Shady managed to reach into her bag and pull out her satellite phone, despite the fact that the world was yo-yoing past her. She quickly punched in a number and listened nervously as it rang.
“Hello, Kitt speaking,” said a slightly accented voice on the other end.
“Kitt! It’s Shady. Thank God I got a hold of you. I’ve found Moonbeam’s muse, but I need a little help. I don’t suppose you and Michael could meet up with me?”
“Aren’t you in Africa?” he asked, sounding suspicious.
“Yes.”
“I’m not flying in the cargo hold of a C130 just to come get you,” he said petulantly.
Shady muttered some choice epitaphs under her breath as the world stopped bobbing up and down and began swinging side to side in long arcs. She was thankful that she didn’t get motion sick. “Kitt, I was thinking something with jets, not propellers. Maybe you could borrow Sky One?”
“I’m not flying anywhere. Not unless you’re in real danger. It’s an unnatural mode of transportation that –“
“Okay, okay. Can I talk to Michael?”
“I’m not that gullible. Can’t someone else come to your rescue?”
Shady sighed and fought off a wave of dizziness while going through her mental catalogue of Lair denizens. Mulder wouldn't be much help. She didn’t want to be confined to moving at night so Angel and Nick were out. “Ahhh. Okay. How about Jack?” She didn’t know anything about him, but he was in the military – that had to be a plus in a situation like this. Besides, she was still ridiculously amused by the whole Jack/Mac thing. “Oh and send MacGyver too.” He always seemed to find a way to make himself useful.
“I’ll do my best. Where are you exactly?”
Her whole body suddenly switched directions and they were back to bouncing up and down. Shady just managed to stop herself from shouting ‘whoa’ as her sense of balance struggled to keep up. “Ah. Well. I’m kind of in Kenya.”
“Kenya? I thought you were following the Zambezi River.”
“I was. It’s a long story.”
“But you have Moon’s muse?”
“Oh, yes, I’ve got her,” Him? It? “She seems to be having a bad affect on me though.” She glanced down at the gleeful creature swinging in her net -- the knotted opening of which was clenched tightly in Shady's fist.
“What do you mean? I thought muses were writer specific.”
“Apparently not.” The muse was giggling and squealing with delight. Shady sighed. This was supposed to be a simple task. Find the muse, bring her home. But somehow the evil little creature had convinced her that since she’d always wanted to see Kenya, now was the time to go. Something about having to experience life in order to write about it.
“I’ll have Mac and Jack leave as soon as possible.”
“Oh, and Kitt, could you have them bring Pheral, Tomy, and maybe Vespurrs if she’s available?” She really needed some people around who were good with animals. She just hoped that being good with horses and cats translated to other animals.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank, Kitt.”
Shady hung up and struggled to put the phone back in her bag while holding on for dear life. She looked up at the elephant that had scooped them up in its trunk and had been carrying them for miles. “Nice elephant, pretty elephant. If you’re good, you can have a peanut,” she said in the most soothing voice she could muster while being held upside down.
Shady glared down at Moon’s muse. “This is a fine mess you’ve gotten us into.”
The muse just giggled and grinned.
~*~*~*~*~*~