Immortal War

by Justin Somper

  Jacoby maintained the pressure on both sides of Connor’s neck. Seeing that Connor’s eyes had closed, he wanted to release his hands but found himself powerless to do so. Suddenly, he felt someone reach from behind him and tear his fingers away. He was torn between gratitude and fear. Turning, he was shocked to see Connor himself standing behind him. How had he managed to slip out of his clutches in such a weakened state? Then Jacoby realized that Connor was still in front of him, eyes closed. Connor was both in front of him and behind him. Either he was going mad or there were two Connors.

  “What’s going on?”

  Jacoby turned to find Cheng Li striding across the deck. “What on oceans is going on here?”

  “It’s a private matter,” Jacoby cried, “between Tempest and me!”

  Cheng Li shook her head. “I’m captain of this ship and you are my deputies,” she said. “There are no private matters here.”

  Jacoby turned and saw that Connor—the first Connor—was opening his eyes and feeling his neck for bruises. Jacoby immediately felt ashamed of his actions. Then he remembered about the second Connor and glanced around him. But, to his confusion, he had disappeared. There was now only the one Connor. In his furious reveries, had he simply conjured up the second?

  Cheng Li shook her head. “You two are senior officers aboard this ship and within the Federation. You are incredible fighters but you should be saving your aggression for the enemy, not unleashing it upon each other.” Her almond eyes narrowed as she looked from one combatant to the other. Shaking her head, she pushed Jacoby away from her. “Go to your quarters and cool down. Connor, I want a word with you.”

  Jacoby loped off, glancing back at Connor and scowling.

  “What exactly just happened?” Cheng Li asked Connor as Jacoby disappeared inside.

  Connor looked across at her, bruised and battered. “The whole situation between him and Jasmine and me just exploded…”

  Cheng Li raised her hand to silence him. “I’m not interested in adolescent angst,” she said. “What interests me, Tempest, is this: When I came out, I saw not one but two of you fighting Jacoby. Is this some new power of yours?” She lowered her voice. “Can dhampirs split into two?”

  Connor shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess so.” Suddenly, he remembered. “It’s happened before. During the attack on The Diablo, I divided. I was in two places at once.”

  Cheng Li’s eyes were wide with wonder. “This could be useful,” she said.

  “I’m not sure I can control it,” Connor said.

  Cheng Li was contemplating his words when there was a fresh cry from below.

  “Permission to come aboard!”

  Cheng Li turned and called into the night. “Who seeks permission?”

  “Commodore Ahab Black, commander in chief of the Alliance,” came the response.

  Cheng Li took a moment to compose herself. “Permission granted,” she called.

  There was the sound of a bridge being lowered, followed by footsteps.

  Connor and Cheng Li watched as Commodore Black strode down from the bridge of the Federation vessel onto the deck of The Tiger.

  “Commodore Black,” Cheng Li said, giving him the Federation salute. “What brings you here at such a late hour? Your business must be urgent indeed.”

  “It is, Commodore Li,” Black said with a nod. “I’m here with a proposal on behalf of the Federation. It concerns both you and your deputy.”

  “I have three deputies currently,” Cheng Li said. “Which of them in particular are you referring to?”

  “Connor Tempest,” Ahab Black confirmed.

  “Me?” Connor said, stepping forward curiously.

  “Yes,” Black said. “I’m here to make you an offer you can’t refuse.” His cold eyes drilled into Connor’s. “I’m here to make you the Federation’s next captain.” He punched Connor jovially on the shoulder. “Now what do you have to say about that?”

  34

  LADY LOLA TURNS THE CARDS

  “He’s just so darling!” Holly said, swinging baby Evil up in the air. It made the little lad giggle.

  “He’s a doll,” agreed Nathalie. “He has his father’s nose, don’t you think?”

  “Never mind.” Lola spoke from behind them. “We can always get that rectified later.” She shrugged. “Still, much better he has Sidorio’s looks and my brains than the other way around.” She moved over to the other bassinet. “Look at dear little Hunter snoozing away. Now he’s definitely got the looks of a Lockwood! Such a stubborn little jaw!” She turned back toward Holly and Evil, who let out a yawn. “That’s a big old yawn for a little man! Are you sleepy? Shall Mummy put you down for a nap?”

  With both babies settled in their cribs, Lola led Holly and Nathalie out from the little nursery into the main part of her cabin. “Ladies, can I offer you a drink?”

  “Yes, please, Captain,” Nathalie said.

  Holly nodded. “That would be nice.”

  “Make yourselves comfortable!” Lola gestured toward the collection of chairs clustered around the coffee table. “I’ll bring them over.”

  “Thank you!” chorused the two young Vampirates, taking their seats.

  “It’s I who should be thanking you,” Lola said, “for keeping me company while Sidorio and the others are engaged in the attack on The Nocturne.” She carried over the drinks, then walked over to collect her own glass before taking her seat on the chaise, beside Holly. “It’s not in my nature to miss an important attack like this, but Hunter was a bit colicky earlier and I didn’t feel comfortable leaving him.” She glanced over her shoulder, toward the nursery. “He seems happy enough now, though, doesn’t he, my little devil?”

  The girls nodded. “Motherhood really suits you, Captain,” said Nathalie.

  “Thank you.” Lola nodded graciously. “Of course, I had children in my mortal days, but that was several lifetimes ago. I thought I might be rusty, but it all seems to be coming back to me.” She sipped her drink. “Gosh, this is good!”

  “What are we drinking?” Nathalie asked.

  “Molucco Wrathe,” Lola said, wistfully. “Sadly, we’re down to the last couple of bottles. He drinks unusually well, doesn’t he?”

  Nathalie nodded. “Simply delicious.”

  “Doesn’t he have a brother?” Holly said.

  “That’s right—Barbarro!” Nathalie exclaimed.

  “We could always harvest him!” said Holly.

  Lola smiled at Holly. “You’re an ideas girl.”

  “Captain,” Nathalie said, opening her bag, “since we have a little time on our hands, how do you fancy a game of cards?” She reached into the bag and took out a small velvet pouch with a gold tassel and set it down on the table.

  “What a splendid idea!” Lola exclaimed.

  Nathalie tugged at the drawstring of the velvet pouch and freed the deck of cards inside. “How’s about I set them up and you turn them over?”

  “Perfect!” Lola clapped her hands with delight. “What fun!”

  “Why do you want me to become a captain?” Connor asked Ahab Black as he faced him across the table in Cheng Li’s cabin.

  “You’ve shown great potential,” Black said, his bored monotone somehow lacking conviction. “We’ve reached a crunch point in the war, and, by investing in a young gun like yourself, the Alliance will be making a powerful statement to our enemy. We’ve got no end of surprises! We fight on! We fight until we win!”

  There was a discreet cough from the other side of the table. Both men turned their gaze toward Cheng Li. “As Connor’s commanding officer and a key member of the Alliance war cabinet, isn’t this something that should have been discussed with me first?” she asked.

  “You didn’t know about this?” Connor was surprised. Generally, Cheng Li knew about everything before it happened.

  “No,” Cheng Li said. “I didn’t. And I’d have appreciated a heads-up.”

  Connor knew she and Black had history, and her irritation see
med genuine. What was Black up to?

  Commodore Black shrugged. “We’re in the midst of the most extreme theater of war either of us will live to see, Commodore Li. Things move darn fast within such a scenario.”

  “I understand that,” Cheng Li said with exaggerated patience. “Even so, there are certain protocols that must be observed…”

  As Cheng Li and Ahab Black locked horns, Connor’s attention drifted. His eyes glanced up at the picture of Chang Ko Li above the captain’s desk. Connor had seen the imposing portrait many times before. Now it seemed different somehow—as if the dead captain were watching these petty human matters with amusement. In the greater scheme of things, what did it matter whether Connor said yes or no to being a captain? What did it matter if a protocol or two were broken? There were bigger forces at work, and, Connor was coming to see, he had no real chance of fighting them, no way of stemming the inevitable tide. He could almost imagine Chang Ko Li nodding approvingly at him.

  “Aha!” he heard Cheng Li say. “So that’s what this is really about. The money Connor inherited from Molucco!”

  “My inheritance?” Connor brought his focus back to the conference table.

  Cheng Li’s almond eyes were sharp with indignation. “Did you miss that, Connor? It appears that the Federation will be only too happy to grant you a captaincy, but there’s a hefty price tag attached.”

  Connor sat back in his seat. “What is the price?” he asked.

  Ahab Black took a pen and envelope from his jacket pocket. He scribbled a figure on the envelope and slid it across the table, past Cheng Li’s eager eyes, toward Connor. “That should seal the deal,” Black said.

  Connor reached for the envelope and raised his eyes.

  “That’s a lot of money!”

  Lola and Holly watched as Nathalie set out twenty-two cards on the highly polished coffee table. Lola recalled that the hand-painted cards were an antique set passed down through many generations of Nathalie’s aristocratic line.

  “How about we play sevens, tonight?” Nathalie suggested.

  Lola nodded in ready agreement.

  “Turn your first card, Captain,” Nathalie said.

  Lola’s bejeweled hand hovered over the table, hesitated for a moment, then settled on one of the cards and turned it over. The others leaned in to see her choice. The card depicted a compass rose.

  “The Four Cardinals,” Nathalie announced. “An auspicious place to start.”

  “Who are the Four Cardinals?” Holly asked.

  Nathalie smiled at her comrade’s gaucheness. “Not who, dear, but what. The four cardinals are the main points on the compass—North, East, South, and West.” As she spoke, her finger tapped the card. “Then you have the four ordinals—Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and Northwest.”

  “I see,” Holly said. “So, what does it mean?”

  “The Four Cardinals,” Lola said, “represent the expansion of our forces. Once we seize The Nocturne, we are poised to lock down the southern quadrant. Then we can move on to gain dominion over the rest of the oceans—North, East, and West.”

  Nathalie nodded, smiling. “An excellent interpretation, Captain. Why don’t you turn your next card?”

  Lola was more decisive this time, flipping up a card that showed a ship disappearing under the waves.

  “Always an intriguing choice,” Nathalie said. “This one is called the Vanishing Angle,” she explained to Holly. “In maritime terms, it’s the maximum angle at which a boat can heel but still right itself.”

  As Holly nodded, Lola began to interpret the card. “This card marks the point where everything hangs in the balance. It’s a reflection of where we stand in the war.”

  Nathalie nodded, ruminatively, as Lola continued. “As you say, the vanishing angle is the furthest point from which a ship can still heel. It means that we are pushing the Alliance right to its limit.”

  “But,” Holly interjected, “they can still recover? Is that the meaning of the card?”

  Lola’s eyes met Holly’s. “The cards are warning me that we still have a real fight on our hands. We will, of course, win, but we must not underestimate our enemy. We need to push them to the very limit and then push just that little bit harder.” Her eyes sparkled in the light of the many perfumed candles lit about her cabin. “I believe that the cards might be telling us what’s going to happen this very night. Tonight Sidorio and the others will take The Nocturne, shame and silence Obsidian Darke, and tip the Alliance into disarray.”

  “Will Johnny be okay?” Holly inquired anxiously.

  Lola shrugged. “The Cowboy’s a resourceful chap, but, after what happened on The Diablo, who can say? You can always do your own reading after mine. Perhaps the cards will give you an answer.”

  Not fully reassured, Holly sat back and sipped her drink.

  “Turn another card!” Nathalie, enjoying herself, prompted Lola. “Ah! Very good. The Nautical Dawn or the Nautical Dusk.”

  “Which is it?” Holly inquired, her attention returning to the game once more.

  “It’s a double card,” Nathalie said, her finger tapping the card, which was indeed split across the diagonal. It bore two almost identical images. Both showed a sky, suffused with golden light, but no visible sun or moon. On one half there was an addition of the silhouette of a bird flying across the right corner. “The import of this card depends on which end is turned toward the reader,” Nathalie explained. “On this occasion, the bird is flying toward the captain. That means it’s the Nautical Dawn.”

  “The point about the nautical dawn, as opposed to the civil dawn,” Lola said, “is that the sun is still below the horizon. The light has yet to rise to spoil another night. Instead, there is a powerful golden glow, just as you see depicted here. It’s dark enough for those of us averse to light to move about in, but light enough to see the horizon.” She paused, taking a moment to reflect. “This card has two possible meanings to me. Firstly, it could quite literally mean that the decisive moment will come during the cusp between night and day.” She paused again. “But I think it may also have a more general meaning—that everything we want, everything we’ve been fighting for, is finally coming into view.”

  “Yes,” Nathalie agreed. “That was my interpretation, too.” She turned to Holly. “Do you see how the story flows from one card to the next? You can’t read them in isolation.”

  Holly nodded as Lola, unprompted, turned her next card. It bore a picture of a jaunty sailor. Seeing this, Holly smiled. “He’s a jolly fellow!”

  Nathalie’s expression was more somber. “Not exactly,” she said. “He might look that way, but his appearance is deceptive.”

  “How come?” Holly asked.

  Lola answered the question. “It’s Jack Tar the Mariner,” she said. “Otherwise known as the Death card.”

  “Death!” Holly exclaimed, then asked, “Mortal death or immortal oblivion?” Lola and Nathalie exchanged a private glance. They had no doubt their comrade was thinking once again of Johnny.

  “It all depends,” Nathalie said, “on what card the captain turns next.”

  “Or cards,” Lola reminded her. “Jack Tar affects all the people cards turned after him until another theme card, like the Vanishing Angle, interrupts his progress.”

  “Hadn’t you better turn the next card, then?” Holly said.

  Lola nodded, reaching out and considering her choice. Just then, there was a cry from the nursery. Lola hesitated, waiting to see if the cry was a one-off. It came again.

  “It’s Hunter,” she said. “Perhaps his colic woke him up. I’d better go to him before he gets worse, or wakes up Evil. That’s the hazard with twins!”

  Staring pensively at the cards, she rose from her seat and walked toward the nursery.

  Nathalie took the opportunity to reach for the decanter and refresh all their glasses. Setting down the decanter once more, she returned to the chaise. Before she took her own seat, she squeezed Holly’s shoulder. “This is ab
out to get interesting,” she said.

  “It’s too much money,” Cheng Li said. “And Connor shouldn’t have to buy his captaincy. He’s one of the most prodigiously talented pirates of this, or any, generation. He’ll soon earn the right to be a captain all on his own.” She turned to Connor. “My best advice is to wait this out. You don’t need to do anything in a rush.”

  “I’m afraid I disagree,” Commodore Black said. “We’re running out of time and we’re running out of money. If, as you suggest, Connor sits back and waits this out, there may not be a Pirate Federation still in existence by the time he’s done waiting.” His eyes were severe. “There may, however, be a Vampirate Federation, if that’s of interest to you.”

  “Well,” said Cheng Li, “that’s an awful lot of pressure to pile on a young pirate’s shoulders.”

  “Understood,” said Commodore Black. “And I wouldn’t be doing so if we had any other viable options.” His voice became more human suddenly. “Connor, I’m not going to dress this up in pretty ribbons: Man to man—we really need your help here.”

  “I’ll do it,” Connor said.

  “You will?” Cheng Li was indignant.

  “You will?” Black seemed as surprised as he was delighted.

  “Sure,” Connor said, rising to his feet. “I always had a dream to be a captain. I just didn’t figure the opportunity would come around so soon.” He grinned at Ahab Black. “But, hey, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”

  “Connor, wait!” Cheng Li said. “I don’t think you’ve thought this through. You haven’t had time. You’re about to give away more than half your inheritance. Molucco left that money for you.”

  Connor shrugged. “I know that, but it’s way more than I could ever use,” he said. “I had nothing when I was taken in by Molucco. It’s the pirates who made me what I am today.”