Kaleb sighed as they made their way back to Two Gun and Claire’s car. He was thankful to see Two Gun heading for the driver's seat at least. Claire seemed to snicker softly at the look on his face. Kaleb shot her a dirty look as he opened the back door.

“My driving wasn’t that bad.”

“Sure it wasn’t.” Kaleb muttered as he piled into the back seat.

After they had gotten everything squared away with Carmine and Inora, they were in a hurry to tell the others what all had transpired. No amount of haggling would work on the female hunter, although she agreed to help them apply for a contract to deal with the human criminal element in the area.

Kaleb laid down in the back seat. “So if I understand correctly, we can still work with just a permit, but the big rewards are with contracts.”

He saw Two Gun shake his head as he started the car and turned it around. “You really should’ve listened to the duck, kid.”

“Hehehe. But you essentially have the right of it, though.” Claire chuckled. “We get paid for helping the district, but if we have a contract, then we get bonuses depending on the type of contract.”

“So once we have that, we can start taking it to that Demon gang. The one you and Abby told us about,” Kaleb said to Two Gun.

“Yup, but first we have to go into a Magical Forest and find a magical Driadarin. Whatever the Hell that is.”

“Least they didn’t ask me to make them some equipment.” Kaleb muttered, rubbing his temples with his hand.

Two Gun shifted in the driver’s seat. “Speaking of…”

“As soon as we get back. I promise,” Kaleb said, moving his hand and seeing Two Gun’s hand holding out his Cybar pistol. Kaleb took it and placed it back in its holster.

Two Gun chuckled. “Haha! Didn’t doubt you for a second, Prof.”

As they approached the entrance to the airstrip, Two Gun had to stop the car as Kaleb got out and raised the gate arm. Bob had left a note on the door asking people to phone the hanger and promising dire consequences for those that didn’t. Kaleb didn’t think they would get too many visitors for the moment. At least he hoped not.

“We need to hire some gate guards. That note isn’t gonna be too big of a deterrent.” Two Gun said.

“Maybe our new friends could help?” Claire said.

Kaleb nodded as they pulled in next to Hangar. “I was gonna ask the Brute clan as well.”

They all exited the car and entered the wide hangar. Jar-lock and Vivienne were seated at a table, both writing on pieces of paper. Daivor and Roy were working on something in the mechanic’s room. Abby and Farrah seemed to be in a discussion near Farrah’s computer setup. Although ‘discussion’ wasn’t exactly right, if the looks on their faces were anything to go by.

“I just don’t see why you can’t do this real quick.” Abby was saying.

“Because I need to put this thing through its paces right now. I’ll file the report with the city after I am done.”

Abby grumbled loudly as Kaleb approached. Two Gun and Claire had walked over to Jar-lock and Vivienne.

“You’re flying a toy drone! That can not be that important. But these reports can make us money!” Abby whined, shaking Farrah’s office chair.

Farrah spun on her chair and snapped back. “I am having the drone find an optimized flight pattern so it can automatically fly over our district. Then I need to try taking direct control. That way, the next time y’all lose a suspect, we can find him.”

Abby turned a unique shade of red, and Kaleb wasn’t sure if she was embarrassed or pissed. Deciding it was better to interrupt than find out, he asked.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“So Daivor and Roy got a drone up and running?”

Farrah whipped her head his way before smiling. “Yes, they did, and it works pretty well. Despite being cobbled together from literal junk.”

“Back to us ‘Losing’ a suspect.” Abby interjected. “We didn’t lose him. He turned into a giant red cat and... poofed away.”

“Poofed?” Kaleb asked.

“I didn’t see it but, from the way Abby described it, it sounds like some form of teleportation.” Jar-lock said, having walked over with his own report.

Farrah spoke up, having turned back to her computer. “The Demons are a gang of literal half-demons. They are ranked pretty low power-wise, but they have a few gifts. Teleportation, compulsion, strength, and a few others. My guess is the demon Abby was chasing teleported.”

“And why were you chasing him?” Kaleb asked.

Abby and Jar-lock looked at each other before Abby answered. “I’m pretty sure we witnessed a drug deal.”

“We put a stop to it and grabbed the buyers, but the seller bolted. I subdued the kids, while Abby went after the demon, or half-demon, in this case.” Jar-lock added. “I handed the buyers off to the local police and then went to help, but by then the guy had... poofed.”

Abby threw her hands up. “Red smoke, loud poof noise. What else should I call it?”

She was clearly frustrated at having lost the guy. Kaleb could understand that they were trying to build something here, and losing suspects didn’t exactly look good for them. He wondered why the SPPD wasn’t handling the Demons. But then again, he didn’t know for sure if they weren’t. As he thought about the Demons, Two Gun and Claire filled the others in on what went down at the diner.

“So all we have to do is go into a Magical Forest and grab some fruit?” Jar-lock asked disbelievingly.

Two Gun shrugged. “It was my understanding that it might be a tad more difficult than we think.”

“Supposedly, it’s a test for a group of young hunters. Showing they are ready to join in on the other hunts.” Claire added.

Kaleb was about to add his own two cents when a big metal ovoid shoved its way between them. Roy was carrying a beach ball sized metal drone in both arms as Daivor sat on top. The metal creation was oddly shaped and made from cobbled together metal, but it appeared to have enough repulsors on it to get it into the air. Kaleb could also see an antennae array and the camera lens nestled into the metal body.

“Here’s another one, Farrah.” Roy said tiredly.

Farrah offered him a smile and waved at the side of her desk. “Just set it down. I’ll get it coded when I am done here.”

Roy sat the bot down and shook out his arms as Daivor whipped himself to the kid’s shoulders. The two of them gave Kaleb tired waves and started back to the mechanics room. Kaleb held a hand out to stop them from asking.

“Hey, Roy, where’s your grandpa?”

Roy turned and shrugged his shoulders. “He got a call and said he had to run off. Something about his government handlers.”

“Ah, okay, cool. What are you two working on?”

Roy shrugged as Daivor tiredly wiped at his face. “Another drone, probably. I know we are gonna need a couple.”

Kaleb nodded. “True, but we have 3 days, so we can take a break every once in a while.”

Roy and Daivor looked happy as they changed course and walked over to a little food table that had been setup near the office. Roy sat the Gnome down on the counter as he got himself a plate. The pair dove into the food someone had laid out on the table.

“3 days?” Jar-lock asked.

“Yeah, apparently the test has a bunch of pomp and circumstance attached to it. So the earliest they can be ready for us is Tuesday.” Kaleb answered. “I figure I can spend that time working on some stuff and getting this place even more set up. Plus, it sounds like you lot have the Demons to keep you all busy.”

Vivienne walked over after finishing her own paperwork. Kaleb gave her a questioning look, having realized no one had said what she had been doing. The tall elf lady shrugged her shoulders. She gave Jar-lock a playful smile as she answered Kaleb’s unasked question.

“Found some lost animals while those two were playing with the drug dealers.”

Claire snorted. “And you have to file a report for that?”

“Just for the ones that had rewards. The others I wrote a Lost and Found notice for. I figured Farrah could pass it along to the police.”

Farrah groaned, annoyed. “Another thing for the pile.”

“Is that your subtle way of asking for a logistical staff?” Kaleb smirked.

“You get me.” Farrah sighed melodramatically.

Kaleb shook his head. “Another thing for MY pile, I suppose.”

“I’d also see about upping your security.” A male voice said from the open hangar doors.

Their group spun as one, hands going to weapons only to see the pale face and brown hair of Varlin. The Sorcerer had bought a new set of robes and seemed to carry himself a little taller. But Kaleb could still see the Foci he had made on Varlin’s chest. Varlin jumped a little at the aggressiveness with which they all turned around, but he laughed it off.

“Haha, whoa. Easy killers. It’s just me. I thought I’d come see how you all were doing and offer you some work.”

Kaleb sighed as the rest of his friends seemed to relax. All except Jar-lock, who Kaleb could hear muttering to himself. Kaleb ignored it for now and asked.

“What kind of work?”

“No! Please don’t say it!” Jar-lock practically wailed.

Varlin looked a little nonplussed as he answered Kaleb.

“We need help with an Ant Queen.”