Chapter 176: Reappearance
I immediately curled up into a ball, knowing the space I was being sent back to was going to be significantly smaller than when I had left it, namely the inside of a partially crushed car. I remembered casting magic shield with a ring before being summoned, so I hoped there was a bit more space than what I suspected would be there.
When I appeared back inside the car, I actually felt the metal and the seat next to me, which meant my hopes were in vain. I was pressed on my right side by the seat and on my back by cloth covered metal, glass shards were everywhere, and a little light could be seen through the smashed and mostly intact windshield. When I turned my head slightly and peered out, I saw why.
I was still under the tank!
Relief flooded through me, because that meant they were too scared to keep driving. It also meant I was quite stuck where I was with the car crushed around me.
“For the hundredth time, I'm telling you to move the tank!” A woman's shrill voice said.
“Despite the odds, he could still be alive. If the tank moves, it could crush him more than it already has.” A Russian voice responded. “He might be maimed as well, so be prepared.”
“I don't care if he's just a torso! We can't just stand here waiting for the crane to lift the tank out of the way! We need to check if he's alive right now!” The woman said.
“If you want to crawl under there and see for yourself, go ahead. ”
“This is a disaster.” Another man's voice said. “I was just starting to get used to having a new owner.”
“His assistants have already threatened to sue the base for the accident, even though it's an accident.” The Russian voice said. “I miss the old days when we could call the KGB and they would make the problem disappear.”
I think that's the commander of the base and I bet the woman's the doctor and the other voice is the scientist. I thought. I wonder where Stephanie and Bethany are?
“Yes, making the assistants disappear after killing the new owner makes so much more sense!” Elizaveta said loudly. “What would you do then? Make the plane and the crew disappear as well and claim that he didn't land?”
“Well, yes.” The commander's voice said. “That would be standard procedure.”
“UGH!” Elizaveta grunted. “You are an idiot! We have to hope he is alive and is forgiving, especially if he's hurt, or you are going to be shovelling the dirt in the mines for the next twenty years as penance!”
“Just me?” He responded.
“It's YOUR tank!” Elizaveta yelled.
“It was supposed to be a demonstration of how we can protect the mine if anyone shows up to cause trouble.” The commander said.
“Then what happened?”
“As far as we can tell, nothing.” The commander said.
“What do you mean, 'nothing'?” Elizaveta asked, clearly irate. “The tank careened out of control and crossed a civilian road! How was that nothing?!?”
The commander sighed. “Nothing mechanical is wrong and the driver is not drunk, seeing things, or crazy. He's an experienced tank driver and he can't explain what happened.”
I can. I thought and did my best to not get angry over it, even though it pissed me off. I switched out one of my rings for the Identify spell and cast it on myself.
____
Name: Damon (Day Man) Smith (Last name applicable only on Home World)
Race: Human (Enhanced - god modified experiment - Stable Series 89,324,362)
Class: Devourer (Suspended - Not Applicable on Home World - Level 0 (99-99) )
Job(s): Pawn (of the gods), Troubleshooter (Pending)
Summon Status: 3, Suspended, Pending Review (Frequency - Once every 1.5 years or until needed)
____
“FUUUUUCK!” I yelled when I read the frequency and the job change. “Fuck, fuck, fuuuuck!”
“HE'S ALIVE!” Elizaveta yelled in response to my curse. “Mr. Smith! Don't worry! We'll get you out of there as soon as possible!”
“Ask him if he still has all of his appendages.” The scientist urged.
“I'm not going to ask him that!” Elizaveta spat.
“I'm fine! I'm just squished into a small space!” I said.
“Oh, thank heavens.” Elizaveta sighed. “Commander, he's fine. You won't be sued.”
“Who said that?!?” I asked loudly and no one responded. I knew this was a good way to distract them from asking about why I wasn't harmed. “I'm under a goddamned tank! Who else is responsible?”
No one said anything and I didn't expect them to.
“Get me out of here right now!” I exclaimed.
“It will be another half an hour for the appropriate crane to arrive.” The commander said. “I don't know how long it will be to get you out from under there.”
I was tempted to kick open the partially crushed door and crawl out, then thought it would be a bit too conspicuous if I did. I needed to be found inside the car and intact, or it wasn't going to be believable. That's assuming they were going to believe it in the first place. I was actually inside the car and I couldn't quite believe it, either.
I equipped the suit I was wearing before being summoned and patiently waited for the crane to show up and then kept waiting as they tried to figure out how to use the crane to lift the tank without being able to run the chains underneath, because the crushed car was in the way.
It took them half an hour to figure out to unbolt one of the track's inner wheels to bolt the chain to it, then they very carefully levered the tank up and off of the car. Two men that looked quite greasy and grime covered, crawled in under the space towards the car with something that looked like it could cut metal or pry it open, then they asked me if I was near the door.
“Of course I'm near the door! You're looking right at me!” I said through the several inches of space between the roof of the car and the bottom of the door's window. I was playing the part of a frantic and trapped person well. “I'd be out of this thing and crawling away if the door wasn't stuck, so hurry up and open it!”
The two men exchanged looks and shrugged, then proceeded to cut part of the crumpled door out and then jammed the tool into the opening and turned it on. After several wrenching metal sounds, the door popped open and I quickly scrambled out of the wreck. I saw the tank was only lifted on the back side and not up completely, so I carefully crawled all the way out with the two rescue men behind me.
“You're really all right.” Elizaveta said, her face and voice full of relief, as I stood up and the two rescue men led me over to the three people standing nearby.
“Do I look all right to you?” I asked and waved at my dirty suit from crawling on the ground.
“Yes.” She said and looked at my face and into my eyes. “That's just clothes.”
“DAMON!” Two familiar women's voices yelled, then there were two grunts as the soldiers trying to hold them back were elbowed in the gut and Stephanie and Bethany ran over to me. Both of them looked like they had been crying a lot and they hugged me tightly, despite me being covered in dirt.
“You're okay. You're okay.” Bethany whispered, over and over.
“We love you. We love you.” Stephanie whispered, over and over.
“Hey, it's all right.” I whispered back and leaned down slightly to kiss Stephanie and then Bethany. “It'll take more than a tank to kill me.”
Both women let out a sob and started crying again and I held them like that for several minutes.
“What's this done to our schedule?” I asked, trying to distract them from their overwhelming feelings.
“We... we're behind... two hours.” Stephanie said. “You won't make it to the second interview after you talk to Miss Hokeskovich.”
I sighed. “Bethany, send my regrets to the man and let him know what happened, and tell him if anything else comes up in the area, he'll be the first one we call.”
Bethany nodded and let me go to take out her cell phone.
“What about the mine tour?” I asked. “I need to survey the equipment and the working conditions.”
“You still have it on the schedule. That's why you don't have the time to meet anyone except her.” Stephanie said and nodded to Elizaveta. “We need to head to the mine right now and you can interview her on the way.”
“That's a great idea.” I said and turned to the three waiting people. “I assume you've got another car for us to use?”
The three of them looked surprised.
“Mr. Smith, you were just... run over by... by a tank. You can't honestly think...” Elizaveta paused and saw my determined face. “Yes, we have another car.”
“Then let's head to the mine and we'll interview you on the way.” I said and we all went to the new car. We piled in and the car drove towards the mine, with Stephanie and Bethany not trying to conceal their hands as they hugged me tightly and gently rubbed my member. They no longer cared if the other three people in the car saw them and they gently kissed my neck and cheeks.
I conducted the interview as if Stephanie and Bethany weren't doing their best to make out with me, and Elizaveta's face was flushed red as she answered every prepared question I had. She seemed personable, likeable, and genuinely concerned for my welfare, despite only meeting me recently. Her eyes kept dropping to my crotch and she kept stopping herself and looked back at my face.
“You're hired.” I said and she let out a relieved sigh.
“Thank you, Mr. Smith. I know the time constraints played a factor...”
“It doesn't matter how you got the job now. It's yours and you better do it well.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Here we are.” The commander said as we stopped. He stepped out of the car and winced at the tank parked near the mine's entrance. He looked like he hadn't known about the second tank and I pat his shoulder.
Stephanie and Bethany stuck to me like glue as they followed me and the others into the mine for the tour. I didn't bother trying to tell them that they didn't need to escort me, because I was sure that they weren't going to let me go for a very long time. I had had a near death experience in their eyes and they needed to hold onto me as much as possible.
The tour of the facility went quickly, as did the tour of the inside of the gold and mineral mine. The scientist had taken over the tour duties from the commander as he explained the equipment and the techniques used. They were only about five years behind the most modern equipment, which was great for him, because I wanted it all upgraded. The man nearly fainted at the news.
“Let's go back to the office and discuss the personnel and the pay scales.” Elizaveta said and we did so. Stephanie and Bethany proved their worth as they handled the currency conversions, the paperwork, and all the little things. They told me in layman's terms what it all meant and I thanked them for it.
“This all looks good.” I said and handed the copies to Stephanie to add to the folder, then she put it into my briefcase. “When the new equipment arrives and is brought up to full production status, you can hire an additional fifteen people at the normal starting wage. I want to ramp this whole place up and really get it going.”
That made Elizaveta, the scientist, and the commander quite happy.
“Don't decommission the old smelting equipment, either. Set it aside for me and I'll arrange to have it taken somewhere else to continue to be useful.”
“Have you decided on a logo to add to the processing plant?” Elizaveta asked. “We need to mark the gold and various other metal bars we smelt, so no one else can claim they own them.”
I smiled and took out a small piece of paper with one of Nat's doodles on it. It was the summoning circle we had seen, with a few details removed, at an angle to make it look like an oval.
“This is my corporation's logo.” I said and handed it to her. “Have the engraver make a dozen mold plates with it and send me a couple for duplication. They are going to be needed in several other mines soon.”
“Yes, sir.” Elizaveta said.
“Great.” I said and stood, as did Stephanie and Bethany. “We need to go. Our flight leaves in an hour.”
“Thank you for visiting and...” Elizaveta held a hand out and wasn't sure how to finish that statement.
“Don't worry, I won't sue the base for negligence until next week.” I said to her and the commander beside her sighed. “It's automatic on the corporation's behalf for endangering me. You know that.”
The commander nodded and took my hand. “We'll be ready to deal when the paperwork is served.”
I nodded back and shook the scientist's hand next. “Send me the details of your ideas and we'll see about implementing some of them on a trial basis.”
“You won't regret this!” The scientist said and shook my hand enthusiastically.
“My hand kind of does.” I joked and the man laughed.
We left the meeting and went to the new car, climbed in the back, and began the long drive back to the airfield. Stephanie and Bethany couldn't wait the hour it would take. They had me undressed and were naked themselves, then they professed love for me and sorrow for almost losing me. The sex wasn't frantic or desperate like I thought it was going to be, either. They both went very slowly and seemed to savor each and every moment instead.
While they enjoyed themselves in a very different way than they normally did, I checked my inventory for a particularly important object. I found her quite easily and she was greyed out. Her magic wasn't allowed on Earth, any more than my enchanted armor and my enchanted sword were. I held in my sigh at her being frozen like that and there wasn't anything I could do about it.
I put my attention back onto the two women pleasuring and teasing themselves with my body and I helped them along. They both needed the reassurance that I really was all right, so I gave it to them.