Chapter 7
2173 Words
7
Allie glanced over her shoulder at the cabin door and sighed. “Sorry, Bina, but I have to try.”
With her apologies said Allie kept close to the cabin wall of the ship and snuck toward the bow. The closer she came to the point the more people moved overhead until she was forced to stop at the front of the row of cabins and press herself against the wall. Even that spot was a poor choice as the horn blew and footsteps hurried down the stairs from the observation deck.
Allie ducked around the corner as men in white uniforms hurried to the starboard side of the ship. The crowded around a gate in the railing and one of them unlocked a heavy bar. Two men heaved the bar off the gate and the man with the keys opened the gate just as the elegant vessel sailed into the port.
Allie stretched her neck and viewed long docks, most piled with cargo stored in crates and boxes. A small group of men waited at the end of one of the hundred yard long piers. The ship slowed and Allie heard the distinct heavy puff of air as compression brakes stopped the vessel with more efficiency than a twentieth century could have managed. The man at the gate pressed a button atop one of the gate posts and a column of blue light shot out from the deck. The light stretched out into the length and width of a wide plank before it lowered to connect to the pier.
The group on the pier walked up the light ramp and joined the others at the gate. One of the newcomers stepped forward, a short man with beady eyes and a large pair of spectacles. He carried a black bag with him. “Where is the woman?”
The leader of the shipmen jerked his head down the row of cabins. “This way, but we don’t need you to tell us that she’s dead, or what she died from, Arz.”
The short man adjusted his glasses and frowned up at the sailor. “That remains to be seen, Mr. Hajos. Now if you would lead the way to the cabin, I will make my assessment.”
Hajos nodded at Arz’s company. “What are they here for?”
Arz’s eyes flickered over the cabins. “In case one of your passengers decides they want a quick snack before they go to bed.”
“That is unlikely,” a booming voice spoke up.
A man of great expanse of chest and height strode up the deck and joined the group. He wore a uniform in the color of the sailors, but with shimmering buttons over the chest and trim pants unspoiled by dirt and grime. An over-sized silver whistle hung around his neck that didn’t match the gold buttons on his uniform. Atop his head he wore a cap with a glistening black brim and his face showed a tan, but not without a touch of pallor.
The hulk of a man stopped before the crowd and surveyed all presence with a broad grin before his eyes stopped on Arz. “I wish I could greet you with good news, Arz, but we have brought your good city our misfortune.”
“And at a time when I’m supposed to be having my breakfast, Captain Darnell,” Arz snapped as he looked the captain’s face over with narrowed eyes. “You look like you could use a bit more orange juice in your diet, captain.”
Captain Darnell bowed his head. “A consequence of pleasing my guests by being up during their waking. Now if you will follow me-” He looked up at the lead sailor. “That will be all, Hajos. You and the others may resume your work.”
Hajos shrugged before he and other men strode off. The party of medical workers followed the captain down the deck, and soon the gangway stood empty.
Allie darted across the open gap and paused at the glowing ramp. She could see through the blue gangway and to the water some fifty feet below. The young woman grasped both posts of the gate and stretched out one foot. She tapped the light as one would touch glass. The light shimmered a little but did nothing else. She leaned her weight on the foot and nothing happened.
Voices made Allie whip her head up. Some of the sailors walked overhead in her direction. Panic and instinct took hold and she bound down the gangplank. She stumbled onto the pier planks and nearly crashed into a stack of small wood boxes. Allie twisted about to avoid the collision and ducked behind them. She peeked out from behind them and looked out on the ship. The sailors hadn’t noticed her flight and no one even so much as stood at the railing to peer down on the pier. She closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Hello there, sweetie.”
Allie stiffened before she spun around and found herself face-to-face with her former captors, the three ugly pigs. The leader stood in front of them with his arms folded over his chest and a lecherous grin stretched across his face.
He leaned closer to her and slurped his tongue across his fat lips. “Looks like we have ourselves a little runaway.”
One of the pigs in the rear pointed at her neck. “And she’s not even bonded!”
The leader looked over his shoulder at the others. “We should fix that, shouldn’t we, boys? I bet we could find a willing buyer in Tetro. What say you?” A cheer went up from the others and the pig returned his attention to the quivering woman in front of him. “Lucky break for us getting off here, but not so lucky for you.”
Allie shrank back as he stretched out his hand toward her.
“Is there a problem here?”
The pigs’ eyes widened, and they spun around, parting enough for Allie to see behind them. Two uniformed men stood on the deck with their hands on their hips. Their coats were buttoned on the right side, and they wore crisp pants. They sported slim black dress shoes and their heads were bare. Clean badges adorned their breasts over their hearts and at their hips they wore a gun belt with a holster, and each had a revolver.
One was taller than the other and older, but it was the younger man who had spoken. He sported a simple black mustache with equally dark hair. “Is there a problem here, gentlemen?”
The pig wrinkled his snout at the intrusion. “What’s it to you?”
“Quite a bit, seeing as how we have jurisdiction over the port,” the officer reminded him as he tapped the badge.
The snouted oaf frowned. “It’s still none of your business. We’re just doing some transaction here.”
The officer looked past the pig at Allie. “Is this true, miss?”
Allie shook her head. “No, officer. These men kidnapped me and-”
“You’ve got no proof of that!” the pig man snapped.
The officer raised his hand in front of himself. “Easy there. We’re not making accusations-”
“We’ve heard enough already!” the pig man growled as he caught the eyes of his compatriots and jerked his head in the direction of the city. “Come on, fellas. Let’s get out of here.” The pair shuffled off, but the leader cast a dark look at Allie before he slumped off with them.
Them leaving into the hue of the rising sun was like a nightmare being lifted. Allie breathed a sigh of relief, but the air caught in her throat as the officer held out his hand to her. “Could I see some identification, please?”
Allie’s pulse quickened as she patted her pockets. Her wallet was in her old jeans. “I-I don’t have any on me.”
He pursed his lips. “Then do you have the evidence of your blood bond?”
The color drained from Allie’s face as she shook her head. “I-I don’t know what that is. Those men kidnapped me and-”
“That’s a heavy charge, miss, but whether it’s true or not unbonded humans aren’t allowed free roam in Tetro without some identification,” the officer insisted.”
She shrank back as she shook her head. “But I won’t bother anyone.”
The officer shook his head. “A human without documentation or a bond mark is a bother to everyone, especially one who just jumped ship off the Belmonte.” The man took a step toward her. “After seeing you do that, we’re going to have to ask you to come with us and answer some questions, miss.”
Allie’s instincts gripped her, and her eyes darted over the area looking for areas of escape. The stack at her back offered her a way out of the mess. She grabbed hold of a loose box that sat at face-height and flung it at the men. The crate crashed to the docks at their feet and forced them backward. She darted past them and made for the great maze of city blocks.
“Hold it or I’ll shoot!” one of the men shouted.
Allie froze and looked over her shoulder in time to watch him draw the gun from his holster, but it was unlike any weapon Allie had ever seen. The general shape was the familiar six-shooter revolver, but the cylinder had been replaced with a cylindrical glass jar with what looked like bottled lightning contained inside its walls.
He took a few steps toward her with the weapon pointed at her chest. “You have to come with us, and your blood bonder identified.”
Allie held up her hands and shook her head. “I-I don’t know what that means, but please let me go-” Her eyes fell on the boat at their backs and her heart leapt with hope. “What if I got back on the ship? I wouldn’t bother anyone if I did that. If you’ll just-”
“Once you step foot on the docks you’re no longer under the jurisdiction of the ship,” the officer told her as he stretched out his free hand to grab her. “That means you have to come with us.”
Allie stepped backward out of his reach and darted around the officer. Her feet were aimed at the gangplank, but the second officer stepped into her path. He grabbed her arm and held tight, but her momentum swung her around so her back was to the ship.
“Please let me go! Please!” she pleaded.
The armed officer shook his head as he holstered his weapon and grasped her other arm. “I’m afraid we can’t do that unless you show us some identification, now come along.”
The men tugged her away. She dug in her heels, but they were too strong, and they dragged her down the wood boards.
“Please! I have a friend on board who knows who I am!” Allie protested.
The lead officer stopped and frowned at her. “Who is this friend?”
“One of the passengers,” she explained as her frantic mind tried to remember Bina’s real name. “Her name is Bina-Urbina! Lady Urbina!”
The taller officer scoffed. “Convenient of you to name that old girl, seeing as how she’s a vampire and sleeping right now.”
Allie’s face fell and her eyes grew wide with fear and fading hope. “But she does know me! I swear it! Just let me wait on the ship and she’ll tell you!”
The shorter man shook his head. “We’ll wait with you down at the station.”
Allie tensed and tears streamed down her cheeks. “Please! My friend will vouch for me! I swear it!”
“There you are.”
It was a man who spoke, and in a deep, melodious voice. The officers paused and looked over their shoulders. The short one frowned. “Do you know this woman?”
“I will vouch for her,” the stranger replied.
Allie twisted around and saw a handsome man in a long, black elegant coat with a vest shirt and black jeans covering the rest of him. His hair was speckled gray, though his face hardly looked more than thirty. The man wore a pair of goggle-like glasses with thick rims that stretched around his face so that his eyes were completely hidden. He swept off the black wide-brimmed hat he wore and inclined his head to the party. Allie’s breath caught in her throat and her eyes widened.
This was the stranger from Bina’s photograph.
- Writer
