Welcome to chapter eight of The Trouble with Jondy. Things are happening fast. Max finds out Jondy's dark little secret finally and it isn't remotely what she expected it might be. Logan learns just what kind of plans Deck had for him and those nanocytes he used to repair the spinal cord. There's a war brewing and it's not going to go well for anyone at this rate.
Thanks to everyone that has reviewed. I really appreciate it. It means so much. I look forward to hearing from all of you as this plays out. It's a dark path our intrepid hero and heroine walk. Where will it lead them and how will it affect them?
Read, review and above all else… Enjoy!
Escape and Evade
RCF building
Sector nine…
"Tell me where Eyes Only is." Brin demanded.
"I can't." Deck said calmly.
"But you assaulted the DNA lab with him. You know who he is." She said. "He hacked the security for you. You were involved. He went in and took 452 out of there. He destroyed it." She wavered for just an instant.
"I planned the DNA hit. I have been in communication with him. I have also done some work for him." Deck said. "But I've never met the man. Only one person I can think of might know him for sure."
"Who and where do I find this person?" Brin Demanded. She did not notice Biggs and Alec in position above here waiting. Deck did not look up at them.
"You know her. She's your sister." Deck said.
"I don't have a sister." Brin said. Her eyes wavered again. "I am alone." She whispered. She stared into Deck's eyes looking for something. "Tell me where he is."
Deck studied the girl in front of him. She was small but strong. She had seen and endured much. She had been twisted by Renfro's deceit and lies, but she was smart. Deck had planted a trigger. The time to use it was approaching, fast. He would have to find the right moment for it. To do that, he would have to steer the conversation toward a more appropriate course.
"Max saved your life." Deck said.
"Who? 452?" Brin asked. "I let her live. Twice."
"I know." Deck said. He watched as the memories began to replay.
"She saved my life." Brin said. Deck noticed the change immediately. It was in her eyes. She hadn't wavered this time. The eyes just changed. She still held the weapon pointed directly at him but she didn't have the intensity.
"Yes. Max saved your life." Deck said. He knew it would come quick and he knew it wouldn't be easy. The breakdown would come first, followed quickly by the realization that something was terribly wrong. She would still be Brin, but she would remember everything she had suppressed before he took her back to Manticore. She would remember everything he did to her to make her a soldier again. She would probably not be happy. "She's saved many of you."
"But she couldn't save all of us." Brin said. Deck knew she was talking about Tinga. He also knew she had no idea that Renfro was behind that. "She couldn't save Tinga." Deck noted that Brin had used her name and not her designation.
"I don't know how she could have. Director Renfro had mostly destroyed her by the time Max and Zack got to her." Deck said. "You remember Zack? He was with Max when she returned you to me." He said.
"I remember Zack." She said.
"Max and Zack saved your life." Deck said. He noticed the change. Again it came immediately. Her eyes rolled upward. She started to sweat. Deck nodded to Biggs and Alec.
"Max and Zack saved my life." She whispered. "They left me on the park bench so your choppers could pick me up." She dropped the weapon and started to swoon just as Biggs and Alec landed beside her. They caught her gently and she went limp in their arms.
"She's going to be a handful when she comes to. Make sure she's comfortable and give her the shot. Keep her sedated until I return. We'll wake her and fill her in on everything." Deck said.
"What are you going to do?" Biggs asked. Lydecker started to respond but his phone trilled.
"This is Deck."
"It's me." Logan said.
"I've got Brin secured. Tell me some good news. What've ya got for me?"
"It's not exactly going as planned." Logan said.
"What do you mean?" Deck asked.
"I'm here with Suede right now." Logan said. "Everything went fine until he got back outside and found his team had deserted him. We apparently scared him. He's walking the other way." Logan said looking down at the man. "I'm on the opposite roof right now, watching him. He's not heading toward your position. He's going the opposite direction."
"I was afraid of this." The Colonel said. "He was a plant from the committee. I imagine he's going back to report." He explained. "He may or may not be one of them. I don't know for sure, but either way, we cannot let the committee find out what we know."
"I understand." Logan pointed with his fingers. Suede nodded. "I'll take care of it." He said. The phone disappeared into his pocket and he gave a nod to Suede.
The big Nubian lined up his shot as Cowers approached the end of the alley near the street. Logan watched as the bullet spit out of the silenced barrel and sped toward its target. He traced its path as it connected and burst from the other side of Cowers head, lodging into the brick wall of the building. The Captain's body lurched forward and to the right almost flipping completely before taking its final resting place among the trash in the alley.
"Send one of your people to clean it up. No insignia, but leave the body and make sure they bring the folder to the safe house."
"What now?" Suede asked. "Wasn't his team a part of the plan?"
"Yes, but the Colonel secured Brin. She can maintain his troops with her own if Deck doesn't take them." Logan said. "The question is… will she want to?"
"I've worked with her before. She's smart." Suede pulled his phone and contacted a member of his team. The enthusiastic X-6 was already in the alley before Logan and Suede turned to head for the Aztec and hook up with Deck. "She'll do the right thing. Besides, the Colonel might be an asshole but he's a good leader. Most of the troops will want to be under his command again."
"That's what I'm worried about." Logan said. "I understand you guys can take care of yourselves and are capable of making sound decisions, but Deck has that quality that I just don't want to trust completely."
"Some of us know better than to trust Lydecker. Some of us trust you. Those of us that don't might need him and what he represents to us." Suede explained. "Remember that we are soldiers, Cale. It's what we do."
"Yeah." Logan said. "I understand that. I get it."
"Besides. You're one of us anyway." The big man laughed as they exited the building and headed for the Aztec parked on the street. Logan gave him a funny look. "You could just be a spoiled rich boy and live like all the other wealthy types out there, but you don't. You're out here humping it in the streets with the rest of us. You may live in the penthouse but you're not one of the Richie Rich's of this world."
"That's almost a compliment, Suede." Logan laughed. A helicopter flew overhead, very low, as the two men were climbing into the SUV. "What the hell?"
Suede was on his phone instantly. "Petey." He said. "Grab what you can and get out of the alley." He said. He dialed another number. "Miri. Get me some recon on this new development." He said before immediately started to listen. "Phalanx? Already? Are you sure?"
"It's the Phalanx." Logan said. He pointed. A soldier was moving through the alley toward their position. He was heading for the door they had recently walked out of. "How the hell did they get here so fast?"
"Doesn't matter. We need to get you out of here." Suede ordered.
"Get your team out." Logan said as he started the car. He backed out into the street as The Nubian called his team. "I understand they had a team but how did they get to this location. Did they trace your laptop?"
"No. That's not possible." Logan said. "I would have known. I've been traced before. I would have got a warning. My Tech is the best available, straight out of Tokyo and Hong Kong. I've got my own Magick. Write the code myself and to date, it's never been cracked or hacked. No one can trace me." Logan said. Suede's phone rang.
"Sir." Petey called in. "I rang the last number dialed on Cowers phone, Sir." The boy said.
"And?" Suede asked.
"He called someone that speaks a language I don't recognize, Sir." The boy said.
"What did he say?"
"Fay nosh tall." The boy said.
"Say that again." Suede ordered.
"Sir, I redialed Cowers last number and when they picked up on the other end someone said, in a language I didn't recognize, fay nosh tall."
"Fay nosh tall?" Suede asked. "I see. What happened then?"
"I didn't respond so the voice repeated the words and added Cowers name the second time." Logan held out his hand to Suede. Suede handed over the phone.
"Fe'nos tol?" Logan asked. "Was that what you heard?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Where are you now?" Logan asked. The boy told him.
"We're on our way. I need that phone so wait where you are for us and we'll pick you up on our way to see the Colonel." Logan handed the phone back to Suede and grabbed his.
"Colonel?" He asked when someone answered.
"Is it done?" Deck asked.
"Yes. With complications." Logan continued. "The Captain was a member of the cult."
Fashion Square
Phoenix Arizona…
"I already knew that." Jondy said. "I told you it was a long story."
"You're all Phalanx warriors?" Jace asked.
"Not every one of us but we are all part of the cult." Joe said.
"Then you are part of The Fifth Column." Max said.
"No. We aren't fifth, either." Joe said. "Those bastards are no better than the committee. They both want the same thing but they don't agree on how to accomplish it."
"What do you mean?" Max asked.
"The committee wants to control the world and remove everyone that isn't like them." Joe said.
"You're saying Fifth column wants the same thing?"
"Not exactly. They want the rest of us as slave labor. They see a benefit in keeping us around to do their work and serve their pleasures and entertain them." Joe explained. "They are both trying to accomplish the same task. They just have different paths to the same goal."
"So it's a civil war?" Jondy asked. "They fight each other over whether the rest of us live or die?"
"That's sick." Jace said.
"I don't understand, either. My people here are in the middle of the whole thing." Joe said. "I was a member of the Phalanx. I was one of the warriors they had been striving to reach since they started this whole thing seven-thousand years ago."
"What do you mean?" Max demanded. "Are you saying you ran away?" She asked. That was something she understood all to well.
"I didn't run away. I went AWOL." He said. "Just like you and your brothers and sisters. I learned better and I got out. Now, White and his people hunt me."
"White hunts us." Max said. "He's after me and my man. He has been charged with destroying any trace of us. The committee wants us dead. They want us removed."
"You don't know why? Do you?" Joe asked.
"No, but I suppose you're going to tell me."
"The committee that had control of Manticore… they have control of the government. They are in charge in Washington. They came to this country several hundred years ago to build a better world but they couldn't do it themselves. They weren't good at it." Joe explained. "My people have been trying for thousands of years to conquer the world. They have been trying to run everything behind the scenes because they can't do it out in the open. They have warriors but not enough to secure the entire planet. They invented the idea of a shadow government in ancient times. They have been pushing and pulling the strings of those in power for seven millennia now."
"So all of you have an in. What do you care about the rest of the world?" Max said. "You will be a part of the new world order when it comes."
"No. We won't. Every one here. Every one of us has rejected the agenda of the committee and the cult and we're not on board with the way Fifth Column operates either. We left because we didn't want to be a part of their plan. We believe in this world as it is, not what they want it to be."
"So if you're not a part of the cult and you're not with The Fifth Column then who are you?"
"I'm Joe." He said. "I'm just Joe. I'm trying to lead a normal life just like you and Jondy and that one there with her girl. We want the same thing. We want to live free."
"Yeah…" Max said. "Doesn't everybody?" She asked staring at Jondy.
"So what now?" Jondy asked.
"You three have to get out of here. My people will deal with the Phalanx." Joe said. "Grace!" He shouted over Jondy's shoulder. A young girl of about fourteen came in.
"Yes Dad?" The girl asked. She smiled and waved at Jondy. Jondy winked. Max finally understood why Jondy wouldn't talk about her past or at least this part of it. She's had a thing with Joe back in the day.
Joe looked at her. "Take these three to the west side of the building. Give that one your ride. I'll get you a new one." The girl nodded. Joe turned back to Jondy. She stared up at the considerably taller man.
"Well, at least we get to say goodbye this time." Jondy said. She didn't take her eyes from him. He was staring at her with a look on his face that Max recognized. A look she had seen before in another man's eyes. She had seen that look in Logan's eyes.
"Yeah." Joe said. "Probably should say goodbye." He reached out and touched her cheek. She pushed into his palm. Max caught a glimmer on her cheek when he pulled his hand away. "You better go." He said. Jondy just stared up at him.
"We've got to go boss." The guard said. "They're going to drop troops any minute.
"What are they doing right now?" Joe asked.
"They are circling but they haven't opened fire yet." He said. "This isn't like them. They don't usually assault us in broad daylight."
"It's us. They tracked us here." Jondy said. "We have to go."
"If they tracked you here then they are going to see you leaving. I don't care how good you are, you can't outrun choppers." Joe said. He looked around the room. He checked the faces of everyone present.
The guard nodded. "We knew this day would come." He said. Joe smiled.
"We do it now or we don't do it at all." Joe smiled. He reached down to Jondy and pulled her up in his arms. She pushed her lips into his as they kissed. Everyone watched until he set her down and brushed a tear from her cheek. "You three get out of here. We'll deal with The Phalanx and Ames White."
"Will I ever see you again?" Jondy asked.
"I don't know, little one." He said. "I hope so, but I just don't know." He stepped around her as she held onto his hand as long as she could. "Grace. Take them." He said to the small girl. "Then find your Aunt and send up word that we are taking to the road." The girl nodded.
"What about you?" Jondy demanded. Joe turned to Max and looked squarely into her face.
"We are on the same side." He said. "Now get your sister out of here."
"Joe!" Jondy shouted. "You can't do this." She said.
"I've got to, if only to protect you." Joe said. "When the war comes, call me. My people and I will be there. We will stand with you." He looked at his guard. "Sound the alarm." He said before turning back to Max, Jondy and Jace. "You have to leave now." He said as a loud horn blew, sounding over the entire complex. Max could hear shouting in the distance as gunfire broke out on the roof.
The child Grace was pulling on Jondy's arm. Jondy was standing there, immoveable to the girl. She watched Joe as he pulled a rifle from under his bed and walked to his closet for his body armor.
"GO!" He shouted. "I'll be okay." Joe said. "I've been here before." He pulled two Katana from his closet and slipped the shoulder straps over his body armor. They were crossed over his back, the black handles rising from his shoulders like two horns…
Max forcefully turned Jondy and the three girls followed the young one out of the room and down a long dark corridor to a stairwell leading down. At the bottom of the stairs, the girl pointed to a door and told them how to get outside. She turned and ran back toward the old Mall commons. The girls all looked down the hall and could see people running around.
It was strange but they seemed very organized. They had indeed been prepared for this. They had expected this. Max contemplated the thought that Joe and his people would stand beside them in the coming war. She made a mental note to talk to Logan as soon as possible and tell him about this war that was coming. Jondy and Jace were standing there.
"Are we just going to leave them?" Jace asked.
"We have to." Jondy said. "You have a baby to protect and Max has to get back to Logan." Max caught a look in her eyes. A look she had given Logan on more than one occasion.
"You're not staying here." Max said.
"What?" Jace asked.
"I won't let you." Max said. "I don't care what kind of feelings you have for him. You will come with us now and Logan and I can help you find him later." She continued. "Right now, though, we have to get out of here."
"But…"
"No buts. If you stay here and something happens to you…"
"Look Max. I can take care of myself."
"I have no doubt about that. I just don't want you to do this. We'll get someplace safe and we'll contact him and tell him to meet us."
"It doesn't work that way." Jondy said.
"We have to get out of here. If Joe loves you then he'll come and find you." Max said.
"How do you know that?"
"Because Logan came for me." Max said. "He walked into the halls of Manticore alone to save me. He'll help you and he'll help Joe and his people. You know that."
"Yeah. I know he would." Jondy said. She looked back down the hall and watched the people running around. Some were coming toward the girls. "We'd better get going." She said.
"It'll be okay. You'll see." Max said.
"It doesn't feel okay." Jondy said.
"It never does." Jace added.
Oak St. Safe house
Seattle…
Biggs and Suede were arguing on the rooftop. Alec was listening and laughing.
"Well, what the hell are we supposed to do with them?" Suede yelled.
"We have to make them understand!" Biggs said. He was a full head shorter than the tall Nubian in front of him. There was no fear. Biggs didn't know the word existed. "They don't even know what went down back there. They heard the call and ran back looking for someone to give them orders."
Suede reached down. His long, strong arm, rippling with muscles pulled an X-5 up by his neck holding him just inches from him. His voice bellowed into the young man's face. "They tried to kill you. Manticore wants all of us dead." He said dropping the X-6 to the ground. He turned back to Biggs. "He doesn't understand that."
"He does. It's just a lot to take in the first time. When Alec told me what happened the first time I was too stunned to talk for a long time." Biggs said. "I met the man though. I met Maxie's boyfriend and he's a helluva man. He's doing the right thing. We thought we were doing the right thing."
"Some of us were." Suede said.
"If it hadn't been for the Eyes Only broadcast, I know a lot more of us that would have fallen to the cult because we were supposedly in secure positions and deep cover." Biggs continued.
"I know. I was in deep cover myself with a para-military business organization. I saw the hack and waited and sure enough the cult showed up. Some midget was running the operation. His teams made mincemeat out of the soldiers I had infiltrated." Suede said. "He saved a lot of us and didn't even realize how many. I know the story."
"Then help me make them understand." Biggs said.
"You know you're the only one that doesn't fear me." Suede said.
"Should I?" Biggs asked. The two men stared at each other for a short time. "Eyes Only needs our help. He has a tough enough job just being Maxie's boyfriend but to try and save this world on top of that… he's made more enemies than any of us will ever know. The cult isn't the only group out there hunting him…"
"I went to bat for Eyes Only because you…" Suede started but the X-6 interrupted.
"You guys work for Eyes Only? He destroyed Manticore!"
"Yes." Both men said looking down at him.
"How can you do this?" The X-6 asked.
"It's simple." Biggs said. "He set us free. He gave us a choice. Now you have to make one." He looked at all of Cowardly's guards. "They're free to make their own choice. Leave them."
Suede laughed. He watched them as he walked away, following Biggs toward the stairs.
Both men knew they only had one choice. Brin was unconscious downstairs. Cowers was dead. Lydecker had taken over and he not only had the support of Suede, Biggs and Alec but they also worked for Eyes Only. It was enough to make their heads spin. Biggs knew. His had spun that first day when Alec told him the truth in Logan's safe house on Oak St.
Suede nodded and flashed a hand signal to his team stationed near the rooftop access. None of Cowers people would walk anywhere alone until they pledged loyalty to the men downstairs. They would choose either Eyes Only or Colonel Lydecker, but they would choose or they would be forever lost. When Biggs and Suede moved into the main room, Deck, Logan and Alec were talking quietly over maps.
"This is what we know." Deck said. "The committee is housed here." He pointed to a large building. "They call it the conclave."
"That's fascinating." Alec said. "But a direct assault would be foolish. We've seen them fight. We know the neck thing works on all of us, even them but to take them on, one on one in a full frontal assault would be suicide."
"And any transgenic that tried to infiltrate would just get caught and killed." Logan added. "The barcode…"
"Yeah, brilliant plan that one." Alec said. "Marked every damn one of us. The only one here that could do this is you and you're too old. No offense."
"None Taken." Deck said. "But I'm not the only one here that can do this." He fell silent.
Everyone in the room knew who he meant. They all looked at him immediately. Logan sighed. He knew they were talking about him.
"What the hell can I do?" Logan asked. "I'm a hacker, not a soldier."
"That may be, Son, but I planned for this contingency." Deck added.
"You want to let me in on this little contingency of yours?"
"It's simple really. I've been to the conclave." Deck said. "I went there early on to meet with Doctor Sandemann and the committee when they put me in charge of X-5. The place is crawling with Monks. I know you've been beefing up on their language to translate some of their documents."
"You can't be serious?" Biggs interrupted. "You can't send Logan in there. If something goes even remotely sideways and White finds out… he's dead."
"If something goes sideways, any of us could go out with a well placed bullet or knife thrust." Deck said. "We need someone on the inside. The catacombs underneath that place are a veritable maze and it will take a mind like Logan's just to remember it. I've been down there in the arena and in the meeting rooms where the committee operates. The Monks don't remove their robes ever and they speak only when spoken too." He continued. "He could get in, get the recon and sneak out. We have a team waiting to extract him and when he gets back we know everything we need to know. He can do this."
"Is this what the nano-tech was about?" Alec asked. "You were getting him up to snuff for this mission because you've already planned this out?" He demanded.
"Partially, but I did it more for Max as I did for this mission." Deck said. He turned to Logan, who had wandered over to the desk along the wall and was looking at some maps of Seattle hanging there. "The treatments tweaked your muscles and repaired your spinal injury. Tell me you don't feel stronger. Tell me you don't move faster and have better reflexes."
"I do." Logan spoke quietly, evenly. "I've noticed."
"Would it be so bad to go inside the conclave for a few days and come out with the knowledge we need to break them once and for all?" Deck asked.
"That's not the point." Biggs shouted. "It's bad enough that you made us, manufactured us but after-market work Colonel? You've turned Logan into something… different. How is he supposed to deal with that?"
"Let me tell you what I see when I look at Logan." Deck said.
"Another project?" Alec asked. "I'm with Biggs on this one. You developed us and made us, but not him. You just changed him without his knowledge or permission. I was there. You never once told him what this would do to him?"
"I didn't actually have that opportunity. The boy was brought out unconscious and dying. I had to do what had to be done." Deck defended his position after the incident with Pierpont Lempkin. "He was dying and I had the opportunity to save him and give him back the legs he lost. I did that. I did that because I watched helpless while this man made a fool of me and the project time and again. He did this from a wheel chair with the help of only one soldier at his side. I watched from the sidelines while he went into Manticore alone and walked out with Max in his arms. He deserves to get his legs back and I was in a position to give that to him." Deck was standing in front of Alec and Biggs. Suede was still standing in the doorway. Logan was on the other side of the room.
"Why doesn't someone ask him?" Suede asked. "I'm pretty sure he's got a say in this. It is his life we're risking after all."
"I'm going home. Call that doctor of yours, Deck. I'll do the treatment but I have to think about this infiltration of the conclave a while." Logan said. "Meet me at the penthouse in three hours. Bring everything you have on these nanocytes. I want one of my people to look over it. If you don't have hardcopy of every last bit of information when you arrive, then I'll shoot you myself and figure this bitch out on my own."
Lydecker checked his watch. "I'll be there." He said. He would have continued but Logan walked out of the room without another word and left the building. Alec followed after him.
North of Phoenix
The Desert…
Ames White signaled to his chopper to circle the grounds while he ordered his teams to drop on the minimal security they had on the roof. He had nothing but contempt for these useless creatures. They had chosen their path though. They could have been there in the end, enjoying the fruits of several thousand years of planning and building, but they chose the way of the sheep. The way of slaughter and they would be removed with the rest of the useless.
Ames scoured the ground to see who was going where when he spotted the big man. It was the swords he wore. Those two spikes sticking up over his shoulders gave him away every time. He slapped his sniper and pointed. The sniper nodded as the chopper hovered.
"Take him out." White yelled. He watched with a smile until he realized what the big man was doing. Joe had a rocket launcher on his shoulder. He had already aimed and he was firing as the sniper prepared his shot. "TAKE THE SHOT!" White shouted, but it was too late.
Joe's rocket nailed its target and a chopper in front of White's burst apart in flames. Burning bodies fell to the ground from a couple of hundred feet up. One team was down and White had only brought the four with air support. White watched as his three remaining teams made the roof just as a second chopper exploded in the air.
"Sir." The pilot said. "Over there." He was pointing. White followed the line of his finger and spotted the three bikes leaving the area. "Is that them?" He asked.
"Good work." White slapped his hand down on his shoulder. "Follow them." He said. As the pilot peeled off on their vector, a third explosion ripped the sky behind them. White no longer cared. His teams would make short work of the refugees and if he was lucky, really lucky, they would kill Joe this time.
"They'll take the highway." White said. He was calculating scenarios in his head. Making plans. "We've got to go north and cut them off. We'll set a trap and corral them." He shouted to the pilot. "Head north and pick a good location for an ambush. They'll be heading for Seattle ultimately."
The pilot nodded and veered off. His route took him low over some darker parts of Scottsdale and north Phoenix.
"This is White." He said into his headset. "Get me Dexter."
"This is Dexter." The voice said. "Where are you, Sir?" The man asked.
"I'm heading north to cut the transgenics off. Get you're people together and head to the highway just north of the city and call me when you clear the city limits." White shouted.
"We're already outside of city limits at the rest stop." Dexter said. He looked around the camp at the men lying and laughing and the few women they had with them trying to entertain an entire biker gang.
"Good. Cut them off and wait for me to get there. They are on their way and should be approaching your position in about ten minutes. They're coming in fast so cut them off and hold them until I arrive." White said. "I want the baby alive. What you do with the women is your business, but I get the child!"
"Understood, Sir." Dexter said. "Look alive people!" He shouted as he disconnected the call. "Let's go. Those bitches on the bikes yesterday are coming this way and I for one want a little payback."
"YEAH!" Someone shouted.
"FOR REDD!" Another one shouted.
The bikes were on the road and heading just south of the rest area to block the traffic coming north. They were in position with their weapons drawn and ready just as the girls topped hill where the bikers were waiting for them.
The three young women lay heavy on the brakes laying rubber a good twenty to thirty feet and stopping about forty yards from the bikers' roadblock. They all had weapons drawn and aimed at the three women,
"We could try and run the blockade." Jace said. "If we stay low on the bikes and run hard they might not get the shot."
"Too risky." Jondy said. "Especially with the baby." She turned and looked back along the highway. She could see two spots on the horizon coming in fast. "They've got choppers."
"Yeah. I know." Max said. "We can't risk it right now." She said reaching for her phone.
"You going to come quietly or do we have to rough you up a bit?" Dexter yelled from a safe distance.
"You really want to do this a second time?" Max asked. "You had weapons before and you still lost." She shouted.
"Don't make us humiliate you and your boyfriends again." Jondy added. "You going to call someone?" She asked.
"I was going to call Logan and tell him I wouldn't be home right away." Max said.
"Why would you do that?" Jace asked.
"There's a signal generator in this thing. If I leave it on then he has at least ten to fifteen hours before the battery runs out." Max said. "They should have us wherever they want us by then and then hopefully he'll be able to send a team."
"Does he have to know about the call?" Jondy asked. "Can't you just turn it on and speed dial? I mean its Logan. He always knows who is calling before he picks up a call right?"
"If he's paying attention." Max said. "The choppers are getting closer." She pressed the speed dial and marked her location.
"Yes?" He said.
"Hey. It's me." She said. "Listen, I'm in a bit of a situation. If you don't hear from me in say, then next hour then you need to run a trace on this phone and find my location."
"Max…" His voice took on an edge. "Is it White?"
"Probably." She said. "The situation with Jace has gotten a little out of hand. We were on our way out but he tracked us somehow. We're cut off and staring at a biker gang Jondy and I kicked the shit out of earlier." She explained.
"Can't you do it again?" He demanded.
"What's going on, buddy?"
"Is that Alec?" Max asked.
"It's Max." He said. "Alec's here with me. We've got a situation of our own but I'm going to go start that trace right now."
"Give me some time first. I promise I'll call when I get out of this." She insisted. "Just give me some time. I'm going to leave the phone on. Don't call back or ring this number or he might figure out what's going on."
"Logan's going to trace the call. He'll lock onto us and follow the signal to the destination if the phone holds out that long." Max said.
"So what now?" Jace asked.
"No matter what happens… you get Maxie out of here." Max said. "I'll not have my niece falling into the hands of Ames White. We'll cover you. Just get her out of here."
"I can't just leave you two here." Jace said. The helicopters were very close now.
"You can and you will." Max said. "Consider it an order."
"I don't take orders from you." Jace said. "But I understand what you're saying."
"First chance you get." She said. The choppers were landing. Max was staring at White. He was smiling. It wasn't a pleasant smile. He had an evil grin that sent shivers up her spine. This wasn't going to be pretty.
"Well, well, well." Ames said. "What a pleasant little surprise. Fancy meeting you out here." He smirked as he climbed out of the helicopter and walked toward the three girls. Four Phalanx warriors got out of the two choppers after him. They were a little worse for the wear but they were still in combat mode. They would be tough.
"Hey, Amy. Sorry, I couldn't stay and wait for you, but… you're an asshole." Max said.
"Wow." White said ignoring her comment. "452, 299 and 359 all in one neat little bundle. What's that you have there 359? A whiny little monstrosity? A freak of nature? The boys in forensics are going to have such a time with you and that thing…" He smiled. "I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when I take your badly beaten bodies back to the conclave and dump you in front of the committee. They're going to have such fun with you three."
"Not going to happen." Max said. White lost a little edge of his smile.
"It will happen and when I'm through with you, I'll hunt that bastard boyfriend of yours. When I catch him, it will all be over for you two and we can get on with our plans."
"Of world domination?" Max asked. "You haven't been able to accomplish that task in seven thousand years. What makes you think you will get away with it now?"
"I know we will. We're close. We're so close we can taste it. Soon, we'll have everything we need in place and you and the rest of the losers on this planet will fall to the side, waste away and die." Ames White said triumphantly. "Then we can live out our lives in relative peace without worrying about the overbearing population on this planet. The resources that are left will last us for millennia to come instead of centuries."
"You were specially educated, weren't you?" Max asked.
"You don't want to start with me." White said. "I have the upper hand here. You are seriously outnumbered. You have the disadvantage and I hold all the cards. All I have to do is give one little nod of my head…" He nodded. One of the Phalanx warriors raised his weapon and took aim. The tire on Jondy's bike blew out. "And it's all over for you, 452. I've won this round. You're mine now."
"Ya think?" Max asked. Her voice dripped with sarcasm. Her eyes grew dark and she dropped into a defensive posture with Jondy in front of Jace. "Bring it." She said calmly.
"I intend to." White said. He waved his four warriors forward.