by P. T. Hylton
Frank smiled. “Know my way around? I helped build the place.” That statement was met with uncomfortable silence from the techs. He slipped the headset over his ear. “That said, I’m not sure how much has changed since my day. A little guidance would be appreciated.”
“Okay, great. From what I can see, you should have a pretty clear path to the Hub. Once you get there, things are going to get hairy. There are badges all over the place. You’ve got twenty outside the building, plus a lot more wandering around the area.”
“Piece of cake,” Frank replied. And he sounded like he meant it.
“Once you get inside the building, there are six guards on the main floor. Then six more on Fleming’s floor. Four guards are in Fleming’s office, along with Fleming and a woman named Sarah. I’ll walk you through the rest on the way.”
“Got it.”
When Frank was outfitted and ready, CB led him to the GMT hangar door.
“Be careful, Frank. I don’t know how many guards Fleming will have, but he’s going to be well protected.”
“The way I feel right now, I don’t think a few guards are going to be a problem.” He paused a moment. “CB, I want what we’re doing here to bring lasting peace. The people need to know the truth about Fleming. I’m going to make him confess before I kill him.”
“You think you can do that?” CB asked.
“I’ll get him to talk.” He started toward the door, then stopped, turning back to CB. “Thank you for believing in me. After so many years of hopeless insanity, I feel like I finally have a purpose. I won’t let you down.”
An unexpected rush of emotions went through CB. “No. It’s us who should be thanking you. Fleming’s always said vampires aren’t as dangerous as we claimed. Go prove him wrong.”
Frank nodded, then turned back to the door. They could hear badges trying to cut through the lock. “Okay. Let’s see what this vampire body can do.”
Suddenly, Frank surged forward. He kicked the door, and both the door and the frame broke free of the wall around it, flying backward into the badges working there.
Frank was in motion again before the remaining badges could even react. He took all five of them down before they even fired a shot. Then he sprinted off, heading toward the Hub.
Just then, Alex’s voice came through the radio. “We’re almost there. Is somebody going to open the airlock or what?”
“Sorry, Alex,” Brian answered. “Things have been a little crazy. We’ll have her open in a moment.”
“Roger that,” Alex said. “See you soon.”
The mood aboard the away ship was tense as they approached their city. Every one of them knew they were walking into a fight. Fleming already believed them dead, and it seemed unlikely he’d give them a hero’s welcome when he found out they weren’t.
They all understood that whatever happened tonight, things in New Haven would never be the same. Come tomorrow, either they’d be dead or Fleming’s reign would be over.
Owl glanced over at Alex. “Should I do the thing?”
“Yes. Do the thing.”
“Sorry, what thing?” George asked.
“It’s sort of a tradition,” Owl answered. She flicked a switch on her radio, broadcasting her voice to everyone on the ship. “Okay, listen up, everybody. We are approaching New Haven. A city built on an airship. Population approximately forty thousand.”
Patrick’s voice interrupted her. “Uh, what the hell, Owl? We don’t need to hear a bunch of facts about New Haven.”
“Yes, we do,” Alex answered, her voice firm. “We need to be reminded of what we’re fighting for.”
“The city was the last accomplishment of a dying civilization,” Owl continued. “In humanity’s darkest days, the greatest minds on Earth worked together to launch her. According to the records, one of the most difficult things for them to decide was the name of the ship. Before settling on New Haven, the names Archangel, Sunrider, and Pigeon Wing were all top contenders.”
“Wait, Pigeon Wing?” Ed asked.
“A lot of lives have been spent on this ship. Generations were born and died without ever setting foot on the surface. She’s flown for one hundred and fifty years, held together by the brilliance, hard work, and sheer stubbornness of humans who refused to admit defeat.”
“Not to mention a few replacement parts gathered by the GMT,” Wesley added.
“And now she’s ruled by a delusional madman,” Owl concluded.
Alex set her jaw, her face a mask of determination. “Not for long.”
Fleming sat behind his desk, his face pale.
All day, he’d been pacing, and Sarah had wished he’d just sit still for a few minutes, but this was almost worse. For the first time, Fleming looked truly afraid.
And all because of a vampire who couldn’t even exist. She decided to try reasoning with him one last time.
“Sir, even if there is a vampire on the ship, there is no way he could get to you. The GMT kills vampires all the time. That’s their whole job, right? Plus, you have half an army in the Hub. This office is the safest place in the city right now.”
A sudden flurry of gunshots came from outside the building. They heard yelling, banging, and then nothing.
Fleming sat up straight, his eyes wild. “What was that? What’s going on out there?”
The guards in the room looked at each other, their faces suddenly drawn with worry.
“We’ll find out, sir,” one of them said, then he began talking into his headset.
There were a few more gunshots, and these sounded like they might be coming from inside the building.
Sarah swallowed hard, for the first time wondering if maybe Fleming wasn’t crazy. Maybe there really was a vampire aboard New Haven.
The guard looked at Fleming. “They’re saying something attacked them. They don’t know what it was, but it tore through their ranks. It’s inside the building.”
The guards moved into position, lining up facing the door, their backs to Fleming and Sarah.
Fleming reached into a drawer in his desk and pulled out a pistol. He held it in a two-hand grip, and still the weapon was visibly shaking.
Sarah looked from the door to Fleming and back, waiting to see what would happen next and afraid she already knew. There was a vampire in the building, and it was coming after them. They were as good as dead.
More gunshots, this time from their floor. The fighting was happening right outside the office. They heard a series of loud thumps, like something slamming against a wall. Was it furniture? Or bodies?
“What’s happening out there?” Fleming asked frantically.
“I don’t know,” one of the guards replied without turning around. “They’ve stopped answering.”
“Who?”
“Everyone,” the guard said, his voice shaking. “Everyone has stopped answering.”
To that, Fleming had no reply.
Suddenly, a thunderous crashing sound erupted and the twin doors to the office were ripped off their hinges. The guards peered through the now open doorway, but there was no one there. It was as if the doors had simply disappeared.
Then one of the doors flew through the opening, slamming into two of the guards, knocking them across the room.
Something rushed in, almost too quick for Sarah’s eyes to follow.
And suddenly, a man in a green jumpsuit stood before her. He looked no different from someone she might see walking through the street in Sparrow’s Ridge, except for his glowing red eyes.
It was a vampire. A vampire was standing right in front of her.
Fleming began firing immediately, but even at this close range, his aim was way off. The first two shots hit the wall behind the vampire, and the third struck one of the remaining two guards in the neck.
The vampire barely seemed to notice the gunfire. He grabbed the final guard and hurled him through the window. The guard screamed as he tumbled through the air, before he landed on the street below and was quickly s
ilenced.
Then the vampire turned to Fleming. “Hello. You must be Fleming. My name’s Frank.”
And then the vampire was in motion. He dashed across the room with uncanny speed, ripping the gun from Fleming’s hand.
Fleming only had time to shout, “Wait, I need to tell you—”
Then Frank’s teeth sank into his neck.
The vampire’s eyes closed in ecstasy as he drank. Then, after a few moments, he pulled himself away, gasping with clear physical effort. Fleming crumpled to the floor.
“I hope I did that right,” the vampire muttered, Fleming’s blood covering his chin.
Sarah’s hand went to her mouth, unable to believe what had just happened. Fleming was dead. This vampire had killed him. Something deep inside her refused to believe it, and yet the evidence was right in front of her.
She dropped to her knees, tears filling her eyes.
Then, impossibly, Fleming climbed back to his feet.
Sarah scurried backwards until her back touched one of the fallen guards.
“Ah, good,” Frank said. “You’re back. I wasn’t sure it would work.”
Fleming looked just as surprised as Sarah felt. He looked down at his hands in disbelief.
“Can you record audio in here?” Frank said.
“Of course,” Fleming replied.
“Good. I want you to turn on the recording equipment and then explain the truth about what happened to the city council. Now.”
Fleming immediately began tapping on his computer screen.
Sarah felt like she couldn’t breathe. What the hell was happening? This vampire… it was as if he was controlling Fleming. She put her hand down, intending to use it to push herself to her feet, but her skin touched cold metal. She closed her fingers around it and pulled it toward her.
“Are we recording?” Frank asked.
“Yes,” Fleming answered.
“Then begin.”
Fleming cleared his throat. “After the council ruled against Resettlement, I decided that—”
The sound of a gunshot cut off his words.
Sarah held the rifle in a death grip, still pointed at Frank. He lay face down on Fleming’s desk, a small black hole in his back where the bullet had gone in. Considering the amount of black, inky blood on the desk, the exit wound had been much larger. Frank slowly slipped to the floor where he crumpled into a motionless heap.
Sarah had done it. She’d killed the vampire. She slowly got to her feet and let the rifle slip from her fingers. “Fleming? Is that still you?”
“Yes,” he said slowly, a smile growing across his face. “It’s me. But better.” He blinked hard. “And hungry.”
Alex stood in the GMT control room, watching the security footage over Brian’s shoulder. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
Her reunion with her friends had been short and sweet. The medical staff had gone to work on Chuck as CB quickly gave the rest of the team a high-level overview of how they’d unleashed Frank on Fleming. The GMT had then crowded into the control room to see the plan play out.
Alex had watched on the monitors in real-time, her fingers digging into Brian’s shoulder as Frank drank from Fleming. And she’d watched in horror as everything went terribly wrong.
The only person in the control room who didn’t hesitate when Sarah shot Frank was CB. He immediately grabbed the radio.
“Jessica, you need to change course. Get us back into the light now! Fleming’s been turned.”
On another monitor, Alex could see Jessica springing into motion. In mere moments, Alex felt the ship turning.
Brian’s security feed made it clear Fleming felt it too. He looked up suddenly, then dashed out of his office.
“Oh shit,” Alex said, the realization hitting her. “He’s going after Jessica.” She turned to CB. “I don’t suppose you have another vampire locked away somewhere.”
CB’s face was stone. “I’ve got something better. I’ve got you.”
Alex turned to her team. “You hear that? We have one more vampire to kill tonight.”
“Good thing we’re still dressed for work,” Wesley said.
CB opened his mouth, and for a moment Alex thought he was going to give them some of his famous motivation. Instead, he said only one word.
“Go.”
Jessica stood on the flight deck, her back pressed against the controls. “So what you’re telling me is Fleming is on his way to kill me and you don’t know how to stop him?”
There was a long pause. Then Brian said, “Yes. I’m sorry, Jessica.” Another pause. “Crap. He’s right outside the flight deck.”
Jessica tried to steel her nerves. She held a gun she’d taken from one of the unconscious guards, and she’d aimed it at the door. Since Fleming didn’t need to breathe, Brian’s technique of sucking the air out of a room hadn’t been effective, but she knew a well-placed bullet could be. She just had to keep her cool.
Something heavy smashed into the flight deck’s door, and a large dent appeared. The door wouldn’t withstand another hit like that.
She glanced over at the controls, double-checking the auto-pilot was still engaged. They were at least five minutes from daylight, but maybe if she stalled, Fleming would waste enough time killing her for the ship to get back in the sun.
She ran across the room to the farthest point from the controls.
Just as she’d predicted, Fleming’s next hit ripped the door right off its hinges.
Fleming strode into the room. His usual politician’s smile was gone, replaced with an expression of stony anger.
“Fleming,” Jessica said. “How have you been?”
“I’m a bit dead at the moment. A condition that has me avoiding sunlight. I need you to turn the ship around. Now.”
“I’d love to help you, Fleming. Seems like you’re having a bit of a day and could use a break. But I’m an engineer, not a pilot.” She nodded toward the unconscious pilot on the ground. “I guess we’ll just have to wait for him to wake up.”
Fleming’s lip curled in a snarl. “Quit stalling.”
“I’m not. I just—”
And then Fleming was in motion. By the time Jessica realized he was moving, he was already across the room and had his hands on her shoulders. He leaned in close so his dead face was less than an inch from hers.
“If you don’t turn this ship around, I will bite you. You will be my eternal slave, and I will make you kill every one of your friends.” He paused. “Although it would be my first time, so I might accidently kill you. Could go either way. I would suggest changing course right now unless you want to find out which horrific way things end for you.”
Alex sprinted toward the control tower at the front of the ship, cursing the bulky GMT gear she was wearing. She was still fully decked out from her mission. If she’d only thought to ditch some of the heavier equipment.
Still, she was pulling away from the rest of the team. All of them were in good shape, but none of the others could run like Alex. With every scream of her burning lungs, she reminded herself that her friend Jessica was alone and that Fleming was coming for her.
Fleming. How many times had Alex wished she could get him alone in a fight? Now it looked like she was going to get the chance. Only Fleming would have such a physical advantage that she had almost no hope of winning. She’s seen the vampires fighting the Ferals at night when Jaden and his crew rescued the GMT. She’d watched the vampires sparring in Agartha. While a brand-new vampire wouldn’t be up to their level of finesse, he’d still have the same speed and strength.
The thought of facing a vampire at night made her shudder.
The thought of saving her friend and punching Fleming in his smug face kept her going.
As she reached the building, she saw the front doors were smashed in. It looked like Fleming had already been through here. She followed the path of destruction, knowing she was close on his trail. She could hear pounding on metal and crashing coming from up a
head. Fleming was in the building, breaking through all the doors on his way to the flight deck.
As she started up the final set of stairs, she glanced back. The rest of her team was too far behind. She couldn’t wait for them. Jessica needed her help now.
She reached the top of the stairs and felt a wave of despair as she saw how Fleming had demolished the heavy metal doors. How could she possibly take down someone so strong?
She stepped onto the flight deck and saw Fleming, his hands on Jessica’s shoulders. Jessica’s back was to Alex, her body blocking any clear shot Alex might have at Fleming. They were at the front of the room, directly in front of the large glass wall that looked over the expanse beyond the nose of New Haven.
“I’m not going to turn the ship,” Jessica said coldly. “Do what you have to do.”
Something sparked in Alex’s mind. She remembered the sparring session she’d watched in Agartha. One moment in particular. When one vampire had thrown the other.
A thought had gone through her mind when she’d seen that: Vampires are subject to the laws of gravity and physics. In the air, a vampire was just as vulnerable as anyone else.
“Bad call,” Fleming said. He bared his teeth, preparing to bite.
No more time to think; Alex had to act.
She raised her pistol. “Fleming!”
He turned, and his eyes widened, clearly shocked to see her alive.
She fired four shots so quickly that someone who didn’t know might have thought her pistol was an automatic.
Fleming looked down, checking to see if he was hit. When he saw that he wasn’t, he smiled. “Maybe the great Alex Goddard isn’t—”
He stopped as a loud cracking sound came from behind him. He turned just in time to see the glass shatter outward from the four bullet holes.
The room depressurized and the air rushed out, sucking Fleming and Jessica out with it.
Alex didn’t hesitate. She sprinted across the room, half running, half carried by the suction, and dove through the window after them.
