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Max looked out over the Terminal City control room below, watching her brothers and sisters -- her people -- as they monitored the various stations, keeping an eye on what was happening throughout the compound. Mole, smoking his trademark cigar, was lounging in a frayed easy chair and talking to Luke, probably complaining to the little bald-headed mutant about how hard it was to acquire decent tobacco recently. Zack, her second in command and Gem's lover -- a recent development that had surprised the hell out of everyone -- wasn't to be seen. He was on an overseas mission for Lydecker. However, beside her (at her elbow really) Dix was bent over a piece of equipment he'd been fixing, and on one of the monitoring screens she could see Joshua over at the Terminal City Artworks Mall working on a painting. It was good that the dog man was feeling inspired again, Max thought. For a long time he hadn't painted anything at all. Not after--

Max shut down that thought, her eyes searching the room for something ... anything ... else to turn her attention to. And then suddenly she saw him -- that lithe strong build, dark blond hair, broad shoulders, dressed in denim and leather ...

Alec!

But then the young man turned around and Max's heart settled back into its normal slow rhythm. It was just that new X5 Lydecker had sent to them a few days ago -- Cyrus she though his name was, 421. He was designed to be an assassin and reconnaissance Unit, just like Alec had been, hence the similar body type. But unlike 494, Cyrus's face (albeit handsome in its own right) was nowhere near as animated and full of personality as Alec's had been, the planes of his cheekbones lower ...coarser ... the brow not as high, and his lips thin, not full and sensuous. And his eyes ... they were small and light brown, not large and filled with sunlight on grass like the ones that haunted her dreams every night.

No, Max thought. There really wasn't much resemblance at all. It had just been wishful thinking.

But she still went into Dix's office, closed the door, and sat down at the monocled mutant's personal computer terminal. Entering a private code, she accessed an uplink and typed: ALEC, ARE YOU THERE? -- the same message she'd sent into the void every day since--

Since you killed him.

Alec was dead. Max had told herself that over and over again for the past year. He'd been caught in the explosion, his body incinerated. She hadn't given him enough time to get out, either that or he hadn't see her message. It was the only reason why he wouldn't be answering her, wasn't it?

Still, she watched the computer screen, waiting until the prompt flashed: NO NEW MESSAGES.

With a heavy sigh, Max exited the program and stood up, wearily brushing strands of long hair out of her eyes and sniffing the impending tears away. Time to return to her men ... her duty ... the life she and the others were now trapped in. Lydecker had a mission for the transgenics tonight, destroying a warehouse down on the dock the Reds were using as an equipment supply house. Adjusting her tight fitting black leather jacket, she unlocked the door and reluctantly re-entered her world.

*****

Max and Mole were leading half a dozen of Lydecker's ordinary soldiers on the raid. They were to take no prisoners, and leave nothing behind. Usually, Max hated killing, but with the Reds she'd make an exception. In her mind, the South African military men were abominations, far moreso than what Manticore had created -- desperate men, criminals, murderers and rapists, forced into medical experimentations because they had no other choice, then turned loose with superpowers to prey on society at the whims of their cold masters.

Of course, the fact the Reds and their handlers wanted to rip apart Manticore X5s and use their unique DNA to further their own Frankenstein experiments didn't endear them to her either.

Mole was watching Max closely in the van as they traveled to their drop-off point. "What are you thinkin' about?" the lizard man finally asked.

Max shrugged. "Nothing ... just remembering the last mission we went on when we were up against Reds."

Mole stared at her, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Oh, we all remember that mission, Max," he said softly, not trying to conceal the bitterness in his voice.

The transhuman had never quite forgiven her for what he saw as abandoning Alec that night -- leaving his buddy and brother to die in that warehouse. But Mole also knew that Alec would have wanted him to take care of the woman he loved, no matter what. Or, at least that's what Max thought motivated Mole to still follow her command. Joshua, too, occasionally looked at her sadly, remembering that awful night when they'd lost Alec, and she knew that, deep down inside, the dog man blamed her for his best friend's death as well.

Shaking her head, she turned away from Mole's vaguely accusing stare and looked out the window. Now wasn't the time to dredge up bad memories and accusations. They had a mission to accomplish -- one they couldn't fail.

*****

The raid went down a little after midnight. There wouldn't be much resistance according to Lydecker's recon report -- a couple of guards on the outside of the warehouse, maybe four more inside, with a standard security system that could easily be circumvented. Once the Red soldiers were out of the way, she and her men would scatter, set charges, and destroy the equipment.

Max took point, with Mole at drag. In between Lydecker's men fanned out, going to their pre-designated stations. It was Mole who shot the first Red soldier, a guard at the side entrance of the warehouse. His 9mm flashed, and the man went down with a bullet dead square in the middle of his forehead. From her position further down the building, Max nodded her thanks. She still refused to use a firearm herself, which in a situation like this was definitely a handicap. But luckily Mole had no such qualms.

The shot alerted the other guard who came racing around the corner, only to be met by Max's flying side kick. Knocked backwards off his feet, the super strong Red quickly bounded upright and charged, grabbing Max in a bear hug and lifting her off her feet.

It was what Max had been counting on, and two seconds later -- just before her spine snapped -- the soldier's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed with her knife blade in his heart.

Inside the building more shots were being fired, and Max hoped Lydecker's men were holding their own. Maybe they should have brought more help along, she thought worriedly as a minute passed and the gunfire escalated instead of abating.

And then suddenly a bright spotlight snapped on pinning her, blinding her -- and she was looking down the barrel of a machine gun held in the hand of a Red soldier who shouldn't have been there.

It was a trap. All along it had been a trap.

Max whirled and ran, but knew she wasn't fast enough to escape a bullet. Any second she'd go down with lead in her back. But I can't die, she thought desperately. I can't die yet, not until--

And then standing directly in front of her were three more Reds, only these were holding shock wands, not guns. It was a trap all right -- a trap for her.

Skidding to a stop, Max bolted back the way she'd come, preferring death to capture. Shots rang out, a barrage of staccato sound that made her want to cover her ears. The X5 braced herself for pain, but instead the enemy soldier in front of her was the one who fell to the ground, mortally wounded. Before she could fully comprehend what was happening, there was another series of shots. Turning wildly, Max saw the three Reds at her back writhing in the dirt, their bodies riddled with bullet holes -- and then the first explosion rocked the warehouse, shaking the ground and nearly knocking her off her feet as vivid flames lit the night.

Mole must have come to the rescue, Max thought as she regained her balance. Looking wildly around, she expected to spot the lizard man.

But instead she saw the lone figure of a man standing silhouetted against the yellow fire. Tall, broad shouldered, he was wearing jeans and a jacket with a hood that shadowed his face. The submachine gun cradled in his arms looked like it belonged there.

X5! Max instantly thought, instinctively recognizing a brother when she saw one. But who? And then suddenly the mysterious stranger raised the gun and pointed it at her. Eyes wide, Max could only stare, not understanding at all. The barrel of the gun spat, and she heard a gasp behind her. Turning around, she was just in time to see another Red soldier collapsing in a heap on the ground, his revved up body useless when a bullet entered his brain.

There was another explosion in the burning warehouse and the fire intensified. Shielding her eyes against the glare, Max turned back just in time to see the man who'd saved her life make a spectacular leap to the top of the chain link fence that surrounded the property, banishing any doubt in her mind that he was, indeed, transgenic. Desperately wanting to know who he was, she zeroed her vision in on his face just as the flames behind her peaked.

"Alec," she breathed, feeling faint as she saw the handsome, unmistakable features of the man she'd loved (and thought she'd lost) a year ago.

He was staring back at her, and for a long second their gazes collided -- then he turned away.

"Alec!" Max cried. "Alec, wait!"

But to her despair X5-494 vaulted over the top of the fence to disappear into the darkness beyond.

*****

"What the hell happened?" Lydecker screamed as the surviving team members dragged themselves into the van at the pick-up point.

"We were ambushed, that's what happened!" Mole spat. "Looks like someone didn't do a very good surveillance job."

"It was a trap," Max said. "The Reds were shopping for an X5. Those guys after me had shock wands."

"Good thing you were able to get away from them," Mole said, as he regarded her suspiciously. "Although how you managed without a gun I can't figure."

"Just lucky I guess," Max said with a shrug.

"I lost five of my best soldiers," Lydecker said, his blue eyes hard and accusing as he ran a hand back through his greying blond hair. Dressed in military fatigues and a bomber jacket, his weathered face still bore traces of his year of incarceration by the Breeding Cult. He'd never fully recovered his health. However, with the might of the U.S. military and The Phoenix Group at his back that didn't stop him from ruling his reluctant X5 kids.

"I can't help it if your intel sucked," Max snarled. "Just be glad you didn't lose a precious X5 as well, not that my life means anything to you."

"You're valuable military property, Max," Lydecker said. "But don't ever think you're not expendable, even with your unique DNA."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean!" she said.

"It means do a better job of it next time, intel or not, or there could be some modifications in our little deal," Lydecker returned. "More X5s are being born every day now, both at the main base and here in your little Seattle conclave. But then you know all about that, don't you Max? Oh, and also don't forget that we've now got a serum made from your blood that can be reproduced in a lab. You're no longer Lady Jesus, Max. You're just one more soldier in my army."

Max sulked in silence until they were back at Terminal City. After a sour debriefing, with questions once again raised about how she'd managed to escape from five Red soldiers all by herself, Max told the others she was beat and going to sleep awhile.

But instead, she headed for Dix's quarters and his computer.

"I need a few minutes alone on your terminal," she told the sleepy mutant when he answered her knock. "Please," Max pleaded. "It's really, really important. Your hard drive is the only one Lydecker's people can't hack into."

"Okay," Dix said, rubbing his good eye with the back of his hand and suppressing a yawn. Pulling the orange terry cloth robe he was wearing more tightly closed, he pointed up to the monitoring station of the control room. "I'll be topside. Holler when I can go back to bed."

"Thanks, Dix," Max said, giving him a hug.

"Don't mention it," her friend replied with a sad smile. "And also don't tell me what you're doing because the last thing I need is Lydecker up my ass."

As soon as Dix was gone Max closed and locked the door of his office. Then she sat down at the keyboard, entered her code, and brought up the satellite link. "ALEC, ARE YOU THERE?" she typed.

The words glowed blue on the screen, blinking as the server sent her message into the void and redistributed it around the globe. Seconds passed, and Max's heart began to pound. Maybe she'd imagined what she thought she'd seen. Maybe it was an hallucination brought on by fatigue and fear. Maybe it was part of the horrible depression she'd been in for the past year, ever since she'd made a deal with the Devil and apparently killed the man she loved. Guilt could do strange things to the mind ...

Suddenly the computer beeped. It was downloading an incoming message -- and then there was a single word glowing red on the screen, a reply at last to her query.

"YES."