Chapter 398
Katelina woke the next evening on a cot. It was lumpy and stiff, but it was the most comfortable sleep she'd had in days. She stretched and enjoyed being under a blanket. It was Jorick who lured her out of bed with the promise of breakfast, and she grudgingly trooped to the bathroom.
Hector had let them do laundry the night before and she inhaled the fluffy clean scent of her clothes before she changed into them. Compared to the winter headquarters, this was heaven, so unless the summer headquarters were better, she'd rather stay where she was.
The Russians were still dressed in their borrowed clothes. They kept their eyes on their feet, but their shoulders didn't seem as slumped. Katelina wondered if Hector had chatted with them, and if so what he'd said.
Despite Malick's message, Fethillen stubbornly stuck to the plan. Katelina wanted to shout that a day of travel was a day Malick could change his mind and kill Ume. At Jorick's warning she fumed silently.
When they were ready to leave, Katelina tried to take a picture of the distant mountains, but in the dark she doubted it was effective.
"You're still at that?" Verchiel asked.
"Yes. I'm trying to show Mom the great places we're going so she'll quit saying Jorick is a penniless hippie in a van." There, she'd admitted it.
Verchiel laughed. "You're taking pictures of the places we go to impress your mom? Wow, either she has low expectations or you haven't thought that through."
"Of course I don't take pictures of everything. Just stuff that looks impressive. Like that." She pointed to the view.
He snatched the camera and pointed it toward the mountains then, at the last second he spun and snapped a photo of her. "There. That'll probably come out better."
She jerked the camera out of his hands. "Thanks for wasting one."
"You're welcome. If you don't want it you can give it to me. I can put it up on ebay. People are always looking for ways to scare off the mice."
Jorick joined them and scowled at the redhead. "We're ready."
With a sigh Katelina stashed the camera in her pocket and followed him toward the airstrip. Hector hurried up to them and pressed a foil wrapped package into Etsuko's hand. "Something for the trip."
He called something to the Russians and held up a second foil packet. The pair looked at one another, and then moved to take it.
"It's going to be quiet here," Hector said with a touch of regret. "After Sorino's pilots leave it will be just me. Of course I'm sure things will be hopping in no time." He rubbed his hands together. "All right, I think everything is ready. Off you go."
Etsuko bowed and thanked him, then she followed Oren to the waiting helicopters. The rotors had already started, and Katelina forced her feet forward. She glanced over her shoulder to see the Russians still standing near Hector. He motioned them toward the helicopter, but they hesitated.
Verchiel popped up next to Katelina. "You know, dragging those two around is a pain."
She jolted at his sudden nearness. "Excuse me?"
Jorick glared and Verchiel stepped back. "They can't understand a word we say, and we can't understand them. Plus, it means extra food and water. It'd be better to be rid of them, don't you think?"
"If you think I'm going to let one of you kill them"
"While that does seem like a tasty idea, it also sounds messy and time consuming. Why don't we leave them here? Hector seems fond of them, and he speaks Russian. They even seem not-that-scared of him."
Katelina looked to Jorick who shrugged.
Verchiel grinned. "See? No objections. I'll arrange it, shall I?"
Before she could answer he disappeared and reappeared next to Hector. The British vampire listened intently and then looked surprised. There was a quick exchange she couldn't hear, and then the two vampires shook hands and Verchiel headed back toward Katelina and Jorick.
"All done. I told him he'd have to mark them, but they're officially his." He clapped Katelina on the back. "How does it feel to be a slave trader?"
She choked and pulled away. "I'm not!"
"Of course you are. You bought those slaves, and have now given them to Hector. So you didn't make a profit this time, but you're just starting out. Next time you'll do better."
She swung to hit him, but he was gone before the blow could land.
***
The trip went smoothly until the end. Katelina was leaning back in her seat in a state of half dozing, watching Micah and Loren play poker with a partial set of playing cards, when the helicopter took a sudden dive. She jerked awake and clutched Jorick's leg. Visions of a fiery crash flashed through her mind. "What is it?"
They pulled up, and she saw Sushel stand and make his way to the cockpit. The copter swung to the right, and Katelina clutched Jorick tighter. Sushel reappeared and said something to his companions that she couldn't catch.
"We're getting shot at," Micah called.
"Oh my God! By who?" Her head swiveled from window to window, but she couldn't see anything except blackness.
"Some kind of rebels or something." He studied his cards calmly, even as the helicopter swung to the left and then dropped again.
Katelina squeezed her eyes shut and screamed silently. They were going to die. They were really going to die.
"Not now."
A thick, soothing calm washed over her, like water flooding the desert, and her terror disappeared. Jorick gave her an odd look, but before he could comment Oren drew his attention away.
Despite the rebels' efforts, they landed safe and alive. Katelina scooped up her bag and followed the others outside into the warm night. Tattered remnants of the calm remained and she embraced them like a drug addict enjoying the last of a buzz.
The summer headquarters looked like the winter hideout: a low, tin roofed structure sat in the center of a clearing, surrounded by various outbuildings. However, the trees that ringed the area were thick and green.
A cloud of bugs buzzed around Katelina as she followed the others toward what she thought of as the house. A pair of vampires approached, and Fethillen spoke to them quickly. Katelina caught the word "meeting", but the rest was lost to her. The vampires nodded, and then walked on toward the helicopter, either to unload it or do maintenance.
The inside of the house was different than Finland. There were no windows, and no basement. It was set up like a shotgun house, with the rooms in a long row. The light fixtures were naked light bulbs, and if the Finnish house had been bare, this one was worse. Though the folding chairs and tables had been set up, and some of the trunks were scattered around, there was nothing else. Katelina was nervous about a bathroom.
It was too warm for her coat, so she took it off and stashed it with their luggage. Quenby gave them a quick tour. The sleeping room was in the back, again with no bedding. The shower was outside and consisted of little more than two stalls and shower heads. "They run from the well, and when that dries up it can use rain water." Quenby pointed to a half full collection container.
The other buildings housed the helicopters, a plane that was partially taken apart, various equipment and tools, fuel for the generator, and the prisoner they'd taken.
"We're not used to humans," Quenby reminded them. "There's no food, so you'll have to hunt for something. No doubt you can drink water from the shower."
When Quenby went inside, Katelina told Jorick, "There are parasites in foreign water." She pointed to a reddish colored mud puddle. "Especially in places like this. I have a couple bottles left in my bag, but that won't last long."
"It might not need to," Jorick said quietly.
Though she pushed she couldn't get anything more from him, and let it go with an air of dissatisfaction. Hopefully he was right.
