B008IFNJZM EBOK (20 page)

             
“It is almost eight o’clock, are you sure they are still open?”

             
“For what I am paying they will still open until midnight waiting for me to show up.”

             
“Why did you buy one?  Couldn’t you have just rented one?”

             
“When we leave, I will sell it back to them and they stand to make a small financial killing.  It was the only way I could get what I wanted ready in such a short time.”

             
“You never cease to amaze me.  First a pilot and now a truck driver...”

             
“Yes, eighteen speeds and driving on the other side of the road.”

             
“I don’t understand why you need such a thing.”

             
“You’ll see.”

             
Tom went to the dealer with Iolana and she was right, he was open.  Once the deal was made, she was led out into the factory to see her vehicle and take ownership.  It did look like any semi with maybe a shorter cab area and it did have only a single trailer but the trailer had another hitch that could have been added to form an Australian over the road train.  The salesman took them up on a lift and Iolana inspected her modification.  It was a special roof door.  She was satisfied and she got in like a veteran and fired it up.  She drove it back to the housing unit and the other two women were ready to move in.  Tom glanced inside their trailer.

             
Closest to the cab end was a large diesel fuel tank to carry more fuel.  Other than that, the interior seemed normal.  He was impressed to see the mounts for their caskets carried out one at a time and then once inside, secured to the walls by hooks and straps.  Then each girl without help carried their casket to the back vehicle’s trailer holding it over their heads.  Tom was surprised at the power these women had demonstrated.  More brackets were fastened and all their clothes were brought in.  Tom was allowed to help them with their garments.  Tom smiled as the girls set up a cot for him toward the rear of their new quarters.  Tom was also briefed as they worked as to what else would have to be done later after the women called it a day. 

             
Finally, several refrigerators with blood were carried in one at a time and plugged into a special arrangement of outlets.  Tom didn’t realize that the refrigeration units in their black jet were portable.  The girls had all their bases covered and by morning, were back in their resting places and no longer in need of their efficiency apartment.  Tom would stay awake until the rest of the team had their meeting.

***

             
The sun was up as Tom along with the others greeted their team in his sister’s efficiency apartment.  Tom noticed that two of the men were young, big, and muscular.  They were the two men Nathan recruited and they were both former military and now offering themselves as mercenaries.  The other two men Tom didn’t recognize spoke like natives of Australia and he assumed they were their guides.  Nathan stood up and began his opening remarks as he looked around.

             
“Gentlemen, My name is Nathan Basher.  Alongside of me are Elizabeth Hart and her brother Thomas Hart.  We are the ones who have hired you.  I believe you will agree with us that we are paying you top dollar to have you here.  You will earn several months of your normal salaries in just seventeen days.  If we succeed in our adventure, we will double that with a bonus.”

             
All four strangers looked at each other smiling.

             
“You four along with Elizabeth and I are the day shift.  Tom along with three women are the night shift for accomplishing our goal.”

             
One of the Aussies could be heard telling the other that Tom was a lucky bloke.

             
“Actually Tom is really unlucky one here.  Our mission is to find a cure for the disease he has.  We are not going to get into that but it is enough to say for now that we are desperate for a cure and as wild as what we will be telling you about this mission is, it may be his last hope.”

             
Elizabeth chimed in.

             
“Mr. Crosley Pitman and Jerrick Sawyer you to will be our day shift guides.  Mr. Platt Neander and Mr. Jerrick Sawyer you will serving us as our bodyguards during Day shift hours.  Each of these work days will start one hour after sunrise and continue on until one hour after sunset.  That will give us all a time at which we will be able to communicate our accomplishments with the night shift team.  We will be asking you to work every day for the seventeen days without any time off.  That is why each of you was given a list of what we thought you might need to be in the ‘bush’ for that period.  We cannot at this time, see us spending a night in a town even though that might be a possibility.”

             
“Excuse me Mr. Basher.”

             
“Yes Mr. Neander?”

             
“On your list you will have us carry both powerful hand guns and very powerful rifles along with a variety of heavy weapons.  We have no problem in those requirements, but you do realize the calibers in your heavy weapon list could bring down an elephant or a charging rino!  I believe our guides will tell you that ‘down under’ there are no bears, lions or tigers.”

             
“Gentlemen, we can see if we succeed, unfriendly living things  may be smarter and bigger than an Alaskan Bear.”

             
One of the guides raises his hand.

             
“Yes Mr. Sawyer?”

             
“We have been here all our lives.  I and Pittman have never seen the animals of the size the former lieutenant has just mentioned.”

             
“I think when we go farther into this mission, it will make more sense.”

             
“And the night crew what is their role in all this?”

             
“They are our field scouts.  Their information gathered at night will guide us on this quest the next day.  We will also be spending a portion of this quest underground.”

             
Elizabeth looked at the men.

             
“This quest as you call it, may save my brother’s life.  Sure it will be hard for you to believe us and there are times in the past that we had trouble believing it as well, but it is his only hope and his last hope to find a cure.  Now given the money you have been paid for both your silence and service, please go along with what we are about to tell you.  If you think this is something you can’t do, then leave now.”

             
The men looked at each other.  No one got up.  No matter how crazy their story might be, their money was good.  They would humor their bosses for seventeen days.

             
Elizabeth dimmed the lights and showed the video of the autopsy.  After the pictures shown none of the men laughed or balked at their role in this mission.  The short presentation ended with the men seeing for themselves the same pentagon on Tom as on the groundskeeper during his autopsy.  Doctor Elizabeth Hart made a complete case of her brother’s condition right down to the wolf’s DNA analysis supplied from Doctor Deckard and son.

             
“Alright then...  Just exactly what are we searching for in order to cure your brother?”

             
Elizabeth put a slide of a distant picture of Bigfoot.

             
“The bottom line gentlemen...  If he exists, we will have a cure.  If he doesn’t exist, my brother is doomed.”

             
Hahn finally spoke up.

             
“So if your brother’s condition is real, then you believe that this Meeratt or Bigfoot is real and this creature has the knowledge to cure him?”

             
Nathan added his comment.

             
“That’s the bottom line gentlemen.  You are being paid to believe in Bigfoot and werewolves for the next seventeen days starting tomorrow.  I will tell you this.  In the last two weeks we have no doubt that they exist along with…”

             
Nathan stopped himself from saying vampires and changed his words.

             
“… other creatures that before we thought were only myths and fantasy.” 

             
After about an hour and as the briefings continued, Tom went to the trailer to call it a day (night).  There was a ladder built in the side that allowed him to enter through the roof door.  The truck’s engine was running and when he shut the ceiling hatch on the inside, there were stairs leading down to his cot and a small night light.  He grinned that the women did all they could to insure their ‘warm blood’ was made to feel at home. 

             
With each passing day Tom was becoming more of a night person.  Iolana woke him with a gentle nudge.  He opened his eyes to see all three of the women standing in front of his cot wearing pure white robes.  Tom looked at the ladies and their attire.  There was a small red smudge on Chelsea’s lip.  He assumed the women had already eaten.

             
“What is on the schedule for this evening ladies?”

             
“Tonight we begin scouting.  We will need you to open the roof door and then watch over the trailer until we return.”

             
“What are you going to do?”

             
“We are going to try to reach Strathdownie airport and return before sunrise.  It was our final destination in the original plan until we changed it because of this semi.  If there is a male vampire between here and there, we will know.  According to Hadiya’s ancestors, there should be no colony of our kind down here.  There should only be Khu.  If we get close enough to him, we will know.”

             
“But isn’t Strathdownie five hundred miles away?”

             
“About five hundred and fifty from here, maybe a little more...”

             
“And as bats, can you fly that far and return by sunrise?”

             
“We are not going a bats.”

             
“Then what?  Wolves?”

             
“We are going to transform into Needle-Tailed Swifts.”

             
“How fast are they?”

             
“They can travel between one hundred and one hundred and twenty miles an hour.  That is also why we each drank a full pint of Ab negative for energy.”

             
Tom walked over and Hugged Iolana.

             
“Be careful.”

             
“That is why all three of us must fly together to protect each other.”

             
Iolana leaned forward and kissed Tom.

             
“Don’t worry.  We will be alright.”

             
Tom watched the girls but they didn’t transform.

             
Chelsea smiled.

             
“Can you go up and sit on the roof?  We would like a little privacy.”

             
Tom realized that they would have to disrobe.

             
“Oh yes, right away.”

             
Tom went topside and opened the door and sat on the roof.  A few seconds later, three very large birds came through the hatch and headed west.  While the girls were gone, Tom stood guard.  He checked the truck’s fuel and then got on the Internet via a satellite connection to read up on their choice of birds.  The Internet did confirm a top speed estimated as one hundred and five miles an hour but when the women transformed and came up and out, they did seem larger than the pictures indicated.  He picked up their robes and set them gently down on one of the caskets.  He decided to examine more information about his condition as well as other powers the women as vampires might possess.  He took the laptop up to the roof and waited and hoped that the girls would return safely.

***

             
It was four when he heard a large bird coming into view.  It was only one of the Needle-Tailed Swifts.  It flew down through the open roof door.  A moment later, Chelsea appeared combing her hair.

             
“Are the others Okay?”

             
“Yes probably, we split up after the Strathdownie Airport and we each took a different route back.  Mine was the shortest, but we could see a storm coming inland and with the high winds, I would expect the other two shortly.  Iolana flew down closest to the coast and Hadiya took the middle route between me and Iolana.”