Hunters - The Hawk's Scream Pt 3

Maxwell finished serving up his dinner and placed everything on the table, then made sure that Zachary had his food as well. The cat waited patiently, after all, it was a lot of hard work to get a good meal ready for him. He needed everything just right. Zachary, that is, not Max. After seeing to Zachary's needs, Max sat down at the table and began eating. He didn't have the radio on, nor the television. Eating with him was always quiet and peaceful, one of the few things he felt he needed without distraction.

He thought about the past few nights and the seeming whirlwind of events that landed him in Regina. He had applied for a position in the Biology Department that would see him dealing with birds of prey, especially those brought in that needed tending too. Max wouldn't be teaching classes just yet, although the Dean did say the looked over his references and found his historical knowledge of Native history was impressive. Perhaps in the next semester they would want him to assist in the history department as well. He shrugged internally and kept eating. The move would be a good one. No need to get worked up over it all now.

He finished his meal and washed up his dishes. Zachary meowed and trotted into the livingroom to sit on the window sill and watch the world outside of the apartment. Too bad the sun was going down, no sun spots to lounge in. Max took down a few books and set them at his desk, research for the devices he had began to build. He also had a few papers to to sign and hand in to the University. By the time he was finished it was 9 o'clock in the evening. He rose from his desk and went over to Zachary, scratching him behind the ears. Zachary pushed his head up, meowing at the attention, then hopped off the window sill and followed Max as he walked to the basement.

Boxes filled the basement of the house. A workshop was beginning to take shape, even if the contents of the boxes remained where they were. Mostly books, some extra clothes and a few tools. He sat down at a workbench and organized a few papers as he produced his equipment. The papers had drawings, schematics for an odd device. His hobbies had helped him, interests as a child, and those continued on now into adulthood. He had grown quite used to fixing small components of electronic equipment, and had even managed to modify a few things in his day. But this was being built from scratch.

The device looked like a high tech aspirator. It had three small speaks on it, and what appeared to be USB ports. It fit around the nose and mouth of the wearer comfortably, at least. Or so it would appear. The straps and bindings were a soft leather, a strange contrast from the very modern day tech that had been used to create the device. You couldn't even tell that it contained the parts of an old iPod. Max's idea was sound, to take the cries of hawks, falcons and eagles, recorded into mp3 format and loaded onto the storage compartment of the device. A second device, which would wrap around his left wrist, would hold the play list, as it were. A quick tap on the play list would load up the next track and play it. As the sound would come through the speaker system, it would become highly altered, increasing the intensity of the sound to the point where it could damage.

This was the first step that Max would use to investigate the disappearance of his daughter. He was more than convinced that she was still alive, and that the multinational biogenetic company Mandrake Biogenetic was behind her disappearance. But in order to convince others of this, he needed evidence. And he needed to do it in a covert manner. The amplification rig was the only high tech piece he had. The rest of his armour was very much a throw back to his ancestry. Combining solid body armour and old markings from his family's stories, he managed to create something that looked very similar to what Dakota warriors would wear when on the hunt.

As he finished at his workbench, he smiled. The device would need to be tested, but at least this step was complete.

Hawk's Scream would rise and take flight very soon.

Hunters - The Hawk's Scream Pt 2

He pulled off the return fax from the Regina City Hall. They instructed him to register at the front desk as soon as he entered the city. He never gave them his full name, just the monicker. He'd spoken with one of the registrars at great length a few days ago. And she had promised to push the proper paperwork through, even though it was rather unorthidox to apply for registration when you didn't live in the city.

Next, he checked his e-mail. For the past few days, he'd been waiting for a message about a job he had applied for. He smiled as he saw the message from the University of Regina.

Dear Mister Running Cloud;

We have gone over your recent application to join the faculty here at The University of Regina. You're credentials are most impressive indeed. We believe you would be a perfect fit to our staff.
We look forward to seeing you. We are hoping you can begin work in four weeks time. Looking forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Dean Masterson

Maxwell smiled and dashed off a quick e-mail. Four weeks was more than enough time to get himself set up and comfortable. He'd sublet this apartment, there already was a few offers.

He had it planned, once he arrived in Regina, he'd get settled into an apartment, get his registration completed and then begin the hunt. Even though he researched Mandrake Biogenetic and found them to be quite powerful, he'd also received word that there was a great number of people in Regina who were none too happy with Mandrake. He made a note to seek them out. Perhaps they could help him look for his daughter.

That would come in time. For now, he had some packing to do. The furniture would stay, he offered the apartment as fully furnished. His computer, laptop, clothes... those would all come with him. He didn't have a lot, he never really kept a lot since his wife died. Just the basics.

He cooked himself some dinner, and then packed away what he needed to into boxes. His car was too small to hold it, so he traded it in for an SUV. That would be fine enough, plus it would get all of his stuff to Regina in one piece. He planned on heading out in the morning. Which meant he had to get to sleep. The day was slowly coming to an end, and if he wanted an early start the next morning, he'd better get to sleep now.

Hunters - The Hawk's Scream Pt 1

I want to be a hunter again
want to see the world alone again
to take a chance on life again
so let me go
lyrics from Hunter as performed by Dido

He sifted through the broken glass and the overturned furniture. Aside from the vandals that had spray painted a few things on the walls, the place was untouched. Maxwell Running Cloud looked around at the room for a moment. His family was here once, it had been eight years since he had even thought of this place. He had a wife, and a daughter. But now, well, that was gone. He moved out back behind the house. There in the backyard facing the trees was a small marker. His wife wanted to be buried on the Rez. And he made sure that it was done. If I have to dig it myself he remembered telling her.

He had to leave, this place brought back too many memories, painful as they were. He knew what had happened to his wife, but his daughter... For years, he hadn't given up hope. Now, he was reserved in facing the fact that his daughter was gone.

"Hey Max," he heard the voice. He turned to see Chief Big Bear approaching him. "I just heard, Max. Headin' back to university again?" The burly man shook his head. "Wish more people around here thought like you."

Max smiled. "I've made an impression on some of them." The some of them Max spoke of was a few of the high school students that attended classes on the Dakota White Cap reserve. He tried very hard for the students to enjoy learning, and for the most part, he'd been successful.

"We're gonna miss you around here, ya know that?"

Max shrugged a bit. "I'm actually gonna miss this place. Only place I can really study them without taking them out of their environment." The two of them looked up as if on cue, a red tailed hawk circle above them, letting out a cry.

"You gotta do what you gotta do, Max." The Chief shook his hand and walked off, knowing Max would want some time alone. That's all he really had now. Time alone.

He took one last look around the place before heading back to his car. It was a slow walk, and at the same time, so very long.

He hardly noticed the man standing at the front door of the broken down house, he seemed to meld with the surroundings, such as they were. "Max Running Cloud?" he called out as Max walked by.

Max turned a bit and looked in the man's direction. "Yes?"

"Max Running Cloud? Who's wife an' child be gone?"

Max narrowed his eyes. "Yes."

"Ya can mourn yer wife," the strange man said. "But don' mourn the daughter. The girl's still 'live." The man giggled incesantly.

Max's heart jumped into his throat. He approached the man, being quite forceful in his questions. "Where is she? Who did this? Who has her?"

The man cowered in fear. Max wasn't a small man, by any means, for a scientist. And his size was rather intimidating to some, comforting to others. "They...they...they have 'er. The company Crey took 'er. They wanted 'er fer themselves an' they took 'er. An' killed the love...killed the love."

"Took her where?" Max asked, his voice putting emphasis on each word.

"Ta the city o' steel an' glass. City on down south. The city o' gov'ment." The man began to back away.

"Stop talking in riddles. Where is she?" Maxwell was getting very irritated with this man and his constant babbling.

"The City o' the Queen! Far from here, far from the safty of the Whitecap, far from the City o' Bridges, far from the mighty Saskatchewan." Maxwell Running Cloud let the man babble. He finally had two names to go by. It was time to try and find his daughter and he'd deal with this Crey at the same time.

He got into his car and started the engine, leaving the man to continue his ramblings. He had an apartment in Saskatoon which had his experiments. He studied birds, an ornithologist. His specialty was birds of prey. Maxwell had won a scholarship to the University of British Columbia with his thesis on the cry of such birds as the Red Tailed Hawk, the Osprey, Peregrin Falcon and even the Eagle. In later years, he'd even learned to mimic an eagle's mournful sounding cry, and even amplify it. The experiments scared him a little, as he discovered the damage that could be done.

He was starting to think his idea of the costume wasn't so bad after all. Hawk's Scream. Well, he had some more work to do before heading to Regina. There was things he had to arrange.

Canyons of Steel - Lawman in a Lawless Land Pt 10

The pounding of hooves echoed down the streets of Port William. Citizens ran out of the way, onto the sidewalks as the three horses carried their riders down the pathways. Gangers and Mafia ducked into the shadows of alleyways, not wishing to be seen by those three who tore down the street.

The trio spurred their charges on, galloping up the hill toward the mark where Fort Jasper and Port William joined. Mafia gunsels just watched, hoping that none of the riders would look their way, with a sudden desire for extracting justice.

As the sun set on the island, the three riders stopped their mounts at the top of the hill. Each surveyed the village below with a watchful eye. They were in hell, and each knew that was where they were eventually destined for, but at least for now, they could try to make good on their sins from the past.

It may take a while, but they'd make this village their own.

"Well, mates," Monty said as the grey shifted under his weight. "What now?"

Walker looked toward the villas that dotted the beach front, a small smile cracked on his face. "Mafia's got an illegal gamblin' an' racin' operation goin' on," he said quietly. "Even under the law o' this here island, it's still illegal." He looked to Marianne and Monty for a moment. "Let's go misbehavin'."

The End

Canyons of Steel - Lawman in a Lawless Land Pt 9

John Walker cocked his head as he heard the noise come from the back room. He got up from his desk and wandered through the storage areas, past the make shift medical bay and to a large door that lead to a room not yet cleared. He'd heard the sounds, hammers banging and saws cutting, but had at first thought nothing of it. They still had repair work to do, and this wasn't exactly something unexpected. But to go on for eight or nine hours was something else.

He grabbed the handle of the large sliding door and attempted to push it open. Locked. Or at least it was held firm by something. Drawing his pistol, he stepped back from the door and took a deep breath before calling out. "Annie? Monty? What the devil's goin' on?"

There was a sudden sound of scrambling, followed by... was that hooves. "What the hells goin' on in there?" he shouted again.

"Sorry boss," Monty's muffled voice called back. "Just fixing up a few things, mate. Be right there." Walker could hear a hushed conversation between Monty and Marianne, but couldn't catch the details. The sound of metal being pushed back indicated that the lock, or whatever else it was, being opened. Slowly, the large sliding door was pushed back.

"What in blue blazes..." Walker began before his eyes finally registered what was in the room. Like entering into a holy place, he removed his hat and studied the three new faces that turned to greet him. The chuffling sound each gave as they looked to see who this new person was that entered their new home. The back room had suddenly been transformed into a rustic stable.

Monty stepped up beside Walker as the elder was standing solemnly in the entrance. "Um... yer not gonna start ta cry, are ya, mate?"

Walker looked to Monty for a moment and just chuckled. He approached the brown quarter horse cautiously. The animal craned it's neck to inspect Walker carefully before reaching down to nuzzle Walker's hand, sniffing to see if there might be some food held there. Walker ran his hand down the length of the animal's neck, marveling all the while. Still standing beside the creature, Walker looked to the pair. "You two set all this up?"

"Don't look at me," Monty replied. "Blame her fer alla this, mate."

Marianne smirked at Monty before looking to Walker. She explained what happened, starting with the disease containers, staying cramped in a cubby hole for three or four hours, and seeing the treatment of the animals upon returning to port. Walker nodded as the blade mistress retold the story. "This probably won't sit right with the Family," Walker mused. He looked back to the brown quarter horse and sighed. "Screw 'em. Who cares if they can't take a joke," he said with a smirk. Marianne and Monty looked between each other before offering a kind smile toward the old gunslinger.

But each of them realized one thing. They were in a hostile land. More than likely hated already by most of the organizations on this island. Probably being gunned for at every turn.

But at least this was now home.

Within Temptation - Angels

A friend of mine introduced me to this band. They are a Dutch goth band and have been around since 1995 but haven't recorded that many albums, as they took a small break to continue their studies. The band's name is Within Temptation. This song, Angels.

Fully invested

This weekend has been a crazy one. Hockey games, craft sales, people getting ready for Christmas. But the craziest thing happened on Sunday. Saskatchewan became Grey Cup champions. Not that I didn't believe it could happen, but that it is the icing on the cake of a season that has been an incredible turn around. The Roughriders won it all on Sunday in an extremely huge defensive game.

I believed they could beat Calgary at home in the West semi-final.

I had faith they could beat the Lions in Vancouver. After all, their one win against the Lions came in BC.

And then to watch the 95th Grey Cup and have the Riders come away with a victory was sweet. But one thing impressed me much more than the win itself. It was how the players said that the fans were a big reason why they are where they are. All year long, each member of the team always pointed to the fans. In Kent Austin's words "what a place to win a championship."

Needless to say, the atmosphere in Regina today will be insane. A parade is planned for Tuesday, and from there, we can dream of the Grey Cup in Saskatchewan once again. Now, we just have to get ready for the encore.

Until next time...

Keep 'em flyin'.

Canyons of Steel - Lawman in a Lawless Land Pt 8

The pair walked slowly along the dock, letting the kinks work out of their muscles. They stayed in that compartment for three hours before it finally pulled into port in the William. The man who owned it was a legitimate businessman, even if her captain, hired to sail her, was not. The coast guard detained the ship, then sent her back. The containers of the disease were confiscated and sent to the CDC labs in Atlanta. All in all, a days work complete.

But it wasn't over yet.

"This'll be a hoot, explainin' this ta Walker," Monty commented as he rubbed his shoulder.

"Walker will understand," Marianne replied. A small ruckus along the dock caused her to look up. A ship was unloading horses, and the handler was being none to kind to the cargo. Smacking a grey filly viciously. Marianne scowled, and without thinking, she dashed off toward the handler, ignoring the pain that screamed in her muscles. She reached the handler, threw him up against a wall, and backhanded him across the face. For good measure, she slapped him with a hard, open hand. "Hurts, doesn't it?" she said with venom. "Give me those reigns," she added, ripping the leather reigns from the handler's hands.

"This is Don Maximus' goods," the handler spouted as he wiped blood from his face. "They gonna hear about this."

"Go ahead and tell them you lost the shipment, then," Marianne said with a smirk as she began to lead the filly down the length of the dock. There were two other horses standing at the dock and the former Sister with the Sisters motioned for Monty to lead them as well.

"Great, Annie," Monty called out to her as he held tight the reigns of a chestnut mare and a brown quarter horse. "Lovely, we saved the horses. Now what?"

Marianne just looked back without any answer. The action was implusive. The horses reminded her of the time she spent show jumping when a little girl on her family's estate in Sussex. But what to do with them now. They really couldn't keep horses. Unless...

"The back room, behind the storage area in the Safehouse," Marianne explained. "What about there?"

Monty blinked as he came to a stand still. The brown quarter horse nudged his shoulder, seemingly interested in this human, one of his saviours for rescuing him and the other pair from the hands of these men. "Ya sayin' we make a stable?"

"Why not?" Marianne shot back, and continued leading the horses off the dock and down the street of the William. "We'll keep the horses out of sight as we construct it. Should take only a day, if we work quickly enough."

"Marianne," Monty replied with a snort. "Walker's a Texan. Trying to hide horses from him is like trying to hide cheese from a mouse. The man probably already has some sixth sense that says we're bringin' horses home." Marianne didn't reply. She'd think of something, she always did. At least they saved the horses. Right now, that was the only thing that mattered.

Canyons of Steel - Lawman in a Lawless Land Pt 7

Sometimes yer gonna find that the best way we can help ourselves, is by doin' worse 'n what some men do. We may have ta take jobs we ain't gonna like. But we make a promise. Ain't gonna take no job 'gainst no honest folk. Any o' them scumbags out there, if we get word on somethin' they got an' we can use, then we take it. Just pray that we may be judged in a way less harsh.

Marianne and Monty quietly entered the ship. The old barge creaked as it rocked on the waves. They'd heard word that the vessel was carrying some cargo that might help them build their medical center. Because they certainly didn't trust the island's Medical System. They were given the job, snatch a few boxes, deliver them to their contact and leave.

The boxes, they found, were crates that they had to divert to the United States. And they contained a disease.

"Annie," Monty said in a whisper. "I gotta say, don't feel right 'bout this, love."

Marianne looked to Monty for a moment. She'd grown used to the nickname that he and Walker had given her, asking that they only use it while they were in the field. "Bloody hell. You pick now of all times to grow a conscious? We're halfway to Paragon. What do you propose?"

Monty furrowed his brow, and then gave Marianne a stern look. "There's a coupla people I know in Interpol. Give it ta them, an' then we scram."

She gave him an incredulous look. "Interpol? Are you completely loony?" She sighed in frustration and looked around the cargo hold of the ship. The containers of the disease sat in a false wall, just in case the coast guard stopped the boat for inspection. "Wait a minute. I've got an idea." She opened the false compartment, dragged out the four containers and moved toward a few packing crates. Carefully openning them, she slipped the containers in amongst food stuffs. "This will nail the boat captain. I've seen him around, not a very nice fellow. Come on." She motioned toward false compartment, and crawled in.

Monty stared in wonder at the woman. "You expect the two of us to fit in there?"

Marianne had crawled in and was sitting in what appeared to be a rather uncomfortable position. "Fine. Then you explain to the coast guard what your doing in the hold of this ship." Monty looked around for a moment for another hiding spot, then moved to the false wall, muttering as he crawled into cramped quarters with Marianne. "Get your bloody foot out of my face."

"Little hard, mate."

Once they both were comfortable, they replaced the false wall. "There. Now just to make sure the coast guard gets a call."

"Marianne," Monty said quietly as they sat in the cramped space.

"What is it?"

"Shouldn't we have done that before crawlin' into here?"

"Grab my comm, it's on my left hip," Marianne replied in a huff. "That's not my bloody comm, you pervert!"

"It's bloody dark in here."

Mariannne's muffled voice explained the situation to the coast guard. All they had to do was wait and it would be all over. In their cramped quarters, Monty spoke in a near whisper. "Marianne?"

"What?"

"You owe me a back massage for this, mate."