Jam
Pony XPress – November 13, 8:00 am

Max
dismounted in front of Jam Pony, paused, then pushed her bike inside
the building. It appeared as if nothing had changed. Messengers were
pouring in and out of the building while Normal sat in his cage shouting
out instructions over the din.

“Bip,
bip…” Normal’s last “bip” was lost as he caught sight of Max standing
in front of him. “Well, if it isn’t the defender of the transgenic free
world.”

“Normal,”
Max answered.

“So…well…what…”

“You
got some work for a skilled professional like myself?” she asked, interrupting
his stammer.

“Uh…well…what
kind of…I mean…with your…”

“Damn,
Normal. You chokin’ on yourself?” Original Cindy asked as she rolled
her bike up to his desk. “You got a run for her or not?”

“Get
a locker, missy. You’ll have to start back at beginning scale on account
of your extended vacation,” Normal replied, seeming to have recovered
himself.

“Sure
thing,” Max replied as she headed toward the row of lockers.

“You
gonna take that from him?” Original Cindy asked as she followed Max.

“Well,
I hate to give up the fifty cents per run, but I am a pretty unemployable
transgenic, so I’ll take what I can get,” Max answered. She reached
for her locker and stopped. “Who the hell is ‘Trudie’?”

“Ah…yeah,
forgot to mention that. She’s new.”

“And
Normal gave her my locker?” Max replied, incredulous.

“Well,
you were hanging out in Terminal City for quite a while…and we got
some new blood around here. So…”

Max
sighed.

“But
there’s an empty one, over here…by me,” Original Cindy offered.

“Where’d
my stuff go?”

“Right
here, sugah. I kept it for you. I knew you’d be back.”

Max
smiled and pulled on her gloves. She closed her locker to find Alec
standing there, smiling.

“So,
all the chickens are coming home to roost,” he teased. “Must’ve had
the same thought I did.”

“The
devil you know is better than the one you don’t?” Max asked.

“Exactly,”
Alec replied. “But is he acting weird with you?”

“I
killed his third bip when I walked in.”

Alec
nodded. “Well, I’m out of here for a bit. Catch you at Crash later?”

“Your
turn to buy,” Max called as Alec headed out on his bike. He paused,
looked back, and waved.

“Yep,
like I never even left,” Max sighed.

Logan’s Apartment, Fogle Towers – 10:00 am

“�the
food that these charities are supposed to get is going to the black
market, where it’s sold at a jacked-up price. Money goes to the people
who stole the trucks at the sector checkpoints and the people who own
the warehouses, and the hungry keep on being hungry. If Eyes Only is
still interested in helping people other than transgenics, then maybe
he could check this out,” said the voice of one of Logan’s informants
on the answering machine.

Logan
had filled three pages of his legal pad with his messages, and he wasn’t
even halfway through them. He replayed the message, listening again
for specific details that might be of use to him when he got around
to researching the problem.

As
he laid his notes down, pausing for a stretch, there was a knock on
the door. “Coming,” Logan called, standing and straightening slowly.

“No
need,” Alec called cheerfully as he let himself in. “Just announcing
my arrival. Didn’t have any bugles handy, so no fanfare. Maybe next
time, though.”

“What
a joy that’ll be,” Logan muttered to himself, sitting again. “So what’s
up?”

“Not
much. Just thought I’d stop by, see how life was going up here in the
Fortress of Solitude. Needed to get away from all that bipping,” Alec
said, jokingly, as he wandered around the living room. “Y’know, I never
really realized how much space you have in here. You could house maybe
four, five soldiers in this room.”

Logan
looked around, and nodded, a bemused expression on his face. “I hadn’t
thought of that. You’re right. At least four, maybe six, though.”

“Starts
to get a little tight at six, but you could still do it.” He walked
over to the desk where Logan was seated, eyes falling on the legal pad.
“Whatcha got there?”

“Notes
for Eyes Only stuff. I’m trying to catch up, but since the siege started
I’ve been pretty busy and this has all been neglected.”

“You
know,” Alec drawled, pulling up a chair and sitting on it, backwards.
“That looks like a lot of work you’ve got piled up there. I could give
you a hand if you wanted�y’know, run errands, break into places. Steal
stuff. I’m good with that kind of thing. You could be the brains, and
I could be the brawns. Or is it just one brawn?” He shrugged. “Whatever.
What do you think?”

“It’s
okay, Alec. It’s taken care of,” Logan informed him, dismissing the
suggestion.

“By
who? I hate to say it, buddy, but face it, you’re not going to be up
for many fact-finding missions in the near future. You need a leg man,
and I’ve always been a leg man.” Alec grinned at his own pun, but his
look quickly turned serious. “C’mon, if there’s anything I’m good for,
this is it. I take direction well, and I’m mobile. I can do this. Seriously.”

“Thanks,
but Max has always been my leg man�person�in the past.”

“Right.
When you used to be in the wheelchair all the time. But now, while you’re
up and about, you don’t really need a leg man, do you? Or at least you
wouldn’t if everything was hunky-dory. You start asking her to do things
you should be able to do for yourself and she’s going to get mighty
suspicious,” Alec warned him. “Think about it, Logan. It’s perfect for
both of us. I get an excuse to go cause a limited amount of mayhem,
and you get more time to work your computer mojo to find stuff out and
rest up for your displays of virility around Max.”

The
other man still looked unconvinced.

“C’mon,
Logan. I want to help. I want to be a good guy and fight the good fight
with you. And protect the downtrodden, and let the meek inherit, or
whatever.” Alec’s eyes widened with a sincerity that reverberated through
his tone of voice. “I want to help.”

A
long moment passed before Logan sighed and nodded. “Okay.”

“Sweet!”
Alec crowed triumphantly, rubbing his hands together with anticipation.
“What do you want to do about this whole black-market food thing? Should
I go bust some heads or something?”

“No,”
Logan replied, shaking his head emphatically. “I can’t really do anything
about it right now. Need to put together some info on the file before
we make any moves.”

“Ahh�And
you can’t put together info without your computers, can you?”

Logan
nodded. “Not really. It’s the best way for me to access public records
– like charitable donations.”

“I’m headed out to Terminal City for a poker game with Mole later tonight,
so I can pick it up then,” Alec said.

“Don’t
bother. I have to go tomorrow anyway.” At Alec’s questioning look, he
added grimly, “Appointment with Aveta.”

“You’re
still on those pain meds, aren’t you? They can really mess you up. I’ve
seen it before…you really shouldn’t drive on that stuff. I’ll go with
you.”

“Thanks,”
Logan said, slightly surprised.

“Hey,
no problem. What are friends for, right?” Alec nodded his head toward
the machine, eager. “What’s next? Got any more bad guys out there for
us to fight? More innocents to protect?”

“I’m
not sure. I haven’t heard it yet,” Logan told him, amused, as he leaned
forward and pressed the ‘play’ button.

“Well,
bring it on.”

“Logan?
This is Buddy. I’m sorry I haven’t called you sooner,” said a thin,
quavering voice, so unlike the robust man that Logan remembered. “I’m
recovering from a stroke. Talking is hard for me now�as you can probably
hear. I’m calling to tell you that Adam’s gone. Disappeared about two
months ago. Haven’t heard from him since. I’ll try you again later.
Be safe.”

Logan
sat back in his chair, surprised, as Alec gave a low whistle. “Damn.
Now that’s a streaming freedom bulletin.”

He
didn’t reply, just sat there, watching his answering machine as it beeped
and the next message began.

“Buddy
again. Wanted to make sure you were all right. Adam’s still gone. We’re
on the lookout. Hope you are too.” The machine clicked, whined, and
beeped again.

“Logan,
please, call me if you get this. Are you all right? Have you seen Adam?
This is Buddy, on the ranch. If you’ve lost my number, it’s 239-555-821-27789.
Call me. I hope you’re okay.”

“Sounds
pretty worried,” Alec observed.

“Yeah,
well, so am I.” Logan pushed back from the desk and stood.

“What
for?”

“Zack’s
programmed to kill me, Alec. That’s why we sent him out there. Sam told
us that once his memory started coming back, everything could play out
like it did last time he was here. He’d think he and Max were together
and I was the enemy, over and over.”

Alec
shrugged. “Yeah, but don’t you think that if the programming had kicked
in again, he’d already be here looking for you?”

“I
was holed up in Terminal City for months, Alec. There was no way for
him to get at me.”

“It
was pretty obvious where you were, and any X5 worth their salt could
have gotten in there and snapped your neck in under ten minutes.”

Logan
turned toward him, a shocked expression on his face. “Ten minutes? Really?”

“Eh,
give or take.” He stopped and considered for a moment. “Yeah. Ten minutes.”

“You’ve
thought about this?”

“No,
no,” Alec assured him. “Just a rough estimate.”

“Right.”

“Logan,
man, trust me. You’re safe. If Zack had left the ranch to come and take
you out, he’d have done it by now. He’s probably nowhere near Seattle.
Hell, if I were him, I would have high-tailed it for Florida by now.
Zack’s probably livin’ the good life on a sandy beach somewhere as far
away from this godforsaken rainy city as he can get.”

“I
hope you’re right,” Logan said, although he sounded less than convinced.

“I
know I am,” Alec said confidently.

Checkpoint between Sector 7 and Sector 5, Seattle – 11:45 am

The
thick gray clouds over Seattle dripped rain down onto the streets, where
it bounced off the cars and a pair of black motorcycles as they pulled
up to a sector checkpoint. The motors purred as they idled in line.

“Passes,”
the guard demanded peremptorily.

“Can
you tell me where Fogle Towers is?” a woman’s voice asked from behind
a dark helmet.

“Follow
this road for about 4 miles, turn left, and it’s the high-rise on the
right. Can’t miss it,” he informed her, handing the passes back.

The
second rider pushed up his visor. “It’ll be on our right?”

“Yes,
sir, on the right,” the guard confirmed.

The
man smiled, steel-blue eyes still cold. “Thanks.”

“Come
on,” the woman called, impatient with the delay. She revved her engine.
“Let’s go, Zack.”

He
closed his helmet, pushing off and gunning it. His taillights blinked
in the mist as he headed down the road alongside his companion, toward
Fogle Towers.

Logan’s Apartment, Fogle Towers – 1:00 pm

“Hey
there, stranger,” Max called, leaning against the doorway and watching
Logan as he wrote on his notepad.

Logan
turned, his eyes bright with welcome. “Hi.” He glanced at her backpack.
“Do I have a package?”

“Not
today,” she told him, walking over. “You know, it’s been so long since
I’ve seen you actually write anything down that I was starting to wonder
if you remembered how.”

“After
I learned to type, I thought it might be useful to learn to write,”
he said, tossing his pen down onto the table. “What’s up?”

“Just
came by to see you.” She ran a hand through his hair, making it stand
on end. “What are you doing?”

“Working
on my handwriting,” he said, smiling up at her.

She
leaned over his shoulder to see his notes. “Doesn’t look like you’ve
made too much progress.”

“It’s
slow going,” Logan replied.

She
smiled at him. “You’re in a good mood.”

Logan
stretched his arms up over his head and smiled back. “It’s good to be
home. I guess I forgot how good it would feel to be in my own place
again.

“Plus,
it’s kind of nice to not be the poster child for everything that’s wrong
outside of Terminal City, let alone having to face the horror of eating
cafeteria food for every meal,” he said, laughing. “What have you been
up to?”

“Work.”
Max made a face. “It’s kind of weird to be back.”

“Weird?
Weird how?”

She
shrugged. “Giving orders is different from taking them.”

He
chuckled. “You’ve made a living out of ignoring Normal’s orders.”

Max
grinned. “Yeah, well, that’s true.”

“So,
how are the people you’ve been giving orders to?”

“Just
your normal stuff. Most of the transgenics who can make it out here
are leaving, but the others are staying. Mole and the like are probably
chomping on stogies as we speak.”

“What’s
Joshua going to do?” he asked.

“He
wants to go back to Sandeman’s,” Max told him with a sigh, sitting down
in the chair next to him.

“You
don’t sound too thrilled by that.”

“I’m
not, really. It seems too risky to me. He’d be safer in Terminal City.
I don’t want to keep him locked in the basement with the freaks or anything,
but�I hate the idea of him being in danger. Sandeman’s house isn’t exactly
in the most transgenic-friendly part of Seattle.”

Logan’s
brow furrowed as he thought for a moment. “Does he want to stay there?
I thought he said Sandeman’s reminded him too much of Annie.”

“Yeah,
well, he wants out of Terminal City bad enough to go there, I guess,
’cause if he’s gonna be out here, he doesn’t have anywhere else to go.
My crib isn’t big enough and�well, I don’t think Alec’d be the best
roommate for Joshua, y’know?”

He
chuckled. “I don’t really think Alec’d be a great roommate for anyone.
Would it be different if someone lived there with Joshua, though?”

She
made a face. “I don’t know�that’s the other thing. He wants Gem and
Elfie to move in with him.”

“Is
she going to?”

“She’s
being kinda evasive about the whole thing, is what I’m hearing.”

“Why?”

“Nobody
really knows. She and Joshua are tight, and I bet it’d be easier if
she had someone around to help with the baby, but she’s being weird
about it.” Max’s beeper started going off. “Damn, it’s work. Normal’s
on my ass again.”

“Giving
orders?” Logan teased.

“Yeah,
well, I have to take ’em. Today, anyway.” She stood and turned to leave.

“Hey,
Max, before you go�there’s something I should tell you,” Logan called.

“What?”
Max said, turning back to him. “What’s going on?”

He
stood. “Today while I was checking my messages, I got a couple from
Buddy, at the ranch. Zack’s missing.”

“Missing?
What do you mean, missing?”

“I
mean, nobody knows where he is,” Logan said mildly.

“Pack
a bag,” Max ordered peremptorily, going over to his phone.

“Hey,
hey, what are you doing?” he asked, intercepting her.

“Calling
Alec. I want him to take you somewhere safe and stay with you until
we get this Zack thing cleared up.” Seeing his surprised expression,
she raised a brow. “You thought I was just gonna let you sit here and
wait for him to swoop in like the angel of death?”

“Max,
he disappeared two months ago,” Logan told her gently, pulling her away
from the phone.

She
crossed her arms, eyeing him critically. “And that means what? You’re
safe or something because he’s had more time to plot? Logan, I know
what Zack’s capable of. He’s gotta helluva head for strategy and he’ll
bust in here when you least expect it–“

“Max.
He’s not Zack anymore, remember?” He shook her hand lightly. “He’s Adam.
Besides, don’t you think that if he wanted me dead, I’d be dead already?”

She
shifted her weight, unconvinced. “I don’t like it.”

“So
what are you going to do? Get Alec to baby-sit me? What if we don’t
ever find Zack again? Should I just live under lock and key for the
rest of my life?” Logan smiled slightly. “I’m not in any real danger,
Max. It’ll be okay.”

“I
don’t want to lose you,” Max told him fiercely. “I don’t like you being
in danger.”

“I
don’t like you being in danger either,” he retorted. “But I learned
a long time ago that I can’t keep you in a glass box.”

“I’m
not trying to keep you in a glass anything, Logan. I’m trying to keep
you safe.”

“I’m
as safe as you are,” he chuckled dryly. “Probably safer, because I’m
not the poster child for transgenics. I’ll look for him. See if I can
find out what happened.” Logan smiled. “It’ll be okay, Max.”

She
pursed her lips and nodded, finally. “Hope you’re right. I’m going to
head out�I’ll catch you later?”

“Of
course,” he reassured her, kissing her lips briefly. He tipped her head
up to face him with a finger below her chin. “Don’t worry about me,
okay?”

“Hard
not to,” Max told him. “I care about you too much.”

Logan
laughed. “Maybe not too much? Maybe just enough?” It earned him a smile.
He ran a hand through her hair, eyes warm. “Give me a call when you
get off work. I might be able to scrounge up something edible and some
wine to go with it. I was thinking you could help me consume it?”

“You’ve
got it.” Max kissed him again. “Gotta blaze.”

Outside Fogle Towers – Several Hours Later

The
tall, glass-walled building loomed over the heads of the two riders
who had pulled up their motorcycles at its foot. The neighboring buildings
reflected off the glass. Zack raised the visor of his helmet and craned
his neck to look at the top of the building. His gaze traced down the
walls, coming to rest on the sign next to the entrance.

“Here
we are,” said Jondy, following his gaze. She took off her helmet and
tucked it under her arm. “Fogle Towers. And it looks like that doorman
just left for his break. Good idea to wait until he was gone.”

Zack
was silent. She turned to look at him, and saw that his lips were pressed
tensely together.

“Zack?”

He
turned to look at her.

“Are
you going to be okay up there?”

“I’ve
had Lydecker’s PSYOPs people messin’ around inside my head for the last
two months. Guess it’s time to see if it was any use.” But he continued
to sit on his bike, and made no move to turn its engine off, or to remove
his helmet.

Jondy
killed her own engine, got off her bike, and fastened her helmet to
the handlebars. Stepping over to Zack, she placed her hand on his shoulder.

Zack
seemed to shudder. Shrugging her hand off his shoulder, he ducked his
head out of his helmet, and slung it on his handlebars as she had done
with hers. Shutting off his engine and pocketing the key, he stood,
squaring his shoulders. Turning to Jondy, he saw her staring at him
through narrowed eyes.

“So,
you want to try the door or the window this time?”

Her
face softened after a moment, and slowly she smiled. “Which one is more
likely to convince Logan that we don’t want to kill him?”

He
grinned. “Let’s go,” he said, and started for the doors of the building.

Logan’s Apartment, Fogle Towers

The
space just inside Logan’s front door was littered with various items
of computer and broadcasting equipment. Alec bent to pick up a computer
tower case, effortlessly raising it to waist level. He turned to bring
it into the computer room.

“Logan!
Where do you want this?”

Logan
peered out from behind the sliding door to see what Alec was holding.
He was also dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, but unlike Alec’s, his
shirt was stained with perspiration. Beads of sweat also glistened on
his forehead and his arms.

“That
goes on the third shelf on the left.”

He
absently pushed his glasses up his nose as they began to slide down,
almost putting out his own eye with the screwdriver he held.

“Man,
don’t you ever sweat?” he said incredulously as Alec walked past him
to put the equipment on the designated shelf.

“Sweat?”
Alec grinned smugly as he came out of the room and went again to the
hallway. “Didn’t you ever study English? Horses sweat. Men perspire.
X5s�have better homeostatic mechanisms than you base models.” He ducked,
and although his back was to Logan, he caught the screwdriver as it
sailed over his head, and, grinning, held it out with a flourish.

Logan
shook his head. “Just put it somewhere. I need a break,” he said, stepping
into the bathroom.

As
Alec bent to pick up a computer monitor, there was a soft click from
the front door. He looked up sharply. His eyes narrowed as the door
swung slowly inward. He lowered the monitor back onto the floor and
assumed a fighting stance.

A
tall woman stepped through the doorway, her blue eyes widening as they
fell upon his face. She started to speak, but didn’t have the chance
to as Alec pounced, twisting her arm behind her and trapping her quickly
with a wrestle hold.

“Who
are you?” he demanded, struggling to hold her as she attempted to break
free of his grasp.

“I’m
looking for Max,” she managed to choke out, his arm still tight around
her neck. “I’m Jondy.”

Alec
loosed his grip slightly, letting her fall forward as he swept her hair
aside with his other hand.

“You
don’t have a barcode.”

“We
got them removed yesterday. Just before we came into town.”

“We?”

Zack
stepped around the open door, his blue eyes meeting Alec’s hazel ones
calmly.

“We,”
he said, expressionlessly. Then his eyes narrowed, and he looked as
if he were trying to recall something. “Ben?”

“Oh
great, not again!” Alec grumbled. “Am I going to be getting this for
the rest of my life?”

“He’s
not Ben,” Jondy said.

“Who
are you, then?” Zack said.

“Like
clockwork, every time.” Alec muttered. “Next we’ll have to go over the
whole twinned vs. cloned thing�My name is Alec. We’ve met.”

“He’s
494,” Jondy said to Zack. “Ben’s twin. Max told me about him…when
we were here before.” She twisted back toward Alec. “Let go of me, please.”

“Ri-ight,”
he said slowly, but he didn’t loosen his grip on her. “Is it just me
or are polite introductions a little out of place at an assassination?”
he quipped, taking stock of the situation and wondering if releasing
Jondy and attacking Zack instead would be a wiser move tactically, or
a stupider one. Zack certainly seemed to pose the greater danger; he
was as tall, but more heavily built than Alec was.

“No
one’s going to get killed here, Alec,” Jondy placated.

“Then
what is Zack doing here, of all places?” Alec demanded. “Don’t you know–?”

“Yeah,
she knows,” Zack told him, glaring. “It’s under control.”

“And
I’m supposed to believe that because�?”

“I’ve
been working with PSYOPs to get rid of that programming.”

“Right.
Good. Hi, I’m Alec,” he said, still not releasing his hold on Jondy.
“Pleased to meet you,” he continued. “I was born yesterday, by the way.”

“Alec,
give him a chance!”

“The
only chance I’m giving you both is to walk out of here now, before
I have to carry you out.”

“What,
so you’re the bodyguard now?” Zack bristled.

“Better
than being the assassin.” Alec laid the sarcasm on thickly, but for
a brief moment, his eyes took on a faraway look, as if he were remembering
something. He blinked, his eyes hardening again, and cocked his head
at Zack. “Don’t you think so?”

“Look
here, I’m okay, all right? I’ve been de-programmed.”

At
that moment, Logan stepped out of the bathroom, squinting at the newcomers
as he wiped his glasses on a face towel�

�And
all hell broke loose…

Zack
launched himself at Logan, bringing the other man to the floor with
a thud. He wrapped his legs around Logan in a stranglehold as he tore
the towel out of Logan’s hands, wrapping it around his neck and literally
starting to strangle him with it. The exoskeleton whirred loudly as
Logan kicked out, trying to free himself from Zack’s grip.

“Logan!”
Alec called out, releasing Jondy and diving for the pair on the floor.

“Zack,
no!” Jondy cried, moving toward them as well.

Alec
and Jondy each grabbed one of Zack’s arms, and together managed to do
what neither of them would have been able to do alone, pulling him off
Logan and keeping him from going after him again.

Logan
crawled quickly across the floor. He retrieved his glasses from under
the table, putting them on as he leaned against the wall to catch his
breath.

“Zack?
Jondy?” he choked out. “What are you doing here?”

Zack
continued to struggle violently as Jondy and Alec held him down on the
floor.

“You’re
a traitor,” Zack said, in a voice that sounded harsh and inhuman, not
like his own voice at all. “Traitors must die.”

“Zack?”
Jondy inquired. He didn’t seem to hear her.

“You
got him?” she asked Alec.

“Yeah,”
Alec answered, readjusting his grip and making sure it was firm. “I
got him.”

Jondy
released her hold and stepped around to kneel in front of Zack. She
took his face between her hands and gazed into his eyes.

“Zack?
X5-599! Look at me,” she said firmly.

His
gaze broke from Logan and turned to her face. As he looked at her, something
in his eyes softened.

“Zack,”
Jondy said, softly. “Do you know who I am?”

“I�”
He looked distressed for a moment, then blinked, and the confusion cleared.

“Jondy,”
he said. “What happened?”

Jondy
released the breath she had been holding, and got to her feet as Zack
looked around, realizing what he had just done.

“I’m
sorry,” Jondy said. “I guess it was a mistake coming here after all.”

“What
brought you here, anyway?” Logan asked.

“Lydecker
found Zack, at that ranch you sent him to. He had his PSYOPs people
working on Zack, trying to get rid of whatever they put into his head
back at Manticore. Zack didn’t trust them.”

“Obviously,
I was right,” Zack snorted.

“We
figured with the concentration of transgenics in Terminal City that
Max had some PSYOPs people here, but we didn’t know where to find her
after the siege. The only thing Zack could remember was the name of
your building. I’m sorry, Logan. He was sure he’d gotten over the assassin
programming.”

“Alec,”
Logan said, watching Zack carefully. “Maybe you should find someplace
for these two to stay.”

“Sure
thing. I’ll take them back to my place, and tell Max what went down.”
Alec slowly released Zack, and got to his feet. Logan nodded his thanks.
Alec collected his jacket and keys from the sofa and followed Jondy
and Zack out of the room.

Logan
waited until the door was closed behind them before he slumped against
the wall, gasping in pain.

 End Act I