NOVEL NEXT 26: Time To Row The Boat
“Come on you bastard,” The Chief Engineer had given the engine several new dents from the head of her socket wrench. She had to shut down the entire reactor, rebuild its inner mechanism, and slowly bring it back to life. The saboteur wasn’t that good, but whoever it was had caused a mess. Several belts and sockets were crushed or sliced apart. She had to cannibalize most of the secondary generators to get the parts to fix the primary. This made things even more desperate, but she knew they needed power from the main generator now.
Her name was Cathrine Kay, she was forty three years old and a mother of two. She had taken the assignment on the HMS Sanguine after her second son had finally moved out to go to college. She had a long history of serving on cruise ships until the news about vampires got out. Even though she hadn’t worked on a vessel in years, her skill was without compare. She adapted quickly to the inner workings of the Sanguines old engines, and appreciated their rustic charm. In a way she shared something in common with the aged machine. They were both tested by the limits of age and stress. There was a time she would’ve been considered beautiful, but life hadn’t been kind. She appeared matronly to all the other mechanics she worked with. Her auburn hair was turning grey, and her eyes were jaded.
After days of fixing, testing, and retesting, the core engine was finally starting to come back. It was a Frankenstein of a machine now, but nothings perfect. She hated resorting to duct tape and gum to hold together some of the copper wiring, it spat in the face of her self-esteem as a ship engineer. But like her father said ‘get the damn thing working and stop complaining!’.
Tricky old bastard always had one liners for times like this, Catherine thought to herself. “I think we’ve got it! Draw all the power from the reserve batteries, she needs a startup charge.”
One of the mechanics helping her didn’t approve, “But if we do that we’ll have nothing left! If this fails were screwed.”
“You damn imbecile, were already screwed! Were a tin can about to go down a waterfall! It’s literally now or never!” Catherine shot him a glare.
“I feel like I still have to object!”
Catherine grabbed him by the collar, she knew he was too hungry to think rationally. “Thats your stomach talking, stop whining like a bitch and do what I say!”
Her mechanic quickly gave in, “Shit! Aye sir.”
Catherine let him go, then returned to the engine. She connected a series of coils between it and the other lesser generators so that it could draw in an initial charge. She knew that if this didn’t work they would be out of power completely. Unless rescue came they were done for.
They waited several minute in hopes to not defuse the charge. Eventually the lights began to fade. “On my count,” Catherine had her fingers on the ignition sequence and hoped the other mechanic was ready to start the turbines.
“Shit I already flipped the switch.”
“Your an ass,” Catherine scoffed, then immediately turned her assigned knob. She prayed for a miracle while hearing the engine protest.
…
The cyclone fell from the heavens. It was but one of many, but this one floated from the dark clouds like an umbilical chord reaching for the sea. The water spout was never seen by any spotters or onlookers, but it was there. Its dance with the wind would have been considered elegant if observed from a safe distance. Unlike its land cousins, this tornado had nothing solid to build on and there was no debre it could use to seriously damage the human vessel.
The HMS Sanguine was too big to be capsized, but as the waves grew larger its chances of survival dimmed. The vortex brushed alongside the vessel, then glided threw it. As the wind wrapped around the Sanguine, water slammed against the stern like a water fall. Each droplet was like a dagger against the wooden beams and hardened steel. While the damage was minuscule at best, the wind was strong enough to force the grand ship to list hard on its axis. Flags ripped from their poles and furniture that wasn’t bound to the deck was lost forever.
The vortex wasn’t disturbed by the sudden obstacle. The force of nature continued dancing on the growing waves and left the HMS Sanguine behind. Those inside all found themselves thrown to the ground.
…
For a brief moment the lights flickered, then the world fell underneath them. The entire horde of starving vampires were thrown sidewise. Everything around Rose screamed. It wasn’t just the people. Furniture clashing, glass shattering, and metal bending added to the chaos.
Rose clutched onto the chair with all her might. Strangely only Kyle and Maggie kept their position. Maggie had to kneel, but Kyle stood as if somehow immune to gravity!
Everything slammed into darkness for a brief but powerful moment. When the floor reset the darkness lingered. Rose held her breathe…
“I am seriously getting tired of all this!” Maggie’s voice was somehow more terrifying than the anything else. “Can anything else go wrong?”
The tiniest source of light flickered into life, it was the only light bulb unbroken in the the corner of the theater. That one single light source had never seemed brighter. Rose fixated on it through her red haze, she was still riding the vampiric fever. Then a new noise broke, a loud crescendo of explosions and war cry’s. It was so loud and surprising that it nearly burst her eardrums. It took a moment for Rose to realize that it belonged to the movie screen behind her. The theater was alive! The movie projector was trying to play some kind of war movie, the digital screen then burst into life to show a scene involving tanks charging into a crowd of soldiers under a rain of artillery.
Just as soon as the movie erupted, the crowds of hungry vampires were back on their feet. Several began trying to storm the main entrance. The noise, the constant movement, and bizarre dance of light was hard for Rose to navigate through the red haze and intoxicants in her system.
Riding the wave of blanket desire, Rose struggled to hold herself together. The dark red haze grew thicker, human figures were barely a blur to her retinas. Sounds of grunts and painful cries floated like a haunting orchestra amid the cries from the movie. Yet she was still able to make out Kyle and Maggie, they were the only solid objects she could pinpoint. She watched in awe as Kyle fought back the mass of assailants. Maggie twisted and turned as she downed one person after another.
The duo were surprisingly fluid with their motions, Maggie’s speed complimented Kyle’s robust strength as they fended off the starving horde. The seconds drew by awkwardly, but a lull in the crowds advance caused a break to form between them. The sound reel for the movie burst then died, but the movie scene continued to play on mute behind Rose. Kyle and Maggie took the moment to catch their breathe. The vampires on the other side of the door were pitiful and desperate, Rose couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. They weren’t monsters, only frightened people in a ship lost in a storm.
Lightning struck as Sophia pushed through the crowd. Behind her was another tall angular man with lanky features. Rose narrowed her eyes through the murky haze. She got the distinct impression the lanky one was who had chased them before.
Another scruffy looking man wearing a torn coat advanced hesitantly alongside them. His thick beard instantly gave him away, Rose could recognize the captain. Soon more and more stumbled into the crowd next to them. Crewmen, security officers, and simple tourists were all gathering like a zombified mob seeking brains. Or at least thats what Rose thought.
“How much blood do they need to survive?” Rose asked the duo guarding the entrance.
Maggie glanced back at her, “I mean…reasonably a couple drops might help but no one here seems reasonable Rose.”
Sophia took another step forward, her gait was wobbly. Rose’s ears popped as the air pressure built inside the HMS Sanguine, causing the thick glass windows to crack. The constant waves were making it even harder to stand. But Sophia kept her ground, her eyes were puffy and red. Her lips were quivering, two needle like fangs poked out. Some of the others behind her were crawling on their knees, no longer having the energy to stand. Panic was the scene before them, pure undiluted panic.
“Hungry…so goddamn hungry…” Sophia tried to speak up, “You can’t hide human!”Kyle sympathized but he wasn’t about to lower his guard. Maggie prepared for the worst. Rose felt a pang of guilt, but it was buried underneath a layer of pleasure.
“Row row row your boat gently down the stream,” Everyone froze as a new melody danced through the air. Rose breathed a sigh of relief as she recognized the voice instantly. Somehow she could sense that her vampire was close by. Rose didn’t know how but once Becca was near she felt a brand new sensation. It was like having a warm balm applied to her breasts causing her heart to flutter.
Sophia looked to her left and faced the source of the voice. “Merely merely merely merely, life is but a dream…” A mist seemed to coalesce at the far side of the hall, just out of sight for Rose. The crowd dissolved as quickly as the mist formed as dozens of vampires fled from the intruder. Rose noticed the captains face had grown very pale.
“This can’t be…how is this possible?” Sophia was sweating bullets.
“Seraphine…” The lanky man behind her whispered.
Rebecca’s feet touched the floor. Her gown was enthroned by a thick curtain of shadow to look like giant wings growing out of her back. She looked at the crowd and smiled, “Well hello there…Sophiaaaaaaa…”