Chapter 18

Monday

At ten to seven Sharon is waking everyone to get ready for the day. I’m leading my new guests from the shower when the others arrive. We get dressed. I give Isamu some old clothes of mine to wear, a t-shirt and tracksuit pants, while Sharon finds something nice for Tora to wear. Breakfast arrives at seven thirty and we start eating.

During the meal I brief everyone on the late night events and how I’ll be making a special visit tonight. Most are shocked, but are happy the security system worked. Rob assures us it’ll work better when finished. Sharon says this morning she can complete the school transfer matters so all of the girls can go to school with me by Wednesday. I ask Lia to take Tora shopping for basics this afternoon, and she agrees to do so.

After breakfast I check the morning emails and I deal with a couple of items before heading to school. When we get out of AREA 51 I wonder what some of the kids are thinking about the car and Leslie’s little game of hugs and kisses before we leave. When we walk in the gate I notice Mr Walker has a real horrid expression on his face while he watches me. I wonder what he’s up to, but I shrug it off to worry about it later because I’ve got classes to worry about right now.

The day goes quite well until lunchtime. It’s an unseasonally nice day, sunny and warm, so most students are eating lunch outside the cafeteria, sitting on the seats, walls, and ground of the open grass area beside the cafeteria; a much welcome change to the recent cold days.

Lunch

Greg asks me to practice some passing with him so I get up to do that while the girls talk. After about ten minutes Mr Walker comes out and he heads my way. He pulls out a revolver and he aims it at me as I catch the football. Just as he fires I dive to the side. People scream. He has a shocked look when he sees he missed me. I come upright from my diving roll with the ball in my hand. I put all my strength into throwing the ball at his face before I dive back the other way. He fires again, just before the ball hits him in the face, hard. He staggers backward, dropping the gun as he does. I race to him and I strike his neck to knock him unconscious.

When I stand up I notice one group of girls is still screaming. Looking over I see Deborah Wallace with blood covered hands on her stomach. I call for the first aid kit as I race over while pulling my cell phone out.

I hit a speed dial, they answer, “Area Prime, declaring Valkyrie, Echo location, gut shot. Warn hospital for urgent surgery.”

“Area Prime, Vampire Base, acknowledge Valkyrie at location Echo, will warn hospital. In air, ETA three. Smoke please.”

“Vampire Base, Area Prime. Will smoke on sight.”

I arrive beside Deborah just as I’m finishing with the phone while a few of the students give me odd looks. One of the kitchen staff arrives with the first aid kit. I pull Deborah’s hands away then I use the kit’s scissors to get a better look at the wound. I’m not happy with it because it’s in a bad location. The only thing I can do is to apply a pressure bandage. Grabbing the biggest bandage from the kit I apply it and tie it in place, very tight. The nurse arrives as I’m tying it off. I look up, “Abdominal bullet wound. I put a pressure bandage on. Emergency Services are on the way.” She nods her understanding and agreement.

I stand up and move out to the more open area. While I walk I tell the students to go into the cafeteria. Everything is happening so fast Mr Hills has only just arrived and is being briefed by Greg. I stand in the middle of the grass area to look around while I get a small smoke canister from my pocket. When I signed up with Vampire Services, the emergency medical service I chose, they gave me a box of these little smoke bombs with orders to always carry a couple, so I do.

I’m on my third scan of the sky when I spot the fast growing dot of the inbound helicopter. I wait until it gets a bit bigger before I raise my right arm while I activate the smoke canister and I flip it a metre or so away. The smoke starts to rise to indicate the spot to land as well as the direction and strength of the wind. The helicopter comes straight in. I bend my knees as I bring my arm down to point toward Deborah, as per their protocols they taught me. The blood red helicopter isn’t even touching the ground when the medical team jump off to run to where they’re needed, they’re all carrying large bags of equipment and supplies.

The doctor leading the team orders everyone back before he gets close to her. He whips the bandage off to examine her while his head nurse gets vital signs. The orders flow fast and often. Boxes open and gear is set out for use. They’re almost ready when I realise he’s going to perform a field operation, so she must be worse than I thought. I turn away and I leave the professionals to their work. I know she’s in the best hands possible because this team has many years of experience performing such operations in the military; even while under heavy fire in combat.

I look around to see Mr Schaeffer is moving students inside out of the way while Mr Hills has Mr Walker’s hands tied behind his back. I glance at the helicopter to see a crew member getting one of the stokes stretchers out to carry Deborah. The Sikorsky UH-60M is a new variant of the latest UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, it’s modified for medical missions, the US Army have a unit like it they designate the HH-60M. These are the fastest Black Hawks in production at this time. A lot of the fit-out for this is very similar to the Army one, but it’s not exactly the same because this also includes everything needed for field surgery in things not encountered in most military situations. A hell of a lot of thought and experience went into the internal fit-out and kit load of this medical emergency helicopter.

The police and local ambulance are arriving just as I reach Mr Hills. I point to where the gun is lying on the ground, and one officer stands by it to see it isn’t interfered with. Mr Hills hands Walker to the cops and glances at the helicopter then me while raising his eyebrows. I answer his question, “I called them in because I knew Deborah was in a bad way and they’d get here faster. Unlike a normal ambulance the Vampire air units includes doctors and a MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) kit. The shorter time to surgery and the quality of the surgical team may make the difference between her living and dying. Captain Lawson and his team have years of combat experience in field operations with the US Army.” His eyes go wide, so do those of the two cops. I shrug, “I keep them on retainer in case I, or my people, have a medical emergency.”

Hills says, “I thought your dad was a wage slave and his company paid for your fees.”

I grin, “All I’ve ever said is ’Dad is a wage slave and a company pays for my fees.’ The company isn’t Dad’s as they don’t do that. The company is my trust fund. I’ve been writing best sellers for a few years and I’m a millionaire in my own right. I pay the fees myself. But I have to have it done through the trust fund because of legal reasons. When my mother and grandfather died I inherited their business empires and I’m much richer now. So I can easily afford the fees to keep such a good service on standby. Expensive, but well worth the cost, in my view.”

He slowly nods while he gives me a thorough look, “You’re a sneaky one.” I grin as I shrug. The detectives arrive and start taking statements from all of the witnesses. Many students miss their fourth period class due to being witnesses. Knowing this the teachers keep all fourth period lessons to review classes. We’re all back in class for fifth period.

With a football game on this Friday afternoon we’ve a big training session after class. The coach isn’t happy I missed so many sessions last week due to other things, but he’s happy I’m doing well. He likes it when Greg tells him about the weekend and lunchtime sessions. Today I’m spending a lot of time receiving kick-offs. I head home just after four.

Note: The situation with Deborah is touch and go. She spends a few months in intensive care, but she eventually has a full recovery. Calling in the Vampire helicopter saved her life because she would have bled to death on the way to hospital. Mr Walker is charged with attempted murder, but he’s sent for a sanity assessment first. I don’t follow that up, but the criminal case never goes to court. Mrs Walker later divorces him then she moves out of the area.

Evening

Back to the hotel for a quick shower and change. I take my Muramasa sword with me to visit Mr Tadao with Isamu and Tora. We arrive at Mr Tadao’s office, only to be rushed upstairs and into a helicopter. Thirty minutes later we’re landing in the grounds of the Japanese Embassy.

Security people join us and direct us to a part of the gardens where some people are waiting and all is ready. On hand are two Washington Police Officers wondering what they’ve been asked to witness.

During the day Rob supervised Isamu and Tora getting their papers and belongings. Isamu shows his identification papers to the police to make it clear who he is. An Embassy official, Mr Tadao, Tora, and I do the same as the other officials involved in the event.

I ask for a moment to talk to the police officers, and I get approval. One asks me what’s going on, and I say, “Are either of you ex-military?” Both are older persons for the rank they display, showing joining later in life or they’re long term street cops. Both turn out to be ex US Army with combat experience. This is good. “I’ll explain what’s going on shortly. I want you to assume you’ve just been on a mission deep behind enemy lines which went bad, very bad. You’re getting the blame. Everyone in the country is blaming you and they want to kill you - slowly, kill your family, and destroy all of your property. A general comes along to offer you a way out where your family will be protected and get to keep all they have if you take a suicide mission. Will you take it?” They both nod. “The mission is for you to get right up close to an important target, the one who caused the mess up of the last mission. You can kill the target, but you’ll die within seconds of making the kill. However, it clears your family and your honour. Do you go and do it?” Again they both nod. “Isamu Kymao was the team leader of a very important task assigned by his clan head. He failed miserably through no fault of his own as they failed to provide very important details of the target. His whole family is now threatened with death due to this failure. He’s here to make atonement and to save his family along with his honour. This will result in his death. You’re here as witnesses, and I’m here to deliver the dakikubi or mercy stroke. By my doing so I restore his honour.”