"How's it look?" Alek kept his voice low. Sounds could carry very far in the still desert night, and though they sensed no other vampires nearby, it was best to not take chances.

"Just like David said," Jeff said quietly from where he lay on his back underneath the massive road train engine. "Cut cable. There's a repair kit for this, probably in the driver's compartment, and I'll have it fixed in an hour."

"No rush," said David. "Take your time. It has to be right."

Jeff nodded. He'd explained the way the power system on the road train worked. The lights were hooked up to both the battery and the main engine. When the engine ran, the lights were powered that way, but when the road train stopped, they ran off the batteries. Since the engine's lights had been left on, they had simply run until the battery was dead, so in order to start up the lights they would have to start up the engine.

"I know. We can't test it, and that worries me. It's the first rule of mechanics, test it before you say it's fixed." He shrugged. "But we can't do that, so we'll just have to hope. And yes, I will take utmost care."

He crawled out from under the engine and climbed up its side, vanishing into the compartment where the driver sat.

When he emerged he carried a tool box. "Here it is," he said. "Spare cable length and couplers and all."

The others waited in the night while Jeff carefully, meticulously, patched the cable.

"It's done," he finally said.

"Right." David nodded. "I wish I knew how far out their scouts sweep, but I don't sense anything yet. I didn't meet one until a few miles further on." He shrugged. "Let's go."

He led them on a path that should be, as far as he could judge, a direct line from the road train to the vampire city. After just a few short miles he stopped. Then he sighed. "Here is where I leave you." He gave Megan a tight hug, looking worried.

"This is bigger than us," she reminded him softly.

They had thought to just have Mack and Alek go into the over-sized lair, but Megan had pointed something out. The humans, on being let out, might not be willing to follow the instructions of a pair of vampires. The would need to be prepared, reassured. They would need a human plant in among them. Two, even, since David has said there were two separate rooms where the humans were kept.

David had objected, but Meg had been firm. "It has to be done. You said that torture isn't allowed, so I'll be all right. I'm not going to stay behind when I'm needed. I know you want to keep me safe, to take care of me, but this is bigger than us."

And David had been forced to agree. She was right. It wasn't just the lives of the road train crew, it was the future of the cities, maybe even of humankind. It was bigger than all of them.

He gave her a kiss. "I'll be here every night at sundown. Don't rush though. Make sure you know everything you can, so we don't have any surprises. I'll wait as long as it takes." He was telling them things they already knew, but they all nodded agreement anyhow. Unspoken was the fact that if he had to wait much more than a month, he would be forced to leave by his need for blood.

The four walked off into the night, and David set about his own task, digging a bolt hole so that he could be there, sheltered, until he was needed.