Voyage

by E M Gale

  “Oh,” said Mark.

  “Like a goth perhaps?” Rob commented. I nodded.

  ‘I.e. not like me.’

  “What? What’s a goth?” asked Cleckley.

  ‘Ah. They don’t use that word here then. But the major didn’t ask me what I had meant. Then again, he might be used to me using anachronistic words.’

  I decided to educate Cleckley to confuse: “Y’know, Goths. Visigoths, Ostrogoths. They were a couple of Germanic tribes that attacked the Roman Empire a few times.”

  Cleckley looked completely bemused. “And what did they look like?”

  “Big, muscly, hairy, fierce and unwashed with ginger plaits: barbarian-like.”

  Cleckley was frowning at me.

  “Not that sort of goth, Clarke,” said Anna, hitting me on the arm. “Gothics. Wear black the whole time, pale, thin, into black eyeliner, people who dress like you when you go clubbing.”

  ‘Oh, bloody hell, how can I get caught like that!’

  “What, hitting things?” asked Cleckley, completely confused.

  ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea to use two-hundred-year-old slang.’

  “Anyway, goths have a pulse,” I commented woodenly.

  “Do vampires really drink blood?” asked Anna.

  ‘If you look at me here, Cleckley, I’ll hit you.’

  “Yes,” he said, “It’s quite awful to watch,” he added with feeling.

  ‘Huh! You’ve obviously not seen Rob eat!’

  I shook my head and took a sip of my red wine.

  ‘Will the other vampire make an appearance here? That would totally give me away.’

  “Wow, you’ve met one?” said Anna.

  ‘Heh.’

  Cleckley nodded. I smiled slightly.

  “Are they really evil?” she asked, wide-eyed. I stopped smiling.

  “No,” he said. After a moment’s consideration and a fleeting glance in my direction, he added:

  “Well, maybe.”

  ‘Maybe! Grrr.’

  “Do you think he dresses the part?” mused Rob. “With like an opera cloak, widow’s-peak haircut and a cane?”

  “No opera glasses?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “Why would they need them?”

  “In my experience they dress normally,” said Cleckley.

  “Are they really dead?” asked Anna. I looked at Cleckley here. Even I wasn’t sure about that one.

  “Uh… apparently. They’re rather closed-mouthed about their condition.”

  “What happens if you stake them?” asked Anna.

  ‘Why that question? Why do people always ask that?’

  “Ah, that I know. They go really pale then completely vanish!” said Cleckley, eager again. “It really shocked me. This was just from a cocktail stick, you see.”

  I lifted my foot up under the table to be ready to kick him if he said any more.

  “Wow!” said Anna.

  “What? You were stabbing a vampire with a cocktail stick?” asked Mark. “Why? Was it attacking you?”

  “Ah, well, she asked me to.” Cleckley leaned forwards eagerly.

  ‘Oh, shit, Cleckley, shut up!’

  “Why?” asked Rob.

  “Because–”

  I kicked Cleckley.

  “I don’t know.” He put his hand under the table and rubbed his ankle. “They are strange and irritable creatures. Although that could just be because the one I met was female.”

  I coughed to try to cover up a laugh. I hold my hands up to irritable.

  “And,” he continued, “they don’t like being called ‘suckers’, or ‘undead’.”

  ‘Oh, he knows that then? Why does he keep doing it?’

  “Will it attack us?” asked Anna fearfully.

  “Uh, I doubt it,” said Cleckley.

  “What do we do if it does?”

  ‘’It’? ‘It’? Anna, he’s a ‘he’.’

  “Anna,” I said, “if there’s one thing I’ve learnt from mercenarying it’s this: If in doubt, stand behind an orc. They know what they’re doing.”

  Cleckley laughed. “And they’re seven feet tall and rather wide, which helps.”

  “There are no orcs allowed on the bridge,” Anna said, taking my suggestion seriously.

  “It’s OK, vampires aren’t allowed up there either,” said Jane, “only humans.” I glared at her.

  ‘Vampires are humans. Except I can’t say that. Argh!’

  “Aren’t they humans?” I said.

  ‘Grr, different subspecies, guys, not a different species, thank you very much.’

  “Homo sapiens vampiricus,” said Cleckley, following my lead. “They’re a different subspecies.”

  ‘Thank you, Doctor.’

  And at that point I was aware of the vampire walking up the corridor. I could smell his enticing scent.

  ‘Ah. Well… given what I know about vampires, which is mostly what I know about me, I’d expect to find them in the bar.’

  He walked in. He was pale, but under the fluorescent lights it wasn’t quite as noticeable. He wasn’t dressed in black, but blue: ordinary clothes, good quality, in the general fashion of Ostmark, which was at that time Japanese-style wrap-over tops, worn oversized and loose, on top of tight blue jeans.

  He walked up to the bar and ordered a whiskey. Neither Cleckley nor Anna seemed to have noticed him. He walked over to our table.

  “Would you mind if I joined you?” he asked Anna politely, since she was talking at that point.

  “Oh, please do,” she said, gesturing at the table.

  “Thank you.” He calmly took the seat across from me. He was purposefully not looking in my direction, but I knew he was paying attention to me. The others didn’t seem to have realised he was a vampire. I looked sideways at the doctor. Even he hadn’t. As long as he didn’t grin, our guest was probably fine. It was the pointed teeth that gave us away. He finally looked at me.

  “I’m Jonathan Price.” He glanced around the table. “I prefer to be referred to as Mr. Price.”

  ‘Pompous.’

  “Clarke,” I replied. I was about to reach over and shake his hand, but then I realised that the others might do so too and find that his hands were bizarrely cold.

  He nodded at me. The others introduced themselves: “You can call me Dr. Deegen, MSci, then,” said Rob with a laugh. I took the opportunity to pay closer attention to Price. He smelled different from a human, but he smelled… nice. A cocktail. I had to stop that thought right there before my teeth grew and gave me away. I coughed to cover up checking they were still small.

  “Where do you work then?” asked Rob.

  ‘Ah, they think he’s a new recruit.’

  “Oh, I’m new here,” he said.

  “Ah, it’s a good ship,” said Mark proudly.

  “The fastest docked heading to Antigua Nuevo, so I was told.”

  ‘Where is he going? And why the hurry?’

  “Just so you know,” said Anna, leaning in conspiratorially, “we’ve just found out that there’s a vampire on the ship.” I stared at her.

  “Gosh,” he said levelly, and I tried not to laugh.

  “I’ve never seen one before,” she continued. At this point he looked at me, and I raised my eyebrows at him.

  ‘Don’t give me away!’

  “I wonder what it looks like,” prattled on Anna. I was still choking off a laugh. I looked at the doctor. He still hadn’t realised what Price was.

  “Well, I’m sure you’ll find out eventually,” Price said. He sounded amused.

  “I wonder where it is?” She was looking around her as if the creature might be sneaking up behind her.

  I tilted my head to the side to regard her. “Probably in the bar.”

  “No, that’s where you would be.”

  I smiled at her. “Oh, so that’s how you always know where to find me.” She sighed. “So what did you think of Ostmark, Price?” I wanted to change the subject, but thought it would be rude
to ask him where he was going and what he was doing. I personally hate questions like that.

  “Wet.” He held the whiskey up to his mouth, tipping it so that it wet his lips, but not drinking.

  ‘I guess that like Mr. Does It Matter he isn’t much on eating or drinking, then. Can vampires not drink? I can drink. And eat. Not as much as I used to, I’ll admit, but I still get hungry if I don’t.’

  I took a sip of my wine, just to check.

  ‘Yup, I can still drink.’

  “Relatively boring, so I decided to move on.” Price smiled at me, showing off the pointed tips of his canines. Cleckley’s heartbeat didn’t change, so I surmised that he hadn’t noticed Price’s teeth. “And you, Clarke?”

  ‘Ah, that’s why I don’t ask questions.’

  “I’m exploring the galaxy, one dive bar at a time.”

  He laughed at that. “Nice. This isn’t a dive bar though.”

  “Yeah, it’s far too clean and bright for that. It’s missing a certain something.”

  “Dark corners”, he muttered, sotto voce. No one else heard, so I just smiled at him. I guessed if we both spoke very quietly then the others wouldn’t hear. Handy. But I still didn’t want to ask the questions I wanted to ask him in public.

  “Ah, there’s nowhere like that on this ship then?” he asked.

  “There’s always my quarters,” I muttered, my drink held up to my mouth to disguise the movement of my lips.

  He heard and grinned at me.

  “The mercenary bar is a dive,” I said louder, so my friends could hear.

  “Are you a mercenary then?” He didn’t look shocked at the prospect, which was refreshing.

  “Yeah.”

  He narrowed his eyes briefly.

  “And how long have you been doing that?” He was staring at me intently.

  “Uh, about two months.”

  “So it’s more like exploring the galaxy one dead body at a time.”

  I gave him a frosty glare. Anna sucked her breath in.

  “It’s a hell of a lot better than starvation on Ragnarok IV!” I said hotly.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend.”

  ‘Yeah, whatever.’

  “I apologise.” He smiled coldly, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m just not keen on soldiers.”

  “Mercenaries, actually.” The distinction mattered to me at that point as I still wasn’t sure whether they really were mercenaries or genuine UESF soldiers.

  “Ah, that’s better. Because killing people for good money is far better than doing it for bad money.”

  I stared at him, my mouth open. I didn’t really have a response. Really, this was harsher than anything Rob had ever said.

  Cleckley smelt slightly perturbed. The others looked shocked. I glanced at Rob, but he didn’t seem to be inclined to add anything, so at least he wasn’t ganging up on me.

  The vampire smiled. “Again, I’ve offended you. I am ever so sorry, Clarke.” His honeyed voice even sounded genuine.

  ‘What is going on here? Why is he insulting me?’

  “Oh, I’m not offended,” I said.

  ‘Although if he is anything like me he ought to be able to tell I am from my heart rate.’

  “That’s good. If you are a mercenary then you ought not be offended if someone describes you as mercenary.”

  ‘Huh, bastard!’

  “So you’re happy being called undead, then?” I demanded, sotto voce, under my breath.

  “You should be comfortable with what you are,” he muttered back.

  “You’re too personal with me,” I said out loud, but quietly.

  “Eh?” said Cleckley, who was sitting next to me and had heard the last line. My friends were eyeing Price and I warily. Mark changed the topic of conversation to something other than my job.

  “How old are you?” I whispered to Price, whilst pretending to bite my fingernails.

  “About a year,” he replied, holding the glass of whiskey up to his lips.

  ‘Well, in terms of how long he’s been a vampire, he is older than me, so I guess he’s come to terms with it.’

  Anna changed the conversation again, asking Price where he was going. I did my best to pretend I was not annoyed with him, and watched for tells that anyone else had figured out what he was.

  After some time, Cleckley and my friends said they had to go and get some sleep for their shift. Price ducked out too, so I was alone in the bar for a bit. I wondered when would be the best time to head down to engineering, but I figured that there wasn’t time that evening, so I ambled back to my quarters.

  I checked my hiding place for the weapons. I had ripped a hole in the back of the sofa, shoved them in there with the letter I’d picked up and put the back of the sofa against the wall. They wouldn’t be hidden if someone moved the sofa out, but at least they weren’t on display. That would be the best I could do until I could borrow some tools from engineering. And my idea with the garlic would have to wait until Price left the ship, otherwise he might be curious and follow the smell.

  I smelt him coming up the corridor. He didn’t pause at my door but turned into a mist and came in under it.

  ‘That was pretty cool.’

  I could just make him out as a pale grey mist, but I guessed that normal humans wouldn’t be able to. As he reformed he first appeared washed out and translucent, before his body filled the space.

  ‘Neat.’

  “You should knock,” I said.

  He smiled, baring his teeth and letting them grow. “Why? You knew I was there.”

  ‘Fair point.’

  “This is my first time seeing a Founder,” he commented.

  ‘A what?’

  I covered up my lack of knowledge, or at least I thought I did. Of course, it was harder to lie when someone could hear your heartbeat. And it was unfair as he didn’t have one.

  I nodded in reply, and smiled. I kept my distance from him though. I could smell the blood in his veins. It smelt odd, like a mix of things. Nonetheless, I was interested and being interested my teeth grew. I tried to hide them then thought, ‘What the hell, it’s not like he’ll be offended.’

  He grinned sardonically and came towards me, his teeth long.

  ‘So… I want to drink his blood and he wants to drink mine. Is there an order to these things or do we both drink from each other at the same time? Oh, that is an odd image, it reminds me of the Dali painting with the couple eating each other. Urgh. That is gross. I’ve never really liked Dali’s paintings.’

  I pushed such odd images from my mind and grinned back at Price, then decided to take the advantage. I pulled him close to me. He turned his head, exposing his neck, and I bit into him. And not that gently either, as I was still annoyed about the mercenary comment. As I started to drink he gasped and arched his back. And, as he had no heartbeat, I did have to suck.

  ‘Damn, so that stupid term is accurate then.’

  His blood was an interesting mix of flavours, but much cooler and slower-moving than a human’s. It took much longer to get the same amount. After what felt like hours and probably was, I stopped. I swear he looked paler.

  ‘Yuk.’

  He grinned at me. “My turn,” he said, and threw me down to the sofa.

  ‘Ah, I see he comes from the nightdress-ripping school of blood-drinking.’

  He roughly pulled my hair out of the way and ripped my top in his effort to get to my neck.

  ‘Yup, a bodice-ripper.’

  He bit me and drank. The effect was quite strange. I could feel what he was feeling and he felt hungry, hungry for blood in a way I had never felt. I arched my back and waves and waves of pleasure crashed over me. I couldn’t think of anything else, there was no room. I doubted I would have even been able to tell anyone my name, if they’d asked. I seemed to have lost everything, to have forgotten everything. I had no idea how long that went on for. How long is infinity? But… it stopped.

  I could feel the edges of his body
. His mind was partially closed off. I could see what he was thinking, but I didn’t intrude.

  ‘What the fuck was that?’

  I was sitting on the couch, looking at Price and the stars behind him.

  ‘I cannot believe you’ve not done that before,’ he said: I heard his voice in my mind.

  ‘This is weird. So we can both talk this way?’

  ‘Yes, for a short while. Your blood was delicious, Florentina.’

  ‘What the hell? How’d you know my bloody name?’

  ‘I can hear everything you are thinking, even see through your eyes, which is odd. Your mind is wide open. Floren. Florens. What do people call you?’

  ‘Clarke. That’s my name.’

  ‘Florence: a city. Florin: a coin–’

  This was weird, it was like I was getting his thoughts without censorship. I was sure he wouldn’t prattle on like this if he had to make the decision to move his mouth.

  ‘–Flow: a river. What should your nickname be?’

  ‘Clarke. It’s my name.’

  ‘Hmm, are you more like a river, a coin or a city?’ he continued dreamily. ‘The coin fits, what with you being a mercenary. A river, well, I get the feeling you’re more like a sea, changeable and moody. But flow, maybe, you do flow around things.’

  ‘Shut the hell up!’

  ‘A city? You’re nothing like a city. Maybe you could build a city and name it after yourself.’

  ‘What are you on about? Why do you know my bloody name? No one calls me Florentina, or anything like that.’

  ‘People’s names are interesting. Do you know of the kabala practice of doing numerology with names?’

  ‘Yes,’ I answered.

  ‘It’s like those stupid maths puzzles teenage girls do to find out their chances of marrying their crushes. They write both the names out and do simple maths on them. I spent ages perfecting which names to include to get the ‘right’ score. You could choose to use nicknames, middle names, accidental misspellings.’

  ‘I can’t imagine you doing silly things like that, Flow,’ he replied.

  ‘It’s Clarke. You can’t just read my mind, nick my name and use it with impunity. I don’t even like you.’

  ‘Ha ha. Honesty, it’s a rare commodity. And, you’re right, I did ’nick your name’, and now I shall nickname you ‘Flow’.’