PART FIFTEEN : " Evanescence "
"She's my what?" Max said in an unusually quiet tone to Beck, who was now strangely silent. "Repeat that in slow motion."
"Sharon Bradford has transgenic hemoglobin cells that she could only have obtained by hosting a transgenic during pregnancy. As it turns out, your DNA matches the genetic markers we found in her blood... Max, lay DOWN. I'm still running a microscopic scan of your shoulder and you're not making it any easier." Beck chastised. "What I just told you can wait, and this can't."
Max lay back on the bed and closed her eyes, her head spinning with the news, trying to put the pieces together that Sharon had told her before White had shown up. Beck was right, if what she was saying was true; she might just have all the time in the world now to get the answers.
Then her eyelids snapped open. Legion had implied that he knew where her mother was, and that he could hurt them. Sharon and the kids were in danger.
* * * * *
White drove up to the abandoned entrance to Terminal City, though he knew from prior experience that there were transgenics who kept an eye on everything in this toxic-residue infested area.
"Come with me." He told Ray, as he got out of the car. Walking to the gate, he heard the distinct CHA-CHINK of a shotgun as he began to enter. Stopping, he raised his arms sufficiently for them to note that he wasn't carrying a weapon, at least not in his hands.
A transgenic with a cigar in his mouth walked up to him from the side. "You're literally the last person I would have expected to see walk through my gate. Anything to say before you begin to push daisies, White? Or would you rather march your ass back to that car and go back to whatever Conclave hole you slithered out of?"
White ignored the implied threat. "I recognize you from the Jam Pony fiasco. Nice bit of work.... they call you Mole. Right? I'm here to talk to whoever is in charge of your... people."
"Why would we want to hear anything you have to say, maggot?" he spat.
As much as he had tried to prepare himself on the way over to the idea of consorting at all with a transgenic, he found his patience and tolerance slipping. "Look, bone-head. If I had wanted a verbal match with a reject from a Creature From The Black Lagoon movie, I'd have stopped by months ago for some chitchat and a latte. As it is, I brought my son with me, to show that I don't plan to embark on an action that would place him in danger. Now you think you can rub a couple of brain cells together and pull up a name for me to talk to in there, or maybe you'd like to pull more of that high brow intellectual wit on me?"
Mole looked as if he was beginning to get mad enough to chew nails, then he grinned and let out a bellow of a laugh loud enough to rattle the car windows. "You know... I think I could almost begin to like you, White. If you weren't such a slime, that is. Tam... go let Cindy know she's got a Conclave punk to interrogate. Tell her its Ames White." He glanced at Ray, then locked eyes back with White. He re-keyed the radio. "Tell her the kid is with him, and White seems to be here on his own volition."
* * * * *
Max was up and out of the bed in an instant and began to snap out instructions. "Get everything packed up and moved out. Evacuate everyone from the house and grounds, including the residents."
Beck began following the orders without question. Max's voice had nothing in it that indicated she would tolerate questions or objections. She saved the information she had obtained so far, hoping briefly that they could continue the scan later. She raised the window and yelled out to Alec, whom she saw outside. "Alec! Emergency evac, level three. People and props, residents and TG's. Max's orders. Move!"
Before meeting Beck, Alec was in the routine of questioning everything. But since then he'd begun to really forgive himself for the death of Rachel, and he tried hard to trust the decisions of others. Besides, even though he'd never admit it to anyone, the only person he truly trusted before meeting Beck was Max. So… off he went to get things rolling.
By the time Beck had turned around, Max was gone. She began breaking down the medical beds and equipment, smoothly and efficiently... but more important, quickly.
Appearing at Sharon's door as if by magic, Max snapped at Logan; "Emergency evac. We're going back to Terminal City. Get her prepped to go, I'll find the kids."
Logan opened his mouth but Max stopped him. "I'll explain later." She vanished from the door, already heading downstairs.
Logan stood and prepped the IV for moving. "Looks like something put her into battle mode." He looked at Sharon as he looked in her closet quickly for something warm enough for her. "I've seen these people when they're in their 'Manticore' mode." he shared. "But when she gets this way, it seems different." He disengaged the braking clamps on the hospital bed. "You'd be proud of her. She set her people free and made a home for them. In three years I've seen her go from introvert to leader."
"She seems like a good person inside. I'm glad she has such good friends." Sharon smiled at Logan. "I understand you two have a relationship. Anything serious?"
Logan paused a fraction of a second to consider the question. "Yeah. Definitely serious. We've both had our problems though, but in the last year we've worked on resolving them. Too many things to mention now, but we'll talk later, I promise." He pushed the bed out of the room and called a couple of transgenics to help move the bed downstairs.
After getting everything loaded in the trucks and vans, they began heading out. Max in front on the Ninja, Lydecker drove the lead vehicle, another van with Lydecker driving which held Beck with Sharon Bedford and her kids, a second truck with Joshua towards the back, and Logan holding up the rear in a third van.
Max started to feel edgy, uneasy. Looking around on the road, she called out on the radio. "Keep alert, people. Sound off..." She glanced back to see if she could see all the vehicles behind her. The five vehicles called out in order, which eased her mind but not the feeling of dread.
On the highway they split up, taking separate exits. This was the most dangerous move, but necessary. People weren't giving them a lot of problems lately, but it never paid to be the center of attention. Bringing the vans through separate checkpoints wouldn't draw nearly as much attention as five large vehicles at once. She wasn't worried about Lydecker. He probably has a dozen false ID's to pass to keep from being spotted, she pondered. Logan could take care of himself, but she was concerned about Joshua. It wasn't that Max thought he was limited intellectually, but he wasn't very good at hiding his fear.
She pulled up to Terminal City first, which wasn't surprising since she had the more capable transport. One by one the vehicles rounded the corner and pulled through the gate. Except for the last van.
She motioned Mole to call on the radio. "TC Gate to Victor One, come in." The silence from the radio was louder to Max than the electric generator in the main complex. "TC Gate to Victor One, quit fooling around and answer the goddamn radio." Mole barked.
Max got back on the bike and peeled out, following the trail the van was supposed to have taken. She passed through the sector check, snuck a peek at the manifest and rode to the highway, but there was no sign the van had been this way, even though she saw it pull off the highway.
Logan had vanished.