Chapter 5

"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves." (Shakespeare)

"Work for me," Max said simply. "You might be Transgenic filth, but at least you could be useful Transgenic filth for a while." Alec laid still, breath coming in slight hitches, terrified.

Max held up the two syringes again. "Fuck you," Alec rasped and Max smiled.

"How many bouts do you think you'll survive, 494?" Alec looked away, only to hear Max laugh at his feeble attempt at rebellion. "Wade, 494 thinks he can take another dose . . ."

Wade stepped closer, but before he took the syringe, he undid the straps on all of the restraints. Alec twitched feebly but didn't have any real control over his muscles. His head fell to the side and his eyes tracked slowly, following the movement of Wade's hands as he brought the syringe close and then it entered the skin on his arm.

The effects came quicker this time and within moments the agony was renewed, and Alec felt as his heart rate began to increase. "Help me!" he choked. "Help me!" His body tightened as if ready to seize again but instead held on the brink, all the pain accumulating and accumulating, the intensity swelling. "Help," he rasped again.

"He wants help, Wade."

"Should I give it to him?"

Max stepped into Alec's line of sight with the second syringe. "Okay, so we know you want this, but do you agree to work for us? You can't be expecting something for nothing, after all." Max's voice was bland.

Alec knew he had no choice left as with difficulty he agreed to Max's demand, watched as Wade took the second syringe and began to insert it into his arm. The intensity flared even higher for a moment and then steadily began to decrease.

This kind of defeat was sickening and Alec curled onto his side with difficulty and lay waiting for the pain to pass, for death to come or the world to end. He knew that when his Max saw him next, the best he could hope for was that she would see Ben; more likely she'd see him as worse.

Jensen called the others in to see the footage when he noticed it for the third time. "If you watch here," he explained, "Alec turns the corner and if you count . . ." there was a pause as they kept their eyes on the screen. "There!" Jensen said, "It's Wade. This is the third time he's followed Alec round a corner at exactly the same number of seconds distance. I think Wade is tailing Alec."

"Why?"

"He's a Transgenic," Jensen answered. "Seriously Clay, think about it. Max wants weapons, war, chaos. What better way to achieve that than with an army of supersoldiers?"

"But even for Max, it's risky to take one of the supposed 'leaders' of the Transgenic Nation. Surely it would make more sense to kidnap some who aren't going to be plastered all over the news as missing."

"But that's it; it's not all over the papers. Nobody knows and if they did the only reason they'd care was for fear of what Max might do with them, what he might use them for. If they think he's taking them to kill them or lock them up, ready to use next time we need a bunch of disposable soldiers, how many ordinary human citizens are going to object to that? They're not. It's killing two birds with one stone, keeping the Transgenics under control and off the streets, and sending less of our 'normal' soldiers into combat. You think the general population is going to have a problem with that?"

Pooch added, "He has a good point there, Clay."

"Okay, okay . . . But he's only taken Alec . . . it's hardly an army of supersoldiers."

There was a moment where they all considered the possibilities. "Alec is the start of it," Cougar said quietly.

The others looked at him and he shrugged. Pooch began to nod, "Maybe, maybe he's taken Alec so he can learn how to control them. If he wasn't part of Manticore, he wouldn't know."

"The stuff I found, and from talking to Joshua and Luke this morning, Manticore would re-indoctrinate their soldiers, brainwash them into thinking differently, forgetting things . . . Max might know how. When we find him, he might not be the Alec they were talking about," Jensen's voice rose.

Clay cut him off, "Don't think like that. We find him and we get him back. If he's changed then we deal with it, but it's not going to change getting him back. We do that first. You know where they were when they took him?"

"Not yet. I've only tracked him this far. It's not easy knowing which feeds to look at, and it's going to be harder, because if you look, he knows he's being followed. I think he's going to try to lose Wade."

Jensen resumed his watching of the video feeds with just Cougar at his side, the two of them scanning the picture constantly for signs of Alec or Wade. They'd tracked Alec's progress through the city, and realized that he'd given up on heading for Logan and was now just concentrating on losing the tail. It took them another two hours to find what they were looking for. Alec had rounded one corner and sped up, running rapidly into a nearby alley. Moments later, Wade stood at the end of the alley, before speaking into a radio. He then followed Alec into the darkness.

Cougar looked at the map and said, "It's a dead end."

So they waited. The hover drone moved away and then returned and they couldn't be sure they hadn't missed something as it had moved, but this was possibly the last view of Alec, they had to hope that they could get something more from it. A black nondescript van pulled up at the end of the alley and moments later, Wade reappeared with Alec slung over his shoulder. Cougar and Jensen both winced as they watched him shift Alec's position, ready to throw him in the back of the van, and catch his head in a glancing blow against the roof of the vehicle and then the door. Max followed them out of the alley and got into a limousine which pulled up behind the van, then the two vehicles quickly pulled away and rejoined the traffic.

Joshua watched as Max paced back and forth, waiting for the connection to be made with the Team outside. They called themselves The Losers and Luke had researched what he could of their past. Max wasn't certain they could be trusted, but there was still no word about Alec. Clemente had refused to meet with her in case she was taken as well. These ex-Army men who had known Alec in the past were his best chance and she wasn't sure it would be anything like enough.

The Police Captain had been firm about her responsibilities to all of the Transgenics, not just Alec. It was hard to sit back without doing anything but Clemente was right; it was more than Alec's life at stake. He'd agreed to put one of his men, a man he trusted and who felt the same as he did about the Transgenics and their right to be heard, on to the case, trying to find out more, but it was one man with no real idea where to start and it wasn't like Max could be entirely honest. She couldn't give him Logan's location, so he had no idea which direction Alec had been heading.

The hacker, who both Luke and Joshua seemed to be very taken with, both of them far more relaxed with him than they ever were with Logan, had made contact asking for another conversation. He and Luke were just putting the finishing touches to their security measures. Luke had assured her it was fine, probably even more secure than the link they were used to using with Logan.

She'd been surprised that they all seemed to prefer to leave Logan out of the loop. It should make this easier, but instead it just added another layer of guilt. It was another obstacle that would keep them apart, and she couldn't help the relief that it was something that she didn't need to deal with now. Alec deserved her attention for the time being.

She looked up from her pacing as Joshua called her name and waved to a chair and the screen. She moved across as the picture finally flickered into life. There was Jensen, chatting away with Luke while they waited. It was interesting there was no sign of the other man, Pooch, who had been with him when he visited Logan. Instead there was an older man, his face stern looking as he waited, although there was a softness around his eyes that made her think there was more to him than military bearing.

"Hey Max," Jensen greeted. "Sight for sore eyes. This is Clay, and we have some news and some more questions." The words spilled out quickly, and Clay relaxed a little as if this was familiar, listening to Jensen talk.

"Good to meet you, sir, but shouldn't that be Lieutenant Colonel?" she prompted.

"Not anymore. It's been a long time that we've been out of the Army. It's good to speak to you, I wish circumstances were different. Gentlemen," Clay acknowledged the presence of Joshua and Luke at her side, nodding as she introduced them. "Like Jensen said, we have some leads but we also have more questions as well. Shall we start? I believe time is of the essence."

"You know where he is?"

The look the two men shared before answering was enough to start her heart pounding. "We know who took him. Not quite the same thing and not good enough by far," Clay answered as Jensen tapped a few keys on his laptop and their image was replaced by two grainy photographs. "Do you know either of these men?"

Max glanced at them quickly and shook her head, "No, never seen them before. "

The pictures vanished just as Joshua started to speak, "Not the same, but that one looks like White."

Max frowned and Jensen clearly took it as a sign to put the pictures back on the screen. She looked closer, following Joshua's finger and considering what he'd said. It wasn't White, not even close, but there was a certain . . . similarity. "The one on the right, who is he?" she demanded.

"His name's Wade, mercenary type, works for the guy on the left who goes by the name of Max, but that's more of a code name than anything that's necessarily real. So who's White?"

"What would they want with Alec?" Max persisted.

"You tell me. Now who's White and why might he be connected?"

Dark or Light, the flicker of bulbs on and off, in and out, the hum of the fluorescent tube. Cold . . . breeze . . . air moving as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Time ebbed and flowed incomprehensibly and Alec felt tired; weary and more. Nothing made sense, not who he was, where he was; his only connection the two men, Max and Wade.

Alec didn't think the wait was long before Max and Wade returned, the pain was waning but not gone and he felt . . . distant, apart from his body, like he didn't quite have full control of . . . he wasn't sure what, he thought as his mind wandered again. His mind seemed to be drifting in a haze as if he were waiting for some trigger something to make the world make sense.

Max . . . his gaze settled on the man in front of him and he frowned. That wasn't right, Max wasn't supposed to look like that . . . Max was . . . shorter, long hair . . . a girl! He wondered for a moment why his mind wanted to pin the name on the figure before him or why he thought it fit a girl either. He was sure this was Max and the quieter man alongside was Wade and Alec felt a sudden urge to cower away from Wade, a half memory of pain tickling at the edges of his conscious thought.

"How are things going there, 494?"

Alec tried to turn round looking to see who Max was talking to. There was no one there, which meant . . . Suddenly he realized Max was talking to him. Why was he/she calling him that? He bit his lip as he tried to remember.

Max smiled, but there was nothing kind or gentle in it. "So . . . 494, I offered you a choice . . . two syringes – one brings pain, one brings relief . . . do you remember that?" Alec nodded, eyes wide and fearful, he didn't remember completely, but pain . . . pain, he remembered the pain. "Now you've been letting me down of late . . ."

Alec wasn't sure what he'd done wrong this time, but Max . . . Max was annoyed, that wasn't good . . . His finger tapped his anxiety out on the bed alongside where he lay. Wade moved. Alec flinched, sitting up suddenly and almost losing his balance falling off the bed as his head spun. He snapped his eyes shut and tried to settle himself. His eyes were only shut for a moment before he opened them again just as suddenly trying to see and focus on Max and Wade.

Wade's face was bland, Alec couldn't decide on the actual expression's meaning but Max . . . There was a predatory gleam there; it made Alec think of pain and fear. He waited, unsure. Max stepped closer and Alec swallowed nervously. "X5-494 . . .quite a sight . . . Are you ready to work?"

Wade stepped closer again and with a quick glance at Max for approval, he leaned in and shouted, "Hit the ground, soldier and give me thirty!"

Alec paused, this wasn't right, something about it wasn't right, but he couldn't quite grasp . . . "Did you hear me, 494?" Wade yelled and for a moment, Alec knew it wasn't right; this wasn't his Max, he had no idea who Wade was and . . . the Conclave, Familiars, Manticore was gone, he was free . . . he was free.

Wade grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him off the bed and throwing him to the floor, looming over him threateningly, shouting words that blurred and slipped away. Instinct kicked in and Alec lashed out, leg swinging furiously round, trying to knock Wade off his feet. The heavier man dropped, throwing his weight down onto Alec's prone form, banging Alec's head on the hard concrete of the floor in the process.

Alec stirred dazed, trying to dislodge Wade's weight futilely at first until a memory slithered of himself fighting, drill after drill, fight after fight, war zones with gun fire, fighting cages . . . Memories bombarding him as he struggled to resist until they began to make some sense. He lashed out fists flying and felt pain resurge through him. It was the work of moments for Wade to have him pinned and to be injecting him again. There was no stopping the surge of pain that coursed through him burning. He opened his mouth to scream, and there was nothing but a choked off gasp, no sound.

As the pain took over, Alec stopped fighting, instead beginning to arch and twist futilely. Wade pushed himself up and away from where Alec lay on the floor, kicking him again before standing back with Max to watch as Alec writhed in agony.

They waited, Wade with disinterest, while Max's eyes gleamed with fascination and enjoyment. Time ticked by until finally Max spoke and said, "Give him the other one now."

Wade kicked Alec, watching as the young Transgenic rolled over closer to the wall. He forced Alec backwards until he had him pinned, then dropped down to stop his movements as much as he could. He administered the second shot and wondered how many more times he would have to do this. Alec seemed to be losing himself more each time, taking longer and longer for the resistance to kick in and for Alec to fight back.

It may not have been Manticore's own Re-indoctrination procedure, but it seemed to be achieving the same result slowly.

Clay was the one to respond to the whoop of excitement from behind the closed door. He'd sent Pooch and Cougar out – one stir-crazy hacker was more than enough for a team without adding anyone else into the mix. He opened the door cautiously, peering in ready to snap his eyes closed at anything he really didn't want to see.

Jensen was clothed, great relief and was beaming happily while chanting "Got ya now, bitches . . . Ha! The power of my mind, I have super sneaky, tracking powers and ya can't escape from me."

"Jensen?" Clay interrupted, making the hacker jerk to a halt in surprise and turn to face him, grin getting almost unbelievably broader.

"I did it! I did it! I did it!" Jensen announced proudly. "I found 'em. Look see, here . . . You don't want to know the whole boring long-winded explanation, but here," he pointed at the screen, "this is where Max and Wade are holding Alec. And I found them!"

"That's good. Take a break and then you can find out about the inside for me." When Jensen looked about to object, Clay continued, "Eat. You're hungry, I can hear your stomach through the closed door, even if you can't!"

Jensen seemed to consider that point for a moment before pushing back from the keyboard and standing. Clay watched silently as Jensen seemed to consider his own body, before finally realizing that Clay was right, he was hungry. Clay wondered how it worked that Jensen could so effectively cut himself off from his own body to such an extent that the rest of the team seemed to know his body better than he did.

By the time Cougar and Pooch returned, Jensen had got floor plans for the building and a basic outline of security measures. It was impressive, but still barely enough to contemplate going in. There was no question in anyone's mind that they would though, regardless of the danger. Not one of them was willing to consider that Alec could be left there.

It took a while before they came up with a plan that they thought might be vaguely workable. They'd had to admit that they couldn't hope to take on Max and get Alec out alive. Jensen's information had shown that security doubled when he was there, and so it seemed wise to plan to keep watch and to take the building on just after he and Wade had departed.

Pooch put forward the suggestion that perhaps they needed to speak to the Transgenics to check they had a medic inside Terminal City who would be prepared in case Alec had been hurt. The others agreed, until Cougar said, "No. It will take time to get him back inside. We need someone out here."

It was true. They needed someone they could get to easily. They had no idea what to expect. Alec could be fine and just being held or he could have been hurt and, if that was the case, they had no idea of the degree of injury he might be carrying. They were wary of getting hopes inside Terminal City up too much, but when Jensen made contact they did admit they had a lead that they were exploring and that, just as a safeguard, they wanted to know if there was someone they could contact outside for medical help.

Max gave him the contact details for Dr Sam Carr and told them to let her know as soon as they were sure of anything.

Clay made the initial contact with Sam Carr, making an appointment to go in to see the doctor in person as if he were a regular patient. He chatted away about this and that with Dr Carr trying to get a feel for the trustworthiness of the man, ignoring the man's repeated attempts to get to the point.

Clay decided the man seemed honorable and so he began to explain the truth behind his visit. Sam Carr nodded his understanding of the situation as he seemed to be considering what might be needed. As Clay finished talking, he asked when they were expecting to take action and where they were hoping to take Alec. He saw Clay's momentary hesitation and jumped in to try and reassure him, "Look, if he's been hurt, you need access to a medic quickly, that's why you're here. Transgenics have tremendous healing capabilities but they do need the right treatment at the right time or things turn bad quickly. You've got no idea whether he's hurt or not, I would say the likelihood is that will be the case. He's been held for too much time with no contact for this to be a hostage situation in which someone was going to demand a ransom. He's not been turned over to either the military or the police as a Transgenic on the loose, so they've got to have some other reason for having him."

Clay could see the logic. Sam Carr continued, "I don't know what you know about what went on in Manticore, but re-indoctrination was not uncommon . . . If the people you're talking about have any connection with the old Manticore, they could be trying to re-indoctrinate him. The damage they knew how to inflict on X5s in particular to control them . . . I'd like to be on standby, available. I don't want you to have to call me and wait for me to get to you, and for it to be too late. . . Alec's being doing a good job at integrating X5s, at liaising with authorities and making progress. He's been in contact with me in attempts to get some sort of medical assistance program for all of the people trapped in Terminal City. He's important to this whole fiasco having any prospect of a peaceful resolution, and the Transgenics finding any sort of acceptance."

Clay understood what the man was saying, but at the same time he was still wary of putting his own men or the mission in jeopardy. Sam Carr sighed, "Okay, look. How about I offer this to you? I'm off work for the next two days. I have no plans, no one is expecting me . . . Kidnap me. I'll go with you now; I'll walk willing to your car with some medical supplies. You can drive me out of here, blindfold me and take me wherever you need to. Then you can keep me there, no contact with anyone and you can bring Alec to me there."

"You'd do that?" Clay sounded surprised.

"If it means he's looked after, and it means the Transgenics have a hope at a real future, yes, I'll do it." Sam didn't look happy about it, but he also didn't give any indication that he was about to change his mind and withdraw the offer.

Clay nodded, "Okay, not quite so extreme. We'll go from here now to wherever you live, get you what you need for a weekend with us. I will ask that you don't have contact with anyone else, but more because I can't risk someone else tracking you, not that I think you're going to give us away. We'll get you whatever you want, whatever you need, but you'll stay with us. You'll come with us; not into where we believe he's being held, but to outside. We're not going to risk your life any more than necessary, but if there's any possibility that he's been hurt as badly as you're implying, we can't waste time getting him even as far as our safe house without getting him help."

Sam Carr nodded, already reaching to pack up what was on his desk. He stood and moved round his office gathering general supplies before going over to a secured locker. He fished a key from his pocket and began to collect a variety of medications from inside before closing and locking the door again. "Okay, I'm done . . ." He reached for a prescription pad from his desk, throwing that into his bag. "Just in case."

Clay stood and headed for the door, "Tell me where we're heading."

Alec shivered. He was burning inside, but he was cold as well. Somewhere in his mind he knew that shouldn't be possible, but he couldn't keep track. There was pain. He hurt. Wherever he contacted the surface below him, it hurt. He tried to think back, thought that maybe he'd agreed to something, something that meant the pain would stop . . . he couldn't have because it hadn't stopped. If they offered again, this time he'd have to say yes . . . he'd have to do what they asked because he couldn't survive this.

Suddenly the door opened and Alec tried to turn to look. Brief memories filtered through of defensive and offensive stances to take, but he didn't have the energy to move far enough for either. "Hello there, 494." There were two sets of feet beside him, one in shiny polished black Oxfords, so clean Alec could almost see his own reflection in them. The other had a pair of practical combat boots, clean but dull, reaching up to mid-calf and tightly laced. Alec vaguely wondered which owner of the feet was speaking to him, but it hurt too much to turn and look.

One of the laced boots lifted from the ground and nudged into his side. He'd watched it, knew it didn't really classify as a kick, yet the pain was intense. He felt himself fall to his side and the pain ratcheted up even further. He moaned out his pain in a choked gasp.

"Well, well, 494 . . . where's the fight gone? Wade, kick him!"

Alec saw one of the combat boots draw back, tried to pull away, to tense his stomach muscles, anything to brace for the impact. The boot connected with his shoulder, throwing his body backward and smashing his head against the wall behind him. Alec felt his vision waver, then felt as his limbs began to tremble, knew in that instant that a seizure was about to hit, but before he could do anything his hair was grabbed, pulling his head to one side, giving his attacker clear access to his neck, and he felt as another shot sunk in, directing hot fire into his whole being. The pain hit just ahead of the seizure taking hold, everything intensifying into a world of flames and excruciating agony. He felt as his breath shortened and the world blackened at the edges, and he prayed for respite but none came as the torment went on and on and on.

Sam Carr sat quietly as the Losers made the last of their preparations. He didn't want to admit to the fear that was crawling inside his belly at the thought of what he'd agreed to and what was about to happen. In truth, the Transgenics and Logan had brought nothing but trouble into his life since the first time Logan had him treat Max. He'd been subjected to raids and interrogations and countless investigations into his practise. He still stuck by his Hippocratic oath and the fact that the Transgenics were human and deserved treatment, decent good quality medical treatment, better than he could offer them, but the reality was that even he might be more than many of them could get.

It didn't take away the fear that while this might be the 'right' thing to do morally, he was way out of his depth, and making the biggest and possibly last mistake of his life. He thought of Alec, thought of the cocky grin, the don't give a damn about anyone but me attitude that he'd had when they first met. That had been an attitude that would have put plenty of people off, but Sam had seen it didn't take much of a scratch to the surface to reveal the reality of the man below, a man who was far less obnoxious, much more caring, and would make tremendous sacrifices for people he thought of as friends. He remembered treating him for something relatively minor, it was something that cared for properly a Transgenic would heal from with ease, but the Transgenics were holed up in Terminal City and were living in filth. Alec hadn't told anyone, had tried to deal with it alone, but when he knew it was too bad to keep trying to manage, Alec had sought him out and asked if there was anything that could be done. That had really brought home just how much he was having to cope with, how Alec had insisted that he not tell Max or Logan about the injury, and when he'd pressed to find out more, Alec had finally admitted it had been treated with what they had available and he didn't want to worry them that in fact it hadn't healed.

It was a sign of what was to come for too many of the Transgenics, he admitted, and so they had begun to work together to devise a plan for getting help and supplies into Terminal City with Clemente to stop more of the Transgenics falling ill. Sam wondered if Max even suspected that Alec had got so far and done so much.

He used those thoughts to bolster his own courage. "Hey man." He looked up, internal thoughts broken as Pooch sat down beside him, a look of concern on his face. "I know this is kind of out of your . . ."

"Comfort zone?" Sam asked, "Way outside . . . Never was one for adventures, but mixing with Transgenics seems to do that to my life. Look, it's my choice, okay? I'm here to help Alec. You guys are here to do your job . Don't worry about me."

"We do . . . worry . . ." As Sam started to interrupt to say he'd keep out of the way, Pooch cut him off and said, "No, we worry because we wouldn't want to put anyone in this position . . . but this could be nasty – way beyond field med training . . . We wouldn't do this by choice but we'll protect you with our lives, that's a promise from all of us." He waved a hand at the two other men in the room at the time. Sam looked across at Jensen and Cougar and saw them nod in agreement.

As Clay came back into the room, the others picked up the final things they needed. "Okay, Losers, let's move out. Dr Carr . . ."