Chapter 2

I do not own claymore

Phillip added the sedative to the tea that he had made and took it to Ayesha.

She took the beverage and held it for a few moments before looking at him and asking quietly, "Is this the sedative that Roger gave you to keep me from trying to stop our leaving here?"

Even after many years of marriage, Ayesha still had the upper hand.

Phillip could only smile weakly and reply sheepishly, "Yes it is. They are coming here tonight. George and his friends have gone through a lot of trouble to get us out of here."

Phillip then straightened himself and stood as tall as he could before declaring firmly, "We are leaving here, we are leaving this life of fear and uncertainty, of hiding from religious fundamentalists who would see us all dead! They will kill you and our daughters, then me for having fathered them."

Phillip's voice rose in intensity as he cried, "I have deferred to you on many things, but! On this, I am adamant! I will not see my family slaughtered, I will not see you dying while defending me or our children, I will not let you see me dying in yours or our children's defense!"

Ayesha's deep amber eyes glinted and she slipped her tail around him.

Helplessly, he was drawn into her embrace and her lips kissed his deeply, soulfully and tenderly.

Her lips parted from his and she murmured, "I've known for some time now that you, George and Mia were up to something. Natalie showed me the pictures Mia sent her of their new home in Arizona, the homes they are building for us and the friends they've made."

Ayesha looked around the cave home they had lived in for so long and said in reflection. "This has been our home, our girls were born and raised here. If it wasn't for the approaching danger, I would be content to send our daughters away and live out our lives here. Mia is now carrying our first grandchild, I couldn't share my children with my parents. They died before I met you, that won't happen again!"

The couple turned to see three pairs of amber eyes anxiously watching them.

Katherine the oldest, spoke up asking nervously, "What is going on? Dad and Natalie have been clearing away the area in front of the cave and I've noticed that our precious things are packed away and in easy reach. Are we leaving here?"

Rosalind's eyes opened wide and she exclaimed, "We're going to be with Mia?!"

She and Katherine hugged each other and then hugged Natalie before she asked, "When are we leaving?"

Phillip stepped forward and his daughters instinctively formed a protective circle around him.

He looked at each of them in turn and then said quietly, "George and some of his friends are coming tonight, they are coming by helicopter and will be landing in front of the cave. Natalie and I cleared the area to allow it to land, we also packed all of our most precious belongings, especially the ancient scrolls mother inherited from her mother. When it gets here, we won't have a lot of time to get on board so we will have to get everything ready beforehand."

Phillip looked around at his family once more and he opened his arms wide, his daughters all snuggled into his arms and finally, Ayesha wrapped her long tail around her family and they just held each other for a long moment.

Henri called out over the roar, "We are ten minutes away from our destination, prepare for landing!"

Roger and Helen quickly laid out the cargo netting they would use to secure the family's belongings while George and Rachel mentally prepared to deal with several potentially frightened and balky lamias.

Roger once more opened his satellite phone and called Phillip, "Phillip, we are about ten minutes away. Is everything ready?"

He listened for a moment then a big grin broke out on his ruggedly handsome face. Roger cried happily, "That's great! What a relief. We'll be seein' you all really soon!"

Roger grinned at George and announced cheerfully, "You lucked out Georgie! Your mother-in-law is okay with leaving and she's cracking the whip on the girls to get everything ready!"

Feeling a sense of relief passing over him, George smiled and said with tongue in cheek, "I guess I don't get to use my begging for forgiveness speech after all."

Roger laughed and said gleefully, "Don't throw that speech away just yet! You still may have a use for it."

Henri suddenly yelled, "Sacre Merde! There's trucks up ahead!"

Helen peered through her night vision goggles and declared, "I see a dozen men with small arms, nothin' I can't handle! Pick me up on the way back!"

Henri slowed the big chopper as much as he dared until Helen shouted, "That's good!"

She opened the side door and leaped out into the darkness, armed only with her katanas.

Roger cried, "What th...?! That crazy broad, what did she just do?"

George grinned and yelled, "I almost feel sorry for those assholes, she'll wipe them out before they knew what hit them!"

Roger looked at George strangely and asked, "What th' hell are you talking about?"

George grinned at him and replied, "She's a Claymore, I met some of them recently during my last assignment. They're like the ultimate warriors, she'll go through them like a scythe through wheat."

Seeing the look on Roger's face, George was about to elaborate when Henri called out, "We are landing now, take your seats!"

The family was huddled near the cave entrance when the dark bulk of the massive Chinook descended from the night sky, its huge rotors whooping rapidly and the downwash blowing sand, gravel and small objects away.

Ayesha clung to Phillip as the big chopper touched down and its rotors slowed to a lazy whirling.

The side facing the cave opened up and the work lights came on, a dark clad figure jumped down and started towards the cave.

Natalie suddenly cried out "George?!" and she darted towards the figure, moments later she was being hugged by the figure.

Ayesha cried out in amazement. "That's George!" Then she too sinuated towards him and swept him into an embrace.

Two more figures jumped down and approached quickly, a woman's voice called out.

"Mrs. Dexter? I'm Rachel Thompson, I work with George and Mia. We've got to hurry, there's a couple of trucks full of armed men not far from here. One of our people is dealing with it, but we've got to hurry!"

The next few minutes were a blur of figures moving rapidly between the cave and the helicopter carrying things out of the cave and putting them into the massive helicopter. Soon, the belongings were secured and the helicopter had acquired five extra passengers. As soon as the side door was secured, Henri revved up the engines and the heavy chopper rose into the night sky.

Only minutes later, a light flared up on the ground and Henri slowed to a hover about twenty-five feet above the desert floor.

Roger quickly opened a side door and moments later, a black clad figure leaped into the opening and Roger hastily slammed the door shut.

Once back up to speed and the window curtains were drawn, the interior lights came on and everyone got a look at each other.

George was grinning like a fool and he was hugging his in-laws enthusiastically, Roger and Phillip hugged each other and Roger declared happily, "We're not out of the woods yet, but so far so good!"

Helen and Rachel were smiling at the refugees, then Rachel rose and said, "George and I worked together to get this operation underway. Helen here, is also a pilot and is a combat specialist, we borrowed her from her people at the request of Henrietta Maria, the queen of the hidden realm. You'll learn more as we go."

Ayesha smiled at her and said warmly, "Mia has mentioned you and all the things you have done for her, for that, I am grateful."

George smiled at Ayesha and said, "I had to make Mia stay behind, she really wanted to see you guys so much, but she's pretty far along now and I won't endanger her or our baby. We have built some houses for all of you and the Arizona desert is, in my opinion, much nicer than the Sahara. The big plus is, you won't have to worry about Islamic militiamen bothering you."

Before resuming his co-pilot chores, Roger glanced over at the lamia children, they sat quietly on their coiled tails and looked around the interior of the helicopter with their eyes wide open.

Phillip and Ayesha were sitting together, their hands clasped in that way that long time couples often do.

He caught Rachel's eye and she asked. "Would any of you like something to drink or a snack? We've got about two or three more hours of flight time left before we're in the clear and you might get hungry or thirsty."

George quickly stood up and fetched some canned drinks out of the cooler, then handed them out to his family.

He said, "We have a jet plane waiting at Timbuktu airfield, we'll land there and transfer everything to the jet, then it's a long flight to Arizona with a stop to take on fuel."

The droning of the helicopter had soon lulled everyone into a light doze, even with ear plugs in place, it was a noisy flight and it did little to encourage conversation.

Henri's voice coming over the intercom jarred the group awake, "Good news folks! We are now in Malian airspace. I am activating the transponder so's we don't get shot at by our own team. We will be landing in about two hours... Thank you for flying with Privateer Airlines!" George and Phillip stood up and stretched out the little kinks from sitting, the lamias stretched out their tails as best they could.

Rachel was hunkered over her laptop, typing furiously away while Helen was stretched out on the floor dozing.

Just before dawn, a French Air Force CH-47 Chinook helicopter flew in just over the perimeter fence and settled down in its designated parking place.

With the rotors slowing to a stop, the side door opened up and black clad figures exited to start up a military cargo truck and bring it close to the helicopter.

Another figure darted very rapidly towards the Gulfstream and clambered inside.

Fifteen minutes later, the doors on the helicopter were closed up and the truck drove over to the Gulfstream now undergoing the preflights.

The Gulfstream's cargo door was opened and the many objects were loaded on board while the passengers slipped inside.

The doors were finally closed and the truck returned to its parking place. The driver, one Henri DuValliere, Major, French Airforce reservist, paused alongside the truck and waved good bye to the Gulfstream G650 ER now taxiing towards the flight line and heading for home.