Aldo was not the most loved of the team but he was indispensable in all matters technological so he was generally forgiven for being a complete dipshit, still no one was going to buy him a beer when this thing was all over. Actually, Victor was planning on buying him a beer when this thing was all over so he said, "Thanks Aldo, and remind me to buy you a beer when this thing is all over, the rest of you, listen up. Max and I are linked in three, two, one, we have a connection. The moment you are locked in you'll see my location. I'm not waiting around for any of you so make it quick. Fiorelli's I have you on my screen, nice work."
"Hey Victor, how about beers for us, mazz, or better yet just a little extra snark?" Franco said half-joking in response to the acknowledgement.
"Sure, Franco," Victor laughed,"and while I'm at it, I think I'll give you my house, cars, first born and my own personal invitation to a one hour discussion face to face with Farb himself. And for the rest of you, lifetime JumpJuice and a pension that's just plain Beezle! Now let's keep it moving, I've got Samuel and Nick locked in, just a few more and I'll let you all in on where we're headed."
"I thought we were deliverin' the Juice to the Sin Shack," Samuel questioned, looking for a little clarification as to just how dramatically the plan had changed.
"Apparently, Samuel, so does someone else," Victor quickly replied. "Gavin and Marv are now linked, so let's get down to it. Those of you who didn't link to a drone, meet us at the location that appears on your navcom panel in a few minutes...All of you who are the VR link for your drone, enter your birth dates followed by the three digit number you see flashing in the upper left hand corner of the numeric keypad you used for the link now." Victor gave them a few seconds to do so, Max gave him a little rub on the back when hers was entered. "What you see now that all of your codes have successfully been entered is the exact location we are all meeting at. I will see you all there in less than thirty."
Max leaned in close to Victor as the cycle hummed its way toward the location. She felt good to be with Victor now but she was troubled by what was happening with the shipment. She felt a little out of the loop, like something secret was going on that Victor somehow knew about and she didn't. Max had become used to being a heartbeat away from the head of the operation, her father, and although it was sometimes uncomfortable, she felt more powerful. Her heart was torn between her feelings for Victor and her need for security which she always associated with her father. She worried that she was just passing one dependency over to another so so hugged Victor tighter to fight off the fear that one day he would be gone and she would be left alone.
"We're here," Victor said calmly into his head set, quietly but with enough of a nod to his head to get Max looking in the right direction.
"Drone - Destination," she said, without hesitation and the craft automatically hovered to a stop just a short distance from their cycle. Within five minutes all of the team along with all of their drones had arrived at the site.
"Okay, let's move." Victor ordered.'I want Gavin, Samuel, Marv and Franco up in the cabs." Four large diggers were lined along the edge of the work site. The whole area was under construction.
"Max, I want you and Manny heading up the unload. The rest of you, let's get the Juice out of the drones and into the the digger shovels. Split up and take a drone, I will meet you at each drone to open them and Nick, I want you to wait. I need you at your cycle and will meet you there as soon as I get the drones open, Now go!" Victor was firm but not upset. If anything, Leer was excited, he loved danger and while there was no sign of it now, the shipment was still in danger.
Everyone hurried to their tasks and within minutes Victor was at the cycle with Nick. "I'll drive," he said as he jumped on the bike and Nick took the back seat."We're going for the trucks." At the far end of the site stood two large dump trucks. Nick and Victor reached the trucks quickly and were heading over to the diggers in no time. The team had worked quickly and nearly all of the Juice was in the shovels by the time they arrived with the trucks. "Dump 'em", Victor ordered, then quickly added,"GENTLY!"
Gavin, Samuel, Marv and Franco skillfully maneuvered the payload of each shovel into the dump trucks. The shipment was once again mobile.
"Gavin, Samuel, Marv and Franco," Victor called out,"stay in the cabs. I need you to bury the drones. Manny and Nick, jump into the dozers and help dispose of the drones. Max, Drive the dump truck Nick brought over. The rest of you, on the bikes. Let's head out. We'll be back tomorrow for you guys," he said to the drone disposal crew, and before anyone could ask any questions, he sped off. As he drove the dump truck away he ordered into the headset, very clearly and with conviction," REMEMBER, absolutely NO contact with anyone outside the team until I say okay."
Less than an hour later Leer pulled his rig into a tunnel, high up the side of a fairly large mountain just north of the construction site. As the rest of the vehicles drove into the tunnel behind him they slowed to a stop. "We're staying here tonight," Victor announced. "Make yourselves comfortable and stay in the tunnel. Fred and Dominic, take the north side entrance of the tunnel and set some flairs. Keep them inside the tunnel. We don't want anyone driving into us but we don't want to be visible outside of the tunnel. Gino and Todd, you guys have the south side. Okay boys, our engines are overheated, let's pop the hoods and give'em a rest. That's our story and we're stickin' to it."
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