Photo courtesy of JensenAcklesFans.com

*****

“X5-494 reporting for duty, sir,” 494 said when he was escorted into the Colonel’s office.

Donald Lydecker looked up from the paperwork he’d been perusing, gray eyebrows slightly rising as he took in the sight of one of his most recalcitrant “kids.” The young male transgenic was standing at ease, hands clasped behind his back, feet slightly apart, at first glance seemingly the willing soldier. However, ‘Deck wasn’t fooled. This Unit might be one of Manticore’s best physically -- not to mention gifted with an uncannily handsome body and features -- but psychologically X5-494 was usually nothing but trouble. However, at least he looked like he’d healed just fine, and was therefore fit for active duty. “Welcome home, 494,” he said gruffly. “As I said on the phone, I may have a use for you.”

494 tilted his head up, hazel-green eyes narrowing slightly, but surprisingly -- considering his high verbal inclination -- he remained silent, almost as if holding his breath.

Which is when ‘Deck realized something. Before, 494 had been willing to risk his own life out of arrogance because he had nothing to lose. Now, he was settled in nice and cozy with 452, presumably relatively happy, and probably as content as one of his kind could ever be. The X5 had a lot to lose -- something Manticore was more than willing to take advantage of. It was called “leverage.”

Lydecker smiled, knowing full well he had the upper hand, and that 494 knew it too. “Come with me,” he said quietly, standing up a bit stiffly and coming around the desk. “I have something to show you and a--” he hesitated, as if seeking the right word, “--proposition.”

*****

“You’re certified to fly several types of aircraft, correct?” Lydecker said while they rode down in an elevator, Alec’s eyes on the numbers as they descended into double digits.

“Yeah,” he replied, finally losing the “sir.” “Single engine through warbirds. Choppers too. He glanced over at the older man. “But it’s been a long time, and some of that was only on simulators. At least let me scan the manuals if you intend to put me in the air for real behind the controls.”

“You’ll get a manual,” Lydecker said easily. “And some sim practice.”

“You want me to fly on a mission?” Alec said, a bit puzzled but apparently not all that surprised.

“That’s part of the requirement,” the Colonel said, not elaborating.

The elevator reached their level and the X5’s eyebrows rose once again. “I didn’t know we had a sub basement,” Alec said, licking his lips nervously as he apparently felt the weight of the mountain above them.

“Claustrophobic, 494?” Lydecker teased.

“No, sir.”

“Good,” the Colonel said. “Because we’re almost half a mile underground in a part of the base that didn’t exist when you were here as a child.”

They emerged from the elevator into a wide, well-lit hall that stretched out of sight in both directions, indicating just how vast this new space under the Gillette facility really was. Alec was chewing on the inside of his cheek, obviously not sure what to expect but at the same time looking a bit eager. Adventure was, after all, in his nature.

“This way,” Lydecker said, turning to the right and continuing down the slightly downward sloping hallway. They walked for almost five minutes before finally arriving at a set of very large steel double doors. Which is when the Colonel turned once more to his kid. “What you’re about to see is beyond top secret,” he said. “Only a handful of humans in the world know about this project, and you’re the first transgenic to be allowed access. However, the time has come when your kind have to be brought into the process if the project is to succeed. After all, the end result really is all about you, 494 ... you and your brothers and sisters ... and how you’re going to fulfill your true destiny.”

Puzzled, Alec could only watch as Lydecker swiped a key card into a slot then also leaned forward so his retina could be scanned. The red access light on the panel turned green, there was a rumble of machinery, and the big panels of the doors began to slowly slide open so they could step through. Inside the room about a hundred yards away was what appeared to be a large elongated building covered with scaffolding and a number of workers. Twelve stories high -- at least by window count -- the structure was made of a dark metal that fluctuated from gray to black depending on how much light it was absorbing. It wasn’t at floor level either, but resting on pedestals that almost resembled legs with clawed feet, two toward the left and one larger under it to the right. Which is when Alec’s eye traveled over the structure’s outline once more and he realized what he was really looking at.

“Crap,” he whispered, his eyes widening. His head whipped around and he stared at the Colonel. “It’s a spaceship!”

*****

Lydecker was staring at him in return, thin lips slightly quirked, waiting for the rest of the reaction.

Alec’s heart was pounding, although he wasn’t sure why, and he felt an odd sense of anxiety ... like he wasn’t quite alone inside his own head. However, he knew damn well he was looking at something spectacular. The thing was huge ... larger than the biggest aircraft carrier he’d ever seen, and certainly larger than any airplane or jet -- because this behemoth did, indeed, have wings. It wasn’t meant to float on the sea but rather to fly in the sky ... or space. There were small stubs protruding from the side, probably retractable, and he could see now that there was a huge engine assembly on the rear to the right.

“It’s as big as the fuckin’ Hilton Hotel,” he said, taking a few steps into the hangar. He had to crane his neck to see the top of the ship that was almost lost in the darkness of the vast cavern above. “What’s it for?” he had to ask, shaking his head in wonder. “Battle?”

“In a sense,” Lydecker said, grinning at the transgenic’s astonishment. “But mainly he’s been built for protection.”

“Protection?” Alec said, not understanding. “Protection for whom? And from what? Who’s the enemy?”

“Protection for the human race,” Lydecker said simply. “As for the enemy ... you already know that answer, 494.”

“The Breeding Cult?” Alec said. He turned again to eye the mammoth ship. “This is being built to battle the Cult?”

“Not battle,” Lydecker said. “To flee in. Or rather for humankind’s protectors to use as a refuge while the rest of us flee.”

Alec was lost. He had no idea what was going on here. Raking fingers back through his hair, he shook his head. “What the hell are you talkin’ about?”

Lydecker regarded the ship with great pride in his eyes. “The Breeding Cult is further entrenched in this world than we ever imagined,” he said. “They’ve infiltrated every level of every government and military faction in the world. Our experts believe they’re on the verge of launching a massive offensive against humans that would virtually wipe out the homo sapien race, replacing it with their own.”

“Without their plague to help?” Alec asked. “’Cause that was pretty much a bust. We didn’t even need Max’s special blood, not that I was anxious to put her body on ice and deliver it to the CDC back in ‘21.” One corner of his lip lifted. “Even if she is a hell cat sometimes, I really prefer 452 warm and alive as opposed to cold and dead.”

“I know you do, son,” Lydecker said quietly. “But this has nothing to do with Max other than her being part of our defense system. As you said, the plague didn’t happen. However, the Cult is clever and of course had a back-up plan. They’re going to start a world war that can’t be won. And when the radiation has killed all of my kind, they’ll be left with a world cleansed of inferior humans and ready for their own species to repopulate.”

“Leaving my kind where?” Alec had to ask.

Lydecker smirked. “Where do you think?”

“Dead, too,” Alec said, answering his own question. “As if that isn’t already happening. Transgenics are a threat to the Cult in a way humans aren’t, but there are too few of us to really make a difference. Sandeman had a good idea. He just didn’t have the time or the resources to breed enough of us.”

“There are more ships already in orbit,” Lydecker said. “The military has been building them ever since The Pulse -- mining ships, agriculture ships, a hospital, military base ships, even one that has nothing but animal DNA on it like Noah’s ark. We’ve been preparing for years for the inevitable. Now the time is fast approaching when we’re going to need a place to go ... a way to flee at least temporarily until we can figure out a plan to take our world back.”

“And mankind is callin’ in the marker on its supersoldiers, right?” Alec said. He eyed the gigantic spaceship again. “And this is Manticore’s base of operations for protecting your kind as you try to save your collective asses.”

“There’s room for more than 300 on board,” Lydecker said quietly. “None of you will be left behind.”

“Not even the transhumans?”

“They have their uses,” the Colonel assured.

“And my part in all of this?” Alec said. “’Cause when I said I was a qualified pilot I didn’t mean astronaut.”

“We don’t need you to fly Talon,” Lydecker said. “He does a good job of that all by himself.”

Alec though he hadn’t heard right, and cocked his head to one side.

“Oh, I forgot,” Lydecker said blithely, turning to face the starship. “You two haven’t been properly introduced. X5-494, I’d like you to meet X12-103, aka ‘Talon’.”

Which is when Alec realized something he’d been aware of ever since entering the gigantic hangar, but hadn’t really consciously acknowledged. There was a presence here beyond that of the himself and the humans ... a sense in his mind of a consciousness both terribly familiar and terribly alien at the exact same time.

Lydecker was watching him closely, his hand resting on the Glock 65 he wore as a sidearm. “You feel him, don’t you, 494?” he said. “You have ever since you stepped through that door ... maybe since you entered the base.”

Alec nodded slowly, still completely puzzled, but acknowledging more than he understood simply because there was definitely someone “else” here.

“Good,” Lydecker said softly, easing his hand off of the handle of his gun. “Looks like I won’t have to kill you after all then.”

*****

Alec’s armpits were sweating. The sense of a “presence” was growing stronger every second in a way he’d never felt before. True, he could almost always tell when people were near him, and he could also feel emotions, sometimes to the point of them affecting his own, but this was something different ... and very, very scary.

“Stop!” he said out loud -- a command.

And it did stop. He actually felt “it” retreat, leaving behind a vague feeling of sadness as it did so. I’ve hurt someone’s feelings, he thought to himself, ridiculous as that sounded.

“Explain,” he demanded of Lydecker, not giving a shit who was supposedly in command at the moment. “Explain why I’m here. You intend to kidnap me?”

“Ordering you to active duty wouldn’t be kidnapping,” the Colonel pointed out.

“Kidnapping, conscription, draft ... call it what you want,” Alec snapped. “I don’t wanna play Star Trek with you, ‘Deck. I’m keepin’ my two feet safe on the ground.”

“You have that option,” Lydecker replied evenly. “After launch you’ll be set free because by then it won’t matter. The war will already have started. You won’t have any place to hide. Even transgenics will eventually succumb if the radiation is intense enough. However,” he added quickly before Alec could say anything. “You’ll not only be losing your life for nothing, you’ll be missing out on an incredible experience. There’s a place on Talon for you, 494. An important place.

Alec chewed on the inside of his cheek as he regarded the gigantic ship. “You called it an X12,” he finally said.

“X12-103,” Lydecker clarified. “And it’s not an ‘it.’ It’s a ‘he.’”

“A brain ship,” Alec said, wrinkling his nose in disgust. “You actually created a transgenic just for the purpose of being the intelligence behind a spaceship?”

“Talon’s intelligence is organic based, yes,” Lydecker said, smiling as if proud of such an atrocity. “Our geneticists were able to create fetuses that were primarily brain with only vestigial limbs and of course the organs essential to sustain life. We also integrated synthetics into Talon, giving him a body with a great deal more endurance than his original one would have had. Theoretically, he has an unlimited life span.”

Alec now knew what he’d been sensing ... or rather who ... and he shuddered, only to once again feel that fleeting sense of sadness. Almost automatically he silently apologized, for some reason sympathizing. “You still haven’t told me why I’m here,” he said out loud to Lydecker, “other than because I’m an X5 and you want my ass in your army.”

“You’re not just any X5, 494,” Lydecker said. “And you know it. You’re one of a very few Manticore creations gifted with empathic ability. You can literally feel what Talon does ... sense his moods ... Can’t you?”

Alec was careful not to answer that. “Why don’t you just use a telepath?” he asked.

“We would if we had one,” Lydecker admitted. “But we don’t. Extrasensory capabilities are rare, even among our most genetically manipulated Units. At the moment, you’re the best we have. Hopefully, with time, your own gifts might extend so your communication with Talon will become more verbal.”

“You need me to help you control the ship,” Alec said flatly -- a statement, not a question.

“Not control ... rather reassure ... sense. Along with the hardware and computer attachments already attached to Talon it makes a complete package. You’ll know what he wants, and he’ll know what you want, the communication far faster and more accurate than mere words in a computerized or voice synthesized chain of command.”

“I want to see him,” Alec said suddenly. “For real.”

“Follow me,” Lydecker said, stepping back and sweeping out an arm, indicating Alec should go first. He spoke into a headset that he’d been wearing but so far not using. “Lower the ramp,” he said. “I’m coming aboard.”

*****

The ship ... Talon... was as impressive, not to mention massive, inside as it was outside. A complete biosphere all unto itself, it ... he ... had obviously been created to be a generational carrier, self sustaining for the most part, and able to stay in outer space for decades if necessary.

“What’s the power source?” Alec asked as they walked through corridor after corridor until he wasn’t certain he’d be able to find his way back to the hatch even if he had to.

“Hydrogen,” Lydecker said. “Supplemented by solar and a small nuclear reactor just for good measure as backup. The storage batteries can hold enough power for the ship to operate six months at a stretch.”

“And the other ships you say the military’s got in orbit?”

“Not as advanced,” Lydecker said with a small smile. “There are technologies Manticore chose not to share. The rest are powered by far more ordinary sources, not to mention less efficient. Talon’s weaponry is also more advanced. There are fighters in the hangars -- twelve in all. We call them ‘Raptors.’” He looked at Alec. I want you to be able to fly one. I’ll be giving you the manual. There’s a simulator on board already.”

“Let me get this straight,” Alec said as they walked. “The entire transgenic race is going to just hang around in orbit until the Breeding Cult nukes the world. Then what? We keep waiting them out? Humans living in space and Familiars living in the radiation on Earth?”

“There are other habitable planets out there, 494,” Lydecker said.

Alec snorted. “Yeah, in science fiction.”

“No,” the Colonel said. “For real. We’ve sent probes. Places have been charted where, given enough time, we can go if we have to.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Alec said, stopping in the middle of the corridor and facing the Colonel. “I may not be an aeronautical engineer or a physicist, but even I know we don’t have the capability of reachin’ the stars, at least not in our lifetimes. Our solar system is pretty much it, and Pluto ain’t exactly habitable.”

Lydecker was looking at him again, waiting for it to sink in.

It took a moment, then Alec’s eyes widened. “You have faster than light capability?”

“Yes.”

“I know it’s theoretically possible,” Alec breathed. “But now we’re really in the land of sci-fi. Don’t tell me you use worm holes.”

“We don’t use worm holes. But military physicists have engineered a way for a starship to achieve the speed necessary to reach another solar system. It might still take decades ... but we can do it.”

“Might?”

“It’s an untested science.”

“Oh.” They’d reached a doorway bisected by a red line. Lydecker again used his key card and the retina scan, then Alec followed him into a chamber that was so cold their breaths condensed when they breathed. The X5 was fine with the chill, but Lydecker zipped up his flight jacket. The circular room was lined ceiling to floor with computer banks and in the very middle was a large silver cylinder.

“494, meet Talon,” Lydecker said, indicating the glittering column.

“Pleased to meet you,” Alec said, feeling rather foolish. But then something touched his mind and he knew he and Lydecker definitely weren’t alone in the room. “He’s in there?” he said, nodding at the cylinder.

“From birth,” Lydecker said. “Talon can’t survive outside of his special environment, nor does he have true speech capability. However, his neuro systems are integrated with the biotronics of the ship’s hardware.” He eyed Alec. “That’s why we need you, or someone like you ... to help monitor him ... know what he’s feeling beyond what he chooses to tell us via the computers.”

“Does this mean I’d be the captain?”

“Of course not,” the Colonel said, snorting as if the notion was absurd. “You’d have your former rank restored ... Lieutenant I believe it was. Your unofficial title would be ‘liason’ ... an interpreter position of sorts.”

“Then who’d be runnin’ the show?” Alec wanted to know. “You?”

“Yes,” Lydecker said. “The only way the military approved the Manticore ship was if a human remained in charge. “However, my second in command will be an X5.”

“Namely?” Alec asked.

Lydecker was trying to not smile and Alec didn’t understand why until he heard the doors open behind them and turned around.

Max stood in the massive entrance, looking small compared to her surroundings, but also kick ass hot in a black body suit. And, for the second time that day, Alec’s jaw dropped open.

*****

“I didn’t know,” Max said instantly, her brown eyes filled with worry as she hastened across the hangar to his side. “Alec, I swear. I didn’t know. They just showed up this morning ... black ops in a helicopter. They told me to come with them or else I’d never see you again.”

Alec threw a look at Lydecker even as he wrapped his arms around Max, the feel of her warmth safe against him only putting his mind a little bit at ease. At least they didn’t hurt her ... or me ... yet. “You know about this circus?” he asked.

“I know they want you and me for something pretty bad,” she said wryly. “You in particular. And they told me about the Familiars and the war that’s coming soon.”

“Max and I need to talk alone,” Alec said to the Colonel, his voice brooking no argument.

“I’ll show you to what will be your quarters, if you accept the mission,” Lydecker said. “But don’t take too long. Events are moving even more swiftly than we anticipated. Once Talon leaves Earth and assumes orbit that will be it.” He glanced up at a set of digital numbers on the wall that were counting down. It looked to Alec like they had maybe four days, and a chill shot down his spine as he realized that thing might actually be counting down to the end of the world.

The quarters they were escorted to were luxurious compared to where they were currently living -- a seedy hotel room -- and outrageous when you realized they were actually on a spaceship. Obviously, Talon had been built with long term living in mind. There was not only plenty of room, but plenty of windows looking out at the moment on the hangar bay where he and Max could see workmen scurrying to and fro in what looked to be almost a frenzy.

Seemingly every inch a high ranking officer’s quarters, a kitchen/great room dominated, with two smaller compartments adjoining it -- one an office complete with computer station and the other perhaps for dining or a meeting area. As he walked around, impressed, Alec saw that there was also a relatively large bed chamber with attached bathroom in one direction and three other rooms and a second bath that could be used for any one of many purposes branching off the opposite side. All-in-all it was about 3000 square feet of space, including a glassed-in atrium area full of living green plants. He wondered how many people were supposed to be living in here ... if it was like some kind of dormitory with a common room similar to what he’d grown up with here in Gillette. Surely this all couldn’t be for just one (or two) people.

“Yeah, it’s cool,” Max snapped, bringing Alec back to reality. “Now, can we move on? We’ve got a decision to make here. Do we go? Or do we stay?”

“Did Lydecker tell you about the X12?”

“A little,” Max said. “And he told me why they want you ... that you have some sort of connection to the ship’s brain that they want to use.”

“I feel so special,” Alec said cynically. “What they did was concoct a of human/animal hybrid fetus that’s all brain and no body that can connect to the ship’s systems and run things. However, what they didn’t do was give their living A-I true speech capabilities. Talon can’t communicate except with a keyboard or voice synthesizer so they don’t know what he’s really thinking or feeling without me. And I just realized that “living artificial intelligence” is an oxymoron. Right?”

“That’s beyond cruel,” Max said, shaking her head as she looked over a book case full of volumes in what was the office, or maybe it should be called a library. “I wonder if this is Lydecker’s quarters.”

“Doesn’t smell like him,” Alec said offhandedly. “I think it’s supposed to be ours ... if we take the deal.”

“Did ‘Deck tell you who else is going?” Max said.

“Not specifically.”

“All of the transgenics, and I do mean all of them,” she said. “Everyone from Gillette, Terminal City, Canada ... any they can sweep up. I guess Manticore figures that anyone left behind will be dead.”

“Humans?” Alec asked. “’Deck said the military wanted a human in charge, but what about others? How many humans will be on board?”

Max shrugged. “Certainly the scientists who can care for us ... medical personnel ... high ranking Manticore officials ...”

“And guards,” Alec said ominously, remembering the two bracelets he used to wear that he’d taken off after Max’s rape, his priorities as to his “purpose in life” having changed. For that matter, he wasn’t wearing the pendant Joshua had given him any more either. Lydecker had given it back to him in an envelope after he’d recovered from his wounds, but for some reason he just didn’t feel like putting it back on. His mate had to be his focus now. “Max,” he said, “will we be runnin’ the show or will we just be slaves again?”

“We’ll certainly outnumber the humans,” she said.

“But we’re still not enough to be a nation,” Alec pointed out. “Eventually, there won’t be any transgenics left -- not unless they start makin’ new ones or we start breeding more.”

“Short term, they need us to survive, Alec ... the human race. If what Lydecker says is true -- that the Familiars are ready to move -- then we’ve got to decide what’s best for our people: Going with the humans to the stars ... another home ... or staying behind here on Earth and probably fighting for the rest of our short lives.”

“You make it sound like you’ve already made up your mind.”

“Maybe I have.”

Alec regarded Max solemnly. He was too hot in his leather coat, and he shrugged out of it, tossing it over a chair as if the place was already his own. “Where you go, I go,” he said softly. “I’m not in the mood to strike out on my own again, especially in a post-apocalyptic world.” He looked out the window to the hangar below where the Gillette transgenics were beginning to assemble, preparing to board. “But we get Joshua, too. They have to let me go back for him.”

“Agreed,” Max said. “It’s part of the deal. He’s our family.”

And all of a sudden Alec felt a sense of relief wash over his mind ... a sense that he knew damn well wasn’t his own. Talon had been eavesdropping. Alec smiled. The X12 was like an anxious teenager, he thought. But then the kid couldn’t be more than what? A few years old? However, not a child ... never a child. At any rate, it was obvious the ship was relieved he’d decided to stay.

“I’m gonna hafta to figure out a way to keep him -- Talon -- out of my head,” he said quietly to Max as he looked up and around at the ship’s bulkheads. “I’ve never dealt with emotions so strong.”

“Is he jealous of me?” Max asked -- a logical question.

Alec scowled slightly. “No. And I don’t really know why. It’s like he thinks of you as a sister and me as his brother. Weird.” He was about to ask Max how the hell they were supposed to make love with a whole ship watchin’ them when suddenly an alarm began to blare in the hangar outside. Lydecker was at the door seconds later. Obviously, he’d been hovering in the hallway.

“Time’s up,” he said tersely.

“What do you mean?” Max demanded.

“The Familiars have apparently decided to step up their little schedule of world domination,” he said. “Six nuclear bombs have just been launched from the Middle East aimed at major cities in the U.S.” He looked down to the hangar deck far beneath the ship where workers and passengers were scurrying about like panicked ants. “We’re preparing to launch. If we don’t get out now, we never will.”

“Come to the bridge with me,” Lydecker ordered. “And you’ll see just what Talon was created to do.” He grinned. “And thank whatever god you worship that the two of you were on board today. If you weren’t, you’d have been left behind. Almost everyone else is already here.”

*****

The technology of artificial gravity had been achieved in 2019, but Alec still quickly found a seat on the bridge and clutched the arms of the chair, his stomach lurching slightly as the giant overhead doors opened and sunlight appeared above the rising ship. Max, he noticed, wasn’t so concerned about falling on her ass on the deck. She was leaning with her hands on the edge of a control console staring intently out the front window, her eyes alight in a way he’d rarely seen.

“Has this thing ever been flown before?” Alec asked, raising his voice to be heard above the turbo whine of the awakening engines.

“Talon’s” flown many times,” Lydecker said, grinning at the X5’s discomfort as the pressure of ascent began to be felt. “I’m just glad we got our supplies on board last week.”

Alec almost felt as if he were being kidnapped ... almost. Part of him was excited to be setting off on a new adventure. It was, after all, his nature to want to experience new things. However, the realization that the Earth ... his world ... all of the people and places he knew was about to essentially be destroyed left a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach. Once again he looked at Max, and wondered if she understood the ramifications of what was happening. Somehow he doubted that Original Cindy was on the ship’s manifest ... or Normal ... or Sketchy ... or a lot of other people they were abandoning to what would probably be a slow agonizing death, if not killed by the radiation then hunted down and slaughtered by the Familiars.

It was a retreat of the most monumental nature, not that Alec felt like a coward. However, he couldn’t help wondering if there might not have been another way for the human race to survive other than fleeing their native planet.

Talon was in the air less than 15 minutes before descending. Glancing out the window, Alec thought he recognized Los Angeles beneath them, the trip from Wyoming having obviously been made at speeds beyond normal aircraft.

“All of the transgenics and technicians are on board already,” Lydecker said, checking some numbers running across a computer screen. He glanced at Alec. “How’s Talon feeling? We just have a few last minute additions to the crew and then we’ll be ready to assume orbit.”

Alec blinked at that. He honestly didn’t have a clue. But then he looked up and around, thinking about that lonely silver cylinder housed deep within the bowels of the ship, and suddenly he knew the answer. “He’s fine,” he said.

Max turned around and looked at him.

“Rarin’ to go,” Alec added with an attempt at snark. “Everything’s copasetic. Why don’t you ask him yourself via a computer hookup?”

“Because he lies to me,” Lydecker said, his voice clipped. “Tells me only what I want to hear, not the reality of things. And words are just that -- words -- not necessarily the truth.”

“Quite an oversight,” Max commented as she moved to Alec’s side. “With all of this,” she indicated the vast complexity of the starship, “couldn’t your techies have given Talon a real voice?”

“We thought we had,” Lydecker said, his jaw set tightly. “Physiologically Talon has the power of speech, or rather the ability to use a voice synthesizer. However, he chooses not to use it, and don’t ask why because if a dozen neuroscientists and psychologists can’t answer it than neither can I.” He eyed Alec. “Using you was a last ditch effort,” he said, his voice low so others around them wouldn’t hear. “If Talon hadn’t been willing to link with you, 494, it’s quite probable the entire mission wouldn’t have happened.”

“Lucky me,” Alec said, still uncomfortable with this part of the deal. He could feel the ship on more than just a physical level, but then he was used to “feeling” people around him all the time. It wasn’t any more or less intrusive than ordinary contact with a regular human or transgenic, just a bit more focused since Talon obviously didn’t want to communicate with anyone else.

They touched down in the desert 50 miles east of L.A. for all of 20 minutes, even as they kept a close watch on the incoming missiles, one of which was aimed right at the large city. The timing would be close ... too close ... and sure enough the first bomb hit while they were still on the ground. Alec felt a tremble beneath his feet and saw the sky light up around them even though he wasn’t looking in the direction of the doomed city.

“This is nuts,” he said. “Couldn’t we have stopped that nuke?”

“We have offensive weaponry,” Lydecker said. “But we can’t stop all of those bombs and this is just the beginning. We need to conserve our resources.”

Max wasn’t looking as animated as before.

“You realize what this means,” Alec said to her. “Canada’s not that far away.”

“Of course I do,” Max said curtly. She looked up at him. “Joshua ...”

“Lydecker wants me to learn to fly one of the Raptors,” Alec said, making certain the Colonel couldn’t hear. “The manual was in our quarters -- a downloaded copy in the computer. Maybe I’ll get a chance to take a warbird back down here in a day or so and I can look for the Big Fella.”

It was a long shot, and a very selfish one at that. Alec knew that once they were in orbit it would be chaos for a very long time and worrying about a single transhuman who’d gotten his ass left behind was selfish beyond all reason. But Joshua meant a great deal to Max and was his best friend as well, even if he hadn’t put that necklace back on. He’d give it a try -- if possible.

*****

They achieved orbit without incident, and Max’s shoulders relaxed beneath the gentle kneading of Alec’s hands as they both stood on the bridge looking out at the wondrous sight of Earth far below them. However, the beauty of the view was marred by the brilliant specks of light flaring all over the major continents.

“There went London,” Alec said, his voice neutral. However, Max knew the X5 male well enough to detect just how upset he was.

“Did you know someone there?” she asked, deliberately phrasing it in the past tense because there was no use pretending the city on the Thames still existed.

“Yeah,” Alec said. She felt him swallow. “A girl. Her name was Betina.” Max looked up at him and saw a sad smile that brought a tear to her eye. “She was a good kid. More’n a one night stand.”

“You loved her?”

Alec’s eyes met hers. “No. Not really. But it was fun for awhile pretendin’.” He shifted his stance as they continued watching the destruction of their planet. “Where do you suppose Logan is?”

It was the first time Alec had mentioned that name since their run-in with Y-21 all those weeks ago and Max found her tongue stumbling. “Probably in San Francisco, or one of Manticore’s bases.” She looked up at him. “Lydecker hasn’t said anything about the Y soldiers ... their role in all this. Frankly, if they’re supposedly so much better than the X’s, it’s a wonder this ship wasn’t built for them rather than us.”

Alec didn’t say anything, but his arms went around her in a hug that she returned. “We’re lucky to be on board,” he said.

“Lucky,” Max repeated the word. “Yeah ... lucky.”

They watched for the rest of the night as Talon circled the globe in a low orbit, seeing bomb after bomb exploding in mushroom clouds of glowing destruction and city after city being obliterated. “The plague would have been more feasible,” Alec said. “At least the infrastructure would have been left intact. The Cult’s gonna hafta start all over again.”

“They probably have technology hidden away,” Max pointed out. “You know them and their secret enclaves. When the bombing is over they’ll come out like a swarm of ants and kill every human left alive.”

“And we just let that happen?” Alec said.

Lydecker, who’d heard, came over to where they were standing. “The main fleet is waiting in higher orbit,” he said. We have almost a hundred ships, although not all are complete. Most, however, have full crew compliments and passenger rosters. We actually began loading a month ago.” He looked down at the eerily glowing dark side of the Earth they were now above. “A few got left behind,” he said. “But not many.”

Max glanced around the bridge that was manned mostly by X6s and a couple of transhumans with obvious techie skills. She didn’t see anyone he knew, however, so she asked, “My people from Terminal City? You promised they’d be here.”

“And they are,” Lydecker said. “Everyone from the Gillette base is on board. In fact, your two tech friends -- Dix and Luke I believe their names are -- are scheduled for the next shift here on the bridge.”

“Mole?” Alec asked. “He’s a DAC.”

“Weaponry,” Lydecker said simply. “Deck two if you want to go see him.”

There were others Max wanted to know about, but she also knew she’d have time for questions later. Right now, there was really only one missing transgenic on her mind. “Go to our quarters,” she quietly said to Alec. “Get that manual, read it, then get your ass in one of the Raptors. We don’t have much time to find Joshua.”

“On it,” Alec said, flashing a reassuring smile at Lydecker. “I’m tired,” he said more loudly, stretchin his arms. “Think I’ll head to those nice quarters of ours and rest for awhile before the rest of the Apocalypse happens.”

Max remained behind, watching beside the Colonel as Talon rose to a higher orbit. There was a brief burst of communication as Lydecker transmitted a request to join the main fleet. There was then a long moment of silence before a no-nonsense sounding voice finally said, “Permission granted.”

Lydecker was frowning, and Max sensed he wasn’t pleased. “What is it?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

“The same thing that’s always wrong,” the Colonel said. “Prejudice. The military and the government want results, but they don’t like the price they have to pay.”

“Meaning?”

He turned weary eyes on her. “Meaning you and your kind are still considered a possible liability, in spite of a government mandate to reactivate the Manticore program. They’re afraid of you, 452. Almost as much as they’re afraid of our Familiar friends. There was even discussion not so long ago about not allowing transgenics to join the main fleet.”

“But we’re supposed to be guarding the humans,” Max said, not understanding.

“True,” Lydecker replied grimly. “But if the transgenics just happened to all be killed while performing that duty I don’t think the human race would mourn for long.”

Max closed her eyes, the old sadness creeping back into her bones. It was Seattle all over again. She’d thought it would be different, now that their creators had a true need for her people. But it wasn’t. She and her brothers and sisters were going to be just as much outcasts after the world ended as they were before.

*****

Alec had an eidetic memory as well as a procedural one. Once he read something, he knew it -- at least the technicalities. Actually flying a spaceship, however, was a little bit different from a warbird he realized as he sat behind the controls of one of Talon’s Raptors in its tight dark launch tube.

He was nervous ... scared even. But then he felt a reassuring touch in his mind ... a whisper of almost words. Talon approved of what he was doing (although for the life of him he didn’t know why). He would help.

“Okay, my brother,” he said out loud as he strapped himself in, having taken a flight suit and helmet from the ready room. “Let’s go so we can come back.”

He didn’t radio for permission. He didn’t have to. The launch door opened in front of him on its own as the Raptor smoothly propelled itself down the ramp before bursting free from the main ship and soaring into space.

At first, Alec tried to maneuver the Raptor like an F15 or other fighter jet, but he soon realized he had a lot more freedom in the vacuum. There was a call on his radio -- a command from some underling for him to return to the ship that he ignored. Talon would make sure he got away.

By the time he entered Earth’s atmosphere, 494 was getting the hang of things (Hell, if I can do it with the piano I can do it with a starship.), and by the time he was swooping over the California coastline he felt like he’d been handling this bird for his entire life. Such were the learning capabilities of X5s, far beyond that of mere Ordinaries, or the Y-series, and even beyond that of the Breeding Cult -- one of the greatest assets of the Manticore children. The only way the X5 could have learned faster was if the information had been literally downloaded into his mind.

Los Angeles was gone. He could see as much from the air, nothing left except smoking ruins and a melted hole where the downtown used to be. A few minutes later San Francisco was up ahead -- in flames. The nuke hadn’t hit dead center here but it still had done a good job of incinerating everything within a 50 mile radius of the city. Alec’s nose crinkled. He knew it was impossible, but he imagined he could smell burning flesh ... hear the screams. The X5 shook his head, forcing himself to snap out of it, and once again in the back reaches of his mind he heard reassuring words. Then he was searching the horizon for Seattle.

It was still intact, but there was a mass exodus of cars trying to make their way out of the city, the people apparently worried they’d be a target in the next salvo of bombs. Alec was very tempted to set down to see if he could find O.C. -- but there was only room in his ship for one passenger and he knew that -- as good a friend as O.C. was -- he’d already chosen. Joshua had to be his priority.

Vancouver looked to be in panic mode as well, however further north there was calm which gave Alec hope. It was growing dark, but there was still enough light for him to see to be able to land in a meadow near the farm house he and Max had been sharing not so many months ago. Call it a hunch, or intuition, or even a premonition, but he had a strong feeling that Joshua had probably returned here after he and Max had moved out. He left the Raptor’s engines on low as he popped the cockpit and took off his helmet, looking around. Everything seemed surprisingly peaceful considering the world was ending. He could even hear a few birds singing their twilight songs in the nearby woods.

“Joshua,” he called out as he approached the farm house. “Where are ya boy?” He whistled. “Here boy! It’s me. Alec. You’re not in trouble, but we need to blaze. I came back for you.”

Silence. There was no sign of the dog man in the house or in the barn, but an easel stood by itself on the shore of the pond, telling Alec his hunch had been right -- Joshua had returned to live here. However, he’d almost given up on finding the dogman before dark, and was wondering if he had time to go into town, when he had a thought. Joshua had buried his insane brother, Noah, in a clearing in the hills by a cave. A few minutes later the X5 stood at the edge of the small copse of trees and breathed a sigh of relief. There, seated on his haunches beside the grave, was Joshua, apparently keeping some kind of vigil.

“Josh!” Alec said sharply.

The dog man looked up, startled as much by the X5’s sudden appearance as by the way Alec was dressed.

“Alec?”

“Come with me,” 494 commanded, holding out his hand. “We don’t have much time. Max is worried sick about you.”

“Max is with you?” Joshua said, scrambling to his feet. “I didn’t know how to find her, or you.”

“She’s fine,” Alec said. “I’m fine. But the world ain’t so fine and we need to get out asses up to the mother ship.”

“Mother ship?” Joshua said, shaking his head in confusion.

“I’ll explain later,” Alec said, hustling his friend through the trees and down the slope toward where the Raptor was waiting. He eyed Joshua’s head. “I just hope the other helmet’s big enough to fit you.”

*****

“Whoa,” Alec said, grabbing Joshua’s arm and dragging the transhuman to a halt. He peered out of the underbrush at the idling Raptor sitting in the meadow up ahead. There were three people standing right next to it, staring up at the cockpit. “This isn’t good.” Biting down on his lower lip, the X5 thought things through. “Stay here,” he told Joshua as he stood up to his full height and stepped out into the open.

“Alec,” Joshua whispered. “What if--”

“It won’t,” Alec snapped without looking back. “Trust me.” He had a sidearm strapped to his hip -- a weapon he wasn’t familiar with. However, he kept his hand carefully away from the gun, not wanting to be any more of a murderer than he already was. Still, three against one weren’t good odds, even if they were Ordinaries.

One of the men stepped forward, watching him warily. “Fellas,” Alec said, schooling his voice to its most friendly tone. “If you don’t mind, you need to step away from my ship. I wouldn’t want to accidentally incinerate anyone when I take off.”

“You military?” the man asked. He looked like a farmer, complete with freckles, red hair, mustache, and straw hat. However, his eyes were cool and calculating in a way that made Alec uneasy. “Yeah,” the X5 said. “I’m on a mission. Don’t interfere.”

“What branch?” the man asked, his two companions edging closer -- one of whom looked like his brother and the other a thirty-something pool player Alec recognized from town.

“Air Force,” Alec lied.

“That doesn’t look like any kind of fighter craft I’ve ever seen before,” the first man said.

“It’s experimental,” Alec said. “And I’m on a bit of a tight schedule, so I’ll ask you one last time. Step away from the vehicle, gentlemen.”

“I’m thinkin’ you could give us a ride to a safe place,” the man said, easing his hand toward his inner coat pocket.

“She only seats two,” Alec pointed out.

“There’s cargo space,” the man said. “I imagine you could get all of us on board if you wanted to.”

Alec grinned. “You kill me and who’ll fly it for you?” he said.

“True,” the man said. “But at least we’ll have gotten rid of one more animal in the process.”

Alec’s eyes narrowed. As he thought, these weren’t “Ordinaries.”

“I’m not hurting anything,” he said calmly, knowing that those three against one odds were more like six against one if he was dealing with Familiars. His hand slowly moved to his own weapon. “Just let me and my passenger go and no one gets hurt.”

“Your passenger,” the man snorted. “What passenger?”

“This passenger,” Joshua said from behind the group where he’d slowly been sneaking up. With a murderous howl, the dog man charged.

Alec knew that Joshua hated Familiars with a passion because of what Ames White had done to the girl the dog man loved, Annie. But the ferocity of the transhuman’s actions made bile rise in his throat. Ripped to pieces would probably be an apt description of what Joshua did to the three men, arms and legs snapping off as easily as if the Familiars had been rag dolls and blood spurting everywhere. Alec didn’t even have to pull the trigger, the enemy dead at his feet in less than 30 seconds.

Joshua then stood panting, his clothes soaked with blood, the look in his blue eyes far too much like Isaac or Noah. Without meaning to, Alec took a step back, putting some distance between himself and his friend. “Way to get the job done, Big Fella,” the X5 said with forced easiness. “Now, how about climbin’ on board so we can get back to Max?”

Joshua looked around at the carnage, growled low in his throat, and bared his teeth.

“Josh!” Alec said loudly. “Time to go. Get your hairy ass in the ship.”

A very small part of Alec’s mind almost hoped that Joshua would refuse to comply ... that instead he’d simply run off into the woods or something. Then he’d go back to Max, tell her he tried, explain that Josh had completely lost it, comfort her, and they could move on with their lives without the worry of having an insane transhuman on board Talon. But then of course he also immediately felt guilty. After all, Joshua wasn’t just his friend. He was his brother.

However, Joshua sniffed the air one last time, then headed for the Raptor.

“Buckle up,” Alec said, handing him the helmet that was, indeed, a tight fit as he revved the engine. “And hang on.”

*****

“What’s that?” Max asked, her voice tight as an alarm klaxon began to yammer from an overhead speaker on the bridge.

Lydecker was scowling at a telemetry screen. “I don’t know,” he said. “It looks like ships ... a lot of them. But the fleet is to our starboard. These are coming from the direction of the moon.

“Sir,” Dix said -- the transhuman having taken up his post half an hour before -- “those are unidentified signals.”

“Human?” Lydecker asked.

The monocled mutant shrugged.

“Who else could they be?” Max wondered. However, off of Lydecker’s sharp look her own eyes widened. “The Breeding Cult,” she breathed. “They knew about our plan to save the humans and they created a fleet of their own to stop us.”

“Sir,” Dix said. “The President is speaking to the fleet.”

“Put it on the speaker,” the Colonel said.

Attention Humanity Fleet, a man’s voice said. We are about to come under attack and it is necessary for us to flee the area of Earth. I know a number of our ships are not yet prepared for light speed travel. We have approximately twenty minutes before the enemy is in range. All on board ships not capable of making the speed necessary are asked to abandon their vehicles and seek refuge on those ships properly outfitted.

Max was appalled. “You mean some of the ship’s can’t keep up?”

“We thought we’d have weeks,” Lydecker said. “Maybe months. No one knew the Familiars were so well prepared, not to mention so determined to destroy us.”

“Talon is ready, right?” Max said.

“He’s fine.”

“How many can we take on board?”

Lydecker looked at her, his expression almost amused. “We already have a full compliment. But many of the large barges and agri ships can accommodate quite a few. Our problem is we don’t have time.” He turned to Dix. “Prepare Talon for the transition to light speed.”

Max’s hand on his arm made him turn. “Wait,” she said. “Alec’s not on board.”

“What?”

“494 isn’t on board. He took one of the Raptors down to Earth to find Joshua.”

Suddenly Donald Lydecker looked very old. “We can’t wait, Max,” he said gently. “You know we can’t.”

“At least radio him and let him know we’re leaving,” she pleaded. “You said you needed Alec badly to help communicate with the ship. Don’t just abandon him.”

Lydecker nodded to Dix who’d been listening. However, a moment later the mutant turned in his seat, his expression grim. “Alec must have his com unit turned off. No response. And I can’t tell his ship from the dozens of others ferrying people around.”

“I’m sorry, Max,” the Colonel said. He straightened and stepped to the helm. “Jump to the coordinates we’ve received.”

“What coordinates, sir?” Dix asked. “We haven’t received any coordinates.”

Lydecker’s eyes shot to the window where the government’s primary vessel could be seen, a gleaming white ship aptly dubbed “Freedom.” “Patch me through to the President,” he said. A moment later Dix indicated the channel had been established. “Mr. President,” the Colonel said carefully. “We need the coordinates if we’re to accompany the fleet.”

There’s been some objection raised, Colonel Lydecker, that same voice they’d heard a few minutes earlier responded. I’m afraid we may not be able to comply.

“We can’t fight an entire armada,” Lydecker snapped. “Surely you don’t intend to bring the Manticore soldiers this far only to leave us to certain death.”

“Objections to what?” Max said, jumping in beside Lydecker to speak into the mic.

Identify yourself.

“X5-452,” Max immediately said. She glanced at Lydecker. “Second in command of the Talon.”

Objections to taking non humans with us on our voyage. Some say we should keep our race pure.

“Sir, with all due respect, you’re sounding like the Breeding Cult. We were made in America to protect you and other humans from this very danger. It doesn’t make any sense to leave us behind now.”

“Six minutes before they’re in range,” Dix said.

“Sir!” Max demanded over the mic, only to be met with silence.

“We’ll make our own flight plan if we have to,” Lydecker said. “But we’ll truly be on our own and I don’t know how long we can survive without the resources of the fleet.”

All Max could do then was to watch the clock tick down, not just on her own life, but on Alec’s as well. No matter what the President’s decision, either way 494 was going to be left behind to be slaughtered by the enemy.

The clock reached the one minute point. All around them ships began soar away, building up speed then vanishing as they reached the visible threshold. On the intercom she could hear people pleading to not be left behind.

“Get ready to leave,” Lydecker ordered Dix.

“Where to, sir?” the mutant asked.

“I don’t know just--”

“Sir!” Dix shouted. “We just received coordinates from Freedom!

“Then go,” Lydecker ordered.

“But Alec!” Max shouted.

“Is dead,” the Colonel declared as he gave the command for Talon to begin moving out of Earth’s gravity well.

*****

“What the ...?” Alec said out loud as he caught sight of a large number of starships vanishing, winking to light speed. He eyed the communications unit which he’d kept judiciously off during his little foray to Earth. Now, however, seemed a good time to ask what was happening.

“Raptor 6 reporting,” he said into the now open mic. “This is X5-494 requesting information. What’s goin’ on guys?”

There was nothing but static at first, then he heard a large amount of chatter as people seemed to be pleading to not be left behind.
Craning his neck, he looked for Talon and didn’t see him. But he could feel him, a consciousness filled with worry, asking Alec’s permission to run but at the same time sad about leaving his new friend behind. Alec checked his coordinates, saw how far he was from his base ship, and made a decision. Max and all his family were on board Talon. He wasn’t going to risk them being destroyed. Go, he silently commanded, giving the blessing his brother-ship was seeking. Keep them safe.

“Escaping,” Joshua said through the speaker in his helmet as they watched the Manticore ship’s signal blink out as it jumped to light speed. “Breeding Cult coming to kill everyone and they’re escaping. Max got away. This is good.”

“Good except for the minor fact that Max happens to be on board our base ship,” Alec said tersely as he checked the gauges in the fighter. “This is Raptor 6,” he repeated. “Anyone ... I need permission to land ... somewhere ... anywhere.”

Raptor 6, permission granted to come on board Freedom, a voice said. But you’d better hurry.

“You don’t need to tell me that,” Alec breathed as he steered his ship toward the massive barge that now housed the remnants of the world’s governments.

*****

Thirty seconds after the Raptor’s “feet” touched down in the landing bay of Freedom the ship jumped to light speed, leaving behind the enemy -- for now.

Alec removed his flight helmet and popped the cockpit canopy. “Stay here,” he told Joshua. “I doubt our hosts are expecting a dog man at their party.”

Jumping down to the floor of the landing bay, the X5 straightened and turned just in time to see a contingency of armed men approaching. With a heavy sigh, Alec’s shoulders slumped. Sometimes he just got so damn tired of this kind of shit. Nevertheless, he knew the drill. Holding his hands high in the air, he flashed his most friendly smile. “Hi, guys,” he said cheerfully. “Thanks for takin’ me in.”

“You’re welcome,” a voice from the back of the group said -- a voice Alec recognized. Tilting his head slightly, the X5 scanned the crowd.

“It’s been awhile,” Logan Cale, aka Y-21, said, strolling forward to stand in front of the well-guarded transgenic, his newly healed and enhanced body obviously serving him well. “In fact, I kind of had you pegged for being dead. Max, too.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Alec said easily, his eyes locked with Logan’s and everyone else in the hangar dismissed from his mind.

“You back with Manticore then?” Logan asked, his voice casual in that schooled way of his that had always bothered Alec, as if the man was hiding his real feelings (which he undoubtedly was).

“In a manner of speaking,” Alec said carefully. He turned around and looked back at the Raptor where Joshua was attracting the attention of the guards. “I went down to get Josh. As soon as we get wherever the hell we’re goin’ I’ll take him back to Talon.”

“And in the meantime you and I can have a little chat,” Logan said coolly.

“About what?”

“Oh, I think you know.”

“Hmm,” Alec said, one corner of his lip lifting in what was more sneer than smile.

More than his physical strength, feline senses, and even his good looks, Alec knew that his most powerful weapon was his charisma. But that wasn’t going to work with Logan, someone he sensed hated him -- albeit with reason -- (Afterall, he was with the woman this man loved), and someone who was his equal or more in strength, not to mention someone who knew him far too well.

“They need me to help run Talon,” Alec said, trying the practical since he knew a physical confrontation would undoubtedly go badly. “If you care about Max, or your own kind, you’ll let me go.”

“Talon,” Logan said softly, hands planted on his hips as he stared the other man down. “Did they tell you the whole truth about Talon? About the X12?”

“What do you mean the whole truth? Alec glanced back at Joshua again and gave the worried dog man a calming hand signal, telling him to stand down and stay put. Then he turned back to Logan. “That he’s an X series created specifically to run a starship -- all brain so to speak?”

“Why do you think they wanted you so badly?” Logan said. “You specifically?”

Alec shrugged. “’Cause there are so few X5s left?” he ventured. “’Cause of my connection to Max maybe?”

“No,” Logan said, a knowing gleam in his eyes that Alec found unsettling. “That’s not it at all. Lydecker recruited you for this mission for one reason. You’re irreplaceable you know -- for the job they need you for.”

“You mean as a liason with the brain ship?”

“Exactly. Without you, there might well not be a Manticore vessel any more, or at least not a functioning one.”

“What the hell are you talkin’ about?” Alec demanded, losing patience with this man who seemed to want to play games.

“Ask Lydecker,” Logan said softly, turning away from him. “Ask him who Talon really is.”

And with those ominous words, Y-21 turned his back on Alec and walked way, even though the X5 knew with ever fiber of his being that Cale wanted to kill him.

*****

Max felt like she’d been gut punched. Alec had been left behind, and if he wasn’t dead already he probably would be soon. The Familiars were vicious and cruel to humans, but when it came to the transgenics they were completely merciless. And it wasn’t as if X5-494 could remain hidden down on Earth. Alec’s face was right at the top of the Breeding Cult’s “most wanted” list right alongside hers.

Talon came out of light speed with the rest of the fleet. It had only been a few minutes, but they’d actually traveled hundreds of thousands of miles away from Earth and hopefully they couldn’t be followed. They’d regroup ... make plans ... decide later whether to retaliate right away or stay in hiding for awhile ...

“Sir,” Dix said to a very weary looking Colonel Lydecker as he leaned heavily on one of the bridge railings. “There’s a Raptor requesting permission to land.”

“Who’s ship?” Lydecker barked.

“Ours,” Dix said. “Number 6.” He listened a moment and a big grin split his face. “It’s Alec. And he’s got Joshua with him.”

Max’s head began to spin. “Alec’s all right?” she said loudly, worried she’d misunderstood.

“Alec’s always all right,” Luke said, his smile as big as his buddies.

She ran all the way to the landing bay and was just in time to meet him as he came through the hatchway into the main corridor, helmet in hand and Joshua trailing sheepishly behind.

There was no need for words. The light in his eyes when he saw her running toward him told Max exactly where Alec’s heart was -- with his family ... and with her.

And when 494 wrapped her in his arms in a huge hug and buried his face in her hair before kissing the daylights out of her, 452 knew that -- no matter how far from Earth she was -- she was home too.

*****

“There’s more, isn’t there,” Alec said. Still wearing his flight suit and about as tired as a transgenic could be, he’d nevertheless come down to Talon’s central core where he now faced that smooth silver cylinder that housed the being he’d come to know so well over the past few days -- someone who’d been a total stranger to him but who now felt incredibly like a true brother.

I am your brother, words ghosted through his mind.

Lydecker’s jaw clenched as he, too, regarded the container holding the brain of the ship.

“Why me?” Alec said. “Why does he talk only to me? And don’t give me that shit about my ESP ‘cause I never rated all that high on the psi scale. For some reason there’s a connection between me and Talon and I ... we ... want to know what it is.”

The Colonel took a deep breath, and Alec felt it coming ... the words he needed to hear.

“We didn’t create Talon completely from scratch,” Lydecker finally said, his eyes meeting Alec’s and locking there, not letting the X5 go. “We used fresh fetal tissue for most of the brain, but the core lobe came from a piece of a deceased X5 Unit whose partial remains had been preserved.”

Alec’s stomached lurched as he saw where this might horrifically be going. Talon echoed his fear.

“We knew we didn’t have time for the X12 to mature in the regular time frame,” Lydecker continued. “We needed his mind -- or at least the thinking portion of it -- to be adult even though the rest of him would be a newborn.” He paused. “We also needed him to have a potential psychic connection because we knew we’d never be able to trust manual communication completely. We needed to have a way of knowing what Talon was truly thinking and feeling.”

“He’s a nice kid,” Alec said, his voice carefully level. “Considering he’s just a brain in a can. But I don’t think I’ve ever met him before. So, it’s not Zack that you used?”

“No,” Lydecker said softly. “Not Zack. But you’re close.”

Which is when Alec realized the truth, and once again his stomach lurched, although at the same time he felt an odd sense of joy on the peripheral of his mind. Talon was happy with the news -- naively so. “Ben,” Alec said, the name a whisper. “X5-493. Talon’s my twin brother, or at least part of him is.” He raised eyes to the Colonel. “No wonder you wanted me ... figured I’d have a connection to him. It wasn’t just my empathic abilities. It’s the fact we’re identical on the DNA level.”

And Lydecker just smiled.