Legends of Amacia: Mysteries of Tiamat
Touching Base

The next day about 3:45 pm inthe afternoon, Hannibal pulled back up to Harry’s house with Dennis. They werelaughing and smiling as they got out of the truck heading toward the house.Harry noticed their arrival and opened the door as they reached it. Readingtheir expressions, Harry declared, “It went well I see.”

Hanniballooked at Harry with a broad smile as he came in the house. “Absolutely,” hecrowed. “You should have seen their faces! It was priceless! It was almost asgood as when I got you with the cap gun last week.”

“And whenhe showed them the hologram, and then gave the projector to me, that was socool,” Dennis chimed as he dropped his book bag down by the sofa.

“How didyou explain the hologram?” Harry asked with some interest and concern.

“Fear not,”Hannibal replied. “I merely told them that I was a computer genius, and I’dmade it. You should’ve seen the awe and fascination on their faces when Icranked it up. I do believe that we made some progress in getting them torespect Dennis. I also brought along some trinkets that I found while in theAndes. This is one of them.” Hannibal reached into his pocket and pulled outthe Medallion he had found the previous evening and showed it to Harry. “Theyoohhed and ahhed over it as I told them how I found it,” he reported to Harry.“But I do believe that the hologram was the winner this afternoon.”

Dennisbubbled with excitement as Harry looked at the medallion. “It was great!” hecrowed. “Just seeing their faces was enough. Maybe now they’ll be nicer to me.”

“Let’s hopeso,” Hannibal agreed. “Otherwise, I might have to show up again and who knowswhat I might do then.” He laughed for a moment with a hint of mischief in hisvoice, but quickly became somber. “But now let’s get serious for a moment,”Hannibal said soberly. “Harry, there’s something I would like to show you.Would you come out to the truck for a moment?”

“Sure,”Harry said as he continued to be captivated by the Medallion.

They walkedto Hannibal’s truck and Hannibal pulled out a five-gallon bucket with a top. Ittore Harry’s attention away from the Medallion as Hannibal removed the top. “Ifound this in my house last night,” Hannibal reported. Harry looked into thebucket and saw a dead seven-foot black mamba in it. He jumped back in fright atthe sight of such a large snake. “Worry not. It’s dead but someone left me agift last night...a deadly gift,” Hannibal stated as he reached into thebucket, pulling the dead snake out.

Harrystared in fascination at the snake. “What kind is it?” he asked. “I’ve neverseen that kind of snake before.”

“It’s ablack mamba from the wilds of Africa,” Hannibal informed. He then proceeded totell Harry about the strange incident the night before as he put the snake backinto the bucket. He sealed the bucket and sat it back into the truck. Harrylistened intently as Hannibal unfurled a story about the paranormal activity heexperienced. As they started back to the house, Hannibal’s tale turned to theMedallion and the Relic. He had finished the tale by time they entered thehouse.

Harrylooked again intently at the Medallion and then handed it back to Hannibal. “Iknew there was something strange about this thing,” he declared. “It’sconnected to the Relic somehow.”

“Apparently,”Hannibal agreed as they sat down. “What it is exactly I don’t rightly know.”

“Not tochange the subject, but how did things go with the improvements for the Templeyou talked about last night?” Harry inquired.

Hannibalthought for a moment, trying to remember what Harry was talking about.Suddenly, he remembered. “Oh, right,” Hannibal answered. “Everything went well.I ordered several months of supplies this morning. They should arrive in acouple of days at my house, at which time I’ll send it to the Temple throughthe portal. It beats having it sent air mail there.”

“Indeed,”Harry agreed. “What kind of things are you sending?”

“Well. Thefirst thing we had to deal with was the food so I’ll sending a bunch of meat,mainly beef, and vegetables, both frozen and canned, and cooking supplies likeoils, herbs, spices, etc…,” Hannibal explained. “Along with the food, I’msending several industrial refrigeration units that can both refrigerate andfreeze so we can keep the foodstuffs fresh. In addition to that, I’m sending abetter cooking set up so the food can be prepared better. Basically, I’msetting the place up for a more permanent place to live because it’ll be yearsbefore we’re done in there. Good beds, chairs, and couches are going and I’msending some extra personnel for security and food preparation. I want to makeit as comfortable a place as I can because of the length of time I expect we’llbe there.”

“Man,that’s going to cost a mint,” Harry replied with an impressed grunt.

“Yeah, itcosts a lot but money isn’t everything you know. I know people who can give mebreaks on the prices of nearly everything I asked for,” Hannibal stated. “Theonly thing I had to pay full price for were the industrial refrigerators. Thatput me back a bit. But the guys I deal with don’t ask any questions because Ipay for everything up front. As long as they get their money, they don’t askany questions.”

“Verygood,” Harry replied. “That’s the only way to deal with people if you have themoney.”

“Yes, itis,” Hannibal agreed. As he spoke, Mary entered the living room with a coupleof drinks. She offered one to Hannibal, and gave the other to Harry. “Thanks.This’ll hit the spot. I’m actually quite parched,” Hannibal said gratefully.

“You’rewelcome. It looked like you needed a drink,” Mary answered humbly.

“So whenare you going to send the supplies? Maybe I can help you send them,” Harryoffered.

Hannibalsipped on his drink, considering the question. “The supplies will be here theday after tomorrow at lunch time and I certainly could use some help unloadingthe trucks. It’s going to be nearly five tractor trailer loads of material,” heanswered. “Maybe you can bring Dennis along. He might be useful.”

“You wantme to help? What can I do?” Dennis asked.

“Oh I thinkwe’ll be able to replace something for you to do. Not all of the stuff is big,”Hannibal returned with a smile.

Dennis’eyes lit up with anticipation as he blurted out, “Do I get to stay home fromschool too?”

Harrylooked at Hannibal, and then at Dennis. “I guess so,” Harry replied. “You’renot going to be any help at school.”

Dennisbeamed with delight. “All right!” he exclaimed.

“So then,”Harry began. “When is the mission a go?”

“Soon...verysoon,” Hannibal returned. “But it’s going to be at least two weeks. A few morethings have to be done first. Supplies have to be gathered along withintelligence on the area before we can go to initiate.”

Harrynodded. “All right; that’s good,” he stated. “That’ll give me time to get mystuff straightened out and get ready.” Then a thought occurred to him. “What’reMary and Dennis going to do for money while we’re gone? I’m the only paycheckhere,” he asked.

Hannibalsmiled broadly. “I’ve already taken care of that problem. I’ve set up a specialbank account just for her with enough money in it to last her the rest of herlife if need be. If, Lord forbid, something should happen to us and we don’tcome back, Dan will be responsible for hers and Dennis’ welfare, so money tolive off isn’t a problem. I can’t say for sure that we’ll come back, but my gutlevel feeling seems to say that we will and my instinct is seldom wrong,”Hannibal stated as he continued to sip on his drink.

“Good,”Harry returned. “That’s a load off my mind. It kind of bothered me that Maryand Dennis weren’t going to have any financial support.”

“Harry…youought to know better than that!” Hannibal retorted. “I’d never leave themwithout any way to pay the bills or buy food. I have it wired. The day beforewe leave, we’ll go to the bank and I’ll set it up so she can get anything sheneeds. I’ll even have a special checkbook made just for her. The only peoplethat’ll be allowed to get into that account will be her and me. I’ll make it sothat Dan can keep check on it, just in case. He’ll be responsible for the restof my accounts.”

“I shouldhave known you were on top of this all long. Sorry,” Harry said, blushingslightly.

“That’sokay,” Hannibal said, accepting the apology. “You were right to be concerned.After all, this is a very serious business venture we’re about to engage in.”

“How muchmoney do you have, Hannibal?” Dennis asked innocently after hearing theexchange.

“Dennis,”Harry scolded. “You shouldn’t ask him that! It’s not polite.”

“It’s okay,Harry,” Hannibal stated, smiling wryly. “I’m one of the richest men in theworld, Dennis. I have approximately ten billion dollars in assets scatteredaround the world in various holdings. The account I’m setting up for you andyour mother will have ten million in cash and forty million in solid tax-freeassets so you and your mom will not ever have to worry about money.”

“Wow,”Dennis chimed. “You’re like Uncle Scrooge in the cartoons.”

Hannibalchuckled. “Not quite,” he replied. “I don’t have three cubic acres of cash, butI’m getting close with what we found in the treasure cave at the Temple. Also,I’m not nearly as big a tightwad as Uncle Scrooge.”

BothHarry’s and Mary’s jaws dropped in astonishment. “Oh my Lord,” Mary cried. “Ihad no idea you were worth so much. Why would you give us so much money?”

Hanniballooked Mary in the eye and said without wavering, “Because of what you and yourfamily have done for me. I wanted to make sure you never had any need ofanything in case the worst were to happen on this expedition. I do this withouthesitation because I love you. You’re family.”

“I don’tknow what to say,” Harry murmured, stunned by the gift.

“Justaccept the gift,” Hannibal replied softly. “It’s a done deal. You can’t say noand besides, you’re going to earn every penny of it on this expedition. I knowit. Just consider it an advance.”

Harry shookhis head and smiled. “I guess I will,” he stated. “I really appreciate youdoing this for us. How can I ever repay you?”

“Just beingmy friend and family is all I ever wanted from you, Harry,” Hannibal stated. “Likethe scarab, this is just another way I can say thank you for putting up withme. Besides, I kind of see it as a form of penance for my dark days when I mademost of this money. By sharing it with my friends without hesitation, it makesme feel that I’m making up for all that time I squandered as a wizard assassinfor the masters of the universe. Money just isn’t that important to me now thatI’m on the Lord’s side. He showed me a much better way to live.” He tookanother swallow from his glass, draining it as he looked at his watch. “I’dbetter get going. I still have plenty to do today. Thanks for the drink,” hesaid gratefully.

“You’rewelcome,” Mary answered, taking the glass as Hannibal rose from his seat. “Andthank you for your amazingly generous gift. I promise we won’t squander it.”

“I know youwon’t,” Hannibal said, smiling.

“Oh, Ialmost forgot. I have the pictures printed out,” Harry told Hannibal as he rosefrom his seat as well. “Give me a minute and I’ll get them.”

“Allright,” Hannibal returned as Harry disappeared into the house. A couple ofminutes later, he returned with a folder full of pictures.

“I madeenough copies for everyone,” Harry said.

Hannibalaccepted the folder and quickly scanned the pictures. “These turned out pretty good,”he commended. “Thanks. I’ll be sure that everyone gets a copy.” He shookHarry’s hand, saying, “I’ll see you in a couple of days. Show up around 10:30so we’ll be ready to unload when the supplies arrive. I’ll see if I can rent afork lift to make the unloading go quicker.”

“That’s agood idea. The less of the big stuff we have to handle by hand the better,”Harry replied as Hannibal gave Dennis a brief hug before walking out the door.Hannibal got in his truck and waved as he started it. Harry and Dennis wavedback, watching Hannibal drive away as quickly as he came. Harry turned and wentback into the house, closing the door.