Chapter 7

“Grant! Grant! Are you alright?” cried Sabrina.

Beth looked carefully at Grant, and said, “He’s in shock,” as she ran to get her medical kit.

Beth met John and Sioux coming down the hall, and said, “Something has frightened Grant enough to send him into shock. Sioux, please comfort and help Sabrina, but don’t take her from that room. I’ll be right back.”

When the couple entered the room they found a hysterical Sabrina and a catatonic Grant. Sioux immediately gathered Sabrina in her arms and offered soft whispers of encouragement. John quickly elevated Grant’s legs and placed several blankets over him. Others in their group were gathering around the doorway, trying to learn what had happened.

Beth returned with her kit just after John finished. She quickly grabbed a bottle of diazepam and swabbed the top with alcohol, as well as an area on Grant’s right arm. She pulled a small portion into the syringe and injected it into a vein in the swabbed area on Grant’s arm.

As she started pumping the blood pressure cup she’d placed on Grant’s other arm she looked up at John, and said, “Could you get him some Gatorade and an aspirin, preferably a low dosage one.”

“Sure. Do you need me to get a bag of saline solution and an IV kit? We have some in the infirmary.”

“Hopefully we won’t need it with everything else we’ve done, but it can’t hurt to have it close by.”

Turning to Sabrina, Beth asked, “How are you doing, sweetie?”

In a trembling voice, Sabrina answered, “I’m scared for Grant. Is he going to be alright?”

“He should be close to normal shortly. Something frightened him to the point that the blood vessels in his body tightened, thus limiting the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain.”

“I don’t understand what that all means, but I trust you to take care of him.”

“Well, the shot I gave him will cause the body to relax somewhat, almost like being drunk. The stuff John is getting will help Grant’s blood to move more easily through his body.”

“Do you know what caused it?” asked Sioux.

“Not a clue, but since I was lying beside him, I’d say he had the nightmare of all nightmares.”

“So we just get him calmed down and put this behind us?”

Beth answered adamantly, “After all the strange events that have been going on around here, there’s no way in hell I’m going to ignore anything. Especially something that could scare him like that.”

______________________________________________________

Light was streaming through the bedroom window when Grant was awakened by a strong kiss from Sabrina. It took him a moment to become oriented, and then he wrapped her in is arms like he was afraid to let her go.

When he started crying Sabrina pulled his head to her breasts, and said, “It’s okay Grant.”

“No it’s not,” he cried. “We’re all going to die.”

Beth joined Sabrina, and said, “After I got you calmed down I was able to get information from your subconscious. We know about your dreams.”

Grant seemed to visibly relax at that statement.

Beth continued, “We weren’t sure how to take them, until John found the new control on the board. Based upon its presence Mike checked the river and there is now an artificial ford across both branches of the Santee. With that part of your dreams established, everyone began working on dealing with the other issues from your dreams.”

“So, what’s happening now?” asked Grant.

Sabrina answered, “Bobby Johnson, Zeke Adams and Marcel Ingram used the ford to take my father home. Eric went with them to assume the identity of my brother. He even has a wound to make it look like he escaped Gill’s assassination attempt.”

“How did he get that?” asked Grant.

Beth explained, “I put him under an anesthetic and fired a sterilized ball from Gill’s gun into the flesh along the ribs on his left side. It looks like it just missed the heart, but is actually little more than a crease. I cleaned it out thoroughly, packed it with some antibiotics, and used some superglue to seal it, as well as to make it appear to be an older wound than it is.”

“As soon as Father and my new brother get to the house they plan to take a carriage to Charleston to lodge a complaint to the Governor concerning the attacks on both of them. While there, they plan on getting a written copy of the new rules and regulations concerning weapons, and what rights we have to defend ourselves and our property. They should be back by this evening.”

“What about you?” Grant asked Sabrina. “Are you staying here or returning to your home?”

“I couldn’t leave until I knew you were awake and out of danger. As soon as the boys return I’ll be leaving to send out some messages to people. I’m also taking some of your clothes with me to have some of my brother’s clothes quickly altered to fit you. When those tasks are completed I’ll be coming back here, as it’s now my home. At least until our new estate gets built.”

“What about the problem you wanted me to resolve?” asked Grant.

Beth answered, “You needed your sleep more, so I took care of the problem with a scalpel, some KY and a vibrator. Now she can look forward to her first time without worrying about the pain.”

“Good thinking, and thank you. Deflowering a virgin is not high on my list of favorite things. I’d much rather concentrate on giving my woman pleasure than focusing on minimizing the pain.”

Pleased at Grant’s statement, Beth replied, “I think we’re both looking forward to the pleasure part as soon as we can safely do so. Now, you need to give Sabrina a good-bye kiss and let them get out of here. I think John’s been pacing outside the door for hours.”

Like a good husband to be, Grant did as he was told. It did pull at his heart as he watched the young woman leave the room. Beth seemed to sense that and lay close and pulled him tightly to her body.

As Beth placed Grant’s head on her shoulder, she whispered, “You aren’t the only one who’s going to miss her. The bond that we’re developing is approaching that of twins.”

After enjoying the closeness with Beth for a few extra minutes, Grant finally said, “I guess I need to go ahead and get with John and Sioux.”

“Is it alright for me to be a part?”

“Sure, if that’s what you want. By the way, what time is it?”

“It’s only a few minutes after nine, but everyone’s been up and going since around five.”

“Breakfast?”

“Sioux is bringing yours when she and John join us.”

“Shouldn’t we go to the kitchen table?”

“I’m concerned that you’ll still be unsteady for a little while, so it was my idea to have us meet here.”

“Well, you’re the doc.”

Beth smiled, and replied, “Yes, and you’d better remember it.”

Grant chuckled and gave her a kiss. He didn’t ever remember ever feeling this way with Charlotte.

Moments later John and Sioux entered the bedroom, with John carrying a tray of food while his wife followed with a tray with coffee and cups. The food turned out to be a stack of freshly baked sweet rolls. Grant immediately grabbed one, along with a cup of coffee.

Grant’s face expressed extreme pleasure as he took his first bite, and then said, “Well, since you seem to know about my dreams, what information or plans do we need to discuss?”

“We figured the first priority was to give you an update on the items buried out at the point.”

“And?”

“You’re now probably one of the richest men in the state. We found eleven chests filled with gold and silver Spanish coins, gold bars from Mexico and Columbia, and bags of uncut precious stones. In addition, there were three smaller chests full of jewelry, jeweled crosses and other gold objects inlaid with numerous cut jewels.”

“Dayamn!” exclaimed Grant.

“I think those were also our first words when we opened the first chest,” laughed Sioux.

“Will we have any problems converting the Spanish Coins?” Grant asked Sabrina.

“We don’t need to convert them, as other than coppers, they’re more common here than British coins. I’ll need to teach you the typical rate of exchange regarding their use, but the rate varies somewhat from city to city and state to state.”

“Sweetheart, that would be appreciated. John, have you done anything to protect us from those men who buried the gold in the first place?”

“We’re installing video cameras and motion sensors this morning, as well as remote controlled Claymores about twenty yards this side of where the chests were found. The chests have been emptied, filled with rocks and reburied in their original holes. If any vegetation was involved it’s been replaced to hide our activities. In addition, several presents from Oscar are being placed in covered bunkers on each side of the river mouth.”

“Where did you get the Claymores and what presents did Oscar leave?”

“Eric had a case of the Claymores in one of his trailers, along with the electronic detonator. In the truck with the medical equipment, we found eight Ma Deuce units and eight Mark 19 automatic grenade launchers, both with electronic aiming and fire controls. Some of the cases of Mark 19 shells are HE, while others are phosphorous bursts that could be used as a star burst, or to incinerate a wooden sailing ship.”

“Wicked,” remarked Grant, “though I’d prefer if we didn’t have to use them.”

“Why is that?” asked John.

“My preference would be to limit all our activities to other locations, thus not calling attention to this facility, or our new home, wherever it’s located.”

Turning to Sabrina, Grant asked, “Speaking of our new home, what about the Horry Plantation our runaways came from. Is it something we would want to purchase?”

“Actually, it’s the Hampton Plantation which is owned by Daniel Horry. As the girls said, Daniel is very sick and will probably be dead in a few months. It’s a good place, but I’d seriously doubt the son, also named Daniel, would be willing to sell as the land has been in his family for several generations and he loves the place. I can tell you that he will make a good neighbor and is a downtimer who we can trust with our secrets.”

“Okay, then we’ll look for the right place for our own home.”

Turning back to John and Sioux, Grant asked, “Anything else I need to know?”

“In preparation for the meeting in New Bern tomorrow night Mike, Brad and Cal have already uncrated the Stiletto prototype and are getting it in working condition.”

“That’s a good start. I’d like to also add electric motor capability, armament and a removable sea monster disguise.”

“The electric motors will likely have to wait until after this trip, but Oscar had another surprise for us: the standard armament that was omitted on the model the Navy sent us to experiment with. Not only did he send that, he also sent a good supply of Hellfire II missiles. I’m having Brad design several extendable pylons on each side of the boat, though we most likely won’t have more than one set of pylons ready for this trip.”

“How many are you going to try to carry?”

“If our idea works the pylons will carry a total of thirty missiles, configured as three rows of five on each side. We’ll only extend one set at a time, but missiles can be replaced on any retracted pylon.”

“What about updated information on the Hellfire II, since I’m not familiar with it?”

Sioux explained, “The missile was designed primarily for the Apache as an antitank weapon, but it was later improved to work on multiple platforms. These must have been originally built for SEAL teams because they’re protected from the effects of salt water. Each missile weighs about a hundred pounds, has ‘fire and forget’ capability, and the shaped explosive charge is coupled with a flammable agent to enable it to burst through armor and then burn out the interior.”

“That would ruin the day of any wooden sailing ship. What’s the range?”

“It has a minimum safety of roughly six hundred yards, but that can be removed. The maximum range is five miles.”

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Winds of Change

Mike Lowe aka The Scot

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