by John Conroe
“You don’t think we keep up to date? Hell, boy, remember who trains all the local law enforcement types in search and rescue. I got friends in every department, particularly the Border Patrol. They keep me apprised of what’s going on. Fact is, I’ve even seen the Predator drones they use to monitor the borders.”
“They’re using Predators on the Canadian border?” I asked, shocked.
“Of course! Too much land to cover with just people. They just don’t advertise it, that’s all,” he said with a sly grin. “Now, what else do they know? They have any idea about your speed or strength?”
I thought about that, then nodded grimly.
“How?” Len asked.
“When they talk to the teachers and kids from the school, the speed part will be pretty obvious, although they might struggle a bit with believing it,” I said. “The strength part is self-evident.”
Gramps raised both eyebrows in question.
“I would have been difficult for the kids to see. The human eye has difficulty registering older vampire movements. The strength part will be obvious from the damage to the terrorists’ bodies,” I explained.
“Difficult to see?” Len asked, incredulous.
“Yeah,” I said with a shrug.
“Show me.”
I was tempted to go get three more beers but I didn’t trust myself not to pull the fridge door completely off its hinges. I’m still trying to get the hang of things and moving at that speed makes it hard to control my strength. But we had left some bags of chips on the counter in the kitchen. So I went and got them…..at Darkkin speed.
I was back in my spot and the breeze generated by my movements had just ruffled Len’s thinning gray hair when he realized he had a bag of Lay’s brand potato chips (cheddar and sour cream) in his lap.
It was one of the few times in my life I had seen Len with a startled expression on his face. Gramps was gazing at me thoughtfully.
“You’re faster. A lot faster!” Gramps finally said.
“Yeah, I seem to gain ability in spurts. Like this last week or two.”
“Are you as fast as Tanya?”
“Getting pretty close,” was my quiet answer.
He nodded, still thoughtful. Len said nothing, just glancing from me to the bag of chips and back again.
I cleared my throat into the silence and looked pointedly at the chips.
“You gonna open them?” I asked.
A puzzled expression flashed across his face, then he chuckled. “Damn, kid! You really can put the grub away, can’t you?”
“Actually, I have to. My metabolism is crazy.”
Gramps frowned at that.
“That’s your major weakness. Food! You don’t need blood, silver doesn’t bother you, sunlight just gives you a tan, the moon isn’t a factor, but food…lots of food is something you have to have. If they starved you, what would happen?”
I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. “I get weaker and slower. I don’t heal as quick, can’t do as many things with my aura and if it goes on long enough, the virus will most likely eat me alive.”
“That’s your kryptonite. You need to protect against that. How?” he asked the room in general.
It was a topic I had given much thought to.
“Well, I’ve been trying to add weight, both muscle and fat, by eating myself silly and lifting weights. I also use a bunch of body builder products to try and pack on weight. I carry portable food… nutrition bars, shakes and that kind of thing with me, along with change for vending machines. I schedule myself to eat every half hour whether I feel like it or not. I tuck candy and sugar bags in pockets and bags,” I said.
“Good start. But you need to carry even higher energy stuff. Candy doesn’t have enough empty calories,” he said thoughtfully. I laughed at the thought of candy not having enough energy.
“Okay, we’ll work on that. Now that covers what they know – what don’t they know?” he asked.
“Well, they know about Okwari, but they don’t really have any idea about what he can do. I’m not even sure about what he can do. I think he is way more than I originally thought,” I said, registering Gramps’ surprised look. He had met Okwari several times and been impressed. I continued on.
“They don’t know all the things I can do with aura, they have no real idea how global or wealthy the Covens are, or that Kirby can be useful beyond demon snatching. Hell, I don’t think they really know how much a middle aged vamp can do,” I was ticking items off on my fingers. “Also, I don’t believe they understand much about the Pack. None of them know about the Tear of God, and none of them know about my..er…conversations with Barbiel.”
The room was silent again. Finally, Gramps cleared his throat and spoke.
“Anything else?”
I pondered discussing the dark thing inside me, the berserker or what have you, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him. I was ashamed that part of me was demon derived. There was no way I could face his disapproval on top of my own.
“That’s it,” I said.
“Okay, that’s a helluva lot. Let’s do some planning! But first show us the Tear and tell me again what it does,” he said with a determined look.
So we got down to serious work.
Chapter 30
Several hours later, Len retired to his quarters, leaving Gramps and I to do some talking.
“Here’s the thing, Chris. You are too dangerous and have too much power. The government is going to be obsessed with three things; controlling you, killing you and cloning you!” he said.
“Cloning?”
“Well, perhaps duplicating you is a better term. Creating super soldiers and spies and that sorta thing.”
“Sounds like a bad Syfy channel movie!” I said.
He laughed. “As corny and clichéd as it is, it’s also very real.”
“No matter what, always keep in mind, that those three goals will be driving them. You can’t ever let your guard down. And periodically, you are gonna have to throw the fear of God into them…or if your friend Lydia is right about your bear, fear of a god!”
“So I have to what? Threaten them?”
“Yeah, that’s a little blunt but pretty much it in a nutshell. Listen, the kind of guys employed in the NSA, FBI, CIA, Homeland Security are all professional paranoids. They’ll always believe the worst about you, never the truth. So you might as well play to that paranoia,” he said with a shrug.
“I suggest that your best defense is a good offense. Approach them first, take away the initiative. Set up a meeting, plan for them to have excessive force options available, then trump them,” he was on a roll now.
“Also, don’t be surprised by the level your negotiations take you too. They’ll start with a hardboiled type, the kind of guy that wins staredowns with pitbulls. You’ll need to shake him up, bypass him and get to the top.”
“Wait a minute. You’re not suggesting I’ll be dealing with someone at the White House level, are you?”
“Chris, Chris, Chris! You have presented them with a national security issue that is beyond anything they’ve ever dealt with. An individual with the abilities you have displayed, with the allies you have and with a god on Overwatch is probably more dangerous that a missing nuclear weapon!”
“What?” I couldn’t reconcile that he was talking about me. I was no more dangerous to the United States than the church ladies at St. Mary’s. But as I pulled myself out of the equation and looked at it from a distance, I could see his point. I had killed terrorists just this past morning. But what if I was the terrorist? What agency or department could stop me if I went bad?
“Listen, I’ve gotta get to bed. Four-thirty AM comes quick, and those cows don’t milk themselves!”
I said goodnight and cleaned up the snack debris. Then I made up a bunch of turkey sandwiches, along with a plate of cheese, fruit and crackers for the weres when they got in. Were metabolisms raced at almost my level, especially when they changed forms.
> About an hour later, the three young wolves came bounding into the house, in two-legged form and in various states of undress. The males’ lack of shirts didn’t bother me, but I had trouble figuring out where to keep my gaze directed when Kelly came in wearing bra and panties, carrying her pants and tee shirt. I chose to focus on the pemmican recipe that Gramps had given me, a modernized version of the old Native American emergency ration that had helped man explore the arctic.
All three were excited, with Brett and Kelly taking turns telling me about the features of the property that they liked best. Even the reticent David was smiling.
“You know, don’t you, that you’re violating the first principle of real estate negotiations by admitting how much you like the property, right?” I said.
“Yeah, but your grandfather is in bed, right?” Kelly asked, still blithely unaware that her state of undress was difficult for me to deal with.
“Ahhh, but you forget that I’m the other owner!” I said, staring into my mixing bowl.
Brett snorted. “Like you didn’t know we loved it when we toured earlier!” he said, nodding in thanks at the sandwich I handed him.
I nonchalantly gave one to Kelly and David each, trying to cover my embarrassment, but Kelly frowned as I avoided looking in her direction. My peripheral vision picked up a slow, sly smile spreading across her face as realization struck home. Brett and David were completely unaware of either her near nakedness or my discomfort, both raised with almost no nudity taboos.
Kelly struck an exaggerated pose, leaning back against the counter with her back slightly arched, her chest thrust outward.
I turned back to my pemmican, dropping the rounded ball of my current batch onto a piece of waxed paper. Another sheet went on top, then I rolled it out into a long, mostly rectangular bar, all the while trying to ignore Kelly’s teasing.
Brett frowned, looking from his mate to me.
Great, now he’ll think I’ve been hitting on her or something. He’ll blow up and I’ll lose a new friend and a renter all at once.
He started laughing.
“Dear One, why are you taunting our host?” he asked, a knowing gleam in his eye.
Kelly smiled a wicked smile. “Because I can! I found his secret weakness. The mighty fighter is scared of naked women!”
I spun around. “I’m not scared, I’m just not used to it, is all.”
“Dude! You’re the most dangerous fighter I’ve ever seen, and you’re blushing! We have got to work on your cool factor!” he laughed.
Relieved that he hadn’t gotten mad, I was able to laugh with them, but I quickly attempted to deflect the whole thing by handing out pemmican bars for them to sample.
“Hmm, what’s this?” Kelly asked around a mouthful.
“It’s a modern update of the old Native American pemmican recipe. I burn calories even faster than you guys, so I’m looking for ways to carry energy dense foods with me,” I explained. “My grandfather was given this recipe by one of his search and rescue guys.”
“Damn, that’s really good! What’s in them?” Brett asked.
“This batch has ground up dried beef, mixed with honey, chopped almonds, raisins and peanut butter. It should have about 400 calories for two ounces. Whatta ya think?”
They had gobbled down the first sample and were raiding the other chunks I had cut from my ‘loaf’.
Eyes wide, they nodded and groaned in delight. The bars did taste good, but the flavor was probably exaggerated by the weres need for calories. I experienced the same craving for calorie dense food whenever I got really hungry. In other words, about five to seven times a day.
“Chris, you oughtta market these! I know the weres would buy them!” David spoke up in a rare moment of excitement.
“No, I should get you guys to market them. You’re the ones with the sporting goods chain!” I laughed.
Kelly’s eyes got huge.
“Brett! I could make them! I could convert the old milk room in the barn and produce pemmican bars. Lupine Sports could sell them to hikers and kayakers! Hell, the Pack alone would buy enough to make it worthwhile. Marissa could help me, at least until she gets a nursing job!” she said, bouncing up and down in excitement.
She still didn’t have a whole lot of clothes on so that had the effect of distracting myself, David and Brett. They may have been used to near nudity, but some things are just hard-wired into us males.
“It would actually be a good use of the milk room. Plus I know a certain beef farmer that might give you a good deal on meat,” I said, warming to the idea. “There is also a local guy who has honey bees. You would need to order the peanut butter and whatever berries and nuts, but that’s easy enough to do.”
“Whoa, wait a minute! This is a great idea and all, but you’ll need money for startup. Meat dehydrators can’t be cheap, not to mention the packaging and ingredients!” Brett protested in mild alarm. “We are gonna need the money we have to move and get set up.”
The gleam in Kelly’s eyes dimmed and it struck me that she was leaving her job as Afina’s administrative assistant to move north, with no certain employment prospects.
“Ahh, Brett? Do you have the rest of my money? From the fight?” I asked.
“Yeah, I almost forgot. It’s in my suitcase..I was going to give it to you but the property distracted me,” he said, embarrassed.
I waved away his chagrin. “Well, I don’t know if it’ll be enough, but why don’t I supply the capital, Kelly can supply all of the work, administration and marketing, and I’ll end up with a cheap supply of these bars!”
“Ah Chris, the money is like twenty thousand. And we don’t know if these will even sell!” he protested.
His mated slapped him on the arm in annoyance, but I quickly spoke up before any further damage was done.
“Brett, as far as I’m concerned, that was found money. And I really, really need to have a large supply of portable food! Besides, the more I think about it, the better the business plan sounds,” I said.
“Kelly has tremendous experience organizing things, the actual manufacturing part is easy, most of the supplies are local and there is an immediate market named ‘the Pack’.”
Kelly was jumping up and down again and I had to look away, although David just leered with a grin, causing Brett to laugh.
“All right! All right! It does sound like a plan. Now Kel, put some clothes on before Chris has a meltdown or something, and David you better stop eyeballing my mate!” he mock growled.
Chapter 31
The next morning Gramps agreed that the pemmican production plan had merit. He quickly offered some additional ideas over breakfast. He, Len, and two of the regular hands had finished the morning chores and come in for breakfast, which I had been busy preparing. The three young Pack members came downstairs in sweats, looking sleep befuddled as they beelined for the coffee pot.
“In addition to beef, you could offer some made with venison,” Gramps suggested.
“Venison!” the three wolves said in unison, clearly entranced by the idea.
“Good idea! You must have noticed all the deer on the property last night?” I asked.
All three nodded.
“Well, your sausage this morning is made from last fall’s deer,” I said.
“Is it legal to take them?” Kelly asked, grabbing a plate and filling it with eggs, hashbrowns, sausage gravy, toast and the aforementioned venison sausage.
“Well, if each of your pack members gets a license and applies of deer management tags that would give you eight to sixteen, plus you could buy deer meat cheap from local hunters,” Gramps offered.
“Also there is a guy locally that raises bison and some elk, although the meat is somewhat expensive, but maybe it would make a premium line.”
“Ummm, bison. Elk.” Brett had a wistful look in his eyes.
“So, what time are we supposed to head back?” I asked.
Brett exchanged glances with the other two, then shrugged
. “Later this afternoon. Maybe three or four? Any rush?”
“Nope, just wondered how much time we have. I thought I would give you a tour of the local towns and some of the colleges. Give you an idea of resources, that sorta thing.”
“Great idea.”
I gave them the grand tour of the North Country, showing them the colleges, shops and other facilities. Compared to New York City, the resources were laughable. But all three weres had long since decided on the move, so they looked for the positive where they could. And to be truthful, Clarkson and St. Lawrence are both considered excellent schools, SUNY Potsdam is an excellent value and houses the Crane School of Music, which has supplied the Big Apple with many of its better musicians.
The basic stores are there and the wolves could visit the City at will, although I sensed a fierce determination to achieve independence.
By the middle of the afternoon it was time to head back and after graciously thanking Gramps and ironing out the details of the proposed lease, we flew back to the City. This time I sat in back, Kelly demanding the shotgun position. Her attitude toward me had undergone a complete change in the last twenty-four hours. Leary and cautious had been replaced by a seemingly genuine comfort level and maybe even a friendly like. Perhaps my embarrassment had convinced her of my human nature in a way that no amount of discussion with Brett ever could have. The fact I was going to back her pemmican venture didn’t hurt either. She and I had agreed that I would be silent partner, official tester and disposer of any failed product lines. We would split the profits equally to begin, although I didn’t expect to draw any of mine from the operation. Better to reinvest and let the operation grow.
* * *
Large swaths of the Adirondacks are without cellular coverage and it wasn’t till we got closer to Albany before our individual phones would work with any reliability. The preflight weather report had indicated a large storm system moving up the coast and Brett was very interested in beating it home. As we each checked voice mail and messages, we could see clouds forming way to our South.
I had several messages, both verbal and text. Gina had sent me a big thank you all in capitals and bold text. Chet had left a cryptic voice mail that I was pretty sure informed me that he, Sommers, and Takata were all facing a ton of hard questioning regarding I.S. 341.
