burning up. Max, can you hear me? Max?" He stroked her hot forehead as he tried to get through to her. She was unresponsive, and if anything, the shaking was growing worse rather than subsiding. "Max, I can't carry you. The exo won't handle the extra load. Max, is there any way you can help me?"
He sat on the floor and managed to pull her into his arms, cradling her gently, continuing to talk soothingly to her. The shaking finally began to subside, and after long minutes, her eyes fluttered open.
"L..L..Logan?" there was recognition of him in her eyes and Logan sighed in relief.
"I'm here. It's gonna be okay. Do you think you can make it to the bed if you lean on me? I can't carry you. The exo can't do it."
Max nodded, and Logan gently lowered her back down to the floor so he could rise. Once he was standing he reached down for her hands and, with her assistance, he was able to pull her up to a standing position. Max wavered and would have fallen if not for Logan pulling her close with an arm around her waist.
"Lean on me, Max. That's good. We're going to walk over to the bed. Just a few steps.That's it…" The two slowly made their way to the battered bed, and Logan let out a relieved breath as Max collapsed on to it. She looked up at him in confusion, her brief moment of sanity seemingly passed.
"Who are you? Where is this place? Where is my unit?" All recognition of him was now gone from her eyes. "I'm cold. Why is it so cold? Am I a prisoner? Why are you making me so cold?" Her eyes were growing wild again, and she began to shiver violently.
Logan sat down next to her and reached out his hands, meaning to pull her close to try to warm her. But when he reached out to her, she jerked back wildly, in a panic.
"Don't touch me!" Her hands came up in a defensive position, "You're trying to turn me aren't you? Don't come near me with that needle. I'll kill you if you try to use it on me…"
Despite her fierce words, her hands were shaking and she couldn't hold them in position for long. Logan waited until she dropped her hands. In a sudden change of mood, she started crying. "Zack, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. If I hadn't insisted on going after Manticore you'd still be okay. Please Zack, please don't hate me. Don't turn away from me…Zack…" Tears ran down her face. Logan moved closer and this time she let him pull her into his arms. She collapsed against his chest and continued to sob as Logan held her and stroked her back gently.
Suddenly she sat bolt upright, wrenching herself from his arms, "Damn, I'm gonna hork."
Logan looked around frantically. "Hang on a minute, Max. Just a minute. Can you do that?"
She looked at him and nodded, keeping her mouth tightly closed.
Rising from the bed, he walked over and grabbed a battered trash can that was sitting under a table. He upended it, dumping out the crumbling papers it held, and quickly brought it back to Max.
"Best I can do on such short notice."
Max took it without a word, and proceeded to be sick. Logan took the can when she finished and put it down on the floor next to the bed. He pulled a Kleenex from his pants pocket and handed it to her to wipe her face.
"Max, I'm gonna see if I can find some water for you, okay? Just rest here until I get back."
Max nodded weakly and collapsed backwards onto the bed. He left the room and found himself in a dingy hallway with several doors opening off of it. One of them led into a small, grimy bathroom. When he turned the faucet there was a shrill squeal, but then after a few seconds rusty water began to flow. Leaving the water running, he opened the battered medicine cabinet that was mounted on the wall above the sink and found a dusty plastic cup. The water was running clear, so he rinsed the cup and then filled it with fresh water. As he was about to return to Max, he heard a series of crashes in the other room. He dropped the cup into the sink, and turned and hurried back to where he had left her.
End of Chapter Four