by T5, Grimm, The Eurostar, DRAX and TheTimeTrust
Ameristar walked into Kit Piper's office and said, "Hello, Kit. I just wanted to give you my travel plans." She showed him the book that Crasher had stolen, and then she unfolded a map.
"You see, the Tower of Cuccubao is located in the deep Amazonian jungles outside Manaus, Brazil. The rivers are full of piranhas, and the air is infested with strange insects. And let's not get into the fact that there are world record-breaking Boa constrictors there as well. I figure this environment could be a hazard for anyone not wearing some protective armor or something similar, so I'm going there to see if the artifact can be found there. If anyone volunteers to join me, I would be thankful."
She gave him a charming smile.
"Ameristar," Kit began, "if you knew where the book was this whole time, then why did we just send five people to Italy?!"
Ameristar looked at Kit blankly and said, "Why? Did they just leave?"
Kit seemed too exasperated to think of a reply.
Then she smiled. "Only joking, chief." She sat down as Kit began to relax.
"But the book...?" he asked.
"The book has been sought there before without success. It's not there. But the team could still find other clues there, different from the ones in the picture."
Kit raised an eyebrow. "Makes sense. If one other associate wants to go with you, permission granted. But I can't give any provision for the trip, Jackie. How will you get there?"
Ameristar lifted a backpack. "Crasher left a spare Gaia unit, chief."
After listening at the door for a few moments, Drake Marshall peeked into the office. "Hey, if you're looking for volunteers for a mission, I've got one for you." Drake smirked as he continued, "Good luck fitting him into protective armor, though."
He listened to a voice the others could not hear. "No, Drax. I'm not calling you fat." Drake smiled at Kit and Ameristar again. "Of course, there is still the small matter of my partner not yet being an official member of your team."
"Consider yourself provisionally drafted, kid," said Kit, laughing at the all-too-familiar situation of having a potential new member fall into the team's lap.
Ameristar handed Drake the Gaia unit and helped him to make it fit. "How does it work?" He looked at her with a boyish grin. "Or do we hold hands?"
"Ha ha ha. Not so fast, you little rascal. I'll operate it by remote control. But in case of an emergency, just press this black button on the side and say 'emergency home.' It will then take you to safety."
"Oh? And where is that?"
"Later. Now we'll have to update ourselves on the terrain around the tower so we won't get caught flatfooted."
"Hmmm... Sure thing, ma'am, sir!" He gave her a grin again.
And, surprising herself, she actually smiled back. Then they bent over the map of the Amazon region where the Tower of Cuccubao was located and discussed the plan.
Later, Kit had finished discussing the plans for the Amazon trip that Ameristar and Drake were about to make with them, but the latter still looked a bit confused.
"So do you always take strange people with stranger abilities off the street and immediately hire them?" Drake asked.
Kit laughed again. "Well, it's a policy that seems to have worked okay so far..." he began before cracking up again and putting his hand on the young man's shoulder. "I think you'll do okay with us, kid, but I think the others would kill me if I didn't put you through a probation period first. God knows I really should've done so with all the newbies when they first came onboard, but they all proved themselves more than capable during Hurricane Jason. The guys'd had a lot of membership turnovers by then, but that storm was a sort of 'trial-by-fire' for the team. I really think it'll come together and work now, though." He looked as if he were lost in thought for a moment, then turned back to Drake and shook his head as he said, "Ahh, but don't sweat the probation. We'll be putting all new members through a probation period from now on."
"That seems reasonable enough," said Drake, shaking Kit's outstretched hand. "I'm just glad to be with a group of people who are just as strange as I am."
Kit grinned and gave Drake the old motivational spiel for the next fifteen minutes -- a pep talk he claimed was what an old mentor had once given him, but was really just something he'd picked up from a late-night TV infomercial a couple of nights ago. He was a bullshitter, he knew, but at least he was an honest bullshitter -- which was more than he could say about most other salesmen.
Drake held an expression of relief on his face as Kit went back to his office and Drake could finally leave. Ameristar impatiently checked her watch for the thirtieth time in fifteen minutes as she waited for the newest member of MBL Consulting to exit.
Drake smiled at Ameristar. "So where were we?"
"We were talking about the plans for the mission. What are you planning on doing if we end up somewhere Drax won't fit?"
"I've got that covered. I still have the equipment I used as a crimefighter. It's really meant for an urban environment, but it'll get the job done. I've got night-vision goggles and some light body armor."
Ameristar raised an eybrow. "Wisconsin must be more dangerous than I thought."
Drake laughed. "Yeah, it had its moments. I planned for this sort of thing, so I've adapted it a little. I've got a pair o' crutches. I only need one if we're just walking, but I'll keep the second one handy in case we really need to move. Strangely, the second crutch fits perfectly in the clip I used to keep my quarterstaff in."
"Sounds like your equipment is ready. Now let's make sure you know what we're doing on the mission."
"You're the boss."
Ameristar smiled. "Yeah, and don't you forget it."
In his office, Kit Piper sat back in his chair with his feet on his desk. Today was a great day. Today was a fantastic day. He'd gotten laid last night by an olive-skinned girl twenty years younger than him who spoke some kind of Asian language, all thanks to one of MBL Consulting's newest staff members, their personal trainer.
Speaking of which, Kit noticed as that oddly shaped, purple-skinned, mohawked man walked into the makeshift office at the Fish Factory, and he got up from his seat with his arms outstretched in greeting at his new best friend.
"Hey, hey, Blackwulf! Good buddy, good pal! You da maannn!"
Blackwulf grinned at Kit and mimicked the gesture. "Ha-ha-ha -- No, you are being the man."
"No, man, you da man!"
"No, comrade, it is you who are being the man."
"No, YOU da man."
"Nyet, nyet, you are the one who is being the m--"
"You're BOTH da man, okay?" Shirley Francis finally shouted in exasperation as she stood up from her computer console outside Kit's office. "Now, could you guys please keep the noise level down a bit? I have a pile of paperwork to do that YOU forgot to put on my desk earlier, Kit."
Shirley gestured at all the slips of paper and unopened envelopes below them that scattered over her desk. "Where'd we get so many bills all of a sudden? And how are we supposed to pay for all of this, especially since we haven't had a case in months? I'm not willing to work for free for more than a few days, you know." She glared at him suspiciously. So much for the relaxing, carefree day she'd hoped to spend with her fiancee.
"I wouldn't worry too much about that, Shirl, m'girl," Kit said, still grinning. "There's plenty o'cash to pay for all these bills and more, thanks to our little friend Pete... God rest his soul."
Shirley shook her head and muttered as she sat back down in resignation, "You should never take something like that for granted, Kit. Murphy's Law and such, you know?"
"'Murphy's Law'?" Kit laughed and prepared himself for another speech. "Law-shmaw. Why, my business experience alone is enough to keep this firm afloat no matter how deep in the red we go because of this storm. Besides, that weekly check from BountyLand Foods is guaranteed to cover our business expenses whenever we're overdrawn, thanks to Pete's last will and testament, which left ownership of it to the company."
"Kit! Don't tempt fate by talking like that!" Shirley scolded. "We've got to keep the books balanced on MBL Consulting's profits, especially since we still haven't paid for that damned hovercraft you had Henry order last year. That thing cost us more than the Gross National Product some small countries make in a year! Not to mention the apartment building repairs and utility charges, your salary and mine, the operating expenses for the cases, and all the little expenses that add up, like all those business trips you've made over the past year to see potential clients, all the luncheons and fringe benefits you held for them that went for nothing but 'goodwill in the business world' as you called it. And all these new employees you keep hiring right off the street! I mean, I love the guys, don't get me wrong, but ever since the storm ended, the bulk of them have had little to do but twiddle their thumbs and get paid for it! We can't afford to keep it up like that. No one could."
"Don't worry about it," Kit said, waving it away while still fantasizing about the twentysomething, olive-skinned girl who shared his bed last night and didn't speak much English. "It'll all work out in the end. I mean, we've got Chance on our side, don't we?" He winked.
"I'm serious, Kit!" Shirley continued. "And besides, Chance isn't here right now. Who knows how his luck works? Maybe his luck was the only thing that'd been preventing our company from going bankrupt like so many other Perditian businesses have ever since the storm! Only thing is, unlike all those other businesses, we're not eligible for disaster relief!"
"The little girl -- she likes to talk, da?" said Blackwulf, laughing heartily at the situation.
"Don't mind our little Shirl-girl, here, Wulfie!" Kit said, putting an arm around Blackwulf's shoulder and leading him out of the office. "I hired her for her feistiness -- keeps me in check." He winked again at Shirley just as he stepped out of view.
"Hmmph," Shirley muttered, and went back to the business of paying bills.