Reaching for The Moon by ThePekingNoodle

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Chapter Eighty-Five: All the World's A Stage

In which our hero and heroine decide on some play acting…

As Max neared Portland she considered how best to approach Zack's location. If the Colonel thought he was there and was only waiting for Logan's confirmation he would have surveillance setup all around the area. She needed a way to get close without drawing any attention to herself. If Zacks's choice of neighborhood in Seattle was any indication, she figured this area of Portland would be a rough one.

 She was coming up on the Portland checkpoint and that was going to be a problem as well since she didn't have the paper work she needed to get through it.  Making a sudden decision, she swung her bike off of the main road into a dilapidated industrial park. She figured she was just a mile or two from the city proper.

The park she was in consisted of old warehouse buildings divided into small bays that had once housed a variety of businesses but were now deserted.  She found a bay in the back and forced open the drop down door, then wheeled the Ninja inside. Outside she pulled the door down and threw some debris in front of it to make it appear undisturbed. Satisfied she set off on foot into Portland.

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Logan tapped his hand impatiently on the steering wheel as he sat in the line to be cleared through the Portland checkpoint. Finally it was his turn. The bored looking officer held out a hand for his papers and glanced through them quickly.

"You're here for business, Mr. Eastman?" he asked Logan making notes on a clipboard.

"That's what my papers say." Logan answered shortly.

The guard glanced up at him. "Surprised someone like you is driving himself. Thought all you corporate hotshots had drivers or planes."

Logan met his look. "I felt like a drive by myself. Is there some problem with my papers, officer?"

The officer shrugged. "They're in order." He handed Logan back the papers. "You're free to go. Enjoy your stay."

"Thanks, I'm sure I will." 

The officer stepped back and motioned for the gate to be raised. Logan drove through being careful not to appear too anxious or to look back behind him. He did glance in his rearview mirror to note that as the gate was dropped the officer didn't immediately move to the next car in line. Instead he stood there for a moment watching as Logan drove away.

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The block in Portland that supposedly housed Zack's location was a rough one.  There were several abandoned buildings interspersed with weed grown vacant lots.  Trash and debris littered the crumbling sidewalks and vagrants dozed in random heaps against building walls.  The blonde streetwalker looked around her idly as she leaned against a rusted streetlight pole.  Her tiny skirt looked like it had been poured onto her, revealing an expanse of shapely legs sheathed in torn fishnet stockings. Her feet were slipped into stiletto heels that looked sharp enough to skewer a man, and she wore a skimpy halter on top of the skirt. Her hair was matted and tangled and makeup caked her face. 

It was growing dark. The time when her clientele would be coming out. As she waited she let her eyes briefly roam through the neighborhood, scanning the empty buildings, then she looked back down, seemingly examining her chipped manicure.

She hadn't been there more than ten minutes, when a black SUV pulled up next to her. The driver's window came down.

"How much?"  a male voice asked.

The streetwalker seemed to jump slightly but she didn't raise her face. "$500," she muttered.

There was a laugh from the SUV. "Bit pricey for this neighborhood don't you think?"

She shrugged but didn't answer and didn't look up. There was c lick as the SUV doors were unlocked.

"Get in the back. I'll give you $1,000."

"Changed my mind. I don't do kinky or pain." She straightened and started to walk away. Next thing she knew, the SUV door slammed and a tall man was blocking her path. A hand took her chin and yanked her face up.

"Max?! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

She was looking into Logan's very blue and very angry eyes.  "Logan, what are you doing here?"

"Saving your ass. This setup is a trap. Zack isn't here, and the Colonel has that building swarming with troops."

"How do you know?"

"Sebastian did a satellite infrared scan of the place. There are fifteen to twenty troops inside."

"So that gives body count. Doesn't say who. Maybe they have Zack prisoner in there with them." She tried to pull away.

"Maybe they do, but you aren't walking in there to find out." Logan was adamant.

"I'm not walking away either."

"Get in the car. We can't talk out here."

Max shrugged and walked around to climb into the passenger seat. Logan got into the driver's seat and locked the doors.  Safely behind the tinted windows they sat and glared at each other.

"I'm not leaving until I know they don't have Zack." Max said.

"How do you propose to find that out? Walk up to the door and ask them nicely if they're holding your brother there?"

"I'm not stupid, Logan."

"You wouldn't know that by this stunt." He shot at her.

"What do you care? You have Ashley, we were just about the sex, and it's over. Wouldn't it be easier for you if I ended up back in Manticore anyway?" Max challenged him.

Logan stared at her, caught without words. 

"It's been nice, but I have work to do, Logan." Max started to open the door.

Logan's hand came down over hers and he spun her to face him.  "I lied about Ashley and the sex. Okay? You are not going out there. Its suicide, and I won't let you."

Max stared back at him. "You can't stop me."

"No. I can't. But I can ask you not to do it."

"I can't go knowing that Zack might be in that building. I can't let the Colonel have him."

Logan was silent a moment. "Fine. But we do this together. And we have some kind of a plan."

"What plan?"

"Hang on."  Logan got busy on his laptop for a few minutes. Max waited impatiently. Finally he turned to her. "Sebastian says that it appears that the troops are concentrated on the first floor of the building in one area. There's camera surveillance set up outside, but he's going to hack into it and feed in tapes from the last few nights so whoever's watching thinks nothing is going on."

"How does that help us?"

"You're the hooker, I'm the customer. You're taking me into that building to provide me with your services.  When we get inside you do your thing. I back you up." He reached across her and opened the glove compartment and pulled out his gun.

"I don't like it."

"You were going to go in on you own, pretending to be a hooker." Logan said flatly. "This way you have some backup.  Seb's also going to jam their comm frequencies so they can't call for help. I don't like it much either but if you insist on doing this, it's the only way I'll agree."

"If I don't agree?"

"Then Seb is going to send a warning to them about a possible attempted breach."

"Logan this is blackmail." Max was angry.

"Take it or leave it." He wasn't giving an inch.

"I'll take it.  But I don't like it."

"I don't either."

Without warning he pulled her to him and his lips came down on hers.  She could taste the mix of emotions swirling around them, but she couldn't tell which were hers and which were his. When he lifted his lips from hers she just looked at him.

"After we finish this off, we're going to talk, Max." he warned.

She shrugged. "Whatever." 

Logan started to say something more but his laptop beeped. He glanced down. "Seb has the surveillance set and he's going to start the jam in five minutes. Let's go."

He opened his door and jumped out. Max followed suit on her side. Together they walked down the street toward the target building. To all intents and purposed they looked like a hooker and her customer. In less than five minutes they were at the entrance to the building.

"Showtime." Max whispered as she pushed open the rotting door.

End of Chapter Eighty-Five…TBC…