by Don P. Bick
Chapter 23
They arrived in OceanBay in the middle of the day. The weather was bad. It was windy and raining. Although the rain was fairly heavy it was nothing compared to the downpour they had experienced outside of Val. The temperature was cooler than normal, a sure sign the seasons were about to change. The seven companions huddled together on the middle deck of the ship, watching the bustling activity on the docks.
The companions had only been in port for a short while and already there had been three sightings of Plutonians collecting their lifeless cargo. The deadly unknown disease was beginning to show itself more frequently with each passing week.
Captain Nepturos had again been their ship captain on the voyage to OceanBay. He was carrying urgent messages to Statmer from the Ruler to all the mayors in that area. Camran and his comrades were to transfer to another Neptunian ship and continue south to Pacific, where they would disembark. They planned to leave OceanBay the following morning, when the ship they would be taking had completed unloading its cargo from Mert. The cargo consisted of some much needed medical supplies from the Mecurians. The Mecurians created and discovered many cures for the various ailments of this land in their underwater sterile laboratories. So far they had been unable to come up with any cure or treatment for the strange disease that was sweeping the Isle, threatening to increase to epidemic proportions.
Camran, Ve-Kim and Druc stood talking near the netting on the middle deck. Druc was voicing his opinion about how he thought their whereabouts would be more difficult to discern, since they were being transferred among the Neptunian ships. Camran stated he felt the Guardians were well aware of their whereabouts at all times, no matter what elusive measures they undertook. He was recalling the dreams he'd had earlier regarding the cave on the Isle of Flowers. The only thing that was working in their favor was that their enemy didn't know where they were going, until they actually started toward the destination. Word would have to be sent then. That gave them somewhat of an advantage, although it was a very small one.
Gena and Bran were sitting farther down the deck with Twil deep in a conversation of their own. Uri was off somewhere by himself practicing his art, trying to gain greater control of his will power. The rest of the group already thought he had quite an impressive command of his will. Camran had never seen anything like it when Uri had given them a demonstration of the extent of his powers.
With all seven occupied, they were unprepared for the tragedy that was about to take place. It had been some time since they had to be on a constant alert. Nothing out of the ordinary had ever taken place on any of the ships on which they had traveled. The ship’s crew was Neptunian after all and they were some of the most trustworthy people in the land.
A porter approached as Druc conceded there weren't that many options available to them. He apologized for his nervousness and the fact that they had very little control over the situation. Camran commented that was his major complaint also, no control over their destiny.
Camran happened to glance up as the porter stepped in front of him. Too late he recognized the wild eyes and foam of a madman on the lips of the man. He saw the glint of the knife blade as it lashed outward toward his chest. Ve-Kim had followed Camran's gaze and saw the knife a second before Camran. Without thought or hesitation she stepped in front of the deadly blade just before it would have entered Camran's chest. Ve-Kim received the thrust of the long blade into her own chest. With a look of disbelief she stared down at the hilt protruding from her body. As the knife entered Ve-Kim, Druc grasped the situation and retrieved one of the knives from his belt. In less than the blink of an eye Druc dispatched the seaman with a quick slash of his knife across the man's throat. Ve-Kim crumpled to the deck, massive amounts of blood spurting from around the knife wound. Obviously an artery had been severed.
Although numb with shock, Camran knelt beside Ve-Kim and did his best to stop the flow of blood. Looking up at her friends and companions Ve-Kim forced a weak smile to her lips, and then shuddered once as the light went out of her eyes and the life left her body. Camran held her tightly as he tried to absorb the fact that she had sacrificed her own life to save his. And then there came yet another shock when Camran realized a Plutonian was attempting to remove Ve-Kim's dead body from his arms. The Plutonian was firm, yet gentle, as he retrieved the body from Camran's strong grasp. The Plutonian’s touch was ice cold. That touch brought Camran back to reality. That touch was the touch of death.
The two Plutonians removed both bodies as the remaining friends looked on. As Camran let go of Ve-Kim, he looked within the hood of the Plutonian. He thought he detected a hint of deep compassion in the blood red eyes of that faceless being.