Disclaimer- The characters don't belong to me, they are property of James Cameron and Charles Eglee
A/N- I seem to have a lot of time jumps in this, hope you don't mind. Oh and I just noticed something, my first three chapter names begin with A and 5 & 6 begin with F, curious.
A/N2- This doesn't seem to have much action, it's more abstract. Hope you don't mind anyone that's been reading this for the fight scenes.
A/N3- I don't know how large Terminal City is, it could be just two or three buildings but let's just assume that a large area around the factories was infected and sealed off.
Merry Christmas!! And for those that are reading late, Belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!!
****************
Chapter 9- Bugger
A week after they escape- back at TC in Max's office
"So, did you fence it?"
"Yup" Max looked disappointed, Alec grinned "What's the matter? Wanted to keep it for yourself?"
She smiled "Yeah. Now what're we doing for the rest of the cash?"
"I've already set up some ops. We just need 280 grand more"
"Holy crap, how are we going to get that money?!"
"Relax Max! There plenty of filthy rich, I mean bad" he grinned at her mischievously, "people to rob"
Max threw a cushion at him "Max. I hate to break it to you, but that's getting old"
She stuck her tongue out at him and Lian chose that moment to walk in. Max quickly drew in her tongue and looked embarrassed. Alec gloried in the moment, he smirked at her and she glared back.
Lian looked amused "Good morning. Nice to see that you're well Max"
"Thank you, but it's Alec you need to worry about"
"Oh really" she raised an eyebrow "Why is that?"
"He seems to have lost a little more brain since he got back"
"Very funny Maxie" Alec said sarcastically.
"I thought so too and don't call me that" she replied immediately.
"Why not? The others do"
"The others have prerogative that you don't"
"Well…"
"If you don't mind" Lian interrupted "I'd just like to talk to Max for a moment. Alone" she looked pointedly at the door.
Alec raised his hands in mock surrender "Alright alright. I can see when I'm not needed."
"Somehow I doubt that" Max muttered. He stuck his tongue out when Lian had her back turned and left, softly closing the door behind him.
Max looked at Lian curiously "What is it?"
"First things first. How are you?" she looked concerned
"Oh, I'm fine. Don't worry, the leg's healing fast, I'll be fully operational by day after tomorrow"
"Great." She sat down on the edge of the desk, facing Max "It's about Krit" she said hesitantly.
Max smiled knowingly "Yeah?"
"Well you see, I kinda really like him but I don't want to jump into anything. You know? I mean, I've never done anything like this before; it isn't like I had a lot of dating opportunities back at Manticore."
Max nodded in understanding "And you're afraid you'll screw it up from inexperience"
Lian fidgeted with her hands, her eyes darted around taking in everything. She seemed really nervous "Yeah, that's the basic gist of it. How did you do it, the first time?"
"Go out or sleep with someone?"
Lian blushed and looked down at the floor "Uh, both?"
She grinned "Well look, I've mostly dated jerks and as for the other, heat"
She patted the space beside her, Lian went and plopped down next to Max who put an arm around her. "Look, there's nothing to worry about. Dating a guy is simple if you like each other, you guys have chemistry, you'll get along fine"
"What I'm worried about, even if I do want to jump into a relationship, will he pluck up the courage to ask me out? I know he likes me, I like him too"
"He'd better and if he doesn't, don't worry. His sisters will give him a little nudge. Personally, just between us girls, guys can be pretty dumb. I think you ought to worry more about him screwing up than you" she squeezed Lian's shoulder "But seriously, go for it. See how it turns out, I speak from experience. Dancing around each other isn't going to get you anywhere. You don't want to regret missed opportunities later"
Suddenly there was a commotion outside. Max looked up, concerned. "You wait here, I'll be back. What the hell is going on?" she strode out the door and slammed it behind her.
**********************
"What is it? Oh" Max strode into the command center and found a computer on fire. It took a minute to find the fire extinguisher and it wasn't anywhere near full. The liquid nitrogen wasn't enough to completely put out the fire. Luke threw a bucket of water on it, the flames fizzled and died.
"Well, there goes my bath" he muttered.
"What happened?" Max asked.
"I don't know, I was over there looking up some stuff and that thing just burst into flames without any warning."
"Hmm, oh well. Find out what you can. I don't want all our machines to spontaneously combust"
"You got it Max" Luke said.
"See you" she walked back to her office and found Lian on the couch "So, where were we?"
*********************
Half an hour later
There was a knock at the door. "Come in" Max called. She was sitting at her desk looking over some plans.
"You called, o great one?"
She looked up at Alec. "Ha ha. Yeah, I did call. I want to go over these plans with you"
"Great. Where do we start?"
"You can start by telling me every single object that you plan to have stolen"
"Well first of all there's the Slate Museum, they have a couple of Renaissance pieces up on display and a Rembrandt that I'm sure will sell at a fine price. The Museum of History has some very interesting new pottery collections that will also sell for a handsome price. Then there's…"
He was interrupted by Max "Alec, the Museum of History is a fortress, how are we getting in?"
"Oh, uh I have a guy on the inside that'll help us out."
"And why would he do that? Somehow I don't think it's because he owes you a life-debt"
"Well, actually I offered him a cut"
"You did what?" Max said dangerously, leaning across the desk.
"What?"
"And how big is this cut exactly?"
"About 20%"
"You, you…" she sputtered
"Chill. I didn't exactly give him the right price. That idiot actually thought that I would go through all that trouble for a couple of pieces of cheap pottery. I told him that it was early A.D"
"And they're mid-B.C" she said, shaking her head "Alec, you never fail to surprise"
"Why thank you" he grinned at her cockily "back to the list. There's a 48 carat pure diamond that we're happy to lift off some private collector and sell to another. It turns out that there are a lot of movies that went out of print that are truly valuable in the market today, you know that place that we broke into before? The in-and-out in five minutes job? Well it turns out that they've got a whole lot more than Star Wars. I have buyers lined up for Gone With the Wind, Ben Hur and Shakespeare in Love. I figure that if there's enough time we can grab some more and just see what they'll sell for."
"All together that's about 185 grand, we need a lot more" she got up and went around the desk, he turned his chair around and she faced him with her back to the door.
"Nope, that's about 210 grand. That diamond and pottery is worth a lot. Besides, rich people with fetishes seem to have gotten richer. Then give it about another 20 grand with the extra movies that we can fence."
"Fine, assuming that that is 230 grand and nothing goes sideways, what do we do about the other 50?"
"Well" Alec said slowly
"What?" she was suspicious
"You might not entirely approve of this Max but you know the sector Foggle Towers is in is pretty rich. I figured, we could pull the biggest scam in the history of petty thievery."
"And what is that?"
"Pickpocket the lot of them"
Max's jaw dropped open "You're kidding"
"Actually, no. Think about it Max. We're quick with our fingers, comes with the feline and human genome combination. We're pretty nimble and dexterous, we can send out maybe ten transgenics and do a quick sweep of it. Then we'll be gone before they notice"
"Even if we do pull this off and rob them, nobody carries that much cash around"
"Ahh Maxie, you're not thinking big enough! Credit cards. If we can have our biggest comp expert, that would be Dix, at the comp already hacked into the American Express system and another at a different credit card company and then another. Just three should be enough, ever since the pulse most credit card companies fell into debt. All we have to do is pick the ones most popular with the wealthy and do some transferring!"
"I don't know. I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of completely emptying people's accounts, they might have worked hard for it you know. Not everyone's a scumbag, just most."
"Then we'll just skim off the top. Our operatives will pick the pockets, take the cash and call with the credit card number, Dix or whoever will work their magic and voila, at least 40 grand, and that's being pessimistic. What do you think?"
"Fine" then after a moment's hesitation "Good job Alec"
"Thanks" he looked up at her with sincere gratefulness
All of a sudden the door crashed open and Jondy rushed in, soon followed by Syl. She was laughing hard and accidentally (or so it would seem) crashed into Max, sending her tumbling into a startled Alec's lap. She was so shocked that she was rooted to the spot.
"Gee" Jondy turned on them amusedly "I thought you two weren't like that"
"We're not" Max said with dignity and stood up.
"Oh it's nothing new. It's not like this is the first time she's been in my lap or anything."
"Really?" Syl was curious
"Really. She was a dancer at the strip club Blowfish Tavern for a night once, I was her first customer, and last" he made it sound like there were tons in between
Jondy's eyes went as wide as saucers, she turned on Max "Is that true?"
"No." She smacked Alec on the head
"Ow, hey! What was that for?"
"For being Alec. It wasn't like that. We were there to stake out the place, they had captured an aquatic transgenic and we wanted to get her out. Apparently it was no ladies allowed unless they were working so that was the only way to get in. I was sitting on Alec's lap because we were trying to blend in. I wasn't giving him a lap dance" she said the last part through clenched teeth then turned to glare at Alec.
He grinned at Jondy "I'm just irresistible to her"
He blocked another assault from Max "Whoa. Down girl" He got a punch in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. "Ow! That was uncalled for"
"That's what you think"
"Well we'll just leave you two lovebirds alone now. Ciao" The girls walked out leaving a fuming Max and a cautious Alec behind.
She took a couple of deep breaths and went back behind her desk. "Okay, now the routes. If we're using the sewer system then there's got to be at least two routes that we have figured out. Hang on a sec"
She reached into a drawer for the sewer plans "Hmm. That's funny" she murmured "All the dust is at the bottom"
"Yeah, it's called gravity"
She looked up at him with an annoyed expression on her face. "That's not what I meant, it's just that the last time I looked the dust covered everything, not just the bottom" she looked back down "Now where… aha!" she pulled out the plans in triumph and a rat came along with it. Max panicked and flung the rat away; it landed on Alec's jacket.
"Hey! Watch it!" the poor rat dug it's claws in and hung on for dear life as Alec jumped about trying to get it to come off.
Finally he grabbed it by the tail, opened the door and blindly flung it outside. Pandemonium ensued. The furry little creature landed on Mole, who had been passing by. He grabbed it and flung it yet again, the rat landed on some exposed wiring. A frantic Dix scrambled to get it away before it destroyed anything, Luke got the same idea and just as they bent down to get it they banged their heads. As he stood up, Luke banged his head on the table. Both transgenics rubbed their heads in pain, meanwhile the rat was in a frenzy, squeaking and scrambling. Joshua accidentally stumbled on the exposed cable that Dix had been working on and crashed into him. Joshua had him pinned to the floor, poor Dix couldn't breathe with the dead weight on him. The gentle transgenic hurriedly got up, apologizing repeatedly. A transgenic with some elephant genes and some stereotyped girl in her stood on a rickety chair and shrieked when she saw the rat. It was a miracle that the glass didn't break. Her deathly screams did distract an X4 that had been welding something below and a glowing hot shard flew out and landed on a sleeping stray dog that they had found wandering about. The malnourished creature was now unable to leave. When that ember touched him he jumped up with a yelp and ran about trying to get it off. He knocked over the ladder of an X5 that was trying to fix the overhead light, the X5 dropped to the floor unharmed and the ember fell off the dog but the ladder knocked over the first bike that had been stored there and like dominoes all the rest followed. The rat finished gnawing through a wire and escaped from the tangled maze of plastic and copper, Luke tried to grab it but it escaped between his legs. He leaned too far over, lost his balance and crashed into the table. The table crashed into the chair and the poor shrieker fell on a Joshua that had backed away to avoid getting into more trouble. Mole, who had been watching this entire scene with the utmost amusement put a foot down on the rat's tail as it passed and pinned it. The dust that all the chaos had created finally settled and everyone looked at him sheepishly.
Alec and Max were in stitches, laughing so hard that they were crying. They leaned on each other for support and laughed their hearts out. Max had come to see what all the trouble was and what exactly Alec had found so funny. "Well" she finally said, wiping a tear from her eye "That explains the dust"
The pair were still breaking into bursts of laughter when they shut the door behind them. "That was" Max said between gasps "the funniest… thing…ever!"
"Yeah, we really needed that" Alec said, it was nice to see Max so happy.
She straightened "Come on, back to the plans" but she said it with a smile.
*******************
Four days later
"Got the cash?"
"Right here" Alec patted the bag that he was holding.
"Good" Max said. They were waiting at the entrance to the sewers just outside the main building. They had contacted Skip Damario as soon as they got the money, they had also asked for an advance supply of Trytophan as many were in dire need and Mole had pushed for some cigars.
The cover lifted and out came…
"Darren?" Max asked in astonishment, her jaw dropping open. She stared at the man that was emerging from the sewers below. He looked up at the sound of her voice, his eyes opened wide at the sight of her.
"Max?" He climbed out and stood next to the gaping hole, smiling at her. Alec looked between the two of them curiously. She was still too stunned to speak. Another man climbed up after him.
"Skip" Alec said formally.
"Alec" he returned just as formally.
Max shook herself out of it and turned to Damario.
"Mr. Damario, nice of you to make it" she offered her hand.
"Please, call me Skip, and you must be Max. You're even more beautiful in person" he bent to kiss her hand. An already flustered Max blushed, very uncharacteristic of her.
"Thank you. Um, let's go inside" They went in and up to Max's office. Darren opted to wait outside.
"Here's the money" Alec tossed the duffel bag at him, he deftly caught it and smiled at the weight. "Aren't you going to count it?"
"No. I think I can trust you" his eyes glinted, that 'you' was aimed at Max. Alec gave him a humorless smile.
Damario sat down in one of the chairs opposite her desk "Now" he said "Down to business. I can have the first load of supplies in on Friday, that okay?"
Max cleared her throat "No offense, but how exactly are you getting these supplies to us?"
He smiled slowly and pulled some plans out of his own bag, "See these tunnels here?" he pointed at the blueprints
"Yeah. They're the sewers, so?"
"Wrong. That is what's under the sewers, I found it in the old National Library. Very curious, quite the lucky break"
Alec was curious "And what are these tunnels exactly?"
"Old subway system. They government shut it down after the Pulse, it was too expensive to maintain. It took up too much power and it cost too much to repair the already rusting trains, but that's not the only thing. They built those subway systems in some catacombs that were already there."
"Catacombs? From where?"
"I'm not entirely sure, I believe an old Native American tribe first connected some natural caves and then the government proofed the place when they were under nuclear bomb threat, I think that that was supposed to be a shelter. Anyway, it's not in use now, it will be very convenient for bringing in your supplies"
She looked at him speculatively "Not bad Skip. I'm already impressed. Now, about those supplies…"
Alec continued "We want to keep it a secret, everyone's been dying for them for ages. It'll be a good surprise"
Skip nodded in understanding "No problem. What do you need?"
"Let's start with the basics; we'll save the extras for later trips. We need
200 500g bottles of Trytophan
500 200g Iodine bottles
100 cylinders of gas, and some rubber tubing
250 bedrolls
Sterno
Weapons- 40 automatic rifles
40 sniper rifles, with good sights
.35s and .40s, preference Colts and Glocks, approx 100
Cartridges for the rifles, about 80 packs for now
200 packs of bullets
Grenades, as many as you see fit
Minor charges and explosives
C4
Some cigar packs
80 rolls of gauze
Bandages
Matches
4 liters of morphine
Some disinfectant
Several sewing kits
Clothes, cammies (camouflage clothes)
Pants
T-Shirts, just general stuff
50 liters of blood"
Both Alec and Skip, who had been noting all this down, looked up at that last order. Skip raised his eyebrows. Max looked uncomfortable, "Uhh, we kind of have a couple of transgenics with Transylvanian bat in them. They like it as a side beverage" when the guys continued to stare at her she threw her hands up "What? It doesn't have to be human!" Skip returned to the list with a vague smile of amusement on his face.
"Comm equipment
Walkie talkies
One catsuit"
Again the men looked up at her "What?" she glared defensively at Alec "My last one is probably still under that sofa at Fenworth"
"Preserved food, pickles, chips, stuff like that
Meat, ham, salami, sausages, steak
200 kilos of beef, we'll work on one meat per week
Yoghurt, lots of it
70 liters of milk
Leafy stuff, umm celery
Spinach
Cauliflowers
Carrots
Radishes
Beans
Yeast
170 kilos of flour
70 kilos of sugar
And that should do it, wait! I almost forgot, cooking utensils
We're going to need a big stew pot, think witch's cauldron; we don't have time for gourmet
Pots and pans for individual cookers
Sets of plates, bowls, cups and cutlery for say 400 people"
Max finally finished. Alec spoke up "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"What?" Skip and Alec shared a glance
"I thought she was forgetting something"
"So did I" Alec replied "Scotch, Vodka, Tequila, Beer, the works Skip, you know the routine"
"Yup, I do" he closed his note book with a snap.
"Men" Max muttered and was promptly ignored by both specimens of the male species
"What route are you taking?" Alec enquired
"Well, I'll take the vans along this way, and then switch there because that tunnel collapsed, then go around that way. Turn left here, right, left, left, right, then…
*******************
The mysterious blonde lady smiled in malicious pleasure as she watched the screen, she pulled out her cell phone "Bingo"
********************
"Is there a way to get up to the sewers from there?"
"Not quite. I'm working on that right now; I have men down there boring holes. Not to worry, we have covers and you have cameras so there shouldn't be any worries. We'll switch routes each time, just for caution's sake. So, 10 am Friday morning?"
"Sounds good. Nice doing business with you"
"Trust me, the pleasures all mine" he shook hands with Max and briefly clasped hands with Alec as he left.
Darren was outside, Skip briefly nodded to him and began to go down the steps. Max walked on, avoiding looking at him. Darren watched her leave with something in his eyes that Alec couldn't quite identify.
Alec was puzzled when he didn't follow Skip "Umm, what about him?" he indicated the guy.
"Oh, hope you don't mind. He's your newest resident"
"I hate to point this out to you old buddy, but unless he's got our genes this place could kill him"
"Oh, but he does. Now I have to dash, see you" Skip quickly made his exit. Alec slowly turned on Darren.
"So you're one of Max's brothers?"
Darren looked puzzled "No, what do you mean?"
"Well, because when…"
"ALEC!" Max called from the other end of the room.
"What?"
"Tuning duty. Have to sort out this bike mess downstairs, there was a load of damage when they toppled into one another. The jeeps have to be tuned and we've discovered some new vehicles in those warehouses, need to see if they're salvageable"
"Don't I get a say in all this?"
"No, and try to shut up for as long as you can because I have tuning duty with you" Alec brightened; he put his arm around her shoulders as they walked out. Max quickly shoved it off, but not before Darren noticed. She looked back and saw the jealousy there, she turned her eyes away.
**********************
"438, now what is it exactly that you have that I don't already"
"The plan"
"I have the plan too. I'm sorry, but if that is all then I really must get going. I have some real business to do"
"I have visuals" she could hear him hesitate on the other end of the line
"Fine" he snarled "Be at Merv's Mechanical Stores at 8 sharp. Don't be late." He disconnected.
"Not to worry" she smiled "I won't be"
*******************
Friday, 2 pm
"Where the hell is he?" Max paced outside the building, around her many transgenics went about their work. Several were curious about their agitated leaders.
"Maybe he just got held up"
"And maybe he stole the money and is in Hawaii right now sipping on cocktails and sunbathing in a cot with a nice soft cushion under his head"
"You know, that's not a bad idea"
"Don't push me"
"Come on Max. I trust the guy, besides he'd gain a lot more by sticking around than by running. Right now, we're his biggest business"
"Then where is he?"
Alec shrugged his shoulders and Max harrumphed at him in frustration. Suddenly the manhole was pushed open and a dust covered Skip Damario emerged.
"Where have you been?" she pounced on him.
"I have been attacked" he distastefully brushed the soot off his clothes.
"What?"
"I said, I was attacked"
"I thought you said no one knew about those tunnels"
"No one did. You have a mole"
"That's impossible, one of your men must've tipped off whoever attacked you"
"Let's go inside." Max and Alec headed for the office
"No. Is there anywhere else we can talk? Like the roof?"
"Sure" they climbed up to the roof. There was a large dish and antennae up there.
"There's no way it was one of my men"
"Why not?"
"I place security of my customers as a high priority. I take the utmost precautions, the men don't know where, how or to whom they're delivering their goods until it's the day to do it and even then, not until it's time to leave, by then all communications are disallowed. If they contacted anyone I would know and they are swept for wires and bugs everyday. They never know what they're delivering or why, they don't need to. They're just paid to do what they're told to. I never even have the same men on the same job twice. Most don't even really know where they're going, I just give them directions and I'm a very selective employer, everyone under me was handpicked. No, it's not one of mine. It's one of yours"
Max was stumped "There's no way that that could have happened. We didn't tell anyone, not Mole, nor Luke, not Dix or even my siblings."
"I think that whoever it was bugged your office"
Alec had been thinking and said softly "Or us"
"What do you mean?" Max was lost. "Oh no" her eyes lit up in recognition "You don't mean…"
"Yes, I do mean. Max, we don't know how long we were out for. We were completely knocked out, it would have been so easy to just place a bug or two, and we would have no idea"
Skip nodded "I thought so, but you do have a mole"
"Why? The bugs would've been enough"
"When I pointed out the route on the map, do you recall me ever pointing out landmarks or points? Do you think Ames White really has enough men to cover that entire system? He did seem to be expecting us?"
"How do you know about White?" Max was suspicious
"I make it my business to know. That twit is set on harming my biggest assets, I can't allow that. Now, do you want revenge or not? Oh and by the way, the supplies are downstairs if you'd like to take them out"
"How did you…"
"I wasn't joking when I said that I was a cautious man Max. I have charges set at various places around the route that we were taking and I'll have more for the next route. I just collapsed the tunnel and killed the ones on my side. Quite the blast"
"Again, I'm impressed"
He took a bow "I aim to please" he said modestly
"I'll bet you do" Alec muttered
"I brought you up here because that dish and those antennae will scramble any sort of bugging device that you have on you. I'd like you to keep them on for now. I have a plan"
"Let me guess, this involves vehicles supposedly loaded with supplies that when hit will turn out to be stuffed with angry transgenics armed to the teeth that will pounce out and crush the bad guys"
"How did you know?"
"I didn't, but that's always the story"
"Ok, so this is what we do…"
************************
"Are we clear on that? You have to be more cautious from now on"
"Yes. I'll look for the mole" Skip sounded exasperated "Can I go now?"
"We have to work out the plan for next week"
"Right. To your office then, I feel slightly better. That air did me some good, if not much. I hate dust"
They headed towards the room, on the way Max told Mole that there were supplies waiting in the tunnels and to unload them. He was obviously surprised but pleased and nodded his head in compliance.
Alec closed the door behind them "The plans are in the bottom drawer."
Max pulled them out, spread the over the table and leant over it. Skip carefully considered the blueprints. "Okay, see those crossing tunnels there? We'll pass that way, then follow on around here, turn left then twist this way and there. We'll meet up with the last route there and follow it for some way then turn here, it's find Transgenic Central from there" (Hey! I just realized something, the initials for Transgenic Central and Terminal City are the same! Wonder if that's on purpose…I'll shut up now)
"That's fine. When can you bring in this load?"
"In three days, about the same time?"
"Yeah. Now," she pulled out a list from her back pocket "We need
20 kilos of broccoli
200 liters of orange juice
50 kilos of bacon
20 microwaves
Microwave meals
Cheese, assorted 30 kilos
60 kilos of bamboo shoots
30 television sets
30 music systems
4 motorbikes
40 sets of general tools
1000 light bulbs and tube lights
150 study lamps
Some reading material
Spark plugs
Carburetor
12 pumps
190 cell phones
80 packs of batteries
500 gas masks, I'm not taking any risks
500 flare guns
Silencers, at least 200
80 helmets
Cat burglar equipment, the works
700 liters of petrol
80 liters of diesel
20 funnels
10 liters green paint, camouflage
40 liters of white paint
80 scrubbing cloths
200 bars of soap
Cleaning liquids
80 buckets
40 mops
70 brooms
That's it"
"Great, see you Monday" He headed for the door, but turned back "Almost forgot. I'd like to talk to the head of Recon around here. Do a little co-ordinating, see what I can't find out about your old pal White"
"That would be Shaile. Just ask one of the guys out there, they'll point you to her"
"Thanks"
*******************************
The next day
"Alec, what's all this for? Where are we going?" Max was dying of curiosity. Alec had said that he had a surprise for her. He put his hands over her eyes and was slowly guiding her. Eventually they reached their destination.
"Okay. We're here" Alec opened the door, turned on the lights and took his hand off Max's eyes "Voila!"
Her eyes opened wide, "Alec! What…?"
She was standing in a bar, there was soft music playing somewhere. There was a small stage set up at the other end of the room. Tables and chairs were scattered everywhere, a space had been cleared in the middle for dancing. There was a gaping entrance leading to a pool table and several arcade games. There was even a pinball machine. To her right was the bar, there were shelves lined up behind the counter. They were only partly full, old stools were there too, freshly shined. The counter top was made of marble, there were glasses lined up- some crystal, some glass. It was a complete bar, she whirled on Alec, he automatically flinched, wary of an attack. Max was so unpredictable sometimes.
"Alec, this is great! Just what TC needs right now, some place to get away. How did you do it?" He grinned *She likes it. I guess this earns me brownie points*
"This was a bar before, I just had some extra stuff brought in and had it cleaned up. The alcohol that Skip brought in goes there, there's also some from the previous owners, finely aged. This place was affected by the toxin spills too, so it was vacated. Skip also got a karaoke system and a screen that I put up, and look at this" Alec reached for the panel beside the switch, it had a round dial. Alec turned it all the way around, the lights dimmed until they went off but once the dial reached its original position the lights came on as orange. Max was delighted "That comes in four colors" Alec said "Yellow, orange, red and blue, in that order. We can get laser lights put in eventually"
"Alec, I could kiss you!"
"I wouldn't mind" he smirked. She must have been high on something, because she got on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on the cheek.
"Well" he cleared his throat "Looks like you forgot your promise"
She cocked her head at him in askance. He explained "When we first met and you, uh, assaulted me, you said that that was the only physical contact that you and I were gonna have"
Max thought on it and laughed when she realized that most of the contact she had had with him involved hurting him in someway. She shook her head in amusement and smiled at him "I'm sorry Alec"
He put his hand on her forehead "You must be sick. It's either that or… are you on something Max?"
She laughingly shoved his hand away "No. I'm starving, let's get something to eat"
*********************
Monday, 11 am
Max had her arms crossed, she tapped her foot impatiently as she watched the sewer cover. It opened and Skip stepped out looking pleased, Max smiled in anticipation.
"Well?"
"Mission accomplished"
"Did you get White?"
"No, he wasn't there"
She looked slightly disappointed "How many?"
"Twenty"
"Great. Mia, Rochelle, Buzz, Fil!" she barked. The transgenics stood at attention before her. "Special Delivery"
********************
"It wasn't my fault. I swear I didn't know!"
"I lost twenty men, ignorance is no excuse"
"Hey, it was your intel too"
"You LIVE there, you're friends with them. How the hell could you not know?"
"I'm still gaining trust"
"Well gain fast, I have no use for wastrels such as yourself, not unless you make yourself useful"
The blonde transgenic glared at him "It's going to be harder, now they know that there's a mole"
White grabbed her chin and looked into her stormy grey eyes "I don't care. I'm not paying you to sit around on your genetically engineered butt. You do your job or I'll have someone else do it for you. Now move it, I have business to attend to"
*********************
"Where is your base of operations?" The bound familiar just glared at her. "Answer me!"
"Somehow, I don't think these guys will crack" Alec yawned
"You don't say" Max was just as tired as he was, they had been interrogating the captured familiars for hours and hadn't gotten a peep out of them.
"You're going to have to use other methods of persuasion"
"Oh, you mean torture"
"If you want to call it that, and torture it is but what else do you want us to do. They're not going to talk if we just blow air at them all day, and I don't think tickling will work either."
She regarded the bedraggled familiar distastefully "Are you sure that there's no other way?" Alec shrugged his shoulders. Skip walked in.
"Now, do you want to get those bugs out? I have the equipment; we've already swept the place. Your office was bugged, transmitting visual surveillance, untraceable. What bout you guys?"
They went outside and Skip used his boxlike bug detector on them, it beeped repeatedly. "Perfect. You're both bugged, Max you have one in your ear, arm and neck, Alec same places"
"Get them out."
"No need, I have a deactivating device. Your body will dispose of them." He pulled out a small rectangular object with wires leading to electrodes attached and a large red button in the middle. He attached three of the electrodes where the bugs were located, then he pushed the red button. Max doubled over in pain as electricity raced through her, shorting out the bugs. Then it was Alec's turn, he did the same.
"Now that we've been debugged, let's see what we can't get out of those clams" Alec said.
"I still don't approve of torture"
"You don't think they wouldn't do the same to you?" He was incredulous.
"I agree with him" Skip said thoughtfully "But there is another way"
"What is it?"
"Truth serum. I took the liberty of bringing some along" he pulled out a case from his pocket. It looked like an ordinary cigar carrying case but inside was several clear vials of fluid, one syringe and several needles.
Alec rubbed his hands together "Let's get to work"
******************