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Donald Lydecker, lying on a blanket in the rear of the old pickup truck as it made its way to Seattle and Terminal City, peered up at the soldier guarding him. Seated with his back against the truck's bed, knees up and a sawed off shotgun cradled in his lap, the handsome dark blonde young man with exhausted hazel-green eyes -- an X5 for certain -- looked disturbingly familiar.

"Ben," Lydecker breathed.

The X5 rolled his eyes in disgust. "Not that shit again," he muttered. "Guess it's your brain that's scrambled for a change."

Lydecker blinked, his thoughts clearing. "Not Ben," he said, speaking more to himself than to the soldier. "494. The twin." His pale blue eyes brightened. "You were assigned to be her breeding partner by Renfro," he said, his voice rising to be heard above the noise of the truck's engine and the whipping wind. "It was in the data base I took from White." He put up a hand to shield his eyes from the bright lights of a following vehicle, studying the X5 unit more closely -- and then he chuckled.

"What?" the X5 asked. "What are you laughin' at?"

"Your name," Lydecker said. "She picked one for you, didn't she? Max?"

"Alec," the X5 said, looking askance at the dreaded monster of Manticore. "My name's Alec." He didn't deny that Max had given it to him. Lydecker nodded in satisfaction.

"I remember now," the colonel said slowly. "You were on base because you'd just come out of psy-ops. They were checking you to be certain your twin's psychotic tendencies weren't genetic. You got a clean bill of health, as I recall, which cleared you for Renfro's breeding program, even though I'd recommended you be put down. Schizophrenic tendencies or not, you were a failure in the X5 program and she had no business propagating your flawed genes."

Alec, recognizing an insult when he heard one, raised an eyebrow. "Well pardon me and my 'flawed genes' for surviving," he drawled, his lip curling in a sneer and his eyes darkening with hatred.

"I'm serious," Lydecker continued. "We couldn't trust you any more, not after Berrisford. And then the whole mess with your twin ... You're flawed meat, soldier. I had you scheduled for organ harvest. But then Major Renfro decided my services were no longer needed, and when she took over she changed the orders." He chuckled again. "Apparently she thought you'd be a decent stud. But from the looks of things, you failed in that department as well."

"Whatdaya mean?" Alec snapped, his hackles really rising now. He glanced at the truck window. He could see Mole driving, Joshua seated beside him, and decided they probably couldn't hear anything. Good.

Lydecker took a deep painful breath. "I'm talking about Max, of course. She certainly doesn't act like your mate. In fact, it seems to me she's already chosen her man -- Cale."

"Not that it's any of your damn business," Alec said stiffly. "But Max and I are just good friends. She's in love with Logan, and that's fine with me. She's happy."

"Is it now?" Lydecker prodded him. "Don't tell me you're happy that you lost your female to an ordinary."

"I haven't lost anything," Alec replied with a little smile of his own. "You don't know shit. Now shut the fuck up or I'll let Mole shoot you anyway, in spite of what Max wants."

"I might be persuaded to reconsider your status," Lydecker pushed.

Alec gazed out at the passing scenery, deliberately ignoring him.

"New Manticore is a reality, son. I've got a small army of X5's of my own, and more on the way with active recruitment and a renewed breeding program. Considering the scarcity of your kind now, flawed or not, I'd be willing to let you into the fold with all of your rank and privileges restored."

Alec couldn't believe the man was saying this shit. But he had to ask. "Now why would I want to become a slave again? Even if I did believe your generous offer?"

"Because you're a soldier, 494," Lydecker said. "That's what you'll always be. It's the only world you can ever be content in."

Alec laughed out loud. "And once again, you don't know a thing about me, or Max, or any of us," he said. "We're happy with our freedom, Colonel. You're never gonna get any of us back in that prison."

"We'll see," Lydecker said as he turned over on the hard truck bed with an audible groan. "We'll see how you feel when your infatuation with a woman you can never have brings you to your knees. I only hope, for your sake and Max's, that things don't end so badly this time around. You do have such a messy habit of falling in love with your assignments, 494, to the detriment of all concerned -- another reason I ordered your termination."

"Shut the fuck up," Alec said through clenched teeth. "Just shut the fuck up."

Lydecker smiled and closed his eyes. Time was, after all, on his side.

*****

Exhausted as he was, Alec couldn't sleep. Tossing and turning on his mattress, kicking covers off then pulling them up again, he finally lay on his back staring up in the rotting, water stained ceiling, his mind racing.

Max and Logan still hadn't returned to TC -- not that he was worried about them. Afterall, those two certainly had a lot of things to work out now that the virus was gone, and Max seemed inclined to forgive and forget Logan's little deception. Hell, they were probably holed up somewhere nice and comfy doing the deed.

Alec pounded a fist into his pillow and rolled over, his naked body bathed in sweat in spite of the December chill of the unheated room. Now why did I have to go and think about that? However, the mental image of Max and Logan having sex was planted in his mind, and now it was like a scab he wanted to pick or a fingernail to be chewed -- the stuff of bad dreams.

"Alec," Joshua's quiet voice came from out of the dark. "Are you all right?"

His roommate was also trying to get some rest, and Lord knew the big guy needed it after being shot and all.

"Sorry, Josh," Alec said as he sat up and reached for his clothes. I can't sleep. I'm gonna go check on our house guest."

He expected Joshua to lecture him about letting Dix and the others do their job -- guarding Lydecker in the makeshift cell they'd concocted in the basement of one of TC's unused buildings. But the exhausted dog man was already softly snoring again.

Shrugging into his jacket, Alec smiled at the sight of the big guy looking so puppyish in his sleep, somewhat envious of his friend's untroubled slumber -- and then he quietly stepped into the hall.

*****

The second Alec entered the basement corridor that led to Lydecker's cell, he knew something was wrong. Instinctively plastering himself against the cold cement wall, nostrils flared, he listened using every one of his transgenic senses.

The only sound was the drip of water from a leaky pipe somewhere ... the only smells damp, mold, and mildew. Pupils dilating, he strained to see more in the gloom up ahead. There was the glow of a lantern beyond, its light spilling into the hallway from the chamber that housed Lydecker. But still, there was ... something.

"Nice to see you again, brother," a low voice spoke in his ear at the same time the cold hard barrel of a gun pressed into the back of his neck.

For a brief second, Alec considered trying to disarm his attacker. But then he relaxed and slowly put his hands in the air. An ordinary assailant he'd have taken on -- but not one of his own, an X5. (He really didn't want to have his head blown off down here tonight. Information about Max's mother or not, Lydecker wasn't worth dying for.)

"Lane," Alec said, recognizing X5-600's voice. "How'd you boys know we had your chief?"

The feel of the gun barrel pressing into his skin never wavered, but Lane answered amiably enough. "We've been watching you for months," he said. "So nice of you to find our commander for us."

Alec was puzzled. "Why didn't you spring Lydecker yourself?"

He felt Lane's shrug. "We didn't know where he was. It was just luck you and your 'Freak Squad' brought him here where it was an easy retrieval."

"Easy?" Alec said, a cold chill suddenly running through his body as he thought about Dix who'd been guarding the prisoner.

Lane pushed him forward toward the lighted doorway. As they approached, Alec could see someone lying on the floor, either unconscious, or, as was more likely, dead.

"Dix," Alec said, and swallowed hard. The mashed-potato-headed mutant had obviously been taken by surprise too, and was now face down in a pool of his own blood.

"Don't worry," Lane said. "He'll live."

Alec saw now that the cell where Lydecker had been was empty, the make-shift barred door swinging open, the cot with its mussed blankets and pillow showing nothing but the imprint of where a body had lain.

"Lane!" a voice called from the hallway.

Alec recognized Devon, X5-472.

"What do you have?"

"An old unit mate," Lane said sarcastically.

Devon stepped into the room, his eyes raking Alec up and down. "Well, well," he said. "Looks like tonight is going to be even more productive than we'd hoped. Not only do we have our commander back, but we'll be bringing home a long lost sibling as well."

Alec's gut clenched. They were going to take him too -- back to Lydecker's so-called New Manticore. He tensed, getting ready to strike, a bullet in the base of his skull better than a life of slavery.

But then Lane spoke. "No," he said. "494's not part of the mission this time. Our only job is to get the colonel to safety."

"But you know how much the colonel wants him back," Devon argued.

"I said not this time, soldier!" Lane snapped.

"Yes, sir," Devon replied, conceding to his unit leader.

Lane leaned forward then, so close Alec could smell his sweat ... his breath. The X5's words tickled in his ear. "See you later, brother."

And then suddenly Alec's world exploded in a flash of sparks and pain as the butt of the gun crashed into the back of his skull.