Chapter Six
The morning was cool. Despite the sweltering heat from the previous day, the temperature had managed to sufficiently decrease as the hours progressed until, at last, it had reached a comfortable setting in the mid-60's.
Molly always had enjoyed her morning jogs more when the weather was like this. She knew it was a better workout overall if she sweated more, which she definitely did when it was hotter out, but she just felt more exhilarated and even energized. Molly was constantly on Jondy's case about getting out and jogging with her but Jondy just complained that her 'parents' had made her exercise enough as a kid to last her the rest of her life. Molly however could not figure out how Jondy could keep up the supposed excellent health that she always boasted about without ever exercising or eating healthy which Molly did both religiously.
"Morning!" Molly called cheerfully to an older couple that seemed to be just finishing up the long trail through the woods. They both smiled but didn't offer any greeting in return.
"Well, good morning to you too," Molly said under her breath after they had passed.
As she traveled deeper into the dense forestry the slight morning fog grew noticeably denser and soon the only way Molly could tell which way she was going was by the trees that lined the narrow path like a high cut fence. She patted her back pocket for reassurance and felt better knowing her gun was nestled there tightly. Even though she was a cop and faced much more terrifying ordeals everyday, there was no knowing what kind of freaks were hanging out here at this time of the morning; just waiting for some unsuspecting person to come around the corner before they inflicted only God-knows-what upon him or her. You could never be too prepared.
Nothing however could have prepared Molly for her visitor that morning.
Out of nowhere the dark silhouette of a man appeared in front of Molly. She gasped in surprise as she nearly ran into him. Stumbling backwards, she nearly lost her footing but the man reached out and grabbed her arm to steady her. Molly looked up in suspicion at the man, her hand traveling around to her backside to rest lightly on her gun.
"I wouldn't suggest firing that," he said, standing back a step, not because of the gun but so that he could see her better. Now Molly did draw her gun.
"I'll only fire it if you give a reason to, dude," she replied smoothly. "Just walk away and we'll both have a great rest of the morning."
Cole raised an eyebrow at this girl's confidence. She had no idea who she was dealing with.
"Well, you see, Lieutenant, I plan on us both walking away. But first I have to relay a message from my superiors to you. Personally, I'm hoping you'll learn from it but I also know some people that would rather see you end up otherwise. You get what I'm saying?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Molly demanded impatiently, "Are you high?"
Cole rolled his eyes before explaining himself, "Do you recall a conversation you had last night?"
"I had a lot of conversations last night."
"Yeah, but in this one you specifically said the magic word which is the reason I'm here. Does Manticore summon any memories?"
Molly's jaw dropped and her eyes widened as she felt the first real jolt of fear since she'd ran into this guy. She'd only mentioned that name once yesterday and that had been in her conversion with Joanna. Right before they'd both heard the brick crash to the ground from someone being on the roof...
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Molly said firmly. Nevertheless, she could feel her confidence starting to diminish.
"Sure you don't."
Molly opened her mouth to disagree but Cole cut her off.
"I'm here to tell you that Manticore has eyes and ears everywhere and right now they're rather pissed off at a certain San Diego police detective who seems to have got her hand caught in the cookie jar. I'm just hoping her hand isn't stuck in the cookie jar."
"What exactly are you saying?" Molly asked.
Cole took a step forward so Molly could see clearly into his brooding eyes. She raised her gun so it was pressed into his chest. He didn't back off.
"I'm saying, Molly Diano, that you need to back off. Back off and forget you ever came across the name Manticore."
"Why should I listen to you?"
"If you what's good for you, you will. Otherwise, there is not one place on this planet where you will ever be safe again."
With that, Cole slowly took a few steps backwards until he was hidden far enough in the mist to blur.
Molly stood there on the path for some time, holding her gun with unsteady hands. She had never been shaken up by anybody before but this guy had been different. She truly believed him in that he'd said he was from Manticore, whatever the hell it was. She also believed that he was telling the truth about needing to stop probing but her ill-fated detective instincts were screaming for her to continue and to dig this secret out of whatever grave the government had so successfully managed to bury it in.
As Molly quickly re-pocketed her weapon she made a resolve to be more careful from now on. A lot more careful.
For a week everything was silent. Cole relayed to command that he was having a difficult time finding instances where he could effectively get rid of the "problem" without causing further disturbances in the Manticore's name. Although Lydecker sounded rather irritated about the situation he nevertheless told Cole to continue with the mission.
In truth, X5-878 was simply waiting and hoping that Molly Diano would heed to his advice and steer clear of Manticore from then on. If she just continued with her regular police work then there would be no further orders to track her down. As far as Manticore knew, if all went as planned, Lieutenant Diano had a tombstone with her name on it already in the making by one of their own. She would no longer be of any bother. To anyone.
In the meantime, Cole was enjoying very much his stay on the outside without anyone there to regulate his life. He'd gone back to Jondy and Molly's apartment a couple more times, mainly to check out Molly's activities but also to watch his friend of long ago.
She still had some of the same habits that Cole had noticed when they were both kids. She repeatedly cracked her fingers when she was nervous, tapped her foot when she was mad or irritated, and she constantly rubbed the back of her neck where her barcode was hidden under waves of pale hair.
These somewhat insignificant little quirks, however, only served to heighten Cole's awareness that this girl really was Jondy, an X5, and that he needed to be extra careful about sneaking around when she was about. And again, he didn't want her to know anything more than necessary about what was going on.
So far at least, Molly seemed to feel the same way. She hadn't mentioned Manticore since the night Cole had overheard her and Jondy talking and, even after their little encounter at the park, she'd managed to keep her mouth shut.
Cole guessed that she had figured pretty much the same way he did. Molly obviously knew that her life was in danger due to her investigative work and she didn't want Jondy to have to share that danger with her. At least she was being smart about something. Cole found it rather ironic though. Molly didn't want Jondy in danger from a Manticore assassin when, in reality, Jondy was the only one person that could save her if that assassin actually had to come after her.
All seemed to be going well until Cole spotted something out of the ordinary on Molly's desk at home; one airline ticket to South Africa. Under it was a manila envelope that was marked 'CLASSIFIED'. Cole held his breath as he picked up the envelope and took out the contents within, hoping it would have nothing to do with what he dreaded it did. The first sheet was enough to confirm his suspicion.
The rest of the fillings consisted of several emails sent back and forth between Molly and a man in Africa that were discussing what they knew of Manticore. The man, Sakir, confirmed to Molly that he knew exactly what the secret operation was but that it was too dangerous to discuss over open mail. He was the one who had sent her the ticket. Unfortunately, it seemed from looking in her agenda, that she indeed was planning to take him up on his offer.
Cole stood there for several minutes conjuring up a plan to get out of this one. Well, more like get Molly out of this one. Once he had a plan sufficiently worked up in his mind, he pulled out his cell phone and pressed 1.
"State your designation," was the immediate reply on the other end.
"X5-878," Cole answered, used to the usual procedures. There was a brief few minutes before the person on the other line continued. Cole knew they were checking to make sure it was his voice over the computer.
"Transferring to Colonel Lydecker."
The phone beeped and then Lydecker came on.
"What have you got to report, soldier?"
"Sir, the target is in my scope but I've managed to obtain additional information on her activities that points to further parties knowing of Manticore's existence. Request permission to continue to trail her until I know the identities of these parties." Cole held his breath.
After a pause, Lydecker talked, "Permission granted."
Cole let out his sigh but made sure it wasn't loud enough for his commander to hear.
"878?"
"Yes, sir."
"What is the name of the target? That seems to be a aspect you neglected to convey on your last report."
Cole closed is eyes in frustration. He couldn't lie. They would find out if he did.
"Lieutenant Molly Diano, sir."
"Very good. Report in once you've obtained the sought information. And you better not mess this one up, soldier."
"Yes, sir!" replied the X5. After he hung up he cursed out loud. This was going to be harder than he'd originally intended.
Suddenly, he heard the squeak of the un-oiled door open and the soft footsteps of someone coming in. He immediately looked for a place to hide.
By the time Jondy got to the office there was no trace that anybody else was there. She began rummaging around the office, much as Cole had just been doing, and it didn't take her long to find the ticket and envelope also. Her eyes grew wide with fear and a little bit of irritation as she reviewed the contents of the package.
"You're going to get yourself killed, Molly," she said softly to the empty room, well, at least she thought it was empty. Cole watched her silently from the closet, keeping his breathing to a minimum since he knew she would be able to hear it if he breathed normally.
He observed the mix of emotions that flitted across her delicate face and was somewhat distraught to see the sudden look of determination that settled in her eyes. Her face, almost at once, went from being that of a normal woman, with the regular amount of personal problems, to that of someone that she had been fighting to break free of since before she could remember.
The feelings that had been so obviously there a few moments ago were now nothing but an all too familiar mask of hard, un-feeling features that Cole knew he often wore himself. The only difference was her eyes. Whereas X5-878 had cold, brooding eyes that saw nothing ahead for him in life, Jondy, X5-509, had eyes that showed her strength and her lust for life that had managed to keep her alive and just one step ahead of her enemies all these years.
Until now.
She left after a few minutes and Cole came out of the cramped space he'd been hiding in. He knew exactly what Jondy was planning. She was going to follow Molly. She was going to follow Molly and put herself smack dab in the middle of his well forged plan and completely mess things up.
Looks like we'll get a proper introduction after all, Cole thought darkly. Then he left.
Jondy didn't confront Molly until the night Molly told her she was leaving.
"I thought you were going to drop that case?" Jondy said casually, pretending not to show much interest. She was now in the full throttle of her X5 training.
"Well, I was until I had an extremely interesting little run-on with someone that none too tactfully warned me off. That just made me want to go after it more. Only a lot more carefully."
Jondy didn't show it, but her senses immediately jumped to high alert when Molly said this. You don't just have 'run-ins" with people from Manticore. They found you. And not just anybody found you either, X5s did.
"So how long are you going to be gone?"
Molly shrugged, "I don't know. Probably not too long. I just need to talk to some guy then I'll be on my way back. Hopefully with a lot more knowledge in my head."
"Well, good luck then. I'll try not to mess up the apartment too much while you're gone," Jondy joked lightheartedly. Molly smiled back. Jondy wasn't the best housekeeper in the world and her roommate constantly reminded her of it.
"Promise me to not to burn it down and I think I'll feel okay about leaving."
Jondy pretended to wrestle with the option before nodding her head.
When Molly left on the aircraft that night she was not alone. Unbeknownst to her, she had two X5 escorts both in other parts of the plane. Jondy of course didn't know of the third-part either whom was hiding out in the steerage section while Molly and Jondy both sat in second-class on separate ends of the plane.
As the flight slowly dragged out, all three pondered on what to do when they got there. Molly's thoughts, of course, consisted of finding Sarik while Jondy tried to figure out a way to make Molly drop the case for good without exposing herself completely.
Lastly, there was Cole. His mind was spinning with ideas of how to get Molly and Jondy out of this situation alive and free. As before, he was determined to go through with his plan and there was nothing and no one that could stop him from making sure they both lived to see another sunrise.
Even if he didn't make it out alive, they would.
The morning was cool. Despite the sweltering heat from the previous day, the temperature had managed to sufficiently decrease as the hours progressed until, at last, it had reached a comfortable setting in the mid-60's.
Molly always had enjoyed her morning jogs more when the weather was like this. She knew it was a better workout overall if she sweated more, which she definitely did when it was hotter out, but she just felt more exhilarated and even energized. Molly was constantly on Jondy's case about getting out and jogging with her but Jondy just complained that her 'parents' had made her exercise enough as a kid to last her the rest of her life. Molly however could not figure out how Jondy could keep up the supposed excellent health that she always boasted about without ever exercising or eating healthy which Molly did both religiously.
"Morning!" Molly called cheerfully to an older couple that seemed to be just finishing up the long trail through the woods. They both smiled but didn't offer any greeting in return.
"Well, good morning to you too," Molly said under her breath after they had passed.
As she traveled deeper into the dense forestry the slight morning fog grew noticeably denser and soon the only way Molly could tell which way she was going was by the trees that lined the narrow path like a high cut fence. She patted her back pocket for reassurance and felt better knowing her gun was nestled there tightly. Even though she was a cop and faced much more terrifying ordeals everyday, there was no knowing what kind of freaks were hanging out here at this time of the morning; just waiting for some unsuspecting person to come around the corner before they inflicted only God-knows-what upon him or her. You could never be too prepared.
Nothing however could have prepared Molly for her visitor that morning.
Out of nowhere the dark silhouette of a man appeared in front of Molly. She gasped in surprise as she nearly ran into him. Stumbling backwards, she nearly lost her footing but the man reached out and grabbed her arm to steady her. Molly looked up in suspicion at the man, her hand traveling around to her backside to rest lightly on her gun.
"I wouldn't suggest firing that," he said, standing back a step, not because of the gun but so that he could see her better. Now Molly did draw her gun.
"I'll only fire it if you give a reason to, dude," she replied smoothly. "Just walk away and we'll both have a great rest of the morning."
Cole raised an eyebrow at this girl's confidence. She had no idea who she was dealing with.
"Well, you see, Lieutenant, I plan on us both walking away. But first I have to relay a message from my superiors to you. Personally, I'm hoping you'll learn from it but I also know some people that would rather see you end up otherwise. You get what I'm saying?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Molly demanded impatiently, "Are you high?"
Cole rolled his eyes before explaining himself, "Do you recall a conversation you had last night?"
"I had a lot of conversations last night."
"Yeah, but in this one you specifically said the magic word which is the reason I'm here. Does Manticore summon any memories?"
Molly's jaw dropped and her eyes widened as she felt the first real jolt of fear since she'd ran into this guy. She'd only mentioned that name once yesterday and that had been in her conversion with Joanna. Right before they'd both heard the brick crash to the ground from someone being on the roof...
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Molly said firmly. Nevertheless, she could feel her confidence starting to diminish.
"Sure you don't."
Molly opened her mouth to disagree but Cole cut her off.
"I'm here to tell you that Manticore has eyes and ears everywhere and right now they're rather pissed off at a certain San Diego police detective who seems to have got her hand caught in the cookie jar. I'm just hoping her hand isn't stuck in the cookie jar."
"What exactly are you saying?" Molly asked.
Cole took a step forward so Molly could see clearly into his brooding eyes. She raised her gun so it was pressed into his chest. He didn't back off.
"I'm saying, Molly Diano, that you need to back off. Back off and forget you ever came across the name Manticore."
"Why should I listen to you?"
"If you what's good for you, you will. Otherwise, there is not one place on this planet where you will ever be safe again."
With that, Cole slowly took a few steps backwards until he was hidden far enough in the mist to blur.
Molly stood there on the path for some time, holding her gun with unsteady hands. She had never been shaken up by anybody before but this guy had been different. She truly believed him in that he'd said he was from Manticore, whatever the hell it was. She also believed that he was telling the truth about needing to stop probing but her ill-fated detective instincts were screaming for her to continue and to dig this secret out of whatever grave the government had so successfully managed to bury it in.
As Molly quickly re-pocketed her weapon she made a resolve to be more careful from now on. A lot more careful.
For a week everything was silent. Cole relayed to command that he was having a difficult time finding instances where he could effectively get rid of the "problem" without causing further disturbances in the Manticore's name. Although Lydecker sounded rather irritated about the situation he nevertheless told Cole to continue with the mission.
In truth, X5-878 was simply waiting and hoping that Molly Diano would heed to his advice and steer clear of Manticore from then on. If she just continued with her regular police work then there would be no further orders to track her down. As far as Manticore knew, if all went as planned, Lieutenant Diano had a tombstone with her name on it already in the making by one of their own. She would no longer be of any bother. To anyone.
In the meantime, Cole was enjoying very much his stay on the outside without anyone there to regulate his life. He'd gone back to Jondy and Molly's apartment a couple more times, mainly to check out Molly's activities but also to watch his friend of long ago.
She still had some of the same habits that Cole had noticed when they were both kids. She repeatedly cracked her fingers when she was nervous, tapped her foot when she was mad or irritated, and she constantly rubbed the back of her neck where her barcode was hidden under waves of pale hair.
These somewhat insignificant little quirks, however, only served to heighten Cole's awareness that this girl really was Jondy, an X5, and that he needed to be extra careful about sneaking around when she was about. And again, he didn't want her to know anything more than necessary about what was going on.
So far at least, Molly seemed to feel the same way. She hadn't mentioned Manticore since the night Cole had overheard her and Jondy talking and, even after their little encounter at the park, she'd managed to keep her mouth shut.
Cole guessed that she had figured pretty much the same way he did. Molly obviously knew that her life was in danger due to her investigative work and she didn't want Jondy to have to share that danger with her. At least she was being smart about something. Cole found it rather ironic though. Molly didn't want Jondy in danger from a Manticore assassin when, in reality, Jondy was the only one person that could save her if that assassin actually had to come after her.
All seemed to be going well until Cole spotted something out of the ordinary on Molly's desk at home; one airline ticket to South Africa. Under it was a manila envelope that was marked 'CLASSIFIED'. Cole held his breath as he picked up the envelope and took out the contents within, hoping it would have nothing to do with what he dreaded it did. The first sheet was enough to confirm his suspicion.
The rest of the fillings consisted of several emails sent back and forth between Molly and a man in Africa that were discussing what they knew of Manticore. The man, Sakir, confirmed to Molly that he knew exactly what the secret operation was but that it was too dangerous to discuss over open mail. He was the one who had sent her the ticket. Unfortunately, it seemed from looking in her agenda, that she indeed was planning to take him up on his offer.
Cole stood there for several minutes conjuring up a plan to get out of this one. Well, more like get Molly out of this one. Once he had a plan sufficiently worked up in his mind, he pulled out his cell phone and pressed 1.
"State your designation," was the immediate reply on the other end.
"X5-878," Cole answered, used to the usual procedures. There was a brief few minutes before the person on the other line continued. Cole knew they were checking to make sure it was his voice over the computer.
"Transferring to Colonel Lydecker."
The phone beeped and then Lydecker came on.
"What have you got to report, soldier?"
"Sir, the target is in my scope but I've managed to obtain additional information on her activities that points to further parties knowing of Manticore's existence. Request permission to continue to trail her until I know the identities of these parties." Cole held his breath.
After a pause, Lydecker talked, "Permission granted."
Cole let out his sigh but made sure it wasn't loud enough for his commander to hear.
"878?"
"Yes, sir."
"What is the name of the target? That seems to be a aspect you neglected to convey on your last report."
Cole closed is eyes in frustration. He couldn't lie. They would find out if he did.
"Lieutenant Molly Diano, sir."
"Very good. Report in once you've obtained the sought information. And you better not mess this one up, soldier."
"Yes, sir!" replied the X5. After he hung up he cursed out loud. This was going to be harder than he'd originally intended.
Suddenly, he heard the squeak of the un-oiled door open and the soft footsteps of someone coming in. He immediately looked for a place to hide.
By the time Jondy got to the office there was no trace that anybody else was there. She began rummaging around the office, much as Cole had just been doing, and it didn't take her long to find the ticket and envelope also. Her eyes grew wide with fear and a little bit of irritation as she reviewed the contents of the package.
"You're going to get yourself killed, Molly," she said softly to the empty room, well, at least she thought it was empty. Cole watched her silently from the closet, keeping his breathing to a minimum since he knew she would be able to hear it if he breathed normally.
He observed the mix of emotions that flitted across her delicate face and was somewhat distraught to see the sudden look of determination that settled in her eyes. Her face, almost at once, went from being that of a normal woman, with the regular amount of personal problems, to that of someone that she had been fighting to break free of since before she could remember.
The feelings that had been so obviously there a few moments ago were now nothing but an all too familiar mask of hard, un-feeling features that Cole knew he often wore himself. The only difference was her eyes. Whereas X5-878 had cold, brooding eyes that saw nothing ahead for him in life, Jondy, X5-509, had eyes that showed her strength and her lust for life that had managed to keep her alive and just one step ahead of her enemies all these years.
Until now.
She left after a few minutes and Cole came out of the cramped space he'd been hiding in. He knew exactly what Jondy was planning. She was going to follow Molly. She was going to follow Molly and put herself smack dab in the middle of his well forged plan and completely mess things up.
Looks like we'll get a proper introduction after all, Cole thought darkly. Then he left.
Jondy didn't confront Molly until the night Molly told her she was leaving.
"I thought you were going to drop that case?" Jondy said casually, pretending not to show much interest. She was now in the full throttle of her X5 training.
"Well, I was until I had an extremely interesting little run-on with someone that none too tactfully warned me off. That just made me want to go after it more. Only a lot more carefully."
Jondy didn't show it, but her senses immediately jumped to high alert when Molly said this. You don't just have 'run-ins" with people from Manticore. They found you. And not just anybody found you either, X5s did.
"So how long are you going to be gone?"
Molly shrugged, "I don't know. Probably not too long. I just need to talk to some guy then I'll be on my way back. Hopefully with a lot more knowledge in my head."
"Well, good luck then. I'll try not to mess up the apartment too much while you're gone," Jondy joked lightheartedly. Molly smiled back. Jondy wasn't the best housekeeper in the world and her roommate constantly reminded her of it.
"Promise me to not to burn it down and I think I'll feel okay about leaving."
Jondy pretended to wrestle with the option before nodding her head.
When Molly left on the aircraft that night she was not alone. Unbeknownst to her, she had two X5 escorts both in other parts of the plane. Jondy of course didn't know of the third-part either whom was hiding out in the steerage section while Molly and Jondy both sat in second-class on separate ends of the plane.
As the flight slowly dragged out, all three pondered on what to do when they got there. Molly's thoughts, of course, consisted of finding Sarik while Jondy tried to figure out a way to make Molly drop the case for good without exposing herself completely.
Lastly, there was Cole. His mind was spinning with ideas of how to get Molly and Jondy out of this situation alive and free. As before, he was determined to go through with his plan and there was nothing and no one that could stop him from making sure they both lived to see another sunrise.
Even if he didn't make it out alive, they would.