Before Caleb can leave, George gives him a slight nod in his own trademark way. A very rare thing from the old man, and is a sign of affection - the most affection one can ever expect from the old man. He doesn't do hugs. He doesn't even do handshakes. He's usually very distant with his emotions, however that makes
"the nod" and receiving it a powerful and strong sign that one has attained the full respect and affection from the old guy.
Caleb, whom George had discovered and found first when putting the team together and thus of the group has known him for the longest, only ever saw George do that once. And it was to his dog... a great dane named Gabriel, named after the Archangel who was the one that cursed Caine, the father of vampire-kind, to fear the son. It's a strange name considering the dog is female, so the group just calls her Gabby.
Maybe it's the bottle of whiskey he consumed tonight that's making him more open with his emotions, maybe not - but one thing can be sure. The
nod is genuine, and heartfelt.
As Caleb wanders off, George takes the computer chip, hoping it is a hard drive, and hands it to Melvin.
"See what you can get or find off of this thing for me, once we're done with the interrogation tomorrow. Oh- and also, excellent work finding this book," George waves the book in his hands in a low key fanning motion. "It may have just made finding our next target all the more easier."
"But for right now, everyone appears to have gone to bed or is preparing to go the bed, and you and I are the only ones left at the table so this meeting is adjourned. I'm going to go get some sleep, and I suggest you do as well: we have a long day awaiting us tomorrow."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* * * THE - NEXT - DAY * * *
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beep. Beep. Beep.
7:30 A.M. - November 1st, 2010
The alarm clock in the sleeping dormitory goes off, ringing through the sound of each bunk room. There are three bunk rooms arranged next to eachother, two having a two-bunk bed, and one having a single cot. The signs above the room read:
:: CALEB - TED ::
:: BOB - MELVIN ::
:: GEORGE ::
By the time everybody fully wakes up and heads out to the meeting table, George is already there.
"Morning." He nods his head to everyone, taking seats around the table. "How are you feeling, Ted?" he asks.
After Ted responds, he begins the day's opening meeting.
"Alright folks, I'm sure you're all just itching to start the interrogation today, but before we get into that, I have a little bit more news. I wanted to share it last night, but you all ran off to bed before I could say anything."
George lights up a cigarette, then sets his lighter and pack onto the table.
"You all know that, since our group began, we've basically been drifters, nomads moving around constantly and renting out whatever shoddy ass building nobody else wants. And you also know that we only have this warehouse for another week before we need to pay the rent again, and even though it's damned dirty busted up warehouse it's still expensive as shit to rent"
George takes a long drag of his cigarette.
"I don't know about any of you, but I'm tired of living like fuckin' murder hobos running around and sleeping in whatever derelict shit hole we can afford to rent out, and having to lug all of this absolutely fuck-ton amount of equipment around with us each time. Well, I'm dying damnit and I want to have a home before I do... but I'm also fully aware we have to remain mobile..."
George tips the ashes of his cigarette into the ashtray.
"So... I bought us a home. One that we can both live and travel in. And before you ask, no, it's not an RV. We'd never be able to fit all of our equipment in any sized RV. No - I took a very large portion of what's left of my life money, hell, almost a good portion of it, and I bought us...
...a ship. Not just any ship, I bought us a big ol' former U.S. Navy Cruiser. Yup, they were auctioning it last week and I wanted it to be a surprise for after your first hunt. Now, the weapons systems are all stripped out of course, the U.S. Navy isn't just going to sell any old asshole with a paycheck a ship with missile launching capabilities, but that being said she still runs just fine. I wanted one with a nuclear reactor for power, but apparently they can't sell those to civilians so I had to settle for diesel powered. The good news on that though, is that the gasoline isn't as expensive as I thought it would be."
George chuckles. "Yup. I got us a ship. Now, I was going to buy a ship, but when I saw the U.S. Navy had decommissioned a cruiser, stripped it's weapon and computer systems - which devalued the price massively, as those systems are usually what makes it so expensive - and we're auctioning her, I couldn't pass it up. She's even big enough we can fit the SUV in her cargo bay, though most of the time it won't be aboard unless we're moving around because that thing is a pain in the ass to get aboard - I checked. Not only do we have a home, a home to call our own, but a home we can freely travel in. I got movers coming in tomorrow to pack up all our shit and move it out to the ship, and with the deposit I get back from the dockyards for renting this place I'll have enough to purchase six months worth of fuel."
"Now - one thing remains before we get on to interrogating this bastard...
George smiles.
"...we need to name her. Come on, let's hear some suggestions."