A/N: Well, as usual I have to thank my good friend Infie, who is the greatest, and always makes time in her overly busy days to check out this for me. You rock, hon! *hugs Inf*
A/N2: I know I always say this, but I am ever so sorry for taking so long. My life has been pretty hectic lately. I thank you all for always hanging in there with me. And as usual, your comments are more than welcomed.
Tough Call
Twists
"All right buddy, let me know when you land." Alec finished the phone call and rubbed the back of his neck.
He looked up to see Max and Nicole looking at him and shrugged. He knew they'd heard the same he had. Biggs had nothing new to report. The good doctor had made a few phone calls to the Atlanta Sanitary authorities while in flight, but until they landed, there wasn't much they could do. Over twenty-four hours had passed since they'd seen the broadcast. After the initial shock – which had lasted all of two and a half seconds – they'd all jumped into action.
"All right, people, anyone doubt this is it?" Alec had asked, looking around the room. "If you do, speak now."
"No, sir." Had been the automatic response of the transgenics in the room. Alec hadn't even bothered to protest the 'sir' treatment. He'd looked at Sandeman who had also shaken his head.
"All right, then give me ideas of what to do. Five minutes, then we choose a course of action."
They'd pretty much agreed on everything. First off, they'd sent Lyon and Luke to gather all the vaccine Dix had been able to fabricate, which had been a considerable amount given the lack of supplies. But a strategic trip to the local hospitals the night before had come in handy.
They'd contacted Logan to let him know what was going on and to have him help get them a flight to Atlanta if they needed one.
Dix and the doctor had gone to the lab to make some more of the antigen. Sandeman had wanted Max to give more blood, but they'd told him that she could give no more than half a pint. She had given some recently – with which Dix had made the vaccine – so she would be too weak if she gave more. Besides, the cases so far had only been in Atlanta and the amount they had was enough.
They had watched fascinated as the doctor isolated the virus in Max's blood. It had been so elegant and precise. Subsequently, he'd removed the protein coating. Of course, Dix had done the same thing, but he had no where near the ability and practice the doctor had.
In a way, post-pulse America was a dream for the infectious-disease control people. Sector control – and the gas shortage - made sure people stayed within the city. A feat that would have been much more difficult, if not impossible, before the electromagnetic pulse had been released. By the time they could have secured every exit, it would have been too late.
Logan had finally managed to get them a chopper. Max and Nicole had gone to score some fuel for it.
Alec smiled just remembering Nicole's offended state when Max had used their trip to town as an excuse to go pay a little visit to Original Cindy. Alec was sure she would have growled, had that not been too much of a display of emotion.
Yes, it was a flagrant breech of security, but in all honesty, Alec hadn't been able to deny it to Max. In fact, he was the one that had procured the two doses of the antigen for her to give to OC – the other one was for Sketchy- and another two for Logan and Asha. He could justify the two 'freedom fighters' as valuable assets to their cause. But Sketch and Cindy? Well... they were important for ... morale? Damn right they were! After all, it would have caused a tremendous scene had he attempted to stop Max, and that wasn't good, right? Ha laughed at himself. As if he would have tried to. Maybe it wasn't fair, but these people were their friends. He didn't even want to think what his superiors at Manticore would have thought of that. So unprofessional. And he didn't give a damn.
Deciding who was to fly to Atlanta had been more of an issue. As much as Max had protested, there was no question in anyone's mind but hers that she was not going. She was 'the one', they couldn't risk exposing her, especially in an unfamiliar city where they wouldn't be able to protect her as they could here. The fact that she was pregnant had not been brought up but it had also been on everyone's minds.
Sandeman was also someone they didn't particularly want to have out in the open. But in the end they decided he was the only one who would be able to convince the doctors and other CDC authorities. He'd been out of the picture for a long time, yet everyone still knew who he was.
He would need someone to go with him. Alec would have gone himself, but there was a lot he needed to monitor and do around Terminal City. Some more transgenics had arrived at TC, but they were mostly kids and non-humans. X5s had more experience. They knew to lay low. That left Biggs and Nicole. Alec was reluctant to let either of them go, but in the end, Biggs had been the one. Even though Nicole would have had no problem flying the helicopter, Biggs had more experience. Plus, Nicole came up with an idea, and she seriously doubted she would be as good for it as Biggs.
And she could help out with the vaccine. She didn't have much biology knowledge, but between her and Biggs, she was definitely the more 'academic' one.
Not that there was much to be done in that regard. After he had showed them the process of isolating the virus, Dr. Sandeman had demonstrated the process he had created for the making of the vaccine.
He'd explained that since he had known he would probably have very little time, he had designed the laboratory exclusively for that purpose. All they needed to do was dose the virus in, he had said as he demonstrated. They'd watched it drip through a tube, get heated until the distillation of most of the water was completed, then continue down another tube where a yellow fluid was added, after a carefully calibrated measuring; then proceed to a centrifugation chamber, to achieve maximum contact between the two components. After this, the mix was passed to different containers filled with a concentrated saline solution, where it would sit for a day, allowing the antigen to multiply exponentially.
The yellow fluid was the result of another multistage operation and was basically a solution made up of the very same elements and substances Dix had used to make the vaccine – the doc had recited the names, lots of alcohol's, acids, and other stuff ending in '–ide' – all of which were automatically fed from containers in the refrigerator and precisely measured by electronic scales and densimeters, before being mixed together.
The doctor had left the first batch working before he went away. They would make more once Max was able to give them a little more blood.
The good news was no new outbreaks had started yet anywhere outside Atlanta when the doctor left. Alec was pretty sure there wouldn't be any new ones until the solstice.
In the meantime, they were getting ready.
"Hey, boss!" Mole suddenly said beside him. Alec slowly turned to look at him, and Mole laughed at his daring, nonchalant expression. "You know, I heard the change in your heartbeat, so drop the I-wasn't-startled-at-all act."
"Oh, but see? This is not my I-wasn't-startled-at-all face, Mole. This is my do-it-again-and-I'll-kill-you face." Alec said with a cocky smile.
"Yeah, right. In your dreams, pretty boy." Mole said in a snort.
"Trust me, Mole, beautiful as you are, my dreams do not include you. Ever." Alec winked.
Mole chuckled and handed over the phone, saying "Pretty blonde."
"Thanks," Alec answered, taking the device with his left hand as he quietly returned the gun he was holding in his right hand to its place behind his back, making sure Mole wouldn't see. That would have defeated the whole point of the charade. It had been sheer training that had allowed him to analyze the situation in milliseconds, preventing him from finishing the drawing movement. Mole really had caught him by surprise.
"Asha, my friend, what gives?" He said into the receiver, smiling. He nodded. "He can? That's terrific. ... When?... Tonight? Uhm... okay, what time again? ... Well, all right. Oh, and Asha? Thanks." He smiled again, closing the connection and turning towards his lizard-looking companion. "Looks like she managed to score us some more guns. Nothing fancy, but more firepower never hurts, huh?" He said, patting Mole's shoulder.
"Wait, wait," Mole said, his eyes big, "pretty and she likes guns?"
Alec burst out laughing, "What? You wanna marry her?"
"Well, actually..." Mole let it trail off, winking at Alec.
The X5 shook his head and, placing a hand on the stair's railing, smiled cheekily. "Mole. Loves. Asha. Mole. Looooves. Aaaaaasha." He sang as he used the railing for impulse, leaping into the upper balcony and away from Mole's threatening cigar.
Lyon, perched in his position four stories up on a terrace, barely even shook his head when he saw a blur of movement coming out of HQ building, followed closely by a gesturing Mole that remained threateningly at the door.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
When they got to the hospital, there was a group of people already waiting for them. A couple of CDC doctors, the hospital's chief of staff and a Dr. Lewis who had been the first to start treating the patients. They were all wearing yellow suits and looking at them with a variety of expressions from mistrust to hope.
Biggs carried the box of vaccine into the conference room set up for them. They had brought only one box with them, leaving the rest in the chopper, and they had agreed to present Biggs merely as a driver/pilot to give him a little more freedom of movement.
It was a benefit he cashed in on right away, even before introductions took place. He discreetly made his way out, but not before he placed two small cameras at opposite ends of the room. The signal was not long ranged, but Biggs was carrying the receiver with him and promptly set it up on top of a closet doorframe down the hall. He had another camera on himself and he turned it on as he headed towards the back entrance of the hospital.
He took out his cell phone and dialed. "Luke? Biggs. Are you getting the feed? ... Of all three cameras?.. Okay, how many fingers am I holding up? He asked holding his middle finger up towards himself. He waited two seconds and then started laughing at the exclamations on the other end. "Two point three two seconds delay, not bad at all. All right, moving on. Out." He said as he put the phone away.
Once he was outside, he quietly went around the building until he found what he was looking for.
She was wearing a suit not unlike the one she had been wearing the previous day, except this one was a light shade of green. The skirt was very short, probably to show as much of her silk-clad legs as was possible. The four inch stilettos only confirmed Biggs' first impression: she wanted to look taller. Her furious blonde hair –out of a bottle, no doubt- was tied in a knot at the back of her head today and she was wearing a surgical mask, which had overnight become the hottest fashion accessory in Atlanta.
He waited until she finished another broadcast and the cameraman went back to the truck before approaching her.
She was already sitting on a bench, rummaging inside a small purse.
"I would say something about how amazing it is that women ever find anything in those things," he said, sitting down beside her, "but that would be terribly trite now, wouldn't it?"
She looked up with a frown, starting to say something that never left her mouth as her blue eyes roamed up the body of the man sitting so relaxed, so confidently and then up to the smiling face that went with it. Biggs smiled brighter, knowingly. She had been ready to tell him to get lost, until she saw him. First her eyes opened a bit more, then they turned speculative, and then interested. He knew her ego was definitely flattered that a young man was clearly interested in her. She was somewhere in her early thirties, and having a young stud paying attention was always a good thing. He had known that. He also knew she was very ambitious. He would play on that one next.
"I am T..-" she started to say, extending her hand to shake his.
"Tricia Adams, I know," he said, taking her hand between both of his, caressing her palm lightly. "I'm Andrew." It was all he could do not to roll his eyes at her pleased look that he knew her name. Ordinary women were so.. ordinary, he thought as the image of a pair of unreadable gray eyes flashed through his mind. Even Max was unpredictable. He was sure there had to be some interesting humans. He just hadn't met any.
"Are you here to see someone?" She asked and then frowned again. "Why aren't you wearing a mask?"
He laughed softly. "It's not airborne."
"Oh, okay." She nodded, only to immediately say, "Wait. How do you know?"
"I know a lot."
"Do you?" She asked, more cynically. "How come?"
"Well, let's just say I am the guy who flew in a very fine doctor that's come to give a hand, so to speak." He smiled. "You wouldn't believe what's going on."
"Try me." Her eyes were bright now. Her journalist's instincts had kicked in. She placed her free hand on his arm, slowly moving it up and down. "Tell me."
Biggs leaned towards her and tucked a strand of hair that had strayed from her bun behind her ear. "Well, actually, I can do better than that," his fingers remained there, touching the sensitive skin of her neck. "I can show you."
"Oh?"
"Come on." He got up, still grabbing her hand and walked to the news van. "Hey, can I use your receiver here?" He asked the cameraman, who was in the front seat, eating something out of a plastic bag. He didn't wait for an answer as he changed a couple of connections and started tuning until he found the right wavelength. "Behold." He smiled, making a grand sweeping motion with his arm, a cocky smile on his lips.
The conference room appeared on the screen. Biggs adjusted the volume and the hospital's chief of staff voice came loud and clear through the speakers. "And why on earth should we believe you?"
"Well, let me explain..." Sandeman said patiently.
Biggs watched Tricia's eyes grow huge. "This thing is recording, right?" she asked the man on the front seat. He nodded, but she wasn't looking. "We have to send it to the station right now. This is rich!"
"Not so fast, darling." Biggs held up his hand.
She glanced up at him and smiled cynically, "I should have known you wouldn't be doing it out of your sense of duty to the public. What do you want?"
"Well..." He smiled sensuously and watched her blush. "Right, "he smiled, winking, "what we need you to do, is delay this broadcast." He raised his hand again at her incredulous expression. "Hear me out, will you?"
She glared at him, but motioned for him to continue speaking.
"Okay, here's the deal. You'll get a chance to hear the whole thing, but in a nutshell: this is not a natural outbreak. It was deliberate. This guy, Dr. Sandeman has the cure. But we are not sure these people will believe us. So we need other people to see this. But, and here's the tricky part, the people who started this believe Sandeman is dead, so when they see him, they'll want to come after him. We need to be far away when that happens. This will not stop here. They plan to infect the entire United States and the rest of the world. So we can't afford to lose this guy."
Her expression went from disbelief to astonishment as she read his dark brown eyes and realized he was being completely serious. She sighed. "You are only feeding this to me?" He nodded. "All right. One condition, though."
He frowned and asked: "What's that?"
"I get an exclusive interview with this doc. I get it, or no deal." She said, crossing her arms and looking defiant.
Biggs looked down, biting his lips and rubbing the back of his neck as if deep in thought. In reality, he was trying not to laugh. Just as expected. He finally looked back into her blue eyes. "Fine. But the same conditions remain. You air it after we are gone. Deal?" he said, extending his hand.
She took his hand and smiled, practically purring as she said, "Deal."
"Ugh! That was so lame!" Max exclaimed suddenly. She and Nicole were crouching behind a parked blue sedan. It was the only car in the parking lot and they were waiting for the guards to come by on their next round.
The other X5 said, of course, nothing. Max glanced at her briefly, "Come on, you can't tell me it wasn't completely disgusting!" When she still got no answer, she charged again. "Honestly, doesn't it bother you?"
"Why would it?"
Max shook her head in exasperation. "Why? Oh, please! All the insinuations, and the touching, and the making eyes... He was displaying all his charms. Heavy artillery."
"So? I was the one who suggested it."
They had been watching the feed of Biggs' camera before they left Terminal City. And true enough, it had been Nicole's idea to seduce the reporter. She'd seen her on the broadcast and had known she'd be thrilled at the idea of a younger man going after her, and she'd be ambitious enough to go through with the plan. They needed all the press exposure they could get, in order for more people to get the vaccine. But that meant they had seen all the touching, heard all the small talk, watched the lustful expressions.
"Oh, come on! You telling me you are okay with that tramp putting her paws all over your man?" Her unbelieving look changed into one of alertness. It was time for the guards to pass. Both transgenics leaped over the hood of the car at the same time. Max landed in front of them, Nicole behind.
Nicole immediately took the one on the left, her arm strongly pressing against his windpipe. Her free hand covered his mouth and at the same time made sure he didn't jerk his head around too much. She wouldn't want to accidentally snap his neck.
Max didn't give the guy in front of her time to even blink. The instant she touched the ground, her fist came up – the guy was seriously tall- and found its way towards his nose. It started bleeding immediately, which made the guy raise his hand to try to stop it. Max took advantage of the opening, her knee hitting him on the side, right below the ribs. The guy fell to his knees with a groan of pain. Max was considering her next move when she glanced at Nicole, standing right behind the kneeling guy, looking at her pointedly.
Max sighed. Always taking away the fun, she thought as she punched the guy into oblivion.
Nicole continued the earlier conversation as if nothing had happened, while she tied up the guards. "Of course I am. It's for the good of the mission."
"That is so... You can't be serious." She eyed Nicole, but she seemed completely relaxed as they both ran towards the building. At least as relaxed as Max had ever seen her. Max sighed. "Must be nice not to care."
"Why?" Nicole asked as she stood near the wall. "Does it bother you that she has her hands on Biggs?"
Max looked at her. Had the woman finally lost it? "Why would it bother me?"
Nicole laced her hands together. "You seem upset."
"Well, yes. But that's just 'cause I can imagine what I would feel if it was my man instead of him." Max explained. This woman was totally clueless. She placed her right foot between Nicole's hands and jumped. Her own abilities combined with the strength of Nicole's shove made it easy for her to land on the ledge of the fourth floor. She braced herself as Nicole hastily climbed up the rope Max had tied around her waist.
"Why would your man be in his place?" Nicole asked as she stood once again beside her.
"Well, if he hadn't had so much going on here," she answered as she fumbled with the closing mechanism of the window before her, "it could just as easily have been him."
As they entered, Nicole simply nodded and said "Ah."
Max stepped out into the hallway and knocked on the door directly across. When it started to open, she stepped to the side. Nicole's shot silently struck the guard's thigh. The man looked down, dumbfounded, before falling face first to the floor. The tranquilizer had taken effect immediately.
"Someone's going to need a nose job," Max commented casually as she stepped over him. Nicole followed her inside the security room. They stood side by side in front of the consoles, disabling silent alarms, not so silent ones, and the recording of the cameras.
Max was pouting and suddenly she turned to look at her partner. "What the hell was that supposed to mean?"
Nicole didn't ask what 'that' Max was talking about. The brunette had been twitching her hands ever since Nicole's laconic last comment. "Nothing. I had assumed something. You confirmed it for me. I acknowledged it with an 'ah'." she said, not taking her eyes off the screens.
Max went back to her task but asked, watching the other X5 out of the corner of her eyes, "What exactly did you assume?"
"That you had not used 'my man' in the general, non-specific way." She answered readily, looking at Max straight in the eyes, before turning back to he console and tapping her intercom. There was a gleam in her eyes as she said, in her normal, serious voice, "All clear. Proceed."
When seven figures clad in black appeared in the screens heading for the parking area of the trucks; Max was still trying to find a decent reply.
"Hey, Sketch."
Sketchy turned around at the sound of the happy voice and a huge grin lit up his face. "Alec, my man!" He patted Alec on the shoulder, "What's up, dude? You haven't been by work much." He smiled knowingly. "Neither has Max, for that matter... Anything you wanna tell your good friend Sketchy?"
Alec made a wry gesture, "You don't know the half of it." He muttered.
"What was that?"
"I said: yes, actually. Do you mind if we take off, though?" he looked around at the packed back room of Crash. It was certainly not the place for this particular conversation.
"No, man, not at all."
Sketchy got up and they both headed for the door.
A street lamp flickered over the battered car parked beneath it. Asha barely registered it. She was used to what passed for Seattle's illumination system. She was busy alternately checking the dark passage to her right and glancing in the rear-view mirror. For the tenth time, she looked at her watch and heaved a deep sigh. It was time. The exchange had gone more swiftly than she had expected, which meant she had arrived early. She didn't mind the dangerous transactions, the sneaking, the fighting. But she hated waiting around.
She shook her head and got out of the vehicle. She looked around once more and then took a heavy box out of the trunk, awkwardly closing the lid with her elbow. She walked down the passage – a narrow opening between two brick buildings. It was pretty far away from Terminal City, but Alec had no problem moving around the sewers.
She got to the arranged spot and tapped on the circular iron lid on the floor three times with the heel of her boot. She moved a step away, glancing back in the direction she had left her car. She heard a metallic clank and turned around to greet Alec.
Except it wasn't his cheeky grin what she found.
Alec sat on the back of the couch in what used to be Joshua's house. His booted feet were propped up on its armrests, his elbows set on his knees, hazel eyes intent on the boy in front of him, alert, waiting for a reaction.
Sketchy was sitting on the windowsill, his arms around his legs, rocking distractedly. The glass of whiskey Alec had served him a few minutes earlier dangled loosely from his right hand.
"Wow." He whispered softly. "Wow."
Alec's eyes never wavered from his face. So far dumbfounded was the only way he could think to describe the expression he'd seen on Sketchy's face, but he had no doubt it would change any minute now. To astonishment, curiosity, wariness, maybe anger. Or repulsion. He was hoping with all his heart it wouldn't be the last. But he had prepared himself for it nevertheless.
"So you are telling me you are one of them?" Sketchy finally managed to get out.
"Yup." He nodded. "I am."
Sketchy's big eyes danced around the room, looking everywhere but at Alec.
"So what.. how.. I don't know what to say. This is.. I .. You…" He shook his head, trying to clear it.
"I know it's not easy to grasp. But we are still the same people you've known. I am still the guy you have drinks with at Crash. And Max is still the girl who's been your friend and who's always there to give you a hand when you need her." Alec said softly. "Do a bunch of genetically enhanced cells make that much of a difference?"
"Well, you are genetically enhanced to…" he hesitated, "Have.. Have you killed people?"
Alec's eyes became distant as he nodded. "I did what I had to do. I was.. am a soldier."
Sketchy remained silent, looking at the floor. When he spoke again, however, he didn't seem too worried about that particular confession.
"So it was all true, even the part about the ones that looked like us. I was right all along." he said. "And you kept telling me it wasn't." He finished, looking at Alec accusingly.
Alec cringed. "I am sorry man. But it was the safest for all. For us, and for you. There are people chasing us. Not to mention all the 'vigilantes' these last few days." He did feel a little guilty, but mostly relieved.
"No kidding, man." He glanced at Alec suspiciously. "Why are you telling me now?"
"Things have changed. There are a few.. unexpected developments. And we need your help." He answered honestly.
"My help? What can *I* do?"
"Well, here's the deal..."
Twenty minutes later Sketchy was grinning as he shook his friend's hand. "Dude, this is going to be awesome!"
Alec couldn't help smiling back. Sketchy's enthusiasm was contagious, and a nice change from the gloominess that surrounded the transgenics the last few days. "I guess."
"Totally, man! You'll see. So... what is it you can really do? Are you truly that fast?" Sketchy asked looking at Alec who was still standing in front of him.
"Well... see the fire place?" Sketchy turned to look to the other end of the room and blinked. Alec was leaning on the mantle casually. "How was that?" he smirked.
"Wow!" Sketchy shook his head. "Man, you are totally superman! Better than superman! You are The Flash!"
As they both headed for the door, Sketchy suddenly stopped. "Wait a minute... Man you so owe me for all those times you beat me at pool! You cheated!"
Alec laughed. "Sketch, buddy, I am sorry to tell you this, but to beat you at pool none of my special abilities were required. You just suck, man."
"What's the matter? Expecting prince charming and got the frog?" Mole asked the blonde, biting his cigar.
Asha raised an eyebrow. "Well, I don't think we are talking about the same person. I mean, whatever he is, he's no prince charming. More like the devil, if you ask me."
Mole burst out laughing. "Yeah, definitely the same person."
Asha smiled back. "So, are you taking these?" she asked, lifting the box she was carrying a little.
"Oh, sorry." He said, easily taking the case with one of his big hands. He started rummaging through his pockets with the other.
Asha put her hands in the back pockets of her jeans and balanced on the balls of her feet. "So, what happened? Why did he send you?"
"He thought he was being funny." Mole muttered under his breath. He finally found what he had been looking for. He took out a little bundle from one of the pockets and handed it over to Asha.
"Huh?" The big clear eyes gazed up at him inquiringly, as she took the money and slipped it into her boot.
"Nothing. I mean, he had other stuff to do. Something he had to take care of personally."
"And he figured since I am going to be working with you guys I might as well get to meet you, huh?" She half smiled.
"Yeah...I guess." Mole shrugged.
"Well, it was nice to meet you... er… sorry, you never told me your name."
"Mole."
She grinned. "See you around, Mole."
Mole stared after her as she walked away. Well, these humans were not so bad after all. Ugly, but not bad, he thought before crawling back down into the tunnels.
"Alec?" Max asked softly from the doorway.
"I'm awake." He answered, propping himself on an elbow on the couch in HQ's office to look at her.
She came to stand over him and looked down at him silently.
"Can I..?" She finally said, averting her eyes.
He moved slightly to the side to make room for her. She sat down beside him and cuddled up to him. "Are you nervous?" He asked.
She simply nodded, biting her lower lip. "Aren't you?"
"Well, we've done all we could." He said, not really answering her question.
"Yeah, I know." She sighed. "I guess we should rest now. Tomorrow is going to be a big day."
"Yeah." He whispered.
But neither of them closed their eyes as they sat side by side, only their heartbeats disrupting the silence.
Alec looked around and nodded. Almost everyone was there. Mole, Luke and Dix. Lyon and Pete. Biggs and Nicole. Steve and Jessie – two X5s that had arrived the day before. Ralph, Joe, Lizzie and Regina. Three new X6s Alec couldn't remember the names of. And around a dozen more 'freaks'. Everyone was packing shotguns, except for the younger Xs. There hadn't been enough long guns, and besides, not like they were going to hand a big weapon over to their little traitor. It was bad enough she was carrying a 9mm as it was.
Ralph had been doing a great job of keeping her busy for the past couple of days. Alec smirked as he recalled the young Familiar's black eye and broken fingers from that first sparring session. The eye had been back to normal by the end of the next day. Whether it had healed or was the result of a bottle of make up, Alec didn't know. But he did know her fingers hadn't healed. Even though they didn't seem to produce any pain, they forced her to be extremely careful with her movements, so that it wouldn't show. It had been a great cause of amusement around Terminal City to hand her stuff she had to grab. It was also the reason Alec wasn't that worried about her having a gun.
Things had been pretty hectic for the last couple of days. They'd been working twenty-four hours to make as much of the vaccine as possible. The interview with Dr. Sandeman had been broadcast all over the country. People were demanding to get the vaccine. Even the same people who had started the campaign to get rid of transgenics were asking for it, blatantly ignoring the hypocrisy of their actions. Of course, some people still didn't believe him. But they would. Last night had been the night of the solstice.
They were in an abandoned building now, in what had clearly been a parking area: a big space surrounded by walls on three sides, columns every ten meters in neat rows.
The transgenics were standing in formation in front of Max and Alec. Behind them, against the wall that formed the bottom of the 'U' that was the parking space, six trucks were lined up, their driver and passenger's doors opened, ready to take off.
"All right, people," Max said. "Everyone knows what to do?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Was the unified reply.
"Good, we'll give each one of the drivers the destination as soon as everyone is inside the vehicles." Alec said, pacing in front of them, the shotgun lazily balanced in his right hand. They had previously agreed no one would know the destinations of the trucks before for security reasons. Or at least, that was what they had said out loud. "Are the trucks loaded?"
"Number one ready to go." Biggs answered promptly.
"Number two." Nicole followed suit.
"Three." "Four." Steve and Jessie.
"Five." "Six." Shouted Ralph and Joe.
Max and Alec were supposed to ride trucks five and six respectively. The 'nomalies' were going to ride in the back of each truck to avoid being seen for as long as possible. The X6s were riding shotgun.
"Very well, this is it, people." Max looked at each of them in turn and then at Alec, before turning her eyes back to the front. "You all know what's at stake. Good luck. No more waiting now!" She finished, going for her truck.
"That's right, you can tell them to come out now." Alec said, also heading towards the vehicles while looking directly at Regina.
It took her a second to realise what he meant. By the time she did, the transgenics had all moved behind the trucks and were aiming their weapons through the windows of the still opened truck doors towards the open side of the garage.
Alec smiled at Regina's disbelieving face, his shotgun no longer dangling, but firmly held and aimed at her. "What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" He snickered. Then he shouted out loud, "Come on out! We know you're there."
A heavy silence permeated the air as the seconds ticked by.
The shapes appeared all of a sudden. There were at least twenty-five of them. All dressed in black. All carrying weapons.
Alec was now standing behind Regina. He watched three more figures emerge from the blackness beyond the building. One was tall, the other rather short, and even though her hair was very short, Alec could tell it was a woman and a kid. They were all wearing brown robes. Out of the corner of his eyes he watched Max, behind the door of the truck to his right, squint her eyes and then nod. So the female was the priestess. And the kid was the telekinesis freak. Good. The taller guy must no doubt be also high up in the cult chain.
The black clad Familiars stayed in position, aiming their guns at them all, while the robed people came nearer. They were pointing no weapons, but their hands were hidden underneath the folds of the fabric.
Alec casually put his left arm around Regina's shoulders, her back to his chest. He was taller than she, but she provided a nice shield. He still backed both of them up, until they were standing to Max's left. He knew she would otherwise have stepped from behind the door to stand by his side. It was better this way.
When the Familiars were some eight meters away, the woman spoke in a calm voice. "I am sorry, but we can't let those trucks leave this place. Things are bad enough as they are."
"Funny," Alec said colloquially, "I thought I said we knew they were here. Did I not say we knew they were here?"
"You definitely, did. At least, I heard ya." Max tossed back, raising a shoulder. "Perhaps some people need to wash their super-bred ears."
"I thought I did." Alec shook his head, mockingly. But his eyes were cold. Really cold. "I know you think you are superior and all, but seriously, do you really expect us to be stupid enough to have something of importance inside these trucks when we knew you were coming?"
He watched the flicker of surprise in the eyes of the two older Familiars. "Are you thinking: how can this be? We have one hell of a source!" He smirked again, vaguely signalling Regina with the thumb of the hand around her neck. "Basic Counter-Intelligence. Ever heard of it?"
"See? The trucks filled with the vaccine? They already left." Max said smiling sweetly. "Oops!"
The black clad figures looked at each other and then back at the robed ones, clearly expecting instructions. The Familiars looked at Max and Alec with furious expressions, but said nothing. They were no doubt trying to figure out what to do next. Regina, however, didn't remain silent.
"He is bluffing. There were no other trucks!" She said, writhing in Alec's grasp to get free. "They couldn't have gotten that past me."
Mole guffawed somewhere behind them, Biggs snickered, Max shook her head condescendingly at Regina.
"Hate to burst your bubble, princess, but we so did!" Mole said, the words a little slurred from his biting the cigar.
"Wasn't even hard." Biggs put in.
"All we had to do was send you someplace else." Lizzie said. They had let the X6s in on it just the day before, but they felt they had contributed.
"Did you honestly believe we started these vaccines just yesterday?" Biggs did a great job with disdain.
Max smiled. "Just because you saw no more trucks doesn't mean there weren't any."
Regina was reddening with a mixture of fury and embarrassment every second.
Alec glanced at the Robed Familiars and saw their furious expressions. "And if you are thinking that only six vehicles were reported stolen from that place, think again. Five thousand years of breeding had to produce at least a few good cells. It only takes a bit of hacking to change the reports." He drawled patronisingly, "We didn't even have to do it. Eyes Only is on our side, remember?"
"That's right. You thought White trashing his place would be the end of Eyes Only? Not even close. I am sure you have seen the latest E.O. bulletins, telling people to get the vaccine, explaining to them what you freak-os are all about..." Max continued, waving her hand dismissively as she talked.
"So the vaccines actually got made and sent already. Hospitals all over the country have received them by now. Guarded by transgenics, in case any of you loonies decides to try and sabotage it. Oh and yes, we've also sent some of the culture of the antigen for them to make the vaccine to the rest of the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, India, Japan, China... did I leave something out?" Alec smiled.
"Impossible." Said the Priestess. "There is no way so many transgenics could have left this place."
"Isn't there?" Alec raised an eyebrow "Lady, have you ever heard of subliminal messages?"
"Oooh, yeah!" Max added, "Plenty of them were sent with the E.O. hacks. Except that instead of making people wanna run for a soda, they instructed X5s on what to do, where to be, who to contact... Oh, and if you are hoping some of them didn't see the messages, forget it. All of them recognised that outbreak as intentional. Guess all that training does come in handy after all, huh?" She beamed. "As I said before: Oops!"
The faces of the Familiars were completely red by now, as they searched for something to say.
"Now, we could have a show down here, or you can be good sports and just ...leave?" Alec suggested politely, the tone of his voice clearly stating he didn't really consider this as an option.
"Yes, leaving would be the best choice, I think." A voice said, coming from a door in the wall behind the trucks. Sandeman walked towards them, 627 by his side, until he stood in front of the high spiritual leaders of the cult. "There is nothing else to be done here."
"Sandeman." The woman whispered, a trace of contempt in her voice.
The doctor simply nodded. "In the flesh. We meet again, after all these years."
"I cannot believe you would forsake all that was ever taught to you." The tall man said.
"And I cannot believe you never change." Sandeman replied with a smile.
Alec watched them before briefly looking at Max. She was also carefully following the exchange.
"So Ames was right. You succeeded." The woman said. "Tell me, Benjamin, it all comes from her, doesn't it?" She gestured with her head towards Max, "This all could have been avoided if we had killed her. She is The One."
Sandeman smiled and walked toward Max. "Oh, yes, but you wouldn't have wanted to kill her. It does all come from her." He looked at her fondly and patted her head, before walking back to the Familiars. "She is the one that carries the pure blood, a more resistant type. And now thanks to her, the entire damned planet will get the virus. Even those who would have normally not have come in contact with it, because everyone will be seeking this vaccine." He reached the robed figures and stood among them, "A vaccine that will infect them all." He turned to look at Max with a gleam in his eye. "She is indeed The One."
