Chapter 3
"Hey."
Logan looked up from his computer and smiled at Original Cindy, who stood in the doorway, ready to bolt if he said the wrong thing. She wore a black shirt and low-riding jeans, boots and carried a backpack.
"Hey, yourself."
"So. I need one of those Kevlar things, too?"
Logan wheeled over to her and wished, not for the millionth time, that he could just stand up and hug someone. Cindy just folded her arms and gave him a small grin. It was enough to give him hope, though. She wouldn�t have come over if she wasn�t serious about helping. Between the two of them, Bling, the informant net and a few hundred miracles, they�d have Max back in no time. He hoped.
"Come on in," Logan said, going into business mode. Cindy followed him into the computer room, and he watched out of the corner of his eye as she took in all of the equipment, including the video camera he�d used half an hour ago to broadcast the latest Eyes Only message.
"You�re Eyes Only," she said accusingly. "Shoulda known."
"Yeah." Logan waited for her to rip him a new one for not telling her, but she took it in stride, rolling her eyes and packing away the rest of her fear.
"�Course my boo had to pick a superhero for her suggah. Makes sense, in a deathwish sort of way."
"I resent that," Logan said, smiling. "Okay, here�s what we know. At dawn this morning�"
"I saw your report," Cindy interrupted. "What else you got?"
"The sector police hired a government group to help with the invasion over the barricade this morning. Nineteen special ops soldiers initiated the attack and are now inside the Sector, keeping order."
"Manticore?"
"Exactly."
"So, Max is in there with all the sickos?"
"Pretty much."
"Hope she doesn�t drink the water," Cindy tried to joke.
"Not funny. Trager�s a monster. It�s not enough that he is trying to murder innocent citizens and make it look like the flu. I think it�s been going on longer than we knew about, and having worse side effects than originally projected. Why else would they barricade themselves in?"
"Thought it was in protest to unfair rationing, military command, some sort of twisted "we demand our rights" sort of dealio."
"No. When word of Trager�s little lab experiment started leaking out, they moved in and forced the residents to barricade themselves in. Trager thought that could contain the disease; it�s not airborne, it�s passed by rats."
"Every building in the city has rats."
"Every building in the city does not have rats genetically engineered to live for one week, transmit disease, and then die."
Logan watched the news register on Original Cindy�s face. She mouthed "Manticore" and he nodded.
"We successfully detonated the human genetics lab last year, but Manticore has small genetics labs in operation all over the US, all working for the government�"
"All evil."
"Not necessarily, and that�s the bitch. Cure for cancer? Manticore. End of alcoholism? Manticore."
"Yeah, and how many human lab rats�no pun intended�did they use for that? Forget it. I don�t wanna know," Cindy said as Logan reached for the answer to her question in one of his filing cabinets. "Just tell me what Max is up against and how we�re gonna get her out. And once we get her out, how are we gonna keep those black helicopter guys from tracking her down?"
*****
From her perch near the top of the ceiling, Max spotted Brin across the way. Brin nodded once and gestured down to the far corner of South Market. Max looked down, her pupils dilating and focusing easily into the unlit area. There was a line of people, all ages and races, some sitting, some standing, all silent and covered with bleeding sores. One by one, they climbed up a makeshift stepladder and climbed into an incinerator. Some of them couldn�t walk and were carried in by guards covered in sterile suits from head to toe. Max watched the flash of fire and waited for the screaming, but the operation was completely silent. She looked backup at Brin, who stuck her tongue out and pantomimed cutting.
Max almost vomited.
She climbed back down and caught up with Brin on their way back to their makeshift headquarters. Brin�s eyes held no trace of suspicion, no accusing "you�re not one of us" looks. She was just as horrified as Max was. They hurried, almost running, desperate to be away from that atrocity and back with their siblings. By the time they reached the building, they were both running hard.
"You being followed?" Perry asked as he ushered them inside and shut the door.
"No, no, just�" Brin panted.
"Burning people in South Market," Max blurted out.
Perry looked shocked, his blue eyes widening. He shook his head and made Max repeat herself.
"Covered with sores," Brin added. "Like the only way to stop whatever it is they got is to burn the bodies. Alive."
"They didn�t all look alive," Max said. Losing her "stand and deliver" stance, she ran to the corner and threw up. It was mostly coffee, which reminded her of the kiosk and the guy behind the counter. He�d mentioned that his daughter was safe, that "they hadn�t gotten to her" or something. What hadn�t gotten to her, the incinerator guys? The "brutes" in South Market? Or something else entirely? Gentle hands pulled her hair up, rubbed her back in small circles, handed her a cloth to wipe her mouth. Max stood up slowly and was surprised to see that Perry, not Brin, was the comforting one. He backed away, as if ashamed of giving into her weakness by coddling her, and looked around.
Their headquarters was nothing more than a dilapidated warehouse, empty of all supplies save one Range Rover which held their gear. The other vehicles waited outside, blending in with the sector police�s trucks and vans. The roof leaked, there were plenty of holes in the walls, and a rat scurried across a dank corner of the room.
"Too many questions," Perry said in a frustrated voice. "I don�t like it. I think we should retreat."
They waited for the rest of the division to return and report, but the news was much the same. Sick people everywhere, buildings covered with rodents and vermin, food rations dangerously low and contaminated. They argued all afternoon, until Perry made a secure phone call to Director Renfro for new orders and came back to the group with a grim face.
"We�re going to have to burn both sectors to the ground," he reported, his voice devoid of the usual gleeful determination. He sat down hard in a chair and put his head in his hands, a posture they�d never seen their C.O. take before. Max stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, pleased to see him acting like a human for a change, instead of a mindless soldier. She respected him for his skills; he reminded her of Zack, in many ways. He�d die for anyone in the group, would go to any length to protect them and complete the mission. Yet Perry knew nothing of the outside world, knew nothing of what it was to love, to hurt, to laugh, to fear. He�d expected to go in, raise a little hell, then leave and go back to Manticore.
Perry covered Max�s hand with his, taking strength from her nearness before raising his head to address the group.
"I don�t know what to do," he admitted. Everyone gasped. Perry laughed and scrubbed one hand over his face, groaning. "Director Renfro says the area is contaminated with a disease spread by rodents. That�s probably why people are getting sick. I bet the police is trying to keep it quiet from the rest of the world by burning the evidence."
"So what are we doing here?" Max wondered. "They don�t need Manticore soldiers for this."
"I wonder if we�re immune," X5382 mused aloud. Finn, Max remembered. That�s Finn. He never had seizures like the rest of us. "Or if we�re not, maybe they want us to become carriers of the disease so they can come up with a vaccine back at Manticore. Kind of risky, though."
"Our orders are to burn both sectors to the ground and return to Manticore immediately," Perry repeated. Then he scoffed, and sounded sarcastic for the first time in his life. "We are not to ask questions."
"I have a question," Max challenged him. "Why does this feel like a coverup?"
"Because it is," came a voice.
The Phoenix Division turned as one to face the intruder who had managed to sneak by their guards and enter headquarters undetected. Everyone drew a weapon on him at the same time, furious with themselves for not noticing someone sneaking in, especially since the intruder was in a wheelchair and had a press pass clipped to his jacket. Max forced herself to keep her Glock 9mm trained on Logan�s chest. To his credit, he didn�t look at her any longer than he looked at Brin, or Perry, or Finn, who stood closest to him.
"Leave now or we�ll shoot," Finn said in a bored voice, his arm steady.
"It is a cover-up," Logan stated calmly, wheeling forward despite the danger. He picked a manila folder off his lap and threw it into the dirt at Perry�s feet. The rubber band holding it together snapped, making everyone jump except Max, who had forced her brain into a semi-meditative state in order to deal with the fact that Logan was only twenty feet away.
Perry picked up the folder and thumbed through the first few pages, then slammed the cover shut and handed the folder to Max. Max was relieved to have an excuse to lower her weapon and clicked the safety back on.
"Who are you and where did you get this?" Perry demanded, crossing his arms. The rest of the X5�s kept their guns pointed steadily at Logan, waiting for an order.
"Uh. Wanna call off your dogs?" Logan said nervously.
"No," Perry said, blue eyes flashing angrily. "Who are you and where did you get this?"
Logan matched him stare for stare, refusing to speak. It was an incredibly stupid and risky thing to do, and he knew it. Still, if he was going to stay alive he�d need their respect, and complying with every command was not the way to win hearts and influence soldiers from Manticore. Perry sighed.
"X5382, keep him in your sights. Everyone else, back off. Let�s hear what this crip has to say."
The sound of sixteen guns being lowered and put away was music to Max�s ears. Finn kept his gun calmly pointed towards Logan�s heart, but one gun was better than a whole division�s worth. She worked really hard to keep a bored look on her face like everyone else, but couldn�t help sneaking a look at Logan. He still wore glasses, but with darker frames instead of the thin silver ones. He was clean-shaven and his hair was a little shorter, but still spiked every which-way. Still a hot boy. He wore a black jacket, olive cargo pants and black boots. Max hoped he�d taken her email seriously and wore a bulletproof jacket underneath his clothes or this was the last time she�d see him alive. If she threw herself into his arms and started kissing him, would Brin get suspicious again? Probably. Damn. Keep your head in the game, Max.
"My name is Logan Cale. I�m a journalist. Sorry to disappoint you, but I can�t reveal my sources. Suffice to say, the information in that folder is legitimate. Manticore sent you on a suicide mission."
"Thanks for the intel," Perry said, and turned to Finn. "Kill him."
