{[Warning! Ursula works for Jason. We have read loads of encrypted communications, telling Ursula to keep an eye on Toni, should she ever turn up. The last message said Toni could be a armed undercover police officer. There was an outgoing voice message two minutes ago, sent by Ursula, saying. Toni had arrived at her house out of the blue and was currently moving her MPV, there was a strange man and drunk woman with her. She said for them to send an elimination team, ASAP. She would keep them here until they came. As we pulled up Rahab blocked all cellular communications, including the one we recorded. Fortuitous, don’t you think?]} Enoch and Rahab said together.
Cain listened to Enoch's news as he asked Ursula if he could get a drink of water. Not taking her eyes off Toni she pointed toward the kitchen through an open door.
^C^ How do you want to play this? ^ Toni sat next to Ursula, holding her hand while talking about how Joseph was a good mover, if she knew what she meant, laughing rather dirtily.
^T^ Come back and drop the drink. I’ll knock her out, or something. Then you and I can ask her some pointed questions. ^
{I’ve constantly monitored Daphne, her stats have dropped, you'll need to operate now. I can lead you through the procedure. I know where the pieces of metal are I have a copy of the last scan the Institute had on her record,} Enoch told Cain. Cain came back from the kitchen. They, Toni and Ursula were still talking like good old long-lost friends, still holding hands.
Purposefully Cain dropped the glass, it shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces shooting across the floor as it hit and smashed against the polished wooden floor. Toni watched as glass fragments went everywhere, and noticed no trace of water. Ursula let out a loud scream, then apologised as the noise had scared her.
"Scared you?" said Toni, pushing Ursula away from her as she stood. "You jumped, frightened because you thought it would be a protectorate goon squad, crashing in through the door or your windows?
"Yeah you heard me, scab. You knew I was an undercover fraud cop, probably before we even met. Knowing I was looking for a way to uncover what Jason was doing, made me an easy mark to manipulate. I even told you about how I thought he was not right in the head. There I was thinking you were on my side, with you calling Jason, Jerk Wank.
"You low life scum. You mean nothing to me, you’re dead to me, you hear that, DEAD," Toni would have continued only stopping her outburst to breath, but Cain hit Ursula on the back of her head with the grip of his suppressed Glock.
"Argh, I wanted to say so much more. And, and you argh. We need to talk Cain, let a woman, this woman, your woman have her say. You get it? Capisce! Argh. Never mind, I’ll wake her up after you’ve tied her up. Then I’ll rant at her again," Toni said. Cain smiled to himself at Toni's rant. Cain said to Toni,
"We don't have the time. Well we do but Daphne doesn't as her condition has worsened. She needs operating on right here and now. You and me babe, I'm the renowned neurosurgeon, you my sexy nurse. We can use the table in the dining room-cum-kitchen, it will have to do. Could you go find cotton sheets, towels or something equally similar to absorb the blood." Before Toni went looking around Ursula's flat, they ripped the table cloth into strips.
:This is like me doing this with the Ratole pelts. Making lengths of fabric rope for fastening Ursula to one of the sturdy dining room chairs,: thought Cain.
With Ursula fastened securely to a chair, Cain searched in the kitchen, finding everything they needed for the operation. The find of a butter curler, meat tenderiser and apple corer were what Enoch told Cain he needed. {Rahab is getting Toni to find some tweezers while she searches for sheets and towels.}
^C^ Honey, I know Rahab has asked already, can you find a pair or even two pairs of tweezers for Daphne? Love you. ^
^T^ Sure darling, love you too. What are we going to do, pluck her eyebrows? ^ Cain laughed as he scrubbed his hands twice, he used an antibacterial soap he found on the small sink in the closet. Enoch told Cain,
{It will be a simple operation. All you need to do is make a hole in the left side of Daphne's head. Once completed, you have to pull out two small pieces of metal. Metal they left them behind during the first operation. Her notes said they were in a dangerous location and any attempt at removal, could paralyse or even kill her. So, on purpose they left them behind. Its up to the four of us to save Daphne's life.}
Toni returned with two pairs of tweezers, two white bed sheets and several hand-towels. She washed her hands with the antibacterial soap before using a sharp knife to cut the bed sheets, into small one-foot squares.
Cain searched the kitchen drawers for what he hoped to find, a ceramic blade to cut Daphne’s skin. Cain was pleased when he opened the third draw, finding several knives, one of which was a small ceramic knife.
Enoch waited while Cain used the ceramic knife to shave a small patch of hair from Daphne's head. He guided Cain’s hand, looking through his eyes as he made the first incision, a small two-inch cut placed exactly two inches above and one inch behind Daphne's left ear. Toni used one square of the sheet as she soaked up the small amount of blood, surprised how little there was. Holding her breath as Cain made a second cut, making a cross in Daphne's skin.
Cuts made, Cain peeled the skin back with a pair of the tweezers, exposing the bloody white bone of Daphne's skull. Toni applied a gentle pressure using three squares of sheet and a hand towel, Rahab told her to keep the pressure steady for one minute.
Once Toni removed the sheet squares and towel, Cain picked up the butter curler. Working the serrated edge into the bone, Cain began to cut at and thin the bone of Daphne's skull. Cain was surprised how easily he could curl small pieces of bone away from the skull's surface. Watching every action, Enoch told Cain to stop and use the apple corer.
This Enoch informed Cain would be harder as Cain had to tap the corer with the meat tenderiser, turning the corer as he tapped it. The twisting and tapping action would drive the corer into the weakened bone, making a hole. Applying less pressure than using the butter curler, Cain steadily drilled a small circular hole into Daphne's skull.
Removing the circular piece of skull, tapping the apple corer on the table to recover the bone. Cain looked at the hole and he could see some dark bloody fluid under the bone of the skull.
{The pieces of metal are one and one-eighth of an inch inside the brain. If you put a pair of tweezers in the hole, with them closed you will be able to reach and remove them. Pushing a pair of tweezers into the dura which surrounds the brain is your next task. Pass through the dura and gently push into the brain one and one-eighth of an inch. Keeping the jaws closed, move the tweezers a tiny amount, you will feel one of the pieces of metal,} Enoch told Cain.
Cain took a calming breath as Toni said she’d trust him to operate on her, even on a kitchen table. Once he had done this and saved Daphne, she had a nice surprise for him. With a steady hand and a smile on his face, Cain followed Enoch's instructions to the letter. The hardest part for Cain was pushing the tweezers into and through the dura, then in to Daphne's brain.
:That feels like an inch, still an eighth to go.: Cain thought as he felt the tweezer jaws touch something solid, not stiff like the brain. Cain moved the tweezers past the object then opened the jaws, moving them over the metal. Closing the jaws, Cain was certain he held something and being careful, he pulled the tweezers back out of Daphne's brain. Feeling the tension reduce and leave his fingers as he put the tweezers down, on the table. Next to the tweezers laid the first piece of metal, a sliver from a black spike somebody tried to kill Daphne with.
Cain looked and noticed the sliver was no longer than a quarter of an inch, they had managed. There on the tray evidence the first piece was removed. Enoch said Daphne's condition was still the same, meaning the other piece of metal was causing the worst of the problems. Shaking his hands to get the circulation flowing before using the second pair of tweezers. Picking up the longest tweezers, Cain repeated the simple procedure. To Cain it felt like he was trying to grasp a reluctan
t piece of sushi with chopsticks, not probing Daphne's brain. Almost giving up, Cain pushed the tweezers in deeper than Enoch told him he needed to go.
:Yes, that’s it, something solid although it is over one and a half inches deep.: Repeating the previous steps, he began by moving the tweezers past the object before opening the jaws. Moving the jaws over the object then gripping hold, :This piece feels larger, thicker than the first piece I removed,: Cain pulled out hopefully the second and final piece of metal from Daphne's brain.
Placing the removed piece beside the first, Cain was expecting a sliver of metal the same size. Looking Cain and Toni could easily see this last piece was almost three times its size. Cain said,
"Toni could you take another macro photo once we have finished putting Daphne back together. I'm not sure what the last piece is, as it looks smooth and whole. Unlike the first piece which looks like something broken off a black spike." Toni agreed to take the macro photo once they finished with Daphne. She soaked up a small amount of blood as Cain took a slight breather.
Swapping tasks, Toni rummaged through the kitchen drawers. Searching for two things Rahab said would help Daphne. Cain through Enoch, kept a check on Daphne's stats as Enoch said,
{Daphne is almost coming around, faster than she should have been. Everything will soon settle down with one piece of metal and an unknown object removed, Daphne was no longer in danger.}
Toni used the small cooks blow torch Ursula had, as she heated a Teflon pizza sheet. Once the Teflon had been heated then cooled and using a pair of scissors, Toni cut three small pieces from the Teflon, each a little larger than the first. Toni placed the smallest piece over the hole. Cain already had placed the circular piece of skull bone back, wedging it with a small shaving of bone pulled from the butter curler.
"Are you sure of the Teflon?" Cain asked Toni, although he knew Rahab had given her the information.
"Yeah, pretty much. Rahab told me that surgeons previously used Teflon fabric in repairing holes in hearts. We know the pizza sheet is larger than the fabric heart surgeons used, we know it will make a good layer of protection over the hole. Rahab said that once Daphne is back in the POD, the drugs built into the POD and the Nanogel will speed up her healing.
"From POD research files, Rahab tells me the hole will be whole in two to three weeks. I know Daphne will have a slightly raised lump on her skull, but once her hair grows back, nobody will see where we have operated and saved her life."
Toni placed the first square of Teflon correctly, she had Cain hold it in place with a pair of tweezers while she covered that with the second larger piece. The second piece was the about the size of the exposed skull. Toni laid the Teflon diagonally to the first, so the holes in the sheet did not line up. The final larger piece with Cain’s help Toni pushed the Teflon fully under Daphne's scalp.
Using the scalp’s tension to hold the third and the other two pieces in place. Picking up the needle he found in Ursula's trinket box threaded with a length of thin black cotton, Cain showed Toni he had a steady hand as he began stitching the wound together. With all sides of the cut stitched Toni was pleased to see a neatly stitched cross, plus the small bald patch of hair were all that remained of the operation. An operation where together, the four of them had saved Daphne.
{Well done, you did wonderful. With practice you would have made an excellent surgeon let alone a seamstress}. Enoch said laughing in Cain's head.
[You both worked well together, your rhythms are getting more in sync. It is like you are so meant for each other. That apart, I know you need to get ready to leave. I have been monitoring the protectorate airwaves. There were no goons on this side of the river after the accident. It took the emergency service less than three-quarters of an hour to clear the mess away.
[Once the tunnel was emptied of the four wrecks, traffic has been flowing for the past ten minutes. Ursula received three calls from a person, they left one message telling her to keep a look out for you. You also need to check the cupboard in the small bedroom, push on its back and see what you find,] Rahab told Toni.
Chapter 6
Daphne Safe
Leaving Cain with Daphne, Toni went into the spare bedroom, a room she had used several times before when staying over with Ursula. Following Rahab’s instructions Toni opened the small wardrobe and pulled armfuls of clothes out, then threw them on the spare bed.
Tapping on the thin sheet of hardboard Toni shook her head, shocked at hearing a more robust sound than a hollow tap from a hardboard back should be. She tried pushing the hardboard back but it held firm, Toni looked for a way to open the back of the wardrobe.
:Here's hoping I don’t end up in Narnia. Although meeting Aslan, that would be rather cool. CS Lewis’s stories were brilliant,: she thought as she began to look for a way to open the wardrobe. Not feeling or seeing anything obvious in the wardrobe itself, such as a pressure switch or foot plate or movable trim. Toni stepped back, looked and tried every part that could have been a switch.
:No fancy ornamentation to push or pull. Can’t see any book which could hide a lever, or a key hole, how do I open this? Now what looks out of place or shouldn’t be there? Nah, can't see a thing...How about entering the room and taking another look.: Following her own thoughts Toni walked back to the bedroom door, she turned and looked down at the carpet.
:Yes! You bitch, found it! The famous detective strikes again. I can't wait to tell Ursula how easy it was to find her secrets.: Toni had seen a path in the carpet pile, move from the door over to the side of the small table, placed on the right hand wall. Following the path Toni let her eyes roam over the table surface. In a fine layer of dust Toni noticed an area which was clean.
On the left hand edge of the table was a hand print, left from where Ursula had placed her palm while pressing something. Toni placed her left hand in the same place and felt with her fingers. It was only her little finger that touched a cabochon, placed as an ornament on the top of the left leg. As Toni pressed her little finger down the cabochon moved and a soft click came from the wardrobe. Returning to the wardrobe, Toni pushed on the back and was amazed it moved so freely it swung wide and revealed a hidden room.
With the back open, Toni walked into a room twelve feet square. This new room, constructed over what should be the neighbours space. One large table sat in the space, covered with pieces of paper. A stand projector, for one of the new virtual keyboards, was beneath the display screens. On the back wall were three shoulder high rectangular cubes, all painted the same in a drab olive colour.
Curiosity got the better of Toni as she opened the nearest cube, she released the two chrome latches. Toni gasped as she looked inside the cube, :I was not expecting that. Whoever makes such a large double-barrelled shotgun. It looks as if it goes on my shoulder, rather than pulled up against it. Maybe I'll call it a DBSG. Don't know if it sounds neat but I hope Cain likes the acronym. That reminds me, I need to give him something nice for saving Daphne.: Picking it up, she went back into the small bedroom then downstairs to Cain.
"Nice, very handy. Should we have a helicopter or drone that needs taking out," he said. "Now tell me, where did you find that? I've used one once before, it's a Thales, double StarStreak."
:Um, DSS sounds way better than DBSG. I’ll not let on what I thought to call the DSS.: Toni noticed Cain had a nice smile as it lit up his face. she watched as he came over to her then gave her a nice kiss. He patted the DSS like it was a long-lost friend or an obedient dog.
"I've used these Thales before, they are deadly to low-flying planes and pure death against helicopters," Cain said. "That is a great find Toni, we now have air defence should we need it," Cain said as he moved out of the way. It was then Toni noticed Daphne as she sat up on the settee from where Cain had laid her after the operation. She was barely awake blinking her eyes looking around. Toni handed the DSS to Cain, she rushed over giving Daphne a long, gentle hug.
"We’re glad to see you’re alive and awake Daphne. It wa
s kind of touch and go for a while, we thought we’d lost you at one point," Toni said. Leaning into the hug, Daphne said,
"Do you think I can have something to eat? My stomach thinks my throat has gone on strike. I can’t remember the last time I had solid decent food," Daphne said. Cain put the DSS down and left his two women to go on a food safari, in Ursula’s kitchen he told them he would rustle up some food. Searching the cupboards he dismissed most of the tinned and packet foods, until he found what he thought was an ideal food for Daphne. Cain emptied tins of chicken in a white sauce into a pan, then heated on the electric induction plate; stirring the chicken while a pan of water boiled.
With the pan now boiling it received three handfuls of straight pasta and a pinch of salt. In ten minutes, Cain produced two plates of pasta, covered with chicken in white sauce. Dishing the food out, placing it on the vacated operating table, he called Toni and Daphne over to eat.
"This is so nice," Daphne said around her second mouthful of food, "You must be a Michelin chef. So tasty," as she carried on eating.
^T^ It is very nice, a good combination. Thank you for doing this while we talked. Daphne is still fragile but getting stronger. Well, Daphne shows no problems as she eats. ^
Cain put the leftover pasta and chicken on Daphne's plate. She was so hungry she polished off two plates full.
"So, what are we going to do with Ursula? I would kill her, but I don’t think it will be for the best," Cain said. While Daphne finished the last forkfuls of food, licking the plate for good measure.
"My compliments to the chef. That was exquisite, real manna from Heaven," Daphne said and gave Cain's hand a quick squeeze.
"Ok, so we're not killing Ursula, then we need to leave her tied up. She will not be able to free herself before we get away, though she will call in the goon squad," Toni said. As she was speaking Toni remembered Cain had asked her to take a macro photo of the last item he removed from Daphne's brain.
Forsaken 337 BC Page 8