Not Quite Dead – Chapter Three
Taya Guevera
Getting her uniform together, she put the package to her parents in her backpack, along with her apron, lunch and drink bottle. Grabbing her helmet, she grabbed her keys from beside the telephone and went out the front door to her bike. Checking her watch, she had half an hour to get to work, which left her enough time to drop the package at her parents before she went to work.
Pulling her helmet on, she adjusted her backpack and turned her bike on. Her mind in another place, she didn't notice the car parked across the road that had been there for two days. Neither did she notice as it pulled away from the curb to follow her. But the driver of that car did notice a black SUV that turned the corner at the same time he pulled away from the curb and followed in the direction that Mischa had taken off in.
"There she is. Follow her, but make sure you stay back a bit. We don't want to get made."
"Sir, why are we tailing this girl?"
"Because. According to the files we retrieved from Manticore's database, she's an X5. One of 452's sisters."
"Can we be sure? From what we've found, she's been in Australia for 8 years now."
"Which is exactly why we need to keep following her. To find out whether she is the girl we think she is."
"But Sir—"
"Are you questioning me? You're here to help me track down a rogue X5 that escaped from Manticore in '14. Keep this up and I can make sure that the only duty you see is sewer duty back in Seattle. Understood?"
"Yes Sir."
White sat back in the back seat of the SUV and brought the file from his briefcase onto his lap. Flicking through it, he re-read the information about the X5 they were looking for. Her DNA workup wasn't as spectacular as that of 452, but there were some questions that needed answering, and the Conclave wanted those answers. After the debacle at Jam Pony those months ago, he was still trying to prove his worth to the Conclave along with those of the Phalanx. An Ordinary and some transgenic scum beat the ones who were supposed to be the best of his people. They had humiliated him and all that he stood for, and it would be a cold day in Hell before he let them get away with it.
Alec kept an eye on the blue motorcycle in front of him, even though the early morning traffic made it hard to stay behind her. He was keeping an eye on the rider as well as keeping an eye on his rearview mirror and the black SUV that was now 5 cars back. That SUV could only mean one thing. White was in town – transgenic hunting.
Great. Terrific.Freakin' fantastic. I guess that changes the mission parameters.
Grabbing his cell phone from the seat beside him, he flipped it open and hit the speed dial button. Logan.
"Logan, buddy."
"Alec?"
What the hell is she doing at his place?
"Max. Hey."
"Logan said that you're doin' an Eyes Only thing for him"
"Yeah. You know me, Always willing to help out for the cause."
"Right."
"Look Max, I would love to continue this, but is Logan around?'
"Yeah. I'll get him."
A few moments passed, and Alex had to stop the car at a red light. She still hadn't noticed that she was being followed, but Alec noticed that the Black SUV was ever further behind than they had been earlier.
"Alec."
"Logan. My guess yesterday was right.."
"White?"
"Yeah. Anything concrete yet?"
"Got some radio traffic about a day ago through TC about White's men finding some new info and heading to Australia."
"Do we know what that info was?"
"Not exactly, but you can bet that if White's personally taken an interest in it, it's something we want to know about.."
"Trying to make good with his Familiar freaks."
"Something like that."
"Okay. Then, I'll move if I need to."
"How's everything going?"
"I'm following the girl. So far, there's no sign as to whether she's Manticore or not. I'm going to her work today, kinda touchin' base with her without telling her who I am. Hopefully White's men won't be able to follow her that far."
"What do you mean?"
"They were at her house. They know where she lives, but they obviously don't know where she works because they're following her now."
"How far away are they?"
"I'm about 2 cars behind her, and they're a further 10 cars behind me now. I don't think I've been made by them otherwise they'd be after me too."
"I think The Conclave would be very happy to grab two X5's about now."
"Don't need to tell me that. Especially with what happened at Jam Pony with those muscleheads of theirs."
"Yeah. Well, if it gets hot, get out of there."
"Gee Logan, after all this time, you actually care."
Closing the phone with his shoulder, he signaled to change lanes and followed the motorbike to a turnoff.
She must be going to her parents house.
Luckily, after Alec followed the motorbike, a semi-trailer had gone past them, so with any luck, White and his merry men wouldn't have seen where they turned off.
Pulling up to the curb, Mischa put the bike on its stand but kept the engine going. She didn't want to stay long so she quietly ran down the long driveway and jumped over the gate. Landing softly, she quickly looked around, making sure no one was around before making her way to the door. Kneeling, she brought her backpack across her side and opened it, taking out the package and left it on the mat in front of the door.
Her hearing working hard, but not hearing anything, she quickly zipped her bag up and moved it to her back again. Looking around again, just to make sure her mom hadn't decided to do some early morning gardening, she ran effortlessly back up the driveway and over the gate. Getting to her bike, she put her helmet on again and, without gunning her engine, she took it off the stand and made her way to work.
"Sir, we lost her."
"What do you mean you lost her?"
"She must have switched lanes and gone down a side street. A Semi trailer blocked our view for 5 minutes so we didn't see."
"Shit. Head back to base. Make sure that we're back at her home by 6pm. "
"Yes Sir."
Watching her get over the fence and down the driveway, Alec raised an eyebrow.
"There's the 'Made in Manticore' trademark right there."
You couldn't miss the feline grace with which she quickly got over the gate. A few minutes later, Alec saw her come back over the gate and get on her bike to leave. Not taking the time to follow her, because he already knew where she worked, he waited until he was sure she was gone before getting out of the car and following in her footsteps. Making his way over the gate and down the driveway, he saw that she had left a package on the doorstep. Using his enhanced eyesight, he looked at the words on the front if it.
ATTN: Dr. Richard and Mrs. Sarah Henderson.
She leaves a package at their doorstep after sneaking into her own house, technically, and formally addresses it to them. Can't be good.
Looking around quickly, seeing and hearing no one, he picked the package up and gently opened it. Keeping an ear out for any noises, he opened it and raised an eyebrow when he saw what was inside. A Manticore file with a bunch of notes.
Guess the mystery is all gone now. Not only is she Manticore, but she's about to tell her parents who she really is. Not the best idea in the world there. Especially if your 'dad' is a Doctor. What are you thinking?
Not sure whether to leave the package or not, he crept around the side of the house to the garage, keeping it with him while he made a phone call.
"Hello?"
"Logan. I need you to run a check for me."
"Yep."
"Dr. Richard Henderson. What's his deal?"
"What do you mean?"
"Eva's just left a package here at her parents house that has her full Manticore file as well as handwritten notes explaining everything to them. Her dad's a Doctor."
"Just a second."
Waiting patiently had never been a strong suit of Alec's so he used the time to look more at the file in his hands. According to the file, she was no longer X5-766 but X5-391.
Which would explain why I've never heard of her. She was never placed back into regular circulation with the X series.
About to read into the last entered information in the file, Logan's voice came back.
"Dr. Richard Stephan Henderson. 49 years old. Husband to Sarah, a teacher, and father of Aleysha, a Marketing Exec and Markus, a Biologist. Specialty is Pediatrics."
"So he's a Children's doctor."
"Yeah. He did some work in Genetic Engineering back in University, but back then it was such an out there subject that it wasn't relevant to anything."
"I've taken the file with me, but she obviously wants them to know about her. Do you think it's safe to leave it?"
"Since White was following her, they mustn't know where her family lives. So it's probably okay. If she wants them to know, that's her decision, She's obviously worried about their reaction because she's not telling them herself."
"Well, how can you tell your family, "hey, remember how I said I don't have any family? Well, I lied. I'm actually a part of a secret government agency that genetically engineered me to be a supersoldier.'"
"That's a good point. I say leave it. If White doesn't know where she went, it should be fine."
"Okay then. I'll put it back. But, can you tap into their phone lines and that to keep an eye on their movements, Cos once they get this information, who knows how they're gonna react."
"Not a problem."
"There's some interesting information in here Logan."
"Like what?"
"Her last Psy-Ops visit talked about successfully removing any and all traces of her 'previous' life."
"Previous?"
"She was re-designated as 391."
"Interesting. I'm sure there's a lot of information that would be extremely useful to us back here. If you can, make a copy of it and bring it back with you."
"Sure, no problem. I'll be in touch."
Putting the package back where he found it, he quietly left the Henderson's and headed towards Eva's workplace.
Mischa didn't know whether it was because of the news coverage on Terminal City in Seattle or just her nerves that caused her to keep watching the door and keeping a close eye on all the people that walked in or into their café.
"Misch? Hello? Earth to Mischa…"
"What?" Mischa said suddenly turning and finding her friend Fiona standing there next to her holding a docket.
""I've been telling you the order for the Law Firm in St. George's Terrace for 5 minutes, and you haven't heard a word of what I've said have you?"
"You mean the 3 Cappuccinos, 2 Lattes, 1 Long Macchiato - traditional and 2 Long Blacks, all large, all to take away?"
"Yeah." Fiona looked surprised that she had heard the order.
"Multitasking. It's a bitch." She said smiling at her and turned her attention to the coffee machine in front of her. Her hands went on automatic pilot and went to making the coffee's while her mind kept floating back to the package she had left at her parents house earlier that day.
I wonder what they'll think of it. I mean, Dad's got some small background in Genetic Engineering, but this is way above and beyond that. Will they be scared of me? Will they talk to me? Will they treat me like a thing instead of a person?
As she continued thinking about the possibilities, her eyes and ears still kept an eye on the going's on around her, while her hands kept making the order. 6 minutes later, the order, together with the lunch order of sandwiches, salads and hot food was ready to go. Wanting some fresh air, Mischa volunteered to take it.
"Think of it as my small apology for not paying attention."
Fiona had laughed at that and waved her away.
On her way back to work, she noticed a tall, good looking guy walking casually towards the café. He seemed pretty confident, which was evident in the way he carried himself. He disappeared into the café just as she crossed the road. Picking some dirty dishes up from some tables near the doorway, she went inside and quickly glanced around for the guy who had walked in earlier. Not seeing him straight away, she shrugged and took the dishes to the kitchen out the back.
Just as she reached the door she felt like she was being watched, so she turned her head and there he was. Standing at a bookshelf on the far wall of the café. It was the same guy from that park yesterday morning. Taking him in with her eyes, she paused for a moment then went into the kitchen. Fiona was standing there, in front of the mirror fixing her make up.
"Saw the cute guy did you?" Mischa commented with a smile as she placed the dishes in the dishwashing tray.
"Ohmigod. Have you ever seen such a hottie? Remember, you're on the coffee machine and I'm on service."
Laughing, Mischa shook her head and grabbed her apron off the hook near the door. Glancing out the door, the guy in question was standing at the counter.
"Well, Miss Customer Service, your man awaits."
Fiona rushed out the door and within seconds, Mischa could hear her talking to the guy. Still smiling, she put her apron on, and, quickly checked to make sure she looked okay before taking her place behind the coffee machine again. Walking past the counter, Mischa could hear that the guy was pouring on the charm, and, from the looks of Fiona, it seemed to be working. From her vantage point, Mischa could see he had hazel/green eyes, that, even she had to admit, were gorgeous. As she walked past, she could feel him watch her, but his attention was still on Fiona.
He's one of those guys she thought as she went about making some more coffees.
Two updates at once, I know.. :D
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