Chapter 5
1797 Words
5
Allie blinked at her. “Shouldn’t we be-?”
A light flickered in the middle of the room and the holographic figure of a middle-aged man appeared in the cabin. He wore a uniform and sported a clean-cut beard. “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to announce that the ship will soon be docking at Porta Tetro. I apologize for any inconvenience this may bring and promise to reimburse any lost connections off the planet. Have a good evening.”
The image flickered before it disappeared.
Bina clasped her hands together and frowned at where the hologram had appeared. “What in the world are those idiots doing that for?”
“The ship can’t dock there?” Allie asked her.
Bina shook her head. “That isn’t what’s wrong. We’re not supposed to stop at all until we reach Porta Prima.”
Allie looked from the port holes back to her hostess. “What’s wrong with that?”
Bina pursed her lips as she studied her guest. “Porta Prima is only a few hours away as the crow flies, but two days’ time on this voyage.” Allie blinked at her. “The ship sails with the shadow of the planet in order to allow its sun-averse guests as much time as possible to enjoy the journey. However-” She furrowed her brow and gripped the wheels on her machine tighter. “This detour also means this trip will take much longer than I anticipated. If we’re docked more than an hour the morning will reach the ship.” She turned her attention for a moment to the port hole and her far-away voice showed Allie that she was more talking to herself than her. “Something terrible must have happened to force this detour.”
“I still don’t understand why it’s bad that the sun will rise,” Allie persisted.
Bina sighed. “It means you must stay here while I sleep. Do you understand?”
“In here?” Allie asked her as she swept her eyes over the cabin. “Or on the boat?”
“My cabin,” Bina explained as she rolled away from the table and over to one of the port holes. Her eyebrows crashed down at the scene that the hole revealed. “The sun will rise in a few hours.” She looked over her shoulder at Allie and her expression softened. “Little time to enjoy one another’s company.” Allie blinked at her, but the vampiress laughed it off. “No need to worry. I can see the fog’s lifting, so there won’t be any more attempts on your life, at least for tonight.”
A great part of Allie wasn’t comforted by those words.
Bina looked askance at her guest and her expression softened. “No harm will come to you so long as you remain by my side. This I promise you with all my life.” A mischievous smile tickled the corners of her lips. “Well, what life I have in me.”
Allie had to force her hand from reaching to protect her throat. “Can you… do you make your own kind?”
“You’re asking if I intend to make you into my eternal companion? The answer is a very definite ‘no.’” Bina brushed a wrinkle out of her skirt before she looked down at herself and sighed. “As many adventures as I’ve had, I wouldn’t give this life to another.” She lifted her eyes up to Allie and there was a strange spark in them. The look didn’t frighten Allie, but she couldn’t read it. “Especially you.”
“Me?” Allie repeated.
Bina shook herself and smiled. “I’m sputtering nonsense, aren’t I? And you must be bored of it.” She smiled as she swept a hand around the room. “Go on. Look around as you please, and when you tire of that we’ll go on deck and see those sights.” She leaned back and admired the young woman. “It will be interesting to see through a pair of young eyes for once.”
Allie stood and took a stroll around the room. The cabin had little unique furnishings other than the style being of such an antiquated date. However, something personal on the end table beside the couch caught Allie’s attention. It was a picture frame. She stooped and studied the photograph. The picture was faded from years of exposure, but she could see the shot was of a crowd of people that mingled in a large square. Large stone buildings surrounded the huge outdoor space.
“That is a very old photograph,” Bina spoke up with a voice that revealed her fond affection for the object. “I took it about a century ago, I think, in one of the piazzas in Italy.”
Allie looked over her shoulder at her hostess. “What were you trying to take a picture of?”
Bina nodded at the picture. “Pick it up and look closely. Do you see a man in the left background?”
Allie did as she was bidden and picked up the frame. She studied the left side of the photo and her eyes fell upon a man of somewhere around thirty. He leaned his back against a portico column. The structure cast most of him in shadows, but Allie could see there was a look of boredom on his features not unlike the expression Madam le Boyer had shown toward her. She couldn’t be sure of the expression, however, as he wore a pair of goggle-like glasses that completely hid his eyes.
Allie looked up at her hostess. “You mean the man against the column?”
Bina nodded. “Just the one. “What do you think of him?”
Allie returned her attention to the picture and shrugged. “He’s nice enough. Who is he?”
“Just a drifter who rarely ever stands still long enough for his picture to be taken,” Bina told her as she rolled over to the kitchenette. She drew a decanter from the fridge and a wine glass from the cupboard. The liquid was red and had a rust-tinged scent to it. Allie noticed the contents of the decanter splashed a little as Bina’s hand shook. She set the wine glass on the counter and set her free hand over her other shakier one but retained her smile at the young woman. “It took me quite a few years to capture even that poor photograph.” Her eyes darted up to the young woman at her side and a crooked smile slipped onto her lips. “Handsome, isn’t he?”
“I suppose,” Allie agreed as she set the picture back down.
The old woman chuckled. “Spoken like someone who believes they have no chance with the fellow, or-” She paused and raised a teasing eyebrow, “-perhaps you prefer men of greater build?”
“Neither.” Allie answered as she moved away from the photo. Bina smiled as she poured herself a drink but didn’t reply.
Allie stopped near the door and looked out one of the port holes. Darkness and water were all she could see. A pale man in a top hat and tails strolled by followed by a younger man with some complexion. The younger man wore a tweed jacket and knickers with the soft shoes she would expect to find on a caddy.
Allie half-turned to her hostess who had rolled back to the table with her glass in hand. “Is this really the 23rd century?”
Bina set her glass on the table and chuckled. “The surroundings hardly suit such a century, do they? The ship was designed to mimic a luxury cruise liner from the early twentieth century. Even the chimney stack is just for decoration, and the smoke courtesy of a hologram.” She cast a look of disgust at the kitchenette. “The imitation is sometimes too good.” She raised her arms and shrugged. “But I suppose going on these cruises reminds me to be grateful for the modern conveniences, and to never style my kitchen in such a drab manner.”
Allie turned to face the cabin and surveyed her surroundings. “So, if this is another planet then humans can explore space?”
Bina smiled. “You’re curious about the level of technology from your own century.” She paused and cast a raised eyebrow at her guest. “What century are you from?”
“The twenty-first.”
The vampire leaned back, and a gentle smile graced her lips as she swished the red contents of her glass. “The twenty-first. What an exciting century that was, and what a nuisance! I remember having to pack a dozen passports just to get halfway around the world. In early centuries I would have been able to travel around the whole of the world with nothing more than a map and my pocketbook.”
Allie’s eyebrows shot up. “How old are you?”
“Old enough to know one should never ask a woman’s age,” Bina teased as she sipped her drink.
Bina didn’t venture any further information, so Allie resumed her survey and peeked into the bedroom again, but didn’t venture inside. Not with that ‘bed’ in there.’ She finished her exploration back at the table where Bina had emptied most of the contents of her glass. Allie resumed her seat but couldn’t help but catch a few quick looks at the ‘drink’ of her hostess.
“It’s blood,” Bina confirmed before she downed the last of the fluid. She set the empty glass on the table and wrinkled her nose. “Though of a vintage I must remember to throw out. Now then-” She set the glass on the table and smiled at her companion. “Shall we go have ourselves a stroll?”
Allie cast a fearful look at the door and wrapped her hand around her neck. “You said there were other vampires on board? More than just you and Boyer?”
“Most of those in the cabin are vampires, and you might recognize us from these-” She pointed a sharp fingernail at one eye. “Gray eyes. After our… change we are granted heightened sight during the dark, but all our eyes have this color.”
“Then will the other vampires… will they-?”
Bina shook her head. “So long as you are with me, none will dare touch you. Now come. Let’s enjoy the night air while it still lasts.”
- Writer
