Chapter 7: Huge Problems

Howard Huge had been up early that day, and he had spent most of the morning roaming the streets and alleys of Cape Suzette trying to find a solution for his problem. He had to find someone who could retrieve the Marabou and, if possible, the money stored in it, too.

What made it so hard was the fact that no-one believed in the existence of the Marabou. In a certain way, it was Huge's own fault. He used to be well-known as a great aircraft engineer. But then, some years ago, he constructed the Spruce Moose—and all of a sudden, he was nothing but ridiculous. The Spruce Moose was able to fly, there was no doubt in this. And it was designed to be the ultimate cargo plane. But it was too large to leave the Cape Suzette Bay via the only way out, through the gap in the cliffs. The aviation world laughed about him for creating an aircraft which could carry large amounts of cargo, but it could carry its cargo nowhere. So he had decided to keep his further works top secret. Only himself and a handful of confidants knew about his second large-scale project, the Marabou.

In opposition to the Spruce Moose, the Marabou had been built at a hidden makeshift construction site far away from Cape Suzette, and it never was to pass the cliffs, at least not flying. First, Huge wanted wings that could fold up to a vertical position. This would have rendered the Marabou able to enter Cape Suzette like a boat. But those wings wouldn't have been strong enough to carry the plane, and with wings up, its center of gravity would have risen so high that the Marabou would have been extremely instable and likely to tip to one side. So the wings were changed to rigid, and the Marabou was planned to be loaded and unloaded outside the cliffs. To make this easier, Huge had devices mounted under the ceilings of the two cargo decks which allowed to load an entire conventional cargo aircraft such as the Conwing L-16 or the Groman Goose without detaching their wings. If Cape Suzette had been a destination, the cargo could have been hauled between the city and the Marabou by the smaller aircraft. Huge had no problems coming up with ideas how to compensate the sheer oversize of his creation instead of reducing the size. Think big was his motto, and think big he did.

He saw the completed plane only once. That was the day before the nightly maiden flight. They had to fly it at night, so that almost nobody would have been able to see it. Some information about the project did leak out to the public, but it was too incredible and to ridiculous to be credible. The Marabou became another aviation legend.

And it stayed one. On its second flight, it had to carry the entire unmounted construction site including ten million dollars of Huge's property in cash. It was another top secret overnight flight. Unfortunately, the plane got into an enormous sand storm over the Great Uslandic desert, and it had to ditch due to failing engines. The pilots, the only persons who were on board during that flight, were found alive later, but nobody believed in their story about having flown the Marabou which had never been seen since. It was said to be buried below a giant dune somewhere in the desert.

Everyone else left the former construction site on standard planes. Huge took one of his private aircraft and left for the Bearmuda Trapezoid where he hid and captured numerous planes to build his third project, a gigantic passenger plane with two fuselages named Titanium Turkey. The story around the Turkey was well-known meanwhile, the Turkey itself had been flown to Cape Suzette by an incredibly skilled pilot, and now it was stored at the Aviation Museum.

The Titanium Turkey got overly expensive for its inventor, not though, but because he had stolen most of the parts. Those whose planes he disassembled to gain his materials sued him for compensation, and then he had to pay the repair of the Spruce Moose after its theft, it was still his property, and he had searched for a long time in vain for someone to buy it.

Now everything that kept him from being broke was a rest of money in Cape Suzette and the millions stored on the Marabou. There was no way out, Huge had to find the giant bird and what was on board. But how could it be possible to get someone to help him when he couldn't pay that someone in advance, and when the object searched for was used as a subject of not few jokes?

Suddenly, Huge stopped. A sign next to a door had caught his eyes.

DAWN VAN ZANT

ARCHAEOLOGIST

Dawn van Zant? He had never heard of any Dawn van Zant. Who ever she was, she was certainly new in that business. New, unexperienced, maybe even a bit naïve, and certainly cheap to hire. What did he have to lose?

Huge entered the office of said archaeologist and saw her sitting behind her desk and reading the newspaper. Obviously, she had nothing else to do since most customers would have preferred someone with more experience. But Howard Huge needed the exact opposite.

"Good morning, Ms. van Zant!"

Dawn hastily put her newspaper down. Now he could really see her. She was a young and beautiful mouse with blue eyes and long blond hair, and she was wearing a typical archaeologist's outfit from her hat to her long pants as if she was ready to go on an expedition at any time. She smiled, a bit embarrassed about being caught reading rather than working.

"Oh, good morning, Mr..."

"Huge. Howard Huge."

She didn't make any sign of knowing him, such as starting to laugh out loud.

"Mr. Huge. Can I help you in any way?"

"Yes, I hope so. I'm looking for an archaeologist."

She smiled again, this time because she finally had a customer, and answered, "Well, you've found one. So, what can I do for you?"

"Ms. van Zant, I am searching for a lost airplane, and I have been for some months now."

"An airplane."

Huge had to make sure that she really didn't know about the Marabou. "Yes, one of the biggest airplanes ever built. It's called the Marabou, and it has disappeared in the Great Uslandic Desert some years ago."

"That doesn't sound quite old."

"Granted, it's no relic of some ancient culture, but it's extremely important for me to find it. You know, it's my plane, and there's a certain amount of money on board."

"I understand, now you want your money back."

"That's true, but furthermore, I want to prove that this plane exists. It has been kept top secret, and now it's a kind of legend, and I can't stand folks making jokes about my work anymore."

"Your work?"

"Yes, I'm the constructor of this aircraft. Have you ever been down to the docks or at the Aviation Museum? The Spruce Moose and the Titanium Turkey are my creations, too."

"You've created these giants? Wow, I'm impressed! I think I have to take a look into the Spruce Moose as soon as possible."

"That would be difficult. It's the most exclusive and expensive restaurant and ballroom in Cape Suzette."

"Aw, what a pity..."

"Wait, wait a minute. The Moose is still mine, and once I have my money back, I'll take you out and show you its interiors if you want to."

"Will you? Oh, Mr. Huge, that's so great! Okay, you got me, I'll work for you."

This day started out more than positively for Dawn van Zant. She had a customer, she had her first real job as an archaeologist, and she had been offered to see the Spruce Moose from inside.

This day started out more than positively for Howard Huge. He had found an archaeologist to help him, she was somehow interested in airplanes, yet she didn't know anything about the Marabou legend, and all he had to pay her for was a night out on the Spruce Moose where he could celebrate his comeback, accompanied by one of the most beautiful young ladies he had ever seen in this city.

"Now, Miss van Zant, what do you as an expert say what we shall do now?"

"Well, I must confess that I can't do that much with my little experience. Maybe we could ask another archaeologist for his help."

"No good idea. I've been to several archaeologists, and either they've laughed at me, or they've wanted a ruinous payment in advance, or both. No, I don't want any professional help."

"No professional help. What about amateurs?"

"What do you mean with amateurs?"

"We could turn this into a public treasure rally. But that would mean that there must be something to win."

Huge started thinking for a moment, and he came to the conclusion that he could easily spare some of his money if he got the rest back. "Agreed, Ms. van Zant. Whoever gets my plane and my money back will be honored and receive $100,000. Do you think that's enough?"

"Absolutely. When shall we start the rally? Tomorrow?"

"Isn't that a bit early?"

"Not at all. Such an amount of cash will make people forget what they've done the second before. Believe me, Mr. Huge. All I have to do now is have some bills printed and spread them all over the city. The participants will have to register here in my office, and whoever arrives in Cape Suzette with your plane will call me, and I'll call you then."

"Perfect. So, Ms. van Zant, we'll meet again this afternoon. I'll bring you some more details about where the Marabou may be."

Huge left Dawn's office with these words. He hoped that there was someone out there who could find the Marabou, do the necessary repairs to make it work again, fly it, and get it past the cliffs. It was no impossible task, at least not for the one who flew the Titanium Turkey to Cape Suzette. Maybe he'd join the treasure rally, too.