The Adventures Of Miniator -- Chapter 18 Hot On The Trail

Chapter 18) Hot On The Trail

Neither Swing, nor Narea had been able to sleep. They met in the middle of the night in the kitchen, Swing was drinking coffee, so Narea joined him. They talked over what they should do at sunrise... They agreed that they should, without a doubt, determine what had happened to Miniator, and where he was taken, regardless... neither wanted to use certain words. So they sat in silence for a few moments... then Narea suddenly said:

'Wait a moment...! if Miniator was shot five times, why was there no blood...? There was nothing...'

She jumped to her feet and hurried to the communication room, followed by Swing.'

She showed the large cartridges to the computer, and said, 'Computer full analysis!'

A few moments later an image of the same kind, but complete cartridges appeared on the screen, rather than the empty shells of the used ones they had found. The computer reported. 'This image is from the Internet, the cartridges are from a special non-lethal tranquillizer rifle, used for capturing wild animals. They are shot with a rifle that uses explosive charges, which fire darts, which delivers a powerful drug, a sedative, anaesthetic, or paralytic agent, which renders the creature helpless in minutes.

'So;'said Swing, jumping to his feet, and shouting at the top of his voice, 'Miniator is not dead!'

Nerea, smiled and tears came to her eyes.

Before sunrise, Nerea and Nimi with flash-lights followed the tire tracks down the dirt track, until it did indeed connect to the main road. And they could see very clearly that both vehicles had turned North. Swing, in the spaceship then took-off, and then landed in a clearing just of the road. The computer suggested a shape-shift to a typical Brazilian house. And there they gathered again in the communication room to decide their next move.

They looked at the maps and followed the road. There were no major towns along that road, and no other intersecting roads for a long way. The Computer reported that this whole area is in fact a Nature Park. Where logging and hunting was forbidden. So the people who had taken Miniator,  and were carrying tranquillizer weapons, were probably illegal specimen hunters. They would not be operating openly.

The main road was not a major road just two lanes. There was very little traffic on this road. Maybe someone along this road would have noticed two vehicles passing or even stopping as they went through the little villages they saw were marked on the map along the way. What they needed, Narea realised, was a vehicle to follow the road and ask along the way. Maybe they could buy one at the first village.

So, they took-off once again and landed a kilometre from the first village. Swing, Narea, and Nimi, changed into typical hiking ,clothes, Narea and Nini wore short dark wigs. They loaded their backpacks with all that they thought they might need. They then walked into the little village. Nimi asked at a food store if any one in the village had a car. They were directed to a nearby house of a man who made ceramics. They saw a small canvas-covered truck parked at the side of the small house, and workshop. They found the man busy around the back washing down a work bench. Nimi and Narea said hello in Portuguese. And asked him if they could buy his truck. The man wasn't interested in selling, he needed his truck for his business. He asked why they wanted to buy his old truck. Narea said they had had enough of hiking, and were very tired, and wanted to drive around. But the man told them again he wasn't interested. Then Narea said she would pay far more than the truck was worth... The man then asked how much. Narea said she would give him Two Thousand US dollars. The Man's eyes lit up, and said it was a deal. The three of them got in the front and Narea looked at the mechanism, and remembered what she had studied about vehicles, and simply put it in gear and drove off.

They followed the road North stopping at every village that had a shop or a bar, asking if anyone had seen the two vehicles, one big, one smaller. It was around noon when they stopped at a bar, where the owner said; yes, they had stopped there. A large truck, and a metallic-blue Jeep. There was a group of eight men of native origin, and two men, in the Jeep, one a foreigner. They had sat outside taking two rounds of drinks for about half an hour. The Jeep looked very new, while the large truck was old and a dirty-red colour, and was covered with a green canvas. The men had seemed very jovial, laughing and joking. The foreigner and the other man had sat separate form the eight men. The foreigner wore camouflage clothes, and the other dressed all in black. The one in camouflage clothes, a big man with blonde hair, had talked all the time on a telephone and used a laptop, he paid the bill, and left a good tip.

They continued along the road until they came to a lager village. Here there were several bars and cafes. and a small petrol station. Most of the people moving around were dressed like tourists in smart hiking clothes like their own. They filled the truck with petrol, and asked the man working there about the blue Jeep and a large truck. Again they got a positive answer. They had been there yesterday, around six pm, had filled-up with petrol, and left. They had asked about hotels. But there is only a small hostel here. So he had told them, that in a town called Figo another fifty kilometres North there were two hotels. Yes, the man in the Camouflage had paid, but the man in black had done the talking.

So after checking at the small hostel, and getting only negative answerers they drove to Figo, and there asked at the first hotel, if the the group of men had stayed there yesterday. They made up a story about one of the men having left his bag at a cafe yesterday, and they wanted to return it. The man at the reception checked the books, and said no, no one after six pm had taken a room. They then went to the other hotel. The man at the reception was not being so helpful until, Narea, flashed a hundred dollar bill. He then told them two men, one in a camouflage suit, and the other in black had booked a double room.

They had arrive around eight o'clock, and had sat in the bar drinking whisky, the man in the camouflage suit was continuously using his laptop and talking on his cellphone in English. They had then gone to bed. The man at reception said, he himself had finished work and went home, and the night shift receptionist, had told him this morning that the two men had left in the middle of the night, around two o'clock. The receptionist had asked them if there was something wrong with their room, but they had said, no, but they had changed their plans and had a plane to catch. The receptionist had seen the Jeep in the car park, but not the second trunk. Narea asked him what name they had given. They looked at the book. Only one name was entered, a Senior M. Abalroado, a common Portuguese name. And did he leave a passport number?. No, the receptionist said, not for one night. And could he remember the licence plate number of the Jeep? No, he said, his memory is not that good! But it had a RJ-Rio DE JANEIR registration. But Naria pressed him, She was doing a strange movement with the hundred dollar bill in her fingers in front of the man's face, He was watching with a strange look on his face, then he suddenly said, Yes, he could remember it, it was LQO-1182.

Swing, Narea, and Nimi left the hotel, and found a cafe where they could discuss what they should do next. They tried to piece together what the new information meant. Why hadn't all the men taken an hotel room? Where had they gone? What would they need to do to keep a Tyrannosaurus Rex subdued for transportation? What would they need to do to transport a Tyrannosaurus Rex? By plane? Where to? Were the two men telling the truth about having a plane to catch.

Narea called-up the Dino computer, and asked it to check the area around the small town of Figo for airports. And to find out what ever possible about the Licence plate number RJ-RIO DE JANEIRO LQO-1182

A few moments later the computer sent them a map, which showed them the area. Around thirty kilometres away from them was marked a small airfield for freight. The next airport was 400 kilometres, away in a large city. The computer said it was working on the licence plate number.

Nariea thought they should check out this local airfield, see it for themselves... They drove North again till they came to a side road with a sign for the airfield, Frete Aeronave Pássaro, stating it was two kilometres. It was getting dark. They wanted to see the airfield in daylight, so they decided to pull off the road. Narea and Swing climbed in the back of the truck to sleep till daybreak, while Nimi connected to the computer on the Dino waiting for any updated information.

At sunrise they drove down the road to the airport. There were a few large buildings, aeroplane hangers and what looked like workshops, and a reception area. There were several small aircraft, but there were also three quite lager aircraft to one side of the field. Big enough to transport a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Narea commented.

They drove to where they could see the entrance. There was a raisable barrier with a couple of security guards on duty. They decided not to confront these guards... so they turned around the truck and returned to the main road. The computer reported that the licence plate number was registered to a car-hirer company called, Brazil Wheels, in Rio De Janeiro, and the Jeep was hired two weeks ago with no end date stated, to a Senior M. Abalroado, with a Rio De Janeiro address, with no telephone number. Narea told the computer to look up the status of the Frete Aeronave Pássaro airfield, does it carry freight... and if so, what are its stipulations, how far does it make shipments: nationaly, or also internationaly? Weight limitations, etc. And try finding the records and details of flights of frieght for the last two days.