The Run Down Under/Gettin' Giggy with Shadowrun - Thursday, February 2nd, 2006

Timmy followed Rainbow over to Jake's clinic so they could drop off the bodies. Once there, the clarified with jake that he would need to make sure that the bodies were not identifiable and that they could not be traced back to either Jake or Rainbow and the group.

"Just be... thorough," Rainbow said. "I owe you one for this."

By the time they left Jake's, it was a little after ten pm. After some discussion, Giggy had decided to ride in the Tracker with Timmy after all.

"Just make sure you pop the zombie, not me," Giggy said to Rainbow before getting into the car, still paranoid that whatever was in the coffin was going to wake up in the middle of the night, in the middle of the most populated quarter of the continent, and start attacking people.

---

About four and a half hours later, shortly after they passed Gundagai, there was a blow-out on the Tracker. Suddenly finding himself without a right front tire, Timmy first swerved into the right lane into oncoming traffic, and then over-corrected into the ditch. The Tracker hit the ditch straight-on, suddenly coming to a halt, but fortunately not rolling. The coffin, box and all, went sailing straight into the brush along the side of the road, and quickly disappeared from the pool of light created by the headlights.

After bouncing his head off the side window, Giggy looked over at Timmy. Timmy had obviously hit his face on the steering wheel and was looking rather dazed with blood pouring down his face from a possibly broken nose.

"What the drek happened?" Giggy asked.

"I'm not sure," Timmy responded. "I think we had a flat."

"And that put us in the ditch? What was it, a strip of spikes or something?"

"No," Timmy replied. "I didn't see anything, I think one of the tires just went. I just don't drive on the wrong side of the road much."

"So, you're really not a good driver?"

"Yeah," Timmy responded, "pretty much..."

Giggy punched Timmy and then got out of the car. He started following the path of broken branches and bits of cardboard toward the coffin. Buckwheat came crashing through the brambles behind him.

"It's over this way, Giggy," he said when he caught up. "From here we an just about get to it through this clearing and don't have to follow through the briar.

"As soon as you guys went off the road, Rainbow stopped the van. I saw the coffin go off the top of the little truck and was able to follow it astrally. It looks like the seal is still intact, so whatever is in it is probably still intact and safe."

"Well," Giggy said as they approached the coffin on the ground, "It does look like it survived. It does not look like any of the cardboard box is left, and I didn't see any of the straps or cords that were tying it onto the Tracker..."

Meanwhile, Rainbow had grabbed a medkit and run over to the Tracker. Timmy was still sitting in the driver's seat when Rainbow got there and hooked him into the medkit. With guidance from the medkit, Rainbow was able to get the bleeding stopped and Timmy's nose reset, and to minimize the swelling and bruising.

As Timmy was getting out of the car, Rainbow turned off the engine and the headlights, and started inspecting the damage.

Giggy and Buckwheat got out of the bushes and got Timmy to come back with them to help haul the coffin back to the road.

As Rainbow got done with his inspection, he radioed to th rest of the group. "It looks like the Tracker will run, probably almost as well as it was running when we left Sydney, but the right front tire is gone and the rim is bent, and there is no spare. The spare from my van won't work because there different sizes..."

"Well," Giggy responded, "we're missing a bunch of the tie-downs anyway. I'm not sure we could put the coffin on the Tracker again anyhow."

"And," Buckwheat followed, "would we want to without the box for it?"

A few minutes later Buckwheat, Giggy, and Timmy came out of the brambles with the coffin, each a little scratched up, but not really any worse for wear. After a few minutes of discussion, it was decided to load the coffin into the van and to blow up the stolen Tracker. While Giggy and Buckwheat loaded the coffin into the back of the van, Timmy and Rainbow went to blow up the Tracker using some of Timmy's explosives.

Timmy and Rainbow were still arguing about whether Timmy had placed things correctly when Giggy closed the back doors of the van just as a LoneStar patrol car pulled up behind the van and turned on its lights.

Giggy and Buckwheat, standing behind the van both turned to look at the patrol car, putting their hands up to block the bright spotlight which had been directed to them. Giggy tried to shift himself so that his auto-pistols remained hidden by his jacket.

A couple of minutes later, an officer got out of the driver's door of the prowler. "Looks like you boys ran into some trouble here," she said, calmly walking toward Giggy and Buckwheat, "could you let me know just what happened?"

Before Buckwheat or Giggy could respond, Rainbow came up from the Tracker. "Glad you're here, officer," he said, "My friend here," he pointed to Timmy who was coming up the embankment beside him, "had a blow out and ran off the road."

The officer quickly recovered from her shock at Rainbow's appearance, turning slightly so she could see both him and Buckwheat and Giggy at the back of the van. "I can call you chaps a wrecker, but I'm going to need to see license, insurance, and registration for that vehicle."

"I'm sorry, officer," Giggy started, "we just picked up the car this evening, and the records office was closed. We haven't been able to get the paperwork completed."

"That's all right," the officer replied, "If you have the bill of sale or the transferral papers, those will be fine. I just need to complete a report on my stop here."

"Yeah, well, I sort of left all that in my dorm back in Sydney," Timmy interjected, "so it's not here."

"All right, then," the officer said, "I'll need to cite you for not having the vehicle registered."

"Look," Timmy started, "I'm just trying to get moved to Adelaide where my girlfriend is..."

"Your car is empty," the officer pointed out, then quietly into her radio, "I may need backup."

"See, her name is Elizabeth, and you can call her. I've got her phone number here," Timmy continued.

"It's all right, that's all very nice, but if you can't produce the paperwork on that vehicle," the officer said, "I'm going to have to cite you for it, and I'll have to get the VIN off of the dash and look it up."

"Officer," Giggy interjected, "I didn't want to have to do this, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave the area."

"I beg your pardon?"

Giggy took a step forward, brushing past Buckwheat and deftly lifting one of the FBI agent's wallets from Buckwheat's coat pocket. "We're on a classified joint smuggling investigation," Giggy said flashing the bloody ID, "and, quite frankly this is out of your jurisdiction."

"All right," the officer replied, "I can run your story and check it. Who's your superior, and I'll need to see that ID."

"I told you to keep me out of this!" Timmy started, taking the other ID from Buckwheat and showing the officer quickly. "I can vouch for his story."

Timmy's quick movement had revealed his gun, and a the officer reached for her radio and started to step backward, Rainbow sprung into action. He grabbed the mouthpiece off of her shirt.

Seeing Rainbow move, Timmy quickly drew his gun and aimed it at the officer. Rainbow put his shoulder into her chest to tackle her, but she was able to keep her balance. However, when Giggy took her legs out from under her, it was more than she could counter. Giggy quickly hand cuffed her once she was down, and then duck taped her mouth.

"Move the explosives off of the tracker and onto the cop car. We don't want to leave it here," Rainbow said.

"And make sure her radio is in it," Giggy added, then turning to Buckwheat, he continued, "here, help me with her."

"Just put her in the car," Timmy suggested, re-distributing the explosives.

"No. Assault on an officer is one thing, killing her is another," Giggy responded.

"What's the difference, we've already killed two FBI agents?" Timmy asked.

"Dude," Rainbow pointed out, "she's right here... Besides, they shot first, and without provocation. She hasn't done anything except try to get your driver's license."

Buckwheat and Giggy took the officer out into the trees, and securely duct taped her ankles around a tree, then duct taped her hands over the hand cuffs, and left her with a bottle of water, once they were confident she was secure enough that she was going to need a couple of hours to get undone.

They returned to the vehicle and started down the road. When they were a couple kilometers away, Timmy set off the explosives.

Buckwheat and Rainbow stayed up the rest of the night, driving to Melbourne, Buckwheat frequently checking for watchers or other astral threats. Meanwhile, Timmy and Giggy slept in the back of the van.

As they approached Melbourne, Rainbow called James, his mechanic beck in Sydney.

"How's it going?" James asked when he answered Rainbow's call. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your early morning call?"

"Can you recommend a good body shop in Melbourne?" Rainbow asked. "I need some fast work done."

"Hmmm..." James replied, "Probably the best place to deal with is The Body Station. Here's their number. Ask for Gena - and make sure to tell her that James from Sydney recommended her."

"Thanks, man," Rainbow replied, "That will be a big help."

"No problem," James said, "by the way, how's that little Tracker doing?"

"Oh, it sort of blew up outside of Gundagai last night."

"What? What was the problem?"

"Really it wasn't anything you did," Rainbow responded hoping to calm James, "Mostly it was a combination of lack of driving skill and a bunch of C4... Anyway, I gotta go, I'll catch you later."

Rainbow hung up and called the number James had given him.

"Hello, Body Station," a man answered.

"Can I talk to Gena, please?" Rainbow asked.

A moment later a woman came on the phone. "What is it?" she asked gruffly.

"My name's Rainbow. James in Sydney said I should call you. how fast can you paint a van?"

"Speed is the only issue?"

"Pretty much."

"You don't care about color?" Gena asked.

"Well, within reason."

"All right, two days prep, one day to paint, and two days to cure and clean."

"What if we want it faster?"

"Do you care if it lasts?"

"Not more than it holding up through a couple of rain storms."

"When can you drop it off?"

"I gotta drop off some crew at a hotel and get directions to your place," Rainbow replied.

"All right, where are you?"

Rainbow told her where he was and got directions. Gena was nice enough to recommend a hotel for them for the day, and Rainbow dropped Giggy, Buckwheat, and Timmy off, then dropped the van off and returned to the hotel.

"She'll call us when it's done," Rainbow told Buckwheat, not really paying attention to the fact that he was fast asleep.

Timmy and Giggy spent most of the day wandering around near the hotel, while Rainbow and Buckwheat slept most of the day. Around 7pm, Rainbow finally got impatient and called Gena's number, but there wasn't an answer.

"It's after seven, she's probably closed," Giggy assured him, "besides, we've got two more days."

About a quarter to ten Gena called.

"OK, your black van is ready to go," she said when Rainbow answered.

"Can we leave it with you overnight?" Rainbow asked. "I'll pick it up first thing."

"How likely is it to blow up?" Gena asked.

"Not at all likely," Rainbow replied.

"How likely is it to get my shop blown up?"

"Probably not very likely."

"And, why does your coffin keep buzzing? We thought there was a problem with one of our compressors."

"The answer to that question may solve a lot of our problems, but right now we don't know."

"OK. We open at 8."

"Thanks a ton. See you then."

The next morning Rainbow picked up the van at 8, and then they headed northwest from Melbourne to Adelaide. The drive was uneventful, and the next day they checked out the part where they were supposed to bury the coffin. Giggy and Timmy located the coordinates, just on the edge of a group of trees.

Timmy called the phone number he had.

"Hello, Elizabeth?" he asked when a woman answered.

"Who is this?"

"Timmy," Timmy replied, "Jonah's friend."

"Oh, yes. Do you have the package?"

"Yeah, I think so. Do you just want us to bury it here?"

"What?! No! Where are you?"

"In Rundle Park."

"Good. We'll meet you."

"When?" Timmy asked.

"Check the note," and Elizabeth hung up.

"Well," Rainbow said to Giggy, "I guess she'll meet us here at midnight."

They rested for the day, and by 11:45, they had all taken up positions within the trees where they could watch what was going on. Rainbow had the van circling the park waiting to see what they needed to do with the coffin, as Elizabeth had seemed anxious that it not be buried early.

Just before midnight, a heavy duty ambulance turned off of the road and drove right into the park.

Timmy stepped out of the trees slightly. The ambulance came to a stop facing him and the passenger door opened. A woman stood in the open door the door providing cover for most of her body.

"Are you Timmy?" she asked.

"Yeah," Timmy replied. "Are you Elizabeth?"

"Yes. Where is the package?"

"It's coming," Timmy gestured and Rainbow drove the van up alongside the ambulance. "It's in the back."

"Would you give my guys a hand?" Elizabeth asked as two men got out of the back of the ambulance and walked over to the van.

Timmy walked back and opened the van and helped the men carry the coffin over to the ambulance. When they had loaded the coffin, one of the men unlatched it and flipped it open. There was a gasping of air as the seal was broken, and Timmy looked in to see what at first looked like a mutilated body.

"Are you in town for long?" Elizabeth asked, having walked up behind Timmy.

"Why?"

"Well, Jonah's probably gong to need a ride back to Sydney in a couple of weeks, once he recovers."

"I don't think we're staying," Timmy replied.

"No, we can stay. We probably don't really want to drive through there right away anyhow," Rainbow chimed in, having come out of the trees.

"But, he's been gutted," Timmy said, gesturing to the coffin.

"No, he's just been delivering supplies for me. Give me your number, I'll call you when he's ready to go."

Rainbow gave Elizabeth his number, and they watched as the ambulance backed up and then turned and drove out of the park. As it got about a block away, the ambulance's lights and siren switched on.

Buckwheat, Giggy, and Timmy piled into the van after Rainbow and they returned to their hotel.

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