DISCLAIMER: i) this is a non-commercial venture, aiming to entertain those who choose to read it.
ii) I do not own, part-own, or rent any part of Dark Angel. Not even a DVD or Video. Just a reasonable memory.
iii) I think I've managed to put a different disclaimer at the top of each page so far. Take me to court, I will run verbal rings around you! Muahahaha... erm, yeah.... but it's not worth the lawyers' fees, honest.
A/N: thoughts "speech" --signals--
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Ice's head turned towards the door as Data served up desert. The mere movement had the other X1s on edge, and that put Alec and Max on edge too. Which put Logan and OC on edge too.
"Sewers. Now."
Ice caught the sniper rifle Data threw him and loaded it. Normal looked around as if wondering what was going on. Herbal followed Logan, OC, Max and the others as Fred, holding hands with Alec, led the way to the sewers. Data grabbed Sketchy and brought up the rear, leaving Ice with his rifle trained on the door.
"Boss, you too. Trust me. Tell Ma... No, tell Cain RVP 6, every hour on the hour from..." Ice looked at his watch, "starting three hours from now. Got that?"
Normal ran off without answering Ice's question. The 26-year-old shrugged to himself as someone kicked the front door in.
"All ya had to do was knock," Ice stated, his cold eyes fixing on the man who followed the door kicker into the room. The man looked self-assured. He looked like he was in a good mood. He looked like a shark that had just scented blood. The rifle in Ice's hands stopped him in his tracks.
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Ames stopped in his tracks. He wasn't sure if it was the rifle, held so assuredly in those hands, or the cold gaze that 294 fixed on him. That it was 294 Ames was certain of. He had the same relaxed attitude as the guy in the photo with Lydecker, and the same cold eyes. The same easy confidence which made Ames want to ram his fist down the freak's throat.
"Ames White, NSA," Ames said, holding his badge up for the freak to see. Ice's gaze didn't flicker. Didn't give a millimetre. Ames was impressed, but kept his face as impassive as the freak's was. "If you would put down the rifle, we can talk about why I'm here."
"Or I can leave the rifle where it is and you can tell me anyway," Ice suggested, his voice irritatingly calm for a man who now had six guns pointed at him. The transgenic looked at the agents who now had him surrounded left, right and centre. But not behind. Ice didn't move. That fast blurry thing was likely to get him shot. Slow and steady won the race. Ice took one hand from the rifle and pulled off his socks. Lizard DNA made for good climbing too. So... to shot his way out, or take the evasive route? Otto made the choice for him. A tranquilliser dart hit him right in the jugular, just under his head. "Good shot," Ice said, as the rifle hit the floor, followed by his head.
"Get him cuffed. And put something on his feet," Ames ordered.
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Normal was *not* a happy bunny. He wasn't even a bunny, so he couldn't have been a happy one even if he wasn't being dragged through the sewers by people who wouldn't tell him what was happening. Or why they had torches ready in the sewer entrance. Or why they were using the sewers anyway. Every time he went to say something, Dynamite caught his eye with a shut up glare. Plus, she and the others kept swapping hand signals. He put on a glare, and caught Cain's eye, then signed, in standard sign language, what Ice had said. Cain nodded, then stopped the group. They gathered in a circle. Cain signed again. --Romeo and Delta split. Max with Delta, Alec with Romeo. Sketchy and Normal with Romeo. Herbal and OC with Delta. Logan with Romeo.--
Abel beckoned Sketchy, Normal and Logan to his side. Alec was already joined at the mouth to Fred. Max gave Logan an apologetic smile, and beckoned to OC and Herbal. When the two groups were on opposite sides of the sewer, Cain continued for Mack's benefit --20 more minutes of silence, then up into the open. RVP 6.-- Mack nodded, and led Delta squad away. Cain looked at Normal and signed, so that Normal would understand, --We'll fill you in when we get up top. Till then keep quiet.-- Abel effectively got Sketchy to do the same by ramming a glove into his mouth, while Logan just followed the transgenics' leads.
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Ice regained consciousness in a reasonably large cell. He was hanging from the ceiling, about a foot off the ground, and had obviously been there some time because his arms were killing. He ignored the pain and pulled himself up on the chains so he could look at his watch. It had ben two hours since he'd given Normal the message, to the second. As he lowered himself towards the floor again, he figured he'd been hanging around here for an hour and a half. Which meant, feasibly, that he could be anywhere within a twenty mile radius of the X1 shack. That meant he could be up to fourty-eight miles from RVP 6, which was twenty-eight miles exactly from said shack. Still, that tranquilliser had left him more refreshed than the NSA could have wanted.
The X1 looked around the room. To call it Spartan would be kind. It was bare. Other than the thick iron chain holding Ice above the floor, and the chair in the corner, there was nothing in it. No window, so any escape would mean getting past NSA trained guards. Running the gauntlet again. It reminded him of his first trainig session, only his arms were really killing him now. He shut out the pain so well that a Familiar would have trouble beating him in a stamina test, and pulled himself up again. This time, he bent at the waist so his legs were at a right angle, then allowed himself to fall backwards until his feet wedged against the ceiling, taking a little weight off his agonised arms.
That was how he was when Ames White and Otto walked in. Ames looked at the freak with disgust. "Amateur gymnast, are you, 294?" The Familiar was holding a cattle prod. Otto, on the other hand, was weaponless. Obviously had more faith in White than White had in him. Ice dropped down again.
"My name is Ice. I'm sure that's in my files," he told White, before looking at Otto. "You shot me," he said accusingly. Otto backed away, and Ice smiled. "Well done. I think you're only the second person to hit me. The first being Colonel Lydecker. Good shot, he was."
Ames felt the interrogation slipping away from him, and slammed the cattle prod, fully charged, into the small of Ice's back. Once he'd finished convulsing and swearing, Ice clenched his right fist hard. "Got any warm milk?" he asked. "Or my pill bottle?" His entire right arm was shaking now, the sign of a bad set of convulsions to come, In Ice's case. Ames nodded to Otto, who left the room.
"You get the seizures then?" Ames asked. "That wasn't on your record."
Ice raised an eyebrow. "That goes on a Manticore file, it's the last thing to do so. Can't have soldiers spazzing out mid-mission."
"Why tell me that? Why talk to me at all? I know you're keeping others safe. There should have been eleven of you there." Ames' initial interrogation technique failed to impress Ice, whose entire body was starting to tremor again. White pressed a button by the door, releasing Ice from the chains. Hopeless with tremors as he was, Ice was unable to resist the NSA Agent as he was dragged over to the chair, and tied to it, his hands cuffed behind his back.
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Logan looked at Cain. "You're lost, aren't you?" he asked. Having hotwired a couple of cars, they were in the middle of the forest near the remains of Manticore, Wyoming, so Cain just glared. Abel smiled. "We have two hours to kill," he informed the Ordinaries. Normal objected. "We have one hour," he claimed.
"We're Romeo squad. Delta squad will take first watch, starting in one hour. We'll take second watch," Danni informed Normal. Alec looked up. "What's the deal with the squads?" he asked, trying to sound like he wasn't a transgenic.
Toni cottoned on quickly. "The ten of us were raised in a military orphanage. We were split into groups by age, and there were strict no speaking rules, so we learnt the sign language you saw in the sewers. All the other army style stuff, well Ice taught us it when we first met, last year. He's been in the army, as you know, Alec. He is your cousin after all."
Alec nodded. Boy these lot are good he thought to himself.
Sketchy looked at Toni. "So you're the older ones?" he asked.
"No," Fred put in, "we're the younger ones. Cain over-ruled Mack, because Ice told him to."
"I don't remember hearing that," Logan remarked.
"You wouldn't have done. It was signed." Cain looked at Logan, then at Normal. "I was given the orders by way of Normal; if Ice wanted Mack running the show then we'd be on first watch."
Logan and Alec were playing dumb very well, but Sketchy wasn't acting. He was just dumb. The act they put on for Normal's benefit was going well. Until Normal asked the question they'd been dreading.
"So why was Ice so sure you were in danger?" he asked
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Are they gonna shoot themselves in the foot? Is Ice gonna escape from White? Are these questions even necessary? I don't know, I just write this stuff. Stay tuned for chapter 5.
ii) I do not own, part-own, or rent any part of Dark Angel. Not even a DVD or Video. Just a reasonable memory.
iii) I think I've managed to put a different disclaimer at the top of each page so far. Take me to court, I will run verbal rings around you! Muahahaha... erm, yeah.... but it's not worth the lawyers' fees, honest.
A/N: thoughts "speech" --signals--
---------------------------------------
Ice's head turned towards the door as Data served up desert. The mere movement had the other X1s on edge, and that put Alec and Max on edge too. Which put Logan and OC on edge too.
"Sewers. Now."
Ice caught the sniper rifle Data threw him and loaded it. Normal looked around as if wondering what was going on. Herbal followed Logan, OC, Max and the others as Fred, holding hands with Alec, led the way to the sewers. Data grabbed Sketchy and brought up the rear, leaving Ice with his rifle trained on the door.
"Boss, you too. Trust me. Tell Ma... No, tell Cain RVP 6, every hour on the hour from..." Ice looked at his watch, "starting three hours from now. Got that?"
Normal ran off without answering Ice's question. The 26-year-old shrugged to himself as someone kicked the front door in.
"All ya had to do was knock," Ice stated, his cold eyes fixing on the man who followed the door kicker into the room. The man looked self-assured. He looked like he was in a good mood. He looked like a shark that had just scented blood. The rifle in Ice's hands stopped him in his tracks.
---------------------------------------
Ames stopped in his tracks. He wasn't sure if it was the rifle, held so assuredly in those hands, or the cold gaze that 294 fixed on him. That it was 294 Ames was certain of. He had the same relaxed attitude as the guy in the photo with Lydecker, and the same cold eyes. The same easy confidence which made Ames want to ram his fist down the freak's throat.
"Ames White, NSA," Ames said, holding his badge up for the freak to see. Ice's gaze didn't flicker. Didn't give a millimetre. Ames was impressed, but kept his face as impassive as the freak's was. "If you would put down the rifle, we can talk about why I'm here."
"Or I can leave the rifle where it is and you can tell me anyway," Ice suggested, his voice irritatingly calm for a man who now had six guns pointed at him. The transgenic looked at the agents who now had him surrounded left, right and centre. But not behind. Ice didn't move. That fast blurry thing was likely to get him shot. Slow and steady won the race. Ice took one hand from the rifle and pulled off his socks. Lizard DNA made for good climbing too. So... to shot his way out, or take the evasive route? Otto made the choice for him. A tranquilliser dart hit him right in the jugular, just under his head. "Good shot," Ice said, as the rifle hit the floor, followed by his head.
"Get him cuffed. And put something on his feet," Ames ordered.
----------------------------------------
Normal was *not* a happy bunny. He wasn't even a bunny, so he couldn't have been a happy one even if he wasn't being dragged through the sewers by people who wouldn't tell him what was happening. Or why they had torches ready in the sewer entrance. Or why they were using the sewers anyway. Every time he went to say something, Dynamite caught his eye with a shut up glare. Plus, she and the others kept swapping hand signals. He put on a glare, and caught Cain's eye, then signed, in standard sign language, what Ice had said. Cain nodded, then stopped the group. They gathered in a circle. Cain signed again. --Romeo and Delta split. Max with Delta, Alec with Romeo. Sketchy and Normal with Romeo. Herbal and OC with Delta. Logan with Romeo.--
Abel beckoned Sketchy, Normal and Logan to his side. Alec was already joined at the mouth to Fred. Max gave Logan an apologetic smile, and beckoned to OC and Herbal. When the two groups were on opposite sides of the sewer, Cain continued for Mack's benefit --20 more minutes of silence, then up into the open. RVP 6.-- Mack nodded, and led Delta squad away. Cain looked at Normal and signed, so that Normal would understand, --We'll fill you in when we get up top. Till then keep quiet.-- Abel effectively got Sketchy to do the same by ramming a glove into his mouth, while Logan just followed the transgenics' leads.
----------------------------------------
Ice regained consciousness in a reasonably large cell. He was hanging from the ceiling, about a foot off the ground, and had obviously been there some time because his arms were killing. He ignored the pain and pulled himself up on the chains so he could look at his watch. It had ben two hours since he'd given Normal the message, to the second. As he lowered himself towards the floor again, he figured he'd been hanging around here for an hour and a half. Which meant, feasibly, that he could be anywhere within a twenty mile radius of the X1 shack. That meant he could be up to fourty-eight miles from RVP 6, which was twenty-eight miles exactly from said shack. Still, that tranquilliser had left him more refreshed than the NSA could have wanted.
The X1 looked around the room. To call it Spartan would be kind. It was bare. Other than the thick iron chain holding Ice above the floor, and the chair in the corner, there was nothing in it. No window, so any escape would mean getting past NSA trained guards. Running the gauntlet again. It reminded him of his first trainig session, only his arms were really killing him now. He shut out the pain so well that a Familiar would have trouble beating him in a stamina test, and pulled himself up again. This time, he bent at the waist so his legs were at a right angle, then allowed himself to fall backwards until his feet wedged against the ceiling, taking a little weight off his agonised arms.
That was how he was when Ames White and Otto walked in. Ames looked at the freak with disgust. "Amateur gymnast, are you, 294?" The Familiar was holding a cattle prod. Otto, on the other hand, was weaponless. Obviously had more faith in White than White had in him. Ice dropped down again.
"My name is Ice. I'm sure that's in my files," he told White, before looking at Otto. "You shot me," he said accusingly. Otto backed away, and Ice smiled. "Well done. I think you're only the second person to hit me. The first being Colonel Lydecker. Good shot, he was."
Ames felt the interrogation slipping away from him, and slammed the cattle prod, fully charged, into the small of Ice's back. Once he'd finished convulsing and swearing, Ice clenched his right fist hard. "Got any warm milk?" he asked. "Or my pill bottle?" His entire right arm was shaking now, the sign of a bad set of convulsions to come, In Ice's case. Ames nodded to Otto, who left the room.
"You get the seizures then?" Ames asked. "That wasn't on your record."
Ice raised an eyebrow. "That goes on a Manticore file, it's the last thing to do so. Can't have soldiers spazzing out mid-mission."
"Why tell me that? Why talk to me at all? I know you're keeping others safe. There should have been eleven of you there." Ames' initial interrogation technique failed to impress Ice, whose entire body was starting to tremor again. White pressed a button by the door, releasing Ice from the chains. Hopeless with tremors as he was, Ice was unable to resist the NSA Agent as he was dragged over to the chair, and tied to it, his hands cuffed behind his back.
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Logan looked at Cain. "You're lost, aren't you?" he asked. Having hotwired a couple of cars, they were in the middle of the forest near the remains of Manticore, Wyoming, so Cain just glared. Abel smiled. "We have two hours to kill," he informed the Ordinaries. Normal objected. "We have one hour," he claimed.
"We're Romeo squad. Delta squad will take first watch, starting in one hour. We'll take second watch," Danni informed Normal. Alec looked up. "What's the deal with the squads?" he asked, trying to sound like he wasn't a transgenic.
Toni cottoned on quickly. "The ten of us were raised in a military orphanage. We were split into groups by age, and there were strict no speaking rules, so we learnt the sign language you saw in the sewers. All the other army style stuff, well Ice taught us it when we first met, last year. He's been in the army, as you know, Alec. He is your cousin after all."
Alec nodded. Boy these lot are good he thought to himself.
Sketchy looked at Toni. "So you're the older ones?" he asked.
"No," Fred put in, "we're the younger ones. Cain over-ruled Mack, because Ice told him to."
"I don't remember hearing that," Logan remarked.
"You wouldn't have done. It was signed." Cain looked at Logan, then at Normal. "I was given the orders by way of Normal; if Ice wanted Mack running the show then we'd be on first watch."
Logan and Alec were playing dumb very well, but Sketchy wasn't acting. He was just dumb. The act they put on for Normal's benefit was going well. Until Normal asked the question they'd been dreading.
"So why was Ice so sure you were in danger?" he asked
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Are they gonna shoot themselves in the foot? Is Ice gonna escape from White? Are these questions even necessary? I don't know, I just write this stuff. Stay tuned for chapter 5.