THE VROL TRILOGY (79 page)

Liliana had been completing her homework
during Draagh's storytelling, and had tried desperately to not
snicker when Krynos had again exaggerated the story of her mother's
thrashing of Ryder Johnson. The girl knew better, as she saw it
happen before her eyes. She was the one who tossed a metal gauntlet
to Jennie, and then watched the woman create a puddle of liquid out
of the vampire's skull, of course, after having violently torn out
his entire cardio-pulmonary system.

Looking up from her papers, she casually
blurted out, "So Michael, are you ready to feed the sharks? They
are hungry now, and I would so dislike it if another poor,
unfortunate servant were to be snatched from the lowered
drawbridge."

Michael stood up, looked down at his
granddaughter and said, "It would be my pleasure, Liliana. Shall we
go?"

The little girl stood up, curtseyed to
everyone, thanked them for the meal and then turned and led the
archangel out of the main dining hall so that they could perform
one of her favorite duties.

"She has yet to ask me to feed the sharks
again," said Gabriel. "I do not believe I participated enough." He
then sat at the table and nibbled on a piece of venison,
maintaining a perplexed look on his face.

Liliana led Michael out of the main gate,
going over to a number of cages and lockers that held meats of
varying types. As they walked along the pathway, Michael noticed
that sharks were circling in the waters very near. It was obvious
that they were trained to know when they would be fed, but he had
no idea what kind of feeding was to take place on that day.

"Michael, you are aware that vampires are
very bad, am I not correct?"

"Oh yes, my dear. They are quite nasty."

"And that they are our mortal enemies, and
the enemies of normals, yes?"

"Ay, that much is true," responded the
archangel, who started to get an unsettling feeling in his
stomach.

"Well, today is a special day for my pets,
because they are allowed to participate in something that we lycans
train for."

"And just what would that be, young
lady?"

Before saying anything else, Liliana leaned
down next to a cage and spoke softly to it, but to Michael's
surprise he heard hissing and saw that the cage, which was covered
with wooden panels, started to shake about. This shaking was
followed by violent screams. Michael immediately knew what was
going on, but all he could do was watch.

"How many shall be on the recon team, once
you have successfully located Max," asked Krynos, who was still
insisting on accompanying them.

"Well, my Lord, you of course, Jennie,
Michael, Gabriel if he desires, Bagatelle and whomever else desire
to go along."

"I wish for Donus to assist us," exclaimed
Krynos, looking at his master commander who was still seated at the
table with the group.

"That will be fine, my liege, but I must
caution you - as we are still unaware of Max's location, it very
well could be a world that is toxic, so I must insist on having the
last word, agreed?" cautioned Draagh.

All nodded in agreement. The ancient Primulus
knew that the chances of Max having been stranded on a toxic world
were zero, but he still needed to retain a modicum of control over
the mission. Liliana was quietly insisting earlier that she also
accompany them, but he was leaning towards denying her request.
Jennie was indecisive, but was leaning towards bringing the girl
with them, promising that she would protect her child in any
case.

"So, how do you think Michael will take
Liliana's feeding today? It's live bait day, right?" asked
Bagatelle, wearing a knowing smile.

"Such a capable and brave young girl," said
Krynos. "I believe that Michael will find her to be quite-"

"Insanity! Do you know what that child just
did? It's barbaric!" screamed Michael, interrupting Krynos, as he
barged into the main dining hall, completely out of breath.

"Hmm, let me guess. She opened a cage and let
a vampire run along the track next to the moat until it was eaten
by a shark?" Jennie asked rhetorically, while wearing a guilty
grin.

"Not only that, she timed it! Sharga! She
timed the creature's demise, and then she marked down on a log
which shark made the kill! What the hell are you teaching children
around here?"

"Well, it would have burnt to death in the
sun anyway," remarked Donus in a droll fashion.

"True, true, and it was weakened from lack of
proper blood. We are not ones to extract the blood of normals in
order to feed prisoners. She did it a favor, I must say," responded
Bagatelle, in a completely calm manner, "allowing it to choose its
own fate."

"What is
wrong
with you people? Seriously!" the archangel
cried out loudly. This caused the king to intervene on the little
girl's behalf.

"Michael, calm down and have a seat. There is
much of which you are unaware. That creature, as you have described
it, was part of a recon team that not only killed a number of
normal children in a local village, but also temporarily evaded
capture inside the castle walls and killed five of my servants, all
done completely without remorse. It was Liliana who cornered off
the three remaining soldiers, so as a reward she was allowed to
offer them their freedom if they could outrun her sharks," Krynos
plainly stated. "She seems to believe that they can be properly
trained to patrol local rivers without eating innocent normals. If
she could, I believe the child would magically create legs for them
and go for walks throughout the forest; she is that enamored with
the creatures. But then again, they really do adore her."

Liliana walked into the main dining hall as
casually as if she had just brushed her teeth (which she actually
had just done), and gave her new grandfather a concerned look.

"Michael, are you not the famous and brutal
Mija-El that historical documents have shown to be not only a being
of great compassion, but also a ruthless protector of mankind?"

Shocked that the young girl would have ever
learned such things, he nodded his head as she continued.

"Well then, we have quite a mission to
complete. My father is missing, and if you lack the
cojones
to watch my sharks feed on a
putrid, nearly-dead vampire terrorist then I am not sure you are
the right man for this job, once you have located my father, that
is."

The little girl stared Michael down with her
arms folded, as she tapped her foot impatiently and waited for a
response. Before Michael could say a word the entire room burst out
in laughter, with Michael following, In fact, Michael was laughing
so hard that he started to nearly cry, and it was at that moment
that Draagh performed a most complex cantus, partially restoring
his son's abilities. The spell was extremely difficult, and it hurt
Michael a great deal as it was required to reorganize a good part
of his extremely complex genetic structure, but the laughter acted
as a buffer agent. Once Michael stopped writhing on the floor in
agony, he looked up to see everyone around him. They all put hands
on him and lifted him up to his chair.

Looking over at a bowl and spoon, Michael
lifted them with his mind and then gently set them back down.

"It worked, Father. Thank you for not
revealing the moment it would happen. It was, as you had earlier
prognosticated, agonizingly painful."

"Very well, my son. Tomorrow we begin."

Chapter 17 - Healing

Max had carb-loaded the previous
evening, eating epic quantities of pasta (that he taught Jessica
how to make) with a special marinara sauce, while washing it all
down with frosty, cold beers. Waking up, he jumped in the shower he
had built (preferring quick showers over baths) and scrubbed down,
using soap that Dons had procured on a recent trading run with
Santa Monica. Max had accumulated hundreds of teeth simply by
performing tasks and building things at the club, and although he
made no plans to charge for the tracker extractions, he allowed the
girls to require a
signup
fee
, which they would all split. He planned on leaving
soon, and for all he knew, Vrol teeth were common currency along
the seaboard so he would need to have cash in hand during his
journey.

After getting dressed, he headed downstairs
to find Jessica preparing breakfast in the kitchen. She had become
quite the cook, with his tutelage of course, and was expertly
crafting corned beef hash, potatoes, eggs and coffee. However, that
morning Max got a major surprise when he saw who was assisting in
the kitchen. Adam was actually washing the dishes - with his hands.
Adam's wand was still non-functioning, but Max was going to address
it, as well as the girls' bracelets at the same time.

Before retiring the previous evening, Max had
sat with Dons and extracted the clan leader's tracker. It was
actually easier than he had believed it would be, and only took a
moment to do, so he was certain he would be able to finish the
locals within the day.

Leaving the kitchen, he went out into the
club area and sat with Dons, who already had two cups of strong
coffee for the two of them. Dons was starting to treat Max more
like a business partner than a clan guest, and Max didn't mind that
at all.

"Morning, Dons. No issues with the lack of
tracker?"

"Hey mate, none at all, and mornin' t'you
too. In fact, I ran out of the club barrier and headed straight for
some demons… erm, Vrol, and wasn't detected at all. Gotta say, what
you did worked 100%!"

"Well then, that's good," said Max, "and I'll
fix the girls and Adam up after we eat. It's gonna be a busy
day."

Max had studied the trackers and found that,
although they enabled Vrol to identify and locate humans out in the
open, there were certain materials that blocked their signal,
concrete being one, oddly enough. That was how Jessica was able to
hang out well beyond the borders of the club barrier, and then
ensconce herself in a drainage pipe to avoid detection whenever a
Vrol closed in.

Jessica walked out with two plates of
breakfast, setting them down in front of Max and Dons, while
wearing a huge smile on her face.

"Here you go, boys. Adam and I already ate in
the kitchen, so this is all for you." She sat there and waited for
them to take a bite, just to make sure she hadn't over salted the
hash.

"Perfectly cooked, Jess," said Dons, as he
dug in and practically inhaled his food. Right about the time he
finished his plate Pandy came into the lounge, plopping down on the
couch next to Dons, falling over with her head in his lap.

"I'm so tired, aaaaarrrgh," she said.

"Pandy, hun, get up. You gotta eat so Max can
fix you up."

"Yeah, and if I have time I'll amp up your
bracelet today, so let's get things rolling."

Jessica fell back onto the couch next to
Pandy, groaning as she relaxed up against her best friend. She had
prepared breakfast and started lunch, which was to be a guiso from
Max's recipe, so her rest was well-deserved.

But before she became too comfortable,
Max moved over to her, and putting his hand on her left shoulder
blade said, "
Demoveoincantatio
venator
," causing Jessica to feel a slight tugging on
her back, which was followed by a light popping sound. Then looking
back at Max she saw a small, black, organic-looking pod-like device
with wires coming out of it nestled in the palm of his
hand.

"Is that… it? That's what they use to find
us?" she asked.

"That's it. Not much too it. It's an organic
radio frequency transmitter that creates an anti-rejection drug to
keep it from being expelled by the host."

"A drug what huh?" asked Pandy.

"It's just nasty, so I am glad I got it out.
Your turn, Pandy - turn around."

The girl turned and exposed her left shoulder
blade to Max, who then performed the same verbal cantus, followed
by a silent healing spell, resulting in no scar.

"Well people, I think we should get started.
There is already a line forming outside," said Max.

"Max, why dontcha treat each person behind a
curtain for a bit of privacy, eh?" asked Dons.

"Perfectly good rationale, Dons. I'll set up
a screen. Girls, why don't you both go make sure that the queue is
orderly while I make preparations?"

"Is there anything I can do to help?" asked
Adam, who had just exited the kitchen, totally surprising everyone
with his subservient behavior.

"Whoa! Where's Adam, and who took over his
body?" Pandy sarcastically asked.

"Give him a break, he knows we all need to
work together now, ain't that right, Adam? You're a good guy now,"
said Dons.

"Yeah, Adam's a good guy now. C'mere, bud. We
need to get that tracker out of you."

Pandy and Jessica jumped up and went for the
door to check out the line size as Adam sat down next to Max, who
then removed the human's tracker much as he did from Dons and the
girls. Patting the fellow on the back he got up walked over to the
door, looking outside to see a line going down the street and
winding around the corner. Out front, but not in line were Lennie
and his girl, Jelly. They were looking at the massive file of
people, as they munched on what appeared to be bloody, uncooked
rodents. Even though Max found it a bit disgusting, he called the
couple of over without sticking his head out and causing a
commotion.

"Hey mate! Good mornin'! Ready for the big
day? I know everyone else is," stated the kindly vampire.

"Hey Lennie, Jelly. Yeah, I know I'll be
totally wiped out after this crowd. Can you two help me with
something inside?"