Part 9
He never answered her and they never talked about it again. She didn't press the issue, because although she knew that he didn't like it at Manticore anymore than she did, he had a bigger reason to fear punishment if they ever got caught than she did. Too often the nights when he drifted off to sleep in her arms were interrupted by the sounds of him whimpering and moaning, caught in a nightmare about his time in Psych Ops.
So days turned into months and time went on as if that conversation never occurred. But then fate or divine intervention or something happened that made that question very relevant.
They were both being sent out in the field on the same mission. It would be long term and they would be assigned together for the duration.
Renfro found out that one of their own had given classified information to the South Africans. The distant country had their own experimental brand of super soldiers called the Red Series, and the new director of Manticore knew how dangerous it would be if that program was able to successfully infuse Manticore technology with their own. Thus it became top priority to find out what the South Africans already knew and then their base of operations in the United States would need to be destroyed. Of course, first they had to figure out where said base was.
And so far, they had absolutely no idea.
That was where the X series came into the equation. Teams of X5s were to be sent out. They're mission would be to smoke out the Reds by acting as bait. Renfro wasn't naïve. She knew that despite how hard Manticore had worked to cover up the '09 escape, rumors still reached all the right channels about the transgenic prototypes that made it out and had been living on the run ever since.
Finally that disaster would work in their favor. By sending loyal soldiers out and having them pose as the escapees it would only be a matter of time before the South Africans would come to collect a stray.
The teams of two would be stationed all along Washington as far up as the Canadian border where the latest Intel rumored the South Africans base to be located. Each team would keep in constant contact with one another as a precaution. The Red Series reputation was not to be taken lightly and enough Xs needed to be close enough to swoop in for the rescue if anyone of their own was captured.
***
This was the most fun Alec ever had on a mission. The young X5 couldn't stop grinning as he leapt from one building to the next.
Because every X5 on the mission was bait they had to be fairly high profile. He'd always known that his transgenic abilities allowed him to endure and perform feats that no normal human being could. And he would be lying if, at times, he didn't feel superior because of them. But those abilities came at a price. The rigorous training, the lack of freedom, the punishments for even the slightest deviation from what Manticore deemed as perfect were just some of the things that made him wish he were normal especially because even on missions his transgenic nature was part of a secret identity only used briefly and discreetly to carry out whatever task was required of him. But now his abilities could be used for fun. Blurring in plain sight and demonstrating their "supernatural" strength were orders he never thought he'd receive, and he was following them to the fullest.
He slowed and looked behind him to see how far the police officers that were chasing him were. Soon he heard the bumbling footsteps of two officers making progress up the stairwell of the building he had just leaped from. Alec waited until they burst through the door to the roof and saw him before taking off again.
After checking into rooms at a no star hotel and getting settled with food, civilian clothes, and communication links between the other X5 headquarters on the mission, he and Max had scouted the area to find the perfect places for exposure.
Alec decided a daring robbery of an office building in the financial district would be a good place for him to start. He wore a mask in front of his face rather than a ski mask so that the back of his neck was clearly visible. Even though subduing the two security guards, herding the few clients and personnel into a storage room, cracking the vault code, and loading up his duffel bag had taken less than ten minutes he made sure his back was to the different mounted cameras the entire time so that his barcode would definitely be recorded.
There were many hover drones that frequented the down town area therefore the odds were great that at least some of them would also capture footage of his spectacular jumps between buildings and his gravity defying climbing of the buildings' walls as he fled from the office. The police station was also nearby and their prompt arrival to the scene was something he had been counting on. They all were instructed that the S.P.D. could easily be paid off to forget later. Therefore the thing most important was putting out information to alert the Reds to the presence of a Manticore prototype. A police chase was high profile and exactly the kind of thing they needed to draw attention to themselves.
A police car was hot on his trail as Alec raced around the corner and into an alley. A twenty foot chain link fence stood between him and the other side. Perfect. Alec thought as he heard the screech of the police cruiser pull in behind him.
"Freeze!" A distorted voice rang out from a bullhorn.
Alec turned and saw an officer hanging out of the car window with the bullhorn in one hand and a gun in the other. Another officer was emerging from the car also with her gun drawn.
Alec held up his hands.
"Drop the bag! On the floor!" The officer with the bullhorn yelled.
Alec slowly lowered his hands and smiled. While the cops took a second to try and process what the perpetrator thought was so humorous about his situation, Alec blurred to the end of the alley and leapt over the fence leaving two dumbfounded police officers staring after him.
Across town Max was also enjoying herself as she threw a hairy mammoth of a man into a table collapsing it instantly. She then leaped into the air back flipping behind the man coming to attack her from behind. Her small hands painfully gripped his collar and the seat of his pants and before long that man also found himself brutally colliding into a table.
A proud smile graced her face as she surveyed her handy work and then with a wink to the bartender she strolled out of the pub but not before sending the tip of her stiletto into the chin of a patron she had already downed but was unfortunately coming to at the same time she passed him.
A woman, alone, and dressed as provocatively as she was could expect nothing less than lecherous and dehumanizing treatment by the regulars at Grody's Tavern. The bar's location was seedy enough add to it the fact that the hobbies of the clientele read more like a chart from a psychology textbook listing sadistic and psychotic behavior.
Max, of course, was counting on all of this after hearing the rumors about the place which is why she hitched her skirt up higher, tugged her tight tank top lower, and donned six inch heels before making her way to the infamous bar. The thought had briefly crossed her mind that this may be a little too risky even for an X5, but for some reason the thought of a room full of horny moral-lacking men gave her goose bumps but in a good kind of way.
The stench of smoke, urine, and sweat cleared when she stepped outside and Max breathed it in thankfully. But her skin still felt itchy and even more uncomfortable was that thought of going back inside to get another look at that cute bartender.
Max's eyes widened as that thought did another lap around her brain.
"Shit." She gasped before blurring over to the motorcycle she recently stole and hopping on.
TBC
Author's note: I don't know why I stopped there. I didn't plan on it. Oh well, guess that just means I'll have to spread the next chapter out even longer. If you know what I mean evil grin
Please Review