Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters are copyright 2001-2002 Twentieth Century Fox Studios and James Cameron and Charles Eglee. This original story is copyright 2003 Star24.

Chapter 8

Fogle Towers

It had been several hours since Max had left, and Logan had spent them looking in cyberspace for the source of the reward that had been posted for the box. He was about to give up and take a break when his email notification began to flash. He opened the email only to find that it contained nothing more than an FTP address.

Logan frowned as he looked at the email. He didn't like the idea of checking out the address blindly but he had nothing else at all that looked promising. He spent a few moments checking to be sure the safeguards that protected his system and his location were in place. When he was satisfied that he was as close to invisible as he was going to get, he opened a program and typed in the address.

Nothing happened for several moments and then a directory listing came up. Logan studied it for a moment and then began to carefully open the files, one at time.

Unknown Location

The room was darkened as always, with only a thin sliver of light seeping in from the covered window to add any illumination at all. There was knock on the door and the occupant of the room called out softly,

"Enter."

A man entered the room and closed the door carefully behind him.

"Do you have any news on the reward we've offered for the return of our goods?" the occupant asked.

"No, sir."

"Is there a reason for this meeting then?" The voice was chilling in its softness.

"I have other news related to the reward."

"I'm waiting."

"There was a hack into our system. Someone was reading our files regarding the materiel."

"You've located this someone and have sent a team to pick them up?"

The man who had entered the room hesitated, "He's a professional. We lost his tracks after an anonymous server in the Philippines."

"I assume the security staff responsible for allowing this person is has been terminated? Failure is not permissible here."

"Yes, sir. That has been taken care of."

"So you are here, why? To inform me of this new failure?"

"We were able to slip in a false file before the intruder logged out of the system."

"And ?"

"We believe the intruder is probably local. Possibly that hacker that everyone talks about."

"Eyes Only."

"The false file contained information that we had recovered the materiel and would be transporting it from a location at the Seattle docks tonight."

"And you think our intruder will take the bait?"

"It seems likely."

The first figure nodded. "Perhaps more heads won't have to roll then. Advise me when you have apprehended our intruder."

"You don't want him terminated?" There was tinge of surprise in the man's voice.

"The person who shows up at the trap may not be the one in charge. An interrogation will be in order and after that, termination. I'll supervise it personally."

The occupant turned its back to the man who had entered the room, a clear dismissal. With no further words the second man left, closing the door behind him. When he reached the safety of the hallway he paused and wiped his brow breathing a sigh of relief that he was still alive.

Fogle Towers

Logan sat back with a satisfied smile on his face. Most of what he had found in the files had consisted of scientific jargon that had little meaning to him. He had copied those files and sent them over to Sebastian for an interpretation. The last two he had opened had, however, made the risk he had taken worthwhile. The first contained information on the reward and made it clear that he had indeed gotten into the site of whoever was responsible for the theft of the radioactive materiel to begin with. It was the second that had made him smile. Evidently the reward had worked and the materiel had been recovered. It was being transported from a warehouse at the docks in approximately two hours.

Logan picked up his cell phone and punched in Max's speed dial. He waited impatiently and frowned when her voice message kicked in.

"Leave a message and I'll hit you back."

"Damn it, Max. Now is not the time to not answer your phone. I found out where the materiel is and it's being shipped out tonight. We need to get to it before it leaves. Get back to me." Logan left a message for Max and then scribbled an address on a piece of paper. He pulled on his jacket and shoved the paper into a pocket and then opened the drawer where he stored his gun. He put the gun and an extra clip into another pocket and then looked around for his car keys.

It took him several moments to find the keys, which had somehow ended up under a stack of papers. He took one last look around the room to be sure he had everything, and spotted his cell phone sitting on the desk. He grabbed that as well and then headed out of the apartment.

End of Chapter Eight