Seattle, May 2034

Max rocked Maddie, gently lowering the three-year old into her bed. Zack, at five, had decreed he was old enough to put himself to sleep last month, but Logan was checking on him anyway. *Don*t wanna go to sleep.* Maddie protested. *You have to, honey. Everyone sleeps.* Except me, of course. Max thought. Her daughter crossed her arms. *But I*m not tired.* She never seemed to be. But no little child likes to go to sleep. Max walked out into the hall of the apartment, staring wistfully at the door leading to the room where her tarp covered motorcycle was. She*d ridden it six months, maybe a year ago last. Not too many thirty-year-old mothers of two with jobs as computer systems designers rode Ninja 650s to the grocery store. Yeah, well it*s a small price to pay. Max thought. *Hey. Zack*s complaining about his bedtime again. How was Maddie?* Logan came up behind her. Max leaned against her husband, remembering how he*d gotten out of the damn wheelchair just 6 years ago.

She still hated how he had to use that cane. *She*s complaining too.

*Wer e you like that at five?* He shrugged. *I can*t remember.* Logan . *I*m going to sleep. What are you doing?* *Think I*ll take a spin on my bike. If it hasn*t rusted to the floor by now.* Logan hugged her. *Be careful.*  

 

Max cruised at about twice the speed limit, thanking anyone listening that radar guns were still too precious to be used by the inner-city patrol. She passed her old apartment building, or the remnants. It was torn down. Her friends were as scattered as the building, Kendra in Tahiti or something on a language program, Theo*s wife remarried in Illinois. Cindy she hadn*t seen since Maddie*s second birthday party. Max glanced at her watch. 3:16 A.M. She had time for a trip to the Needle. Max started to climb the elevator cables to get to the top. A dark figure was silhouetted against the sky. *Hey!* she called angrily. *What are you doing here?!* The figure turned. With her vision, she saw blonde hair, green eyes, and a heavy jaw. Scarred, with a more beaten look than she remembered. But unmistakable. *Zack?* she called uncertainly. The face broke into a sad smile. *Max, what the hell have you done? * Max straightened. *What do you mean?*

Zack started to look angry. *Those kids of yours, Max. You*ve continued the project.* 

Zack looked around the apartment. It wasn*t the same one Logan had lived in fifteen years ago, this one was bigger. And it had a much more... giddy air to it. Like the decorating, the expensive stuff, the size didn*t matter as much as the mood of the family that lived in it. Max sat down on the couch across from him, next to Logan. That was one of the first things he*d noticed when Zack had come back to Seattle in search of Max. The family had been in a nearby park, Zack had come across them by chance. He knew the kids had to be Max*s. But the blue eyes he hadn*t connected until he realized who the man Max sat next to on the bench was. The man held reached to hold her hand, the gold from their wedding rings glinting in the sun.

*How long have you been watching us?* Logan asked, snapping Zac k out of his reverie. *About six months. Your kids, how old are they?* *Maddie*s four in May, Zack turned five two months ago.* Zack smiled faintly at Max*s son*s name. *Lydecker must be certain you*ve left Seattle, he was looking for Jondy as soon as he heard she had kids. *

*Why?* Max whispered. *You never thought of it, Max? Genes pass through families. Your kids are Chimera*s. Lydecker knows you*ve been out too long to make decent Manticore, put your kids are near perfect. They*re half human,* he glanced at Logan.*but they*re still impressionable.* *Did he get Jondy*s kids?* Max asked. She*d never found that sister. *No. Jondy tried to run with her sons, but -* Zack swallowed. * Lydecker chased after them, and her car crashed... off a bridge...* Max looked shocked. *But that*s why I let you know I*m alive. He*ll be in Seattle soon.*Seeing they*re confused looks, Zack added *I was stopped at the border, and the police saw my bardcode. They know where I am, and they*ll know where you are.* 

 

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The number of reviews I decides if (and how long it takes) it*s to be continued.

Pleeze send me any suggestion for a title, I hate all the ones I came up with.