It could have gone worse. I was the only one even slightly injured, and it wasn’t much of an injury; just a scratch on my stomach. Well, more of a minor gash; nothing an emergency autodoc couldn’t take care of.

Kungl had managed to chase the doe out of the ‘thopter, and when she went the males all took after her. Kungl seemed to want to continue the chase, but once she hit the trees he stopped and came back. The ‘thopter itself hadn’t been too badly done, only the Portent generator had suffered. The same could not be said of what cargo was in the hold. Most of it had been unloaded at the camp. The only thing still in the hold had been extra crates of dirt and Black Blood, several of both had been knocked over. The dirt was mostly okay, a little had spilled out but they were easy to right and reseal; the Black Blood was another matter entirely.

Black Blood, the chief product of BloodStone Corporation. Vampires must drink blood to survive, and most of them have to have at least some human blood in their diet. Some of us, those with panImmunity, are off the diet as panImmunity makes our blood toxic to vampires – but we actually comprise only a percentage of the Cities population (I think it’s only about 15% who have panImmunity or its lesser cousin hyperImmunity). And while the rest of the Cities Human population was still on the menu, most have no desire to let some predator feed on them, especially if that predator gains a mystical influence over them; so enter the ‘Humane’ option - Black Blood. Its actually human blood, grown in a vat just like the MoreCow VatMeat or UtterMilk. It’s loaded with preservatives (thus its black colour) and supercharged with manna. Direct from the vein human blood is better, but for a Vampire Black Blood is a great substitute. If it has a down side its that they have to consume a hell of a lot of it; thus most vampires bloat up like ticks (not that anyone would notice normally, Vampires glamour can easily cloud peoples minds making them see what the Vampire wants them to see.

And while all that is interesting, its most important property as far as we were concerned at the moment is that it breaks down quickly when exposed to air. Imagine 100 liters of blood poured out and left for a day in the hot sun and that’s pretty much what the Black Blood smelt like after 30 minutes.

We cleaned it as best as we could, being careful as we went because of the Portent Generator. When the doe had hit it (I admit I am impressed, I knew Jackal…. Jackdeer were fast and could leap great distances, but she had bounded up over 3 meters to hit the Generator (which is situated on the ceiling of the hold near the center of the ‘thoper). The generator was only dinged, but she had either knocked out or broken the crystal sliver that is the heart of the Portent. This particular sliver was about 2mm long, as thick as a human hair, and worth almost as much as the rest of the ‘thopter. We never found it.

It was late afternoon when we dusted off and made the short hop back to camp. It had started to rain, and by the time we landed it was pouring. We hopped out and rand the short distance from the clearing to the camp, but just before we got there Kungl stopped us.

Inside the Portent Pan was standing. As soon as we stopped I heard her. “They turned off the Portent – hurry! They only have it down for thirty seconds.”

We ran. We stopped at Pan, and then my arm hairs all stood up as I felt the Portent re-engage. Pan spoke, “We have the rain pavilion set up between the tents. You two go ahead, I need to speak to Charles for a moment.”

Kungl and Wholey ran on. Pan spoke lowly, “Let me see.”

I pulled up my shirt. “It’s just a scratch, nothing to worry about.”

She looked. “Another millimeter or two and it would have opened up your abdominal wall. I guess having to cram your intestines back in would count as a minor cut?” She was smiling, obviously enjoying herself.

“Good news then?” I asked.

“Let’s get back to camp and dry off. We were waiting for you all to get here before we powwowed. But yes, it’s pretty good.”

We got to the center of camp, and sure enough a pavilion stretched over the area between the tents, and film like transparent curtains dropped from its edges to the ground. Though it was dark, and getting darker, inside a blazing lantern illuminated the area from above. On a nearby table were some towels and we dried off as best as we could.

As we dried the DCASE team head, Ms. Choudhary spoke. “Now that everybody is here, let me give you our findings. It’s definitely SPA. Our panImmunity offers total protection, and our non-human friend here,” she indicated Kungl, “isn’t human enough for it to threaten. The bad news is that we have no normal treatment for SPA, and it might take some time to come up with one. That means this virus cannot, under any circumstances, be allows too enter the City. Everyone and everything will have to go through at least a two-week quarantine, and all things will have to be sterilized. Ms. Dora, what have you for us?”

Pan stood and spoke, “It’s a good news/bad news thing too. The bad news is the zombies cannot be saved.”

“What is causing their condition? Their dead, so SPA cannot affect them.” Said one of the Bloodstone archeologists, I believe his name is Fajardo.

“The live virus, no; but the dead virus is… well its being reanimated. The virus is very close to humanity, a predation that feeds exclusively on humans. The reanimations used on the zombies are reanimating the dead virus. It’s fascinating, the…”

Ms. Choudhary interrupted Pan, “Can you keep it simple for us?”

“Oh, sorry. Yes. “Pan said, “The reanimated virus is clogging the Zombies mystical energies. Soon they magic holding the Zombies together will collapse.” She stopped.

The pause was long. Finally Ms. Choudhary spoke again, “And?”

“And what?” Pan asked, with a surprisingly guileless tone. I don’t think she realized she was being annoying.

“What are we going to do with them; and what about the Vampire? Is it the same thing?”

“Oh no, well yes and no. it’s SPA, but it’s the live virus affecting Ms. Bloodstone.” Again she stopped. I leaned over to her and whispered in her ear.

“Yes, that’s the good news. She can survive. She’s not going to be happy about it, but she can survive. I plan on taking the Zombies out of camp this evening and destroying them.”

“You cannot do that! They are BloodStone property.” Said another of the Archeologists, Mr. Sills.

Pan smiled, “I can and I will. Your corporation has given me total authority here. If needed, I could even order the destruction of Ms. Bloodstone.” I was watching Ms. Blue, and at that she paled, “But fortunately I do not have to do that.”

“What needs to be done to cure Ms. Bloodstone?” Ms. Choudhary asked.

“Actually, not a lot. She needs a good meal, then we just have to seal her up in her crypt and force her into what the Vampires call a ‘Long Death’ – drive a steak through her heart or such to keep her dead for a while. While dead her body will naturally deal with the disease. Give it a few months, maybe a year and she will be disease free. The Vampires claims that’s how they use to deal with the diseases that would periodically rampage through humanity, and my observations combined with out studies of the Vampires’ condition…”

“So if we kill her, decontaminate her, and put her through a year-long quarantine she will be okay?” the exasperated DCASE leader asked.

“Yes. I would run some blood work on her before I let her loose in the City, but she will be fine.”

“Okay, what about our transportation issues Mr. Iknal?” Ms. Choudhary asked.

Kungl stood, and with a hesitant voice like someone unused to speaking to a group, he said, “The ‘thopter is flight worthy. The only major damage is the Portent is down.”

“That’s a pretty big problem!” one of the DCASE team, I believe it was Mr. Heap, interrupted.

“Well, it is a problem – but not an insurmountable one. We are only a few hundred kilometers away from the southwestern Gate. We can make that easily, even without the protection of a Portent. Our biggest problem here will be protecting the ‘thopter till we can dust off.”

“And how long will that be?” Mr. Heap asked.

Kungl tuned and said, “Wholey, how long till the weather breaks?”

The girl, and as I said I am sure she is a girl, said something I couldn’t hear. Apparently I wasn’t alone because several spoke up and asked what she said. Kungl spoke, “She said two days. This storm is going to pelt up till the day after tomorrow. We are grounded till then.”

I looked at Pan and she nodded confirmation of that estimate.

“Damn, you cant fly in bad weather?”, Heep asked.

“Yes, with a functional Portent its child’s play; but without one we could fall pray to anything, and a lot of things love storms. In a clear sky I can see; in this I have to rely on instruments; instruments that cannot detect Air Elementals, Wind Dragons, Storm Giants; not to mention what if the WitchStorm throws a manifestation here? You really want to get caught in that?”

To me that was enough. I doubt anyone here had ever encountered a manifestation of the WitchStorm, but I knew from my father what an encounter with it could do. Admittedly he had run into it before the storms had coalesced into the single monstrous WitchStorm, and a distant manifestation wouldn’t be as bad as what had hit him – but still, no need to push your luck.

Ms. Apelor spoke, “Our pilot is correct, exercising better sense than some. That gives us two days to secure everything and prepare for our return to the City. Ms. Blue, I fear we don’t have room for your artifacts so they will have to be left till you can return.”

Ms. Blue looked startled, “Return? We’re not leaving. You said we are in no danger.”

“Yea,” Mr. Fajardo, one of the other BloodStone people injected, “We’re going to far enough behind without Zombies and Ms. Bloodstone. We will have to work with rebreathers and in shifts.”

“I don’t know. Frankly I would rather go back and come out with some more help.” The last BloodStone archeologist said. His companions stared at him as if betrayed.

“Leo, of everybody I thought you would want to stay.” Ms Blue said. “This is Pre-Apocalyptic technology, when are you going to get another chance to work with Dragons Blood…”

“Maybe never, which is why I want to do it right.”

“It does not matter what you want I fear.” Ms. Apelor said. “DCASE protocols are specific. You are all coming back and going trough quarantine. By the time that is over DCASE will have new procedures for this site.”

“Quite Right.” Her Supervisor said. “DCASE personnel will pack up our lab, but till we are ready we will keep our Portent up and our equipment here. We will coordinate with our transportation a guard schedule to protect the ‘thopter. You BloodStone people should secure what you are leaving behind and be ready to dust off the day after tomorrow. As for you Inhuman Resources People,” she paused, “Do what you have to do to prepare the Vampire for transport back to the City. Let’s go people.”

The DCASE people were off and into their lab. We could hear them packing. The Bloodstone trio gathered in a group and began a heated discussion. Pan and I walked to the Portent. Pan spoke to Kungl, “I’ll kill the power, you run to the ‘thopter. I am sure you will have help shortly.”

He spoke to Wholey, “Stay here. It’s best I do this shift alone, no distractions. Okay?” she nodded, but not enthusiastically. He turned back to us, “Tell them to hold off till midnight. I can cover better than any of you, and I work best alone.”

“Okay.” She said as she killed the power. He ran, and as before he went to all fours and seemed to become more of a beast. When he was gone and we were sure he was past the Portent Pan powered it back up. When she turned to me she was positively beaming, “Now things get interesting!”

The sky alit with a bolt of lightning, briefly illuminating the dark the storm had made the evening. Interesting, never a good word in my experience; and I had no doubt it wasn’t going to be good this time.

End part 4

Next – Part 5 – Dead at Dawn