"Yes," Jacqueline and Nathalie nodded.
"You certainly fed them well," Johnny added, with a grin.
Lola smiled to herself, then to the others. "They don't call me the perfect hostess for nothing. I wonder..." She was interrupted by the satisfying sound of Obsidian Darke making a discreet exit, then Sidorio coming to join her. She felt her husband's hands encircling her waist and smiled.
"You were about to say something, Captain," Jacqueline said. "Before Captain Sidorio joined us. What was it?"
Lola shrugged, her eyes ranging across the array of empty plates. "Oh, only that I wonder how Grace and Connor enjoyed their first taste of blood."
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18 BUSINESS OF THE NIGHT
Stukeley jumped back onto the deck of The Vagabond to find Mimma waiting for him. She was standing against the deck rail, her tousled hair and the soft material of her dress shifting in the ocean breeze. Hearing him, she slowly turned and smiled.
"All done with your babysitting duties?"
Stukeley nodded. "And you?"
Mimma smiled. "For now."
"Well, then," Stukeley said, holding out his arm to her. "As tempting as it is to linger here and count the stars with you, we have a meeting to get to, don't we?"
Mimma locked eyes with Stukeley. "You're a charming man," she said. "But you're right, of course. No rest for the wicked!" Looping her arm through his, she led him across the deck and down to the captain's cabin.
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"Now that we're all here, we shall begin," Lola said, addressing the key personnel of The Blood Captain and The Vagabond . "There is much to discuss." She turned to Sidorio, who was sitting beside her at the head of a long, highly polished wooden table.
Sidorio rose to his feet and cleared his throat. "When we returned from our honeymoon, my wife and I told you of our plans to expand and fortify our empire. We charged each of you with a key part of the jigsaw."
Now Sidorio nodded to his wife. Lola rose from her seat and walked a few paces across to an easel draped in black cloth. Lola removed the cloth and picked up what looked like a riding crop. She pointed at the distinctive red lettering on the board.
"In a nutshell," Sidorio continued. "We want... more ships..."
There was a thwack as Lola struck the board to emphasize his words.
". . . More leaders..."
Thwack.
". . . Faster recruitment..."
Thwack.
". . . And more blood."
Thwack.
"Thank you," Sidorio said, winking at his wife. Smiling,
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she set down the crop and returned to her seat. Sidorio's eyes sought out Stukeley, who was sitting beside Mimma at the other end of the table, a sheaf of papers spread out in front of him. "Stukeley, you were charged with the task of expanding our fleet."
Stukeley nodded sharply, as all eyes turned to him. "Yes, Captain. And, since we last met, I've been looking into commissioning a fleet of ships to be built for us."
"Progress?" Sidorio barked.
"Costly," Stukeley said, "but, more importantly, too time-consuming." He lifted a handful of papers. "I got quotes from three shipyards, but we're talking months before they can get the first ship ocean-worthy. Part of the problem is that the pirates are also commissioning more ships."
Sidorio was unimpressed. "You got three quotes? You offered money ? What were you thinking? We're Vampirates! We don't buy--we take!"
There was a ripple of laughter around the table, just enough to acknowledge the captain's joke without seriously undermining Stukeley's authority.
Stukeley took it in good humor, quietly shuffling his papers. "As it happens, Captains, I've come up with a new plan, which I believe will achieve our goal of a rapidly expanded fleet with the minimum of time and expense."
Lola raised an eyebrow. "This sounds interesting. Tell us more."
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"We steal the ships from the pirates," Stukeley said. "And we kill two birds with one stone. We diminish the Federation fleets and gain access to a portfolio of the most state-of-the-art vessels on the oceans."
"I like it," Lola said, clenching her fist.
Sidorio grinned. "Good work, Stukeley."
Stukeley passed a piece of paper along the table to the captains. "I have a working knowledge of the Federation's fleets. I've drawn up a list of some initial targets."
Sidorio snatched the paper and glanced at the list of ship names on it. But Stukeley hadn't finished. "There's another aspect to this situation, for which I would now like to pass you over to my colleague, Mister Desperado."
Johnny grinned and stood up, as was his tendency at meetings. "As you all know, I head up the Inhuman Resources department on our ships." There were smiles around the table--Johnny's contributions were always laced with humor. "In other words, I'm in charge of recruitment. There are two recruitment streams into the Vampirate empire. First, your landlubber vampires. I've recently conducted meetings with several key leaders of vampire cells along the coast. They know darn well that the real power is on the ocean these days, and they are about ready to join up."
"Really?" Lola asked. "Just like that? We've had problems before with all their terms and conditions."
Johnny nodded. "Quite so, Captain. Quite so. And you're right, we're still in the middle of negotiations, but
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I've left them in no doubt as to how big we're getting... and how much bigger we're gonna get. I'm confident that I'll be bringing you confirmation of one very major acquisition deal real soon."
Lola scribbled a note on her pad.
"Of course," Johnny continued, "when we recruit vampires with no previous marine experience, there's a steep learning curve for them, which brings me to our second recruitment stream. In many ways, it works better for us to take pirates, who are familiar with the ways of the sea, and sire them. It's an adjustment for them in other ways, but at least they know how to sail." He grinned. "Here's where Stuke's ideas and mine overlap. As we acquire each pirate ship in turn, the crews will be given a very simple choice: join us or die." On that note, Johnny sat down again.
Sidorio clapped his hands. "Excellent work, as usual, Stetson." He turned to Lola. "Don't you think so, my dear?"
Lola nodded. "Very impressive, Johnny."
"Now, then," Sidorio said, glancing at the easel. "What's next? Ah... more blood. Over to you, my love."
"Thank you," Lola said. "Obviously, blood acquisition and storage are under the control of the Black Heart Winery team." She gestured to the five young women who sat beside her. "Jessamy, you have the latest blood yields, I believe."
Jessamy stood and went over to the easel. Removing
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the list of key objectives and setting it to one side, she revealed a graph. Lola passed her the riding crop so that she could explain the colored markings. "The blue line marks our current stock levels. As you can see, these are good, but, since we merged command of the two ships, we've been going through stocks at an accelerated rate." She glanced at Sidorio with a smile. "You, sir, have some thirsty crew members!"
Sidorio shrugged. Jessamy waited for the ripple of laughter to subside before continuing. "Look at the red line! This is our projected increase in production over the next six months. I'm sure you'll agree it's impressive."
"It certainly is," Sidorio said. "But is it viable?"
"Oh, yes," Jessamy said. "We've been developing some new tool kits, which will be supplied to all crew members involved in blood harvesting. At this point, I'd like to hand things over to Camille."
At once, Camille pushed back her chair and reached behind her. Standing up, she deposited onto the table what looked like a chunky briefcase. All eyes zeroed in on it as Camille slipped the catch and revealed its contents. "As you can see, this lightweight, durable case holds six standard bottles--which, as you know, is our typical yield per capita."
Lola raised her hand to speak. "This top-of-the-line portable unit wil
l revolutionize our harvesting. We no longer need to harvest solely on The Vagabond , which was previously the case. We've tried portable kits before, but
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there's always been too much wastage in transit. Not anymore! Outstanding work, ladies."
Camille smiled and lifted up the very bottom of her shirt. "The rest of the harvesting equipment will be carried in these new tool belts we've been developing simultaneously. Again, each crew member of the hunting team will be equipped with one."
"Bravo!" Lola beamed and led a round of applause.
"This is all going swimmingly," Sidorio said. "We charged you all with identifying potential new leaders. As the Vampirate fleet expands, we need the right men and women in charge of the ships." His eyes ranged along the length of the table. "Thank you for all your input."
Sidorio turned to his wife. "Tell me, my dear. What did you think of Obsidian Darke?"
Lola raised her eyes and chose her words carefully. "Cold. Lacking in manners or any residual human warmth. Charmless. Somehow disconnected. Potentially brutal." She smiled sweetly. "I think he's exactly the kind of leader we're looking for."
"I agree," Sidorio said. "And now that I've heard Stukeley's idea of acquiring ships from the pirates, I've come up with a gem of an idea myself. We'll put a different Vampirate in charge of each attack mission. That way, we'll not only make great progress at acquiring the ships, but we'll also see who's got what it takes to take a senior position in our organization. Obsidian Darke can lead the first attack. That'll show us what he's made of."
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Lola shook her head. "No," she said. " You must lead the first attack. And then Stukeley and Johnny. It's vital that the rank-and-file Vampirates see the existing team demonstrating authority at this point. By all means, you can then get Obsidian Darke to step up to the plate."
"I think you're right, Captain Lockwood," Stukeley said. "If we develop the fleet as quickly as is our intent, we risk confusing the crew. It's a good idea to reinforce the command structure before we do so."
"That's settled then," Sidorio said. "I'll lead the first attack, then Stukeley, then Johnny. And then Darke! Is someone taking minutes?"
"Yes!" Nathalie cried from the other end of the table, her pen flying across the yellow legal pad in front of her, as it had been since the meeting began.
"Well, then," Sidorio said. "That's about it, I think. Unless anyone else has any other bright ideas?"
"Captains!" Jacqueline's arm shot up. "I want to ask about our plans to contain the pirate threat. It seems like they are getting smarter and more ambitious in their attacks on us. Look at what happened at your wedding."
Lola nodded, exchanging a quick knowing glance with Stukeley and Johnny, unseen by the others. "You're right to ask the question, Jacqui. Of course, we should be cautious at all times, but I tend to think that the incident at my wedding was a one-off." Once more, she glanced along the length of the polished table. "With Stukeley's plan to decimate the pirate fleets and build our own, the
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pirates should have plenty on their minds besides attacking us."
Now Nathalie spoke. "But Captain, isn't Connor himself part of a Vampirate assassination squad? That's the rumor going around. Should we be at all concerned for our safety?"
Lola shook her head. "These are valid concerns, but you needn't worry about either Connor or Grace for now."
"It's just that we know they're dhampirs," Nathalie persisted. "And dhampirs have special powers to destroy vampires."
"Only if they choose to," Lola said, exchanging a glance with Sidorio. "We weren't going to get into this tonight, but since you've brought it up and I can see some of you are concerned..."
Sidorio took over. "A dhampir, being half-mortal and half-vampire, has a choice when he or she reaches adult maturity--the point at which Connor and Grace are arriving at now. They can either be a very powerful advocate for the Vampirate cause or, as you say, they could turn against us."
There were some anxious faces around the table. Lola smiled at them reassuringly. "Don't look so glum, everyone. We've thought this through, and we're on the case. Tonight, we began deviously feeding the twins blood. This will continue, without them noticing, for several nights to come. The blood will stoke their appetite for
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more, and this hunger will bring them very firmly over to our side once and for all."
"What are Connor and Grace doing here?" Mimma asked. "I mean, they're surely not just here because they're curious about their parenthood?"
"I honestly think that's part of it," Lola said. "But you're right, Mim, to suspect there are other factors at play. Connor is currently attached to a boat of would-be assassins. Is he spying on us? More than likely. Does it matter? Not a jot. He's going to have a whole lot more on his mind by the time we've finished with him."
"And Grace?" Johnny asked.
Lola was visibly amused. "I rather thought you were the expert on Grace. Why do you think she's here?"
Johnny shrugged. "She's incredibly open-minded. I think she might well be here to get to know you both better." He paused. "But it is also true that she has strong attachments to members of the crew of The Nocturne . Lorcan Furey, for instance."
Once more Lola smiled. "It's your job, darling, to break those attachments. Just as it is Stukeley's to work on Connor." Lola made sure she had everyone's attention before continuing. "Connor and Grace have the power to destroy us all. We need to eliminate that threat before it arises by convincing them that they belong here with us." She raised her head imperiously. "Does everyone understand?"
"Yes, Captain," came the answer from all around the table.
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"This meeting is over," Lola said. "Good work, everybody. Now back to business! Seize the night!"
It took a matter of moments for the deputies to clear up their various papers, charts, and product samples and exit the cabin.
When they had gone, Lola poured two fresh glasses of blood, extending one to Sidorio and taking the other in her own hand.
"That went well," Sidorio said, sipping from his glass. "We have an unbeatable team."
Lola swallowed a mouthful of liquid. "In the main," she agreed. "But, darling, you must keep an eye on those two deputies of yours."
Sidorio frowned. "You've never liked my boys, Lollipop, have you?"
Lola shuddered. "Don't ever call me that," she said. "And it's not a question of like. I simply don't trust them. I'm not asking you to choose between them and me...."
"I'd choose you," Sidorio said. "Always you. Over anyone. Even my son and daughter." His voice was raw. She had no doubt that he was speaking the truth.
"No one is asking you to choose," she said in soothing tones. Then her voice grew sharper. "Just keep those two busy."
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19 CONTACT
Connor broke into a jog around the edge of the deck, finding an easy rhythm. His body had been crying out for exercise, and the afternoon sun was pleasingly strong on the back of his neck. Though his footsteps were light, still they echoed on the metal floor. He thought of the Vampirates sleeping down below and hoped the sound wouldn't wake them.
He was surprised that he felt so awake. By the end of a day's labors aboard The Tiger , he was normally so in need of rest that he was capable of lying down and sleeping on bare deck boards if necessary. Yet here, on this ship, he didn't seem at all tired. Quite the reverse. Right now, he could feel his body pulsing with energy. He realized that he might also be having trouble adjusting his rhythms of waking and sleep. He wondered if Grace was experiencing
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similar issues aboard The Vagabond . But then, he reflected, she had traveled on a Vampirate ship for so long that he imagined the exchange of day for night--and night for day--must come easily to her now.
As he ran around the perimeter of the deck, Connor's eyes took in the expanse of the ship and the emptiness around him. Its size seemed the perfect symbol of his mission
. He felt dwarfed by it. How on earth could he, working solo, hope to effect change here? The key thing was to keep Sidorio, Stukeley, and the others firmly on his side and build their trust.
That part of his mission seemed to be going well so far, but it occurred to Connor that the Vampirates might also be working hard to build his trust. He knew there was a good chance that they might be spying on him . So be it. Uppermost in his mind was the fact that he still had no idea how he was supposed to keep Cheng Li informed of his progress. She had promised him a contact but left him in the dark regarding who it might be and when he or she might arrive.
After three circuits of the deck, Connor paused to catch his breath and wipe away the beads of perspiration on his forehead. The sun had already dropped close to the horizon behind him, causing the ship's shadow to stretch across the surface of the ocean. He had hoped the run might tire his restless body but, if anything, he now felt even more energized. Perhaps it was the adrenaline, induced by the importance of his mission and the need to
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be alert 24/7. He turned and glanced over the edge of the ship. It was like looking down a sheer black cliff. It surprised him that he didn't feel any sense of vertigo. If anything, the sparkling turquoise water seemed to beckon to him. A cooling dip would be a great way to burn off his excess energy.
He untied his shoelaces and peeled away his sweat-soaked tank top, leaving it beside his shoes at the deck rail. Then he climbed over the side of the ship, his feet reaching for the metal ladder that led down to the ocean. It was a long way down, but, where once he might have hesitated, Connor felt his body moving down the rungs feeling calm and confident.
By the time he'd gotten halfway down, he couldn't resist another glance at the cool, glittering waters below. Once more, he anticipated a wave of vertigo but, again, there was none. Instead, as he glimpsed the waters below, he felt only adrenaline. I really am changing , he thought, as he released himself from the ladder and pin-dropped down into the chill water, feeling the thrill of exhilaration.
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