Gathering Storm by Jerry Fedora

Author:Jerry Fedora [Fedora, Jerry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-25T00:00:00+00:00

41

Vishann Patel dozed fitfully. He was in a large, comfortable car, driving through the night from Oxford to Glasgow. Minerva had said he would meet other people there and fly to Craignish on a helicopter. A helicopter! Blow me down! He snickered in his dreams.

His College had given him a grand send-off the night before; the Warden was there, and even the Chancellor stopped by! Vishann was a reserved person and he knew it, so it was all overwhelming to him. “Come on, Vish,” Harry, his roommate, had said. “Lighten up a little. You are starting a grand adventure, which any of us would die to have the chance at. Obviously, you impressed the duke somehow, so don’t pull that old quiet mouse routine on me. I don’t think he would call a mouse to come live with him.”

“Hmm, I suppose. Maybe it was the knife thing.” Harry, of course, demanded to hear about ‘the knife thing,’ and why hadn’t he said anything before? His classmates clamored for the story, so he stood up and demonstrated how he had managed to get past Singh’s guard during knife fighting drill. The room was silent for a minute, and then it exploded. His classmates had whooped and danced and generally gone crazy. The upperclassmen had come to him in a body and solemnly informed him he was no longer to be known as merely “Vish.” Henceforth, he would be “Vish the Knife.” They had sung it like an old song from the ‘50s, very cool. Harry had howled with glee and pounded his back. He smiled in his sleep.

***

“We are here, sir,” said the driver.

Vishann sat up and rubbed his eyes. Already? The driver went to unload his bags, and Vishann got out of the car and looked around. “Thistle Aviation Services,” yes, this was the place.

A man came out with a cart and piled the bags on it. “Right this way, sir,” and he led the way into the terminal.

A younger man came over to Vishann and offered his hand. “Good morning, sir. I am John Dellingham; my family runs this service. We are waiting for the plane from America to arrive, should be here soon. The helicopter will leave as soon as we can manage. Miss MacGilravie was very specific; we’re to have you there not later than 8 o’clock.”

Vishann nodded. “Yes. His Grace has breakfast at 0830 and brooks no tardiness.”

Dellingham laughed. “Aye, that’s Himself all right. You may relax over there, sir. My man here will load your bags. Coffee and tea are over on that bar.”

Vishann went to the coffee. He had begun drinking it in the morning when he was younger, mostly to be contrary to his parents, who drank tea, then he just kept it up. Made it easier to fit in at Craignish, that was certain; the whole staff drank it, to say nothing of the duke, who drank gallons of the stuff. In about 20 minutes, he saw a jet taxiing up to the terminal.

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