Chapter 24 – day four
What if, in the escape of '09, Max hadn't escaped with the others? What if Jondy tried to save her when she fell in the ice, but in the end, they both got caught?
…
'13
Portland
Max fiddled with the eggs on her plate. Alec had been standing at the pay phone for 15 minutes, talking to Lydecker. Surely he couldn't have that much to say, could he? They'd gotten the information Lydecker wanted, and would be heading back to Manticore straight away. Finally, Alec hung up the phone and walked back to the table.
"So, what did Lydecker have to say?"
"If we come back today, we'll get our asses kicked from here to the end of the world."
"What?"
"We can't go home yet, Maxie. Don't ask me why, it's just the orders he's given us. Something to do with experience. I really don't know."
"But… what are we meant to do?"
"I asked the same question. He told me that we should take the opportunity to study the way people out here behave. Do some recon. Bring him back some good information, and he'd consider letting us have another mission soon."
"What kind of recon?"
"The kind that is worth something to him. Look, Max, I don't know what goes on in his mind. I just know that I really don't want to be going through punishment again. I get the feeling that what we went through after the escape would look like nothing compared to this."
Max sighed. She remembered those six months all too well. And while she thought that maybe her lot had faced worse than Alecs, having been caught trying to escape after all, the threat of having to go through something like that again was enough to make her very obedient.
"So. What are we going to do then, Alec?"
"How am I supposed to know? We've only been taking classes on outside stuff for a couple of months. None of us thought we'd be out on any missions anytime soon. We don't know enough."
"That's it."
"What?"
"Lydecker. He's testing us. Trying to find out whether we can survive out here without the proper training. See how much we can pick up just be being out here."
"Huh. You're probably right."
"Probably right? Probably? I'm always right, Alec."
"Whatever you say, Max. Let's just… let's just go back to the hotel and figure out what the hell we're going to do for the next 6 days, okay?"
Max nodded, and stood up. As she did so, she saw a face quickly draw away from the window. She quickly moved toward it, but by the time she could get a proper view, the person was gone.
"Max? What is it?"
"I thought I saw something. Someone. Never mind. It was probably just some kid playing a trick."
What Max didn't tell Alec was that the face had looked familiar. Older, but familiar.
…
Manticore
Jondy glanced at the empty bed opposite hers once more, before leaving the room to join the rest of the X-5s. Max had been gone for three days, and the Colonel wouldn't tell them anything about where she and Alec were. She knew it wasn't solitary, because neither had done anything to warrant that. Not to mention that one of the X-4s had come out of solitary only the day before, and had overheard the guard saying that it would be an easy couple of days, now that their only occupant was gone.
Jondy was worried. So were the others in the unit, but none was quite as worried as Jondy. Well, maybe Lucki, who was usually Alec's partner. She and Jondy had been working together over the past three days, and they had been talking about the disappearance of the two a lot.
The day went past slowly. Food, drills, classes, food, more drills, workouts, food, more workouts, and finally time for their own purposes. The majority of the X-5s spent the time in the recreation room, where they were allowed access to a number of books and training videos. Most simply used the time to relax overworked muscles, talk to others or nap.
Jondy curled up in one of the corners with Blak, Trix, Lucki, Sam and Toni. They had come together the night before to try and figure out where Max and Alec where – it was then that Jondy found out they weren't in solitary confinement.
"Do we have any new news?"
"Nothing. Not a single thing. I've listened in to so many conversations today I'm surprised that no one caught me at it."
"I'm surprised you didn't too, Blak. You're getting bigger these days. Harder to miss."
"You're not all that small yourself, Lucki."
"Hush, you two. We need to find things out. The only question is, how?"
"Maybe..."
"Maybe what, Sam?"
"Maybe that doctor who helped Max out with her shakes might know something?"
"I don't know. She's only a doctor, and she's primarily here for the X-6s and X-7s. But... it's worth a try. We could go tonight?"
"That won't work Jondy. One of the things I overheard today is that the X-6s have an overnight drill. There'll be far too many people about. We can't risk it."
"Okay. Then… tomorrow night? We could meet in my room; you all know where it is. About an hour after lights out?"
The others nodded. Blak and Trix got up and moved to the other side of the room, where a competition of some kind was going on. Sam and Toni curled up together and closed their eyes.
Jondy edged closer to Lucki, and tentatively laid her head on Lucki's shoulder. A couple of seconds passed, and Jondy was just about to move away, when Lucki's arm curled around her waist, holding her gently.
"I'm worried, too, Jondy."
Only a few meters away, the back of the chair hiding him from their view, 598 thought over this information. It was time to get even. And maybe convince the Colonel that only he deserved to hold the position of CO.