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Knife in the Dark: Scene 12"Merde." Gambit mumbled disrespectfully, as Logan interlocked his fingers behind his head in a gesture of amazed defeat. What Mystique had told them was true. The majority of the X-Men were captured. The only reason they had not been exterminated seemed to be General Kincaid's 'no martyrs' policy. Only when the mutant population was subdued and under control would the X-Men be executed.
"Most of the kids seem to have got away." Studd reported sombrely. "But there are men trailing them. Most of the GRSO soldiers seem to be looking for one person though, other than the two of you obviously. Who's Sam Hawley? Is she an X-Man?"
"No she's just a kid." Wolverine filled in. "Michael Hawley's daughter. He's a senator who was arrested with the President."
"Do you know where she's gone?" Studd asked. "We could try and get a message to her."
"Not a clue." Logan admitted. "I don't think we can help her. I don't even know which X-Man she left with."
"You never heard nothin' 'bout Blaze? They still lookin' for her too?" Gambit demanded.
"They haven't found her so far so…" Studd tailed off, before slapping himself on the forehead with the ball of his palm. "Doh! Paint me yellow and call me Homer! Aliases Remy, gimme Blaze's aliases!"
Gambit and Logan exchanged brief glances whilst Studd punched keys on another console. Gambit rubbed his brow with the back of his arm, thinking. Then he started to name names.
"Melanie Beckett, Catherine Harper, Erin Fisher…"
"Got her!"
"That was quick." Logan and Remy peered over Studd's shoulder at a screen full of coding and icons.
"I knew I knew that name on the bleeper list. See right here, Erin Fisher." Studd tapped the screen, swigging his latest beer.
"What's a bleeper list?" Logan wanted to know.
"Its just what I call the list if folk who set of airport metal detectors and stuff. Not all of them, but definitely the ones they pull out to talk to."
"Blaze was stopped by airport security?" Gambit had gone quiet, letting Logan do all the talking.
"Yeah but not for long. Its all here, they let her through after she proved it was the medical staples in her stomach that set off the alarm."
"That's our girl." Wolverine stated grimly with his arms folded. "Where was she headin'?"
"Manchester, England." Gambit spat, throwing his empty can at the wall. It made a dissatisfied crunch and slid to the floor. "Elle a souhaiter de morte! A quoi elle penses! L'idiote!"
"You lost us." Studd spoke for both him and Wolverine, without even batting an eyelid at the can-shaped dint in the plaster. "There's a scan of what was in her hand luggage, wanna look?"
"Yeah, whatever you can give us." Logan agreed. Studd obligingly typed in an over-complicated code, bringing up a distorted image.
"Somebody knows we're snooping in here guys." Studd told them. "I'd appreciate it if you could…"
"There!" Logan pointed to a greyish blob like a small, elongated oval. "Comm. device d'you think Gambit?"
"Looks like it, non? Studd if we tell you the frequency, any chance you can hack in?"
"Over that distance? Presuming she hasn't gone any further away or lost the cell? I can give it a go I guess, but it'll take time." Studd was already out if the airport security logs and into a screen that seemed to be tracking satellites.
"Look Gambit, what about all that the Professor said about not contacting each other?" Logan muttered to his teammate as Studd got to work.
"That to protect les enfants, non?" There no mention of Blaze takin' any kids wit' her." Gambit rationalised. "The Professor must've had a plan for dis. He wouldn't have asked her to go there for nothin'. Either way mon Ami, we don't know 'til we talk to her. Or you wanna sit around here jus' waitin' for the GRSO soldiers to track us down?"