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Post by Evangeline on Oct 28, 2008 0:01:23 GMT -5
"Mom and Papa still haven't seen much of you, I know." Bree answered slowly. "And Papa is a typical Frenchman, he can be stubborn. But you get along great with Sis, and Jordan thought well of you when he visited the Mountain last year." she referred to her fraternal twin brother, an AS365 N3 Dauphin variant working search and rescue in the Colorado ski zones. "But whatever Papa thinks, I'm a big girl now. I'll make my own decisions."
"He's probably well offshore by now." Jastrow scowled. "And we still can't link him to what happened to the commander. If we were to find a connection and prove it, THEN there'd be an all-out search for him."
"That's farther out than I can go." Randy grumped.
"I can go farther, and I know his scent." Erika added. "Though what we can do once we find him is a whole different game of tag."
"Well, that might make some things easier, anyway." Dawn seemed a bit relieved. Other humans passed clothes to her and Manuel. "Here, try these on. Unlike vehicles, humans who wear nothing but their skins tend to, shall we say, stand out a little too much."
Lt. Stokes radioed ahead to get clearance for Freda and Nerisa to anchor by the station, and looked back at them. "OK, there's room for you both on the other side of the channel."
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Post by ebonyviper on Oct 28, 2008 0:15:16 GMT -5
"That's what I'm hoping for," said Shale with a nod.
*****
Delfina thought for a moment, "Why not ask that destroyer, Nerisa Hampton, to help out? She would be able to provide us with muscle and firepower, if we need it."
*****
Raven had noticed the crowd gathering and remembering about what Delfina told him about human modesty, he put on the clothes that were offered to him and tried to stand up on legs that felt like jelly.
*****
"Thank you," Freda said with a thankful nod to Stokes.
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Post by Evangeline on Oct 28, 2008 0:40:42 GMT -5
"Muscle she could give, but I dunno if her superiors would let her use the firepower." Randy pointed out.
"If he were determined to be a terrorist threat and the Coast Guard said so, that might change." Jastrow glanced towards the harbor to see Freda and Nerisa following Stokes in. "The Navy might let her reinforce us while she's here."
"Wait a sec." Randy went back to where he'd seen the nurse. "Could I ask the doctor a question?"
"About what?" the Smartcar looked back at him quizzically.
"Well, it might be kind of a wierd question, but does he know anything about gulf fever?" the powerboat asked.
"Just a minute, please." The nurse disappeared from the railing over the dock. Dr. Harriman reappeared a moment later. "You were asking about gulf fever, son? Keep in mind I'm a marine doctor, not aeromedical."
"Well, it's not really about gulf fever itself." Randy clarified, "But diseases that relapse. What would bring that on?"
"A shock to the immune system," Dr. Harriman mused. "It would have to be quite drastic, such as triggered by another illness or immunosuppressant drugs.."
"Wait... drugs?" Randy perked his aerials. "What kinda drugs?"
"Mesqualin or Arazenol." the old Buick cocked his front in thought. "Those are the ones I know of that are used for more than one species. Arazenol, though, is NOT recommended for aircraft types. It works TOO well with them."
"Hmmm..." Randy narrowed his eyes and tightened his mouth. "Thanks a bunch, Doc. You mighta helped us out more than you know." He then took this information back to the others, telling them, generally, what the doctor told him.
"You two can anchor right here, OK?" Lt. Stokes directed. "If I get anything from the station, I'll let you know."
"That I don't doubt." Greg was boiling something over a single-burner plate. It smelled... vile. "Secret family recipe." he grinned slyly to Shale.
Dawn and Manuel supported Raven for his first few steps. "I guess you never walked before, eh?"
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Post by ebonyviper on Oct 28, 2008 0:58:13 GMT -5
"Okay, that might be something. So where can this Arazenol be acquired and where does one get some?" asked Delfina.
*****
"Thanks," said Freda, pulling in to anchor, Nerisa waiting her turn.
*****
"Oh," Shale blinked, "So will it help Bree get better?"
*****
"Not in a thousand years," replied Raven, thankful for the help, "I never had the need since I lived in space all my life."
He long, black hair blew in the slight breeze that kicked up.
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Post by Evangeline on Oct 28, 2008 1:12:50 GMT -5
Marty watched, slack-jawed, as Raven emerged in his new form. Then he suddenly remembered that he had something to tell the humans.
"Hey! That Coast guard helo? She came in sick this morning and it's really bad."
Dawn turned back. "Bree's sick? My God, that happened fast."
Jastrow thought for a beat or two. "It's certainly not over-the-counter stuff. When my mother had block corrosion, that's what they used for her chemotherapy, but it was something wicked in its effects and they kept it in a vault at the hospital, locked up tighter than gold at Fort Knox. The only way anyone else could get it are all the usual illegal ways."
"It's the best immune booster outside of a drug vault, and it's what I used the first time she was sick." Greg took the boiling vessel off the burner and carefully checked its consistency. "Has to be prepared just so, or it's no good." He gave it several precise stirs, then poured it into a shallow metal pan in a box full of crushed ice. "Has to be boiling, and cooled down rapidly, no lollygagging about."
"You're welcome, ladies." Lt. Stokes managed a bit of a smile as he looked back at Freda. It was an odd time to note her beauty, but it seemed like balm for his worries.
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Post by ebonyviper on Oct 28, 2008 1:29:44 GMT -5
Raven blinked, confused, as he heard the news, "Um, who is Bree and how did she get sick?"
*****
"Illegal?" asked Delfina.
*****
"Oh, so when it's ready, you give it to her right away?" asked Shale.
*****
Freda smiled back at Stokes.
(((((OOC: Starting to get real sleepy...)))))
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Post by Evangeline on Oct 28, 2008 1:53:40 GMT -5
"It might be interesting to check up on drug thefts from hospitals and other sources and see if any Arazenol went missing." Jastrow speculated. "I could do that."
"How would we know the stuff if it was there?" Randy asked. "Any particular smell to it?"
"That's what we want to find out." Jastrow answered. "It's taken orally, so far as I know, so anyone who wanted to use it for malicious purposes would, oh... put it in fuel or something."
"Once it's cooled properly, I can give her the first dose." Greg nodded. "Then another every couple of hours. The dose and schedule are just as important as the substance. There's little room for error here."
Bree just lay in her cover of icebags and gel blankets, eyes almost shut.
"Bree is the helicopter who was here last night." Dawn explained. "The flyer with the rotating blades. She and her sister are old friends of ours."
Lt. Stokes found this lifted his weight a little, to see Freda return his smile. "I'm not assigned to do anything in particular at the moment, so I can stay here for now."
<<< Last post. Good night. >>>
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Post by ebonyviper on Oct 28, 2008 12:52:10 GMT -5
"You think someone would do that?" asked Delfina.
"It happened at a Piston Cup race once," said Ebony, "All the racers got very sick. Kamui and Sapphire were telling me about it. So it could be possible."
*****
"Then I won't interfere," said Shale, "I just want to be close to Bree."
*****
"I haven't met her," said Raven. Then a strange thing happened. His stomach growled in hunger. "Um..."
*****
"Well, some company would be nice," nodded Freda.
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Post by Evangeline on Oct 28, 2008 14:07:15 GMT -5
Dawn noted the inner growl, being close enough. "I think someone needs a sandwich or two."
"I understand, laddie." Greg nodded as he poured the now-cooled mixture into a large oral syringe and watched as its color changed to a purplish hue. "There, it's ready." He gently pried open a corner of Bree's mouth and inserted the tip. "It'll taste as bad as it did the last time, but it'll do you good."
Bree opened her mouth obligingly, trying to get as much of it down her throat as possible before the taste hit her. At least she didn't have to take it all at once!
"The key is to boost her up, and keep the fever from getting any worse." Greg retracted the syringe. "If we can do those things, we're as good as can be. Once the fever breaks, it's all bed rest from that point."
Randy turned to Ebony. "Maybe if we got the empty fuel cans from her morning topoff, they might have a scent on them."
Lt. Stokes anchored some hundred feet from Freda. "I don't really feel like being alone either."
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Post by ebonyviper on Oct 28, 2008 14:20:43 GMT -5
"A sandwich? Humans eat when they're hungry?" asked Raven, holding a hand to his stomach.
*****
"And then she gets better?" Shale asked hopefully.
*****
"That would help," nodded Ebony, "Hopefully the fuel cans haven't been thrown away, though."
*****
"Neither do I," said Freda with a nod of agreement, "I was like that as a child. Never wanting to be alone."
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Post by Evangeline on Oct 28, 2008 17:10:51 GMT -5
"Doubt it." Jastrow said. "They hold them for recycling, and that's on Wednesday."
"With time, yes." Greg put the syringe down in a rack and adjusted the gel blanket. Bree was starting to drift off, as the side effects of the potion made her sleepy. Her face almost looked childlike as she began to sleep.
"I was an only child." Lt. Stokes nodded. "My folks divorced not long after I was born, and my mom moved us from place to place as she looked for work. It wasn't an easy life."
"Yes." Dawn nodded as she and Manuel led him over to the field kitchen.
"Yo, Sam!" Manuel called out, "Can you rustle up a sandwich for this guy? Watcha got?"
"I'm doing hummus wraps." Sam, a gangly youth of West Indies origins, answered. "I got one ready." He passed a napkin-wrapped roll over. Dawn took it and carefully peeled back the wrapping so that Raven wouldn't bite into that along with the wrap.
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Post by ebonyviper on Oct 28, 2008 17:36:58 GMT -5
"Then we can still get to them," said Ebony.
"How do we get them?" asked Delfina.
*****
Shale saw Bree fall asleep and settled down to keep an eye on her as she slept.
*****
"Well, being a mixed-breed wasn't all that pleasant for me when I was growing up either," said Freda, "It was hard for me to make friends."
*****
Raven took the hummus wrap and took an experimental bite, chewing slowly then swallowing.
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Post by Evangeline on Oct 28, 2008 18:10:39 GMT -5
Dawn, Manuel and the others watched, making sure that Raven wouldn't take too big a bite and choke on it. They also brought him a bottle of water as well.
"We can ask." Jastrow glanced over to the station, which was at the other side of the bay. "And Lt. Stokes and the girls are there." He turned to Randy and Erika. "Thanks for the hunch... and the info."
"No problem." Randy answered with a guarded smile. He hadn't always been on the best of terms with "the authorities" himself, but a rapport was slowly building. He looked up to Delfina and then to Ebony. "I'll go and ask about the cans."
It was at that time that a cell call was made to Ebony...
"She's a brilliant lass, she is." Greg finally took the small liberty of stroking the side of Bree's cheek in an almost paternal way. "When I was a technician at the Academy, I was responsible for the care and feeding of a cadet division, all helos, mostly Dolphins like her at the time. They were all girls, the HH-65 variant is a sex-linked trait, for reasons nobody completely understands. It just happens to be the best one for the Coast Guard." He paused. "But when I saw this girl come onto the apron for the first time in her cadet colors, all of fourteen years old, and take in the scene and everything in it while everyone else was nervously eyeing the brass, I already knew she'd be one to watch."
"So that's what got you into... sciences and stuff?" Stokes asked.
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Post by ebonyviper on Oct 28, 2008 18:35:26 GMT -5
Raven happened to look up, noticing that he was being watched which made him feel a bit uneasy. "Please don't do that. You know I'm not dumb enough to make a mistake and kill myself. I'm a quick learner."
*****
"Alright," nodded Delfina.
Ebony blinked as her cell rang and answered it, "Hello?"
*****
"So you knew she'd be special?" asked Shale.
*****
"It was my mom," said Freda, "She took me on one of her research voyages when I was only half her size, showed me how exciting it was to learn about the ocean and I was hooked. She and Dad always joked about how I always used to talk about whatever new I learned and would not stop until I fell asleep in my dock."
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Post by Evangeline on Oct 28, 2008 19:15:59 GMT -5
"Sorry." Dawn averted her eyes. "Didn't mean to give you the willies." The others followed suit.
"Hello, this is the Villa Hermosa Police department. Is this Ebony Massey?" the caller asked.
"It was a bit of a hint." Greg crossed his forks and settled down for the duration. "Bree had her ups and downs like anyone else there, but she was already a good communicator and very good at solving problems and puzzles. And she could think in terms of logistics, which is a good marker for someone who'd do well in higher ranks. There's a reason why they don't want her doing TOO much hard duty. They don't want her getting too banged up too soon. She doesn't know it yet, but someone in high places sees a flag officer* prospect in her. It'd be the first time for a helicopter."
<<< flag officer - rear admiral lower half or above. >>>
"Your mom sounds like a terrific lady." Lt. Stokes smiled. "I wouldn't mind meeting your folks sometime. Seriously."
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