Rhodes

Chapter 1: The thirty-foot steam trawler did its best to take the huge ground swells at a forty-five-degree angle, but it still made for a rough ride. The water outside the Golden Gate never rested, the waves off the deep water of the Pacific created swells that would flounder inexperienced captains. Once outside the harbor, the waves never relented. The surface of the ocean would be like this all the way to Mexico. The icy waters from Alaska would pound against the cliffs and sink any unprepared vessels that ventured into them. Sigmund sat at the port beam of the ship. The rough water did little for his stomach that the cool breeze couldn’t help settle. The last thing he wanted to do was chum the fish in front of his friends. The sun would be up soon, that would help calm his nausea. It would give him a horizon to focus on and a bearing to help quiet his inner ear. The group spent a day searching the docks for a specific boat. A boat that he felt reasonably certain they could trust in their endeavor. Once they found Mister Chow, Phoebe’s father, it was easy to convince him to help; the money offered didn’t hurt either. This led them to their current expedition over the bounding main, as it were. Sigmund just wished he didn’t suffer from a sour stomach while underway. He knew it would happen. His experience on the trip to and from India and then to America from England had proven multiple times he had no sea legs. This trip would be easier to endure, even if the ship was smaller. The journey was limited to possibly a few days. He couldn’t see continuing their search past the border with Mexico. In theory, the army might have transported the men from the hospital to any location along the Pacific, but Sigmund wasn’t ready to abandon the soldiers just yet. He considered all fighting men his brethren; they survived the horrors modern warfare could throw at them and deserved better, if not at the hands of their government then at least a former warrior should look out for them… a little while longer. Then the needs of current projects, specifically the Beast affair, would need his full attention. Chastity sat in the wheelhouse. Her creature detection box held between her legs while the ship rolled and bucked under her. She was uncertain her device would reach this far from the shore. Captain Chow wasn’t willing to head closer to land until the sun gave them visibility to see the rocks that peppered the water along this section of coast. Last thing they needed was to discover how cold the water was even this late in the summer. Their lives would be measured in minutes if they went into the water after running aground here. When the sun rose, they would need to head closer to land, but that would increase the risk of hitting rocks and being spotted. If the government was keeping the test subjects secret, they might possibly take exception to the fishing ship searching for them. “Feeling better?” Carl stepped from the wheelhouse. Sigmund hated showing weakness, but there was little option in this case. “I’ve felt better and worse. The fresh air helps immensely. Any sign on the machine?” He wanted to talk about anything rather than the rolling sea. “Not yet, but Chastity doubted we would get anything.” “I know, but I thought maybe… There are few inhabitants on this section of coastline, I’d hoped any creatures might show up better.” “Even if we find a huge concentration of creatures, you know there is little hope they will be the ones we look for.” “I understand that, but I know if I were in that hospital, I would pray every day that someone might come to the rescue. Those men have no family, no one but us that even know what is going on. If the army is experimenting on them, as a human being, I believe we deserve to search for them.” “You understand high ideals are hard to maintain in the real world. Not everyone can do the right thing day in and day out.” Carl sat next to Sigmund at the rail. “Life is torment…” “I beg your pardon?” Sigmund shook his head. “Something I often heard in India. Life is torment, the only thing we can control is our reaction to this fact.” He watched over the water as the ship crested a swell. “That is a dark outlook on life.” “It isn’t really, if you think about it. We have little control over what life throws in our way. The only thing we can control is inside each of us, our responses to each hurdle. “You should be Jewish. Some of my people make a profession of pain and suffering.” Sigmund didn’t like the tone this conversation took. He expected pain for him and his friends to continue to mount until they died or suddenly found themselves successful. He didn’t hold much for their odds of success. There were many influential forces stacked up against them. “Your sister’s device, can it find mages or witches… users of magic?” “That’s an interesting question. I never thought to ask her. Magics can be a sore subject in our family.” Sigmund turned to better face Carl. This was new information. “How so?” “I think I told you my middle older sister discovered her magics right after her fiancé left her at the altar. We knew magic flowed in our veins, and there was always a possibility that one or more of us might develop the curse, but the way it manifested itself… or more, the timing, was inconvenient. The subject is rarely broached.” “I worked for Helena’s mother. She could never explain it to me. I am ignorant on most of the subject. I didn’t mean to pry. I was only curious.” “Grace explained it to me like her body was on fire.” Chastity leaned against the wheelhouse door holding on for balance. She had done a wonderful job of sneaking up on them. “I asked her once what it felt like. She said that the power needed to be constantly controlled or it would react with a mind of its own. She feared many emotions, because if she lost control, the blue fire would spring from her uncontrolled, burning everything it touched. Anger was the worst, feelings of love or passion she found difficult as well. She told me… if I had to deal with the curse to be careful who I was around. I could kill them in an instant if I lost control.” Sigmund watched the young woman as she spoke. He found it hard to believe she was older than Carl by a few months. She seemed so much younger. “That sounds incredibly painful. I don’t think I could maintain such control.” Carl’s eyes never left his sister. “When did she tell you this? I could never get her to talk about… anything. I begged her to talk to me.” “It was shortly after her powers manifested themselves. She had been drinking, heavily, and I asked her why. I don’t know if it was the power of the magic or the drink. She had a look in her eye like something tore into her soul, I was afraid for her sanity. She never said another word about it, she never broached the subject again.” “I knew she was in pain by her actions. I wish she would have let me help her.” Carl rubbed his eye with the back of his hand. “I’ve met a few witches but really only knew one, the Lady Brandywine. Are they mostly single and alone?” Carl shook his head. “I’m not sure.” Chastity’s eyes turned to the first light in the east. “Because of Grace’s condition, I’ve thought little on the subject. Logically it seems that some witches must connect with others, or the magic lines would die out.” “Or the curse is carried by something other than blood.” Carl stared out over the water as well. “Colleen…” Sigmund paused. He rarely used Helena’s mother’s first name—too many painful memories were attached to that name. It was always safer to conduct himself with proper decorum. “Mistress Brandywine never spoke of such pain. She took magics as a gift. I believe her Aunt Deirdre considers it a gift as well.” “In some respects, it is probably neither. Tesla would never consider energy good or bad, boon or curse, it just is. How we use it or perceive power is colored by our experience on how it is used.” Sigmund nodded. “I believe that brings us back to my original point. Life is more about how we react to the events than the events themselves.” “That will never make things less painful,” Carl added. “I don’t think it is meant to.” Chastity gave her brother a wry smile. Captain Chow opened the window facing them and spoke in his Cantonese accent. “We are heading in. The seas will get rougher until we change course to the south again.” Sigmund hated to hear the word rougher, but he couldn’t help but notice a change in the man. “Sir, I must ask, when we spoke on the pier, your manner of speaking was significantly different from now. Dare I say your accent was considerably thicker?” Captain Chow chuckled. “You people are different. Most people come to the docks, they see a Chinese man on a boat, they assume they are the crew. Stupid, low education, little English. There are times when it is better to let that perception stay. Educated men can be intimidating for some. Better to let them think what they want, fewer conflicts that way.” “I assume you recently arrived here. How did you learn English so quickly?” “Your assumption is wrong. Again, it is part of the game in this new world… My family was in San Francisco before gold was discovered in California. We have fished these waters for generations. I once thought Cam, Phoebe, would follow in my footsteps. She decided her path was to chase after your Helena. We must all follow our own path, don’t you think?” “Wise words.” Sigmund nodded. “Did you find it hard to let her go?” The captain corrected course. “Who said I have? No matter where she goes, she will remain my daughter. My heart hurts while she is away, but one day I know we will be reunited, in this life or the next.” He closed the window and then gripped the wheel with both hands. As the angle over the waves changed, the ship no longer smoothly rode the swells. The hull began to hit the surface of the water with a jarring slap, causing the hull to reverberate with each impact. Pointed toward the coast, the cliffs would grow in size until the course needed to be changed. “Hold on, it will be rough while we head in.” Carl stood and moved to stand next to his sister. Sigmund spotted a city approaching, nestled inside a small bay. “What city is that?” Spray cascaded over him from the bow breaking the waves. “That is Monterey. The fishing boats already left for the day. They will start coming in when full. The canneries here run night and day,” Chow shouted through the window. Escaping the water, Sigmund moved to stand behind the safety of the wheelhouse. Carl and Chastity moved alongside him. They sat on the lid of the bait tank. The sun rose above the mountains. This was one of the few days the north coast was not covered in a dense fog. “You getting any reading on your machine?” Carl asked his sister. “Not yet, but we are still too far out, I think.” The fishing vessel continued its fight towards the shore. The closer they came to land, the more exposed Sigmund felt in the bright morning sunlight. Rounding the jetty, his concerns were revealed. Two navy vessels sat in the harbor. One tied to the pier and one anchored in the harbor. A clicking came from the machine in Chastity’s hands. The light indicating creatures flicked to life. Sigmund stood and tapped on the rear window to the wheelhouse. “Head south, we don’t need to reveal ourselves just yet. I want to survey down to the next point and see what we can find.” The trawler changed course without entering the bay. Carl asked, “Why not go in and confirm?” “We could, but don’t you think someone might find it suspicious if a fishing boat entered with no catch? I knew there was a base here, and as a city, the chances of legendary creatures living here are great. I also know from a friend there are creatures that live in the surrounding hills.” Sigmund shrugged. “If they are here, we will find them. I want to make sure they did not get dropped off at some place special we don’t know of. A secret base or some such nonsense. It would seem logical they would move them closer. With the full moon quickly approaching, I would not want to be on a ship at sea with a cargo that might be adversely affected by the moon… Would you?” “I agree that would be ill-advised. Do you have a plan?” Chastity studied the flashing lights of her device. The needle moved farther to the right as they moved south across the mouth of the bay. “Always. Never leave home without some sort of a plan, though I did not calculate the navy ships remaining in port. We will need to sneak into the city. I believe we will need some help from our rat friends, and if the base is large here, we’ll need more of an army than the three of us.” “Rat friends?” Chastity asked. “Yes, the Rat Queen of San Francisco.” Carl added, “Do you think she will help?” “She should. Annie has skin in this game. I bet she will not be happy to learn the army has been experimenting on creatures in her city. She is protective of both.” Sigmund interlaced and cracked his fingers. “To paraphrase one of Helena’s favorite stories… the game is afoot.”