Heart of Stone (10 page)

Tyra shook her head at the bizarreness
of it all and tried to find some humour in the situation. “So
teething at 50, you’d better hope I don’t get grumpy like babies do
with it.”

Tyra’s humour did nothing to lessen
Simon’s guilt. “Hopefully it won’t cause you any pain but we might
need to blend your food for several weeks if you end up losing your
molars. Other changes in your organs will probably be slower but I
think we’d better brief Yan and let him monitor you.”

Tyra sighed.
Not reassuring
! “So how
come Oscar had no reaction to your essence?”

“
Oscar’s too young to have
acquired any age related wear and tear to his body. My essence only
had to stop him from dying from the cold but he’ll benefit from it
in many ways as he grows. Although I don’t know how we’ll explain
to Sally that he doesn’t need vaccinations, we might just let her
give them to him anyway.”

George coughed meaningfully to
interrupt them. “If Tyra’s going to be alright we should have
breakfast. That bloke from the security training company should be
turning up shortly”.

Tyra looked startled. “Already? I
haven’t had a chance to memorise that damn rule book
yet”.

“
Don’t sweat it! Major John
Samuels, who’s recently retired from the SAS, is going to take us
through some of the practical stuff. Some of the close quarter
disarmament techniques, how to restrain using handcuffs and the
up-to-date firearm procedures that the new regulations now require.
George has to do additional training to renew his current license
anyway and I thought it wouldn’t hurt if I made myself a little bit
more legal so the Major’s going to train the three of us while he’s
here for the next few days.”

George laughed. “You
legal!”

Simon shrugged his shoulders. “The
world’s getting more and more bureaucratic and legalistic. It’s
getting harder and harder to stay under everyone’s radar.
Especially with the enemy having strategically infiltrated
themselves all over the place.” Simon reached down to a bag he had
stashed under the bed and pulled out some tops. “Here, put these on
while Samuels is here. It’s our new cover. I’m still wading through
all the paperwork to finalise it.”

Tyra looked at the branding and her
face warmed with pleasure. “J.G. Security Inc. As in Jack
Goodwin?”

Simon was relieved at her happiness,
he hadn’t been sure what she’d think of the idea. “I thought it
might be a nice way to remember Jack. Officially he’ll be the
founder of our small company. I’m making your mum the official CEO
but the funding for the business will come from me.”

Tyra was overjoyed but puzzled “But
what about your other job?”

“
You’ve accepted me despite
it and change is the nature of the universe. Mind you I’m not
saying I’m going to be pure as the driven snow or anything like
that. I still need to follow my path. There will be times that I
will need to be an initiatrix for others”

“
However you are is fine by
me. Don’t go and change yourself on my account.”

“
And that is exactly why
I’m going to fully mate you Tyra Goodwin.”

George quietly left the room and left
them to it. Maybe one day he’d find someone who would accept him
like that too.

Major Samuels hadn’t been as
intimidating as Tyra feared he might have been. A veteran of the
war in Afghanistan he had a few scars on his face from the time
he’d narrowly escaped being blown up and had survived with only the
shrapnel wounds to show for it. Some of his army mates hadn’t been
so lucky. His stories were riveting but some of it he said he had
to edit as some of the more black ops would remain hush for at
least thirty years, maybe more. The main point was he had
survived.

He taught Tyra, George and Simon
everything from how to recognise suspect terrorist activity, how to
keep their weapons out of enemy hands during hand to hand and how
to knee the baddies in the balls. The more tedious training was on
how to write up events when they had to use restraints or firearms
to control a situation, how to be respectful to clients including
the approved way to walk with them to cars and restaurant tables,
how to assess a location for possible threats, objects that could
be potential weapons as well as escape routes and finally how to
talk down a violent or suicidal suspect.

At the end of the Major’s stay, they’d
all travelled to an approved shooting range where they could
legally practise with their weapons. After that it was up to them
to complete their memorisation of the regulations. The Major said
he’d return when they were ready to sit the test for that, Simon
would only need to give him a few days’ notice and he’d be happy to
fly back down.

On top of all this Simon had been
relentless in insisting that she continue with all her other
practice. Fortunately, Yan had had her ongoing physical changes
explained to him by Simon. Yan and Simon had pooled their
collective medical and herbal knowledge and decided to supplement
her diet with some adaptogen herbs the Russians had been
experimenting with. These helped her body adapt to its changes and
lessened her symptoms. Some algae type powder she was having in
fruit juice was helping her body with its detox as well. The
payback was that Yan was about to beef up her Silat training. Up
until now they’d only covered multi-level fighting stances, basic
footwork called langkah and a set of upper body movements that Yan
said would make sense when she started training with
weapons.

Yan and the Major were waiting for her
when she got to the club’s gym where they’d agreed to meet. The
Major made at least two of Yan.

Yan proceeded to demonstrate why some
of the most commonly used punches and kicks often failed against a
larger opponent and left the defender vulnerable. Then he
demonstrated alternatives and how to break various holds. “Once you
have your opponent on the defensive he has less time to think up
his next offensive strategy. Always try to take the first move,
take them by surprise. Startle them if you can by shouting at them.
Confuse them with speed and most of all use whatever weapon you can
quickly grab or improvise. Even dirt from the ground that can be
thrown in their face. That’s enough of the demo. Major, fancy a bit
of sparring?”

The Major’s mouth quirked in a smile.
“It would be a pleasure. Prepare to have your balls tweaked Monkey
Man”.

Yan laughed at the Major’s attempt to
goad him and get him off-guard. “Funnily enough my nickname was
orangutang when I was a kid. Let’s see how the monkey fares against
the tiger shall we?” Yan wasted no time and came up from a crouch
with a side of hand hit aimed at the Major’s jaw.

The Major saw it coming and simply
fell and rolled out of the way then came up behind Yan grabbing him
by both arms “Now what you going to do little man?”

Yan kicked down onto the Major’s shin
and broke free from his grip spinning around to connect gently with
the Major’s crotch.

The Major swore “bloody hell” and
lunged for Yan who evaded. The Major had to go with the lunge and
roll to recover to an upright position. He bowed to Yan “most
impressive! I would be interested in spending time with you to
study your techniques when I return.”

Yan bowed. “I’d be honoured, I’m sure
there is much you can teach me too.”

Yan locked up the gym for the night
then walked with them to the entrance. George was waiting for Tyra.
So was Steven, in his usual spot watching from across the
street.

The Major frowned, sensing Tyra’s fear
“Who’s the hood?”

George was impressed that the Major
had quickly assessed the threat but was cautious. “Just a local
wheeler and dealer. Steven Drake, not a guy we want to mess with if
we can avoid it.”

The Major collected his rent-a-car
from the pub and headed out. Underway he made a call on his hands
free.

A friendly voice greeted him on the
speaker. “What can I do for you John?”

“
Been staying in an
interesting town down South.”

“
How
interesting?”

“
A couple of things have my
skin prickling, probably nothing but I wondered if you had anything
on a couple of the characters”.

“
You know I’ll be happy to
John. If I’d we’d all listened to your hunches when we were back in
Kandahar I wouldn’t now be in a wheelchair doing this desk
job.”

The Major winced. He’d have to live
with his decision to follow the orders that time and the lives that
were irrevocably affected by his choice. He’d told his second in
command about his hunch but they’d both gone ahead with the op
anyway. “It wasn’t your fault Andrew, you were following the chain
of command. You know the top brass would never have tolerated one
of their Majors being psychic. We couldn’t go against orders on the
basis of my hunches.”

“
Even so.” Andrew sighed.
“What’s the town?”

“
Boswell. Its a small town
up in the highland lakes area. What you got on one Steven
Drake?”

“
Hmm, let me see. Looks
like he makes his living selling everything from cars to tractors
and machinery parts to the local farmers. Member of the region’s
chamber of commerce and donates to a few local charities. Seems
respectable enough however there’s a note here. A report from the
local constabulary that he’s suspected of dealing also in drugs and
other contraband but that they’ve been unable to find any evidence.
The police haven’t laid any charges against him but they’re
monitoring his activities.”

“
Fits. What about one Simon
Harris, lives at 7 Park St Boswell?”

“
Records show that
residence as being owned by a trust. It’s been run by the Goodwin
family since forever. The last trustee died recently under unusual
circumstances, in the Boswell area. Forensics report says his body
was mauled by a large animal and that he died of injuries received.
The new trustee is his sister Annabelle Goodwin, in her seventies,
retired freelance bookkeeper, primary residence appears to be in
the city. Oh wait a minute! There’s a business registered at that
address. Something called “Left-hand Adventures” but the business
type is only listed as entertainment. It’s registered to your Simon
Harris. Let me check something.”

John waited while he listened to the
busy typing on the other end of the phone.

Andrew finally came back on the line.
“Well he pays his taxes, quite a bit going by this. Whatever the
business is it pays well. Looks like Mr Harris has been paying
taxes for some time. His records go back quite a way, at least as
far as when records were first computerised. How old is
he?”

“
About early thirties, if
that. Anything on a Tyra Goodwin?”

“
Hmm, unusual name,
shouldn’t be hard. Oh here you go. She’s a librarian, age 50, works
in the city.”

“
Well she doesn’t now, I
just trained her for her security guard license and I wouldn’t put
her even at forty.”

“
You were right,
interesting. What you going to do?”

“
I’m a contract trainer, I
can pick my work. The boss won’t mind if I ask for a break. Think
I’ll come back here in a week or so. That girl’s an innocent. I
didn’t like the way that Drake character had her under
surveillance, neither did she or her minder. The trout fishing
season opens down here soon I think. Got that on your computer
too?”

“
End of July it opens. Why
don’t you contact a real estate broker and see if there are any
short term rents coming up in the area, a cabin near one of the
lakes perhaps if you’re going fishing. You can stay off everyone’s
radar that way”

“
You were always the brains
of the division Andrew, thanks for the info, I’ll let you know how
it goes.”

“
Do, if it's big enough to
get your notice the guys up here in Canberra might want a heads up
if anything tangible surfaces”.

Simon and Tyra hiked to the remote
forested hilltop north of Boswell. It looked out on the lakes
below. They’d picked the day based on the weather forecast which
for once was spot on. It was one of those rare warm days that you
can occasionally get at the end of winter. By mid-morning they
reached the sunny, secluded rock ledge Simon had chosen for their
ritual joining. He had come here often over the years, to meditate
and to communicate with the rest of his race.

Simon laid out a blanket and started
to empty their picnic basket of its contents.

Tyra was feeling a little hesitant
about the possible food. “I hope this doesn’t mean that I have to
eat any meat for the ritual.”

“
The five sacred substances
you’re referring to symbolize the elements: earth, air, fire, water
and ether. Meat stands for earth, fish for water, grain for air,
wine for fire and sex for ether. Intent is what is really important
so we can do some substitutions. We will ground ourselves in
silence, balance our emotions using breath control and fire our
imagination using concentration but I have got us a Tamar Valley
pinot noir for our wine. We’ll break from our usual abstinence just
for this. I’ve added a couple of herbs to help with the ritual but
they won’t affect the taste of the wine. As for the physical
contact, I don’t think either one of us wants to substitute for
that. I will speak only to give direction otherwise just do as you
have practised.”