Authors note: A quick thanks again for your thanks on these stories. And also; I tried to add a recap of the last three chapter's main plot points in this chapter to help keep you all up to date with goings on. Anywoo; enjoy- INYOTEF ;)
***
He ran...
Moving as fast as he could despite the having to limp on a wounded leg. He made it to the fence and the gate to find it padlocked. He looked around in a terrified panic for another way out; then seeing none he cringed in pain as he heaved himself up and started climbing over the fence.
He winced as he jumped down the other side on his injured leg, but there was no time to stop, he had to get away! He pushed through the vandalised steel door and immediately found himself in the bustling crowd of people in South Market street.
He looked around trying to find a way to go and grew more desperate when he saw the sector blockade guarded by police. He was sweating and he smelt terrible from being down in that hole for over two days. His shirt was dirty, torn and bloodstained, and he had a piece of rag wrapped over his eye; also crimson soaked with his blood.
The people around him lived in such bad conditions that they didn't pay any attention to a wounded, dirty bald black man with a scruffy greying goatee. Not wanting to stand in one place too long he kept moving. His face scowling from the agony of putting weight on his wounded leg when walking, he was pretty sure the bullet lodged in his thigh had caused an infection...
Suddenly five black SUV's broke through the sector blockade and caused a panic of hysteria in the crowd causing them to scatter. Men in suites and shades with wire's in their ears got out and surrounded him, and in his fear he pulled out a revolver, waving it around showing he had no experience in wielding it.
The men in suites pulled out their own government issue glock's and trained them on him as a precaution.
'Professor Henry Twala. Please put the gun down sir, or my men will be forced to respond to a hostile situation...'
Ames White walked into the circle of agents, 'and that does not end well for you.'
*
'What do we know so far?' Logan asked Max, Jondy, Flinch, and Alec who all sat in Alec's living room.
'We have Flinch, a human nark-list who was kept in a military base in Odessa, Max said.
'We also know that our femme fatal, here,' Alec said nudging his head in Jondy's direction, 'assassinated the general in charge of that base, Dan Whitaker.'
'Corrupt general,' Jondy corrected, 'he was going to sell Flinch on the black market, and he was working with Sway.'
'The polar insurgence operative who broke me out,' Flinch added.
'Yeah, thanks for that kid,' Logan said sarcastically.
'When Jondy and I went after Sway he somehow, I dunno, hypnotised us into breaking into a South African sponsored genetics lab to steal stem cells,' Max said, conveniently leaving out the surface memories she had of fucking him along with Jondy in a three-way orgy.
'Eh-it, ehum, it wasn't hypnosis,' Flinch stammered, 'X7-005 was created with a special enzyme in his white blood cells, it, eh, tampers with independent thinking in the brain leaving his victim susceptible to suggestions from him. Then after a few hours the effects wear off b-buuut the victims memory is impaired.'
'Why the hell would Manticore give a soldier that ability?' Alec asked.
'Isn't it obvious,' said Logan, 'they could capture an enemy in the field, and extract any intel they wanted.'
'Or use them like Sway did with Jondy and me, having us break into the lab,' Max added.
'Right,' Logan said, picking up a file off the table and moving the conversation forward, 'that lab was Biovex inc. And the person behind the development of those stem cells was...'
'Professor Henry Twala,' Flinch said, 'who X5-210 met with in San Francisco.'
'Okay, so Max gives me grief about calling you the human-nark list and you can call me 210?' Jondy snapped.
'Relax big sis. Tell us about your meeting with Henry, cos obviously you weren't the middle-man Whitaker was meeting with at the Socialite Club.'
'No. I was there to find out who was going to meet with him. But whoever it was, he cut Whitaker out and he struck his own deal with Sway-'
'So Sway turned up at the club to tie up loose ends,' Alec deduced.
'Right,' Logan interjected, 'by killing Whitaker.'
'But miss trigger happy here did that for him,' Alec pressed.
'THAT'S IT!! You're getting on my nerve!' Jondy said standing up.
'He has a point Jondy,' Max intervened, 'Whitaker could'a told us who he was meeting with.'
'What about this merc, Johan Voster?' Logan asked looking at the South African's file, 'he was with Henry Twala when you met with him in San Francisco, and he tortured you and Max at the Biovex building.'
'His just private security; an expensive gun for hire. Henry Twala has no clue about Manticore or transgenics other than what's in the tabloids. I went in as a security consultant to investigate the extent of his stem cell research.'
'And?' Max asked.
'His much like Logan here. An idealist hoping for a better tomorrow or whatever. He believes that a partnership between South Africa and the United States can get the world moving forward. His not interested in super-soldiers; his goals lie in the medical field, cures for cancer and debilitating diseases.'
'Max,' Logan said, a concerned look on his face all of a sudden. 'If what she said is true we could be looking at the one man that can stop the breeding cults plans.'
'Shit, Max said, 'where is he now?'
'That's what I didn't get a chance to tell you Maxie,' Jondy said, 'I was going after Sway because the professor went missing three days ago, and the eye we used to get into the lab at Biovex belonged to him.'
'Whatta you wanna bet that White has him,' Max said to Logan.
'She just said Sway took him Max,' Alec said.
'Call it a hunch,' Max quipped.
*
Henry Twala opened his eyes. Disorientated, he looked around; and he found himself in what looked like a hospital room. His eye and his leg had been medically seen to and was bandaged. On the steel table next to his bed there was a breakfast of beacon and eggs and a cup of black coffee.
The door opened and the man who had confronted him with the American government agents in South Market street walked in.
'Professor Twala, you remember me? I'm Special Agent White with the C.I.A.' White said showing his badge.
'Where am I Agent White, and what do you want from me?' Twala asked, 'I have diplomatic immunity y-'
'You see that's not going to fly,' White interrupted, 'I don't work directly for the C.I.A. or any other part of the government, I'm part of a; let's call it- a higher echelon. So I have the freedom to say, put a bullet in the head of a foreign diplomat such as yourself, and feel secure in the knowledge that someone else will clean up the mess...'
'Now as you can see we are taking very good care of you, but make no mistake. If you do not cooperate I'll haul your ass out to the firing range and put two slugs in you myself.'