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Post by skybright on Jun 22, 2006 2:31:27 GMT -5
Daws arrived first to Our Lady that evening, having arranged with Padre to have the resistance meet in the basement. Secretly she wondered how many would show up -- having had their first real battle, she was willing to bet that at least some of the members had decided to abandon the dangerous work of fighting Nicholas Tiernan.
Father Rick waved in greeting as she descended the basement stairs. "Evening, Daws." He smiled broadly, "You missed a great homily on Sunday."
"Yeah, but I learned to swim," she replied, pulling out a chair and straddling it backwards, "So I'm not too disappointed."
Father Rick raised an eyebrow. "You swimming? Now that's something I'd almost have paid to see." He glanced towards the stairwell. "Did you call Joey Falco?"
Daws nodded. "Left a message on his phone. Dunno if he'll be here or not." She fell silent for a moment, then added "He was awful shook up about Tuesday, Padre."
"Weren't we all." Father Rick looked tired for a moment -- he'd performed one of the funerals for their casualties that afternoon, and the memories were fresh. "And what do we know?"
Daws shrugged one shoulder. "Precisely nothin'. My contact retired from the Millenium two years ago -- works as a crab fisherman in Alaska now, I guess." She removed her fedora and set it on an empty chair. "And Caddy's not attending; he's going upstate to meet with a friend of his who works at some research school. We're out of ins, as Jack usedta say."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 22, 2006 2:44:43 GMT -5
The resistance members slowly began to trickle in.
Henry arrived early; since taking a weekend trip with the Rosenstein lot, Miriam hadn't called him, and he was feeling a little uneasy. Joey came in looking tired, having been recalled by Tiernan to carry out a few small errands late the night before. Grace was flighty, as usual. Sid, Alex, and Miriam looked solemn as they entered together.
Henry moved toward Miriam, but before he could reach her side, Sid spoke up and effectively launched the meeting.
"So what's happenin'?"
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Post by skybright on Jun 22, 2006 2:54:56 GMT -5
Daws sighed and shook her head. "Well, I guess some of you saw in the paper this mornin' that there's a big scientific conference in town this week. A couple of very big-name scientists are meetin' at the Millenium hotel.
"There's a lot of things on their agenda," She continued, "But we're interested principally in one of 'em -- Franz Huber. He's supposed to be workin' on a virus . . . designed to target and kill mutants."
Worried murmurs swept through the room. Daws held up a hand and added "Nicholas Tiernan wants to take Huber alive -- and make sure that there's a lot of real uncomfortable time between that point and when Huber dies." She looked gravely at her friends.
"We gotta decide what to do about that."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 22, 2006 3:15:54 GMT -5
For a few moments, a rather jaded silence filled the basement.
"Why do anything?" someone spoke up from the back of the room.
Sid shook his head. "I gotta admit, Daws--if it's true, I wouldn't have any sympathy fer the guy. Whadaya wanna do, rescue him so's he can keep on workin' on his killer bug?"
"Letting him be killed would be one small step to proving what he must believe about mutants," Henry retorted dryly.
"He's a living person," Miriam put in, folding her arms. "Sid, you know better than anyone how Tiernan kills. Would you wish that on anyone?"
Before Sid could answer, Grace interrupted, "I dunno, Doc. If he wants to kill us, how could we want to keep him alive?"
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Post by skybright on Jun 22, 2006 3:24:12 GMT -5
Daws cleared her throat. "Look, everyone, I guess I got as good a reason as anyone to worry about guys like Huber." She shrugged broadly, "If they start pickin' people to round up and inject, y'think I'm gonna go on a waitlist -- looking like I do?
"But," She shook her head, "I've looked at it from about every angle there is -- and here's what it comes down to. If I let Nicholas Tiernan torture anyone to death, when I could've stopped it," She shrugged again, looking grim, "Then I deserve whatever kinda death this guy Huber's got cookin' up."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 22, 2006 3:31:31 GMT -5
Murmurs rippled through the crowd--some agreeing, a few dissenting. Then they were quieted by a new voice from the staircase.
"If nothin' else, I can tell you one reason to spare Huber's hide--for a while, anyway."
Jerod Vance sauntered down the steps, giving a cordial nod to the assemblage as he made his way to the front. He gave Daws a predatory grin. "Not big on capital punishment, eh, detective?"
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Post by skybright on Jun 22, 2006 3:36:39 GMT -5
Daws stood and crossed her arms, failing to completely stifle an exasperated grin. "Oh, I guess I could think of a couple likely candidates." She replied lightly.
Padre raised an eyebrow at Vance. "Sounds as if you've had some luck findin' information, Boyo." He said.
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 22, 2006 3:48:33 GMT -5
"I've got my sources," Vance replied coolly, folding his arms. "And as much as I might feel otherwise, they make a pretty good argument for why we won't be any safer if Huber gets bumped off. The guy's got a research partner--and nobody knows who that person is, except him. The way I hear it, Huber's the real brain behind the project, but the odds are good this pal of his would be able to pick up right where he left off."
Vance cast a calculating glance toward Miriam. "Of course, you could always just ask Huber who it is--then kill him and let the Doc here take the answer out of his head."
"Leave Miriam alone!" Alex snapped.
Across the room, Henry raised an eyebrow.
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Post by skybright on Jun 22, 2006 3:55:55 GMT -5
"If that's a joke, it's a lousy excuse f'r one." Daws said coolly, "And if it's you tryin' to get a rise outta us -- then there's better ways we all could be usin' our time.
"If, on the other hand, it's a serious suggestion -- then it's right out for any number of reasons, so let's move on." She tilted her head challengingly.
"It'd be pretty silly of me to assume that you didn't already have some plan, Major." She grinned wryly. "It'd already be downright dumb of me to think that it didn't involve explosions. So what's your suggestion -- or did you really just come down to pass along the intelligence?"
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 22, 2006 4:05:15 GMT -5
Vance chuckled. "Oh, I've got an idea, alright. And for your information, it doesn't involve explosions." He folded his arms and leaned against the wall. "It's simple, really. We just give Huber a reason to kill his own research."
"An' how do we do that?" Sid asked suspiciously.
"With this," Vance replied, and withdrew an innocuous-looking vial of clear fluid from beneath his coat.
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Post by skybright on Jun 22, 2006 4:10:14 GMT -5
Daws peered at the vial quizically, then raised an eyebrow at Vance. "Okay . . . so what is that? Keep in mind," she added quickly, "That you're talkin' to someone who picked up all her science from old National Geographics, okay?"
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 22, 2006 4:19:29 GMT -5
"This," Vance replied with a smirk, "is a little something that went missing from one of the labs Tiernan's got under his thumb--labs that are just as interested in exterminating norms as Huber is in wiping us out. It's their crowning achievement, so far--and it's quite a little gem, too. If the public even knew something like this existed, they'd probably give guys like Huber free reign to commit mutant genocide.
"What it does, boys and girls, is trigger latent mutations in humans."
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Post by skybright on Jun 22, 2006 4:26:57 GMT -5
Gasps and murmurs broke out across the room. Father Rick rested his forehead in one palm, shaking his head. "Still fightin' fire with fire, Boyo . . . " He rumbled in exasperation.
Daws took a step closer, eyeing the seemingly-innocent fluid with a new respect. "You kiddin', Vance?" She said, not really meaning it as a question, "You really think that turnin' Huber into one of us," she frowned, "Will, well -- will turn him into one of us?"
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 22, 2006 4:32:06 GMT -5
"Listen," Vance said, turning serious as he straightened from his slouch against the wall. "The reason Huber's got it in for us is because his son became a mutant. The kid either got the X-gene from him or from the mother--which means there's a fifty-fifty chance Huber's a carrier. And if he is..." Vance nodded. "This stuff will make the gene kick in, no matter how deep in his DNA it's buried."
He paused. "There is just one little catch, though."
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Post by skybright on Jun 22, 2006 4:34:52 GMT -5
Daws shook her head. "Of course there's a catch, Vance -- there's always a catch with you around." She paused expectantly. "So -- what's the catch?"
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 22, 2006 4:38:56 GMT -5
"If Huber doesn't carry a latent mutant gene, and he's just a plain old ordinary human..." Vance shrugged. "This stuff'll kill him. On the other hand, he'll be dead anyway if Nocturne gets ahold of him."
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Post by skybright on Jun 22, 2006 4:47:37 GMT -5
Daws frowned. "You gotta point there, I guess." She said slowly.
"Just a moment!" Padre crossed his muscular arms and scowled. "What you're talking about is downright unconscionable. Kidnapping a man, injecting him against his will, potentially killing him . . ."
"Y'got other ideas, Padre? I'd love hearin' 'em." Daws replied evenly. "Look, we're in the same knot with this Huber guy that we are with Tiernan -- we can't act within the law, 'cause the law doesn't see him doing anything wrong. But we can't do nothin'. We can't let him keep doing what he's doin'. And we can't let Tiernan get to 'im."
Father Rick shook his head stubbornly. "I don't like it."
Daws shrugged. "There's a long list of things I don't like in this world, Padre -- and gettin' killed off by a tailor-made pathogen is right up near the top of it." She turned to Vance.
"All right, Major. You've got my help on it, anyway -- with one little catch of my own."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 22, 2006 4:50:08 GMT -5
Vance arched an eyebrow, folding his arms again. "This oughta be good."
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Post by skybright on Jun 22, 2006 5:03:33 GMT -5
Daws pointed at the vial. "I'll help you collar Franz Huber -- but once we do, I'm sending a sample of his DNA to a friend of mine. It'll take two days, maybe three at the outside. If Huber's a carrier, then you can carry out your little playin'-in-God's-domain plot.
"If he isn't," She shrugged and scowled. "Then it's no go, and we think of somethin' else that doesn't involve Huber dyin'. I meant what I said about standin' by and lettin' someone be tortured to death.
"That's my catch, Vance. Fifty-fifty chance of things goin' like you plan." She shrugged one shoulder. "I'm game for those odds if you are -- but I'm not playin' it any other way."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 22, 2006 5:06:57 GMT -5
"And what do you propose we do with Huber for those two or three days--take him sightseeing?" Vance asked, cynically but without hostility.
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