Episode 048

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“We’re back in Somalia, a nation so poor its charity ads run in Ethiopia.”

Jon Stewart, the Daily Show

 

            “This is going to be tricky,” Alex explained as he leaned back against the wall behind the computers.  With his arms crossed, he stared down, thinking beyond his words.  “We’ve got to find some way to block this extradition.”

            “Why don’t we just tell them no?” Jin asked, sitting at the computer terminal next to Eliot.  In the main room, the three men were alone in the dark.  “I mean, what’s Denmark going to do?  Invade?”

            “He might be on to something,” Eliot said, twiddling his thumbs as he spoke.  “Paranormal law isn’t that different from normal law.  And in normal cases, the petitioners requesting the extradition would have to provide evidence supporting their claim.”

            “You mean ask them straight to their face why they want the body?” Alex asked.  He rolled the idea around in his head for a moment.  “Fair enough, but I imagine that won’t buy us more than a day, if that much.  We’re going to need some policy or law that can block this until we’ve had time to fully analyze the body.”

            “Just out of curiosity,” Jin asked.  “Why are we blocking this?  I mean, what do we care if they want the body?”

            “Because it’s a completely new life form,” Alex answered, “and if they want it, then there’s some value to it that we haven’t yet been able to identify.  It’s our role to make sure that we don’t release anything into the world beyond, paranormal or no, that could be potentially dangerous.”

            “And you think this thing could be?” Eliot asked.

            “Remember the incident last year?” Alex asked.  “The one with the Sasquatch?”

            Jin started laughing.  Eliot rolled his eyes.  “Oh god,” he groaned.  “Don’t remind me.”

            “Whenever you’re dealing with something totally new, you have to spend some time figuring it out.  Sometimes, you learn crazy things about it,” Alex said, standing.

            “Yeah,” Jin giggled, “like that it wasn’t actually dead.”

 

            Sarah pushed through the doors just as Black Dog began playing.  In the examination room, Dr. Jones was bent over the table, stapling the chest of the giant monster closed.  He glanced up at Sarah, but didn’t stop what he was doing.  “<To what do I owe the pleasure? >” he asked in Swahili.

            “<We need to prepare to move the body, >” she responded in kind.

            “Damn it,” he cursed with a smile.  He stood up and sighed at her.  “One of these days, I’m going to find a language you don’t know.”

            “<Doubt it, >” she said in Cherokee, making him develop a puzzled look.  “The body is going to be moved to Denmark immediately.”

            Dr. Jones snorted.  “No it isn’t.”  Sarah gave him a harsh look.  “It’s not,” he repeated more reasonably.  “This thing isn’t a cadaver we just put on ice and ship on a cargo plane.  This thing is going to need some serious prep-work before it’s going anywhere,” he insisted.  Sarah gave him an unconvinced look.  “This thing has a sensitivity to sunlight you wouldn’t believe.  I mean, there’s photosensitivity and then there’s what this thing is.”  She looked at the powerful lamp over the body, then at him.

            “This thing isn’t a UV lamp,” the doctor defended, pointing at the light.  “We take this body out into the sunlight, for even a few minutes, and it will start to decompose.  I mean, you will be able to watch it rot.  We expose it to the sun for an hour and we’ll be lucky if there are any bones left.”

            “We transported it from Germany to here,” Sarah said.

            “Yeah, at night,” the doctor argued.  “And even then, the exposure to the open air did some pretty serious damage.  Magical creatures don’t decompose like regular creatures.  Thank god Alex had the good sense to load it into the SUV and drive its smelly ass back here.  I sympathize that he left Isaiah and Irene and Jason.”

“What about Til?” Sarah posed.

“He’s got some personal business he needs to clear up,” Dr. Jones scoffed.  “But if Alex had waited for even an hour, the body wouldn’t have survived the trip.”

            Sarah sighed.  “We’re moving it,” she maintained with finality.

            “Sarah, look at it,” he demanded.  “What do you suggest we do?  Go down to the local undertaker and have him do a rush job on a really big casket?  This body weigh is too large to transported in our normal containers, not to mention too heavy.  This thing isn’t going to make it to Denmark.  Not without some serious precautions.”

            Sarah looked down in frustration, struggling to keep from slamming her hands on the metal examination table.  “What will it take?” she finally asked.

            “I need at least two days to even figure out what precautions we’ll need,” he said.  “Give me two days, and another day to do whatever work on the materials and maybe we can…”

            “You’ve got six hours,” she said before turning away.

 

            There was a knock at the door.  “Come in,” Isaiah called, turning back to his personal computer.

The door to the small one-person dorm room opened and Assif came inside.  He glanced at Til lounging back on the bed, then shut the door behind him.  He crossed his arms and leaned back against the door blocking it.  “I need to know where things stand with the search.”

            “Still no sign,” Isaiah said.  “I’ve been keeping an eye on all the websites we know about as well as trying to monitor the usual hangouts in the city for his kind, but still nothing.”

            Assif looked at Til.  “I don’t even know where to begin,” the German insisted.  “We’ve exhausted just about all of our options.  This guy’s smart.  He figured out how we got him the first time.  He’s probably doing pull-ups at a park somewhere.”

            “Then find the park he’s at,” Assif insisted.

            “Fine, but it’s not going to help,” Isaiah said, turning to Assif.  “Even if we can find this guy, we’re probably not going to be able to see him.  And we’re sure as hell not going to capture him.  He’s a damn knight.”

            “Can’t you trace his resources and contacts in the US?” Assif asked.

            “No,” Til said.  “The US Department of Homeland Security has declared that knights are a terrorist group and, therefore, in their jurisdiction.”

            “Yeah,” Isaiah confirmed.  “I believe their exact words to the UN stated ‘its our yard, go play somewhere else’.”

            Assif chortled.  “Keep at it,” he encouraged as he turned to the door and opened it.  “I hate loose ends and this one is too much of a liability to just write off.”

            “I’m on it, boss,” Isaiah said as Assif headed out.

 
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