<Episode 23>

Jack found himself alone in the house with Rachel. A couple of hours ago Dusty told them he was going to someplace to experiment with that device the owl dropped when he fought it the other day. Neither of them couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t do it here. Then again Dusty did things his own way so they didn’t give it a second thought. At the moment the old Drakan was the last thing on his mind. He was standing in her bedroom doorway while Rachel was sitting on her bed. “You sure we should be doing this?”, he asked her.

“It’s not like we’re going to be doing anything wrong,” she told him. She patted part of the bed next to her, “Sit down and relax a bit. I’m not going to hurt you, much,” she smiled.

Jack sat on the bed saying, “I gotta warn you, I can get a little dirty.”

Rachel just kept smiling at him, “I’m sure I can handle what ever you think you can dish out.” She leaned over, turned on the TV and old Nintendo system she found and handed him a controller. “I used to love playing this game when I was younger.”

“Never took you for the wrestling game type,” he told her as the game started. “I’d figured you played Tetris if anything at all.”

“This was the only type of game I could beat my cousins with on a regular basis,” she informed him while getting the options set. “I don’t really care to watch the actual thing but I haven’t found anybody who could give me a hard time at this.”

“That’s because you never went up against me.”

“Let me guess, unofficial block champion.”

“Actually that was Richie,” they choose their characters. “He was the only guy who could beat me at video games.”

“Well you’re up against person number two now so get used to it,” she hit start. Neither of them played this particular game in years so it took couple of moments for them to get back into the swing of things. After several minutes Jack put his left hand in front of her face while he kept pressing buttons with his right. “Vous âne.”

“I told you I get dirty.” Next thing he knew his character was on his back on the mat. “What the hell, you cheated.”

“You’re the one who put your in my face. And I didn’t cheat.”

“You did too.” He put both hands on the controller and eventually got her character in a submission move, “Give up.”

“In your dreams,” she told him. They kept going until the time limit ran out. Rachel put the controller down and looked at him with a big ol’ grin on her face, “I told you that would be fun. I almost had you there.”

“You keep telling yourself that.”

“Five more minutes and I would have beat you.”

“No you wouldn’t.”

“Yes I would’ve.”

They stared at each other for a moment before both of them said, “Rematch.”

Before they could get another game going the phone by her rang. Before he could say anything she answered it, “Hi Dusty.”

How the hell…, “Are you psychic now?”

She held up a hand and listen to the phone, “You want us where? I think I know where that is. No, you don’t have to come and get us. See you in a bit, bye.”

“Does he need me for a mule again? And for that matter how in the hell did you know that was him to begin with.”

“No,” she told him, “he wants to show us something. And Dusty told me that he’s the only who now how to call into that special build of his, so it couldn’t be anybody but him.”

“Am I the only one who thinks he has way too much free time?”

“Yes you are,” she said as she patted his knee and got up. “We better get going. Whatever he wanted to show us sounded important.”

“Does this have anything to do with that thing the owl dropped?”, she nodded as he followed her out the door. “Did he tell you what that thing was? Dusty kept changing the subject when I asked him about it.”

“You too?”, she turned to him looking confused. “That’s weird.”

Jack put on his jacket and handed her a helmet, “Here comes that bad feeling again.”

***

They found Dusty where he said he was going to be, an old side street under a bridge. Dusty was sitting on Bessie’s back bumper throwing a rock up in the air and catching it. Rachel removed her helmet, got off the KR-1000 and walked over to him, Jack soon stood beside her. “Hey little lady, Jack,” he said to them. “Did you have any trouble finding the place?”

“No,” she told him, “Jack knew where the place was.”

“Is that so,” Dusty gave him a quizzical look.

“Had a few friends race their cars here back in high school.” She wouldn’t have been surprised he was in few of them himself. The look on Dusty face told her he had the same thought. “So what’s with the meet up in the middle of nowhere?”

“Y’all probably figured out it had something to do with this do dad,” he reached into the truck bed for the device.

“We had a hunch,” she told him. “So what is it?”

Dusty turned it on and showed them the screen. There was a small green dot beeping a little off the center of the screen. He pointed to the dot, “That’s Jack.”

“What?,” he took the device from him. She could see from her angle that the dot actually got closer to the center.

“Friedman heard rumors about this thing back at World Inc.,” he told them. “I wanted to make sure that this thing couldn’t send a signal back to Anderson. Last thing any of us need is for him to find out where you are.”

“We appreciate the concern Dusty,” she said. “But you could have told us about this before now.”

“I wanted to make sure first before I said anything.”

“So the foils not any good now?”, Jack said pointing to his head.

“The foil kept Anderson men from finding us for this long,” she told him. “This has to be using a stronger receiver.”

“Friedman heard that too,” Dusty confirmed.

“Do you know what kind of range it ha?”

“I was about to find out. Jack, do me a favor and walk away until we tell you to stop.” Jack said nothing as he handed her the device and walked away. Rachel and Dusty watched as the dot get further away from the center of the screen.

“Jack stop right there,” she called out when it disappeared completely from the screen. “How far do you think that is?”

“I don’t like to eyeball,” he said. Dusty reached into his pocket and pulled out a tape measure.” Hold that if you don’t mind.” She took hold of the tab and walked toward Jack. When he reached him he took a look and called out, “Little over twenty feet.”

“Plenty of space to get ready for something,” Jack said.

“And Mitchell trained his men to be able to do just that,” she added.

“Why couldn’t we do this at your place?”, Jack asked. “I got to sit down.”

“Cause the jammers I designed mess that thing up pretty good,” Dusty said winding up the tape measure. “But son, I’m afraid it gets a little worse.”

“What now?”, he asked wearily.

“One of the reason I took so long in calling you was I took a bit of a Sunday drive around town. I spotted a few things that looked like that contraption attached to various things. I’d bet dollars to donuts those are sending a signal back to World Inc.”

Jack turned away saying, “Son of a bitch.”

“Well, at least you don’t have to worry about them at Dusty place,” she said. It was the only thing she could say at the moment.

Dusty added, “Yeah son, you two got a safe haven as long as you need it.”

“Thanks Dusty,” he said softly before walking off. He punched one of the pillars in frustration before leaning on it. This was the last thing he needed to find out about. Now he had to worry about going into the city and giving his position away to World Inc.

“I think we better leave him alone for a bit,” Dusty whispered to her. “Give him some time to get his head around it. Come on, I’ll give you a lift back.”

“No, I better stay with him,” Rachel said while keeping her eyes on Jack. “I don’t want him to start thinking he’s alone in all of this.” Dusty nodded and squeezed her shoulder before he left. She walked up to him and put an arm around his shoulders. He looked like he appreciated it. “We’ll figure something out, just wait and see.”

After a moment he said, “We lasted this long, right?”

She smiled, “Yeah, we just have to be a little more careful that’s all.”

***

Anderson walked into his office surprised to find a person already inside. Logan stood by the window, back to the door. Anderson closed the door and waited. He doubted that the other man wanted to kill him. If he did he wouldn’t be breathing at this particular moment. But he kept his guard up never the less. The seer said no human could stop him, a Drakan with a vendetta was an entirely different matter. “Mr. Logan, this is quite the surprise.”

“You’re guarded,” he said turning around slightly. “I don’t blame you. How fast do you think your troops would get here if I did anything to you? Would you even be breathing?”

He tried to keep calm, but this line of questions was making him uneasy. “I’m sure that would depend on the mood you were in at the time.”

Logan laughed, “You’re right.”

He had a little better time keeping his annoyance under control, “I’m only assuming the job is done at this point. That is the only reason I can think to why you are here.”

“No, I’m still tracking the Killer down. But I did have a few questions in need of answers.”

“I’ll do my best to answer them,” Anderson said. “To a certain extent of course.”

“Fair enough,” Logan agreed. “When I observed the battle you set up there was a girl with him. Was it that Haily I was told about?”

“More than likely. All they have is each other at the moment. I doubt anybody would be helping them.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Logan chuckled.

“Somebody else was with them?” Who would willing help two fugitives wanted by the United States government?

Logan nodded, “A Drakan.”

To say he was shocked would have been an understatement, “On of us is helping Davidson? Are you sure?”

Logan finally turned to his direction and faced him, “I wouldn’t confuse a human for one of us. My question is why?”

“I would like to know the answer to that myself Mr. Logan.” He thought it over, “Could it have been one of the rebels?”

“I doubt it, I’ve been keeping an ear on various things. I don’t think an alliance between the rebels and the Drakan Killer could have been kept quiet for this long.” Anderson knew he was right. His sources would have indicated such a union before now.

But still this displeased him to a certain extent, “Then we have a man who thinks outside the norm. Do you know who this person is?”

“I have an idea who.”

“I’ll send out a team to take care of this traitor then.” He reached for the phone but Logan put his cane on top of it. Anderson raised an eyebrow in question despite the other man’s blindness.

“I wouldn’t trouble them over this,” he said.

“He needs to be taught a lesson.”

“I’ll take care of this… heh… ‘traitor’ as you put it. Free of charge too.”

“Really? That doesn’t sound like something you would ever offer. Not in the years I’ve known you at any point.”

“Perhaps,” Logan chuckled, “but I could use the exercise.”

“If you wish. So why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

“Didn’t think it was that important,” Logan answered as he left the office. “I’ll contact you in two days to let you know if I found him or not.” That was the problem with assassins, particularly that one. Even if he sent a team to correct the attitude he’d be down a team. Then he would have an assassin looking for answers. Perhaps he should start looking for some human mercenaries to deal with.

***

There were time she often wondered how Chris stayed awake during these cell meetings. Each one took a turn giving an update of their cell’s situation. Usually it was the same thing every time. New members to the cause, had to find a new source for supplies. The latest skirmish with Anderson’s army. There were a few times she found herself nodding off, like now. However they caught her this time. “Are we boring you Melissa?”, Lance asked with a humorous glint in his eye.

She was still embarrassed, “No… I was… going over something in my head.”

“Deep in thought huh?”, said a balding man named Jerry who started grinning. “Christopher was often deep in thought during these meetings.”

“He was so deep one time,” Lance added, “it sounded a whole lot like he was snoring.” He, Jerry and a few of the other started laughing. She should be glad they were comfortable enough around her now to joke around a bit. But she was still embarrassed and some of the others were annoyed at the situation. Lance looked at a couple of them and sighed, “Some people have no sense of humor.”

“I don’t see how this is the time for humor,” Drake said. It was hard to miss him in any situation. He was the only person Melissa knew who had slicked back hair. And from the occasional feeling she got he was very opposed to her being here. While nobody said anything she knew he was one of the one of the few who wanted to vote against her taking Chris’s spot. “Your brother would know that.”

Melissa eyes narrowed slightly in annoyance, “That’s an interesting point of view Drake. Because this seem like the perfect situation where he would try to lighten the mood.”

“He did too,” Jerry put in. “Hell I remember that one time he called Drake Dracula for an entire meeting.” The other started laughing again while Drake was getting madder and madder.

“Alright people,” Melissa said to calm them down. It took a few moments but things finally settled down. Lance gave her a small smile. They were finally starting to listen to her without him having to repeat it. That was one hurdle she didn’t have to worry about for awhile now. Time to get back to business, “My cell discovered a potential lead on a World Inc. supply convoy.”

“What are they carrying?” Drake asked.

“Medical supplies,” she told them, “very specific medical supplies.”

“Anything we can use?”, Rhonda asked, she was a woman who had her red hair in ponytail.

“There are a few things they’re carrying that we need. So I’m making the convoy a top priority.”

“So we stop the convoy in route,” Drake said. “My cell can do that in our sleep.”

“I’m sure you can, but Anderson bumped up security on just about everything lately. I think it be better if we followed the convoy to its destination.”

“If he has extra guards on the convoy he’ll definitely going to have extra at where ever it’s going,” Drake countered.

“I’m aware of that,” Melissa told him. “But like I said there’s suppose to be very specific equipment.”

Lance asked, “What’s so special about this equipment?”

“Friedman was able to get a quick look at a partial inventory.” She took a breath, hesitant to tell them this. “He recognized several pieces if equipment that was used to turn Davidson into what he is now.” Their reaction was exactly what she thought it was going to be.

“He’s making another Drakan Killer,” Jerry started to sweat.

“We don’t know for sure,” she admitted. “That’s why I want to find out one way or another.”

“We have to take out the convoy,” Drake interrupted, “We make sure they don’t get those parts.”

“He’ll just ship more,” Jerry countered, “and we may not find out about it next time. Besides we don’t know if he’s building another one of these things.”

“It’s possible they’re doing a partial delivery,” Rhonda added. “That equipment could have already be delivered by the time we intercept the trucks.”

“Either way we should we should stop the convoy. Take what we need and get rid of the rest of it.”

“And what if he’s has another one on the way?” Melissa asked him. “We need to find out sure one if he is or not. The last thing we need is another Drakan Killer out there. Especially one we know is working for Anderson.”

Drake stood up and leaned foreword, “Your brother would know that we should take out the trucks.”

Melissa slowly rose up and started him right in the eyes. She didn’t even try to hide the anger as she spoke to him, “Don’t presume to tell me what my brother would or would not have done. Even if he would have sent a team to stop the convoy I wouldn’t, because I think finding out if Anderson is changing somebody else into a killing machine is more important.” She looked around to the others, “I don’t know what most of you expected when you voted for me to take over his position as leader. If you thought I was just going to sit her, nod when I was suppose to, repeat what ever you decided and look pretty then I suggest you start rethinking things. You made me the leader and that’s exactly what I plan on doing, lead to the best of my abilities. Now, if any of you have a problem with that then you know were the door is.” She sat back down and waited. This was coming for a long time. She prayed this wouldn’t cause the cells to split permanently.

Drake snorted and headed for the door. She didn’t need her gift to feel his confusion as he noticed nobody else was joining him. He looked at the others and got a disgusted look on his face. He slammed the door behind him and every one was quiet. She wanted to relax but couldn’t. It could have been worse, but the absence of Drake’s cell was going to hurt. Lance looked over to her and said, “I knew you had it in you kid.” That made her feel a little better. But know she was glad she was keeping the plan about Davidson from them now. God only know how they would react to that.

***

Jack sat on the wooden steps of the house just staring out into space. When he was younger he heard the phrase “a prison with no walls”. Back then he had no idea what that meant, now he had a pretty good idea. Why was it when things were looking up something came along to bring everything back down again? God, Richie was the lucky one. Dusty came out of the house and took a seat on an old folding chair across from him. He motioned the jacket he was still wearing, “Didn’t think it was that cold out here.”

“I didn’t notice,” sad part is it was true.

“I can see why,” Dusty said staring out at the horizon. “You got a lot on your mind. That’s the thing about the mind though, you put too much on it and it’ll start reacting in different ways. Like those nightmares of yours for example.”

“I’ve been having nightmares for as long as I can remember,” he replied getting frustrated. He was tired of talking about something so stupid.

“Yeah, but usually people go back sleep when they have one, not stay up for the rest of the night like somebody I know. That’s gotta be coming from someplace.”

“Dusty,” he said sounding tired, not really in the mood to fight, “do us both a favor and stay out of my head.”

“Alright son, what ever you say. But I’m here if you ever need an ear.”

Jack gave him a small smile, “Bad enough I got Rachel telling me that every chance she gets.” Dusty chuckled and they were quiet for a few minutes. To break the silence he asked, “What exactly is Rachel fixing in there any way?”

Dusty slapped his knee, “Wouldn’t you know it, she told me and I’ve done forgot.” He leaned foreword and shouted, “Hey Rachel, what did you say you were making again?”

She came to the door smiling, “My aunt Jambalaya. Trust me you’re going to love it.”

Jack got a big grin on his face, “Ah, that slop you forced down my throat back at World Inc.”

Rachel stopped smiling, “It’s not slop. God I swear you’re impossible,” and she walked back into the house. He had to laugh out loud.

Dusty started shaking his head, “Sometimes you two remind me of an old married couple, you know that?” Jack just shrugged. “Of course most of the time you two remind me of a couple who don’t realize they’re heading that way.”

“You’re implying something again Dusty.”

“This old man ain’t implying anything,” he said trying to sound innocent. “I’m just sating one of those wrong observations you said I was making.” He opened his mouth to say something but the Drakan cut him off, “I know, I know you’re just,” he made quote mark with his fingers, “friends.” Jack waved him off and started to get up when Rachel reappeared. She looked right at him with no expression on her face and had something behind her back.

“Dusty she’s gonna beat me with something.”

“Well if she does you had it coming,” Dusty told him.

“I probably should for that slop remark.” Rachel knelt down and revealed the cupcake she had behind her back. There was a single candle on top of it. “I shouldn’t give you this either.” She smiled at him, “Happy birthday Jack.” She handed him the cupcake and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

Jack found himself blushing and speechless, “You shouldn’t…”

“Yes I should have,” she said matter of factly. “You obviously weren’t going to tell anybody. Fortunately I remembered the date from your file.”

“Now you’re gonna have to find out when hers is,” Dusty said, “seeing how you’re ‘friends’ and all.”

“He already missed it,” she told him.

“What? Why didn’t you say anything?”, Jack asked her.

“You were getting your upgrade after the Allen thing. It’s no big deal.” She started to go back into the house.

“Wait,” he blew out the candle and got to his feet. He broke the cupcake in half and handed her one of the pieces. “A very belated happy birthday Rachel.” He leaned in and returned the peck on the cheek. Both of them kind of smiled as she went back into the house.

“Yup,” Dusty said after a moment, “those observations of mine are waaay off.”

“Would you shut it,” he snapped.

“I was hoping the three of you would be here,” A new voice said. Jack and Dusty both turned to the man with the sunglasses, trench coat and a cane who was a few yards away from the house. Where the hell did he come from? He wasn’t there a second ago.

“You know this guy?”, he asked Dusty.

“Never saw him before today,” He replied

“I was afraid you were gonna say that,” Jack pulled the foil lined hood over his head just in case.

“You know,” the man said, “I’m not surprised to find you here with all this scrape Davidson. Maybe Anderson can use the stuff here to salvage whatever they used to make you the Drakan Killer.”

That was all he needed to hear. Jack raised his left arm across his chest, the belt appeared around his waist and he swung his arm to the side and brought his right arm to his face. “Henshin!”, he shouted as he slammed his right hand on top of the belt. Jack ran in after the armor formed around him. The man didn’t change form for some reason. He threw a straight punch that the other man caught with no problem, then he planted a foot right into his gut that floored him. “What the hell?” The old man folded up his cane and put it into his coat before changing form to a red bat. Jack got to his feet and started throwing punches. The bat’s ears wiggled slightly as it dodged every blow before landing an open palm shot to his chest armor that knocked him back, “Damn it.”

“Is it a little early to say you’re disappointing me at the moment?”, the bat asked. Jack tried to kick its’ leg out from under him, but the bat flew up with the leather like wings under it’s arms. He raced for his bike and snapped the staff to its full length. The bat landed and Jack slowly approached it. What got him was that it looked like the bat was actually nodding in approval. Jack circled the Drakan before attacking from behind. The bat blocked the shot but Jack kicked him in the side with his right foot. It stumbled and he swung the other end of the staff at its’ head. The Drakan ducked and swept out it’s leg. Jack jumped over it and kicked his leg at him that it caught and the bat swung him into a stack of cars. He dropped the staff from the impact while the bat backed up from the noise as the cars fell around him. Jack slowly got to his feet shaking the cobwebs out of his head and charged the red Drakan. He connected with a right hook that staggered the back. He kept throwing punches until the bat caught one and flipped him to the ground. Keeping its’ grip on his arm the bat put a foot on his head then started pulling. Jack was screaming in pain as a blue bobcat tackled the bat to the ground.

“Jack, get out of here!”, Dusty cried out as he tried to hold the other Drakan to the ground. The bat quickly knocked the old blue Drakan off. Before either of them knew it Dusty was pinned against an old Ford Mercury.

“I was going to save you for last,” the bat said. “But if you’re in such a hurry to die…”, it raised it’s hand for a killing blow. Jack quickly got up and threw the bat off of Dusty. He speared the Drakan with a tackle and drove him into a dumpster. The bat wasn’t stunned long enough as it punched his way out.

***

Rachel ran up to Dusty as he returned to his human form. “Doesn’t anybody listen to me when I tell them to get out of here?” She ignored him and kept her attention to the fight Jack was in. The bat threw Jack into the side of a trailer when she noticed it. The bat’s ears moved as it backed away from noise. Jack recovered and waited a bit to attack again. He was being blocked t every turn, but she had the answer. Rachel picked up a pipe and Dusty asked, “What are you planning on doing?”

“I’m going to make a little music,” she answered.

Dusty grinned as he picked up a pipe as well, “I see what your getting at little lady.” Both of them ran off in different directions.

***

Jack landed near the staff, picked it up and swung with all he had. The Drakan caught it mid swing and threw him again. He skidded across the ground and slowly got to a knee. “Oy,” he muttered between breaths. Then the banging started to the left of them. The bat looked in that direction as another banging sound started on the right. He grinned behind the helmet, sometimes it was good to have someone to watch your back. Jack started running and pounded his armored forearm against the cars he passed. The bat tried to figure out where the new noises was coming from but all three were moving. It waked into something, it felt like a metal barrel. The Drakan starting pounding it to counter act the banging. In moments it hearing was centered and he could focus on each sound. There was a click above him and the sound of something spinning. It turned itself toward the sound as Jack jumped off a trailer and reared his right fist back. The bat caught him around the wrist with both hands. Jack landed on his left foot as he kicked out with his right. The bat flew backwards and exploded a moment later.

Jack deactivated the armor and fell to his knees clutching his arm. He wasn’t expecting the bat to hang on as he kicked it. Damn thing felt like it was going to pull his arm off and take it with him. Rachel and Dusty came into view “Jack is anything broken?”, she asked looking at his arm.

“No,” he grunted as Dusty checked his arm out. “But remind me never to do that again.”

“No worry there son.” To Rachel he said, “Come on, let get him to the operating room. Nothing’s wrong but I still want to check him out.”

***

Melissa was in Emily’s room with Lance. Nobody but the three of them knew what was in that letter Emily gave her. All of them knew they were past the point of no return with her decision. “Lance,” she started, “you don’t have to be here when he comes, if he comes that is. There’s going to be a lot of trouble when the others find out. It’s best to keep yourself out of the storm as much as possible.”

“Then you shouldn’t have shown me the letter,” he said. “Besides, somebody has to make sure you don’t get yourself killed.”

Melissa nodded, God she was glad to have him as a friend. “Friedman told me he knows where’s he’s at. I’m going to send Nathan along to make the offer. After that it’s going to be up to Davidson if he takes it or not.” She looked at Emily who nodded once, but she had that look on her face saying she knew he was going to take it. She started to hate that look. “As you know I’m keeping the other cells in the dark about this. I’m trusting you guys to keep this quiet for as long as we can.”

“Of course kid.”

Emily said, “No one will her this from me child.”

“Good,” she hung her shoulders. “God help us all if I made the wrong choice.”