Dedication: To Jewel, for her superhuman patience (this is still your Birthsixmonths…); and to Minnie, who nags like no other. Thanks guys.
Chapter 4: Don't Feed the Tiger Shark
The afternoon was overcast and quiet outside of the Lake City Motor Shop. Whatever rays of sunlight managed to escape from behind cloud cover reflected brightly off of the store's floor-to-ceiling windows and the shiny chrome of the motorcycles lined along its front. A flock of white gulls perched on the awning underlining the building's sign.
The serenity abruptly ended when the shop's owner came flying through the center window. Shattered glass rained over a few of the bikes, scratching the bright paints. The birds screamed and took off as the burly man cleared the line of motorcycles to land hard on the black pavement of the parking lot. After a few moments, he groaned and tried to roll over, proving to the crowd gaping from behind the destroyed window that he was still breathing.
The front door of the shop opened, and a stunningly lithe figure in black calmly sauntered forth. Coal dark curls cascaded down over delicate, leather-clad shoulders. Two slender canisters of nitrous oxide were gripped in her hands. She walked past the man on the ground without a glance.
A sleek black motorcycle sat in the parking lot awaiting her approach. She placed the canisters in the compartment beneath the seat before pulling back her long coat and kicking one leg over the bike. She settled onto her ride, a dangerous amount of thigh flashing beneath her short skirt. Just as she inserted the key into the ignition, the stunned audience seemed to find its tongue. One masculine voice rang out over the others.
"We're gonna call the cops and you'll get yours!"
She gave a feral smile over her shoulder, one perfect eyebrow raised over her shades. "They've gotta catch me first." The roar of the black Ninja ripped through their protests as she sped off. The birds and the crowd kept squawking long after she'd left.
Alec shrugged on his brown leather jacket as he exited the message center. It had been easy enough to smooth over the alarm of the folks at Jam Pony. Normal already thought that Max was finally having some sort of psychological breakdown. With a few hints dropped by Alec and Original Cindy about some extreme pressures in Max's personal life causing her a increasing amount of stress, Normal practically dropped the issue. He seemed extremely relieved that only one of his degenerate employees – namely, Sketchy – had been affected by Max's little episode. A little added smooth talking from Alec had gotten Normal to give him the rest of the day off to see about Max. Before leaving he cautioned OC to avoid the apartment that she shared with Max, telling her to go to Crash after work instead and he'd contact her there.
Automatically moving in the direction he'd heard Max take from Jam Pony, Alec kept his speed to an ordinary's brisk walk so as not to draw attention to himself. He walked without slowing past his bike where it rested against Jam Pony's wall. If he ever hoped to track Max, he was going to need something with more muscle than a ten-speed. Six blocks from Jam Pony he veered down a blind alley. After waiting a few minutes to make sure he wasn't followed, he quickly scaled the side of the building to its roof. He could make better time up above the streets and the crowds. He could even blur undetected across the roofs. Most people never bothered to look up anyway.
While his senses were stretched to their fullest to catch any trace of Max, she wasn't what Alec was presently scanning the streets for. He was searching for the perfect vehicle, something that would allow him to follow Max wherever she went. Something that could keep up, but that would also give him the freedom to quickly go on foot if need be. It wasn't too long before that something caught his roving eye.
There, Alec thought with satisfaction. He stopped in his tracks on the ledge of an abandoned apartment building, eyes zeroed in on his target. It was a twenty year old classic, a KTM 640 Duke II motorbike in mint condition. From the main street the bike was hidden from view, but not from above. It had green and black detailing, and looked as if the owner had decked it out with some really modern, top of the line additions.
The former owner, that is, Alec thought with a smirk. He vaulted from his perch to land silently beside the bike. In less than a minute, he had the bike hot wired. He put on his riding gloved and dark sunglasses, and was on his way. But, to where?
As a soldier of Manticore, Alec had been drilled in the correct course of action for every possible tracking situation known to man. The lessons had been hammered into him since he was able to walk. When he grew older, though, and started missions in the field, he learned that sometimes rote procedure just didn't apply. Sometimes the best thing to do was listen to the gut feeling he got, regardless of whether his feeling seemed logical. And, at this moment, something was telling him to head to Joshua's house. It was the same uneasy sense he'd gotten earlier when he wasn't able to get in touch with Max. Only this time, the red alert was focused on both Max and Joshua.
Alec applied more gas to his new bike as he turned onto Main Street and headed toward the sector where Joshua lived. As he wove in and out of traffic he thought back to Max's behavior at Jam Pony, and his own reaction to her. Her very presence had set off a spark of recognition inside him. Several sparks, actually. His body had felt her near him, but not in a sexual way. Well, at least not entirely sexual. It was as if the wild thing that had stood before him had been calling to some deep part of Alec, and telling that part to come out and play. Alec wasn't entirely sure what would constitute play, and he wasn't exactly sure he wanted to find out.
It wasn't just that he'd classified Max as a predator in his mind. Hell, every X5 was made to be a predator. What kind of soldiers would prey have made? Still, she'd been a mass of roiling, coiling energy barely contained within the body of the hottest woman he'd ever seen. And he'd smelled threat coming off of her in waves. Not a threat to him, but one to every ordinary, weaker human in her path. Somehow he'd known with a deep understanding that he was the only thing that could stand between the ordinaries in that room and the scare of their lives. Before Sketchy had stepped into the line of fire, there was a moment when Alec had sensed a balance between Max and himself. A heartbeat when they could have walked out of Jam Pony without incident. Only, the harmony had been extremely fragile, and Sketchy steamrolled right over it.
About five miles from Joshua's house, Alec noticed a crowd gathered outside of the priciest motorcycle dealer in the city. Passerby were caught up in the spectacle of sector police, paramedics, and witnesses. There was a gaping hole in the large store front windows and glass all over the asphalt. One ambulance was just departing the scene.
Alec came to an abrupt halt at the edge of the crowd. He sensed the faint lingering of Max's new scent. It surprised him that he could. The X5 sense of smell, while stronger than an ordinary's, was not the strongest of their enhanced senses. Yet, there it was, that strange bouquet – warm and musky like a lush jungle, but also cold and slick like the ocean, and beneath it all the familiar essence that was undeniably and particularly Max. He used his transgenic hearing to catch what people were saying to the police.
"I've never seen anything like that." One witness gesticulated wildly. "It was like he didn't weigh anything to her, the way he went sailing through the air and out the glass." Well, that answered that question. How many motorcycle-obsessed transgenic females with bad attitudes could there be within the city limits?
"Great, Maxie," Alec muttered. "That's just great." He gunned his engine and sped off around the crowd. Well, in any case he was headed in the right direction. He shook his head. Whatever was going on with Max, she'd clearly lost all of her marbles. He wasn't really sure what he was going to do when he finally found her. Not let her out of his sight, that was for damn sure. At the very least, he could act as damage control, maybe minimize their exposure.
That brought Alec back to wondering what her condition could be. He was certain that the new scent she was emitting wasn't just pheromones. He hadn't had any carnal fantasies about Max in more than an hour. At least she's not in heat…On second thought, I really wish that was Heat I keep smelling.
Even deep in the throes of Heat, Max wouldn't do anything to blow their cover. She'd spent half her life running and hiding, trying to blend in with the ordinaries. That she'd been so casually tossing that aside all day told him that he was dealing with a whole new animal.
Alec pulled up in front of Joshua's. He cut off the engine and sniffed at the air. Her scent was there. He allowed himself a small smile and said, "Good to know I haven't lost my touch."
As a matter of fact, Alec could smell her stronger here than he had all day, even standing in front of her at Jam Pony. He hoped that meant she was still in the house. He'd count it as a very lucky break if she were. Joshua always seemed to have a calming effect on her, on both of them. Maybe Alec would get the chance to find out what was going on with her without having to deal with any more broken noses. Although, being quite the realist, he knew he'd end up with a least two bruises. He smirked to himself. Max just couldn't stand to not touch him.
Alec went to open the front door, but it was already slightly ajar. Startled and more than a little concerned, he quickly and silently slid his way inside. Stepping over the threshold was like walking in the wake of a tornado. Debris littered the foyer. As he moved further into the house, he saw bits of canvas and wood strewn across the floor. One of the walls had even been hit hard enough for some of the plaster to flake off and fall to the floor, leaving a gaping hole where it used to be.
He did a thorough sweep of the entire house. Moving without a sound through the destroyed rooms, Alec wished he had a gun. It looked as if there'd been one hell of a fight. He was relieved when he didn't find any traces of blood. During his investigation, he noted that the basement door was barricaded from the outside by fragments of what used to be furniture. Someone or something was trapped down there. He didn't stop to check it out until he was certain that the rest of the house was free of any hostiles. Once he was sure it was safe – even going to far as to exit the house and sweep the perimeter – Alec approached the blocked basement door.
"Max? Josh?" He spoke their names in a normal tone of voice so that only another transgenic would have been able to hear his call beyond the pile of splintered wood and ripped upholstery. He didn't have the time to risk releasing any unfriendlies.
From beyond the door came a deep, but muffled shout. "Joshua here, Alec!"
Immediately, Alec was clearing a path to the door with inhuman speed. "Hang tight, buddy." No sooner were his words spoken than he was at the door. It opened onto the stairway leading down into the basement. Joshua was half hidden by the shadows as he stood two steps beneath the landing. He was leaning against the rickety wooden banister, his long unkempt hair hiding most of his canine features. Alec reached out a hand toward his friend. Joshua flinched away with a small yelp of pain.
Off of Alec's look, Joshua explained, "Hurt side when fell down the stairs." Alec stepped back to let him through the doorway.
"What the hell happened, Josh?"
The transhuman's answer was barely a whisper. "Lil' Fella say Joshua should get back in the basement."
"Was White here?" Alec was immediately glancing around their surroundings again.
"Not White."
Alec looked back to Joshua. "Okay, then can you describe the bad guys?"
"No bad guys. Just Max."
"I'm a little confused here, Josh. You're saying that Max barricaded you in the basement for no reason?"
"Lil' Fella saw Annie and then went crazy, smashing and ripping and destroying Father's house."
Alec was becoming more confused with every response. "Annie?"
Joshua gestured toward the one remaining discernable painting in sight. It was a portrait of a cocoa-skinned young woman with large, luminous eyes. The bottom half of her face was marred by the huge rip in the painting. When Alec glanced at the painting Joshua said, "My friend."
"Shit. Joshua –"
"She's blind, Alec," the older man's voiced boomed, cutting off the impending lecture. "No running. No screaming. Friend." The emphasis that he put on his final word allowed no room for argument.
Alec scratched at the back of his neck before throwing up his arms with a sigh. "Well, why the hell not," he said, shrugging and flashing a wry smile. "I mean everything else just keeps getting weirder and weirder, right?" Joshua just grunted in response. Alec's face went serious as he reached out and gently touched a nasty scratch marring Joshua's cheek. "Max did this?"
The large man ducked his head. "Joshua didn't fight back. Didn't want to hit Lil' Fella. It was wack."
Alec sighed again, dropping his hand. "The girl has gone wild -- and not in a good way."
"Something very, very wrong with Max," Joshua agreed. "Doesn't smell right."
Alec nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that, too." He moved to Joshua's uninjured side and put the larger man's arm over his shoulders. He began to help him over to the couch, which was the only relatively untouched piece of furniture left.
"How long has she been gone?"
Joshua thought for a moment, glancing out one of the windows to gage the change in light. "Probably two hours or a little more," came his final estimate.
"That long?" Alec's voice was filled with his surprise. "But, I can still smell her."
"Anger smells strong. Lil' Fella was very angry with Joshua."
"It'll be alright, big guy. We'll work it out, okay?"
"We gotta find her, that's the plan."
"Not exactly, buddy. The plan is for me to find Max and for you to get somewhere safe."
Joshua growled as he stood at his full height to tower over the X5. "I'm not a child, Alec. Have a right to help Max."
Alec stepped away from Joshua until they were standing face to face. He wasn't facing an innocent and naïve genetic anomaly with a big heart. Standing before him was the first of them all, the eldest brother of the transgenic race, and the only one who remembered the man who gave them all life.
The X5 locked eyes with his friend and said, "You're hurt, Joshua. You'll only slow me down." His voice held the same callous honesty he would have used with someone of equal rank in the field. "I need to find Max fast. Understood?"
The older transgenic solemnly regarded him for a moment before nodding once. "Yes, Alec. Joshua understand."
"Good." Alec gently pushed his friend down onto the sofa. "Now let's get you patched up and mobile."
Twenty minutes later, Alec had tightly bound Joshua's ribs and bandaged his cuts. It was time to leave Sandeman's house. It was time for Joshua to make a home of Terminal City. Alec had made the decision as he tended Joshua's wounds. The rundown house Joshua had been living in since Manticore burned to the ground was too easily compromised. It wasn't just Max's recent jaunt to the dark side that had Alec concerned for the big guy's safety. Alec remembered the fear that had gripped within his chest when he thought that White might have gotten a hold of Joshua. Physically Joshua might be imposing in his strength and size, but he was too much of a gentle soul. It scared Alec as much as he guessed it normally would Max, though he would never admit that to her.
He'd drawn Joshua a rough map of the sewage passages that headed toward the toxic wasteland. Sometimes it really paid to have the genetic encoding for a perfect, photographic memory. He had every confidence that the transhuman would find his way there with no problem. Worst case scenario, he's keep to the sewers until he scented a large group of their kind. Alec glanced back into the shadows just behind the door at Joshua looming over him.
"Put up your hood, Big Fella." Joshua complied and followed Alec outside. Using his telescopic sight, Alec scanned the surrounding area to make sure no one was watching them. Then he lifted the manhole cover on Joshua's street as if it weighed nothing at all. The larger man lumbered down into the darkness, looking back up at Alec at the last moment.
Alec gave him a mock salute and a cocky grin. "Alright buddy, you know what to do. I'll come find you in Freakville later, okay?"
"Only after Medium Fella find Max. Bring Max to Terminal City, that's the plan."
"Yeah, Joshua. That's the plan."
The Sector 9 marketplace was overflowing with disheveled bodies. They moved to and from rickety stands where vendors also dressed in poor fashions hawked their wares. In a broken world, the shoddy bazaar was one-stop shopping for all one's Post-Pulse needs – legitimate or otherwise. Once Alec had seen Joshua safely into the sewers, he'd headed here in search of one of his seedier contacts. He was hoping the man might give him word on the shipment of rare originals Max had mentioned to him earlier.
It was in the nature of the marketplace that the "shops" were constantly changing locations, as vendors lost buyers or suppliers. Oftentimes, vendors moved because they had been shut down by the sector police for contraband possession and needed to reopen in another spot to stay under the law's radar. Consequently, it was taking Alec some time to locate his contact. He was getting antsier and antsier with each passing moment. He wasn't a patient man in the best of circumstances, and his current needs were making him even less so. He had just crossed the road to search the second half of the open market, when he caught a phrase that made his ears perk.
"Man that's freaky…"
Alec glanced over his shoulder, but he was too far into the stalls. All he could see beyond the press of people was more people. As he pushed his way back through, more gasps of shock and revulsion wafted to his ears. Suddenly he could see what they were pointing at. A figure was shambling down the road hunched over with hood drawn up.
Too short. Too stocky. Not Josh. As if to confirm Alec's thoughts, the figure turned his face giving Alec a glimpse of pale, rodent features below a broad brow. The transhuman turned away again, continuing on his path. He was heading for the barrier to Sector 8, which was most definitely not in the direction of Terminal City. Alec glanced away from the man and toward the gate where blatant signs read 'No Passage'. The transhuman pulled the fence apart anyway, setting off the alarm system. As he walked though a hoverdrone flew over his head. He stopped beneath the contraption's vocal command.
Alec searched for some way to help the guy without blowing his cover. The crowd was growing, increasing the number of unacceptable witnesses. His eyes lit on a car sitting idle not twenty feet from the fence. White was in the drivers seat. But he wasn't doing anything, he wasn't reaching for his gun, he wasn't calling for backup. He was just sitting there, watching the drama unfold with mild interest. Alec took a step back, putting a rather large, bearded man between himself and White's line of sight. Getting captured by White would be just the perfect topping to his day.
Sirens leant their screams to the alarm's cacophony. Within moments, the sector police had the transhuman completely surrounded. There was a tick in Alec's jaw as he assessed the impossibility of the situation. There was no way he'd be able to execute a clean escape plan with these conditions. He glanced up at the hoverdrone still hanging above the action. If he got involved at this point, there was a very slim chance that they'd both be able to escape, and an absolute certainty that Alec would expose himself and every X-series along with him. Those weren't acceptable odds. It looked like he'd be going on a rescue mission later...again.
The cops pulled their firearms and began barking orders. "Freeze! On your knees freak!"
The man just stood there, not obeying, but not attacking either. His stance was more wary than defensive. Alec could tell that he had not been raised as infantry, or taught military fighting. More than likely he was one of the worker drone anomalies that had been kept in the basement back at Manticore. Nevertheless, the transhuman should have been able to assess a no-win situation. He should have obeyed.
What the hell is he doing? The question was a shout inside Alec's mind. He watched the cops approach, still yelling commands. Get down, thought Alec. Suddenly, a baton was swung to the back of the man's knee. When that didn't force him down, the three closest cops all began to beat him. Alec's fists clenched in impotent rage at his sides.
"Damn it, just get down," Alec whispered desperately. Then the transhuman shoved one policeman into the fence. "Shit."
A second policeman was lifted from his feet and sent sailing through the air. Alec was moving through the crowd, about to do something rash, when the police opened fire. The first bullet took the transhuman in the chest and seemed to stun him. But then another bullet hit him. And another, and another, until, body riddled with sector police ammunition, he finally fell to the ground.
Alec stood less than five feet from the fence. He'd been paralyzed, his heart pounding as he watched one of his kind gunned down in broad daylight. All he could think while it was happening was that it could have been Joshua. That thought scared him more than he would have imagined.
The cops got up the courage to step closer to the dead man. The crowd pressed against the fence and made more comments about 'the freak'. To Alec's ears came the sound of an engine turning over. He looked back toward the inconspicuous sedan in time to see White slowly pull away. He wasn't sure what game the Familiar was playing, but he was positive that it wouldn't be good for transgenics.
It was a puzzle for another time. He still needed to find Max. And the day was running out.
Alec faded into the pressing background of bodies until he disappeared.
TBC