Chapter 2
Logan breathed deeply, filling his lungs with the cool, moist air, as the faint beginnings of a smile found its way across his lips. He leaned back in his chair and surveyed the scene from his perch on the edge of the porch. It looked almost like an impressionist painting, muted colours bleeding into one another. He felt like he was in a dream world, one so fragile that if he moved too quickly, everything would fade into the mist. Here it was easy to pretend that the pulse had never happened, that all of the hardships of the world didn't exist and that Eyes Only and Manticore were just a figment of his imagination. This valley hadn't changed in hundreds of years and it was hard to imagine that anything could disturb it. But the real world was knocking ever more insistently at the door and Logan was not about to let them in, for Maggie's sake as much as for his own.
A movement out of the corner of his eye dragged Logan, reluctantly, out of his reverie. She appeared out of the mist like a spirit from a long-forgotten tale. Logan watched her, transfixed, as she seemed to glide along the shore, apparently unaware of his gaze. She spun around suddenly and watched as a solitary beaver sliced a path through the glassy lake, stopping for a moment, only to dive below the surface, slapping its tail with a sharp crack and sending water in all directions. Max looked down and stared at the wake that approached her, like she was pondering the fate of the small ripples that met her feet. The veil of white softened her features, erasing the hard lines of the soldier and leaving behind the faded picture of a young woman, fragile and alone.
Logan so desperately wanted to be standing there next to her, like he had been for that fleeting moment that now seemed like a lifetime ago. He gripped the wheels of his chair like the bars of a cage that kept him from running to her and sweeping her up in his arms, like he had wanted to for so long. He felt trapped again, like the moment he had found out about Dr. Vertez's death. She had been his last key to freedom and now he had run out of options.
As he gazed at the woman before him, he saw his saviour; his angel and suddenly he realized just how pathetic that seemed. He had truly become dependent on Max, seeing her smile, hearing her voice. It's what kept him getting up in the morning. 'How sad is that?' He thought to himself, as he rebuilt the walls around his heart. 'Here I am, some rich guy in a wheelchair, swooning after a girl almost half my age. I'm almost as bad as Uncle Jonas, except I'm not paying her' He snorted to himself as a realization hit him. ' At least not in the monetary sense'. He suddenly found himself confronted with the reality of his relationship with Max, fraught with manipulation on both sides. 'She really would be better without me.'
For one dark moment, the thought of ending it all for both their sakes, found its way out of the deep recesses of his mind and licked at his consciousness, teasing him with new thoughts of release, but Logan quickly squelched that dangerous thought. Max would kick his ass if she knew what had been running through his mind, chair or no chair. As he mentally kicked himself for his weakness, Maggie's relieved smile from yesterday brushed across his consciousness. He was needed. His cousin needed him to see this through and, despite what either of them said out loud; maybe Max needed him just a little too.
"Good morning sunshine!" The distant sound of his cousin's bright voice woke Logan from his thoughts. He watched as Max turned on her heel to face Maggie as she approached from the far side of the lodge. Suddenly uncomfortable with his own thoughts and deciding breakfast was in order, Logan wheeled back inside.
***
"Yeah…" Max couldn't keep the surprised tone out of her voice as she locked gazes with Maggie. For a moment, she felt a sort of strange kinship with this woman in front of her. Maggie knew what it was like to be female and alone trying to stay strong, fighting her daily battles. She wondered just how much Logan had told his cousin about her. Max never felt the urge to talk about herself, but watching Maggie fight her inner war last night, Max had been overwhelmed with this sudden desire to share her story so that she they could share the pain and maybe lessen each other's burden.
Max longed for a sister even more now, after seeing
Tinga again for an all too brief time. The closest thing she had now was
Original Cindy, but there were some things her boo would never understand.
Maggie's earnest gaze made Max uncomfortable and she immediately shrugged off the moment "It was no big dealio."
Sensing Max's discomfort, Maggie brightened and changed the subject. "So, could I interest you in the five-dollar tour?"
Max returned her smile. "Sure."
Max followed Maggie from building to building, listening with a hint of sorrow, as Logan's cousin described the field station as it had been before the pulse, relating stories and anecdotes around every corner. She painted a vivid picture of a bustling, busy community of researchers, students and teachers, sharing information and a part of their lives as they tried to understand and preserve the beauty around them.
Now the dormitory cabins stood empty and the dining hall and laboratories were boarded up, standing sullen and weather-beaten after years of disuse. The image Maggie had created in Max's mind was so completely unlike the stark grey sterility of Manticore and Max found herself mourning the loss of such a vibrant and valuable place.
As they rounded the corner of one unidentifiable building, Max started as a loud "whoop!" pierced the air next to her. Maggie couldn't help but chuckle at her surprise.
"Sorry about that. He gets a little excited about visitors, since we don't get them very often any more." Maggie explained with a grin.
Max wheeled around and found herself staring into the two unblinking, dark brown, depthless eyes of an owl. The bird, in response, ruffled its feathers and clacked its bill loudly, as Max watched, fascinated.
"Max, meet Gabriel." Maggie said with a chuckle. "It's O.K., he won't bite, at least not unless you stick your hand in the cage, then I take no responsibility."
"What is he?" Max asked as the bird calmed down, but never broke his stare.
"He's a Northern Spotted Owl. Not many of these left anymore. Not with all the uncontrolled logging going on. They need very old forest to live in and their home just keeps disappearing, faster and faster"
"What's he doing here?" Max hated to see anything in a cage, then she noticed one wing hanging at an odd angle as the owl settled back on his perch and began preening, running his sharp bill over each feather, delicately combing them out, pausing every now and then to glare over his shoulder, almost like a disgruntled cat.
"He's a patient of mine, along with a number of animals." Maggie answered. "Unfortunately I get a lot of casualties brought here, animals hit by cars or careless hunters or just victims of freak accidents. I rehabilitate who I can save and release those who are healed back to their homes." Her voice took on a loving quality, as if she were talking about old friends.
Max tore her gaze away from Gabriel's strangely imposing presence and walked the length of the building, which housed a number of outside cages. As she peered through the wire mesh, she was met with defiant and sometimes wounded stares of a number of creatures, both feathered and furred. Max had never given much thought to animals. It's not like Manticore ever had a petting zoo. They were trained to think of animals as either threats or sources of food, but looking into the eyes of these creatures, sitting there, like war victims, she felt compassion blossom within her as she realized that at Manticore, they had been no better off than animals, locked in their respective cages.
Turning to Maggie, she ventured, "So you run like a hospital for animals?"
"Something like that. You could think of me as the Section Commander of the Lost Animal Division of the Logan Cale Brigade for the Defence of Widows, Small Children and Lost Animals." Maggie answered, with a knowing grin, as she started walking towards another building.
Max, taken aback to hear her words from long ago parroted back to her, picked up her feet and followed after Maggie. Sheepishly she replied "He told you about that huh?"
Maggie laughed. "Yeah, I just loved that name! I had to use it."
Max, now nervous, eyed her narrowly. "What exactly has Logan told you about me?"
"Nothing you need worry about, Max." Maggie answered reassuringly. "Everyone has secrets and I'm not one to pry. Logan just keeps telling me how special you are and now that I've met you, I understand what he means."
Max felt a rush of warmth flood her cheeks. Despite Maggie's cryptic answer, she was sure Logan hadn't betrayed her trust.
"Actually," Maggie continued as she turned to face Max. "He said that he thought the two of you make a great team, not unlike Simon and I…" She stopped mid-sentence, staring blankly over Max's shoulder, as if Simon was standing behind her. Max, unsure how else to stem the sudden flood of emotions, reached out to place a comforting hand on Maggie's shoulder, who continued to speak. "Simon is…was a vet. He brought me Gabriel. Since the pulse had cut my research funding, we devoted most of our time to our animals and we were never lacking in patients." Maggie's voice sounded a million miles away, as she was taken over by her memories. "He helped me organize people to protect this valley from the loggers. I own the land, but it's hard to patrol so many acres. We were coordinating with other communities to link this valley with others to provide a series of connected refuges."
Max watched as the pain bled out of her eyes with a few unchecked tears, to be replaced by frustration. "They just keep coming Max. Without patrols, they can slip in, take the trees and get out before anyone can stop them. It's just a continuous onslaught of people wanting to destroy this place for their own greed and I'm running out of strength to fight them."
Max could see this was as much a war as any mock battle she had ever fought at Manticore, but this time it was different. This time, she realized that she cared. At a lost for words, Max squeezed Maggie's shoulder, trying to reassure her host
Smiling weakly in appreciation, Maggie turned and led Max through a set of large barn doors. Max was immediately bowled over by the overwhelming scent of wet hay and horses.
"Max, meet the Spirit Lake Transportation System." Maggie's mood improved as she patted the muzzle of the occupant of the stall next to her. "This is the only way to get to most places around here. The roads, if there are any, are too bad to drive, as I'm sure you noticed."
Max eyed the beast with a mixture of awe and fear. "I've never been on a horse."
For the first time in a while, Maggie chuckled. "You'll learn."
"I figured I'd find you in here." Logan's voice echoed through the barn as he wheeled up to them awkwardly over the uneven ground. "I have breakfast and information to offer." He said, accompanied by his most disarming smile.
"Gee Logan, you're so thoughtful." Max answered, her voice dripping with playful sarcasm, the tension of earlier temporarily forgotten
"I was just acquainting Max with what's going to get us across the valley to Bergstrom's plant for a little payback." Maggie chimed in, ending the silent game between Logan and Max, her eagerness fuelled by a renewed desire for vengeance.
"Whoa, there Cos, you can't go charging in there like the cavalry if we don't know what we're up against. You're in a lot of danger and I couldn't stand even the thought of losing you." All the playfulness was gone from Logan's eyes, leaving them shining with concern.
"I realize that, but I have to do something." Maggie answered evenly, trying to mask her disappointment at the thought of having to wait.
"And we will do something, once we have a plan."
Max smiled inwardly. 'Logan? Plan? Now that's a surprise.'
Suddenly, a smile found its way across Maggie's lips, as a thought of her own crossed her mind. "You know Logan, there's no reason you can't join us in the charge of the Cale Brigade. We still have all the equipment from when we used to run a therapeutic riding program out here, before the pulse. I could set you up."
Logan's sparkling blue eyes iced over and his face immediately became impassive. "Thanks Maggie, but no. I think I'm better off as the brains behind Eyes Only since I don't have the legs." He answered flatly, quickly changing the subject. "We'd better go eat breakfast before it gets cold." Maggie eyed her cousin with a mixture of confusion and disappointment as he turned to head back to the lodge.
Max visibly tensed at Logan's words and Maggie
caught a fleeting wave of sadness, as it flashed across her face.
***
"Since the pulse, he's been the biggest supplier of American forestry products to the Orient." Logan continued.
"That's because he ignores every last rule and regulation when it comes to sound forestry practices." Maggie snorted. "At the rate he's going, they'll be nothing left for him to cut."
"I don't think he cares." Max added, reading over Logan's shoulder. "From the look of these Fortune 500 reports, he's one of the richest men in America since Bill Gates is no longer in the running. He's probably just milking as much money as he can until the well runs dry, so to speak."
"He's been cited for some major breaches of U.S. Forest Service regulations, but each time the charges have been dropped." Logan brought a few new reports to the forefront of his screen for the girls to peruse.
"Of course the charges have been dropped. He's got the entire U.S. Forest Service in his pocket. They just look the other way when he cuts down another old growth stand or find him a loophole to sneak through so that other federal authorities don't get curious."
"Well, I think the authorities will be more than curious to hear about Bergstrom hiring professional killers to take out innocent people. All we have to do is tie him to Simon's killer." Logan felt Maggie tense at his words.
"And we will find the link." Max rushed to add, also noticing Maggie's discomfort. "Logan'll find it." Max surprised herself with the pride that had slipped into her voice and quickly cut off any further words, for fear of saying something she might regret.
Logan's face flushed and he felt a swell of pride at the notion that Max had such faith in him. In all the months they had worked together, she had never once expressed anything more than doubt of the usefulness of his mission to save the world. Now her voice rang with almost a tone of admiration. It was something he could definitely get used to.
As he shifted his thoughts from Bergstrom, Logan
became all too aware of Max's presence behind him. Her warmth seeped into him,
tripping his pulse up a notch. When she suddenly stretched over his shoulder to
reach some documents he had left on the table, all coherent thoughts flew from
Logan's mind. The feel of her chest sliding over his back sent a jolt of
electricity down his spine as far as the feeling would go. The world fell away
and all his senses focussed on the woman behind him. For one rational moment,
he marvelled at how her closeness could so easily send his mind spinning into
chaos before he closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
"What about his bank records?" Max's voice broke through his haze, as she backed away abruptly to study the documents in her hand more closely and Logan remembered his surroundings, including his cousin less than a foot away. Squelching the dangerous feelings that had been welling up inside, he brought his mind back to the task at hand.
"Have you found anything in there?" Max continued. "Bergstrom must be paying this guy right?" Logan thought he could detect a slight waver in her voice, but he wrote it off to his own flustered state.
"Uh yeah, I was just getting to that." He answered.
Maggie took a step back and eyed her cousin and his friend with a hint of amusement. The tension between them was almost tangible, but neither seemed prepared to make a move in any direction.
"What did you find?" Maggie asked, steering the conversation back to safer territory.
Logan turned back to the laptop and immediately slipped back behind the emotionless mask of Eyes Only. A new file, filled with strings of numbers, appeared on the screen.
"At first, I couldn't find anything out of the ordinary." Logan explained as he continued to pull up files. Max tapped her foot impatiently. 'Always one for unnecessarily long expositions. Thank God, he's not a novelist'.
Logan continued, oblivious to her impatience "Then, about a month ago, I found a number of sizable payments to a Basilisk Incorporated."
Every muscle in Max's body tensed at his words. "Lydecker," she breathed.
Logan and Maggie spun around to face her.
"Max?" Logan eyed her warily, unsure how much she wanted Maggie to know of her past.
"It's another chimera. A Basilisk is half rooster, half serpent, just like Manticore is half man, half lion." Max continued, almost as if she was unaware of her surroundings.
"You think one of Lydecker's soldiers is doing this?" Logan chose his words carefully as he glanced at his cousin, knowing that if Lydecker was involved, sooner or later, they would have to come up with some sort of explanation for her.
"It would explain the style of the murders, swift and efficient." Max's mind was in overdrive, piecing together the evidence, oblivious to anyone's sensitivities, and coming up with a grim picture of X-series soldiers for hire.
"Why would Lydecker be sending out soldiers at the whim of a logging giant?" Logan wondered aloud, deciding he would figure out what to tell Maggie later.
"To fund his research." Max mused. "Maybe his failures have caused some cold feet among the powers that be, taking most of his funding with them, leaving him to find money where he can."
To this point, Maggie had silently watched the exchange completely aware of the fact that Logan and Max were dancing around a much larger issue, one they weren't comfortable sharing. Deciding to ease their burden somewhat, she spoke up. "Look, guys, it's obvious there's more to this whole situation than you're willing to let on, but as long as this guy Lydecker is sending out soldiers to kill my friends, I don't care about the bigger picture. I just want him and Bergstrom stopped."
Both Logan and Max smiled gratefully at Maggie for forgoing the explanation for now. Max silently promised she'd clear things up as best as she could later.
"Wait a minute." Logan interjected as a thought occurred to him. "You said one person escaped, right?"
"Yeah, Sarah. She went back to live with her mother; she was so shaken up." Maggie answered. "Why?"
"Most normal people wouldn't be able to escape these soldiers." Max explained, keeping things vague. "Had she been helping you for long?"
"No, actually, she'd only moved here about a month ago, from out of state. She was so eager to help. Some welcome she got…" Suddenly, realization dawned on Maggie's face. "Oh… you don't think she's… Sarah?"
"Manticore special ops… for hire." Max answered.
"She killed Simon… and Charlie?" The pieces slowly clicked into place in Maggie's mind. "Oh, God…He would've invited her in. He would've had no idea…" Logan watched as his cousin relived the horrors of the last week. She looked like she was about to reach her breaking point, but then she took a deep, calming breath and fixed Max and Logan with an even gaze. "They're going to pay for this." Her voice was icy and Logan suppressed a shudder at the sight of his normally bright and cheerful cousin suddenly so steely and cold.
Regaining his composure, Logan turned back to the screen. "Well, Eyes Only can nail Bergstrom publicly and maybe embarrass Lydecker out of freelancing his soldiers for at least a while, but we have to prove the link. Right now, all we have is speculation."
"What do you need?" Max asked, leaning back against a nearby railing. Her own blood boiled at the thought of her own personal anti-Christ selling out her siblings for the killing of innocent people.
"We're going to need more than just bank records." Logan cautioned. "We need to provide a direct link between Bergstrom and Lydecker, or at least proof that Bergstrom is using Manticore technology."
"I may know of where we can get that link." Maggie
interjected. "Bergstrom may be a spineless bastard, but he is also a meticulous
record keeper.
Logan rolled the information over in his mind, weighing its usefulness. "That might just do it."
"There's only one problem." Maggie cautioned. "I can only assume that it's always in his office."
"Well, it's the best bet we've got right now." Logan turned and gazed up at Max expectantly. "You up for a little break and enter?"
"I'm sure I could get myself into the mood." Max answered back, a playful glint in her eye. For a moment, she saw the old Logan flicker to the surface and she allowed herself to hope that this mission to save his cousin's life's work would help bring back the vibrant, driven man she had come to know
Logan picked at his keyboard for a moment, pulling up a new window, containing blueprints. "O.K., here's the plans for the plant and Bergstrom's office is here," he said, pointing to a corner on the screen.
"How do you know?" Max asked sceptically.
"It's labelled," Logan answered incredulously. "He really does keep track of everything. Once you're in Max, you can search the office for anything else incriminating, but we will only have this one chance to get in and out. Once Bergstrom finds out his journal's missing, he'll likely be on the warpath, so we have to make sure the evidence we need is in it before we take anything."
"Logan, you forget, I'm a professional," Max answered, mischievously. "What am I looking at for security?"
"I'll print out the specs for you." Logan's tone softened suddenly as he turned his chair around to face her. "You may be a professional, but I still worry… and with Lydecker potentially around…just promise me you'll be careful, O.K.?" He broke off his gaze, afraid of what he might say with his eyes and reached for the paper being spewed from the printer nearby.
Maggie watched the scene before her, equally
confused and strangely touched at the silent conversation obviously going on
between her cousin and his mysterious friend. 'Max is a professional at
breaking and entering? Where exactly did Logan meet this girl?' Despite
Max's apparently shady past and seemingly uncertain future, Maggie found
herself relating to this strange young woman who had so completely invaded her
cousin's life. After all, they had a lot in common. Max apparently had her own
battles to wage, enemies to fight and, just like Maggie, she cared very deeply
about the man sitting in front of her, whether she was willing to admit it or
not.
"So, when do we want to do this?" Max asked, catching Maggie's attention.
"Well, there's no time like the present," Maggie answered, suddenly eager for action. She was tired of hiding, waiting for the next shoe to drop. It was time to bring the fight back to Bergstrom. "I can guide you across the valley this evening. It's a few hours on horseback at a slow gait. We'll get there just after dark."
"Whoa there, Maggie, I don't want you anywhere near Bergstrom's place." Logan chimed in, trying to exert his age as a form of authority.
"Logan Frederick Cale, since when do you ever tell me what to do?" Maggie answered haughtily, slipping back a few years to when they were kids fighting over whether Maggie could go horseback riding with Logan. "You've never been able to in the past and I'm sure as hell not going to let you start now. I understand and appreciate your concern, but no one knows this valley better than I do. Max needs a guide, and I refuse to sit around on my ass, hiding in some corner, doing nothing. This is my battle and I intend to fight it."
Logan blinked and stared speechless at his little cousin. 'I should've expected that.'
Maggie took a deep breath to replenish her spent lungs. Max stifled a laugh. She was starting to appreciate Logan's cousin more and more.
Logan sighed resignedly. "Alright, let's get things organized."
***