Voyage

by E M Gale

  ‘Ah. I thought that might have given us away.’

  “Whilst not everyone knows the details of how it works or has much interest in it, I find it odd that not one of the four of them knew anything at all. Especially when two of the group are scientifically trained.” He paused, and looked at me for confirmation.

  I didn’t say anything, but frowned.

  He leaned in. “And if they were time travellers like yourself, then that would explain the remarkable similarity of our friend in engineering to the late Professor Robert Deegen.”

  I started at that.

  “And you yourself even referred to him as the Great Engineer.”

  ‘I did? Oops!’

  “Given his illustrious career in hyperspace drives and forcefield technology, and the fact there are some maths papers around that suggest that time travel might be possible with hyperspace engines, it’s not impossible that the great Robert Deegen also accidentally invented time travel at some point in his career.” Cleckley leaned back in the chair, causing it to creak. “And you, him, and the rest of your companions were fired through time by, quotes, ‘another one of Rob’s bloody experiments’, end quotes.” He smiled.

  I just stared.

  ‘He figured all that out? Wow.’

  He waited, I thought, for me to confirm his suppositions. When I didn’t he stopped smiling and sighed.

  “Now, this is the kicker,” he said, “I can’t understand those papers about the mathematics of time travel, but I did notice that they referenced a PhD by one Florentina Clarke.”

  ‘What? What the hell?’

  “It had nothing to do with me!” I cried. “It was his bloody stupid experiment! What sort of an idiot invites his friends over, then tries to make cold bloody fusion out of ball lightning? I did say it was a bad idea, but that just infuriated him! And then we wound up in a field in Ragnarok IV and he just danced around like a loon singing about Nobel bloody Prizes, with never a thought for how we were going to get by on an alien planet. If it weren’t for me taking him by the hand, getting him money, food, and a job, he’d still be on that bloody hill looking for a helium-neon laser!”

  ‘Wow, it felt good to get that all out. Cathartic.’

  Cleckley grinned like the researcher who got the grant.

  “Shit,” I added, as it seemed appropriate.

  “So, let me guess–”

  I frowned. I didn’t like him using his reason, he was far too good with it.

  “–you’re probably hanging around the edge of the known galaxy to avoid running into your future self’s enemies, whilst trying to locate the equipment needed for a time machine so you can go back.”

  ‘God, the guy is clever.’

  “I’m not sure I want to risk going near another one of Rob’s bloody experiments. It’s pure luck we ended up somewhere safe and not in the depths of space or smeared across a star.”

  “Then there is the question: why haven’t you read up on yourself? It would make things easier,” he commented, looking curious.

  “Ah… I wussed out and looked up Rob first.”

  He nodded.

  “And, well… Do you know what it’s like to know when one of your friends is going to die?” I just put my head down on the desk. If I had been the type to do so I might have considered banging my head against the desk, but I wasn’t, and anyway, it was made of wood. “After finding out about Rob and that bloody ship, I didn’t want to look myself up. And anyway, I’ve never been good at remembering details. That’s why I did physics and not something like languages, y’know, where you have to spend ages memorising ugrub verbs.”

  Cleckley was quiet. I couldn’t see him. All I could see was his desk.

  “Are you OK?” he finally asked.

  “Fine, just hunky dory, thank you,” I said, my head still on the desk.

  ‘I embarrassed myself watching that dumb film with the marines, then I spent the night watching Rob die. I’ve been attacked by pirates twice in two days, bashed on the head, yelled at by the major, laughed at by marines and gloated at by Cleckley. Why’s no one nice to Clarke?’

  ‘Oh, now this is silly; self-pity, is there anything worse?’

  I lifted my head off the desk. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  Cleckley was looking concerned. “You don’t look fine.”

  “That’d be the concussion you didn’t bother to check for,” I said with a sigh. “Anyway, I’m kinda relieved that you know about the time travel and everything. It means I can tell someone.”

  “Tell me what?”

  “A secret. That I have to keep from everyone.”

  He leaned in, all eager.

  I looked straight at him. “I have no idea what the hell I’m doing.”

  He laughed at that, but it wasn’t really a joke.

  “I have to pretend to be a two-hundred-year-old vampire to the major, who knows me from before and hey, I didn’t find that out until I slept with him and he started comparing it to the last time.”

  Cleckley looked shocked.

  “Yeah, I was pretty shocked too. I’ve got to pretend to know fighting and tactics and stuff to the marines, who spend the whole time telling me that my ‘pretending to be crap’ acting is awful. But I wasn’t acting.”

  Cleckley was nodding sympathetically.

  “And my friends, you’re right, they’re from my university. Rob and Anna I’ve known for years, Mark only these last two years and Jane’s more Anna’s friend really. Anyway, I have to pretend to be a normal human being. I’ve had to pretend to be that whilst I turned into a vampire in front of them and was recognised by everyone else as General bloody Clarke or Kotargralok…” I paused for a moment. “In fact, I think it’s a miracle that they haven’t figured anything out.”

  A thought occurred to me and I eyeballed Cleckley suspiciously. “Cleckley… do you plan to tell anyone this?”

  “No.”

  “What’s your angle?”

  “Aren’t we friends?”

  I frowned at that. “Yes, and scientist and scientific curiosity.” At this point I was slouching my arms on the desk, my head on top of them.

  “OK, you got me. I don’t care where you came from or how. I presume that at some point you’ll go back and become the Clarke we all know and many have loved.”

  I gave him a dirty look.

  “But as a result, I get an unparalleled opportunity to study vampirism!” He grinned at me.

  “Why am I everyone’s opportunity?” I mumbled to myself.

  “For example, I can help you figure all this out.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him. “You expect me to let you do that?”

  “What?”

  “So you can publish it? Get yourself a bloody Nobel Prize, and me killed, probably. You’re right, OK? I don’t know anything about vampire society. I’ve only met one vampire, and somehow we spent very little time talking about vampirism. All I know is that he is in trouble with his clan, which is great, because I don’t even know what a clan is. But I guess whatever it is and wherever mine is, they won’t be happy with someone publishing everything they’ve tried to keep secret for years.”

  “Huh,” said Cleckley. He thought for a moment. “You know they say that vampires can’t kill vampires.”

  I lifted my head up and looked at him. “Y’know, that’s another piece of misinformation you would have thought someone would have mentioned to me.”

  “It’s not true then?”

  I shrugged. “I dunno. Not tried,” I said, putting my head back down on the desk.

  Cleckley leaned back in his chair. It creaked. “What’s wrong?”

  ‘Everything.’

  “I’m just indulging in some disgusting self-pity. Ignore me. Or, y’know, gloat at me. And pull the major in here to yell at me. And a pirate to bash my head and shoot stakes at me. And marines to laugh at me.”

  “Pull yourself together, Clarke.”

  I sat up straight in my chair. “Sorry.”

&n
bsp; He looked thoughtful. “When did you find out about Rob’s death?”

  “Uh… last week. And then I had to watch it in a bloody B-movie last night. And then I had to dream it all night long.”

  ‘If it was a dream…’

  “Ah.”

  “Yeah, poor Cliff feels really bad about choosing that movie.”

  “I see.” He nodded. “It’s a lot to deal with.”

  “Are you sympathising with me?” I said suspiciously.

  “Well, yes.” He looked confused at the question.

  “As a friend or as a doctor?”

  “As a friend. Good grief, Clarke, you are suspicious.”

  “Obviously not suspicious enough, since I didn’t clock you figuring all this out,” I said, waving my hand around vaguely.

  “I don’t know. A young time traveller, hanging around in a bar in the middle of nowhere, picking up contraband, I would say that’s pretty suspicious.”

  I blinked twice, then laughed. “That wasn’t what I meant.”

  Cleckley smiled at me. “Anyway, I’ve got a cure for your concussion.”

  “Oh?”

  “We’re going to go get a drink.”

  I nodded. “Ah, good idea. ’Cept I’m still technically working.”

  “Yes, but as your doctor I’m putting you on sick leave.”

  I raised my eyebrows at that. “If you have the power to do that, can’t you do that all the time?”

  He smiled at me, “You’d get bored if you had nothing to do but drink.”

  “Nothing to do but drink, and learn languages, and learn sword-fighting, and learn military tactics, and all the other stuff people keep expecting me to know.”

  He got up and I did too.

  “Ah… so that is what you do in your spare time then. And there was I, convinced it was embroidery.”

  I chuckled.

  He opened the door for me and we headed up to the bar.

  “Heh, and other stuff too,” I said.

  “Quite,” he said, with mock disapproval.

  We strolled into the bar. Since we weren’t there at a shift changeover point, there weren’t any other drinkers there yet. Cleckley bought me a wine once he managed to distract one of the two bar staff from their gossiping and I headed over to my favourite window table and enjoyed the view.

  “You know, if we sit here, pirates’ll probably just attack the bar.”

  “There have been a lot of attacks lately,” mused Cleckley.

  “Today’s attack was a good one though.”

  He looked shocked at that. I sipped my wine.

  “Why was it ‘a good one’?”

  “Ah, ’cos none of the pirates got killed; they all surrendered. So I didn’t have to kill anyone. And all the mercenaries are all OK too.”

  Cleckley looked thoughtful.

  “Had I not been bashed on the head, I would have given it ten out of ten.”

  “How do you end up with a military career?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “You know, I don’t think you’re allowed to join the military if you enjoy killing people,” I said tartly.

  “Sorry, I was just curious.”

  I leant forward and spoke quietly to him. “Well, obviously I don’t know. I’ve not read much at all, but the article I did read didn’t say why I was leading the vampire army in the first place, and that’s where the whole reputation thing started. And once you have a reputation, then random people just shove you in with their mercenaries and expect you to know what you’re doing.” I leant back, looked around at the empty room, checking that no one could have heard, and then drank my wine.

  “You covered yourself well though, picked things up fast.”

  I shrugged. “I can dance, so the sword fighting was OK. And that’s really all I can do. Ask the mercenaries, my shooting’s not too hot.”

  “Well, I do think you’ve gotten stronger and quicker since I measured your reflexes.”

  “You do?”

  He nodded. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, were you aware that you broke Connor’s jaw?”

  I stared at him. “What? I… But he was fine! I saw him the next day… or maybe the day after, actually, but a broken jaw takes weeks to heal.”

  Cleckley shook his head. “I thought so. I didn’t think you’d be that vicious.”

  “I didn’t mean to, I just wanted to give them a few bruises, that’s all.”

  ‘Crap. Maybe I really don’t know my own strength.’

  “Would you mind redoing the weights and reflex tests?”

  I sighed. “I s’pose I should. Not now though, drinking my wine now.”

  He smiled at me. “Good.” Although quite what he was saying ‘good’ to I don’t know.

  Suddenly, there was a blinding light. I squeezed my eyes shut and automatically started healing them.

  ‘I know that that was a teleporter beam.’

  I opened my eyes. There were two human pirates, dressed in black, each advancing towards me, sword tips first, two apiece.

  ‘Assassins? Oh, c’mon. I am so not in the mood for this right now!’

  Cleckley had jumped behind me and the red-headed barmaid was in the process of screaming and scarpering as I slowly stood up and glared at the pirates.

  “Look… I’m in a bar, having a drink, chilling out. Can’t you just teleport back to wherever you came from and leave me alone?”

  They looked at each other.

  “Or just surrender now. This is a nice bar, let’s not trash it, eh?”

  ‘I’ve got four knives and a sword on me, but I don’t want to have to kill these guys. I’ve got a good track record for today. Hmm…’

  The first of the pirate assassins broke into a run.

  ‘First mistake: you guys wanted to rush me at the same time.’

  He swung his sword to slice me diagonally across the chest. But he was too slow, I could see an opening. I twisted on the spot, moving my body out of the way of his strike, and kicked him in the solar plexus. He sprawled backwards, landed on a table–breaking its leg, since the bar tables were rather flimsy–and bounced over it to the floor. The second pirate came forward, slashing with his left-hand sword. His next move would be an attack with the right-hand sword. I dodged behind him and smashed a handy chair over the back of his head. He fell to the ground and I dropped the broken and splintered fragments.

  ‘Oops, Clarke, don’t fight with wood.’

  I looked around. The braver of the two barmaids on duty, the brunette, peered over the bar. I could hear the redhead asking her what was going on. Cleckley had stood up and was looking stunned and slightly ineffectual.

  ‘I wonder if the bar staff saw enough to make me as a vampire? If they had any sense they would have been under the bar the whole time.’

  I walked over to the assassin. He was out cold, so I carried him back to my seat, divested him of his hidden weapons, which I put on the table, and left him on the floor. I stripped the second one of his weapons and piled him up on top of the first. Then I picked up all the swords they’d dropped and dumped them haphazardly on the table. Whilst I did this, Cleckley checked the pirates’ pulses and looked them over, but I could have told him that they were alive. I then sat in my chair and put my feet on the assassins, pushing down slightly so that they couldn’t stand up. Not that they struggled much, even though one of them moaned as he started to come around.

  “Sit down, Cleckley,” I said, waving him back to his seat. He did.

  “They’re alive,” he said, “and amazingly no major injuries.”

  I sighed. The red-headed and more nervous barmaid stood up from behind the bar and just stared at me, so I took a sip of my wine.

  “This whole pirate thing is starting to piss me off.”

  “It’s rather desperate to teleport people in,” mused Cleckley, eyeing the pirates suspiciously. “Teleportation through a forcefield is really expensive.”

  ‘Oh? I didn’t know that.’

  “You don’t thi
nk there’ll be any more?”

  “I suspect not. They look like assassins to me; it was probably supposed to be a quick, quiet attack, not a show of force.” He looked at me. “I suspect…”

  “What?”

  He shook his head. “Don’t worry,” he said, smiling. I blew the air out of my mouth in an annoyed fashion.

  “Do you think I’ll get a bonus from the Pirate eBay?”

  “What?”

  “Well, if we’re gonna ransom all these pirates back, shouldn’t I get a bonus for fighting them? These two I did all by myself, so I ought to get all their ransom, or at least a goodly proportion of it.”

  Cleckley chuckled.

  Just then two s s of marines ran in and pointed their guns at us. Cleckley looked shocked and put his hands in the air. I raised my eyebrows at the marines and took another sip of my wine. They just stared at me for a moment, unsure as to what to do, I thought, though they did move to aim at the pirates.

  ‘Well, I guess it’s a little odd that I’m sitting here with my feet up on two unconscious assassins drinking a glass of wine, but it has been a long day.’

  “Hi, guys,” I said, since they still hadn’t said or done anything except stand there looking gormless. “Can you take these guys down to the brig for me, please?” I pulled a doe-eyed expression at them. “I’m on sick leave at the moment.”

  A few marines laughed at that. Cliff’s eyes were wide with admiration. Cleckley put his arms down and looked a little embarrassed. The marines hefted up the assassins to carry them off.

  “What about the weapons?” asked Grom, pointing at them.

  “They’re mine. I confiscated them.”

  He nodded and the marines wandered off with their charges.

  I took a moment to concentrate, healing as quickly as I could without misting.

  ‘There, now my eyes are OK.’

  I hadn’t been looking directly at the beam this time, so my eyes were far less injured. Plus, after the pain I’d suffered from the last teleportation beam I seemed to have gotten much faster at shutting my eyes.

  I turned to Cleckley. “See, I’m having a bad day. I said pirates would attack the bar.”

  He nodded thoughtfully, leaning back in his chair, looking relaxed. He seemed to have calmed down.