I'm sitting in a beaten overstuffed arm chair in our apartment. It's the first time that I've back to the little haven that we share since we'd found the body. The place hasn't suffered for neglect. Hard as it is to remember I only left it six weeks ago, and yet so much has happened in that short time. I examine my arms and legs and am happy to discover that the pervasive thinness which had infested them is finally gone. Now that I know that he's still alive my appetite has returned with a vengeance.
Also returning angrily is my impatience. Alec is somewhere out there, probably still rotting away on some tropical island hiding from a huge posse of bad guys, and I'm stuck in Terminal City with no way to find him.
In the last three weeks four major cities have been struck down by forces unknown, completely decimated by some kind of high powered bomb. No one is sure whether we're being hit by terrorists or another country. It's as if fate is thumbing its nose at me screaming that I'll never get him back. The country, dilapidated as it is, has been completely shut down. No travel past sector checkpoints, and especially no air traffic. Alec is somewhere out there and I have no way to get to him.
On top of everything else I'm expecting the phone call soon. Senator Burnhart has been a particularly patient lady in keeping up her end of the bargain and not harassing me, but as the widespread destruction continues outside I'm sure that she won't be able to resist for long. I'm not sure what my answer will be when she does call. Glad as I am to be rid of her I can't help thinking that someone with so much power might be able to get me out of the country even in this heightened security state.
The possibilities fill my mind with restless urgency, the beginnings of a tension headache pounding at the back of my skull. Yet I feel more alive than I have in ages. His presence is a constant whisper at the back of my mind now, always with me. The baby fills the rest of my space, or the thought of her does. I know that she was the little dark haired girl from my vision. A warrior, a friend, a life yet to come into this world, but somehow preordained by fate. The phone rings with tinny urgency. A glance at the watch around my wrist tells me that it's Kate calling to check up on me.
"Hello Max, how's my favorite patient on this fine afternoon?" Her voice soothes the furious impatience in me like a warm drink or a belt of scotch.
"I'm fine Kate, or I would be fine if I knew what the heck was going on out there." I wince involuntarily at the edge to my tone. This isn't Kate's fault, I shouldn't be taking my mood out on her. I make an effort to control my voice. "Is there any news?" Please god let there be some news.
"I'm sorry Max, we've got Dix hacking every government connection he can, and Mole milking every military contact that he's made but I'm afraid that none of us have come any closer to figuring it out. Has the senator called you yet?" I can feel her raising her eyebrow at me through the phone and I wince at the reproach.
"You know that once I call the senator there won't be any going back. I'll owe her favors again and I don't think that I can escape from her hold twice." Kate is silent on the other end of the line, I can barely hear her breathing.
"You don't know that for certain." The tension in Kate's voice tells me that she's lying. She knows the consequences of calling Burnhart just as well as I do.
"I won't put my people at a disadvantage to that woman again without a damn good reason. If there's any other way to get him back, I'll find it first."
"Ask us then Max! Let me call a conference and you ask any of us what we're willing to give up. What we'd do not only to get Alec back but to find out what the hell is going on in this country." The outburst leaves me speechless, I'm not sure that I've ever heard Kate raise her voice before. "You are our leader. We wouldn't have it any other way. Stop being so uncertain of yourself and you'll know what's right."
"Call a meeting of all the division heads for 0800 tomorrow. In the meantime I want Dix and Mole to reshuffle all of their priorities to finding out what the dear Senator Burnhart has been up to. Tomorrow we're going to decide once and for all what action our people will take in this crisis." I can feel the release of tension on the other end of the line.
"Yes ma'am."
"Do you think they'll get behind me Kate?" Her low chuckle soothes like butter on a burn.
"I don't think that'll be a problem. But I'll tell you what, I'm behind you hell or high water."
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"What are the latest reports?"
"We've wiped out Atlanta, Birmingham, Raleigh, and Charleston. Our forces will move Southwest next week towards Texas. The death toll has risen over 3 million. We have interim governments in place in each of the cities that we've hit, the remaining citizens are firmly under marshal law, and the radiowave damper has cut off all communications with the outside."
"How are we coming with the thermal scanners?"
"There have been some glitches in the resonance imaging but our scientists expect to have it hammered out by Tuesday. We'll have every single loose transgenic in America rounded up within the month.