Aiyana held Shipley for several seconds, her mouth unhinging to cover most of his neck. Persi noticed blood seeping past the vampire’s lips, some of it dripping onto the floor, her off-handed quip about cleaning the carpets becoming a reality.
As quickly as it happened, it was done. Aiyana dropped Shipley to the floor, and changed back into her beautiful naked human form. In a move that reminded Persi of a mechanical bank, she stepped into the closet, crouched back into a fetal position and pulled the door shut.
Persi blinked then looked at Boots. “Well, I like that,” she said. “She has dinner and makes us clean up all the mess. You will need to speak with our guests on this issue.”
Boots smiled. “I will, my love. Are you well?”
She tilted her head back onto his shoulder and closed her eyes, as if taking a survey of her body, then opened them. “Yes, I believe I am.”
Captain Grimm rushed into the room, followed by Nicholas, both armed with short barreled revolvers. He looked at the body, the blood, and the two sitting on the bed. “But, I did not hear the shot?”
“I believe if you look, you will see it was death by exsanguination, and not from a bullet.” Boots said.
Grimm bent over the body, then stood abruptly. “Saint-p’ere, half his neck is missing.”
“Yes, apparently this is what happens when you wake a sleeping vampire.” Boots said.
“I suspected as much,” Persi said.
Boots and Grimm looked at her.
“Well,” she said sheepishly, “I had no gun available. I mean, how was I supposed to know this was going to happen, and in my bedroom. When I came down from breakfast, I opened the closet to put some clothes away and found Aiyana sleeping. I decided not to disturb her so I shut the locker and readied myself for bed. When Shipley pushed his way in, I remembered how one of our guests had said the Nosferatu were very sensitive to the smell of blood. I thought perhaps it was intrinsic among their lot, so I bloodied Shipley’s nose. Him choosing to sit so close to the very locker housing the vampire was just serendipity.”
“So, you were okay with a Nightwalker sleeping in our stateroom?”
“Boots, she obviously does not take up much room, and I wasn’t currently using the locker.”
Boots rolled his eyes. “With us, she was sleeping in our room with us. We barely know them and their ... needs. What if you awoke in the morning and found your husband had only half a neck?”
“First I would cry,” Persi said.
Boots sighed, “Well, it’s something.”
Persi tilted her head. “Yes, my dear, but these sheets have a very high thread count, and are white. I would be most upset to lose them to ravaging and blood loss”
“Mister Beacon,” the Captain said, “and I mean this with all the respect, but your belle, she is ... the scary one, yes?”
“No offense taken, she is indeed,” Boots agreed.
Chapter 22 –Persi is Drawn into a Nightwalker’s Story
Persi raised an eyebrow at the captain and folded her arms. “Well, I say. I did save the day, yes?”
Grimm smirked and shrugged, apparently a motion equal with a small concession.
“Yes, I did, thank you very much,” Persi said.
Boots smiled and winked at Grimm then focused on the issue at hand. “Captain, please send a couple men to remove this body. Prepare it for burial and take it to the observation deck. I believe there are a couple empty line lockers of an appropriate size to hold Mister Shipley. Please tell the men to be respectful of our fallen shipmate. Though he became unhinged in the end, he served us well, and his intentions were noble. When we get to Denver we shall further consider the disposition of his body.”
“Yes, sir.” Captain Grimm said and turned to leave.
“And get Morris to bring a pot of hot water and cleaning supplies, to clean the blood from the floor. Perhaps he can get much from the carpet while it is still fresh.”
Grimm nodded and left.
Nicholas stood for a second more, looking at the closet.
“Something you need Master Nicholas?” Persi asked.
He jerked his head toward Persi upon hearing his name.
She continued, “A question forming in your brain that is afraid to pass your lips?”
“No ma’am.” He nodded and left quickly, shutting the door behind him.
“Well,” Boots said staring at the closet. “You may be fine with this arrangement, but I am not. I will speak to them after they awaken. Are you feeling better, my heart?
“Yes, dear, much better.”
Boots saw something pass across her face that he could not read. Something like concern tinted with resolve, or something else completely, what did he know of the mysteries that huddled behind the eyes of women?
****
The weather was good, and assisted by a slight tail wind, the Daedalus made good time. The Captain anticipated making his landing time as previously discussed, and until then, they could enjoy the rest of the flight.
That evening, an hour before sunset, the Nightwalkers began to rise. John appeared first, standing in the middle of the engine room, naked. Mister Parry asked one of his men to loan the naked man some clothes until he could requisition some from Morris, who was acting as supply clerk. When neither the man, nor any other crewman responded, Parry shamed them by giving John a pair of his coveralls.
Jane was next, appearing in a blanket. Persi found her a walking dress but Jane refused. “It is pretty by your standards, I’m sure, but it would make me uncomfortable. Like putting a waist coat on a cougar.”
“I think I understand. It would make you feel like something you are not.” Persi said.
Jane smiled. “Just so. If it is acceptable, Aiyana and I will fashion our own clothing. All we need is a couple blankets, an old sheet perhaps or whatever you have available, and a needle and thread?”
“Of course, I will have some materials delivered to the room in which you slept. I will include some of my old dresses. Please feel free to use them as resource not clothing.”
“Again, that is kind of you,” Jane said.
Minutes later, Aiyana arrived, finding Persi, Boots and the other two Nightwalkers sitting in the dining area sipping coffee. She approached wrapped in a blanket though not as tidily wrapped as Jane’s, showing not only her ankles but also occasionally her calves.
As she sat, they could tell something was wrong. Aiyana looked at John and Jane first and something transferred. Whether emotion or thought, they could not tell but Jane’s soft smile tightened and she abruptly looked at Persi. “What has happened? My dreams were filed with violence and blood.”
“It was their steward, the man named Shipley,” John said. “He lost his mind and was about to kill the lady,” he pointed at Persi, “when you rose from your sleeping place and killed the man. I heard this from the men in the engine room.” He looked at Boots. “It is true?”
Boots nodded. “Quite true,” we do not blame Aiyana for this, in fact we have waited for to awaken so we could thank her appropriately.”
Persi rose and moved to Aiyana’s side. She held her hand out but Aiyana only looked at it.
“We shake hands as a way of thanking someone,” Persi said.
John chuckled. “We know this. Some of our ancients were around when humans first began this tradition.”
“We ...” Jane hesitated, “We have a ... talent. In some of us, it is more developed. Aiyana is the best of us.”
“Yes?” Persi asked, her interested peaked.
“We ... feel things, sometimes see things,” John said.
“You can see the person’s future?” Boots asked.
This time Jane laughed. “No, we see the present, the person as they are. We see the person, beneath their skin. Sometimes their thoughts, but always their emotions. It is a Nightwalker trait and keeps us connected. If something happens to one of us, the others can feel it, sense it.”
“So if something happens to John, you an
d Aiyana can feel it?”
A gentle smile crossed the vampires’ faces simultaneously. “Yes, and no. Yes, John and I can know, feel something, but it is not just us. All vampires of the tribe can feel it,” Jane said.
“Ah, well, most ...” Boots tried but found he had difficulty accepting this power.
“And the Nosferatu, they are the same?” Persi asked, still standing but having dropped her hand.
“Yes, even more so,” Jane said. “Think of ants, or bees. With them, it is more of an animal level instinct. In the hunt, it helps them move together, to surround their prey and ...”
“Uhm ...” Persi said, looking uncomfortable.
Jane looked at Aiyana, shrugging a question.
Aiyana shifted her gaze to Persi, “We do not allow the Nosferatu to hunt humans. Part of our heritage, our responsibility is that we are their keepers. They hunt, what you hunt, deer, buffalo, rabbits. Again, think of them as animals.”
“Noble animals,” John added.
“Noble animals with hope,” Jane finished.
“And what is the ‘hope’?” Boots asked.
Aiyana smiled more broadly, “That one day, they will evolve and be able to join us in society.”
“C’est possible?” Captain Grimm asked, entering the space, while lighting his pipe.
“Oui,” replied John, not missing a beat.
“But surely ...” Boots said.
Jane raised her hand. “Please understand, we think and hope across many of your generations. It may take a few hundred years but,” she raised her arms and rotated her palms up, “we have hope.”
“Well,” Persi said, “it is a noble hope, and I for one will join with the Nightwalkers in it.” She held here hand back out to Aiyana. “I have nothing that I would not trust you to know.”
Aiyana’s eyes widened and she took half a step back. She looked again at Jane.
Jane gave the slightest of nods. “It is a first step is it not? It is why we are here, it is trust, the foundation of our hope, but this thing you know,” she nodded at Persi’s outstretched hand, “it is up to you.”
Aiyana looked at Persi’s hand as a tear rolled down her cheek, then reached out and took it.
Persi smiled, and for a moment, felt nothing. Suddenly, without warning, her eyes flashed white and ...
It was morning as I looked into a woodland clearing, the rising sun beginning to push individual trees from the darkness. I looked at the ground where the savaged body of a woman lay, my mother, her yellow dress ripped and smeared with blood. When I looked up again, people, aboriginal people surrounded me.
“We were not in time,” a woman said.
“The sun is coming, Paa,” another voice, a man’s, spoke from part of the forest still in darkness. “We need to go.”
“We will take her with us,” said yet another voice, a woman’s.
“No permission has been given to this one,” the one called Paa said. “The elders ...”
“I will take her then,” the other woman’s voice said, “I will take the responsibility and any punishment, but I will not leave her for the Nos to return. Who knows how she lived the first time? It is an omen.”
Paa stood for a second longer, looking down into my face.
“Paa, the sun it ...” the man’s voice said in urgency.
“Hush,” she said, looking into my eyes. “Take her.”
Paa, turned and walked quickly into the woods, and there behind her stood Jane. She smiled and knelt beside me.
“I am going to carry you because the sun comes quickly and we must get home,” Jane said. “Hang on tight.”
Jane picked me up and held me in front of her, as if I weighed nothing. Her arms were tight but gentle, as she ran, fast.
Chapter 23 – A Promotion and Better Understood Nos
“Persi! Persi! Are you well, my love?” Boots’ anxious cries pierced through the dark veil of unconsciousness clouding Persi’s mind. Her eyes blurred as they opened and in place of the woods, the smell of pines, and the wind blowing by her hair, there was Boots’ concerned face, looking down on her. “Welcome back, are you hurt?” he asked.
“Never better,” Persi mumbled, slowly blinking against the harsh light.
Boots smiled.
Persi interlaced her fingers across her chest. “Boots?”
“Yes, dear?” Boots answered.
“Why am I lying on the floor?” she asked.
Captain’s Grimm stepped into view, his gun drawn and pointing across the room. “You collapsed, Mademoiselle, when this one took your hand.”
Persi raised her head to see Aiyana standing near her. “Oh, Captain, put that silly thing away. You would shoot her, and if so inclined, the other two would be on you in less than a second. Besides, she has done no harm.” She held a hand up to Boots, “My dear, please so kind as to help me to my feet.”
Boots stood, reached down and helped Persi to stand. Upright, she brushed her dress and ensured nothing needed adjusted and all was in order. She looked at Aiyana’s expressionless face. “Thank you. Will it be that way any time we...”?
Aiyana shook her head. “It is like – like ...” she tried. “No, it is not the same after the first time.”
“Uhm, perhaps the worried husband could be enlightened?” Boots asked.
Persi patted his arm. “Later my dear, for now let us see what Mister Morris has supplied for our meal.
****
Steward-come-cook, Morris, impressed them again, creating a tasty meal consisting of buffalo tenderloin, braised for several hours, onions, carrots and potatoes cooked in the braising liquid, and a simple salad made from wild greens, mushrooms and small balls of a white cheese. For the Nightwalkers, he provided each with a bowl of chopped raw buffalo meat, mixed with a little cooked barley and a sprinkling of herbs.
“Well, done, Morris,” Persi said, then looked at Captain Grimm. “You set a splendid table.”
Grimm acknowledged the compliment, then nodded his thanks to Morris.
“Yes,” John said, lifting a fork, “Nicely done. The grain adds an interesting texture, something different, and to us,” he looked at the other two vampires, “different is good.”
Morris nodded back at the vampire, though it lacked exuberance.
“I’m afraid, many of my crew are working through the idea of your presence aboard the Daedalus,” said the Captain to John.
“Yes, and I am at a loss as to what I can do to help,” Boots said.
John waved him off. “Time, sir. Much of this will take time.”
Persi finished her third helping of salad. “Mister Morris, what is this cheese with which you have delighted me?”
“It is called, Paneer, ma’am,” he replied.
“Where did you find it? It is delicious.” Persi said.
“I made it ma’am. It’s not hard,” Morris replied.
Persi looked at the Captain, then at Boots. “My dear, I wish you to fire Steward Morris.”
Boots stopped chewing and looked at his wife with wrinkled brow, Morris visibly stiffened. Captain Grimm continued his meal, seemingly unaffected by the request.
“And hire him as our new cook,” she said, “with a substantial increase in pay. If he wants the job, of course.”
“It is up to him, my dear, but I will bow to your judgment in these matters. What say you Captain, any problem with that?”
“Tu as ma benediction,” Grimm said with a smile and nod, then looking at his new cook, “But you will still continue the duties of the Steward until a replacement is provided, yes?” He turned back to Persi, “After all, my clothes and accoutrements must continue to receive the care.”
Morris smiled from ear to ear, “Yes sir, thank you.”
“Remember, Cook, we expect the same quality preparations and attention to detail we have witnessed from you to date.” Persi said.
“Yes ma’am, and to that end, may I approach you with some ideas I have about increasing the availability and quali
ty of our food? Perhaps, tomorrow after breakfast?” Morris asked.
“Mister Morris,” Boots said, standing, all eyes focusing on him. Morris tensed.
Boots smiled finally, “Way to take the bull by the horns, man! Splendid, you will do well in this new position.”
The muscles in Morris’s face relaxed and he looked tired, obviously un-used to these emotional ups and downs.
“Now have you, by chance, created a tasty desert?” Boots said.
Mister Morris nodded, “I have a made a flan, and a blood pudding for ...” he hesitated, then a decision reorganized the lines in his face, “our guests.”
Boots nodded and Persi smiled. “Excellent,” they said together.
When Cook left to retrieve dessert, John spoke, “The men, the workers, the ...”
“The crew?” Grimm offered.
“Yes, the crew, what do they eat?” he asked.
The three humans looked at each other curiously.
“They eat what we eat,” Mister Parry said, entering the dining area, still wiping his newly washed hands on a towel. “Though, they eat in shifts so it does not interfere with the proper, safe operation of this ship.” He removed his coveralls and hung them on a nearby hook leaving him standing in his working dress uniform.
“Interesting.”
“What had you assumed?” Persi asked.
“That the leaders ate better than the – crew.” John said.
“Why would you think that, is that what the tribes do?” Boots asked, “Men eat first, woman and children eat last? Do the leaders get the best food and the others the scraps?”
Aiyana and Jane laughed out loud. “No, not unless the men want trouble,” Jane said. “We have no children, of course.”
“But ...” Persi said, remembering her vision of Aiyana as a child.
Aiyana cut her off. “Yes, as a rule we do not have children. It is better said that we do not reproduce children, at least not in the way of humans. Occasionally, a circumstance might arise where a young human is brought into the tribe. A lost child perhaps, or a child left after a Nos attack, then they are raised by us until they are of age. At that time, they are offered the Gift. Some choose it, some do not.”
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