Over the next few weeks Liz set into the new routine. She had daily appointments at Psy-Ops for them to monitor her brain waves and continue to try and brainwash her. It still wasn’t working but Liz didn’t let them know that. She knew how to play along and give them the answers they wanted. She kept up the ruse of being the rogue turned good soldier. When she was anything but.
Her days consisted of getting woken up by the guard when he delivered her food tray then a quick trip to clean up and on to Psy-Ops. She would be there until some time in the early afternoon where she would meet up with Alec for training. She still wasn’t allowed to be around most of the rest of the population of the facility so her only human contact was with the guards, the doctors, and Alec. Alec was the only one she was glad to see although she would never tell him that. If she did then his head would swell even bigger than it already was. But it was nice to have some that didn't act like a drone and didn’t like to study her like she was some kind of experiment. Even if she was one. Of course, so was he.
Their training sessions had branched out and didn’t just consist of the sparring they had done the first day. So far they had worked on weapons mostly, Liz familiarizing herself again with an assortment of guns, and knives. They would work on training until the dinner break then for a few more hours until lights out. Alec always stayed with her while she ate, taking his dinner with her so that they could get back to training faster. Usually they went to one of the empty classrooms with their food, which was what they were doing at the moment.
Liz looked down at her perfect nutritionally balanced, vitamin enriched meal that was supposed to be dinner. Liz ate it but it didn’t taste that good. “What I wouldn’t give for a galaxy melt, space fries, and a blood of alien smoothie.”
She looked up to see Alec staring at her with one brow cocked up. “What?”
“What the hell did you eat while you were on the outside?” Alec asked.
Liz smiled at Alec’s confusion. “The couple who took me in owned a restaurant, an alien themed one actually since we lived in Roswell, and they renamed the dishes accordingly.”
“So what you said you wanted was a sandwich, fries, and…?”
“A smoothie is ice cream and milk.” Liz finished. Her mouth was starting to water, she couldn’t believe that she had been stuck in Manticore for almost a month. Of course she felt like it had been a lot longer.
“No wonder you move so slow, after eating all of that crap for so long it had to have weighed you down.” Alec said teasing. This assignment was easier than he thought it would be. As assignments went it didn’t take a lot of effort. After the first morning 435 was complacent and didn’t give him a hard time.
Liz’s brow furrowed, “You can’t tell me that in all of the missions you’ve had and undercover work that I’m sure were part of them that you never took advantage of it and ate junk food. You must have a favorite?”
Alec didn’t answer instead he just looked down and finished up his food. Liz lowered her face so she could look him in the eyes. “Come on, I can see you’re trying to hide it. So what is it?”
Alec looked up at her, cursing that she could read him for some reason and answered, “Pizza.”
Liz’s eyes lit up, “I love pizza especially pepperoni.”
“Pepperoni’s good but I usually get sausage and mushroom.” Alec stated surprised by how easily the conversation was going.
“What else?” Liz prodded but before Alec got a chance to answer a small window on the classroom door opened and they heard someone whisper, “494?”
Recognizing the voice of one of the guards, Alec and Liz looked at the door in annoyance. “What?” Alec barked.
“You got the stuff?” the guard whispered.
“Yeah,” Alec said as he got up and slid a packet of who knows what along with through the window bars and received what looked like a packet of money in return. Liz had no idea how Alec could use money in here, but from the way he seemed to have some kind of deal, there had to be an advantage. She raised an eyebrow at him as he sat back down.
“Working a scam?” She couldn’t resist asking.
“Always have a couple deals going. Keeps things less boring. Some of the guards like the drugs they give us, I don’t why. So we made a deal for them.” Alec explained. “Helps to get me some information that normally I wouldn’t be privy to.”
Liz picked up her med cup that had been put on her tray along with her food. She never took them, just made it look like it then palmed them. Then as soon as she could, she’d flush them. “You have to wonder if they put in more meds in the food.”
“They do.” Alec answered.
“What?” Liz asked somewhat surprised. “What do they put in?”
“Not much because some medicine looses its potency if mixed with something but I do know that birth control is a big thing that is in all of the food.”
“Birth Control? Why would they do that?” Liz asked.
“They can’t always determine the start date of an Xs heat cycle and there have been times when a male has reacted to it before they can isolate her so just in case they make sure that there aren’t any ‘accidents’.” Alec explained.
“Interesting.” Liz stated. Liz had always had problem with her heats and could understand how to the guards would have problems separating two Xs in the throws of heat. Thankfully she had been able to get away from men when she was in heat.
“Now I have a question for you. Actually a few.” Alec said.
“Okay.”
“Around everyone but me you act like the good little soldier…”
“The same as you.” Liz interrupted.
“So if it’s all an act why didn’t you put one on for me the first night I came to your quarters? How did you know I wouldn’t report you?” Alec asked.
“How much do you know about my capture?” Liz asked back.
“Nothing.”
“I know you are probably thinking that I’m avoiding your questions but I’m not, I need to tell you some stuff to explain my actions that night. I was caught because I was arrested for armed robbery out in the middle of nowhere.”
“Armed robbery? What? Did you want junk food that badly that you had to rob a store to get it?”
“No. We didn’t actually rob it but that’s not the point. I had been in jail for almost two days when Lydecker came after me. During my capture I tried to escape but got shot. After I was brought here I was put through a bunch of tests and didn’t see the outside of the infirmary or Psy-Ops for days. So when you showed up in my room that night I was so sick of everything and so exhausted, mentally and physically, that I just snapped and couldn’t put on the act. Then when you didn’t report me, I figured you wouldn’t so I didn’t try to con you.”
“So you were too tired for the charade? Are you sure you’re a transgenic?” Alec joked.
“Laugh all you want but you have no idea of what my life was like okay? Of the stuff I have on my shoulders.” Liz snapped. She then lowered her gaze back to her food and jabbed some with her fork.
Alec could see that he had hit a nerve and he couldn’t believe he was feeling bad for it. Her statement made him curious because whatever she was talking about must have been bad if it had worn her down like that. Not to mention that he of all people knew what a vacation in Psy-Ops could be like. He had spent enough time there. He wasn’t sure what to do or how to fix it but he had to do something. Maybe if he could get her to talk. “So how about we switch subjects and I ask you another question?”
“Once you get started digging you don’t stop do you?” Liz asked.
“Nope.”
“Fine, ask.”
“Do you know why your brain waves are different?” Alec asked.
“How do you know about that? Forget it, I already know.” Liz stated thinking about Alec and his connections. “As for the answer, no. I don’t know why they’re like that.”
Alec could see that her answer wasn’t a truthful one but he didn’t push. He would just have to see what he could do to wear her down. “If you’re finished, let’s go get some more training done.”
Part 7
The two of them trained for a few more hours, mostly reading manuals in a classroom. Liz finished the last section in her manual when she looked at Alec, “Can you tell me what you know about the escape? I know that twelve of us got out but do you know which ones?”
Alec looked up at her pleading eyes, “734, 210, 471, 656, 452, 701, 205, 493, 526, 621, and 599.”
Liz nodded, she knew Alec wouldn’t know their names, only their designations. Their names were Krit, Syl, Zane, Jondy, Max, Tinga, Brin, Ben, Kat, Josh and Zack, they were all her older siblings. “And none of them have been recaptured?”
“Not that I’ve heard. I do know that Lydecker has came close but never actually gotten one. 435….huh Liz?” Alec said correcting himself. Most of the time when they were alone, he did call her by her name but there were times when he still messed up. He liked calling her Liz; it reminded him that she wasn’t under Manticore brainwashing. Just like when she called him Alec it reminded him of the same thing. “Can you tell me why you guys decided to make a run for it that night?” Alec asked curiously. He couldn’t understand why someone especially ones that were as young as the escapees when they left would want to go out into the world. He knew Manticore wasn’t the best but he had a roof over his head.
“We had heard enough from different guards and techs to know there was something outside of Manticore. And we had been curious. Then on that night my sister Max had a bad seizure and they tried to take her away. Zack wouldn’t let that happen so we started to run.” Liz explained.
“But the outside can’t be that great. Not from what I’ve seen. People starving and homeless. Why would you want to do that when you had a clean place to sleep and food to eat?”
“Because you could be in control of your own life. You have to understand a little bit of that or you would suck down those pills they use to brainwash us with no problem.” Liz stated. “But you don’t. And I think it’s because you know there’s something wrong with it.”
“I agree it’s not the best thing.”
“And the outside isn’t as bad as you think. True there are bad parts to living on the outside but the good outweigh them.”
“Like what.”
“I told you a big one, freedom. Being able to do whatever you want without having to worry about being put in solitary for having a single thought that Manticore didn’t put into your head. Not to mention having a normal life with friends, family, people who all around care about you.” Liz said. “I wouldn’t give up the time I spent with my parents or my friends for anything.”
“Tell me about them.”
“What?” Liz asked surprised.
“Tell me about them, maybe I’ll understand then.”
“I guess the best place to start is with the woman who found me, Grandma Claudia. She took me to her son and daughter-in-laws house and they ended up adopting me. She was a great woman. Exactly what I would want to be, independent, adventurous, knew what she wanted.”
“Sounds a lot like you.” Alec said surprised that he had actually spoken what he was thinking.
“Uh, thanks.” Liz said surprised by the compliment. “Like I told you before my parents owned a café. It’s called the Crashdown. Dad ran the restaurant while Mom dealt with most of the suppliers. But they always made time for me. As I got older Mom and I drifted a little but still got along good. She knew I was growing up but Dad kind of ignored it. Could only see me as his little girl.” Liz said before laughing. “You should have seen him when Mom explained my going into heat to him. I thought he was going to lock me in the store room forever.”
Alec laughed a little with her as she went on. “I went to school like everyone else and started working at the cafe when I was 15 along with my friend Maria. Maria, well Maria is kind of hard to describe. Her mom was a free spirited hippie, you know what a hippie is right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well it rubbed off on Maria more than she realizes. She’s very new age. She loves to talk but in a good way. She’s quirky, upbeat, very alive.”
“She sounds interesting.”
“She is. I was closest to her and our friend Alex. Alex was great.” Liz’s voice wavered at the mention of her dear deceased friend. Alec noticed the change in her but said nothing. “Sorry, he’s hard to talk about. Alex was killed last spring.”
“Oh,” Alec said not knowing what to say.
Liz brushed her hands over her eyes brushing away the tears she felt gathering there before continuing. “There were more members of our group, too. Kyle who was my ex-boyfriend but ended up being a much better friend. He was really into Buddhism and drive us nuts with quotes. Then there was Michael. He’s Roswell’s bad boy and Maria’s boyfriend. He was brash and impulsive but fiercely protective.”
“Did you and Maria hang out with just guys?” Alec asked.
“No, there were other girls. Isabel for instance. She was the most popular and beautiful girl in our class. Everyone thought she was cold hearted but she too had another side. She was very caring and giving to the people she considered family, Michael, Alex, and especially her brother Max.” Liz explained, her voice changing pitch again when she said Max’s name.
Alec’s eyebrow raised, “Now things are starting to get interesting. Whose is Max?”
“Max is…was…is my boyfriend.” Liz explained.
“Is he or not?”
“We were together until I got locked up in here. And of course I don’t know now what is going on with him.” ‘He might not even still be on this planet.’ Liz thought to herself. “I guess I didn’t even when we were together.”
“And why is that?”
“Why is what?”
“You said you didn’t know him even when you together.”
“I said that out loud?”
“Yeah, you did.” Alec confirmed. “So answer. And don’t try to wiggle out of it.”
Liz saw determination in his eyes and knew he wasn’t going to give up. So she started carefully. “Max and I have had a very unique relationship that’s really hard to explain. Sometimes we’re together and sometimes we can’t be. When Alex died we weren’t together. The whole group lost it when Alex died. I shut down and Max and I grew farther apart.” That was an understatement but it was the only thing she could think of. “He turned to another girl in our group who he had had a thing with. They got really close and she ended up pregnant.”
“Yeah, I’d say that was close.” Alec stated offhandedly only causing Liz to glare at him, “Sorry.”
“Any way after they found out, Tess ditched town and Max has been looking for her and the baby ever since. Now that I’ve told you the whole story I think I’ll head back to my room. Lights out is in a little while.” Liz said before grabbing some of the manuals and storming out of the room slamming the door behind her. Leaving Alec in her wake.
Part 8
The next morning Liz still felt like crap. She hadn’t slept well, she had been plagued with dreams. Not so much nightmares but just disturbing dreams. Mostly memories but not the good ones. They were of the times she had been hurt by Max, all of the periods he had pushed her away, of him kissing Tess, of the kidnapping by Nasedo, and the destiny message. Then they turned to play over the events of the past year. Her return to Roswell, Future Max’s visit, Alex dying, and the mess that followed. She had woken up in a cold sweat an hour before wakeup call and paced her cell until she had been able to go to the washroom.
She knew the dreams had been triggered by her conversation with Alec. He had been the one to convince her to talk about her life before her capture, drudging up memories. And although she knew it wasn’t his fault exactly, it was easier to blame him for the dreams.
So she wasn’t in the best mood when Alec announced the plans for the day. They were going to work on the obstacle course outside. It was a series of ropes to climb, jumps to make, etc. It was a complicated run but doable. It just took concentration. It was deserted because the others had trained on it during the days before. There were guards on the perimeter fence but they were too far away to count.
“You get one practice run before I time you.” Alec stated. He had noticed in the small amount of time he’d been with her this morning that she was still acting distant. He knew what he had said the previous night had pissed her off. But he knew that if he tried to say something to her it would only make her madder.
“I don’t need the practice, let’s just get it done.” Liz said. She checked to make sure her boots were tied tight before signaling to Alec that she was ready. He gave her the signal to start and she was off. The first hurdle was to crawl under barbwire then up a wall that resembled the practice wall used by rock climbers except this one had smaller hand holds. She moved quickly through each obstacle but obviously not quick enough because Alec yelled out, “Faster 435! Faster!”
Liz knew that he was only calling her by her designation now because they could be being watched but she still didn’t like it. It reminded her about all the lies and secrets she had told the people she cared about. But if she hadn’t lied to them then they would hate her. She had had dreams about how her friends would react to finding out. Maria shrieking and running away from her in terror. Michael aiming his hand at her in preparation to blast her. Isabel saying she knew they should have kept her away. Kyle just staring at her like he didn’t recognize her. But out of all of them, Max’s shook her the worst. There were actually two versions. One of Max yelling that he had opened himself up to her but she couldn’t do it herself. That he couldn’t stand the sight of her and when she reached out to him he recoiled in disgust. The other one took place after Max had found his son and telling her that she was a monster that he didn’t want her around his son.
Her mind was so much on the dreams that she wasn’t concentrating as she descended on a rope. She lost her grip and fell the remaining ten feet to the ground. But despite the feline DNA in her, she did not land on her feet. She landed on her left shoulder. She barely sat up when she felt Alec come up next to her. She couldn’t help but hiss slightly at the pain in her shoulder as he asked, “Are you okay?”
“I think so, but my shoulder.” Liz said glancing over at where he was kneeling next to her. She could see concern in his eyes even if his face said differently.
Alec had freaked when he saw Liz fall like she did. Especially considering he had a feeling it was because she wasn’t concentrating because of him. He looked over the shoulder she was favoring. His medical training told him that since there was no bone protruding and it wasn’t sitting at an odd enough angle that it wasn’t broken. “You popped your shoulder out of place. We need to get you fixed up.”
“No, I can’t go to the infirmary. They’ll report it to Lydecker and he’ll know I messed up. It’ll count against me.” Liz stated. If Lydecker knew she was making a mistake that got her hurt than he might shorten her probation period and she would be terminated.
Alec saw the panic in her eyes. “I didn’t say anything about going to the infirmary. I know what it would mean for you. Don’t worry, we can set it. No one will know besides you and me.”
Liz sighed in relief. Alec would cover for her. “Thank you.”
Alec moved behind her as she sat up on her knees. He pulled up the back of her shirt and moved to grip her arm. She felt his hands moved back over her skin, so soft, gentle and warm. She swallowed hard. And put off the feelings as not having enough physical contact with people. Liz had lacked human contact since being back at Manticore. At least real contact, the doctors didn’t count. She wanted to touch and be touched, to feel whole and needed once again. It made her feel pathetic. He moved up to grip where she needed him to before she jerked forward and reset her shoulder.
“Is it in?” Alec asked. He didn’t know how he had managed the words since his mouth had gone completely dry when his hands had came into contact with her bare skin. He didn’t know why he had decided to place his hands under her shirt instead of over it but figured it was so he could get a better grip. At least that was what he told himself as he felt her warm soft skin under his hands. It wasn’t like he had never touched or been with a woman before, he had met several during the off hours of his missions but Liz’s skin was different.
“Yeah,” She answered. His hands moved down her back and out of her shirt. She then felt him moving the material back over her, pulling her shirt back down. She was surprised that she felt disappointed.
“With our faster healing it should be okay in an hour or so.” Alec stated and saw Liz nod her head. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“I lost my grip and just fell.” Liz explained. She saw Alec give her a look that said he wasn’t buying it.
“It’s because of last night isn’t it?”
Alec’s eyes bored into her that she gave in. “Yeah.”
“You have to put all of that crap behind you and focus on the task at hand or you aren’t going to make it.” Alec stated.
“You’re talking about my life, my friends., people I love.”
“People from what you told me don’t even know you. That know nothing of who you are, only the illusion of what you wanted them to see.”
“I protected them. If they knew about me and Manticore caught me there, they would have been in danger.” Liz argued.
“You protected yourself.” Alec argued back. “You were afraid that if they knew the truth that they would turn away from you and reject you. But from what I could tell, it didn’t protect you from getting hurt in a different way.”
Liz couldn’t believe they were having this conversation. They had never had such a deep conversation before. It felt strange but not completely horrible. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’ve studied human nature and I know what I see. But I have a question for you, is Max worth it after everything? Was it worth all of the lying, and holding back?” Alec asked.
Before Liz could answer, a blonde female X5 came out to them and addressed Alec, “Colonel Lydecker wants you to report to his office immediately, 494. I am supposed to escort 435 back to her quarters.”
Alec nodded, face appearing to be all business.. He turned to Liz, “Training is not over for the day. I will fetch you after I am done. Dismissed.”
“Yes, sir.” Liz muttered before following the other X5 out of the yard thinking about what Alec had said.
Part 9
Alec knew why Lydecker wanted to see him. It had been a month since his current mission had begun and it was time for an oral report. He entered Lydecker's office and stood at attention. “You sent for me sir.”
“That I did. At ease.” Lydecker ordered and Alec relaxed his stance. He glanced at the paperwork in front of him then up at the X5 in front of him, “Report.”
“435 is back up to prime physical condition. 435 has successfully completed lessons in Hand to Hand, and Small Weapons. Exceeds in agility, evasion, and martial arts. Almost completed Field Medicine and Battle Strategy. The assignment objective is going well.”
“I’ve been pleased by your reports I’ve received. You are making excellent progress perhaps even a head of schedule. Is 435 cooperating?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.” Lydecker said more to himself. He knew he had made a wise decision when he had assigned 494 to train 435. He knew that he would be the best for the job. After all he was one of the best in his series. Lydecker was glad he would not have to terminate 435. He did not like having to terminate any of his kids, he considered it a waste. If all was satisfactory with her she would be able to go on assignments soon. Possibly sooner than the time frame he had allotted the mission. But first he would have to see for himself. “Tomorrow I want you both to report to my office at 0800 for evaluation.”
“But sir, there is still two more months in the mission perimeters.”
“I am aware of that. This evaluation is to verify the progress as well as assess whether 435 should be reintroduced to the rest of the base.” Lydecker explained.
“Yes, sir.” Alec said understanding.
“Dismissed.” Lydecker ordered. Alec nodded and headed out of the room. He headed straight to his own quarters then headed towards Liz’s, intent on telling her about the evaluation. He got sidetracked by a few from his former unit who were curious about his assignment. All of the transgenics were still curious about the rogue since she was supposed to be as submissive as the rest of them. Once done talking to them he finally made his way to Liz’s quarters. He nodded to the guard standing watch before he slid the shade away from the small window and peered through it. Inside was Liz, sitting in the middle of her bunk with her eyes closed. But the strange thing was she had her hand over a pair of her pants and she looked to be concentrating. He watched her for a few minutes before he quietly slid the shade back and motioned for the guard to unlock the cell. When he made his way inside, he saw that Liz was now standing and looked like she had shoved the pants under her bed. What had she been up to? He doubted she’d tell him so he didn’t ask. Instead he decided to explain about the meeting with Lydecker.
Liz looked at him as she internally yelled at herself for almost getting caught. Ever since she had found out about the changed brainwaves she had tried to explore possibly having powers. She had tried to heat water, create a little ball of light, and like when Alec walked in, change color of stuff. None of them had worked but she was still going to try. After all they could help her escape. As she looked at Alec she could see he had some news to tell her. “What did Lydecker want?”
“A verbal report on your progress, he’s pleased enough with it to order an evaluation starting with a meeting in his office at 0800 tomorrow.”
“Great.” Liz muttered. “What kind of evaluation?”
“Purely physical, no trips to Psy-Ops. He wants to see if you’re up to his standards and if you are really cooperating like I’ve said. If he is satisfied he mentioned letting you out of solitary and be allowed to mingle with the others. Maybe get the guard off of your door.”
“So no more training with you?” Liz asked.
“Going to miss me huh?” Alec smirked and almost laughed when he saw Liz glare at him.
“You’re full enough of yourself to believe that.” Liz commented.
“Lydecker didn’t say anything about changing the orders about me being your CO. I figure that arrangement will stay the same but we’ll be able to train with others as well if we want to.”
“Good, I’m tired of beating your butt everyday and night.”
“Yeah, sure you do.”
“So do you have any idea what this evaluation is going to consist of?” Liz asked.
“Yeah, I’ve got a good idea. And since we still have most of the day left, we can work on it. We’re stop at dinner so that you can relax tonight.”
Liz was surprised by Alec offering her a night to relax. Although physically she didn’t really need it, it would be nice. “Let’s get started.”
Alec leaned over and knocked on the cell door and told the guard to open up. Once out of the cell the two headed straight to one of the gyms. Then they moved over to some mats much like they did on the first day in there together. Liz was surprised when Alec pulled out a long piece of cloth. “What’s that?”
“One of my old shirts, I’m going to blindfold you with it.”
“Gross. Please say you’ve washed it.”
“Do you want my help with this or not?”
“Of course, sorry.” Liz stated.
“Now that we’re past that, turn around.” Liz complied and Alec quickly tied the torn up shirt around Liz’s eyes so she couldn’t see. He leaned down so he could whisper in her ear, “And by the way, it has been washed.”
Under the blindfold Liz rolled her eyes. Her strong sense of smell had already told her that although the shirt did have traces of Alec’s scent lingering on it. Just his natural scent, no cologne of course and not unpleasant. “So now what? You going to circle around me and pick on me?”
“Close except you and I are going to spar. You have to use other things then your sight to anticipate my attack. If you can do this with ease, you should be able to handle anything Lydecker throws at you, multiple targets, etc. Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” Liz answered.
“Then stand your guard.” Alec stated as he saw Liz tense in fighting stance prepared to attack as well as defend herself. He started to circle her, studying her to see if she was aware of his location. She seemed to be able to sense him but not completely positive of his position. He didn’t give her long to study where he might be before launching his attack. She misinterpreted the distance between them the two collided at her first kick. They both fell to the ground, Alec on top. He did his best to catch himself so that not all of his weight landed on her and accomplished it mostly. He turned to say something to Liz when he noticed how close their faces were. Now that he was aware of it, he could feel her breath on his face. All that he had to do was move half an inch and their lips would be touching or more precisely kissing. A prospect that Alec wasn’t finding unpleasant. He wondered if she would kiss him back or would she throw him off of her and try to kick his ass? But before he could contemplate it more Liz spoke, “Well I guess I messed that up, do I get another chance?”
“Uh, yeah.” Alec said as he scrambled off of her and helped her up. They started to fight again and after a few minutes to adjust but she quickly found her rhythm. She was able to defend most of his attack and landed some of her own blows and kicks. They kept up the exercise for quite some time before moving on to other areas they were sure Lydecker would test her on.
The next morning Liz got up, showered, and ate as usual but when Alec came to fetch her for the days exercises they didn’t head for the training rooms. Instead Liz and Alec reported precisely at 0800 to Lydecker's office. They both entered the office that was decorated in the same sterile way that the rest of Manticore was. Nothing to say what Lydecker was really like, not that Liz really cared. But it was instinct to try and find out as much as possible about the enemy. And Lydecker was definitely the enemy.
Alec and Liz both stood at attention with their faces in a serious expression. Liz tried not to show any emotion as Lydecker thoroughly studied her. He moved his face down so that their eyes were level. “State your designation.”
“X5-435.” Liz said on queue. She knew how to bluff her way through this whole ordeal. If Lydecker wanted a mindless drone then she would give him a mindless drone. Then once she was sent on a mission, she was gone.
“And your current CO and mission?”
“My Commanding Officer is X5-494. My current mission is to train with my CO to prepare for active duty, sir.”
“Good, good. According to 494 you are making excellent progress just as I thought you would.” Lydecker stated.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Hopefully the rest of the escapees will fall back into the fold as easily as you have once they are recaptured. Then perhaps you can be reunited with the rest of your unit for a few missions.”
“Yes, sir. Looking forward to it.” Liz answered inwardly cringing at the thought of her family being dragged back here.
“But first I need to see for myself at how rehabilitated you are.” Lydecker said. “Follow me.”
Alec and Liz fell in step behind Lydecker as he led them outside to the firing range. Once there Liz fired off a clip for every weapon given to her. With both pistols and rifles she was tested for all kinds of different variations and conditions. She hit her mark with complete accuracy every time.
When the weapons testing was done they were led towards the work out rooms. But instead of the large ones, they entered a smaller one although no less well equipped with mats and equipment. Liz saw several other transgenics, X5s & X6s if she wasn’t mistaken, who appeared to waiting for them. She figured they were who she would have to spar against. Something that didn’t completely surprise her. After all it wouldn’t be much of an evaluation if she only fought Alec, after the time spent training with him she knew his fighting style just like he knew hers.
“435 move into position on the center mat.” Lydecker ordered.
Liz did as she was told and tensed her body for the oncoming attack that she knew was coming. She didn’t have long to wait before two of the X6s came at her, one female and one male. She defended their blows. She knew that the only way to win this fight was to get out from the middle of them and not let them trap her. So she aimed her battle strategy to do just that. Using her ability to leap high she launched herself over the head of the closer of the two. She landed so she was facing both of them instead of one on each side.
Liz ducked a high kicked aimed for her head before dropping to the ground, kicking the legs out from under him, then elbowed him in the face, knocking him out. That left one left. She was up on her feet in just enough time to raise her arm and block the hammer kick coming towards her. She wrapped her arm and hand around the leg before twisting it. The hard twist caused the legs owner to fall and land on her other knee. That was when she punched her hard knocking her the rest of the way to ground.
Behind her unbeknownst to Liz, Lydecker signaled another X6 and two X5s to attack. Alec saw it but couldn’t do anything to warn Liz. She must have heard them because she rolled forward in just enough time to miss a blow to her back. She was up again in a few seconds and barely managing to hold her own. Especially when the second X6 from the first attack joined in. If the four attacking Liz had been ordinary soldiers then she could have dispatched them quickly but they had the same abilities as she did so it made it more difficult.
Alec stayed in his position next to Lydecker watching. It took every fiber in him to not jump in and help her. After all two against four was better than one against four. He pushed the feeling of protectiveness off as wanting to protect her because she was under his command. Like any other member of his unit. Another few minutes passed when he heard an order he wasn’t expecting. “Go assist 435.”
“Sir?” Alec asked surprised.
“Go aid 435.” Lydecker ordered again.
“Yes, sir.” Alec moved then into the middle of struggle. During the few moments that he had been talking to Lydecker Liz had managed to knock one of the X5s out and so now they were down to only one X5 and two X6s. Liz looked at Alec and he could see her looking at him in question. He did the best that he could relay to her that he was there to help her not fight her. He could see that she got the point and they moved to take out the other three.
Working together and in sync Liz and Alec fought hard and it wasn’t long before they stood among the passed out bodies lying on the floor with them as the victors above.
“Good work 435 & 494. The two of you work well together.”
“Thank you sir!” They both said.
“The evaluation is completed and the results will be appraised. Dismissed.” Lydecker stated before strolling away.
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