Hidden Danger Crouching Cat.
By Shannon Hearn
The characters of Dark Angel are owned by Twentieth Century Fox Television and Cameron Eglee productions. All other characters are of my creation.
The next chapter will be a murder mystery that will drag the Transgenic community into a level were Aspen will have to come clean with the Gills and the possibility that there are some things that are Nastier than Ames White.
Warning the following chapter has disturbing material related to drowning. Rated "R".
***
Chapter 7: Gardens, murder, Transgenics and the Bad Cops.
Aspen was ecstatic and tired at the same time from her encounter with Hannah, the aquatic Transgenic that she had encountered. Hannah's black hair and delicate features of her face made her seem less like a soldier but like a lovely Nymph that could protect nature. Aspen had felt glad that her encounter with Hannah would mean that soon that the Transgenic community might come together and be able to take down the monsters that sought to destroy their people. Nevertheless, Aspen needed sleep, it would be a busy day tomorrow and she needed to tell Shadow about what she had met. A water breathing Transgenic, the stories that they would know about operations pulled off by Manticore during its most confidential days of operation. Right now Aspen had felt glad that when she went surfing again, She would have someone to share the experience with from under the waves.
However, apologizing to Alec for her inconsiderate actions about talking about Rachel had opened up old wounds that he was trying to deal with. There were some things that she just should have let been and left unsaid until it was time to reveal it. Nevertheless, hell, life was unpredictable and so were the dead.
As Aspen came up from the maintenance tunnels she used to travel to apartment building that she Shadow and their fellow Transgenics shared. She decided to take a shower when she got in to clean off the salt water from her skin she soon would find out about the strange water pressure that Shower had. Shadow, Jim and Mel had decided to take their baths early and the water had turned chillingly cold.
"Shhhiiiiiiittttttttttttttt!!! You guys should start putting a sign up when you use up all the hot water." Aspen yelled at her roommates.
***
The next day at Jam Pony, the four Manticorians were talking about the meeting that had happened the night before and it was not pretty.
"Aspen, I don't know that you are PsyOps, but there are some rules that you have to follow, and that is no using your powers at work unless it is of a life or deaths crisis." Max said emphasizing every word that she said.
"Yeah I know Max, but I tend to do whatever it takes to achieve a mission.. So do not jump down my throat in the process." Aspen said looking towards Max with questions about what was your engineer smoking when he cooked you up, did he stick a stick up your ass during your invetro state.
"You know Aspen, you disappeared just after the meeting that we had with Logan last night?" Melfina said looking towards Aspen with the questioning look on her face. Aspen looked at her with a smirky grin back at her.
"With some friends that I met list night while I was surfing." With a sudden poof as like magic came the shaggy head of Sketchy from around a corner of lockers.
"Whoa, you surf??? Wow, the Beach goddess is actually a BEACH GODDESS." Were the words coming out of the Grunge master.
"Yeah, Sketchy. I surf so that I can clear my mind after I have a rough day." Aspen said as Sketchy walked away. Aspen decided to play a little joke on Sketchy to get him out of her hair. Just as Sketchy left to sit by his lunch, she located his mini dictation recorder that he used to record his interviews for the stories that he did for the New World Weekly. Aspen decided to record a little something that would freak him out and leave him a little drooling in the process with the use of very simple words: "I surf naked at midnight. Signed the Beach Goddess: Aspen. Oh, you're drooling on yourself.
"Now if you think that I like having a body that people idolize over. I don't. I just want to be me, get to know me for who I am." If that did not make him nearly choke or spit out whatever he was eating, the last part would at least prevent him from bugging her. Taking up the role of the Amazon Surf Goddess was totally against her personality but she found that it would give her a tactical edge way from the hormone-seeking males.
"Hey Sketchy, here is your recorder." Aspen said holding up the small piece of electronic equipment in her hand.
"Thanks." Said Sketchy as he took the recorder from Aspen and walked away. As Sketchy took the recorder up to his ear and checked if any of his messages that he had on it were deleted. Just when Sketchy skipped to the last recording on the device as he was walking by couch by the wide screen television. The message she had left on it had caused him to zone out and run right into the back of the couch at waist level and flipped right on over it eventually ending up face first right in Sky's pizza which he had sitting right next to him.
Aspen watched the scene unfold and just grinned and said. "Men. The weaker sex."
Everyone in the room looked at Sketchy as he got up pulling pepperoni off his face and he just took a look at Aspen with the feeling that the dream of every male at Jam Pony to see her in a wet T-shirt would probably happen, but Aspen "Naked." Following her would be a dream of a lifetime.
Max just looked at Aspen with the feeling that getting along with her would be more trying than Alec on his worse money grubbing day. Hell Mia, the PsyOps witch that waltzed her way into Jam Pony a few weeks earlier drove her nuts with all the "whammies" that she pulled off on Max and Alec just to help her get your precious Dougie away from his life in crime. The Curvaceous Killer had kicked the Magnificent Monte Cora's perfectly arrogant ass for all the messes he left her with. Mia, had gone full puppy doggie pouty on Max with the idea that even Transgenics can fall in love, even when they can influence other people around them.
Aspen had a persona, which she possessed that Max understood clearly. It was a technique that Aspen and the other Transgenics had used to cope with uncomfortable situations that they found themselves in. Aspen was playing the drop-dead gorgeous woman that men desired and women wanted to be. Somehow, Max had felt that during the meeting Aspen was holding some secret back. The entire "Rachel" thing had seriously creped Alec out and Aspen had acted that somehow her "sixth sense" allowed her to learn stuff about people when she entered a situation. However, Aspen seemed glad almost relieved from the events of the previous night when she had been alone.
"Aspen, you said that you surf. Why do you do such a thing?" Max's question came out with more of a point than as a question.
"Well I surf, so that I can clear my head. It is my escape from reality." Aspen said looking at her fellow X5.
"Its the same way with me and my Motorcycle. If anyone touches it, I get personally pissed at them." Max said looking at Aspen with more understanding. Max and Aspen were both from the same people and the ways that they felt about the world and the ways that they coped with the problems around them forced them to become more flexible and adaptable to the things that occurred in their lives.
"Yeah, I'm the same way with my surfboard.. If anyone touches it, I want to rip them apart. I spend my late night ours ribbing it down with Sexwax and making sure that the grip padding on it is in shape."
"So, surfing brings you a sense of peace." Max said with a sympathetic grin.
"Yeah, it does, but last night I ran into a few of our kind."
"What.... What you mean our kind? More X-series." Max said looking at Aspen with concern and worry.
"A couple X-series customs and some Nomalies." Aspen stated to Max who was looking bug-eyed at her.
"Where did you meet them at?" Max said looking around to make sure no one heard the conversation they were having, Then Max dropped her speech down to the point were only Aspen and herself could hear each other.
"At the beach last night. Just when I was coming in from surfing after dark. As I was changing back to some street clothes, uh Hannah one of the Transgenics I was telling you about came up from behind me and touched me on the back of my neck and I just freaked. So, basic training kicked in and I had her on the ground before she knew it. For a moment we just looked at each other, then I saw her gills."
"What a minute you saw gills. As in fish gills?" Max said looking with increasing worry growing on her face.
"Yes, fish gills, has black hair and a off gun-metal blue skinsuit with silts for her gills. A quirky grin, and possessing a "mother that cares a lot about her children and her family" attitude that I have a full respect of.
"Did she tell her about being captured by humans and winding up in a strip club?"
"Yes... She did. You know her." Aspen started looking at Max realizing that it was her who had saved Hannah's life weeks earlier. "Do you want to come with me tonight when I meet with them?"
"Yeah, but how about you bring along Shadow, he might be interested in your little discovery that you made."
"Okay" Aspen said with Max's response towards seeing Hannah again. At that moment, the person that Max did not want to see again for a while given the fact that she was dating Alec. The most annoying, blond bitch, leader of S1W, wants to have sex with Logan. The one-and-only, Asha.
"Hey Max, what is shakin'?" Said Asha, with her normally questioning and loose feelings of trying to apologize after the "furry little friends and need to shower" incident at Logan's. After Brain death and the saving of Gill Girl, Asha had come to the realization that the transgenic community was fighting for the same things that she and the S1W were fighting for, a better life and an end to the corruption that had made all their lives hell. She and Shadow would be great together. Eww was the thought came to the mind. Alec and Asha in bed. Bad enough, Shadow had the feeling of someone who was straight forward and the way that Asha was afraid of him, hell she looked like she was about to worship the ground that he walked on. What he came out and said about corruption at Manticore, and that he wanted to pursuit those who had led illegal black operations which had gotten several of his close friends killed. His feeling about those who had used their government connections to make a profit off of the deaths of his friends had made his blood boil.
Maybe getting Asha and Shadow together to talk, might force Asha to open up more about herself. Hell Asha was this enigma and other than knowing Logan and helping him out on cases, Max felt that Asha was nice at times, but she had problems coming forward about how she met Logan and tidbits about her self. Asha was a mystery, but some juicy details wouldn't hurt.
"Hey Asha, me and Aspen here are going out tonight, do you want to come? Shadow will be there."
"Uh, why would you want me to go out with you guys?" Asha said looking weirdly at the two Transgenics.
"Asha, I just want to get to know you better and Eyes heard about the "furry little friends" insult and he wants us to... " Max was trying to phrase this the right way. "Bond." Were the words from Max as she gave a distasteful look on her dark mocha colored face.
"Eyes wants me to bond with you." Asha said looking at Max with "you have got to be joking" character on her face.
"No Asha, Me, with you! His orders." The look on Asha's face was, priceless.
"No shit."
"No shit is an understatement." Max said with a shrug.
"Uh, Asha, do you have a swimsuit?" Aspen said towards the shortcut, cat featured looking blond.
"Not really, why?"
"We're going to the beach to meet some friends that the both of us know."
"I'll see what I have."
"If you don't take two pairs of bras one light and one dark and a pair of shirts that you are not afraid of getting wet."
"Okay, I'll see you tonight, were do you want to meet?"
"How about here, this way it is a common local that everyone knows and we don't have to worry about the Sector Cops bugging us in the progress."
"That sounds nice. See you tonight Max. Nice talking with you Aspen." Asha said as she walked of the bike messenger offices. Little did she know that events would lead her to learn more about Max than she ever wanted to know.
***
The currents were moving nicely today. Hannah would soon have another fish to add to her catch of the day. The skinsuit she and the other aquatics wore allowed them to over faster through the water with less drag resistance against their forms by the rippled lines that flowed vertically down the suits. Hannah's most mature female offspring Neri was liked to her mother's back slipstream and was ridding next to her. Out of Hannah's eight offspring, Neri was the most like her father, adventurous and brave. May the stars help her when this child of her's got older and wanted to learn about the world above. After the adventure, Hannah had with the above world since their escape from their land based pain masters who controlled them since they were children. The safety of the oceans and the water would allow them to have the peace they were never allowed to have as they grew up. Then Hannah saw Sharky, and aquatic Nomalie whose large fast moving frame and brute strength had allowed them to get out of their cells and tanks the night of the fire. However, Sharky's monstrous size and predatory features made him seem like a reject for the "Monster from the Black Lagoon." He did look like a Stan Winston version of Jaw's spliced with Dwain "The Rock" Johnston with a bit of H.R. Geiger bio-mechaniod drawings thrown in to par. However, Sharky was the nicest person that she knew and his tracking skills were next to none. He could track a drop of blood from a subject for over the distance traveled from Light rise to Light fall at full speed. With a sudden rush of speed, Pos and Nani, two of the younger X-series aquatics that were staying with the pod were racing along side Hannah and Sharky. The two younger Transgenics were developing their secondary adult characteristics, especially with Nani's budding that was taking place, within a few months she would need a new skinsuit due to her rapidly expanding frame. Pos did not need one as fast for his frame due to him already being in his maturing stage of his body. Hannah felt that as these two got older, their lives would be more interesting than she and Richard's had been.. That was soon transformed by them all sensing disturbances near the kelp garden.
"Hannah, I smell blood coming from the Garden." Sharky communicated to Hannah as the smell overwhelmed him as she looked around and took off quickly to where the garden was.
"Sharky, do you know who it is that is hurt?" Hannah said moving at her top speed with little Neri being held in her hands.
No, but I sense that the person is a norm, but the blood that is coming out of the individual is female and young."
"How young?" Hannah said as she moved closer to Sharky with increased urgency.
"Young as in Nani's age. Maybe younger."
"I'll scan and sense if there are any others around her." Hannah communicated with urgency, then she sensed Richard and Lucy in a sort of battle with two human's in scuba gear. All of a sudden, a call of distress was heard from Richard.
"Hannah, get the others here quick, there are some Norms wanting to kill us. They are trying to drown a little one with rocks on her feet." with those words, Hannah, Sharky, and then behind them Pos and Nani were coming quickly to their aid.
When they got to the kelp garden, Richard and Lucy were battling two humans who were attempting to keep the two Transgenics way from the young girl who was struggling for help but if she kept struggling she would run out of oxygen in her system and would drown.
With near superhuman speed eight other aquatics had come to their aid. Richard was calling out to Hannah to give air to the bound norm. Sharky quickly came to Richard's aid and provided support by grabbing the diver's tank valves and ripping them off. The burst of air from these tanks led to the divers being forced to the surface.
Quickly Pos and Nani went to the girl and attempted to bring her to the surface so that she could breath. That is when things started to get messy. As the two amphibious Transgenics got to the young female norm that was struggling for non-existent oxygen to breath, they soon realized that she was completely without any coverings at all on her naked flesh. The wound that was gashed across the back of her skull was leaving a trail of black murky fluid into the water. To add another knot to the problem, her legs were not tied down to the rocks; they were in the circular rock. Her feet and lower legs were in hardened concrete from which she could not escape without being removed from the substance. Realizing the problem Pos and Nani attempted to paddle her up to the surface but the weight of the concrete that she was entombed in prevented them from pulling her up the fifteen feet to the surface. Out of insight and memories of what had happened to one of their air breathing masters one time when he had been under too long. The medical crew had given him some sort of mouth to mouth breaths of air and compression to his chest to bring him back to life after Richard had gotten a hold of him during a training session and prevented him from getting the precious oxygen he needed. Remembering this, Pos took his mouth and started puffing oxygen from his land lungs into her mouth. It took about two times to realize that he was not attempting to hurt her, but to save her life.
Then things started to get more hairy with the arrival of another person getting into the water with a spear gun. With superhuman speed, Lucy and Hannah grabbed this individual and forced his tank off him. Getting the tank towards the girl that was being tended to by Nani and Pos, the yells coming from them that they needed a tank of air to aid this girl.
The person who they tore the tank from had gotten to the surface to the boat resting on the surface, and then all hell broke loose. The sound of gunfire erupted from above as shots of the two divers that Sharky had attacked and disabled their air tanks started shooting down into the water with a flurry of bullets.
Lucy had been able to dive down deeper to escape the rapid percussion of bullets when she saw that the boat was moving way, she thought that was a good thing until she saw something splash into the water. A live grenade that was ready to explode.
"Everyone get away, there is a grenade about to go off." With all the speed that she could muster she grabbed the explosive in her hands and swam straight up to the surface and exploded out of the water as she arched backwards tossing the explosive device to a save distance. The explosive wave slammed the fury Seal Nomalie into the water with enough force that it knocked her senseless for several moments.
The battle had been great, but now this group of aquatic Transgenics now had in their hands a human that would soon have to be gotten out of the water and somewhere dry so she could heal. Hannah was going to making her meeting tonight with some company with her. This was going to be an ugly night.
***
Asha was almost pleased that Max received barking orders from Eyes Only himself. Something told her that this trip to the beach was to bond the two. The idea of having to connect with Maxine Maria Guevara as a friend might give her some insight into knowing what Alec was like growing up. But Asha felt that the main reason that Max stated the old EO had ordered her to make nice with Asha herself might have been the lack of understanding that the two had between one another. The Brainaic and Gill Girl incidences had brought the two together in ways that was uneasy for the two of them to fully say aloud. Brain and his puppy dog crush on the very sexy transgenic had exposed the traitor within the ranks of the S1W that was giving information to corrupt police officers. The ending of this threat had cost Brain his life. The feeling that Max had lost a part of herself when Brain died put the war that she and Max were battling into a steep contrast. The Gill Girl incident had allowed Max and Asha to come to an understanding o the idea that even Transgenics cared about their loved ones as well. Dragging in an injured, Transgenics right into Logan's apartment and dropping him into the shower puts the idea that trouble tends to show up when it wants. For Asha putting the breathing gear back together for Gill Guy allowed her to start o understand that even Transgenics had problems even when all they wanted was to get their loved ones back. This human side of things made Max seem less like some bio-engineered creature to being just a scared girl who was responsible for a community that was being persecuted for all for just being different.
Though being girly was the last thing Max wanted and Asha being comfortable about being a woman allowed her to be a bit more open about her sexuality. For some reasons max was almost phobic about it. It was as if she couldn't have sex with Logan but Asha felt it was something cultural in Max's life. Manticore from what she heard was not the type of place which one had a nice childhood at. Maybe it is the reasons that Max was so in love with Logan, a sense of normalcy and a cautious romantic who could talk gently and guide her into discovery her own humanity. In the next few minutes, Asha would be meeting with Shadow, Aspen and Max. One human and three Transgenics, not odds that she liked but se had to cope with the fact that EO was ordering this and Max was in serious trouble with Eyes himself. Asha just seriously wanted to see Max in a swimsuit; the concept would be almost humorous. Hell Max plus swimsuit would seriously equal some major questioning of how good they made Transgenic females.
That thought was what kept Asha going as she stood in front of Jam Pony wearing two t-shirts, a jacket, and a seriously red strong skirt that hid the swimsuit she was wearing. Asha was waiting for Max to show up and the resulting effect of seeing Max show up in a pair of sweats and a tank top as she rode up on her motorcycle. When Aspen and shadow showed up in Shadow's old Millennium model blue Neon.
Shadow looked like he had been through some serious roughness by the way that he looked. His tired faced put that he wanted to spend some down time and relax. This trip with Asha was probably his way of gather information about what she had spilled at Crash a few nights ago. Hiding behind Alec out of worry that Shadow might be more dangerous and unpredictable by not knowing what could possibly set him off to kill. Shadow's button up blue short-sleeved shirt and blue jeans gave him an appearance of seriousness. Aspen on the other hand gave off the appearance of someone who was loose and was about to party. The way that Aspen dressed demonstrated some of the sophistication of her abilities to blend in, right now, her clothing had the taste of relaxation being of a green tank top and purple shorts. On top of the Neon was Aspen's well-worn surfboard that looked like it had been through everything from harsh storms to toxic sludge.
Asha knew that she would be riding with Shadow and Aspen during this trip and Max looked like getting into the same car as her would even test her limits. So Max decided to stay and use her black motorcycle to get to the beach. On the ride to the beach while in the back of Shadow's car, Asha wanted to start up a conversation with Shadow. Aspen had felt that she needed to bury the hatchet between Asha and herself, well not in a literal sense.
"Uh, Asha I know that you and Alec have a history between one another and you are a little uncomfortable among others of your kind." Aspen said towards Asha who was uncertain about the situation she was in.
"I don't know, I mean that Max feels that I am moving in her boyfriend Logan. I mean the who entire genetically engineered specifically targeted virus thing has turned her life to dog food." Asha said looking at the side of Aspen's face.
"Whoa, you mean that Max and Logan are not getting lovely with it due to this engineered virus." Aspen said with a blow of shock.
"Where did she get it?" Shadow said taking a glance back into the review mirror to see Asha's face.
"Well you should know, it was cooked up at Manticore to nail Eyes Only, but due to some lab screw up it got aimed towards Logan." Asha said viewing Shadows large rimmed sunglasses in the mirror.
"Multi-phase genetic assassin Lot, DV-330?" Shadow said putting the question towards Asha knowing that if the virus was not screwed up in it being assigned to Logan.
"I don't know, all I do know is that Max got pissed at Alec for putting paint on her virus papers." Asha said putting Max's cursed love life forward to others of her kind.
"So, Max got the research on the virus. Why hasn't she been able to get it out of her system even before the papers were covered with paint." Aspen put forth to Asha with growing interest.
"Well the guy who was supposed to cure the virus out of her system blew town with ten grand of Max's and Logan's money only after he did half the work it curing it." With Asha's response, Shadow knew why the virus had not been cured. She was probably searching for someone with the skills and expertise with Manticore genetics technology to get it fully out of her system.
"Where does Max keep her virus papers?" Shadow said putting forth a plan that might buy him some leverage and be able to illustrate his skills towards the illustrious Eyes Only.
"I don't know, Max is pretty protective of those papers. She probably has them stashed somewhere she would feel that they would be safe." Asha said wondering why Shadow had wanted to learn more about Max and the virus she had.
"I would safely say that the papers would not be at Alec's place any more." Aspen put looking towards Asha's catlike features.
"Well ladies, we are here." Shadow said looking towards the beach. "Okay Aspen, this is your show, what time are we supposed to met with your friends here?"
"About sunset. That was the time Hannah said that she would be her with some of her friends." Aspen said as she unattached her surfboard from the top of Shadow's car and walked onto the beach and dropped her shorts to reveal her swim briefs that she had on.
"What do you mean around sunset. Don't they wear watches?" Asha steamed as she saw Max come down to the shore after she parked her motorcycle next to Shadow's car.
"Well they kind of don't wear watches due to them being underwater so much." Max added as she moved next to Asha with her sneakers off and standing in her bear feet in the soft grayish tan sand.
"Hell even scuba divers wear watches, so if I am waiting for some frog guy to come out of the water so that you all can talk to him. Well I just blew a trip to the beach for nothing. Well Max I'd think that if Eyes wants us to bond, I think we better start." Asha said fuming.
"Asha, the people that we are going to be meeting are other Transgenics." Max put forth towards Asha.
"Other Transgenics, Max do you mean that we are meeting with others of your kind and you dragged me out to the beach just so that I can meet some more of your buddies. Max, I'm telling Logan when we get back in town." Asha put looking towards Max.
"Asha, you helped these Transgenics. In addition, Aspen wants to say Hi to them. Hell S1W could need all the help it needs these days so having some Transgenic Frogmen on your side wouldn't hurt." Max put forth towards Asha. "I have bailed your ass out of several circumstances and helping Gill Girl and Gill Guy reunite as a family put you on the good side of things. So, if gill girl wants to help you out by locating some corrupt government contractor or find some dead body floating in the river, you owe them that much." Max put to Asha who started looking at the Transgenic with growing concern that she had touched a nerve of something that would soon become prevalent to them.
"Max, why are you so angry? I know that I have butted into you and Logan's relationship. And the entire virus thing has you wanting to be close to him but if you touch him, the effect would be that he would die in the process." Asha said to Max knowing that was the main reason that Eyes Only wanted them to get together, to sort our their issues with one another.
"Asha, I never had a pretty perfect life. Manticore took away my childhood, taught me how to kill, and left me unable to function as a normal person in the real world. I've had to learn the hard way about life and what it is all about. Hell, my foster father was a sex offender who came after my older foster sister and me when I was about twelve maybe even thirteen years old. I was scared about using my powers to protect my sister and myself. Fear of being sent back to Manticore and from the outside world that I now knew. The only reason that I got out of that Hellhole was that Linda took my place when "Dad" came for us when he was drunk. I can still hear her voice as she said to run away. And I did. I have kept running away until I met Logan and he showed me that I have to fight to keep what I want in life." Max was almost crying at this point as she moved towards the blond human. Asha just stared at her with the realization that Logan was more than a person that she loved, but her lifeline to a stable world that she desperately wanted to keep at all cost.
"God, Max. You never told me that your life was Hell. I just never thought it was literally Hell on Earth." Asha just stared there at Max for several moments as she saw the cold-blooded killing machine turn into a normal person who just wanted her life back. For now, Asha saw that Max had joined Eyes Only to ensure that those bastards that had fucked up her life were destroyed. Manticore was her nightmare world and fighting the "good fight" allowed her to atone for not being able to save her older sister who had been abused by her "father." "Max it is alright, you don't have to be afraid. You just have to be who you are. Maxine Maria, Guevara. Deal, so um, if there is any way for me to help find a way for you and Logan to be together."
"Deal, I'll stay away from Alec as long as you stay away from Logan till I get over this virus bitch." Max said as she patted Asha on the back, a situation that Max would have made her to take an ice cube filled shower for over an hour to deal with the mere thought of being all girly with the Slutty one Woman, who was Logan's equal, Asha.
Then there was a yell as Aspen saw a desperate Hannah running towards her as if it was life and death. The dark haired aquatic transgenic was signing as fast as she could with Aspen getting a bulk of the message and Max only getting bits and pieces but the words of I need help were all she need to rush down blurring to Aspen's side. With Max looking at the young female as she drug Aspen towards the water where she saw a Transgenic with Shark feature and two other X-series customs like Hannah holding a person in his large arms. The slow walking towards the beach by the Sharkest Transgenic, Max caught something with her eyes and it was something that she never wanted to see on anyone. A cement block was encasing the person's feet. Asha quickly heard Max call out with urgency.
"Asha, Shadow, we need help here. Aspen needs some help. The person that they are bringing in might need some medical attention."
Shadow blurred over to where the girl hat was being brought onto the shore and the face of a young girl looked up at the three-land base Transgenics. The fear in her eyes was very understandable for someone who had been saved from drowning. The young girl was shivering by being in the water for so long. Shadow took off his shirt and Asha had taken off her s ankle length strong to cover her.
Asha who got a full look at the child saw that this was soon to be a case that Eyes Only would have to cover, due to how close it touched Max's past.
The large transgenic put the girl on the ground and Shadow started checking the girls pulse and checked her legs where the cement encased her feet. Shadow looked up at the adult Transgenic female and signaled to her "How did you find her?" However, things would unfold with a level of strangeness as Asha looked down at the girls legs.
"I'd think we better get this girl's legs out of the cement and have the story told to us in the process." The blond human said to the Transgenics around her. "I hope that someone brought a cell phone with them because I know someone that has a masonry saw that just might be agile enough to avoid cutting this girls feet off."
"Well, we better do it soon, she is about to break out in full hypothermia." Shadow said using his medical skills to diagnose the shaking the young girl was experiencing from being in the water for so long.
***
With Asha making a phone call with Aspen's cell phone to some of the members of S1W to get some supplies for what would be needed to aid this girl who was in need of some safety and protection from the people who wanted to kill her. Waiting by the beach for Asha's friends to show up Shadow had done with he could do to keep the girl warm with the blanket he had and Max holding the girl and keeping her body temperature stable with her hundred and one point five body temp. Asha felt that explaining herself with some of Max's furry little friends would aid in this understanding that S1W and the Transgenics were fighting for the same cause: ending corruption in the government. As the truck pulled up carrying Killer and a two other members of S1W pulled up Asha ran to meet with them to explain the situation.
"Hey Asha what is going on here? You said on the phone to meet you at the beach with a masonry saw and power source to run it. Not to mention the list of medical supplies that you asked for. What is going down?" Said Killer with his Asian features looking towards the crowd on the beach surrounding a figure wrapped in blankets.
"Killer, Remember the Manticore thing that Eyes Only asked for help with bringing down, and Max's help by protecting us from that Police informant. Well..." Asha paused for a moment as she thought about how to phrase the words she was about to use in the right way. "Some of Max's friends need some help when someone tried drowning a girl in their backyard."
"So why doesn't she call the cops and bring them into this?" Said Michael one of Asha's aids who was looking at her with the question.
"Because the person that we are helping has Gills. Literally." Asha said suddenly realizing that all that she was wearing in front of them was her swimsuit and her double pair of t-shirts rather put her off about explaining why she was with a large group of Transgenics. "Come on, I'll help you bring the stuff down to the beach." Then she yelled out. "Hey Max, you better help me get this stuff down."
"I'd heard you Asha." Max said coming up to the truck with a more growing sense that when Killer and the group met Hannah, things would get a little tricky. Considering that Hannah's last experience with normal humans was a bit of disaster for her, so introductions with Asha's friends would have to be done with considerable care. One look from Sharky the Nomalie put fear even into her; image what it would be like for Asha's associates. Hell, Asha hadn't even seen Joshua and he was a "Dog boy" so it wasn't too much to ask.
"Hey Max." Said Killer, who was eyeing her with the opinion that if Eyes had come forward and stated that S1W was not behind the Manticore Arson, things would have been better for the group as a whole.
"Hey Killer, so what has been happening since I last saw you last?" Max said trying to make some idol conversation.
"Oh nothing much just trying to stay one step ahead of the law. Reading, and doing research on transgenic mutations." Killer said making the last part a joke. "So why are you and Asha hanging together?"
Max took a moment to realize that she needed to state the obvious "Eyes ordered us to hang together to understand what he did and why he did for both groups."
"So, why did he do what..." Killer's words were stopped in mid-sentence as he saw a woman in a full body skinsuit holding a young girl's hands gently humming something to the girl. It took him a moment to realize that the two holes in her suit showed exposed gills. Then he realized that there was a creature that he would only call a monster walking over to aid him in moving the packages and the mini-solar battery pack that him and the others had in their arms.
"Hey Sharky, I need you to lay that gear down on the sand and open it up." Said a man with dark brown hair and a slightly medium sized muscular build wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. "Asha, could you and your friends set this gear up while I started on the medical supplies. Jane Doe here needs a thermal circulation unit to warm up her blood."
"Asha, who is that?" Said Michael looking at this man who seemed to be barking orders like an EMS medic.
"That's Shadow, he's a friend of Max's and he is a field medic. So, shut up and do what he tells you. Okay." Where the words out of Asha's mouth as she opened up the battery unit and plugged in the vibrating double bladed masonry saw which they were going to use to chip away the cement that encased the girl's feet.
"Hannah, I need you to talk to Aspen and tell us everything that you saw and experienced about the individuals that were attempting to kill this girl?" Shadow said to the aquatic transgenic.
The scene unfolded like a surrealistic Spanish novel, with Killer witnessing the weird strangeness of Max's world. Sharky, Aqua Lad, Hannah the sea nymph and Ocean Girl's baby sister Mera, were talking to Max's Amazon sister about a group of humans who had attempted to drown this young girl who was in shock from the dunking into ocean. The battle of how these mer-folk had been able to protect the girl and defend themselves from their attackers. Even the part about the guys dropping a grenade into the water, but what caught their attention was that Sharky had been able to obliterate the valves off the tanks that the divers had used. But figuring out why the girl was to dropped into the ocean like a sack of unwanted kittens would soon make this case something that Eyes Only would not let go of.
It took nearly an hour for them to chisel off the block of preformed synthetic rock off her feet. The creepiness of the situation forced the group of Transgenics and humans to deal with the fact that the smell of murder was in the air. Shadow had never seen anyone have such disregard for life outside the walls of Manticore. The raw biology of this type of nightmare made Shadow desire to find those responsible and hurt them hard. The girl was shivering from what he had felt not so much from the cold but from what had happened to her. Hannah looked at the child wondering if all humans were this cruel. Asha looked at the way Hannah was feeling emotionally around trying to figure out the mystery that was stirring up emotions for all of them.
"Asha, I'm calling in a friend. Valerie Shankar, who will check this girl out and see if we can get an Id on her." Max said realizing that they were way over their heads here. It was time to call in Logan.
***
At Mercy General Hospital, Valerie Shankar was looking at a strange scene before her. A naked girl suffering from mild Hypothermia being brought in by Max, but what caught her attention was how good shape she was in considering the amount of scrapes and bruises that the child had.
"Shadow," said Dr. Shankar "I noticed that you have some serious medical training. Where were did you receive your training at?" Shadow paused for a second to consider how to phrase his advanced Manticore medical training. But at that moment Max stepped in to protect him.
"Shadow had received his medical training at the same place I did." The words just hung in the air like a clinging mist.
"Oh the Mant Institute.." Dr. Shankar said looking at Shadow with understanding. "Field Medic."
"Advanced." Was Shadow's answer.
"Oh... I understand." With that, the Doctor turned towards Max and the group to explain the situation to them as Logan walked into the room. "Okay, the child has endured some major stress from whatever has happened to her before she was perspicuously dumped into the ocean. But the a bulk of her injuries are just scrapes and bruises from where she was tied up to hold her as the stuck her into that cement not to mention a major psychological shut down to blot out what had happened to her." Max looked over at Shadow then towards Valerie with a question of worry.
"What did you find the kid's blood"
"What I did find when I ran a blood workup on her is that she was injected with some major sedatives and hallucinogenic drugs. Now since that most of these drugs have dissipated out of her system since you brought her in. She should at least be calmer now since you got her out of the water and I believe that the ones that found her should stay nearby just she needed to see a familiar face."
"It looked like someone wanted to ensure that no one would be able to find her body or be able to identify her." Said Asha remembering the tense few hours after Hannah had found the girl. The Aquatic Transgenic had come with them and was wearing Killer's jacket to conceal her gills from the outside world. Asha knew that she would have to cook up a water re-breather system for the transgenic to use in the next few hours to keep Hannah's strength going while out of water environment she was designed for. Given how things for this Jane Doe had gone since she had been found had shocked Hannah and her fellow Transgenics to their core. Now this child needed a protector from those who sought to do her harm. She did not have just one, now she had several who would find those who had done this to this child and make them pay. The valve from the tanks that she and her other Aquatics had taken from their attackers showed the symbols of the law enforcers of the humans. The Sector Police, and judging from the actions she had learned about what these individuals had done, they were dealing with renegade agents of these protectors.
***
Chapter 8: Bodies in the pool, Hotels, Vampires, and Heat.
TBC