" Mornin'." " Good mornin'." " What the hell are you doin'?" " Exfoliatin'." "Deep-cleanin' pores, sloughin' off dead skin cells, and clarifying' areas of hyperpigmentation." " All before 9am?" " You should give it a try." " Your face could use a little freshening'." " What's wrong with my face?" "Nothin', except it's all clogged up and tired and dull." " It is?" " We live in a dirty world, boo." "It can play havoc with a girl's complexion." " What's in that stuff?" " Milk, oatmeal, rosemary, hibiscus, half an egg, some vitamin A that I caged from Normal's stash when he wasn't lookin', and some horsetail, for microcirculation." "I'm gonna whip you up a batch so you can start the new day with your skin all hydrated and glistening'." "Just got a message from Tinga." "Lydecker's onto her and she needs our help." " You take care of yourself, baby sister." " You too." " Penny Smith." "Is she a friend of yours?" " Somethin' like that." "One down." "Two down." " Daddy." " Just a second." "Hello." "You don't know me but I'm a friend of your wife's." "Go get your books, kiddo." "Do you know where she is?" "Is she all right?" "As far as I know, yeah." "But you have to stop looking for her." " What?" " You don't know about her past," " why she has a bar code on her neck?" " Her tattoo..." "Look, I know how this is gonna sound, but your wife isn't who you think she is." "And her name isn't Penny, it's Tinga." "She's not missing, she's in hiding." "What are you?" "Who is this?" "People are after her - bad people." "You putting that ad out gave them your address." " Now they're gonna be after you." " You think this is a joke?" "The phones are probably tapped." "Just take your son and run now." "You shut up about my son." "Don't call here again." "You ready for school?" " Daddy, who was that?" " Just a wrong number." "Where's your jacket?" "OK, come here, kiddo." "Give me another arm." "Here you go." " Did Miss Forsyth help you do that?" " No, I did it." "Sure you did." "Come on." "Case?" "I've a surprise for you." "You're doing so well in your classes, from now on you're gonna have a special tutor." "Hi, Case." " What happened?" " It shorted out." "Again." "Sounds like you need to replace the servo controller." "Well, I can't exactly call the Pentagon and requisition one, can I?" "Have to improvise." "Maybe pull a controller from one of those robotic arms they use to handle toxic chemicals." "How much will it cost me to get my hands on one of those?" "Since when do you care?" "Problems with the family business." "How much?" "Eight, maybe ten, grand." "Whatever." "No guarantee I can get this contraption to work again, anyway." "Probably just wastin' my time." "Maybe." "But on the off chance you could get back on your feet, you got something better to waste it on?" " Logan!" " Uh..." "I'll be right there!" "Gotta call you back." "Hey." " You all right?" " Considering I just found out I'm an aunt." "Tinga has a kid in Portland." "Her husband put out a missing persons ad on her." "Well, he did that..." "I gotta think that means he doesn't know about her." "I tried to warn him, but he thought I was a crank and hung up on me." "Do you really blame him?" " Guess I have to go to Portland." " You know Lydecker's gonna be all over this." "Which is why I have to get them outta there as soon as possible." "Logan, she's my sister." "This is her family." "She'd do the same for me." "So, when I tell you this is a bad idea, a trap..." "I say thanks for the good advice." "And can you track down an address for me?" "Which story would you like tonight?" "How about Bunky's Rocket?" "I want Mommy's story." " There's a princess in Mommy's stories." " Uh-huh." "Once upon a time, there was a princess who was born far, far away." "She and all her brothers and sisters all lived together in a giant castle, and they loved each other very, very much." "The castle was a bad place." "That's right." "There was a king, and he was evil, and he tried to hurt the children." " So, one day..." " You forgot about the Nomlies in the basement." " I don't think I know that part." " You didn't tell me everybody's name." "The princess had a name?" "What was it?" "Tinga." "Her name isn't Penny, it's Tinga." "Case?" "These guys never learn." "Tinga, it's me." " Did you get any recon?" " Lydecker's set up on the apartment." "Got people on the outside of the building, probably on the inside, too." " Are you strapped?" " I don't do guns." " It'd be easier if we had a third person." " If you're talkin' about Zack... forget it." " I left his ass in snowy Canada." " Let me guess." "Our big brother told you you were crazy for coming back." "Pretty much." "I wish I could give Charlie a heads-up," " but I figure Lydecker has the phones tapped." " We only got one shot at this." " We have to get them both at the same time." " He walks Case to school every morning." "We could do it then." "It's gonna be OK." "I wanted to go back for them, Max... you know, but how could I?" " What if I had led Lydecker to them?" " I know." "I thought they would be safer this way." "You're gonna be together again." "I promise." "I understand there's a development in the search for X5-656?" " A husband and child in play?" " I was plannin' on filling you in at the, uh, briefing next week." " Fill me in now." " We're keepin' our man covered 24/7." " I'm personally taking' point on the boy." " Is the child of any interest to us?" "He's showing signs of accelerated motor control, as well as heightened spatial recognition and advanced logical thinking." " Really?" " I'm as surprised as you." "We've never had those results in lab settings." "Mix of X5 and human DNA has almost exclusively resulted in offspring of spectacular mediocrity." " And those were the successes." " The father, does, uh... he have any idea what's going on?" "One of the others tried to warn him." "X5-452, I think." "We traced the phone call to a payphone in Seattle." ""Hello, Mr Smith." "Your wife's a genetically-engineered soldier escaped from a secret government lab," " and you're in terrible danger."" " He didn't believe her." "Nothing like having the truth work in your favour." "How often does that happen?" "The mother won't be able to stay away for long." "Maternal instinct." "Grab them both, and take 'em back to Manticore." "I wanna meet this little boy." "And those are just the ones we can see." "Not a lot of cover." " Looks like our best shot's the apartment." " Tonight." "There they are." "He's beautiful." "Look how much he's grown." " You gonna have a good day at school?" " Uh-huh." " What are you gonna do?" " Play with Donald." "He's my new teacher." "Your new teacher?" "You have a very gifted son, Mr Smith." "What the hell is he doing here?" " What is he doing with my son?" " Take it easy." " Hi, Donald." " Hi, Case." "You ready?" "All right." "Case, if these pieces were put back together, what shape would they make?" "That one." "Good." "Case... what's the number on my card?" "4-1-2-8-0-0-9-0-8-7-6-9-4-5-7-3." "Can I have another lollipop?" "Sure." "After this, would you like to go to the playground?" "I like to climb the monkey bars." "You know, where I live..." "You can climb the monkey bars all day." " You can?" " Mm-hm." "And you can swim, and you can play, and there's a forest." " It's a very happy place." " Can my mommy be there?" "Would you like that?" "Then I think we can work it out." "We got guys stationed at the east and west exits, the lobby, and the roof." "From 0900 to 1700, two more posing as repairmen in the apartment across the street." "The plumber gag?" "I thought that went out with J Edgar Hoover." "Man loves the classics." " It's a lot of manpower, Max." " Good thing we're a lot of girl power." "None of this would be happening if I had just told Charlie the truth." "How come you didn't?" "I sorta did... the first night we met." "I had never clicked with anyone so fast before." "We just stayed up all night talking." "He told me everything about himself." "I mean, everything." "Somehow I thought maybe he could handle hearing everything about me." " And then I saw that look on his face." " You laughed and told him you were kidding." " I've been there." " And then I told myself that if we ever got serious, I'd tell him." "And then when we did, I told myself if we ever had kids..." "And every time I tried..." "I'd just remember that look on his face... and I couldn't do it." " I feel you." " You ever tell anyone?" "Only cos they kinda figured it out on their own." "Boyfriend?" " Not exactly." " He handled it OK?" "Yeah." "When we get them outta there tonight, I'm gonna tell him everything." "Honey, when you and me take out 20 trained operatives without breaking a sweat," "I think he's gonna come real on his own that there's somethin' special about you." " Problem?" " 10.17 this morning," "Smith called his sister in Phoenix." "I'm thinkin' of takin'some time off and bringin' Case up." "Thought you wanted to stay in Portland in case you heard about Penny." "I really need a break." "Things are a little tense right now." "He's been tipped." "We're bringin' 'em in." "Tonight." " Yes, sir." " Have X5-734 handle the transfer." "Alpha Team, cover the exits." "Bravoes, in the apartment to retrieve the target." "Move out!" "Go!" "Brin." "She's one of them now." " Let's go, everybody." "Move it." " Evacuate now!" "Mommy!" "Hi, baby." "Let's go, people!" "I'll explain later." "Stay close." "Come on." "Trust me." "Smoke grenade." "All teams, this is Control." "There is no fire." "Repeat, there is no fire." "We have unauthorised personnel in the area." "Bravo team, proceed to objective offspring." " Freeze!" " Take cover!" "Move!" "There's men on the stairs." "Is this an invite-only, or can anyone crash?" " Taking the express route?" " I'll lower Charlie down, then come back." "I'll guide you, Max will take your weight." "Hi, honey." "OK, you have to hold on really tight to Mommy now, OK?" " You ever mountain-climbed?" " No." "It's easy." "Meet you at the rendezvous point." "You shouldn't have come here, Max." " What did they do to you?" " Made me better." "They brainwashed you." "They made me remember what I am." "You're not the mission." "Go." "You saved my life once." "Now we're even." "The next time I see you, little sister, I'm bringing you home." "Had a run-in with a friend of ours on the roof tonight." "Brin." "It's on us." "We promised to get her out." " How's the happy couple?" " He'll get over it." " At least they're together again." " For now." "Those two won't do anything but slow her down, mess with her judgment." "If she's smart, she'll tell him to go." "Otherwise, they'll wind up sharing a suite at Manticore." "You're a real family-values guy, aren't you?" "Family isn't an option." "Not for us." "Can't really blame the guy for being freaked out." "Wonder why she never told him." "You make it sound easy." "No." "If you're gonna have a relationship with someone, you have a right to know what you're getting into." "Only, the thing about relationships... is you never know what you're getting yourself into." " Is this OK?" " Yeah." "Shh." "Mommy, tell me a story." "OK, baby." "What do you wanna hear?" "About the princess." "What happened when she ran away from the castle?" "Well, she met her prince... and they fell in love and they had a family." "Did they live happily ever after?" "I don't know, baby." "I hope so." "Thought I heard somebody in here." "Sorry." "Couldn't sleep." "Want a drink?" "Yeah." "Pre-Pulse." "Small batch." "Last bottle." " Don't you want it for a special occasion?" " Guest needs a drink." "In the Cale family, that's occasion enough." "So, how long have you and Max been together?" "Uh, we're not like that." "Because of... what she is?" "Because of a lot of things." "When she first went missing, I, uh..." "I couldn't deal." "Almost sent Case to live with my sister in Phoenix." "But I, uh..." "I figured it out, you know?" "I'm not saying it was easy." "It wasn't the same without Penny." "Tinga." "But then, it's not the same now that she's back." " And it's never gonna be." " You know what I was thinkin'?" "That maybe I ought to just take Case and get outta here." "Well, he's her son, too." "You don't have the right to take him away from her." "She had no right to get me into this." "To get him into this." "Maybe not." "But you're in it." "And you're gonna have to deal with it." "She hasn't changed." "Everything else has, but she's still the same woman you fell in love with... raised a son with." "Don't throw it all away just because some lunatic wants to throw her back in a cage." " Something wrong?" " He has a fever." "Poor baby." " Oh, my God." " What is it?" "What's happening?" "Max?" "He's burning up." "What's goin' on?" "Will someone please tell me what the hell's goin' on?" " It's a message from Lydecker." " What's that supposed to mean?" "Let me see." "It's 14 digits." " Manticore bar codes are only 12." " This is insane." "I'm takin' him to the hospital." " No." "That's what Lydecker wants." " Stay outta this." " Charlie, wait." " We've gotta do something, Penny." "Tinga." " Listen, you son of a..." " Wait!" "That's enough." "It's a phone number." "My guess is, Lydecker's private line." "If you give me a minute, I can scramble the signal, make it untraceable." "We need to bring down his core temperature." "Fill the tub with ice." "They almost look like they're alive." "They're designed to incorporate themselves into the body's cellular machinery, stimulating metabolic activity and enhanced neuromuscular function." "And in this case, I take it that you've programmed them to do the exact opposite?" "Yeah." "I must say, I'm impressed." " That'll be them." " Put it on speaker." " Yes?" " Is this some kind of bioengineered virus?" " Nanotechnology." " My next guess." " I'd say he has about six hours left." " You sick bastard." "I don't wanna see him die any more than you do." " What do you want?" " Tinga." " After what you did to Brin?" " She's quite happy where she is." "Back with the children of the damned?" "Forget it." "It's not your decision to make." "Tell your sister, I'll save her son... when she gives herself up." "We'll get back to you." "In a few hours, the convulsions will start." "They'll call back." "You're not really gonna give up the boy?" "You try somethin' with these kids..." "You'll end up with nothin'." "Besides, it's the mother we're interested in." "From what we can tell from the child's DNA, there's something about her genetic make-up that allows her to pass traits to her offspring." " The goose that laid the golden egg." " Once she's back... we can make a hundred more like him." "Your call." "Make the call." "He's gonna be OK." "I can't lose you again." "This is the only way." "You know Lydecker's not gonna hold up his end of the deal." " You can't trust him." " We have no choice." "You do this and you're on your own." "I won't have anything to do with it." "Big surprise." "She made herself vulnerable and now she's payin' the price." "Don't make the same mistake." "Show me." "I love you." "Please don't let him forget me." "I won't." "I love you." "You too." "Here." "Just put it close to his neck, over the bar code." "Daddy?" "Daddy?" " Let's go." " This isn't as big a tragedy as you think it is." "Whatever you have to tell yourself." "Move in." "Daddy!" "Daddy!" "Delta, this is Control." "What the hell is goin' on?" " Son of a bitch!" " It wasn't me." " Got a thing for dramatic entrances, huh?" " I told you he'd try to pull something'." "I don't think it was Lydecker." "Delta, this is Control." "The boy was not a target." "Under whose authority?" "What did you do?" "Where's Case?" "I knew you couldn't be one of them." "Shut up." "Brin." " Is she alive, sir?" " Her pulse is strong." "X5-656 is gone, sir." "What the hell did you think you were gonna accomplish?" " I wanted a hat trick." " And now we have nothing." "Tinga escaped, and we lost the boy." "Wouldn't want anyone to accuse me of playing it safe." "I'll be sure and include that in my report to the committee." "You do that." "If it wasn't him that double-crossed us, then who?" " Good question." " Only it doesn't matter." "Lydecker, someone else... what difference is there?" "We've been runnin' half our lives." " They just keep comin'." " Taking us down one by one." "I'm not gonna let them do to Tinga what they did to Brin." "We're gonna get her out." " Take care of yourself." " You too." " Good work." " I'm sorry we didn't get them all." "The important thing is you recovered X5-656." "May I ask when she'll be returned to Manticore?" "In due time." "Until then, operational secrecy remains in effect, particularly with regard to Lydecker." " Understood." " Dismissed." "My friends can get you over the border tonight." "You should be able to get work on the east coast with these." "I appreciate everything you've done for us." "I don't know how I can repay you." "You just take care of my nephew." "You know, this whole time," "I been thinkin' she should've told me from the start that she was... different." "Truth is, I probably would've walked away." "Would've been the biggest mistake of my life." "Cos even after everything that's happened," "I wouldn't give up one minute of the time that we spent together." "Not a second." "Where's Mommy?" "Mommy had to go away." "She went back to the castle, didn't she?" "To fight the evil king." "I'll get her back to you." "OK?" "I promise." "Not a second." "Once upon a time, there was a princess who lived in a castle in a faraway land." "She and her brothers and sisters escaped the evil king who held them captive there, and tried to make their way in the world." "It was hard because the king never stopped looking for them." "But the princess was lucky." "She fell in love and had a family, and she was very happy." "But one day, the evil king and his men found her and took her away." "So there was no happily-ever-after, only the happily-ever-now that had been hers for a little while." "And no matter what they did to the princess, nothing could ever take that away from her."