Weigh Out Way-In

CHAPTER 34

'Magpie, my friend, I'm close to the place where the police is operating right now. I'll send you the coordinates of the location. Then you'll know where to come.'

Magpie wonders if they can use any apps here to locate their friend to make the locating easier but doesn't elaborate the idea. Instead he reads Panda's message and he tells Rudolph where to direct their flight. They make a slight curve to the left and fly towards the right destination.

When they approach their destination, they see immediately there is something big going on there. There are blockades on several roads to prevent people from entering the area. By one of the blockades there is a civilian talking to the guards, it seems he's got something important to say to them.

Rudolph flies the sleigh towards the civilian who is black and white. The closer they get the more convinced Magpie becomes that he knows the civilian.

The rescue team lands near the blockade. Then Magpie greets the civilian and says, 'Long time, no seen, my dear friend.'

The civilian answers, 'Nice to see you again.'

Then they switch to Chinese, for a good reason; the guards don't understand English well enough and soon it's time to talk about the crisis at hand and about how to solve it.

'My dear friend Magpie, do you still remember this guard that said to you, 'Long time, no seen.' Then you started speaking English but he couldn't speak any more English than this short phrase.'

'I remember. He was a nice guy. But his English was not any better than that so we couldn't communicate more.'

'Yes, that's true. He was just being polite.'

'Yes, I liked him a lot. He was very friendly. Some other guards didn't say a single word, not even smiled for that matter. But he was different. We need more of this kind of people around, don't we.'

Rudolph takes a look at the stranger who Magpie just greeted and says in English, 'Is this Panda?'

Magpie turns around to face his rescue team members and says, 'May I introduce my friend Panda?'

'Nice to meet you Panda. I'm Rudolph.'

'Nice to meet you too Rudolph.'

All the rescue team members shake hands with Panda. After the preliminary introductions, it is imperative they get down to business. There is really no time to be wasted.

The guards wonder who these strangers are but Panda makes them convinced in Chinese they can solve this problem because they know the beast. So they contact the Headquarters and get the permission. Then they let them enter the area.