Title: Three Chimeras
Author: Nefertiry
E-mail: scorpy282003@yahoo.com
Rating: PG, maybe PG-13
Summary: Max lost one her sisters 13 years ago. Now she's back in her life. She might have answers to many questions, but is she a friend or foe? Post 'Freak Nation'
Disclaimer: definitely not mine. The characters belong to James Cameron and FOX. But Jessica is ABSOLUTELY mine. I don't make any money using these characters.
Timeline: In the "Prologue", it's during and after "Designate This". In the next chapters – after "Freak Nation".
A/N 1: This story has been bugging be for some time. It was like "write me, write me, write me." I should say that this is my first fic EVER. Back at high school and college, I hated writing anything that even remotely reminded of essays and compositions. However, here I am, playing a 'writer'.
A/N 2: English isn't my native language, so don't be too hard on me.
A/N 3: Warning: this story is COMPLETELY result of my imagination. Any similarity to other authors' plots, characters, or events is PURELY COINCIDENTIAL AND ABSOLUTELY UNINTENTIONAL.
Prologue
September 2020
Manticore
Renfro`s office
Renfro was sitting at her table when a lab technician came in. He had a flat computer in his hands.
"Results of the DNA workup you ordered on 452", he said.
"Did you find anything to explain why there's no accelerated aging?" asked Renfro.
"Maybe you better take a look", replied the man. He handed her the computer. There was a diagram of Max's body, with certain areas magnified in insets. Renfro was shocked.
"I've never seen anything like it. Just to be sure, I'll run another series of tests as soon as 494 gets her back here", said the technician waiting for further instructions.
"Does anyone else know about this?" asked Renfro in a casual voice.
"No, ma'am".
"Let's keep it that way." She pulled out a gun and shot the man. Then Renfro took her cell phone and dialed a number.
"C'est Renfro. Je pense que j'ai trouvé ce qu'on cherchait. No, non personne ne le sait à Manticore. Ah, oui...je te l'emmene. (It's Renfro. I think I've found what we've been looking for. No, no one at Manticore knows. Yes...I'll bring her to you)."
* * * *
Same time (about 4 a.m.) Paris, France
"Bien", said an elderly man and hung up the phone. Well, he thought, it's about time they found her. We can't wait any longer.
He called the airport. "I need to book one first class ticket on a nearest flight to Denver, USA." Then he dialed another number.
* * * *
Luxurious penthouse. Still Paris, still France
She was watching a very pleasant dream when a rather annoying sound interrupted it. Fist she couldn't understand the origin of the sound, then realized that the sound wasn't a part of her dream. 'The phone, right.' She looked at the clock, grabbed the phone, and said.
"Better be something important or get lost"
"It's me."
"Man, don't you ever sleep? It's too damn early …", still drowsy, she wasn't the most charming person to talk to.
"They've found her. She's at Manticore."
"I'm up. Talk." Her sleep was gone in an instant. She sat up in the bed.
"You're going back to the States. I'll meet you at the airport in an hour."
"Ok, see ya." She hung up the phone and went to the shower.
* * * *
At the airport. Still Paris, still France
He noticed her when she approached the magazine stand. She bought a couple of fashion magazines and came up to him.
"Your flight is in 10 minutes. You're going to Denver, then rent a car and go to Gillette."
"I know what to do, thank you", she said mockingly, but her eyes were serious.
"You must protect her. She is our only hope."
"Yeah, yeah, blah, blah…I know."
The man handed her a thick envelope.
"What's that?"
"Money, 300 thousand dollars, passports, IDs, anything you might need in the States."
"And how am I supposed to carry such amount of money through the customs?" she asked as-a-matter-of-factly.
"Use one of your passports. It will give you diplomatic immunity, and you won't be checked at the customs", answered the man.
"That's cute."
"Look, this is serious. You should go. It is your flight. If anything changes, I will call you. Good luck."
"Well, luck is all I need. Bye." She took her bag and went to the boarding gate.
* * * *
Several hours later
Manticore
In her office, Renfro was putting things into her briefcase when a soldier entered. "Ma'am, we need to evacuate."
"Where's 452?" asked Renfro.
"Now, ma'am", insisted the soldier.
"I'm not leaving without her."
Max burst into the room. " What a coincidence, 'cause I'm not leaving without you." She grabbed Renfro and said:" To the lab, NOW!"
They entered a lab with lots of vials and beakers on the shelves.
"Where's the antigen? "Judging by the tone of her voice, Max wasn't very happy.
"I don't know. We've got to get out of here now, 452", said Renfro.
Max got angry. She slammed Renfro face-first against a wall. "My name's Max! Now where is it?"
"Okay. Okay." Renfro understood that she didn't have much choice. She came up to the shelf, took a vial, and gave it to Max. The next moment a soldier entered the lab, saw Max and shot at her. Renfro couldn't let him kill her, so she dived in front of Max and took the bullet. Max shoved a table into the soldier's gut. The soldier realized who he'd shot and his eyes widened.
"I won't tell if you don't ", said Max, kneeling on the floor by Renfro. The soldier ran away. Renfro was bleeding from a bullet wound in her side and it was obvious that she wouldn't last long. Max asked: "This virus thing you put in me--how do I get rid of it?" "You can't."
"You just ate a bullet for me. Why?" Max couldn't believe that someone, who was eager to torture her to death just to make her an obedient soldier, had sacrificed her life to save Max. Renfro touched the girl's face and whispered: "You...you are the one we've been looking for. Sandeman... Find...Sandeman." Renfro passed out. Max left the lab to finish what she had started.
* * * *
Denver airport
Her flight arrived according to the schedule. The man was right. She didn't have any problems at the customs with her "diplomatic immunity". She went to the car rentals. Looking at the list of cars she said. "Junk, junk, junk, crap, junk. Damn, there's no decent car to rent." Then she asked the clerk: "Excuse me, is there a place in Denver where I can buy a good car?"
"Yes, there's. It's called 'Cars from Europe'. But cars there are very expensive", said the clerk smiling.
"Where is it?" She asked impatiently.
"513, Washington Street."
"Thanks."
She left the airport and took a taxi. "513, Washington Street."
20 minutes later the taxi stopped near a garage which didn't look like place where one would sell "very expensive cars from Europe". 'If that's a bad joke, bloody clerk will regret about this', she thought. She came up to the garage and opened the door.
"What can I do for you, doll?" said a guy who sat at the table near the window and was writing something.
"First of all, don't call me "doll", second – is this "Cars from Europe"? She asked, approaching the guy.
"Yep, that's the place", answered the guy, looking at her with I-could-eat-you-right-now expression on his face.
"I want to buy a car. Where are your cars?" Her voice was ice-cold.
"Take a look at the list." He gave her a piece of paper. She skimmed the list and said. "BMW X5. Is it really imported from Europe?"
"Arrived a week ago from Germany."
"How much is it?"
"90 grand, no checks." She heard 'there's no way you can afford to buy this car' in his voice and retorted. "70 grand, cash, right now, no papers. Deal?"
"Honey, either you're crazy enough to carry with you 70 grand in cash, or stupid." The guy was definitely mocking her.
"Don't mess with me. Do we have a deal or not?" She was dead serious and wanted this car.
"Ok, show me the money."
"Show me the car."
"Let's go." He came up to the wall, pushed something and the wall slid away. She followed the guy. They entered a huge room. There stood the cars. New, beautiful, shining. And then she saw HER. It was a black BMW X5, leather seats, stereo, and the whole package. 'That's my girl', she whispered, getting into the car. She started the engine. It purred like a happy cat.
"I'll take it. Here's your money", she opened her bag, took 70 thousand dollars from the thick envelope. "That's 70 grand, count, if you want." The guy counted the money. "OK, everything's fine. Want advice? Get out of Denver before anyone finds out that you have a lot of cash with you."
"I can take care of myself", said the girl, fastening her seatbelt. "Now, open the door and I'll be out of your life and this city."
* * * *
Two days later the black BMW X5 stopped near the familiar building. Manticore. Weird. The building seemed abandoned. The girl got out of the car and walked around the building, looking for some signs of human activity. Nothing. She took her cell phone and dialed a number.
"Guess who? I'm on location, but it looks like everyone's moved out."
"What do you mean?"
"The place's empty, looks like it's been abandoned for a while. When the hell did they move out?"
"I don't understand. I heard Manticore's gone - burnt down, Renfro's gone, all transgenics escaped", said the voice on the other end of the line. "That's in a nutshell."
"So, our girl escaped too?" she said. "I'm gonna have to stick around, so have someone send all my stuff to the States. I'll be in touch.
"Wait. I have an assignment for you, urgent and very important. Go to New York. Bye." He disconnected the call.
A smile appeared on her face. 'Well, well, well', she thought, 'that's interesting. And where the heck am I supposed to find you? Looks like you've escaped again, MAX, but this time you've managed to burn down the place. Good girl.'
She got into the car, started the engine, and took off.
TBC
A/N I hope you'll like my story. Your reviews will show whether I should continue posting it or not. Although, I have 9 more chapters ready and 5 or more planned.