Hammers in the Shadows

Part Two: Hammers in the Night - Chapter Seventeen

Four and a half hours after we left Silver Peak Igor pulled the bus to a stop in front of the private hanger that was shared with several of the Wolf Packs in the region. I checked my watch and consulted my tablet before I sighed, the plane wasn't due for another ten minutes, and that was being conservative.

Tanya looked up at me from her seat as I gently took my tablet from her. "Daddy I was just about done." She protested.

I looked down at the tablet and smiled before I saved her progress and hugged her. "I saved it for you kitten. It will be there waiting for you when we head back home, for now though I need it because it has some information on it that I need." I told her before standing up and walking out the doors to take a look and see if I could spot the plane that was carrying the cats who would be joining us from the Pride in Russia. However; the weather wasn't really co-operating and I couldn't even see the end of the runway through the haze.

"Looks like wonderful weather to be traveling in." Ivanovna said from behind me.

I nodded slightly, glancing once more out at the runway. "Hate having to stand here waiting." I muttered, more to myself than to the Protector who was standing slightly behind me.

"Don't we all sir, but there's nothing we can do about that, we just have to be patient and trust that they will get here in due time." She replied to my rhetorical comment.

I had to give a soft chuckle at her comment as a large white, blue and red plane landed one the runway. "Ivanovna I'd hazard a guess that our incoming cats just landed." I told her before glancing down at the tablet in my hand. "Now we have to get back to work."

"Yes sir, my people are ready to ensure that we're getting only those who are on your list." Ivanovna replied as the plane taxied towards the hanger where we were waiting.

"It will take a few minutes for them to turn the plane off and for use to get some stairs up the boarding hatch... my that's a big plane for less than a hundred people."

"Yes, though I think that the reason they brought it isn't because of the small number of people that they were bringing, but more because of the distance that they had to travel. Most planes that carry less than a hundred people aren't really capable of flying direct from Russia to Canada." Ivanovna reminded me with a chuckle as the four turbofans spun down and the sound of the engines died.

Five minutes later a movable set of stairs drove up to the door. The first people out of the door were a pair of Protectors, I could tell that much from their bearing and the way they looked around the area warily.

As much as I wanted to go up and ease their minds I was well aware of the protocol of the situation and that demanded that I remain where I was. As far as the protectors where concerned the plane, and all those aboard, were still under their protection until such time as they came down and submitted to myself and my protection as a representative of Silver Peak.

After a few moments two youngsters took the lead, with another protector doing his best to keep up to the two cubs who looked to be roughly twelve years old. They stopped in front of me and I knelt down so that I didn't loom over them like a skyscraper and one of them handed me a folder. "Sir, I am Aleksander Berekov and this is my twin brother Peter... Grandma sent us here after... after..." He blinked and looked at his twin.

I could see the tears in both of their eyes and I could guess what had happened so I gently pulled the two into a gentle hug. "It's okay, you can tell me when you're ready, but I will do what I can to make you two feel at home. You have my word on that as Pride Lord of Silver Peak." I told them as both of them started crying softly and hugging me, and each other back.