Iron Rain Pt. 07

"Nick you never cease to amaze me," he muttered to himself as he stepped into the aircraft and watched the ground fall away deep in thought.

Akira Kusanagi never left my side but even in my drugged state I could tell that something was bothering her.

"Akira what is it?" I asked and I saw the sorrow and confusion in her eyes.

"Master, I have spoken with the other sisters and they have told me some very disturbing things. I feel I may not be worthy to serve you," she said her voice barely above a whisper and a single tear sliding down her cheek.

"Please explain," I said offering he my hand.

"They tell me that we made love and I have no memory of it at all," her hand clenching mine now. "Over the last week I have been having black outs and missing time. I am concerned that I am not at my best and would be a liability to you."

"Let me ask you a question can you change your eye color," I asked and her reaction was one of puzzlement.

"With contact lenses but not upon command," she said and I felt I was close to something.

"What is the process by which the Majestrix is chosen?" I asked her and she smiled.

"Why Master you choose from among the Silent Shadows or any strong woman who proves her worth to you."

"Yet in the bath you and the other two said there was a contest that must be held," I told her and she nodded.

"Oh, that is the old way Master but that hasn't been done in centuries," she said thoughtfully. "Why would all three of us say that? It is a well known fact about the choosing."

I thought back to the love play in the bath and the radical personality difference between that Akira and this one. The green eyed Akira was a very alpha based female whereas this Akira is very subservient. It is almost as if they were two different women. And then it hit me, they were two different women... somehow those three girls were influenced and manipulated but how? 'I have always been on your side,' she had said. This master had a hidden ally and I suspected she would surface again and soon.

"Akira?"

"Yes Master," she said smiling.

"Did you spend time in China training for your martial training?"

"Why yes Master how did you know?"

"This is a more delicate matter, I have heard there are seven styles of sexcraft is this so?"

"Yes Master," she said blushing.

"Akira have you been trained in those ways?" I asked and she lowered her head her hair falling over her face and she nodded.

"Would you like a demonstration Master," the voice was Akira's but the inflection and cadence was completely different.

"Not in the state I am in but thanks for the offer demon," I said and Akira's head lifted and there as proof were the green eye gleaming so brightly.

"Ah, I am discovered lover what will you do now?" she said licking her lips.

"Nothing, you have sworn your service to me. You are my play thing, my pet." I said and saw her eyes narrow and I felt the razor's edge I walked with this person. "But you are no demon are you. I had to meditate on this situation for me to realize what was really going on."

"I am unmasked, revealed and humbled," she said her voice oozing its sensual quality. "So tell me Master what am I?"

"You were sent by a mutual friend to keep an eye on me. There is only one person clever enough to engineer this whole thing and only one person smart enough to pull it off. But how they knew I was in trouble is beyond me. And how did they meet you?"

"They Master, I thought you said one person?"

"I did, one engineer namely Terry and one genius namely Jesse."

She smiled brilliantly and I knew I had part of my answer. How the hell were they monitoring me? I didn't have the contact lenses anymore and the tablet was back home. That was the disturbing part of all of this. Then again it's Jesse and Terry those two had sliced Pentagon security without so much as a whisper.

"You tell those two that I owe them one and you owe me seven," I told her.

"MMMMMMMMM technically six but who am I to argue," she purred. "They send their love and best wishes on a swift recovery."

Poor Akira blinked and frowned knowing it had happened again. I said nothing and wondered how long before I was released to go home. I knew they were going to be worried sick about me. I closed my eyes and focused my thoughts on healing and embracing the Dragon Ki for this very purpose and drifted away between medication and meditation.

It was the voices arguing above my bed that brought me out of my quiet place.

"I am telling you don't say anything," the voice was Akira's but I suspected the hijacker was in charge at the moment.

"I must report this development to the Eternal Master," the doctor was saying.

"Okay let's look at this on a logical point of view... who is your patient?" she asked.

"The Hidden Master of course," he replied.

"Did not the Eternal Master tell you to look after him?"

"Well yes," the old man replied sensing where this was going.

"Lastly, do you think two men could have possibly pulled off what happened here at the temple?"

"What? What are you implying?"

"Just this, two men do not a conspiracy make, there are others and while he is vulnerable and his location known he is in danger."

"What do you want me to do?" the doctor conceded to her logic.

"Say nothing. Let me place one of the Silent Shadows in his place and move him before they strike. Once he is away from this place they cannot track him. A Silent Shadow will pilot the helicopter and jet out of Japan and from there, well leave that to me."

"What is going on?" I asked and immediately noticed that the pain in my side was gone. "What the hell?"

I lifted the sheets and the noticed that my side was yellowed from bruising but the majority of the pain was gone. I gingerly touched the area but besides some swelling and a little tenderness it was very tolerable. The Dragon Ki must have worked!

"You have remarkable healing talents doctor congratulations but we must move while this window of opportunity presents itself!" Akira said her green eyes ablaze.

"Very well you have two days before I speak to the Eternal Master," he said solemnly and added, "good luck."

The old man left the room and soon I was bathed, dressed in the garb of the Silent Shadows and making my way to the courtyard. The outside was vacant again as the masters had returned to their lives but I felt that keen sense of tension as we made our way to a small helicopter parked in the side garden of the temple. I felt that we weren't going to make it and at any moment some dire threat would manifest itself and we would perish there. But the rotors reached the proper speed and we lifted off without incident and with some effort I managed to quiet my heart and breathing and we safely arrived at the airport and the waiting jet. It was a different aircraft and this time I boarded it alone. As Akira was closing the hatch I touched her arm and looked her in the eye.

"Come with me," I asked.

"I can't my duty is here to make sure you are safe and gone from this place. If the fates are kind we will see each other soon once the conspiracy is revealed."

"Don't take any unnecessary chances," I told her.

"I won't now buckle up and enjoy the ride," she said as the hatch closed and she waved the pilot on.

I looked out my window and waved to her and as she smiled and waved there came a loud crack and Akira's head snapped forward and I knew that she was dead before she hit the ground. The sniper's bullet was a kill shot and I knew that she and the others had sacrificed themselves for me and it would be avenged. The plane accelerated and sped away from the murder scene and I had seventeen long hours to plot my revenge. Someone was going to pay for this and in blood!

How did Jesse, Terry and Morrigan meet up? That was my question. Were they monitoring my avatar somehow and learned of her and employed her to help me and watch out for me? Was she my guardian angel and is that why I kept hearing her voice from time to time? It was her green eyes I saw when I looked at Akira just before she died had Morrigan died as well? I hoped not I had grown quite fond of her and the loss of an innocent like Akira was just plain criminal. I was stuck on this plane and even now they could be plotting to shoot this aircraft down. I looked out the window and saw the ocean not a hundred feet below us and knew we were below radar level so they couldn't track us that way. How long had we been this low? Did they believe we ditched in the ocean? I needed to play it very cautiously when I got home and plan out my long term game with the Silver Twilight if the Hidden Master was going to survive. I decided to leave my dad in the dark he was still recuperating from the bone marrow transplant and there was no connection from him to me unless... unless Whately told others besides the Grandmaster about me. Damn this was going to be the longest flight of my life!

"Should we make him wait?" a low muffled voice said.

"I don't know he seems distressed," said a different voice equally muffled.

"I just wish this cushion wasn't on my head and I could see what's going on," said the first voice.

"Let us out..." giggled the second voice.

"What... the... fuck..." I said walking over to the other side of the cabin and saw the distinct glow from under one of the seats.

I lifted up the cushion and whoosh up sprung the holographic images of Jesse and Terry projected from what appeared to be a wristwatch. I picked up the watched and put it on and smiled at my friends despite the dire situation.

"We are sorry about Akira but we are glad you are safe," Terry said.

"Yes safe," added Jesse all smiles.

"So what's the plan?" I asked and they explained how I was going to reenter the country unannounced and under the radar literally. "Works for me and that will give me time to secure my position while everything is in flux."

"Exactly," Terry said.

"Great plan how did you come up with it," I asked and they grinned.

"We thought what would Nick do?" Jesse grinned. "It's smoke and mirror time."

"So a watch huh," I commented on the new gadget they had developed.

"Seemed like a logical step in things. Nice and portable with most of the bells and whistles including a dear old friend of yours," Terry explained.

Surfer sprung into existence above me and seemed genuinely glad to see me.

'Milord, it is good to see you fully functional.'

"I missed you too Surfer," I replied and he returned my smile. "New upgrade I should know about guys?"

"Yeah his emotion emulator has been calibrated to close to human norm and appears to be stable." Jesse said.

"We are pushing his reactions to see how well he functions as a learning, feeling intelligence." Terry added.

"Surfer how do you feel," I asked and he appeared to stop and think for a moment.

'I feel relieved to know that you are okay.'

"I still miss the contacts though," I said and they looked each other and grinned. "Let me guess you have a pair of new and improved done... in the works?"

"The new set is close to being finished," Jesse said.

"Great I can't wait," I said smiling and eager with anticipation.

"We have to go, tons of things to do. Take care of yourself Nick and we will talk real soon." Terry said as him and Jesse faded away but Surfer remained.

'Milord,' he said sitting on his surfboard now feet dangling in the air so childlike.

"Access the tablet and make sure the family is alright," I said my first concern being them.

'They are fine Milord I just left the Lady Kat and all is well.'

"What is she doing with my tablet?"

'I believe it is called shopping...'

I arrived home two days later via a cab I had called from the wharf where the shrimp boat had dropped me off. With only my wallet, my new watch and the clothes on my back it was an awkward homecoming. I walked in the front door and went upstairs immediately to get out of the clothes that reeked of fish funk and took a long ass shower. It took what seemed like forever to get the stink off my skin and the clothes would be thrown out or burned. When I had rinsed my hair for the third time there stood Petra and she looked absolutely pissed. Then she ran into my arms despite the clothes she was wearing and greeted me with a soul wrenching kiss before slapping me hard across the face.

"Where the hell have you been?" tears streamed down her cheeks as she stripped out of her soaked clothes and embraced me again her naked form pressing against mine.

Our lips met again and her tongue invaded my mouth and her hands grabbed my hardness and she lifted her leg up and over my shoulder allowing me to fuck her standing up. I moved my hips slowly and our kiss deepened as we made love. Her first orgasm nearly forced her crashing to the floor of the shower. Her second climax was while she was on her knees and me behind her pounding away at her eager sex. Her third and final body shaking orgasm was on my bed with her legs over my shoulders and me hammering away at her pussy from above her. I only came once but that's all I needed. The long build up in the shower and then on my bed was in a word epic! I fell on top of her with my cock still buried deep in her and it was then and there that I related my harrowing escape from Japan.

"So that was your plane that crashed the other night," she asked enjoying the feel of my weight on top of her.

"Yeah but the bodies and flight itinerary belonged to someone else and they were already dead before they left Japan and I had nothing to do with their deaths."

"I know you'd never kill anyone in cold blood Nick," she said. "I'm just glad you're home safe and sound."

"Me too," I said.

Reluctantly we disentangled ourselves and I decided upon a long hot bath and Petra was off to the store to buy fixings for a welcome home meal. As I soaked in the hot water I looked at my right side and saw that the bruising was barely a memory and there was hardly any discoloration at all. I wasn't going to worry about anything until tomorrow today belonged to me and my family.

It was the last week of August and we all went to dad's doctor appointment for his latest check up and the test results from earlier in the month had finally come back and I wondered what had taken so long? We were about to find out that very thing today.

"Sebastian how are you feeling today," Doctor Cartwright asked with a brilliant smile on his lips.

"Great, besides some insomnia I have never felt better," dad said and mom gave his thigh a little squeeze.

Despite doctor's orders the two had been sharing a bed again every night for the last week. From the sounds of it dad was back to his old self and then some.

"Well we sent your tests out a few weeks back and well we had to double check the results just to be sure," the doctor said as we all held our breath and he took out the films they had taken and he pointed out the areas where the brain cancer had been and we all squinted to see... nothing. "There is no sign of the cancer in any part of your body. We checked for certain proteins that are markers for cancer in other organs and the same result you are in complete remission."

There were shouts and tears and kisses and all seemed well with the universe. After a celebratory dinner we returned home to find my little UPS girl waiting for us.

"I have a special delivery for Nick Shaw," she said holding up an envelope.

Both Kat and Mom smiled and dad eyed her up and down before stepping past her and into the house.

"Long time no see," I said taking the tablet and signing for the letter.

"Sorry, real life has been crazy," she said as she handed me my delivery.

"Well if you need an escape sometime," I left the rest unsaid and to her imagination.

"Aren't you going to open it," she asked raising an eyebrow. "I was told to wait until you got home so it must be important."

"Well since you put it that way," I said tugging on the cardboard tab and pulling the strip away and hearing something jingle I tipped the contents into the palm of my hand which consisted of a set of keys with an ornate keychain and a folded piece of paper.

The keychain appeared to be made of a dull gray metal and the design was a rearing dolphin on a compass on the one side and on the other two crossed tridents with the name 'Numenor' over them. I automatically slipped the keys into my pocket and opened the piece of paper and it was two sets of numbers.

"Those look like GPS coordinates Nick," she said and I nodded staring at the unsigned note, not understanding but curious as hell. "Road trip," I asked her but she shook her head and sighed.

"I still have three hours on the clock take a rain check?"

"Anytime, got to break the news to the family," I said sad to see her go.

I stepped into the house and my family stood there and stared at me and I held up the keys and the paper.

"Road trip," I asked and everyone broke into a smile even my dad.

There was bustling and packing of drinks and snacks and trips to the bathroom and in less than fifteen minutes we were on the road. We took Kat's mustang and dad drove while I road shotgun with the girls in the back. The coordinates were plugged in and it looked like we had a drive of only a half hour, now I was doubly curious. The muscle car glided along the road and I could tell something was bothering my dad so I did something I never would have in the past, I asked him.

"Okay what's bothering you old man," I asked smiling.

"Old man eh? It's the car, my health, hell everything," he said obviously shaken.

"Don't you like the Rolls," I asked and he smiled and nodded.

"Nick, do you know how few of those cars still exist and to have one just given to you well something's not right."

"I think Mayor Whately gave me the car so it could come into your possession indirectly. He seemed very fond of you and maybe didn't want your buddies at the lodge getting jealous." I said hating to have to lie to my dad but I had no choice.

"He mentioned the lodge?"

"Only in passing, he said that you had worked very hard for a long time to get where you were. I told him no, my workaholic dad bust his hump not a chance."

"Have you heard from Whately recently?" my dad asked and I shook my head. "Nobody has. It seems he left for a big to do meeting with the lodges higher ups and never returned."

"He wasn't in that plane crash a couple weeks back was he?" I asked.

"I think they identified that as Stephen Blaskow, a pretty well placed business man out of Boston."

"Oh okay," I said and shrugged. "It's just all the weirdness that has been going on lately with Whately missing and the Governor too. What's next an alien invasion?"

"Funny you should mention the Governor..." dad began but an electronic voice interrupted him.

'You have arrived at your destination,' Chimed the navigation system.

We all stared out the windows at the scene before us. We were at the edge of the Arkham docks which are located south and west of famed Miskatonic University.

"What the hell?" I said expressing everyone's general confusion.

"Well, what do we do now," Kat chimed in from the back seat.

"Just drive around honey and see if something jumps out," mom offered to my dad.

"Might as well since we are here," he grumbled and the car entered the chaotic environment that was the docks. Arkham possessed the third largest warehouse district in the state and the tenth on the Eastern seaboard. In a word it was huge! So it was a good five minutes before the security vehicle caught up to us and waved us to a stop. But it wasn't the guard that approached the car but a stunning Japanese woman in her late twenties dressed to impress and get any male's attention. I rolled down the window as she bent down to speak to us.

"Would you be Nicholas Shaw and family," she asked in her heavily accented Japanese.