Hammers in the Shadows

Part One: Shadows and Ice - Chapter Twelve

I wasn't sure how much later it was, when I woke up, still in my chair with Tanya still in my lap, though I could sense that she was still sleeping. There was a knock on the door before I realized that the knocking had woken me up. As I sat up I realized something else, the pull-up that Tanya was wearing had leaked and she was still sleeping deeply. Under the circumstances though I completely understood, though I was half wondering if it would be better to put her into something a bit more absorbent.

As I was wondering that the door to the office opened and both Zane, who I wasn't expecting, as well as my father, walked into the room. "Zane, this is a surprise." I stated stretching slightly before a welcome form dodged around the two coming into the office and placed a mug of coffee on the desk in front of me. "Thank you, Sergey." I told him before he quickly left the office.

Zane looked a bit grouchy as he walked over to me and then grinned slightly at seeing the sleeping cub in my lap before he gently picked her up and turned to a she-wolf who had been following him. "Take care of her and get her cleaned up please. I don't think she would really appreciate waking up soaking wet." He told her before he stretched and turned around to face me. "Nice scenery here, reminds me a bit of home, though this place is enormous. Are you sure you want to keep this mansion for the Pride?"

Dad chuckled beside him before he said, "Zane, us cats like having a reasonable amount of space, though I can see that there is a lot of work to be done."

Zane shook his head and sighed. "We just arrived here, that access road is abominable I've seen nicer goat tracks, we had to walk from the gate because it would be impassible for the busses." He commented before he carried on. "I've gotten some members of your assault team to take a rest, they looked about ready to collapse on their feet."

I nodded and stood up before looking at my lap. "Not sure if I should get her to wear something a bit more... at least when she is sleeping." I said ruefully.

Dad gave a short chuckle but Zane nodded, "Might not really be a bad idea, considering what I felt when I picked her up." Zane commented, "I brought some she-wolves with us to help with your orphaned cubs. I figure that they would be better than our males under the circumstances, not quite as threatening. They are all armed, heavily, but their weapons are concealed." He finished before my father spoke up.

"What needs to be done now Mark?" my dad asked calmly looking around. "I am guessing that the bomb you talked about earlier has been taken care of?"

"Yes, dad the bomb is no longer here." I laughed recalling the EOD tech's desire to have the damned thing as part of his collection of things that go boom. "Right now, I need to begin getting the move started, we're going to have to get a low deck for the IS, the Grizzly and the Bimp."

Dad laughed since all three weren't deactivated and were operational, though the IS-2 really needed a rebuild on the V-2IS Diesel Engine since it barfed white smoke and didn't provide anywhere near the 600hp that it was rated to, though I suspected that during the rebuild it would probably be upgraded to provide more power and be less... smoky.

Zane looked at the two of us as we talked, "I take it you're talking about some vehicles which you guys probably shouldn't have?"

I laughed before nodding. "The Grizzly is a M4A1 built in Montreal, though it has had a number of modifications since it was constructed." I began, "The IS is actually an IS-2M, though the engine in it needs significant work, and lastly the Bimp is actually a BMP-1 armoured fighting vehicle."

Zane's eyes bugged a bit before he shook his head and growled, "Tanks, this pride has damned tanks..."

"Yes Zane, though right now they are probably more bother than they are worth, the only one that isn't seventy years old is the BMP-1, and even then you could piss at it and penetrate the armour on it." I commented, "The biggest issue we will be facing with them is getting them up here. I've checked out the garage, and there is almost six times as much space here as there is back at Blackwater. Vladimir didn't do anything reasonably, instead we have everything oversized. Not that I am complaining, since that means that we can maintain them and have easy access to them when we require it."