Seattle Street

Krit and Syl,
accompanied by another young man and woman, walked down a crowded
side street in a run-down neighborhood, trying to look as inconspicuous
as possible.

Krit pointed to
a sign that read Chin Wo. �That�s got to be it, Syl. China
Wok. It�s just missing a couple of letters,� he said, keeping
his voice low.

�Yep, let�s go,�
Syl ordered, her tone professional, as the four crossed the street
to the restaurant.

Krit opened the
door and they entered.

It was dark and
musty inside, the air thick with smoke. Krit coughed and squinted
as he adjusted to the smoke-filled room. There were a few empty tables,
but all in all, the place was pretty crowded.

Syl surveyed the
room while Krit read the menu on the wall.

�There he is,�
she reported.

They walked to
the back corner, where Lydecker was sitting at a table, close to the
rear exit. He had a good view of the only two ways in or out of the
building. An empty bowl and a half-finished cup of coffee sat on the
table in front of him.

Lydecker had a
cell phone to his ear, but he motioned for his four guests to approach.
They stood at the table as he finished his phone call.

�I see. Just make
sure you are discreet about it,� Deck spoke into the phone. �I don�t
want you compromising your position. I�ll be expecting your next update
in two hours.�

Lydecker turned
off the phone, setting it on the table, and looked up at the four
of them. �Have a seat,� he offered. �I assume you had no trouble finding
the place.�

As they sat, Krit
looked around. �This place is a dump.�

�The noodles here
are pretty good,� Lydecker replied.

Syl cleared her
throat and rolled her eyes at Krit. �No, we didn�t have trouble finding
it. It took a while longer because we had to be careful. If you didn�t
notice, there are a lot of sector cops out there.�

�I didn�t expect
you�d have trouble with them,� Lydecker stated.

Syl nodded toward
the phone. �Who was that?�

�He�s one of yours,�
came Lydecker�s quick reply. He then added with the smallest hint
of a smirk creeping up on his face, �Actually, one of mine.�

Syl just glared
at him through the smoke.

�X5?� Krit asked,
suddenly interested in the conversation.

�That would be
correct,� Lydecker answered. �He�s handling an assignment for me.
I have him set up to keep an eye on things in Terminal City.�

�You got any more
X5s working on this thing?� Krit pressed.

�That�s a possibility,�
Lydecker replied, his tone making clear he wasn�t going to elaborate
at that point in time on the subject. �I see you finally convinced
these two to join us, now that we�re in Seattle,� he said, pointing
at the two who had yet to say anything since their arrival at the
restaurant.

Syl bristled.
�That�s right. Zane and Jondy. Two more of your little science projects
that got away.�

Lydecker�s eyes
narrowed, but he replied with an eerie sense of satisfaction in his
voice, �And who have now returned.�

�Let�s get one
thing straight right now.� A voice unfamiliar to Lydecker�s ears made
him swivel his head to the right, to see Jondy�s angry blue eyes boring
into him. �We�re here for one reason, and one reason only. To help
Max and everyone holed up against their will in Terminal City!�

A few customers
sitting nearby looked their way, curious about the sudden outburst.

Lydecker shifted
slightly in his chair. �We�d better leave before you attract anymore
unwanted attention,� he remarked dryly. �There�re some rations at
the house if you�re hungry.�

Lydecker placed
some money on the table, and then the five of them left the restaurant
without further incident.

END
OF PROLOGUE

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ACT
I