5

"So what do we do now?" Lotus asked, looking around at her shipmates. The Operator, Cossack, yanked off his headset and shrugged, glancing uneasily to the lifeless form of the captain still seated in the entry chair. "I can't believe that just happened..." he said sadly. "I should have seen them coming."

Jack patted him on the shoulder. "None of us saw them coming," he said, also looking at the body in the chair. "We should have, but we didn't."

Cossack clenched his teeth. "We'll have to find a new hard-line spot at some point."

"Not now, though!" protested Leprechaun. She had unplugged him and was draping a blanket over him. "We have to... We have to get him back to Zion." Her voice almost broke, but she held it.

"How?" Lotus asked. "None of us have the codes."

"... Shit," Cossack remarked.

"So we're stranded?" demanded Lep.

"Looks that way," replied Lotus.

Jack looked at her. "Unless your French party-thrower has a set of codes we could use…"

"Can't jack in without a hard-line, remember?" Cossack slumped in the chair, watching the codes moodily.

"Unless we borrow someone else's?" suggested Lep after a pause.

"Like that Sparrowhawk guy?" Jack said. "He's not in, he probably wouldn't mind."

"His flat is hard-line rigged?" chirped Lep, disbelievingly.

"Yeah - God knows how he managed it. We could have used him out here, why'd he have to take the bloody blue pill?" complained Cossack, settling the headset back on. "Shall I give him a ring?" He looked towards Lotus for confirmation.

Lotus shrugged. "Why not? Call him up."

Cossack made the hack, and the dial tone sounded for a long while.

Sparrow could hear the phone ringing and swore as he entered his flat, bolting for the phone. "I'm not home," he muttered, picking it up. "Romanov."

"Sparrowhawk. I have an offer for you." The voice on the other end held a trace of a Russian accent. He knew that voice.

"Cossack, you son of a bitch!"

"Shut up, this is important. We need to use the hard-line rig in your flat as soon as possible."

"Make it worth my while," came the cold reply.

"We'll buy your flat off you, for good money. We need somewhere quiet, and your place is perfect."

"Cash?"

"Whatever you want."

Lep nudged him, "You're sounding like an Agent," she whispered.

"Since when have Agents had Russian accents?" Jack asked.

Sparrow leaned against the wall. "Fine. But some of you are going to get hit."

"What do you mean?"

"You said I wouldn't remember anything, you bastard!"

"You weren't supposed to! Maybe that batch of pills was glitched, I don't know. I'm sending Jack in - don't leave the flat." Cossack hung up abruptly.

Sparrowhawk hung up the phone, muttering.

Lotus looked to the Operator. "What was that all about?"

"He remembers," answered Cossack quietly, running a search for the credit program. "He remembers everything."

Jack's eyes widened. "What? How?"

"Search me, my friend. Maybe the pills were glitched."

"That's impossible, isn't it?" questioned Lep.

"Ask the Frenchman when you go." Cossack looked pointedly at the two women.

"I'll do it," Lotus volunteered. Of them all, she was the only one who didn't harbour some sort of fear of him or his bodyguards. She didn't even fear the quiet Wingless, and though she never went so far as to touch the program, she could and did converse with him in her native Chinese.

"Good. I'm not even going to look at him." Lep shivered.

Lotus gave her a curious look. "Why not?"

"He's... He knows too much." Lep fell silent, biting her lip.

Cossack raised an eyebrow. "D'you want to ask Quartz to go instead?"

"No, no, I'll go." Lep crossed to her chair. "I need to take my mind off... things."

Lotus reached out to squeeze the other girl's shoulder reassuringly. "We'll be fine, I promise."

Lep smiled dryly, a trace of her usual cheekiness seeping through. "Let's just get this over with."

Jack grinned at them both. "Just remember, your guardian angel is here to bail you out of any trouble you may find… even if it's a traffic ticket." Something occurred to him. "Wait. This Sparrow character is in England. The Frenchman is in the States. Cue transportation issues."

Cossack froze with his fingers over the keyboard. "Damn."

Lep kicked her chair in frustration. "We really are stranded, aren't we?"

"No, we're not," Lotus answered, moving from her chair to lean over Cossack's shoulder. "There's a hard-line in the Frenchman's buildings we can use. It's basically an 'emergency use only' type of thing, and I think this qualifies as an emergency. How long do we have until we need to refuel?"

Cossack checked. "About twelve hours, maybe less."

Lep grinned. "Breaking and entering, I like it. We'll have to make sure we're not discovered until we can run around and knock."

Lotus looked at Lep. "In the Frenchman's manor? Lep, he's the one who set up the emergency hard-line."

Lep threw her arms up, "Whatever! There's so much I still don't know about all this - I'm the newbie, remember?"

Cossack made a rare smile, alternately typing and looking at the screen, "You'll learn." He gave up and slumped back, "Okay Lotus, show me this hack. The encryption is foxing me." He slipped off the headset for a moment.

The Chinese girl leaned around the Russian, typing rapidly for a moment. "There you go," she told him, tousling his hair a little bit before going to her chair.

"Spasiva. Okay you two, plug in."

Lep vaulted into her chair, her nervous energy making her bouncy. "Whee!"

Jack shook his head as he went to plug her in. "Enjoy your trip, ladies; we'll work on buying our failed blue pill's apartment off of him."

Lep closed the doors of the elevator and slumped against the wall, itching the back of her neck. "Did I mention I hate going to see him?"

"Only a few dozen times. Look, Lep, if he bothers you that much, you don't have to go in with me. You can wait on the hundredth floor if you want to." Lotus told the older woman.

Lep sighed, "No, I'm sticking with you. I'm not hanging around here by myself." Although two years older than her companion, Leprechaun was more akin to a teenager. Lotus smiled. "Just one thing - don't let the werewolves get to you. They can smell fear, and they love to play 'fuck with the human's head'."

Lep shuddered. "Uugh... Mother always told me werewolves don't exist. Okay, I'm cool. He's just a program - the Matrix falls, he falls..." She dissolved into muttering such comforting thoughts to herself.

Lotus patted the shorter woman's hair comfortingly. "Just ignore them, and let me do the talking," she advised as the elevator doors opened on floor 101. She led the way down to the maitre d', who asked without looking up, "Puis-je vous aider?"

"We're here to speak with the Merovingian," Lotus said easily. He looked up, taking in the two women's clothing. His eyes narrowed, but he said, "Come zis way."

Lep followed the Chinese rebel through the foyer and into the restaurant itself, for once in a serious enough state to keep herself under control. Nothing would slip from her mouth today.

Lotus kept her head high; she recognised a few of the programs there. Hmm, no sign of Wingless today. That was probably a good thing, scared as Lep was of the Frenchman, odds were Wingless would terrify her.

He was good at that.

Another Asian, a program, nodded slightly to her as she passed, and threaded easily through the tables to the dais. He spoke briefly with an older man in an immaculate black suit, then drew back. The Merovingian stood up. "Ah, z' fleur de lotus is back. Wiz company zis time?"

Lotus offered the Frenchman a courteous bow. "We've a problem that we thought you might be able to assist us with, if you're willing." Lotus knew full well that the Merovingian could talk rings about her. It was better to be honest with him from the get-go.

"You know z' way I work Lotus, I will need somesing in return. If indeed I do decide to 'elp you. Please, take a seat, both of you." The Merovingian's mind was racing. Rebels might be just the thing he was looking for.

Lotus nodded, sitting in the chair across from him. Lep took the chair across from Persephone, drawing Lotus' attention to a new program clad in white. It was a female program, relaxing in a chair just behind Persephone, but Lotus could tell from the slight tension in the small frame that she was a bodyguard. Interesting, but not really her concern. Her brown eyes flicked back to the Merovingian.

The Frenchman laced his fingers. "So, what is zis problem?" His intense blue eyes gazed calmly into hers. Casting a sidelong glance to the Irish chatterbox beside her, Lotus chose to speak in Chinese instead, knowing he could understand her. "We got caught in an ambush, and our captain was killed. We have twelve hours before we need to refuel, and we can't get into Zion without the codes. We'd… prefer not to go to Canaan."

Lep looked at her, a little hurt. Someone was going to be furiously quizzed when they got out.

The Merovingian paused for a minute, translating from the French, before replying in kind. "So you would like me to provide you with a hack?"

Lotus nodded. "If it isn't too much trouble."

"I can do that - but I must ask something in return." The Merovingian lifted his eyes and looked beyond her. "Excuse me, for a moment, ladies," he said in English, standing.

Wingless stalked down the central aisle, gracefully sidestepping a cake-laden waitress. "I must speak with you, master."

Lep turned. "Who he?" she muttered.

"Wingless," Lotus muttered back. "Extremely dangerous. Whatever you do, don't piss him off."

Wingless nodded to Lotus with the same coldness he extended to everyone. "Mei-Lién." He ignored Lep completely, much to her relief.

"Can zis wait?" asked the Merovingian impatiently. "I am busy at z' moment." He gestured to the two women.

Wingless considered, then nodded once. "I will return later."

"Come to z' office after nine." Wingless bowed and melted back the way he had come. Lep exhaled loudly. Lotus squeezed the older woman's arm reassuringly. Wingless had that effect on people.

The Merovingian sat down again and raised a brow. "Somesing wrong?"

"Leprechaun hasn't met Wingless yet," Lotus replied.

The Merovingian gave a short laugh, "Oh yes, he has zat effect on people. Leprechaun, hmm? You are Irish?"

Lep squirmed slightly under the intense blue gaze. "Yep."

"Fantastic race, z' Irish. Wonderful curses... But I digress." He cast a sideways glance at Lep before lapsing easily into Chinese again. "I will give you a hack to get back to Zion, if you will assist me in an equally small way."

"What way is that?"

"There are certain programs who made a promise to me which they have not kept. I want them found - I will reward you appropriately."

Lep was getting fed up, and to her disbelief, her chatterbox side kicked in. "Hey, what's so important that I can't hear what's going on? I'm a rebel too, y'know!"

Lotus opened her mouth to reply that was precisely why she'd chosen to speak in Chinese, when an idea struck her. An idea that might just work. A slow smile crossed her face as she regarded Lep for a moment. "We may be able to help you with that," she told the Merovingian, not taking her eyes off the Irishwoman.

The Merovingian looked between the two of them. "Right... Well, I will prepare what you require. I will contact you in a day. Zen we will also discuss z' ozer side of z' bargain." His stare at Lep told Lotus not to bring the Irishwoman next time.

"I understand," she told him in answer to both spoken and unspoken commands, rising from her chair and bowing once more. She led Lep away, not looking back, despite a desire to.

The Merovingian signalled. "Tiger. Tell Vlad I would like to see him as soon as-- Tiger? Tiger!"

Tiger blinked rapidly and tore his gaze from Lotus' retreating back. "Yes?"

The Merovingian sighed. "Get me Vlad as soon as possible."

Tiger bowed and retreated hastily into the shadows, a faint blush creeping into his cheeks.

The Merovingian stared into space. Emotion. Emotion seemed to be like a virus infecting the Exiles - first him and Persephone, then Libra the new girl, then Wingless and now Tiger. Something would have to be done...