Jessie crouched down and peered around the tree to look down at the log cabin. It was a small place for the Lord and Lady. They tended to like big, expensive, fancy... but, then again, the witch was smart enough to know how not to attract attention. If she hadn't followed them here, Jessie would of never looked for them here.
"Oddity." she hissed to the dog crouched down beside her. When he looked up at her, she commanded "Oddity, scout!" and pointed at the cabin.
The dog sniffed the air, then ran foreward, disappearing into the trees and brush.
Jessie pulled a small laptop from her pack and opened it up. With a few key strokes a topographic map appeared, including the cabin, bunckhouse on the far side, and even the small garden. A red dot appeared, and then another.
"Good boy, Oddity." she whispered.
For nearly 30 minutes several red dots appeared on the screan, marking the humans in the area. A few large blue dots marked vehicles. And then, after making a full circle around the area, Oddity returned, panting from his long run.
Jessie poured him some water from her canteen. As he lapped it up, she removed from his collar a tiny camra-like devise. With a few more key strokes, the map twisted and turned, taking on a 3-D appearence. She studied it for a long moment, then closed the computer up and returned it to her pack. Glancing at her watch, she mumbled "Alrighty now. 11:26... we'll go in at 5am. Sleepest hour of the day, so get some sleep now." She glanced down at her dog only to find him softly snorring, his own personal version of a "duh" look. Chuckling, Jessie laid back, resting her head on his soft fur, closed her eyes, and waited.
**********
That damn pounding just won't cease. Not that, if he thought about it, he wanted it to. After all, it was the beating of his own heart he was talking about... or rather thinking about.
Damn, it hurt to think.
Just stop thinking. Just concentrate on the pounding... the heart beat. The thump, thump, thump...
Perfect Tommy's eyes fluttered, then slowly opened.
Damn, his eyes hurt.
Slowly, careful not to smear it across his vision, his hand rose up, across his face, to half drag half drop on his damp forehead. His fingers tingled as if coming awake. For that matter, everything tingled. And it was tense, almost maddening.
"Lie still." he whispered.
Damn, his throat hurt.
Was there anything that didn't hurt?
He started to sit up, but his entire body screamed in protest.
Damn, everything did hurt!
There was a chuckle.
Damn, the ears hurt too.
With a groan, he forced himself up.
There, standing at the foot of the cot he had been laid on, was Oran. She smiled down at him, but nothing was beautiful about the expression. It was filled with cruel pleasure and loathing..
"What did you do to me?" Tommy hissed, rubbing his eyes.
The woman glanced at her compainion, a large, bulky man wearing a gold tuxedo and sipping wine.
The bald man chuckled again. "For being one of Banzai's brightest, he sure is thick." he looked at Oran. "My sweet Lady, why has this taken us so long?"
Lady Oran de Nathair shook her head. "It is a wonder, my Lord." she admitted.
The pain was quickly becoming a memory now as blood flow worked the drug out of Perfect Tommy's system. He smiled slightly. "Well, they do say curiosity killed the cat." he offered.
The Lord and Lady looked at him. Then the Lord laughed, his large stomach jiggling. "How right he is."
"For your information, Tommas," Oran spoke directly to him, "you are going to die. You're attempt to infiltrate us was admirably brave, yet incredibly stupid."
"Incredibly stupid." Tommy agreed, swinging his feet off the cot. "The smart thing would of been to have shot you on sight. But, no, Buckaroo wanted to bring you in." He shrugged.
"You don't seem overly concerned with your coming demise, young man." Lord Uilc Duine observed, still chuckling. "Perhaps you believe help is on the way. Perhaps it would be, if this was still working." he held up the Blue Blaze's small go-phone. It had been smashed.
Perfect Tommy licked his lips. "Well, that would be helpful." he admitted. No use denying the obviouse.
Again the Lord threw back his head and laughed.
Ignoring him, Tommy turned his attention to the Lady. "If I'm going to die anyway, wanna tell me who the hell you are and why you are so damn interested in the Banzai Institute?"
The woman frowned, suspicion always alert.
But her counterpart was all too eager to answer. "I am the Lord Uilc Duine of the Clan Uilc Dochas, the rightful rulers of the Talmhainn. And this is my dear cousin, the Lady Oran de Nathair. And we want in your precious walls for the same reason all other wants-to-rule-the-world evil entities do."
Tommy's turn to smile. "A little hard to do if I'm dead, isn't it?"
"Not really." the Lady spoke up. "We already have your finger prints and retinal scans. A little DNA... it will be fairly easy to install a replacement at the Institute." She smiled.
That smile was begining to ware away at his self confidence. He was going to die. And she was going to enjoy it. `Put it off... delay it as long as.... Buckaroo will come! He will!' "I must admit, you have a cozy little killing den here." he observed, trying to find ways to drag it on. As long as they were talking they weren't killing. That was good.
"Oh, this is nothing." Lord Uilc Duine waved a hand in the air. "You should see our place in Ukiah."
"My Lord!" Oran snapped. She had decided that that was too much information. "The sun will rise soon. He should be taken car of before then."
The Lord sighed. "Very well, my sweet Lady." He waved to a pair of henchmen. "Take care of it." he ordered. "The Lady and I will be returning home."
"Perhaps, my Lord, we should see this finished." Oran started, but the Lord held up a hand.
"I am tired, my dear." he said. "And we have already declares this man an idiot. There is no reason for us to stay." He turned and started to leave, but pause. Glancing back to his henchmen, he gave one last order: "Don't do it in here. I just had the place recarpeted."
