The second dark ages box.., p.25
The Second Dark Ages Boxed Set, page 25
part #1 of The Second Dark Ages Series
One woman spoke to her friend as they came around the corner of a building. “We’ve lost them. The captain of the ArchAngel said he was going into the storm to shake the pirates behind him.” The lights behind them hid their faces in shadow as Akio read their thoughts.
He pursed his lips and melted back into the darkness. “Eve?”
“Here,” the AI’s voice came back.
“Bring the ship to me,” Akio said.
“There is a hidden square about—” Eve started, but Akio interrupted.
“Here,” Akio told the AI. “Now.”
Sherry Logstrum let her friend continue to the control center as she stopped to enjoy the night for a moment. She pulled out a small stick that had been soaked in a few mildly soporific chemicals and placed it between her lips.
It helped keep the dreams away at night.
She happened to notice a man in a black robe with a hood over his head and a sword step out of a dark spot some fifteen paces away. He walked into the same area where the big fight against those creatures had happened a while back.
Sherry had taken a couple of steps out of the light to try to see better when the figure looked up. Sherry followed his gaze and her mouth dropped open when something as dark as the night floated down without lights. “You…” she whispered as the man opened the floating ship’s canopy and jumped in. He turned in her direction and smiled. She could see his white teeth reflecting light.
“No, Sherry,” the man said. “I am not a figment of your imagination.”
With that, the canopy closed and the ship rose silently into the night. Sherry watched the sky, wondering if she would see it cross the stars.
Her stick lay on the ground, forgotten.
Over the Atlantic Ocean, in the Renamed Antigrav Ship ArchAngel
Miles O’Banion, Captain of the ArchAngel was standing on the deck looking at the dark clouds that stretched across the horizon and the sea raging far beneath them. They warned him to turn either to the north or to the south.
If only he could. He looked over his shoulder and chewed on a toothpick as he eyed the ship chasing them.
He was tempted to raise the flag of the boat’s previous owner, but he feared what the ship’s present master would do if he found out more than he feared the results of the storm.
And he would find out, because one of the two youths—who were awake at the moment—would tell him. Especially the young and pretty one coming towards him right now. He sighed, answering this one was always challenging. Her mind was like a trap, fast and hard.
“Why aren’t we turning?” she asked him and then followed his eyes. “Them?”
“Aye,” the captain agreed. Short answers usually worked best with Jacqueline. She wasn’t altogether human, but her curiosity was exactly like his wife’s.
Jacqueline walked closer to the stern of the ship. “There are a bunch of people looking at us. I can’t tell if they’re all men or not.”
The captain took a couple of steps to his right and spit over the side of the ship before returning to stand near the young woman. “Unlikely to be an all-male crew. There are many times that evil runs in the hearts of women, as well.”
Jacqueline turned back to regard the captain. “Pirates?” He nodded and she pointed behind her towards the other ship, “Then why the hell aren’t we waking up Michael?”
The captain chewed on the toothpick, biting harder as he jerked a thumb back over his shoulder at the dark storm clouds on the horizon. “Perhaps you can explain to me how anyone can sleep like the dead with that about to hit us? Even I can hear the deep rumble of the thunder, it’s like he… Oh!” The captain’s eyes widened, showing Jacqueline a touch of fear. “I meant no disrespect when saying he slept like the dead.”
Jacqueline waved a hand at him. “I didn’t hear anything.” She mused, “I wouldn’t suggest saying that around him, but I don’t care. I grew up in a different generation.” She looked at the captain and asked, “Why aren’t we waking up Michael?”
He blew out a deep breath. “Because I would rather face the storm in front of us than the Master’s temper should I wake him from a sleep when he specifically said to not interrupt him.”
“And those guys?” Jacqueline asked, nodding towards the supposed pirates behind them.
“Rarely do they go into the storms; it can be too dangerous for them. So we jump into the storm just deep enough to get away, then choose another direction to cut back out. Worst that happens is the pirates pick the same direction we do and we meet up again outside of the storm.”
“What about them coming into the storm with us, wouldn’t that be the worst case?”
The captain nodded sharply at Jacqueline as he stepped towards the bridge. “Yes, and let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”
The Pirate Ship Folly
“My name isn’t Billy the Bold because I shy away from a bit of rain!” the captain of the Folly asserted to his people. Those who didn’t need to be on station had congregated on the deck as the captain pointed ahead of them. “There goes a fat sheep, and it’s been far too long since Folly last tasted mutton!”
One of his ship’s crew shouted out, “I thought you were called Billy the Bold because you asked Henrick’s wife to screw you right in front of Henrick ‘imself!”
Billy chuckled along with the general laughter of the crew. “My erstwhile best friend didn’t give me a good description for Henrick. So yes,” Billy winked at them, “that story is true as well.” He twirled his hand and pointed again to the ship ahead of them. “But let’s not lose the point I was making. We have a chance today to grab us a sheep who’s thinking the storm will protect it from the wolves of the Folly!”
The same voice bellowed back, “I’m tired of stale bread and water, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that fat fuck over there has real meat on board. Who’s ready to eat some?” There was cheering at that.
Billy took the crowd back from his shipmate. “Then let’s make way. Tighten everything up and let’s be about it, you dogs.” Billy looked over his shoulder. “The Folly is going hunting in the deep dark tonight!”
Chapter Two
Antigrav Ship ArchAngel
“All I wanted,” Michael grumbled under his breath to himself, trying to keep the ire in his mind from being released through his now grinding teeth, “was a little peace and quiet to consider my next fucking steps.”
He thought a moment about the curse word tripping off his tongue before his lip curled, remembering the red-eyed woman. “I’ll be back soon, Bethany Anne.”
He rose from the bed to take a couple of steps towards the door. The light, hesitant tapping from the captain was quieter than the thudding of the captain's heart. Michael could easily hear both through the thickness of the cabin door.
“Right after I kill a few more people who desperately need it,” he concluded before turning the knob. He pulled it open.
Michael was looking down at the captain, who had a small drop of sweat glistening on his forehead, when a strong female arm shoved the nervous man out of the doorway and Jacqueline made her appearance. “Jacqueline,” Michael nodded at her presence. “Using others as a shield, maybe?”
“No, Sensei, but the captain,” she jerked her head in his direction, “thought he was man enough to knock on the door. But we both know if his heart beats much faster just because he needs to talk with you, he’ll drop dead—” A loud thunk sounded beside her, and she looked down.
The captain had fainted.
She turned back to Michael and raised an eyebrow. He smiled. “I didn’t say anything.”
She rolled her eyes and put two fingers in the air, wiggling them next to her head. “You sure you didn’t do some Vampire voodoo on him?”
Michael leaned into the hallway. Jacqueline moved aside so he could peer around the corner at the comatose captain. He straightened up and said, “Why would I do that?”
“Because you’re Michael and shit.” She pointed at the captain. “That right there is just your style.”
Michael pursed his lips. “Okay, that’s a fair accusation. But I didn’t do it. He hyperventilated after you accused him of being too scared to talk with me and down he went.”
“So, it’s my fault?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Jacqueline made a face and went to the captain. She bent down and picked him up, then looked both ways down the hall. His head made a solid thwack sound when she didn’t pay attention while turning around.
Michael grimaced for the poor man as Jacqueline’s eyes widened over her mistake. She adjusted the captain and lifted him over her shoulder. “I can’t believe I have to go throw water on his face to wake his ass up.”
“Keep hitting his head on the walls,” Michael replied, “and it will take more than some water.”
“He’s not getting a kiss from this princess,” she retorted as she took off down the hall. “By the way, Sensei,” she yelled back, “we have pirates tracking our ship into a big-ass storm.”
“Worse than that,” Michael answered as he turned around. He didn’t bother to raise his voice for the werewolf. “We have no captain at the moment.
The Pirate Ship Folly
“Move your land-loving lardass!” Billy yelled at two of the crew who were stowing a bit of the external equipment as the rain and wind buffeted them.
He pressed himself against the bulkhead to let them pass before taking opening the hatch to the bridge. He walked over to the controls and looked at the screen that showed all ships in the area. “Is that shit working?” he asked, leaning down to study it one more time. “It keeps fading in and out.”
Electronics operator Sally David replied after glancing at the display, “’Bout as good as we can expect with the lightning and charged particles in the air, Billy.” She reached up to grab a metal tool that she delicately tapped above the screen.
It cleared up.
Billy straightened up and rubbed his chin. “So, not too far.” Just then everyone in the bridge reached out to hold on as the ship rolled to their left.
“Sonofabitch!” Mellon cursed behind Billy, who turned in time to see the young recruit slide the last five feet into a wall. Billy flinched at the sound of the collision. “Do a better job holding your ass up, Mellon!” Billy snapped before turning back to the screen. He looked through the starboard window, attempting to find an open space to allow him to see through the storm. Flashes of lightning lit up the clouds and the ship in front of them.
“I’m ready to eat some damned meat. Tell the crew down in engineering and batteries we’ll move the product and our new slaves over here, then gut that ship. We’ll take all the tech they have. But that means we have to go faster, so redline those gauges! Let’s come in like Hell’s own demons.”
“Aye aye, Captain,” Sally David answered before turning back to her controls. She reached for the communications device.
Antigrav Ship ArchAngel
“What the hell!” The captain sputtered as he spit the liquid that was drowning him out of his mouth. He used his forearm to wipe the water from his eyes.
He blinked a moment, then looked into the grave eyes of the young woman staring back at him. “What happened?” he asked as he reached up to feel along his neck.
“Don’t flatter yourself.” Jacqueline smiled. “Michael isn’t going to suck on your neck.”
“Wasn’t him I was worried about,” the captain grumped as he accepted a towel to dry his face and what he could of his hair and shirt. He gestured at his body. “Got to make sure you didn’t want a piece of this, then my wife would see a hickey and I’d be dead for sure.”
Jacqueline smirked. “Now, that is flattering yourself. But it’s also funny.” She snapped her fingers to get his attention. “Hopefully, you don’t have a concussion.”
He reached up to touch his head, jerking his hand back when he encountered the sensitive area. “The hell!” He flinched again after a second try. “What happened?”
“You know, that’s a story for another time,” Jacqueline replied. “Let’s play catch-up really quick.” She started, but then the ship dipped, the power flickered, and the captain looked around, memory dawning on his face.
He reached out to grab his dresser to help himself to stand. “Why are we in here? Gott Verdammt, we’re in a fucking storm!” He staggered to his door, his balance getting better the longer he moved. Jacqueline walked with him to catch him if he fell.
“Fainted,” Jacqueline told him.
The captain stopped with his hand on the knob and looked over at the woman. “Aye, I do remember that part. What say we both agree not to mention anything about this last thirty minutes and I’ll owe you one?”
Jacqueline took a second before holding out her hand. “Agreed, and let’s go save our hides.”
The captain opened the door, then shook her hand once. “Deal.”
Back in his room, Michael smiled.
That girl was luck personified sometimes.
The bridge crew was fighting the storm hard when the door opened. Captain Miles O’Banion saw his first mate’s relief as he entered the bridge. “Where are they?” he asked as he looked over the instruments.
“About half a mile aft and a little to port. Thought we might have lost them, but then they found us again and changed direction. We caught a bad bit of wind, and here we are.”
The first mate’s eyes flicked behind the captain and then back. His eyes returned to stare behind the captain, so Miles turned around. He saw the outline of someone walking down the hallway behind the frosted glass, heading outside.
“Don’t ask,” the captain ordered before anyone said something. “That’s Michael. He’ll handle our pirate problem.”
Jacqueline harrumphed from beside him, “Taking all the fun, too. That grumpy-assed old man.”
Miles turned to her. “He can’t take you? How is he planning on getting there?”
“That’s for him to explain and it’s wouldn’t, not couldn’t,” she replied.
“Why not?” Miles asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
“Said he was annoyed at being woken up, so he needed to make sure he had enough targets to get it out of his system. I’d just get my bloodlust up and then he’d have less of his own fun.”
“You know,” the captain mused, “your family is seven different kinds of strange.”
Jacqueline thought about herself and Mark and Michael and smiled. “I’ll accept that as a compliment, Captain.”
The captain looked around. “Where’s Mark?”
The officer at the instruments looked over, a flush on her face. “Yes, where is he?”
Jacqueline wasn’t sure if she wanted to punch the woman or roll her eyes. “He’s outside making sure no one jumps on the ship while Michael is absent.”
“That’s dangerous!” she said.
She chose to roll her eyes. “He’s fine, just bored probably.”
The Pirate Ship Folly
The seven people were illuminated by the lightning coming through the port windows. The rain-soaked wind whipped back and forth as they held onto the braces in the hold. “Take skiffs two, three and five.” Cholly Jake, the ship’s engineer said gruffly. He pointed down the windy hold. “They all have almost full charges. They can take two people each over to that ship, and you can lock in each of the small explosives to cut their power. Make sure they’re stuck in the right place, or we aren’t going to have anything to show for all of this damned effort!”
Cholly was a rotund black man whose grey-shot hair stood out plainly. He wasn’t happy they were taking his boats, but if they didn’t lock in that ship soon they would have to bail, and he agreed with Billy that they needed to be active now instead of just running a stern chase.
There was that large fleet that had raided New York a week back. The Folly avoided them, only to find that no one else was moving either. Everyone was waiting to see what happened.
Apparently, not too much had changed.
Cholly could hear the chatter going back and forth from the New York City-State Air Traffic Control, and everything seemed normal.
Now they had found one ship heading back to Europe, perhaps running with its tail between its legs.
He pointed to two of the crew. “You take number two.” He pointed to the next two, a man and woman. “You take number three. You’ll have to get over there within five minutes, but it should only take you sixty seconds. So, no becoming part of any mile-high club, Sled Three. Got that?”
They smiled. There wasn’t enough room in those skiffs to change your mind, much less do anything physical. The pirates worked their way to the sleds.
Chapter Three
Antigrav Ship ArchAngel
Michael had all of his equipment on him. While he would have preferred to just do this without that burden, he didn’t want to lose anything if for some reason the ArchAngel went down. He had already told Mark and Jacqueline to mentally scream his name if the ship started losing altitude, and he would come to their rescue as best he could.
Mark turned to Jacqueline and said, “Don’t be calling Michael if you break a nail. I know how you women...” The crack of her backhand on his chest was impressive.
But Mark just smiled and took the blow. He rubbed his chest while Jacqueline pointed a finger at him. “You keep this up and you’re going to be a twice-dead vampire. I don’t care how hot you are.” She left the room.
Michael looked at Mark, who winked at him as he tapped his head. “I’ve got her figured out.”
The older vampire snorted and patted Mark on the shoulder. “You might have the wolf figured out, but you have a serious logic flaw.”
“What logic flaw?” Mark asked, frowning. Michael paused before leaving the room. “She’s a woman. To believe there’s logic in their actions and emotions is the first of many false assumptions.”
