by Dan Glover
"No, sweet Amanda, it isn’t true. The humans had ample opportunity to stop the plague sweeping around the globe but they did nothing. Rather than staying put, they ran away. In doing so they helped to spread Lake Syndrome far and wide. Apparently, as the fever raged, the spores from the parasites the Ladies carry in their bone marrow mutated. It evolved into an airborne disease.
"None of that was Lady Lauren's doing, although if you must know, I would have killed them all to save Lady Lily. That is why I took this pistol from the man chasing her. I wanted to kill both him and Karen when they accosted us in old Russia but Lily wouldn’t have it. She said too many people would see but I know she simply didn’t want to see them die.
"Despite what Lady Lily said I was ready to get this pistol that day Karen and Marilyn showed up here and shoot them both until I saw the children in the car. I am a cold-hearted Gypsy bitch of a woman but I could never harm a child. That is what saved them all if you must know."
Now, handing an automatic rifle to Luciana and instructing her how to sight a target and squeeze the trigger while holding the butt close to her shoulder so the barrel didn’t kick and rise up, Amanda wondered if she was doing the right thing. Nate had always eschewed firearms. She had never told him about the cache of weapons secreted in one of the many old outbuildings that dotted the estate. If he ever wondered why the door to that particular shed remained padlocked shut, he never asked.
Why was she being bothered by the old bones of the past now? Perhaps they had appeared to warn her against making the same mistakes, but then again she had always had an overactive imagination... like the time she talked Karen into becoming her assistant.
One fact remained: Lady Lauren had said they were being attacked by human-like creatures. Amanda didn’t want to be responsible for another murder. Even if those creatures were threatening the lives of the Ladies, she wasn’t sure if she could kill them, not if they were human. Still, she had done killed in the past when necessary.
She put all that out of her mind, however, and concentrated on teaching Luciana how to shoot.
Chapter 67—Goodbye
Seeing Lauren pierced by so many wounds sent Lily into a rage.
"Who did this to her, precious Karen?"
Lily had just arrived at Toulon Castle along with Nate. They had flown in one of the swiftly silent anti-gravity vehicles while Ena returned with Kāne in the second one. After seeing that Kāne's wounds were healing properly, she had gone straight to Lady Lauren, having heard of her injuries.
Even though she was forewarned, Lily was shocked at the severity of Lauren's cuts and gashes and the many piercings throughout her body inflicted by teeth and claw. She had rarely known such anger. She wanted to punish those responsible, to exact equal measures of pain.
Though she was still recovering from her own illness, Karen had cleaned Lauren's wounds, dressed them, and made her comfortable. When Lily appeared she waved her aside to explain what had happened to the Lady.
"Lady Lauren had been in a funk, Lady Lily. When I went to Orchardton Hall to visit with her and Natalia, she hardly spoke to me. I think she was suffering from Lake withdrawal... it had been close to ten years since she visited. From what I heard, Natalia talked her into traveling to Lake Baikal by horse and wagon since none of the vehicles there were in running condition.
"When they arrived at the seaside and descended into the Chunnel, they noticed something moving in the dark. Their horses bolted. By the time they emerged on the French side, they were being followed.
"They stopped at the first safe place they came to... an old stone barn. During the night those awful things from the Chunnel surrounded them... at first, Natalia said she thought they were feral humans but they weren’t.
"They were attacked by giant monkeys, Lady Lily. Lady Lauren and Natalia called us from the north of old France. They were trapped and in a bad spot. I couldn’t reach Pete so Amanda, Ginger, and Luciana went to their rescue.
"By the time they arrived, Ginger said there were thousands of apes massed around the building where the Ladies were hiding. Chester ran ahead like he always does but he was overwhelmed. They thought he was dead.
"Before the three girls were able to help the Ladies, some of the apes grabbed Lauren and tried to carry her off. She was badly injured in the ensuing melee but Natalia was able to save her by hewing down hundreds of apes single-handedly.
"They took refuge in the pick up truck the girls were driving. Ginger said they were completely surrounded. Even though they were firing automatic weapons, the apes kept coming. When they fell dead the living stomped over their bodies in an effort to get into the building.
"She said just when it seemed that they would be overrun, something happened. Before, the day was so dark it seemed as if it was night... then the sky started to lighten up. They heard something that sounded like rain on the roof but when they looked out, it wasn’t water; it was sand falling out of the sky.
"Chester was too badly hurt to travel so Amanda and Luciana stayed there with him while Natalia and Ginger brought Lauren back here thinking I could help dress her wounds. I'd been sick too, however."
She should have been with her friends instead of in old America. Lily knew if she'd stayed home, they could have gotten Nate to come to Orchardton Hall and repair a proper vehicle for the trip.
Lily rationalized that Micah brought her there but in reality she knew she was as responsible as he... she had called the dragons in her sleep. When they appeared, she went with them willingly.
"Why were you sick, precious Karen?"
"I stayed here by myself thinking I could call Pete and have him fly here with Maon or Sileas and we could get to the north of old France more quickly to effect a rescue. But he told me he was rebuilding the engines on his jet and how Alpin had taken the other one. They thought he must have flown to old America to come to your aid.
"Ena and Kāne were here and so was Niall but they all disappeared without a word. I was left all alone. I thought about traveling to where Blane lived but by then I was too sick. I thought I was dying... no, I was sure I was dying."
"This whole disaster is my fault."
Knowing Kirk died trying to save her was bad enough but the thought of leaving her lovers alone at Orchardton Hall weighed upon her conscience in ways she didn’t think possible.
"Never think like that, my precious Lady. If not for you, I would have perished ages ago. All these people alive today owe their very existence to you. You encouraged me to help save both our races from extinction. I think we did a pretty good job... don’t you?"
"Yes, beautiful Karen... we've helped birth an entirely new species, gentle and kind and full of love. Now tell me... when will our Lady Lauren be back on her feet? I think we all deserve a much needed trip to Lake Baikal."
"She's healing rapidly, sweet Lily. I'd give her another fortnight and she'll be ready to travel. How do you intend to go there?"
"Nate has agreed to take us to the Lake in his new machine. We flew back from old America in it, my darling Karen. He tells me how it can even travel into outer space."
"Did Micah hurt you while you were his captive?"
"He wanted the same thing you desired from me... our secret of immortality. He thought he could have his tiny machines take me apart and discover it but instead I was healed of the malaise that had fallen over me. I was suffering from what we call the diminishing, sweet Karen. I was tired of life, tired of being strong for everyone.
"Among my kind, it was customary for the old women to go the same thing. They would lose all zest for living and grow weary. Eventually they dived deep into the waters of Lake Baikal and never came up again. Their bones grew into heaps.
"Rather than hurting me, Micah's machines healed me. They stripped away all the debris that had built up inside my body leaving me fresh and young again. I don’t think he knew that would happen.
"At the same time, his body began changing too. My presence cured him just as his machines
healed me. He was instrumental in bringing me back to health so when he asked if he could return with us, I agreed. I hope I didn’t make a mistake, darling Karen."
"I tried coaxing Micah into coming home with us two hundred years ago, my sweet Lily. He refused. I got the feeling he would rather I stayed in old New York with him but I knew what would happen if I did... I'd turn into a monster.
"Micah has always been of his own mind. When I first met him he was twelve years old and working on what he held to be the greatest medical breakthrough in history. If his plans had come to fruition, he was probably right.
"When I counseled him to go slowly, he made fun of me, calling me professor in a derogatory way. Micah told me how all his advisors at Cornell cautioned him to take extreme care in dealing with nanotechnology but he was so sure he could circumvent the inherent dangers.
"It's pretty obvious the man was wrong. His creations might well have not only overrun the world but the entire universe. There was no stopping them once they had established a foothold in the real world, other than..."
Lily heard the hitch in Karen's voice and realized her friend had inadvertently stumbled over the memory of her husband Pete and his bravery in flying the jet directly into the nanobot nest thereby destroying its so-called mind.
"We don’t know for sure if Pete is dead, darling Karen. He might have found a way to survive."
"He's gone, Lady Lily... I've accepted that. I just wish we could have said goodbye."
Chapter 68 —Troublemaker
Despite the talk Niall always liked Kirk.
He knew Grandfather Nate had to leave his friend's body in old America after Kirk suffered some sort of attack yet no one seemed to know if he was alive or dead. While it was assumed he had succumbed to Micah's tiny machines Grandfather Nate seemed to hold out hope. He heard how Kirk's body had been turned to steel and became too heavy to lift.
After failing to find new grape vines to interbreed with their old stock, Niall thought how impressed Grandfather Nate would be if he were to retrieve Kirk's body from old America. It was an idea that had been growing in his mind for some time now. The trip was deemed too dangerous yet it seemed clear that someone had to go.
Niall had practiced flying the new anti-gravity unit with his mother. She had just returned from saving his father Alpin after he'd become marooned with Grandfather Maon while attempting to rescue Lady Lily.
When he enquired about the workings of the flying machine she took him up and explained how the twin spheres worked in unison to guide the craft. It was a hundred times easier than flying an airplane. Within a few minutes he was fully proficient at piloting the anti-gravity unit.
"Tell me how it works, sweet mother."
"The two spheres—the outer one and the one we use for guiding the craft—are entangled within space-time... by achieving a resonance with one another a warp bubble is created around the craft. We determine the size of the bubble by the energy we fuse into the spheres.
"By taking advantage of the constant contraction and expansion of space-time we can propel the craft in any direction we choose and at any speed. Since within the warp bubble we are essentially outside the space-time continuum we are no longer subject to the effects of gravity.
"Though it appears we are moving, in fact we are standing still while the space-time continuum moves around us, or warps about us might be a better way of putting it. Grandfather Nate and Mr. Pete felt that to achieve any realistic warp capability meant powering the system with an inordinate amount of energy... something akin to the output of the sun at any given moment.
"However, I saw that by shifting the warp bubble to the shape of a donut rather than a sphere as they intended—we achieve that by both the distances and the differing sizes between the two globes—and by oscillating the field—phasing both in and out of this universe so fast the eye cannot see it—far less energy is needed to sustain and make use of the warp drive. This craft is powered by the cold fusion device I put together some decades ago to heat our water in the villa at the Isle of Skye."
"How do you know about all this, my sweet mother? Are you a genius like Micah?"
"No, my all too generous son... I have the ability to see into the future, to get a glimpse of the music that plays and keeps time with the Fates. This machine was meant to be... otherwise I could have never foreseen it and brought it into existence."
"How come I don't have the same ability?"
"We are all destined to find our own niche, my darling Niall. You belong here, growing luscious grapes and making sweet wine. Though it makes my heart heavy, I'm planning on leaving again soon. Unlike you, I don't belong here in Toulon."
Grandfather Nate had left for Lake Baikal three days ago. He had talked of returning to old America to retrieve Kirk's body but the Ladies convinced him their need was greater. Niall was in the cask warehouse with grandfather when Grandmother Natalia appeared with a request.
"Lady Lauren has suffered horrible wounds at the hands of those monsters that attacked us in the northlands. Please take us to the Lake so that we may immerse our bodies in its waters and renew our beings."
Niall knew Grandfather Nate could not refuse Lady Natalia. She was his mother, after all, and of course Lady Lily was going too.
He worried about grandfather's continued infatuation with Grandmother Lily. From their small talk Niall knew that he still loved her. If Lady Lily asked him to, he would return to Orchardton Hall with her in a minute.
There was still so much to learn about the vineyard and winemaking. Niall sensed that Grandfather Nate had taught him but a fraction of what he knew. If he left now, Niall feared he would give up on ever becoming a master at the art, especially since Grandfather Nate's partner was gone now too.
Kirk was clearly as knowledgeable about winemaking as Grandfather Nate if not more so. Niall had often worked with both men both in the fields and in the winery. They seemed to feed off each other's energy in ways Niall realized he could never match yet he enjoyed making the attempt.
Niall had been in the winery checking casks, out of sight, when Luciana had approached Grandfather Nate with words of disapproval about his making a trip to Lake Baikal rather than to old America. Though he knew better he couldn’t help but overhear her harsh words for him.
"You asked Kirk to go with you, Grandfather Nate. You promised me you'd bring him back. But now you're taking off on another trip at the behest of the Ladies instead of honoring your word to me."
"Kirk is beyond help, my darling Luciana. He is safe where he is at for the time being. Lady Lauren was badly injured and she needs to immerse herself in the healing waters of the Lake immediately. I know what I promised and it still stands. I'll go for Kirk as soon as I return."
Niall had been the youngest child in a large family. Most of his siblings had grown into adults by the time he was born. He'd always been treated as the baby of the family. By the time he was two years old, all his brothers and sisters had departed from the Isle of Skye to be on their own... all except Luciana.
She had taught him so many things. Even though twelve years separated them, Luciana had always seemed to consider him as an equal, not like a little kid who always managed to find his way into trouble.
It was her leaving that enticed him to go too. He owed her so much that he'd never be able to repay. He had seen the way their daughter Candice worshipped Kirk. Luciana deserved better than being put second over and over again. Candice needed her father home, either in the graveyard behind Toulon or in the ossuary under Orchardton Hall.
Niall understood the workings of the anti-gravity machine well enough that he felt confident he could fly it solo to old America and bring back Kirk's body himself. He had only to await his opportunity.
From what he understood, the craft traveled so fast he could be there and back again within hours. No one need miss him. Besides, it was common for him to go days without speaking to anyone.
Knowing there would be a celebration at the Isle
of Skye, Niall made plans to steel away when no one noticed, commandeer the anti-gravity unit, and make the trip to old America and back before anyone was wiser.
He could almost see the look of awe in Grandfather Nate's eyes when he brought Kirk home again. Niall had always been good at subterfuge... he reveled in books of intrigue that he read constantly... old tomes written by authors long turned to dust and yet still adept at weaving a spell of mystery and terror.
He often fancied himself a character in such a book... plotting a path of least resistance, always on the lookout for a method of slipping silently through the cracks of society to immerse himself in the underworld of espionage that had long ago ceased to exist and yet still filled his dreams with surreal adventures.
He'd been born too late.
Chapter 6 9—The Sundering
There were many people around to talk with but it still felt lonely at Toulon Castle.
Even though Alpin never spent much time with her, at least she knew he was alive and well. Now, he was gone. When Father decided to go too, it was nearly more than Ena could bear. Still, she gave a smile and hugged Father close.
"I'll be leaving soon, my sweet Daughter... I feel I've overstayed."
"Why would you say something like that, darling Father? I love having you here."
"I feel restless. It's as if I don’t belong."
As his injuries healed his strength returned, and his wanderlust... Ena knew Kāne had never been one to stick around. When he first arrived at Orchardton Hall she thought he might make a home there.
She was wrong, yet she knew better than to beg him to stay. It would be like caging a dolphin which had always been free to swim the seven seas. Father was a wanderer. No matter where he ended up he would consider himself home.
"I'll miss you, Father. Promise you'll come to visit."
"In a day I won't remember this place."
She knew he was right. Lady Lauren told her how all the male members of her species were prone to forgetfulness. It was as if the amnesia gene ran side by side with the immortality switch in their genetic makeup.