Artwork courtesy of Jensen Ackles Museum

DISCLAIMER: All DARK ANGEL characters belong to James Cameron and Charles Eglee (Cameron Eglee Productions) and DARK ANGEL itself belongs to FOX.

ARCHIVE: No

This is a stand-alone story in my DARK ALEC series. These stories are my version of Season 4, and incorporate elements not only of the television show DARK ANGEL, but of the novels SKIN GAME and AFTER THE DARK, the book THE EYES ONLY DOSSIER, and information revealed in various cast/writer/producer interviews, chats, and commentaries. -- author's note

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Jensen Ackles Museum

The friction of flesh inside flesh ... the rhythm of lovemaking ... the feel of his woman beneath him ... surrounding him ...

Alec closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing ... maintaining the heights he'd reached until suddenly--

--she broke, contracting and whimpering and squirming in his arms.

Only then did he let go. Only then did he let himself drown, naked and thrusting -- in Max.

*****

"The garden's doing well," Max said softly in the dark.

Alec tightened his arms, holding her close against his bare chest as she rested her cheek against his shoulder. He could still smell her fluid on himself, and in an animalistic act that prolonged the thrill of their just-finished mating, he touched the tip of his tongue to a middle finger, tasting her yet again.

"Nothin' like fresh produce to raise the soldiers' moral," he replied huskily a heartbeat later, his mind definitely on something other than lettuce and beans. Max's pregnancy had her hormones high, and the scent of her pheromones when they made love was completely overwhelming. It always took him awhile to come down afterwards -- get his thoughts on something other than an incipient hard-on.

But before Alec could assemble another coherent statement about the garden, there was a sound from beyond the curtained barrier of their barracks cubicle -- someone clearing their throat.

"What is it, Mole?" the X5 said loudly, his tone definitely letting the lizard man know he was interrupting more than just sleep.

"Sorry for disturbin' your shag, guys," Mole said, not sounding apologetic at all, "but we just got a real odd message through the back channels that Dix thinks you two should look at.

"What do you mean message?" Max asked as she swung bare legs over the side of the double cot they shared, her toes curling as they hit the cold cement floor.

Alec sighed with resignation, and reached for his jeans.

"It's encrypted," Mole said from the other side of the curtain. "In that code only you X5s are supposed to be able to break."

"Dix can handle that," Alec groused as he pulled on his boots and grabbed his t-shirt from where it was draped over the foot of the bed. "He's known those codes since before I was born -- secret or not."

"Well, yeah," Mole agreed. "But the message's addressed to X5-452 specifically, so he wasn't sure he should read it."

"Now what?" Max complained as she wriggled into a short-sleeved sweatshirt and stood to fasten the elastic waist of her maternity pants.

Alec shrugged as he held out a hand to help her up off the cot. "Dunno," he said. "But at least Mole's timing is pretty good. If he'd been five minutes earlier, I doubt I'd be in this good of a mood."

Max looked approvingly at her mate, eying him up and down. "Same here," she said quietly as she pulled aside the blanket curtain to face the impatiently waiting lizard man. "Let me go to the can," she said. "Then we'll head over to the control room and find out who wants to kill my ass this week."

Alec stood beside Mole while they waited on her, chewing on a finger. "She practically lives in the john," he commented. "Every time I turn around she's gotta go." He shrugged. "'Cause of the baby and all. But I swear, she's only five months. What's it gonna be like when she's eight or nine along? She might as well move into the ladies room then I suppose."

"Just don't plan any long road trips this fall," Mole said, lighting up one of his trademark cigars.

Alec waved the smoke away, his nose wrinkling at the acrid odor. "You know, you won't be able to do that around the baby."

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it." the lizard man grumped.

Max came back looking "relieved," and the three transgenics made their way past the others sleeping in the barracks to head for the control center. Dawn was just breaking on the horizon -- the sun not yet peeking over the surrounding mountain tops, but brightening the harsh pine landscape beyond the perimeter fences in a dim glow that chased away some of the night's shadows.

Dix turned around in his swivel chair when they entered, and Alec briefly wondered when on earth the little mashed-potatoe-headed mutant slept. It seemed that whenever he came into the nerve center of the base, the nomalie and/or his partner, Luke, were at the controls -- in its own way reassuring, but also a bit of a puzzle to him.

"Message came in encrypted about fifteen minutes ago," Dix said, pointing to his monitor screen. "Whoever sent it knows what they're doing. No way could I trace it. I bet they bounced this thing off of at least a dozen server relays before it got to us."

"Logan?" Alec had to wonder as he narrowed his eyes and studied the seemingly random numbers and letters.

"Why bother?" Max said. "He knows where I am, and he knows I know where he is. Hell, he could just send me a post card if he wanted to."

"Can you read it?" Dix asked. "Or do you want me to translate?"

Max studied the text while Alec looked closely over her shoulder. "Can you read it?" she asked 494, a challenge sparkling in dark brown eyes.

"Some of it," Alec said. "My encryption techniques are a bit rusty, but I had to memorize a lot of this shit before I got cleared to do my solo missions."

"It says--" Dix began.

Alec held up his hand, brow furrowing as he concentrated. "No. I got it. Just gimme a minute. It's directions ... coordinates ... and an invitation ... no, an order ... to Max to--" He squinted more closely at the lines near the bottom. "What the hell?" he said softly. "This can't be. It doesn't make sense."

"I see the coordinates," she said tightly. "But I can't decipher the rest. Tell me what it says."

"You're being ordered to go to Egypt," Alec said. "Somewhere in the desert from the looks of the longitude and latitude."

"Who's ordering me?" Max wondered. "Who's it from?"

Luke was looking at Dix, who in turn was staring at Alec -- hard. "You gonna tell her? Or am I?" the genius nomalie said.

"Tell her what?" Mole yelled. "Who the hell is the frickin' message from? I hate all this secret agent shit you X5s go through sometimes."

Alec put his hand on Max's shoulder, and she turned her head to look up into concerned hazel-green eyes. "It's just a single name," he said. "Sandeman." Then he smirked. "Looks like Father's finally tryin' to track down his wayward kids."

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Jensen Ackles Museum

"I'm not going," Max said, beating everyone to the punch. "None of us are. There's too much of a chance it's a trap."

"A trap for what?" Dix wondered.

"Transgenics," she said. "The Breeding Cult has made it pretty clear they still consider us a threat to their world domination plans. They also have to know we've been looking for Sandeman. They undoubtedly figure we'd send our people's best ... our leaders ... if we thought Sandeman was summoning us, including me. Once we get to this--" She gestured at the message. "--God knows where place in Egypt -- boom -- we're dead."

"So," Alec said slowly, "we're not even gonna check it out?

"No. We don't touch it." Max placed hands on hips and glared at her men -- a stance that would have looked more imposing if she hadn't been bulging like an overripe cantaloupe with her second trimester of pregnancy. "We ignore it, and go on arming the base ... fortifying ourselves." Then she turned to Alec, shaking an angry finger in the air. "And don't even think about it," she warned.

Alec held his hands up innocently. "Fine by me," he said. "I don't like the desert anyway. Heat and X5s don't mix too well, especially my breeding line."

"Good," Max said, somewhat mollified. "Then let's all get back to work."

Watching their volatile leader warily, the others in the control room turned back to their stations while Alec, shaking his head, followed in Max's wake as she headed back to their quarters.

"You all right?" he asked as they walked across the parade ground.

"I'm tired," she said. "I'm going to lie down again." She smiled wryly. "Guess I didn't get enough sleep last night because someone was in a certain mood."

"Sorry," Alec said absently, in reality not sorry at all for the night of pleasure they'd both had. "Mind if I go check in with Hampton? We're workin' on some more advanced martial arts training for the older X6s, and a basic class for the transhumans if they wanna take it. He's always in the gym at the crack of dawn and since I'm up anyway ..."

"Go ahead," she said. Then she gave him a wane smile. "I'll see you for lunch?"

"It's a date," Alec said, confirming it with a quick wink.

494 spent the next two hours giving a sparring demonstration and helping Hampton teach some of the more complicated combinations to a group of teenage X6s. Then he grabbed a quick shower and headed for the mess hall, his hair still wet and expecting to find Max already chowing down. However, when he entered the high-ceilinged building and looked around at the tables, she wasn't anywhere to be found.

"You seen Max?" he asked Gem who was busily overseeing several X4s and X3s as they dished out meatloaf and creamed corn to the lunch crowd.

"She hasn't been in yet," Gem said. The X5 glanced down at her 2-year-old daughter, Eve, who was playing on the floor with some cooking utensils. "Usually she comes early and we talk about babies and stuff," she added, "but I haven't seen her today."

"She said she was tired," Alec said. "She's probably still sleeping in the barracks. I'll go get her." He absently scratched his head. "She'll be in a bear of a mood if she misses a meal."

But Max wasn't in their quarters, although the bed was still unmade and rumpled from their earlier lovemaking. Telling himself he was probably being silly, Alec nevertheless checked the desk drawer, and was relieved when he found Max's wallet and passport right where she always left them.

--not that he thought she might have run off to Egypt all by herself, answering Father's summons -- but still ...

After checking the unisex bathroom and showers (and not finding any sign of his wayward mate), Alec headed for the annex building where Joshua worked on his paintings. "Hey, big guy," he said, stepping into the paint fume filled room that served as the artist's studio. "You seen Max this morning?"

"No Max," Joshua said, too absorbed in his work to turn around. "Not today."

Alec's brow furrowed. Then he headed back to the control room. "Any of you boys seen Max lately?" he asked the guys who were manning the surveillance systems.

"Not since she left with you," Dix replied.

Mole -- who was standing in the back of the room puffing rings of smoke into the air from his cigar -- shrugged. "Ain't seen her," he said.

His vague concern turning into faint alarm, Alec moved to the surveillance monitors, rather rudely shoved Luke aside, and began rapidly flipping through the various camera shots of the compound. "Check with the front gate," he said in a clipped tone of voice. "See if she left the base."

Dix made a quick call, then shook his head. "No one in, no one out in the past six hours," he said.

"Where the hell is she?" Alec muttered, transferring the surveillance system from "external" to "internal" which gave him shots inside the mountain. He found Colonel Donald Lydecker in the genetic material vault -- which gave him pause -- but there was still no sign of Max.

"What's the code to access the brig cameras?" he said.

Luke gave it to him, and Alec checked the half dozen cells that were located in the very heart of the mountain. Elizabeth Renfro -- their only prisoner -- was asleep on her cot right where she should be. Recovered from her wounds, the transgenics had kept their former mistress because she was the only living accessible source of information about Sandeman. It would have been just like Max to go down and talk to her nemesis about the message, Alec thought. But the X5 obviously wasn't there now.

The other cells were empty.

"Check long range surveillance," Alec said tightly, his stomach starting to hurt.

Dix called up the satellite images and began scanning backwards. "There!" the little mutant suddenly shouted, pointing a white finger at the screen.

Alec was breathing over his shoulder in a second.

"Do you see it?" Dix asked.

The X5 nodded grimly. "A helicopter," he said. "Landing about two hours ago on the other side of the mountain, out of range of our radar."

"And taking off again an hour later," Dix said, pointing to another series of satellite shots. "Headed south."

Base security was tight -- but not impregnable. Alec chewed on his lower lip, wondering if he was being totally paranoid. Maybe he'd go back to the barracks and find Max sleeping in their bed afterall ... or maybe she was down in the cafeteria right now angry because he'd stood her up for lunch ...

Or maybe ... she'd been on that helicopter.

"You think it's McKinley?" Mole asked, his thoughts obviously tracking the X5's.

"Maybe," Alec said softly. "Or worse."

"What's worse?"

The X5 clenched his jaw. "Sandeman."

"But he just invited her to Egypt?" the lizard man exclaimed. "Why the hell kidnap her just when she got the message?"

Alec shook his head, the picture becoming frighteningly clear. "Because he knew she wasn't going to obey orders."

"How the fuck could he know that?" Mole asked.

Keen hazel-green eyes swept the control room. "Because we've got a traitor in our midst. Someone who heard Max say she wasn't goin', and then tipped Sandeman off. The bastard probably had the helicopter ready and waiting to take off on a moment's notice so he could snatch her if she wouldn't willingly walk into the lion's den."

"You really think she's been kidnapped?" his friend sputtered, the stogie in his mouth drooping to where it clung to his lizard lips only by bits of saliva.

Alec looked at the now-decoded message still visible on one of the screens, shaking his head in the affirmative. "Pack your bags, Mole," he said. "Looks like we're goin' to Egypt whether we want to or not -- just like Max."

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Jensen Ackles Museum

"What's Sandeman's game? And who's your spy?"

The prisoner slowly rolled over on her thinly padded bunk, her one good eye staring malevolently out of the gloom like a Devil's jewel at the piece of meat who'd just addressed her -- the X5. Then burn-scarred lips twisted in a demonic grimace. "You've heard from him at last?" she rasped, her voice as damaged as her face.

"He sent coordinates," Alec said levelly from the other side of the bars. "And an invitation that we decided to turn down. Now -- Max is missing."

Elizabeth Renfro laughed -- a singularly unpleasant sound. "I always told her she couldn't escape her destiny," the mad woman crowed. Holding a blanket close to her emaciated body, she sat up on the bunk to regard the X5 more closely. "You put your seed inside of her, and thought that made her yours. But Sandeman is 452's true owner, and now he's claimed what is rightfully his."

"Max doesn't belong to anyone!" Alec said hotly. "None of us do! We're free citizens of the USA!" He thought about that a second, then added a bit less forcefully, "Who just happen to be public enemy number one at the moment." Then he gripped the bars tightly, leaning forward to emphasize his next words. "What does he want with her?"

"You'll never see her again, you know," she said, "now that he has her. However, take comfort in knowing her sacrifice won't be in vain. She's saving the world ... the human race ... the species who created her but whom she doesn't belong to." The evil woman nodded her head knowingly. "452 ... you ... all of you ... were manufactured to be tools the humans could use in their war against the genetically superior Breeding Cult. Tools ... weapons ... that unfortunately were also given a false sense of self, leading you to believe you're more than you are ... leading you to sadly think you somehow possess sentience and souls like your homo sapien masters."

"What's he going to do with her!" Alec shouted, losing patience with the mad woman's babble. "And who's the traitor here?"

Renfro looked up at him, seemingly shocked. "Why ... Sandeman is going to butcher her ... drain every ounce of blood from her body in order to manufacture his vaccine. And as for a traitor in your midst, there isn't one. Rene simply knows all when it comes to his children."

"The CDC already has blood samples from Max," Alec spat. "You're lying. If it was her blood that could save the world from this plague you say is happening, they would've used it by now."

"Ah," Renfro said knowingly. "But the CDC ... the American scientists ... don't know the true secret of 452's special DNA and blood. They're not using it correctly. Only Sandeman holds that key."

"Why would he kill Max's baby?" Alec had to know. "You said my son -- because I was the father -- was also a carrier of the special DNA. You said he was needed to insure the safety of the next generation. Why would Sandeman kill the miracle child?"

"He won't kill the child," Renfro said easily. "The baby will be born and kept safe. Only then will Rene sacrifice the mother to the greater good, much as I'm sure it will pain the old man to do so."

Alec relaxed a little bit. If what the bitch was saying was true, he still had time to rescue Max. He turned to go.

"Wait!"

Alec's back stiffened.

"I know something that will help her ... you. But I want something in return."

"And that would be--" Alec asked, not turning around.

"Codes," Renfro cackled. "Secret codes that will get you past the Familiar's traps in Egypt. It is Egypt where Sandeman took her, isn't it? He used to talk about the ancient place there ... the cradle of civilization for his people."

"And you would want?" Alec said, still staring straight ahead at the wall.

"Nothing elaborate," Renfro said easily. "A few creature comforts ... amenities ... another pillow and blanket, some books to read, pencil and paper so I can continue my journal, and--"

Something in the weighted silence bothered the young transgenic. Turning around at last, he saw the way she was looking hungrily at him, her good eye roving his body.

"And?"

"It's been a long time since I touched a man," she whispered.

Alec's skin goose-bumped with revulsion. "You said I wasn't a man," he replied softly.

"Close enough," she replied with a thin smile. Then she reached out a scarred claw of a hand toward him. "Let me feel you ... caress that genetically perfect anatomy of yours ... enjoy the taste of you. Strip naked and let me pleasure myself with your manhood for an hour and I'll tell you everything you need to know to rescue your lover."

Barely able to contain his indignant rage at what his insane former "owner" was proposing, Alec clenched his jaw and snarled, "You'll never touch me, bitch. And as for your supposed codes ... You want fucked? Well, then go fuck yourself with 'em."

As he strode up the sloping hallway toward the surface of the base, leaving the horror behind him, Alec shivered in the icy underground air and wrapped his arms around himself, wishing to God Max was here to comfort him ... to take away the dirty feeling Renfro's words had left behind on his skin ...

... wishing to God the insane world of Manticore and Sandeman would just leave him and his family alone.

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Jensen Ackles Museum

Joshua raised his head, sniffing the dry air and looking around with wide eyes at the desert landscap shimmering in the setting sun. Coming down the ramp behind him with backpack slung over one shoulder, Alec gave the dog man a little push. "Keep it movin', big guy. The pilot said his turnaround time was only fifteen minutes."

"Ahhhh," Mole said as he stepped around his brothers, stretching arms wide with delight at the heat. "Now this is a gorgeous climate. None of that cool mountain breeze shit, just good old toasty warmth."

The big military jet keeping its engines warm behind them was a "gift" from Colonel Lydecker -- transportation he'd somehow managed to arrange so that the two transhumans could accompany the X5 to Cairo. Alec had accepted the offer with guarded graciousness -- loathe to be in the Colonel's debt. However, after spending a sleepless night trying to figure out how to smuggle the lizard man and dog man past public airport security -- including imagining ludicrous disguise scenarios -- he hadn't really been all that reluctant to make use of 'Deck's connections.

In the shade of the private air strip's only hangar -- a dilapidated building filled with ankle-deep sand -- Alec held the map he'd brought along open as it flapped in the light breeze, and studied the terrain they'd be crossing. The coordinates in Sandeman's cryptic message had been quite specific -- intersecting at a point in the desert that, according to the map, should be nothing but sand. However, when Dix had brought up the satellite images from that corner of the world,they'd shown a small cluster of mountains surrounding a green area -- an oasis.

"I still say we should have parachuted in closer," Mole complained as he lit up his cigar and squinted into the setting sun.

"It would have been a HALO jump," Alec said, not looking up from the map.

"So?"

The X5 clenched his jaw, and turned a stern eye on his friend. "Remember the last HALO jump I did and the not-so-minor problem I had with hypoxia? X5's have extra big lung capacity, bro -- even bigger than yours. Which -- according to Doc Carr -- apparently means we've got more lung surface to be damaged." The irony of his situation didn't escape him. "I'd most likely drown in my own plasma, dexamethasone shots or not. And besides, Joshua's never parachuted before so who knows how he'd take that kind of altitude."

"Well pardon me if you're too delicate for advanced military maneuvers," Mole snarked. "So now what? Instead of the Middle East Coalition military never knowin' we've tiptoed in their back door we spend two days on foot in plain view in the desert while we take a leisurely hike to Max's rescue?"

"That's about it," Alec conceded.

"And what about the heat?" Mole pressed. "As I recall, high altitude ain't the only thing that takes down you persnickety X5s. Last time you and me were on a desert mission, bro, you had a seizure before the temperature even hit 110."

"I'll be fine," Alec said, fingering the bottle of tryptophan in the inner pocket of his leather flight jacket. "So long as I have my meds, plenty to drink, and some shade now and then."

"And where the fuck do you think you're gonna fine shade out there!" Mole said, gesturing to the white hot sand extending as far as they could see to the east and the shimmering heat waves floating above it.

"I'll be fine," Alec repeated, even as Joshua looked at him worriedly. "We'll all be fine."

Mole threw his hands up in the air and stomped away as the military jet taxied down the runway, departing.

"You got the water?" the X5 asked Joshua, ignoring the disgruntled lizard man because there was nothing more he could really say. Either he'd be all right in the heat -- or he wouldn't. No way to tell until he faced the situation.

The dog man patted the bouquet of canteens slung over his strong shoulders -- a dozen large-size containers they'd filled before boarding the plane. Hopefully, those plus the two canteens each Alec and Mole were carrying,would be enough water to see them and their mounts to the oasis.

A sound made the X5 turn his head, and he saw an Egyptian man in flowing robes approaching leading three horses -- a black Arabian, a sorrel and a grey.

"Camels would be better," Mole commented.

"Too slow," Alec said. "'Sides, camels are really nasty things."

Mole just shook his head, but acquiesced to his leader as the cargo jet took off, banking low once over the airfield before turning and heading west. Joshua, however, was looking with delight at the steeds. But then his face fell. "Don't know how to ride," he said sadly.

"You'll learn," Alec said easily as he walked over to the black gelding and let the animal sniff his hand. The horse immediately pinned its ears back and snorted with suspicion, sensing "cat." Mole, however had already swung easily into the saddle of the grey, the steed prancing a bit under him but not seeming to mind the lizard scent at all. Nor was Joshua's sorrel mare particularly alarmed when the dog man tentatively began patting her on the side of the neck.

With some difficulty, Alec secured his pack and canteens on the saddle of the side-stepping black, then -- without giving the horse time to think about it -- leaped gracefully onto its back in a single smooth move that both of the others secretly envied.

The gelding whinnied in protest, tried to buck, then shied -- but Alec's expert grip on the reins kept his mount under control. "Come on!" he shouted at the others. They needed to cover as much distance as possible in the dark, hopefully finding shade where they could shelter during the worst part of tomorrow's heat.

Awkwardly climbing on board his own horse, Joshua held onto the saddle horn and let the sorrel simply follow her buddy, a look of resigned fear on his face as he concentrated on simply not falling off.

"Be one with the horse, Josh!" Alec yelled when he turned around and saw his friend bouncing alarmingly in the saddle (a phrase the X5 remembered from one of the myriad "Star Trek" videos he'd watched with Max).

"You've seen too many fuckin' movies, Princess!" Mole grinned. Then the lizard man spun his grey once in the sand, and headed after the others, cigar smoke trailing in his wake.

Overhead, brilliant stars shimmered down on the odd trio -- the same stars that shone on Max as she looked helplessly up into the sky from her place of imprisonment.

*****

Photo courtesy of Valjean & Still Frame

"Why am I here?" Max asked the Phalanx Breeding Cult member who was guarding her cage.

She didn't really expect an answer. Afterall, it was the same question she'd been parroting for the past two days -- ever since an inhumanly strong hand had clamped a chloroformed rag over her mouth and nose while she was alone in the barracks at the Gillette Compound. How the enemy had breached all the base defenses was another mystery ... a worrisome one ... Then again, it wasn't the first time a transgenic had been snatched right out from under the noses of those guarding their supposedly secure stronghold.

The body-armored Phalanx soldier rewarded her question with a sneer, then she turned her back once more on the prisoner, taking up a military stance and hefting her weapon -- a recent-issue submachine gun with laser sites -- the same weapon the cult members had carried during the Jam Pony siege two years ago.

Max wiped sweat from her hot brow. Wherever she was, the climate was that of dry heat. Sand skittered in tiny rivulets at her feet across the metal floor of the cage, and her eyes were gritty with it. It didn't take a genius to figure out she was probably in Egypt ... that Sandeman had decided to revoke his polite invitation and kidnap her instead.

"I demand to see Sandeman!" Max tried.

The guard didn't turn around or even move. Her pleas were falling in deaf ears.

Max sighed and sat down again in the corner of her cage. They'd given her water and food at least. Which meant they didn't want her dead, although the heat was getting to her vulnerable X5 physiology. She, personally, had never had to battle in the desert or the jungle like Alec had, so this was the first time she'd ever faced that limitation on her strength.

Knowing she had to stay well for the baby's sake, Max reluctantly relaxed on the blankets that had been provided, drawing knees to her chest and watching the guard. The cage, thankfully, was in deep shadow, sheltered inside what appeared to be a cave of some kind. Breeding cult members passed by occasionally, some heading toward a dimly lit hallway ... others going deeper into the darkness that lay behind her cell ... further inside the cave or structure.

She was getting sleepy, having been awake now for almost 60 hours. Reaching over, she picked up the cup of tepid water and took a sip ... then another ... recognizing the need to replenish fluids. The food had been in the form of ration bars -- military issue just like the weapons -- and she'd forced herself to eat what she'd been given, again for the baby's sake.

There weren't any toilet facilities in the cage ... just a bucket in the corner ...

"Well, well, well," a chillingly familiar voice spoke from the darkness behind her. "And so once more Fate has brought us together, 452. I do believe we're the so-called 'bane' of each other's existence. Wouldn't you agree? Funny how the gods keep toying with us. It almost makes me feel like laughing -- but not quite."

Max stared into the blackness, the cat pupils of her eyes irising open. The figure of a darkly dressed man slowly advanced, emerging from the shadows.

"No," Max whispered, her heart speeding up even as the palms of her hands began to sweat. Shakily, she stood, then backed up to lean against the front of the cell, the bars cool against her ribs as she pressed into them. "You're dead. I saw you die." She shook her head. "What are you? A twin? A clone? His brother?"

"None of the above," the thing that looked like Ames White said as the hated remembered smirk spread over his cruel face.

"Your head was torn off!" Max screamed. "You can't be alive! Even Manticore science couldn't have--" She stopped in mid sentence as the creature before her pulled down the collar of his black cloak, revealing a thick harsh red scar encircling his neck.

Max's world began to spin, even as her knees gave out. The air around her seemed too thick to breathe, and she clutched at the bars.

"You're not gonna faint on me now, are you, 452?" White chuckled. "The transgenic bitch I remember would never succumb to such a weakness." He cocked his head, and raised a finger. "Oh, but that's right! You're carrying 494's bastard in your belly, and pregnancy does have a tendency to weaken."

Max gulped air. It took all of her effort to straighten so she could look this resurrected horror straight in the eye. "I'm fine," she said faintly. "Bring it on."

White laughed out loud at that. "As if you'd be any kind of opposition for me right now," he sneered.

"What do you want with me? Why am I here?" Max tried. "If you'd wanted me dead, we wouldn't be talking."

"Maybe I just want to see you suffer to the fullest before you're miserable animal life is ended," White said, his voice taking on the savage tone Max remembered so well. "Or maybe ... maybe I'm simply waiting for your better half to walk into my trap as well so I can make a clean sweep of things."

"My better half?"

"494." White raised an eyebrow. "Your breeding partner will be rushing to your rescue I presume. He's done it before ... swooping in to save his DNA contaminated damsel in distress. And then, of course, there's his bastard to worry about this time as well -- that half animal thing you're carrying."

Involuntarily, Max clutched her abdomen, the insult to her child ... Alec's child ... hitting home.

"Of course, there's a fairly good chance your knight in shining armor won't even make it across the desert," White continued. "I'm told he and two other of your mutant following are on their way now. But I know X5s have a weakness where heat is concerned, so who can tell if 494 will actually survive? Although ..." He cocked his head to one side again. "I'm truly looking forward to picking up my conversation with 494 where we left off the last time ... in Seattle's County General Hospital. He and I were having such fun when he abruptly decided to leave. A few more minutes and there would have been so much blood ..." White's voice trailed off as he seemed to be recalling a fond memory.

"Alec kicked your ass then, and he'll kick it again," Max spat. "All the way around the world if necessary. Don't forget, he was also part of my army that defeated your so-called superior race when the comet came. Alec will always beat you ... always."

"We'll see about that," White said, taking a long bladed knife out of its sheath at his waist and testing the sharpness with his thumb.

It was a ceremonial dagger of some kind, Max noted -- with intricate runes carved on the ivory hilt ... ancient Minoan ...

"Do you have any idea why we're here?" White asked her suddenly, his re-attached head looking up sharply at her.

"Is that a metaphysical question?"

"I mean why the Breeding Cult has a temple in Egypt," White said harshly, holding his arms wide now to encompass their surroundings. "You're inside the Familiar's sacrificial pyramid, you know ... the place that contains our most secret ancient knowledge."

"And is your father, Sandeman, here as well?" Max had to ask.

White grinned wickedly. "All in due time, my transgenic bitch ... all in due time. But as for the reason you're our guest-- This place is the seat of power for all of my kind -- the well of knowledge that holds both the past of our race, and the future. Deep inside this pyramid, in places only the most sacrosanct of our kind are allowed to access, are secrets that would make the rest of the world fall to its knees if it knew."

"I'm supposed to be impressed?" Max said, crossing arms in front of her chest and with difficulty controlling the trembling in her limbs ... putting on an act of bravado.

"Yes," White said, touching the scar encircling his neck. "You should be impressed, 452. And when he arrives, 494 will be impressed as well."

"What are you talking about?" Max whispered, the horror of her nemesis' words sinking in.

"Oh, don't worry about yourself or your fetus," White assured. "There are more elaborate plans for you than mere death. And when the child is born it will be fed and nurtured as well."

"Your father--" Max began.

"Is an idealist," White said sharply. "He has his uses ..." Once again the reanimated corpse felt the scar on his neck. "But he's also a doddering old fool to think the weak homo sapiens should be allowed to keep this world."

"It's what he created me for," Max tried. "To save humanity. It's what he created all transgenics for."

"I know," White chuckled. "And for the moment I'm humoring him in that whim." He stepped closer to the bars -- but not close enough. "Know this, though, 452. I'm the one who's really in charge here, in spite of what my father is probably going to tell you. I'm the one who holds your life, and the life of your child, in the palm of my hand. I'm the one who's going to take care of your lover if and when he arrives, as well as those other two monstrosities you refer to as 'brothers.'"

He cocked an eyebrow when Max said nothing. "You know," he teased. "If you're a really good girl over the next day or two ... if you cooperate and don't cause trouble ... I just might let you say goodbye to him."

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Jensen Ackles Museum

"You all right, bro?"

Alec, seated Indian-style in the sand, continued staring out over the brightening desert, not wanting Mole to see his tear wet face or the way the events had finally caught up and overwhelmed his cool soldierly emotions. But he couldn't help the involuntary sniff. "Hey," he said huskily in a voice too shaky for his liking and donning a fake smile. "You know me. I'm always all right."

"She's alive, Alec," Mole reassured as cigar smoke wafted through the air between the two comrades. A scaly hand touched the transgenic's shoulder ... rested there ... and the X5 let it stay. "You know don't you," Mole continued, his gruff voice surprisingly soft, "that you're one lucky dude."

Alec glanced back at that. "Lucky how?"

"Lucky because the only woman in the world you want is madly in love with you ... lucky 'cause you've already won her heart. Man, do you know how many guys envy you ... would kill to be you? You've got Max, Alec -- forever. You've found your soul mate."

Alec blinked at that rather unexpected observation from the usually taciturn lizard man. "Since when did you become a romantic?" he had to ask, the tears in his eyes beginning to dry. "And aren't you forgettin' the little part about where I'm an internationally wanted criminal who spent almost my entire life as an enslaved lab rat and who's fucked up DNA will probably kill me before I make it to thirty? Yeah, Mole. Guys everywhere are just dyin' to be like me."

Mole took the stogie out of his mouth, scowled at the tip, then stuck it back between his lips and puffed hard, resuscitating the dying flame. But he wasn't finished. "Since when did your glass become half empty instead of half full, Princess? You've always been the optimist of our little group leavin' the pessimism to me and the far more dour misses."

"Guess I can wear black, too," Alec said, looking back out over the desert sand that was starting to shimmer with the rising sun's rays. He smiled faintly. "In fact, I've been told I look damn good in it."

"Well, wearin' black ain't gonna save Max," Mole said sharply. "Snap out of it, Alec. You're the natural born leader here, and me and Josh need you to be sharp, not ballin' your eyes out."

Self conscious, Alec swiped the back of his hand across his eyes where tears had once again started to form. "I'm scared, Mole," he said, speaking the truth out loud. "I'm scared shitless of the Breeding Cult and what they're probably doin' to Max this very minute. If Renfro's any indication--"

"Renfro's not Sandeman," Mole said quickly. "And dog boy back there," he hooked a thumb in Joshua's direction where the transhuman was watering the horses, "believes that dude is a good guy ... one of the white hats. If Max is with Sandeman, she's safe. All you hafta do is get to her, and he'll probably welcome you with open arms too."

"There's too much we don't understand," Alec said, shaking his head. "Too many secrets and hidden agendas." He looked up at his friend. "We don't even know if Sandeman's really in charge. He could be just a pawn in a larger game, like Lydecker was at Manticore ... like we were. Hell, we've seen it before. All our lives we were brainwashed into believin' we were valuable soldiers bred to protect the United States of America -- elite and special. But in the end we found out we were just a failed experiment, and worse -- our original creation had been by an insane old guy who wanted us to fight some superhuman ancient cult. Agendas within agendas, Mole. It's enough to make anyone's head spin."

Mole shrugged. "Does it really matter why we were made?" he asked. "Isn't the important thing the here and now?" He glanced down at the scales on his hand. "At least you look human," he said with a tinge of sadness creeping into his voice. "You could fit in if you wanted to ... disappear somewhere overseas with Max and live out the rest of your lifespan as a normal couple. Me ..." Lizard slit eyes looked hard into cat-enhanced hazel-green ones. "I got no choice. Either I band together with my own kind ... our kind ... or I get destroyed as a monster by the ordinaries. We need you Alec. Me and Josh and Dix and Luke and the other transhumans, nomalies, and lower X series need our brother and sister X5s and 6s to help us survive in the world." He puffed hard on the cigar, those slit eyes now narrowing. "And you have no idea how hard it is for me to say this, bro -- but if you don't quit this self-pity act of yours and get your X5 ass in gear so you can lead the way you were meant to, then I'm tellin' you right now that you'd better just turn around, abandon Max and the rest of us, and go crawl in a hole somewhere and wait 'til that fucked up DNA you're whinin' about finishes you off -- the same DNA that gives you superhuman abilities that can whip the ass of any Breeding Cult soldier that was ever born and save the lady you love if you want it to."

Alec looked at his friend askance, a bit taken aback by the lizard man's impassioned speech. "You're not gonna slap me now, are you?" he asked with the ghost of a true grin.

"Only if I have to," Mole replied levelly. "Usually you're the one with all the self pride, Alec ... the one who's at home in his skin. Snap out of it."

"I'm 'snapping'," Alec reassured the transhuman. He looked down at his own hand ... flexed the fingers ... studying tendons and muscles he knew were genetically superior to anything an ordinary human possessed. In spite of the medical complications, he really did like his body ... who he was ... In fact, he was proud of it. Manticore had come damn close to accomplishing their "perfect soldier" with the X5s. Damn close ...

And close was far better than nothing ...

"Let's go," Alec said abruptly, scrambling to his feet. "Max'll be peeved if her knight in shinin' armor is late." He flashed Mole one of his usual cocky smirks, the old Alec back in town. "And you know how bitchy the lady gets if she's kept waitin'."

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Jensen Ackles Museum

His existential crisis under control for the moment, Alec led his brothers deeper into the desert, pressing on in the morning heat, heading for the shimmering range of mountains they could now see in the distance.

Although the oasis they were aiming for didn't show on any topographical maps, satellite photos had revealed there was, indeed, an area of green deep within a surrounding wall of rock somewhere back of those peaks -- a hidden grotto that the Breeding Cult had apparently been able to keep secret from the prying eyes of modern technology for thousands of years.

Alec's mount -- the black Arabian gelding -- had finally settled down beneath its "cattish" rider, the heat as much as familiarity with the X5's scent minimizing it's skittish prancing. Joshua, for his part, had become fast friends with his mare, while Mole did nothing but complain about his aching nether regions and the saddle sores chafing the inside of his legs.

However, due to their choice of transportation -- horses instead of camels -- as well as X5 heat sensitivity, they were forced to seek shelter late in the morning, their steeds beginning to wobble and Alec's head starting to spin with the rising temperature (110 degrees in the shade a mecca for the DAC lizard man, but incredibly uncomfortable for Joshua, and perhaps downright deadly for Alec).

They made camp beside some rock outcroppings, watered and tethered the horses in the shade of the boulders, and settled in to wait until sundown when they could complete their journey to the mountains.

Irked by the delay, but resigned to it, Alec downed a double dose of tryptophan, stripped to his sweat-soaked t-shirt and jeans, then stretched out on the blanket he'd spread in the shade, intending to sleep as ordered by Mole. However, he'd no more than put his head down when Joshua's big form blotted out the sun.

"Settle down, big guy," Alec admonished his companion as he pillowed his head on his forearm. "I'm thinkin' it's not just us delicate X5s who need to get outta the heat, but dog boys too." He glanced out at Mole who was contentedly sitting in the sun with his back against a rock, keeping watch and -- as always -- smoking a cigar. They were lucky to have Mole along, he realized. No one and nothing would sneak past the wary DAC who was obviously in his element.

Joshua lay his length on another blanket beside his friend, the two transgenics close but leaving space between themselves to minimize the heat. Facing that snout, Alec wrinkled his nose at the dog breath, but didn't turn away. Instead, he looked steadily into a pair of guileless blue eyes.

"You really think Father is on our side?" he asked. "That he won't hurt Max?"

The blink of doubt the X5 had been half expecting didn't come. Instead, Joshua returned his gaze without flinching. "Father is a good guy," the dog man said, repeating what had become his mantra. "Father will help all of us. We're his children."

Alec focused on the medallion Joshua still wore around his neck -- the oddly shaped stone on a shoelace that bore what looked like an upside down caduceus symbol -- and hoped to God his pal was right.

"Don't worry, Alec," Joshua said softly. "We'll find Max, and everything will be all right. This is just part of our story ... part of what's meant to be ... part of who we are."

"Before you go any more 'Yoda' on me, I've got a request," Alec said abruptly. "If I die, you'll look after them -- Max and my son -- right?" He honestly didn't know where that had come from -- but it had suddenly seemed like the thing to ask.

Joshua's big brow crinkled with worry. "You won't die, Alec," he said. "I won't let you die. I'll protect you, too."

Brief humorous thoughts of a huge hairy guardian angel flashed through Alec's mind, and he smiled. "You do that, Josh," he said softly, reaching out and patting his transgenic brother on the arm. "You do that."

*****

Photo courtesy of Still Frame

"I knew you'd come back."

Max's eyes snapped open. She'd been trying to sleep, curled up on the blanket in the corner as sweat dried on her skin, her body's vain attempt to cool itself in the Sahara climate. Hours had passed since the resurrected Ames White had been here to taunt her, and waiting for her own rescue (which she knew was underway) had been eating at her nerves to the point of exhaustion -- none of which was good for the baby.

The scraggly, dark haired, scarecrow of a man peering at her with slightly bulging eyes as he stood wringing his hands on the other side of the bars was someone she recognized -- C.J. -- Sandeman's other son and White's brother.

"You saved my life," C.J. said bluntly. "Back at the asylum. You got me out before everything exploded. Why?"

Max sat up straighter, then shrugged. "Just seemed like the right thing to do at the time," she said honestly. "You weren't one of the bad guys."

The gaunt young man giggled. "Maybe not," he pointed out. "But I'm related to them."

"We can't help who our relatives are," Max replied calmly, wanting to take full advantage of this unexpected resource. "Where's your father?"

C.J. looked away.

"He's here, isn't he? Somewhere in this cave?"

"It's not a cave," C.J. said. "It's a pyramid." Then he quickly clamped a hand over his own mouth, apparently fearing he'd said too much.

"A pyramid?" Max repeated, an eyebrow creeping up again as she feigned ignorance. "You mean I'm the Breeding Cult's ancient temple or something?

"Something ..." the odd young man agreed. "You're here for a purpose ... Dad's purpose ... and Ames' purpose ..." He glanced back into the darkness, as if afraid of being overheard. But there weren't even any guards around right now -- a fact Max found odd. "Ames wants him too," C.J. whispered. "Almost as much as he wants you."

"Him?" Max said, although she had a terrible feeling who White's brother was talking about.

"Your lover," C.J. giggled. "And I don't mean that old guy in the glasses. Ames wants X5-494 ... that stud who fought with you in Terminal City ... the one who was your breeding partner back at Manticore ... the one Renfro paired you off with. Ames says 494 is more special than he first thought ... that he'll do."

"What do you mean he'll do?" Max said, her heart speeding up. "Do for what?"

"Why, the sacrifice of course," C.J. said innocently, spreading hands wide. "Ames can't use you because you're meant for all of the cult to feed on. You'll be kept alive indefinitely. But 494 ... he's the one Ames wants for the full moon ritual tomorrow night when the gods demand an animal sacrifice. Plus," he added, "Ames wants you to watch someone you love die, probably because of that whole bad thing that happened with his son."

"That wasn't my fault!" Max said loudly, getting to her feet. "Your own people killed Ray and his aunt."

"Ames still blames you," C.J. said. "And he's gonna take it out on 494." The scrawny young man tilted his head to one side. "Wasn't he the one with the dark blond hair and green eyes? The one who came into Dad's lab with you and said 'Ames White and his Familiars' sounded like a rock band?"

"Yes," Max said. "That's Alec."

C.J. giggled again. "Ames says they'll reach the base of the mountain by midnight tonight. He wonders, though, if they'll be able to get through the defenses without the key."

"What key?"

Again the shrugged shoulders. "They won't tell me that," C.J. said. "They don't trust me, or at least Ames doesn't."

"But your brother wants Alec for this sacrifice thing," Max pointed out. "If Alec can't get into the stronghold, they won't be able to use him."

"Ames says that if the transgenic can't figure out a way in, then he's not worthy of being the sacrifice afterall," C.J. replied patiently, as if Max should already know this. "In which case, they'll just send Phalanx soldiers to kill them in the desert."

Max was getting desperate. Stepping forward, she grasped the bars. "Warn him, C.J.," she pleaded. "Please. Warn Alec so he doesn't walk into a trap."

"No," C.J. said, shaking his head and backing up. "No. No. No. Ames wouldn't like that at all and then he'd-- He'd hurt me like he did before. Even Father couldn't protect me."

"Isn't your father in charge?" Max asked quickly.

"Not exactly," C.J. replied in that enigmatic way he had. He turned to go.

"C.J.!" Max shouted. "How is your brother even alive? Tell me that much at least. How did your Father bring him back to life? Or is it not really Ames afterall?"

"Shhh," C.J. implored, holding a finger to his lips and looking fearfully around. "We can't talk about that. It's forbidden."

"But how?" Max pleaded.

Once again, those dark eyes shifted as if looking for invisible watchers. Then, stepping a little bit closer to the bars, in a low voice White's brother said, "Magic. Dad used the magic book." And before Max could ask any more questions -- knowing he'd said too much -- he fled.

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Jensen Ackles Museum

Alec knew he was in trouble even before they started out on the evening's trek. Damn my X5 metabolism, he silently thought as he saddled the black with visibly shaking hands. He'd tried to stay as cool as possible during the day ... to rest ... but thoughts of Max in danger had kept him from true sleep and now he was suffering the consequences -- that altered state caused by sleep deprivation as well as his brain essentially frying in its own juices due to the desert heat and his own too high basal body temperature.

Mole's hand on top of his made him still. "Lemme do that," the gruff tobacco-scented voice said close to his ear.

Alec closed his eyes, started to refuse the offer, then with a heavy sigh nodded. His lizard friend handed him a canteen.

"The horses need this," the X5 said.

"Not as much as you do," Mole shot back. "Come on, shit-for-brains. You and I both know you're close to the edge. If you wanna be of any use at all to Max, you've gotta get your temp down and stay hydrated. You already taken your meds?"

Alec nodded. "Another double dose."

Mole looked toward the mountain range on the horizon. "We got maybe eight hours of travel," he said. "With luck, we'll make it by midnight which ought to give us time to do some recon. I'm bettin' the way in ain't gonna be easy -- no welcome mat at the door so to speak."

"Renfro talked about codes to circumvent traps," Alec said, remembering that slimy conversation with his former Manticore mistress.

Mole took the cigar out of his mouth and gaped. "Now you tell me this! There are frickin' booby traps? And you don't have the codes? Why the fuck didn't you get that info outta the bitch?"

"'Cause the price was too high," Alec said honestly. "And I've never had the stomach for torture."

"What price?"

Alec looked at the lizard man with hard green-gold eyes.

"Oh," Mole said, his anger deflating a tad. "But if it was for Max's sake couldn't you have--?"

"No!" Alec said harshly as a wave of nausea washed over him. He leaned heavily against the horse, taking slow deep breaths.

"Fair enough," Mole said quietly. Then he grinned a toothy grin. "And it's not as if our little commando squad has a reputation for doin' things the easy way, is it?"

"Not now, not ever," Alec said with a ghost of his usual smirk. Then with effort, he grabbed hold of the reins and saddle horn and swung a leg over the back of his horse. "Let's move," he said, tapping heels against the steed's flanks and heading off at a gallop toward the mountain range that was plainly visible to his night sight.

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean

He'd been standing there ... staring at her ... for almost an hour, not moving or saying anything, just studying her as if she were a puzzling specimen of some kind.

"Why don't you simply kill me?" Max finally asked, needing to break the silence for fear it would drive her mad.

"Because I'm not done with you," White said, an evil satisfied smile curving those thin cruel lips because she'd been the first to give in and speak.

"You wanted me dead before," Max said, "back in Seattle."

"True," Ames replied, crossing hands behind his back and strolling along the front of her cage. "But that was before I found out just what my traitor of a father had done to you. Now ... you have value to my people as well as to the humans."

"What value?"

"Your blood carries the cure factor to the plague that we've tried to instill in our offspring for thousands of generations," he said. "Your blood will not only save humans, but Familiars as well." His eyes flicked over her in an insolent way. "Our scientists tell us the pathogen is mutating ... that our own people could be in danger from it ... even with our immunity. Your blood, however, contains the DNA sequences that will overcome that."

"Just call me Lady Jesus," Max said bitterly.

"You'll be kept alive for a very long time," White added. "A living breathing blood bank for our people. And then it will be your bastard's turn to service our needs." Evil eyes met her own. "But first, I'm going to put your lover to use."

"What use?" Max had to ask, fear for Alec making her heart speed up in a way fear for herself never could.

White shook his head ... teasing. "You'll find out soon enough, bitch," he said quietly. "Let's just say that X5-494 is just about perfect for the role he's going to play in my people's triumphant rise to power."

"Perfect how?" Max shouted after White's retreating back, thinking about C.J.'s ominous talk of a sacrifice. But of course he didn't answer.

"He wants his semen."

Max whirled at the sound of the unfamiliar voice to see a wizened white-haired man standing half-hidden in the shadows of the far wall of the cavernous room. How long he'd been there she didn't know -- but chances were, she realized, he'd heard her conversation with White.

Dressed in an old fashioned, frayed, expensively tailored tuxedo complete with bow tie and shiny patent leather shoes -- an odd choice of clothing for the Sahara desert in Max's opinion -- Rene Sandeman's craggy face crinkled in a smile as watery blue eyes took in her own disheveled appearance with apparent delight. His visage might be unfamiliar to her, but the cane the geneticist leaned heavily on was something she'd seen before -- its "Manticore" shaped knob identical to the one left behind in the Seattle house he'd abandoned all those years ago.

"Father," Max whispered.

"My child," he replied, the words reverent, almost worshipful. "I've been waiting years for you to come to me. And now -- at last -- we're reunited."

Max moved to the bars ... clutched them with her hands. "What did you do to me?"

"I made you perfection."

She closed her eyes and leaned heavily against the cold metal. "You mean you created me to die."

"No. I created you so humanity could survive."

Max opened her eyes, studying the man who'd given her life ... given them all life ... "What about Alec?" she asked. "X5-494, she clarified, realizing Sandeman might not recognize the name. I know what you want with me, but what do you people want with him?"

"I already told you," Sandeman said matter-of-factly. "His seed is needed to fertilize your eggs so your lineage can continue into the future."

"Your son wants to kill him," Max pointed out the obvious.

"And he will," Father said flatly. "Ames always gets his way. But not before he harvests what he needs ... what our people need ... from the boy."

"You created Alec too?" Max wondered. "On purpose ... to be my mate? Or was it originally supposed to have been Ben ... 493?"

"No," Sandeman said, smiling and shaking his head. "You were the only one deliberately altered on a genetic level to serve as a vessel for humanities' immunological needs. I wasn't thinking beyond the current generation when manipulating your chromosomes. The fact that 493 and 494 -- and perhaps a select few other X5 males -- could procreate with you and allow those special traits to be passed on was happenstance, albeit a happy one."

He raised his eyes to her, his features growing grim. "However, between Elizabeth's misguided attempt to cover up our research by incinerating Manticore, and Ames' rabid vendetta against your kind, there are precious few fertile X5 males left in the world. The chances of finding another one who would be your genetic counterpart are very slim, hence 494's current value to the futures of both my people and humans. There were only about three hundred X5s created to begin with, my child, with perhaps half a dozen capable of successfully breeding with you. You do the math, little one. The fact you chose to mate with one of those special males --- chose him as your protector and kept him at your side so he survived the cleansing of your kind -- is fortuitous almost beyond belief, and a chance not to be wasted."

"So you're saying there was a Divine reason I kept saving the idiot's ass over and over again?" Max said wryly. "Makes one think there really might be such a thing as Fate." Then she realized something. "You're the one who sent the videotape, aren't you? The tape that showed Alec being killed in that alley, but gave us time to save him?"

Sandeman nodded.

"You can see the future, then?" Max asked, clutching at the bars again. If true, there were other questions she wanted to ask, even though she was terrified of what the answers might be.

"My people have access to ancient knowledge that allows us to look through windows into futures that are likely to come to pass," Sandeman said. "But the future is fluid ... always in motion as a popular science fiction movie once put it. I saw that 494 was going to die in several scenarios. Sometimes there isn't time to intervene, but in this case I was seeing quite far ahead and knew I might be able to do something about it. Therefore, I had the tape delivered to you in hopes you'd be able to steer our time line in a direction that allowed the male to survive."

"Why?" Max asked. "I was already pregnant. Alec had already done his so-called duty to humanity ... insured my special lineage would continue."

Sandeman looked away, and a thrill of icy terror shot down Max's spine. "Because you're not done with him, right?"

"Perhaps not," the old man admitted, still not looking at her. "There's his semen that needs to be kept viable for future fertilization of your eggs, and--" He suddenly stopped talking.

"And what?" Max demanded.

"There's a prophecy that Ames believes 494 is destined to fulfill."

"What God damn prophecy?" Max shouted. "I know my part in your sick genetic game, but what's Alec got to do with it? Is he some kind of Messiah too?"

"In a way, yes," Sandeman admitted. He sighed heavily, and leaned harder on the cane, suddenly looking far less spry ... exhausted in fact ... "There's something I'll give him when the time comes," he muttered. "Something for the pain. It will make it easier for him ..."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Max yelled. "What are you lunatics going to do to Alec, besides rape him I mean?"

"It's better if you don't know, my child," her "Father" said, shaking his head sadly. "Just tell yourself that it's his destiny ... and know that he'll be serving the greater good of a powerful people."

Max continued shouting questions, but the old man left without answering any more. Afterwards, she curled up on the blanket in the corner of the cage and thought as hard as she could about Alec -- hoping against hope that somehow her mind could reach her lover and warn him to flee.

Not that it would do any good,. Alec was on his way to rescue his family -- a mission that, if she knew him at all, nothing and no one could deter the stubborn X5 from.

Just like her, X5-494 was on a head-on collision course with Destiny.

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Jensen Ackles Museum

"Well this is great! Just great!" Frustrated beyond cool headed thinking, Alec smacked the stone cliff that was barring their way hard with his fist -- a stupid act that did nothing except send a bolt of pain up his arm. "Ow! he yelled, dancing back and shaking his bruised hand in the air while Joshua regarded him with sheepish sympathy.

"Don't you guys have any suggestions?" the X5 groused at his companions while holding his hand to his mouth and nursing the wound.

Mole looked up at the sheer cliff face rising to impossible heights into the sky and shrugged. "Three choices," he said, talking around the stub of his cigar. "Go over, go around, or go back."

"Since Manticore didn't give any of us wings," Alec said sarcastically, "and we didn't bring climbing gear, I don't think 'up' is an option." With a heavy sigh, he looked to the east -- down the long expanse of bright yellow rock to where it curved in the distance. "There has to be a way in," he said. "Maybe on the other side?"

"Which is how many miles around?" Mole said. "Twenty? Thirty? We're almost out of water, Alec. These horses are gonna start droppin'' dead in another day at the most, not to mention you and dog boy bein' in a world of hurt. Me ... I could go another three, maybe four days in this heat, but then I'll be in trouble too."

"I'll share my water," Joshua sniffed, holding his half full canteen out to Alec. "No seizures."

"Thanks for the offer, big guy," Alec said, calming down and genuinely touched by his canine companion's concern for his well being. "But I'm fine." However, he knew all too well that his own canteen was nearly empty. Mole was right. They had to find a way into the oasis on the other side of this cliff or they were all going to die except for the DAC soldier.

"So what is it?" Mole pressed. "Do we take a chance and head east? West? Hope there's a way in on another side? Or do we start back?"

"We're not goin' back," Alec said quickly. "Not without Max." He eyed the other two and added more softly, "At least I'm not goin' back. You guys can do what you want. I've got no right to make you stay and maybe die of thirst. This is my mission, not yours."

"Like hell it's just your mission, shit-for-brains," Mole snapped. "Max may be your main squeeze, but she's our leader. Just cause you're sleepin' with her and sired her kid doesn't give you exclusive dibs on the heroic rescue department."

"Oh really?" Alec said. "How about on the 'gettin' my ass killed for her' department?"

The lizard man took the cigar out of his mouth -- the unusual act indicating just how serious he considered this conversation. "She's risked her life for us before," he said levelly. Then the DAC glanced at Joshua who nodded. "Now, it's our turn to risk ours for her."

"Great," Alec said, a sarcastic grin curving his full lips. "So, I guess that means we all stand here and croak from thirst."

"How about this?" Mole said. "I'll do some recon ... see what's around the bend to the east. You two stay here in the shade of the cliff with the horses and keep lookin' for a way in. Those coordinates led us right here ... to this very spot ... so it seems there ought to at least be a clue, right? Too bad our cell phones don't work out here, but I'll try'n be back in two hours tops."

Alec nodded his agreement, and watched as the lizard man, sparing his horse, set out on foot through the sand along the base of the rock wall. Then he turned to the dog man. "You got any ideas?"

Joshua shrugged. "No ideas."

"Maybe we should have sky-dived in afterall," Alec muttered, brushing sand off the cold hard surface of the rock and pressing on it as if somehow he could make an entrance appear through sheer willpower. "Open sesame," he tried, only half joking. But then suddenly he felt something beneath the tips of his fingers.

Dropping to his knees in the sand, the X5 brushed more grit out of a crack in the stone -- a small slit of an opening that had smooth edges.

"What is it, Alec?" Joshua asked, stooping and peering over his friend's shoulder.

"I dunno," Alec grunted, examining the indentation. Just then a ray of sunlight breached the top of the cliff, penetrating the shadows, and shone directly on the wall revealing what hadn't been visible before -- marks in a shade slightly deeper than the natural sandstone. They looked to the X5 like the symbols that had appeared on Max's skin foretelling the comet and the plague. "X marks the spot," Alec breathed with a glance up at Joshua. "Now, if we only knew what they said ..."

"This is a door, Alec." The dog man pointed to the small slot. "That's a key hole."

"Yeah, but where's the key?" the X5 wondered. Running fingers back through his sweat damp hair to get it out of his eyes, Alec tried to think this through. "Renfro said she could give me secret codes," he said, "that would allow me safe passage. But she never mentioned a key of any kind. What would fit in that slot that--"

He blinked -- and stared at the medallion hanging around Joshua's neck.

The dog man looked down, not understanding what the X5 was looking at. Then, he too saw what was now obvious.

"Gimme that," Alec said, rising to his feet and quickly lifting the shoestring necklace off his friend. Holding the dark grey medallion carefully, he gently inserted the it into the slot -- a perfect fit.

However, he and Joshua waited a full 30 seconds in anticipatory silence -- but nothing happened. "Now what?" Alec said as he brushed grains of sand off his forehead with the back of his hand, his momentary feeling of triumph dashed.

And then he heard it -- a faint rumbling sound coming from within the cliff wall. A moment later, while he and Joshua watched in awe, a vertical crack appeared bisecting the cliff face to a height of nearly 10 feet, revealing doors that had been so well camouflaged even their transgenic senses had been fooled. Creaking with age ... sounding as if they hadn't opened in centuries ... the two rock panels slowly slid back to reveal a narrow fissure in the rock leading deep into the cliff. Just in time, Alec thought to snatch the medallion out of the keyhole before the moving stone surface took it beyond his reach. Then, looping the shoestring around his own neck, the X5 gestured to his companion. "Let's go."

Joshua was looking over his shoulder, to the east. "Mole--"

"Will figure out what happened and follow," Alec said easily. "Now that the front door's open it'll be obvious where we went." He glanced back at the dog man again, one eyebrow arched. "You comin'?"

"But Alec-- I don't think--"

"Comin' or not?" the X5 said a bit more harshly, wanting to find Max. Besides, his head was really beginning to hurt --between the heat, thirst, and his high metabolism -- and he was anxious to reach water.

With one last worried look back toward where Mole had disappeared, Joshua reluctantly nodded and followed.

However, they hadn't traveled a hundred feet down that narrow passageway before a sound behind them made the two transgenics turn -- only to see those rock doors sliding closed. If he blurred, Alec knew, he could still escape back to the outside -- or maybe there was another keyhole.

But escape wasn't the plan -- not yet anyway.

Still, the X5 muttered "Shit" under his breath as he watched a puff of dust waft into the air when the stone panels came together with a chilling thud that sounded far too much like a tomb being sealed. Raising his eyes to the slit of blue sky visible high overhead, he consoled himself that at least he was a lot closer to Max now, even though Mole was essentially lost to them. "Let's go, Josh," he ordered the dog man who was also staring at the vanished entrance. "The only way out now is through, and Max is waitin' for us."

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Jensen Ackles Museum

"He's coming for you. But then you knew he would -- and your doggy friend is with him."

Max raised her eyes to the dead man standing outside the cage.

"He'll kill you--" She stopped, realizing the absurdity of what she'd just said.

Ames White regarded her slyly. "Been there, done that, as the saying goes, 452." He clasped hands behind his back and began to stroll in front of her, just out of reach. "No," he continued. "This time I'm not the one who's going to die. But then I think you already know that." Teeth flashed in a creepy smile. "He's about an hour away. Of course, he could still get himself killed at the bridge crossing, in which case ..." A shrug. "We'll have to find another X5 stud for you to procreate with. But I'm betting 494 won't let a little thing like a booby-trapped archway stop him from reaching his lady love."

Max's mind was reeling. Alec truly was almost here, and Joshua was with him. If only "Father" would help them -- but the old man seemed locked into a destiny that was already set on a fixed course ... a course that required the man she loved to be sacrificed for the Breeding Cult's twisted cause, as well as herself and her baby.

"Let him live," she said suddenly. "Let Alec live and I'll cooperate with you ... do whatever you want. I won't cause any trouble."

"You can cause all the trouble you want, 452," White said easily. "I don't care. There's still nothing you can do to prevent what's going to happen, to either yourself or 494."

"Will you let me see him at least?" she tried.

White seemed to be thinking that over. Then, he nodded. "I'm willing to let the two of you say goodbye, if only because it will make his death so much more painful for you to watch."

"How magnanimous of you," Max said dryly. "But then again, you don't have him yet. Do you? Ever heard the expression 'don't count your chickens before they're hatched'?"

"Oh, I'll have him," White said softly, in a way that turned Max's stomach. "I'll have him, and -- if you're a good girl -- I might even let you watch."

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Jensen Ackles Museum

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Alec said, quickly putting his arm out in front of Joshua. Wiping sweat out of his eyes with the back of his hand, the X5 breathed deeply and studied the narrow stone trestle that arched over the deep chasm barring their way. Over 200 feet below, a river rushed, it's roar magnified by the steep cliff walls -- a tributary of the Nile that probably didn't even have a name. "This is too easy ... way too easy," he said. "We haven't even seen so much as a guard for the past five miles."

"You think it's a trap?" Joshua asked, sniffing the air around them as if hoping to catch wind of treachery.

"I'm thinkin' old Renfro mentioned needing codes for a reason," the X5 replied. Looking ahead along the seemingly natural pathway, he saw that the stones formed a definite pattern which continued over the entire 150 foot expanse of the ancient bridge. In the distance, on the other side of the ravine, the jungle they'd been traversing for the past two hours continued to the far end of the encircling oasis where sandstone cliffs once again rose into the air. However, about a half mile up ahead, those green depths were broken by a crumbling yellow pyramid that pierced the foliage and reached for the sky like a giant mushroom.

Alec was no archaeologist, but for some reason the lines of that stone structure didn't quite look Egyptian to him. A trickle of sweat trailed between his shoulder blades, and he wriggled in his leather jacket. Then suddenly a wave of dizziness swept over him.

"Alec!" Joshua cried out, seeing his friend stagger and reaching out a strong hand to grab hold of the X5's arm.

"I'm all right," Alec groused, shifting his feet to regain his balance and bringing a hand to his forehead. "I'm just hot," he added as he shed the jacket and tied it around his waist. A faint smile touched his lips as he realized the double meaning of what he'd just said, not that he felt particularly sexy at the moment -- but it would have made Max grin. "And we need to get across this bridge."

Reaching down, he picked up a large rock and tossed it onto the arch where it hit with a thud before rolling off the side and plummeting to the river below, the sound of its splash lost in the roaring echo of the turbulent water.

"It seems to be solid, Alec," Joshua said.

Ignoring the nausea rising in his throat and the faint tremors racing through his limbs, Alec glanced down at the ancient necklace he was still wearing, studying the symbol. This had been the key to the wall. Perhaps it was also the key to something here? However, for the life of him he didn't see how it could help this time.

"There's something wrong with this picture, big guy," he said. "But I don't know what, and I don't know how to fix it. So--" He firmly put a boot on the first stone of the arching bridge, tested his weight on it, then gingerly stepped forward with his other foot. "Stay there!" he said sharply to Joshua, holding a hand out in warning but not looking back. "Wait until I'm across."

"But Alec--"

"No buts!" the X5 shot back. "If I don't make it, at least this way one of us will still be alive to rescue Max."

Without realizing he was doing it, Alec wrapped his hand around the medallion hanging from his neck, squeezing the symbol as if it would somehow impart secret knowledge to him -- knowledge that would get him safely across this bridge.

However -- so far -- nothing untoward had happened, and he was almost halfway across. Ordinaries would have found the dizzying height and lack of side rails disconcerting, but Alec's genetically enhanced sense of balance and cat DNA made the narrow pathway no more frightening than walking a curb. However, his heart was just starting to calm down to a normal beat when he heard the sound -- a faint scraping of rock against rock barely discernible above the roar of the water below.

"Josh!" he called out.

The X5 stopped -- standing frozen at the apex of the arch -- clutching the medallion so tightly his fingers were starting to cramp. It might be his imagination, but he would swear he felt the stones shaking slightly beneath his feet.

"Alec!" Joshua shouted. "Come back!"

Halfway there ... he was halfway there ...

Alec looked longingly at the jungle and pyramid on the other side of the chasm, judging the distance -- but little puffs of dust were rising from the stones up ahead and he knew the bridge was about to collapse. Still, he might make it ...

But if he didn't ... if the bridge fell ...

In a split second, the X5 made his decision. Blurring, he hurled himself toward the far side.

A human ... an ordinary ... would never have made it. But the bridge's builder's hadn't intended their trap to ensnare a preternatural creature like a transgenic. Half a second before the keystone at the bridge's arch dislodged to hurl into the chasm below, Alec's feet hit the dirt. Whirling around, he was just in time to see the entire structure hang momentarily suspended in the air before collapsing in a strangely graceful way into the deep ravine, the individual stones falling like gigantic raindrops.

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Jensen Ackles Museum

Raising his eyes, he looked with despair back at his companion standing forlorn on the other side.

"What now, Alec?" Joshua wailed, his voice echoing against the sharp rocks of the cliff face.

"Find a way back out, and find Mole!" Alec yelled, telescoping his vision in on his friend's worried face. "He'll be searchin' for us anyway! I'll get Max! We'll meet you guys on the outside if we can!"

"But Alec--!"

"Get movin', Josh! You can't help me any more now!"

Reluctantly, the dog man nodded, but this expression told Alec the big guy wasn't happy at all about this turn of events.

--and neither was he. He was all alone now, without water or food and facing God knew how many of the super human Breeding Cult members up ahead. Not exactly the odds a soldier liked, Alec thought. Patting the pocket of his jacket, he took out his medicine bottle and poured half a dozen tryptophan tablets into the palm of his shaking hand, studied the pills a moment, then downed them, forcing himself to swallow them dry.

The meds would hopefully help stave off the seizures he knew were building in the flawed synapsis of his brain -- but not forever ... not in this heat ... not without water. Sooner or later he was going to have a grand mal episode -- undoubtedly at a most inopportune moment. He'd fall to the ground unconscious and twitching and -- unless he got some major medical help as in a shot of phenobarbital -- he'd continue to seize until his overwrought nervous system collapsed and he lapsed into a coma. After that, it would be a matter of only hours before he died.

He'd seen it happen before -- to brother X5s on field missions when Manticore had been too late to help. He knew his fate unless he got to a cool place with lots of water.

494 raised his eyes, saw the pyramid looming less than half a mile away, and wondered if he'd at least get to see Max one last time before his life was over.

Because -- although he'd never been one for prescience -- he had an overwhelming feeling that X5-494 wasn't going to survive this mission.

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Jensen Ackles Museum

"We found him unconscious on the trail in the jungle," a voice echoed in Alec's head.

He could feel cool earth beneath his back -- the ache in his spine telling him he'd probably been dropped or thrown down. The last thing he remembered was a sharp pattern of lightening bolts playing behind the retina of his eyes, and the pounding pain of a migraine as his muscles constricted in the agony of a full blown seizure. He'd only meant to lie down for a minute or two ... to rest briefly until the episode passed ...

"Well, well, well," another voice said -- one that was hauntingly "familiar." "Look what 'cat' got dragged in." A chilling hand touched the side of Alec's beard stubbled cheek, and he flinched away.

"Open your eyes, 494!" that impossible voice barked. "We've played this game before, you and I. I know you're awake. Or do you want me to close them forever without you ever seeing your bitch again?"

Alec blinked, and turned to stare up into a hateful face from his past, the pupils of his eyes dilating as disbelief jousted with fear. "Am I already dead?" he whispered hoarsely, unable to reach any other conclusion considering the evidence. "Am I in hell?"

Ames White laughed out loud at that, his fingers tightening on Alec's chin and cheekbone. "You wish, 494," he said softly, giving the young transgenic's head a shake. "Because if you were in hell that would mean your miserable existence of a life was finally over. However, as things stand, your pain on this earth is just about to begin."

Alec took a shuddering breath and jerked his head away from that possessive hand. They hadn't tied him up -- yet -- but he was in a cage of some sort. Bracing himself on the dirt, he willed his muscles to move, but could only manage to half raise himself up before collapsing back to the ground with a frustrated groan, his perfectly built body betraying him.

"Don't bother," White said. "You're weak as the proverbial kitten. Apparently your own flawed physiology has made my job all the easier. Why Dad didn't realize just how debilitating those seizures would become in his so-called 'children' I'll never understand, but they certainly do work to my advantage now."

Ames brought his face to within inches of Alec's, cruel dark eyes overpowering hazel-green ones ... paralyzing ... "You wonder how I could possibly be alive, don't you?"

Gritting his teeth, unable to look away from that terrifying gaze, Alec found himself nodding even as he tried to swallow the dryness in his mouth. He did wonder ...

White fingered the florid red scar encircling his neck. "Let's just say there are powers in this universe beyond your animal comprehension and leave it at that," the cult member said softly.

Once again, Alec willed his limbs to move -- and once again they failed him.

White saw -- and smiled chillingly. Then, finally, he turned away, releasing his prey. "Put him in her cage," he ordered someone behind him. "But watch them closely to make sure she doesn't kill him."

Alec didn't understand. Were they talking about Max? Why would she do that? But then he remembered Ben ... how Max had killed his twin brother rather than let him be tortured by Manticore ... and suddenly he understood all too well.

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Jensen Ackles Museum

Max's heart stopped beating when she saw them drag him into the chamber, then began pounding out of control. Stumbling ... trying to struggle but obviously too weak ... the Breeding Cult soldiers pushed Alec across the dirt floor, opened the door of her cage, and shoved him into her arms.

Max caught him ... cradling him in her arms as they both sank to the floor, stroking his hair ... breathing in his scent ... basking in his presence as she hugged him tightly. She'd truly never expected to see Alec again, at least not alive. But then White had said he wanted her to be with her mate one last time -- to magnify the torment when she finally lost him for good.

The young X5 male was breathing hard ... trembling ... and the smooth, sweat-slick skin of his forearm felt icy to her touch.

"Alec," Max said frantically, not caring who overheard. "What's wrong? What did they do to you?"

"Nothin'," the X5 mumbled as he tried to focus his eyes. Then came a faint ghost of 494's cocky grin. "I'm here to rescue you," he slurred.

Max couldn't help it. She smiled too -- Alec's humor, as always, shining through for her.

He licked cracked lips. "Josh and Mole .... had to leave 'em behind."

Max didn't ask why. Now wasn't the time. Instead she cradled Alec's head in her lap, caressing his beard stubbled cheek with her hand. "What's wrong with you?" she repeated.

His fingers reached up and rested on her swollen belly. The baby chose that moment to kick, and she felt Alec relax knowing his son was still safe.

"We're fine," Max reassured him. "We're both fine. But White's alive somehow, and Sandeman's here. C.J. too ... This is some kind of ancient temple for the Breeding Cult and they want me and mine as their sacrifice. Now, tell me why you're shaking." Although by now she'd pretty much guessed what Alec's problem was.

"Too much heat," he rasped. "High metabolism ... no water ... tryptophan isn't workin' ..."

Tryptophan!

Max grabbed the cup of water the guards had given her an hour or so before, and held it to Alec's lips. He drank thirstily ... so much so she had to take the liquid away. "More in a minute," she reassured, stroking dark blond hair back from his brow when he made a small plaintive sound in the back of his throat, comforting him ... "You'll cool down soon, and with water the tryptophan you've already taken should stop the seizures."

A huge spasm raced through his body at that very moment, and Alec arched his neck back in her arms, closing his eyes with the pain.

Desperate ... knowing Alec badly needed more meds ... Max looked through the bars of her cage to the impassive Cult guard standing watch by the cave door. "Get Sandeman!" she demanded. "Get him down here now, or else 494's going to die!"

Her plea seemed to be ignored, but several minutes later the soft voice of an old man came from behind her. "I'm sorry," Sandeman said. "I'm sorry I created you with such fatal flaws ..."

"It's not fatal!" Max snapped. "Or at least it doesn't have to be! Give him his meds and he'll recover!"

With a small shrug, "Father" took a bottle of pills out of his shirt pocket, studied them a moment, then tossed them through the bars at the same time saying, "You're not doing him any favors, you know."

Max caught the container deftly, and quickly opened the top. She recognized it as the bottle Alec always carried. Inside were maybe a dozen tryptophan pills -- not enough -- but better than nothing. However, when she looked down at her mate he was lying still with his eyes closed ... unconscious.

"Alec!" Max frantically called his name, shaking his shoulders. Desperate, she slapped his face once ... twice ... and at last got the barest of responses -- a small moan.

Pouring half a dozen tryptophan tablets into her hand, Max shoved them between his lips before he slipped away from her again -- but he wouldn't (or couldn't) swallow the dry pills.

"Alec," she said in a low urgent voice, speaking directly into his ear. "You have to take these. If you don't, you're going to die. And if you die, your son and I will die too. You've got to be the hero, ass hole. Please ... be the hero and swallow the fucking pills!"

His head lolled back again as a tremor raced through his limbs. He hadn't even heard her.

It occurred to Max she perhaps ought to leave Alec alone ... let him die. She knew damn well what White had in store for her lover -- and it wasn't pretty. This was a way out for Alec, just as death had been a way out for Ben. All she had to do was sit here and hold him, doing nothing, until his own flawed brain chemistry shut down his nervous system completely. Then he'd be free ...

But one of Max's many shortcomings was her selfishness. She didn't want to go through this alone. She wanted her man ... she wanted Alec ...

Scooping the tryptophan pills out of Alec's mouth, she shoved them between her own lips, and chewed. A tiny sip of the remaining water liquefied them. Then, she leaned down, clamped her mouth over her lover's, and spit the half-digested fluid down his throat.

Alec struggled in her arms. trying to turn his head away, but she wouldn't let him, instead stroking his throat with her fingers, urging him to swallow -- which at last he did, with one large satisfying gulp followed by a coughing sputter.

"You'll get better now," she whispered, her voice husky with tears as she pulled him close, rocking them both. But her eyes hardened as she added, "And then together we're gonna kick some Familiar ass."

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Still Frame

"What do you want to do with the boy?" the old man asked his son. "Why all the games? He's convenient, but not vital to our master plan, so why put him through the torture?"

"What I want is for 494 to suffer," Ames White said. "Immensely -- preferably while 452 is forced to watch. I want that bitch to hear her animal lover scream for a long, long time before it all ends." The agitated Breeding Cult member began to pace the long book-filled chamber. Its floors covered with ancient oriental rugs and its walls curtained with hand-woven tapestries bearing depictions of his people's sordid history, the room -- located deep within the pyramid -- was a repository for all the knowledge of the Cult. And right in the middle of the chamber -- on a raised dais ensconced beneath a luminous beam of prismed sunlight -- was the crown jewel of the Familiars' collection.

Rene Sandeman rested his hand on that book now, touching its time-worn, yellowing pages and its black leather bound cover with gold embossed ancient Minoan symbols. "I didn't bring you back to this world to be a sadistic murderer," the old man said softly to his arisen-from-the-dead son. "I brought you back to help our people -- and theirs -- to survive together in this world. The girl must stay with us. She was born to serve. But the boy is of a different blood."

"He's her genetic mate!" White spat. "He's the only transgenic sperm donor we have access to that can serve our future purpose."

"Then let him be with her," Sandeman implored. "Let the two be together. I'll explain things to them. They'll cooperate -- eventually. You don't have to butcher him ... to take it from him by force."

"She killed your grandson!" White shouted. "She killed Ray!"

"No!" his father said, shaking his head in denial. "452 tried to save Ray! It was our own who betrayed us, Ames ... our own brethren. Ray died due to an inner political power struggle. It's happened before, many times, over the eons our Cult has existed, and I imagine it will happen again. We're a people of great pride, dedication, and wisdom -- but we're also a people of great greed and egomania. You can't blame the transgenic female for our own shortcomings!"

"Oh, yes I can," White sneered. "452 was the bane of my existence before my death, and nothing has changed now. I understand why she has to live -- and she will, in misery. But he doesn't. And, like it or not, I'm the one in charge here, Father, because that's what you brought me back for -- to lead."

White turned to one of the Phalanx soldiers guarding the door of the inner sanctum. "Prepare the animal for harvest," he ordered.

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Jensen Ackles Museum

Sometimes you just had to listen to your heart beat, because that sound was the only way you knew you were still alive.

Alec knew the drill. He'd been here before -- once -- this place of utter hopelessness where death seemed inviting rather than something to be feared. He remembered lying in a cell in the basement of Manticore, concentrating on the slow, steady rhythm of his own heart so he didn't have to think about Rachel and what he'd done to her. It was the only way he'd been able to stay sane back then ... the only way he was going to stay sane now.

His vision and head clear at last ... the tryptophan doing its job ... the young transgenic stared at the flat grey surface of the rock altar they'd chained him to. Spreadeagle, the bonds encircling wrists and ankles of forged steel and stronger than he, he lay quietly with the stone cold against his bare back and buttocks, not wanting to give his captors the pleasure of seeing his fear and humiliation.

Ames White's putrid visage entered Alec's line of sight, but he refused to turn his head ... to look at his tormentor. Instead, he held Max's eyes with his own as she clutched at the bars of her cage on the other side of the room ... silently telling her he loved her ... silently willing her to be strong ...

"You have something I need, 494," White said, his tone of voice oddly amiable considering the circumstances, "before I send you to hell."

The touch of icy fingers brought a small sound to Alec's throat, but with great effort he managed not to flinch.

White smiled serenely -- a man enjoying himself. "The sooner you give it up, the sooner I'll end it for you, animal," he said in a low voice, the fingers now causing pain.

Alec closed his eyes, jaw clenching as he tried to transport his mind to anywhere but here.

"What's the matter, 494?" White wondered, his other hand now stroking his transgenic captive's flanks. "Certainly you've given it up for far more than just her. A hot young stud like you? Concentrate. Give me your seed so her lineage can continue, and I'll make your death quick and painless. Fight me, and I'll have you anyway, only it will take hours ... Personally, I prefer the latter. You and I will have a lot of fun, 494 .... together. In fact, your bitch can watch the show. Would that turn you on? To have her watch ...?"

Alec spat in White's face.

Just as he had once before, the Familiar swept the saliva from his cheek, only this time instead of hurling it back at Alec, he gently wiped the liquid over the X5's taut bare belly, massaging it into the skin in a hideous caricature of sensuality.

Goose bumps sprang up on his flesh, and Alec's mouth went dry. This had to end -- soon. He wasn't going to let this happen. He wasn't going to let Ames White rape him.

However, the cultist didn't give a shit what the helpless X5 thought. Grasping his captive's chin in a brutal grip, clamping down with cruel fingers, Ames gave the boy's head a firm shake and nailed him with his eyes like a snake mesmerizing its prey. Which is when the dagger began slicing slowly through flesh and muscle, gliding along the biceps of Alec's left arm. Then, before he could even gasp at the pain, cold lips clamped down on 494's mouth in a horrible sadistic kiss that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with domination, suffocating any sound he might have made.

Alec arched his back, bucking on the altar and pulling against the chains in a frantic attempt to escape, the tendons of his neck and limbs cording as he fought. He felt as if the life was being sucked out of his body by the inhuman creature on top of him him -- a suffocating supernatural sensation worse even than the degradation of what had come before. White was feeding on him ... like a vampire ... only it was his life's essence being stolen instead of his blood.

"Alec!" Max screamed.

Blood was flowing freely from his arm now, joining far older stains on the surface of the altar ... perhaps awakening something. A god maybe? Was the floor trembling?

White's head suddenly jerked up, the Familiar abandoning his victim to listen.

There was shouting coming from the passageway ... gunfire ...

And then Alec heard it -- the voice of an angel ... a scaly one.

"Where are they!" Mole yelled, probably at one of White's terrified underlings. "Where the fuck are they!"

The Cavalry had arrived -- and talk about in the nick of time.

Relaxing slightly in his chains, Alec closed his eyes a moment as relief washed over his shaking, sweat soaked limbs, even as he offered a silent "thank you" to the lizard man who'd obviously found another way into the oasis. But then he opened them -- and realized it wasn't over.

White was glaring at him in a way that went beyond fanaticism ... beyond rage ... beyond human ... "Not this time, freak!" the cultist spat. "You're not gonna escape this time! I won't let her have you back!"

When the dagger plunged into his solar plexus and ripped upwards, piercing his heart, the pain was blinding, but brief. Head lolling to one side even as blood filled his throat and mouth, Alec plunged toward darkness with his eyes wide open, but unseeing.

"Alec!"

It was enough to pull the dying transgenic briefly back from the brink. For just a moment, 494 raised his head and looked directly at the woman he loved more than his own life.

I'm sorry, Max.

And then his lacerated heart stopped beating ... and the mortally wounded X5 hung between two worlds for the space of a thought that encompassed all that was Max and the son he'd never know ... until suddenly a brilliant whiteness rushed in from all sides and hurled him at light speed away from life and into--

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Still Frame

"Alec!" Max cried out his name over and over again as she pulled futilely on the bars of her cage. "Alec!"

But her lover lay horribly still on that sickening altar in a pool of his own blood, his heart ruined ... his eyes open and staring toward her but seeing nothing.

"Shit!" Mole shouted as he took in the heartbreaking tableau of Max helpless in her cage and his best friend butchered. "Holy motherfucking shit!"

And then he saw Ames White, and his lizard jaw dropped open, the cold cigar stub falling to the sandy floor. The transhuman raised his pistol, intending to kill the bastard yet again, but White was too quick. With a demonic chortle, Ames fled into the dark passage on the other side of the room.

"Help him!" Max screamed. "Mole! Help him!"

While the lizard man raced to Alec's side, Joshua took keys from the Phalanx guard who's neck he'd just broken and moved to set Max free.

"Alec," Mole said gruffly as he lightly touched hid dead brother's face. "Bro, don't do this to us. Alec? Come on, man. Don't do this."

"He's gone, Mole," Max said from behind him, her voice as emotionless as it had been frantic moments before, the impact of her lover's death a reality now.

"Aww, Max," Mole said, the tears flowing from his eyes now as he turned and hugged his sister tightly. "Why'd the idiot hafta go and do this to us?"

"Alec didn't do it," Max said, her voice still frighteningly quiet. "Ames White did." She took a deep breath. "And believe me, he's going to pay for it."

Joshua had moved forward to also caress Alec's still face, long fingers combing his friend's dark blond hair as little whimpers made their way through the sniffles, culminating in a full throated howl erupting from his throat, just as it had when his twin brother, Isaac, had died.

But Max's hand on Joshua's arm broke off the cry. "We can't help him now," she said softly, staring at the blood soaking the X5's mutilated torso and dripping down the sides of the altar. She touched her own belly and softly added, "All we can do is protect his son."

"This shouldn't be," a new voice spoke from the darkness of the tunnel behind them -- the one where White had fled. Rene Sandeman stepped into the flickering torchlight of the room, his sad aged eyes riveted on the body of the young transgenic his son had just killed. "He wasn't destined to die like this," he said quietly as he clutched a dark leather bound book to his chest. "I warned Ames, but he wouldn't listen. Now ... unless I can set things right ... the world as we know it is doomed."

"It's a little late to set things right," Max said bitterly, the reality of Alec's death too overwhelming to completely comprehend -- the fact she'd never again hear his sexy voice teasing her ... feel those strong arms holding her ... know the rabid joy of his manhood inside her as they made love, or experience the sweetness of that gentle nature he tried so hard to deny.

"Perhaps not," Sandeman said, raising his eyes to stare straight at Joshua, his first born Manticore son.

"The Book," Joshua said in a low reverent tone. "You have The Book."

"What book?" Max said, even as she took hold of Alec's limp hand that Mole had just released from its shackle, then reached up to gently close those pupil-blown eyes. Quickly, the lizard man freed the X5's other limbs, then shrugged out of his own Army jacket to cover his brother's nakedness.

"The Book of the Dead," the dog man said knowingly, as if it was something he was quite familiar with. "The book you, Father, once told me about."

"Exactly, my child," the old man said, holding out the ancient tome that had been ensconced in the hidden library under the gilding light.

Max shook her head, not understanding ... not really caring.

"'The Book of the Dead' is how Dad made my brother come back to life," C.J. said from the far side of the room where he apparently had been watching. "How else do you think he got Ames' head back on his body?" When he saw the others still didn't understand, he rolled his eyes and recited as if by rote, "It's an ancient collection of spells and incantations, used since the dawn of time by the wise men of our people. It can bring the dead back to life ... restore their souls and reanimate their bodies, yadayadayada." He glanced at Alec. "Although, you better hurry, Pops, so the cat-guy doesn't end up half putrefied like my brother." Off Max's look of horror, C.J. felt compelled to add, "But don't worry, sis. Your freak brother's still fresh and juicy. If Dad can pull it off, 494 will be back among the living like nothin' even happened, thinking it was all just a bad dream."

"You sound like you've been there," Max said.

C.J. just looked at her.

Holding the book in front of him, Sandeman approached Alec's body until he stood with his feet in the puddle of blood that had pooled around the base of the altar. Then, looking toward the pyramid's ceiling, he opened his mouth--

"No!" Ames White roared, the word filling the room. "Dead's dead today! 494 stays that way! No resurrection!"

The cultist was staring at Max as he said the words -- a mistake. He never saw Joshua.

With a horrifying howl, the dog man launched himself across the open space between himself and the risen-from-the-dead Familiar. White might have had a chance if he'd been armed -- but he wasn't. It was only a matter of seconds before the crack of snapping bones and enraged cries that quickly turned to primitive shrieks overwhelmed all other sounds as the transhuman pummeled the man who'd killed the people he loved into a mass of unrecognizeable pulpy flesh. Then Joshua tossed the limp figure -- once again a corpse -- out onto the floor at his Father's feet.

"Some people deserve to die," Joshua said simply, his blue eyes daring his creator to deny the fact.

Rene Sandeman stared at his canine child, then down at his broken human one. "The incantation can only work once a year," he whispered. "My son..."

"Alec," Max implored. "You promised it would be Alec. Remember? You said you needed him to save the world."

"Max," Mole interrupted, his hand touching her shaking shoulder. "Alec might not want this. Think about it. He's free. No more pain. No more fear. No more worry."

Max hesitated -- and the baby chose that moment to kick hard inside of her, the strongest it ever had. 452 smiled. "He wants his daddy," she said. "And Alec deserves to live so he can raise his son." She nodded at Sandeman. "Do it. Bring him back to me, and let that piece of shit," she stared down at Ames White, "rot in hell for good this time."

His aged eyes filling with tears -- knowing the right of it -- the old man nodded once, then began to read the magical words that held the power of God, directing them -- not at his blood son -- but at the son he had artificially created.

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Jensen Ackles Museum

Alec opened his eyes. He felt like he'd been sleeping deeply ... rested ... refreshed ... strong. And then her scent wafted in his nostrils and he looked up into Max's worried eyes.

"I'm all right," he said, instinctively knowing what she needed to hear. "I'm fine."

Which is when he remembered.

With a small gasp, 494 struggled upright, pulling himself free from the loving arms that were holding him cradled. Pushing aside the Army jacket, he looked down at himself with disbelief, fingers lightly touching the soft skin of his chest and belly. No wound. But he he had felt--

Pain ... blood ... White's evil laughter as cold steel carved into his heart. Glancing down, Alec saw dark red blood coating the altar, coagulating but still sticky ... fresh ...

His blood.

And then he looked down at the floor and saw his nemesis -- dead -- again.

Joshua, standing behind Mole, glanced away, and Alec instantly knew who the cult member's killer had been.

And then a little old man came forward, clutching a large black leather book to his chest. "How do you feel?" he asked.

"With my hands," Alec responded automatically, the smart-ass words typical and reassuring to his watching brothers and sisters. "What's goin' on?" He looked back at Max who touched his hand where he was propping himself up on the stone. "And where are my pants?"

Joshua handed the X5 his jeans that had been tossed against the wall earlier when he'd been stripped for sacrifice.

"Sorry, no shoes," the dog man shrugged sheepishly.

"It'll do," Alec said, pulling the Levis on beneath the jacket and trying to maintain some semblance of dignity although he had a feeling that ship had already sailed. The past few hours ... days ... were blurry in his memory -- a blessing perhaps from the looks of things. Still, he needed to know the worst. "What happened to me?" he asked, directing the question at Max.

"White hurt you," she said in a low voice, her fingers tightening around his as if holding on to a life jacket in a raging sea. "He hurt you really bad, Alec. But ... but Father ... Sandeman ..." She indicated the old man with her chin. "He helped you."

"Helped me how?" Alec asked suspiciously, still remembering the feel of a knife piercing his chest.

"Like he did White," Joshua replied.

Alec's eyes widened. "You mean I was dead, and he brought me back to life?" he whispered.

"Looks like," Mole said matter-of-factly. "You're one lucky son-of-a-bitch that the old man had that 'Book of the Dead' handy."

"'Book of the Dead'?" Alec still didn't understand.

"It's magical," Max explained in a sheepish tone of voice, probably realizing how crazy it all sounded. "To the Breeding Cult. The words in it can supposedly bring the dead back to life."

"Supposedly?" Mole snorted. He pointed at Alec with the relit stub of his cigar. "Princess there doesn't look like any 'supposedly' to me, sister. That book's one powerful piece of shit."

"Not shit," Sandeman corrected. "Divine miracle."

"Whatever," Max said as Alec fastened the fly of the jeans. "All that matters is I've got my guy back."

Which is when the ground suddenly began to shake.

*****

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & Jensen Ackles Museum

On his feet now, Alec glanced up at the ceiling of the temple. Dust motes were sifting down, glittering gold in the scattered beams of sunlight suddenly piercing the gloom.

"What was that?" the X5 asked, looking both at his companions and upwards again as if not certain from which direction he might get an answer.

Rene Sandeman closed his eyes, a stricken expression drawing his face into even deeper lines. "I was afraid this might happen," he breathed.

"Afraid what might happen!" Max yelled. Tired of this nonsense, she stepped away from Alec's side to grab hold of the old man's tattered coat.

"Dad?" C.J. implored, his large eyes also rolling toward the now-cracked ceiling.

"Ah," Mole growled. "It's just an earthquake.

Sandeman looked down at the body of his eldest son, and shook his head sadly. "He won't go quietly," he said. "If he can't be among the living, he wants us with him among the dead."

"What the fuck are you yapping about?" Max spat.

Joshua moved to Father, supporting the old man with his arms.

"It's Ames," C.J. answered. "He's going to kill us all."

"I really wish I had my shoes," Alec commented as he stood looking around the temple room at what he now realized was rather fragile architecture. 494 didn't realize it, but -- if times had been more ancient -- he might well have been mistaken for one of the Cult's gods. Barefoot and bare chested, his smooth muscular body streaked with sweat, dirt, and blood -- not to mention a four-day's growth of beard lending a seldom-seen rugged quality to his handsomeness -- the resurrected X5 stood poised, panting slightly, listening and looking for all the world like a deity in human form ... waiting for whatever was going to happen next.

As if on cue, another temblor shook the floor, and this time pieces of stone fell into the room.

"We've gotta blaze before this whole place comes down on us," Alec said. "Mole? You got a back way outta here?"

"Through a gap in the cliffs," the lizard man said, thumbing to the east as a wreath of cigar smoke encircled his head. "It's how dog boy and me got in here. There's a narrow passage leadin' out to the desert cut by that river. I ran into Josh tryin' to cross over and follow you. The water's rough but not too deep, and we were able to wade over and climb out on this side."

Joshua was nodding.

Father looked up at his first creation. "It is good to see you again, my boy," he said softly, "even under such tragic circumstances."

Smiling toothily, his hirsute son hugged him. "It's good to see you again, too, Father."

"Can we save the family reunion for later," Alec remarked. Then he looked around. "Where are the guards?"

C.J. shrugged. "Far from here, if they're smart."

"They'd just abandon their posts?" Max wondered.

"Hey," C.J. said. "Even Familiar loyalty has its limits. Ames is going to kill us all."

"Yeah, right," Alec said. "From beyond the grave?"

Sandeman's second son smiled. "You should know," he said quietly, "back-from-the-dead boy."

Alec didn't have an answer to that. In fact, he didn't want to think that what had happened to him -- had happened. It was beyond eerie, knowing he'd been dead ... truly dead ... but was now among the breathing again due to a magnanimous enemy, a magical book, and powers he didn't believe in, let alone comprehend.

"All of this is happening because of you, you know," C.J. continued, raising his hands to indicate the cracking temple. "'The Book of the Dead' was never meant to resurrect an animal/human hybrid ... an abomination to our people. Ames has a right to be royally pissed."

"Guys!" Mole snapped. "Can we save the philosophical and religious debate for later and get the hell outta here now?"

Punctuating his words, the ground shook again -- harder than before, and a large chunk of stone fell from the wall, narrowly missing Joshua and Father.

"I second that," Max said. "Come on."

With Alec her shadow, she followed Mole into the east passageway. A hundred feet, two sharp turns, and there was true sunlight showing up ahead. A moment later the four transgenics and two Familiars emerged into the clearing that surrounded the ancient pyramid.

"Listen," Alec said, halting just outside the doorway and holding up a hand.

"What?" Max asked.

"It's too quiet."

The jungle around them would normally have been filled with the chatter of birds and hum of insects. However, silence hung over the place like a suffocating shroud. And then he heard it -- a low throbbing sound from beneath their feet.

"He's coming for us," C.J. breathed, wrapping arms around himself. "Ames is coming for us from Hell."

"Oh, please," Max said sarcastically. But her eyes were on Alec. "Were you there?" she asked softly, so low only he could hear.

The X5 did a doubletake. "You mean in Hell?" he asked,