Reaching for the Moon by ThePekingNoodle
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Chapter Thirteen: Uninvited Guests
Our hero and heroine finally meet again…
Logan had no trouble leaving Seattle. The Sector Passes identifying him as Michael Eastman, traveling salesman, had barely rated a glance from the cold and bored Sector patrols. The trip from Seattle to Nathan's estate in Idaho was normally five hours, four for a fast driver, which Logan was. But this time he couldn't take any chances of being stopped, and to further complicate matters, there was snow on the roads. So he had been driving for almost seven hours in the Aztek he had borrowed from Bling, before he finally came to the side road that led to Nathan's estate.
He turned onto it cautiously, thankful for the Aztek's four wheel drive. The car's headlights cut a beam of light through the pre-dawn darkness and he drove carefully on the snowy road, not wanting to have a run in with a deer or worse.
As he came out of the woods that surrounded the first few miles of the road he could make out a few lights scattered in the distance, the only indications of the estates that surrounded him. He came to the gates that led to Nathan's, but instead of turning into them he kept going. A glance to the side revealed a black Hummer parked behind the gates and several sentries standing guard. Logan had expected as much and was careful not to slow down as he passed by.
A mile up the road he flipped off his headlights and pulled to the side. He reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a pair of night vision goggles which he put on. Then he drove slowly forward, searching the woods to his left carefully. Finally he found what he was looking for, and after checking his rearview mirror to be sure no one was behind him, he carefully turned left onto an almost invisible road. He drove forward a few hundred yards and stopped. Climbing out he opened the trunk of the Aztek and took out a portable snow blower. He walked back to the road and used the blower, which was surprisingly silent, to blow fresh snow over the tracks the Aztek had left when he pulled into the side road. When he was satisfied that no one would notice that a vehicle had pulled into the woods, he returned to the Aztek and stowed the blower back in the trunk, then got behind the wheel and started forward once again.
* * * *
Max was worried. She had been waiting for weeks now and she was afraid that something had gone wrong and Logan wasn't coming for her after all. Her food supplies were running low, and soon she would have to take the ax that hung on the cabin wall and replenish the pile of firewood that was stored in a shed in back of the cabin. Her father's instructions had been clear, but she decided that it was time to do something for herself. Since Logan didn't seem to be coming to her, she would go to him. She decided she would leave at first light.
Her departure from the academy had been too fast for her to pack any clothes and there had been no extra ones here at the cabin. Max looked down at herself. She had on a pair of black wool pants and a black turtleneck sweater. At least it had been cold when she had left Switzerland, so she also had a down parka, gloves and warm boots to protect her against the outside temperatures. She still needed something to carry food in, and her small purse would never work, so she set to work searching the cabin and finally came up with an old canvas bag. It would do since she had nothing better to use.
Max was too restless to sit still until the morning, so she pulled on her outdoor clothes and headed outside. It was dark in the woods, and since the cabin windows were covered with blackout curtains no light shone from them. She walked out to the small shed where the firewood was stored and filled her arms with logs before heading back to the cabin. As she drew closer she sucked in a dismayed breath. A car was parked in front of the cabin and the door was ajar. That alone wouldn't have bothered her, but her ears picked up the sound of another vehicle approaching slowly through the woods.
* * * *
After what seemed like forever, Logan spotted the black shape of a building looming in front of him. He pulled the Aztek to a stop in front of it and stepped out. He looked around but all seemed quiet as he climbed the few steps to the cabin door. When he raised a hand to knock softly, the door swung open in front of him. Logan reached into his pocket and pulled out the gun he had stowed there, and then carefully slipped into the cabin. A quick glance around the single room told him it was empty. The fire still burned strong so he knew it hadn't been that way for long. A small woman's purse lay on the wooden table and he walked over to it and dumped out the contents. A quick search through the wallet yielded a photo id for Linetta Guevara, which he threw into the fire. Logan made sure there was no other identification in the wallet, and then he returned it to the purse.
Max must be close by he decided. She wouldn't have left in the middle of the night, so he figured his best bet was to wait for her to return from fetching firewood or whatever she was up to. He was heading over to the sofa when he heard the sound of a vehicle pulling up outside. Cursing, he headed for the door, gun held at the ready. When he reached the door he cracked it enough to peer out and as he had feared, a Hummer had pulled up next to his car. Two military types climbed out and were looking over the Aztek. Logan looked around,but there was no other way out of the cabin and nowhere to hide for long. He made sure the safety on his gun was off and slid it into his pocket as he opened the door and stepped onto the small porch.
Both men had pulled guns and turned toward the cabin. "Good thing the Colonel was testing out that new heat signature tracking stuff tonight. Caught this engine signature a mile back." one of them commented.
"Think this is maybe where the girl is?" asked the other.
The first shrugged, "Could be or could just be some crazy hunter. Gotta check it out though."
The two were almost at the foot of the steps before they saw Logan standing in the doorway. "Can I help you gentlemen?" he said smoothly.
"Identify yourself." The one who appeared to be in charge demanded.
"Name's Michael Eastman."
"What are you doing here? This is private property."
"I've come here for years to do some deer hunting whenever I can get away from the little woman," Logan winked. "Fellow who owns this place gave me a key and an open invitation years ago. Nathan Guevara – you work for him?"
"Nathan Guevara isn't here and you're trespassing. I'm afraid you're going to have to come with us while we check out your story."
Logan slid his hand into his pocket and began to pull out his gun. Before he could complete the motion, all hell broke loose. A figure in black dropped to the ground from a tree branch above the two men. As they turned in shock, the figure spun and kicked out with incredible speed, sending both of their weapons flying. The rest was a blur in the darkness to Logan, but within seconds both men were lying unconscious on the ground. The dark figure lightly ran up the steps to the cabin and Logan stepped back from the door to let Max enter.
Logan just stared at her, as he remembered watching her move through her martial arts routine five years earlier. He had loved to watch her, but had never really pictured her actually using those skills with such deadly speed and strength.
"I've been waiting for you forever. What took you so long?" she asked, not even breathing hard, as she looked up and gave him a dazzling smile.
End of Chapter Thirteen…TBC…
