Flight of the Phoenix (6 page)

When she sucked, Tures groaned and lifted her hips so Sam could grab her butt and draw her closer. The swollen organ grew even larger in her mouth. Sam couldn't believe how big it was. Tures suddenly grabbed Sam, flipped her onto her back with ease and mounted her. The vampire's clitoris had changed shape to fit the contours of Sam's sex. It was amazing. Sam lay with her legs spread and Tures's wonderful breasts right where she could reach them. As Tures began moving back and forth, rocking her hard clit inside Sam's aching sex, Sam caressed the swaying globes.

Tures moaned with each stroke. Her eyes were tightly closed and her fangs out. The sight was both arousing and frightening, a heady mixture. Sam lifted her hips to meet Tures's thrusts. The vampire sped them up until she was creating enough friction to set Sam on fire. Sam arched her back, dropped Tures's breasts and screamed with ecstasy as Tures bent and latched onto her throat. The vampire moaned as she sucked the heated blood into her mouth. She stopped moving, froze, collapsed on top of Sam, released Sam's neck and rolled onto her back. Sam lay gasping, her sex a vibrating pulsing organ. After shocks hit her again and again as she lay there feeling like every ounce of passion had exploded from her crotch.

Commodore Brighthouse walked slowly around the inside of the submersible craft with his eyes wide. Arthur Tomlinson was assigned to watch him, but was so absorbed by the ship's marvels, he barely paid him any attention. The Commodore's interests were similar to Tomlinson's. They both wanted the secret of the submarine's concentrated fuel.

“This could be the breakthrough you've been searching for,” Brighthouse said as they both ducked through a low hatch and entered the engine room.

“I can't believe that creepy vampire captain is allowing us to examine the engines.” Tomlinson sniffed as he entered the chamber where two huge steam engines thumped and pounded as they turned the twin screws of the massive submersible. The air was tainted with an odd chemical odor and smoke.

“I'd be very careful who you called creepy,” Brighthouse said into Tomlinson's ear. “So far, I haven't seen any members of this crew who are not and they all seem very dedicated to their mistress.”

Brighthouse stepped uneasily around a crew member. This one's face was bandaged and he was missing an ear. The pale priest followed them into the engine room. He was their guide through the ship. His name was Father Antonio and he'd been born in Italy during the Inquisition. He was very quiet and kept his distance, stopping to point out things on the ship he felt they would be interested in. Tomlinson had a moment of concern for Sam. She, of all people, would enjoy this guided tour as much as he. But she'd gone off willingly with the captain and Tomlinson knew she was a lover of women. For a moment, Tomlinson stopped and smiled. Sam deserved some happiness.

“I say, Tomlinson, I believe this strange contraption is making air so we can exist beneath the sea.” Brighthouse had to yell to be heard over the roaring engines.

Tomlinson examined the pumping machine Brighthouse indicated. The machine contained a glass globe filled with pale-blue liquid and a bellows-like contraption that pumped rhythmically connected to some of the brass pipes that lined the ceiling. “I wonder how it works?” Tomlinson mused.

“The fluid generates the right mixture of breathable air,” Father Antonio said in a voice that was not loud but carried clearly over the engine noise. “It is then pumped throughout the ship.”

“What is the composition of the fluid?” Tomlinson screamed.

“That, my son, is a secret only Tures knows.”

They moved to examine the engines. The two huge cylindrical machines sat on platforms. Smokestacks shot out the top and through the roof of the ship. Each engine had a turning rod emerging from the back that disappeared through the bulkhead. The spinning rod was shiny with grease and encased in a glass box that protected it and those inside the compartment. “Were you to get caught in the spinning rods, you would be killed,” Father Antonio said. “The power of the engines is so great, and we do not have the ability to stop it from turning the screw fast enough to save you.”

“Where is the fuel kept?” Tomlinson asked. His heart pounded with excitement as he thought about discovering a fuel concentrated enough to feed a very lightweight motor that would power his flying machine.

Father Antonio opened one of six chests piled against the wall. Inside, cubes of some kind of organic material, each cube approximately two inches wide, were stacked closely together filling the chest. With his hand shaking, Tomlinson took one of the cubes. It was surprisingly heavy. He sniffed it. The funny chemical smell he'd detected upon entering the compartment came from the cubes. “What is this?”

Father Antonio shrugged. “I do not know, my son. It is mined in the Mountains of the Moon by minions dedicated to Tures. My mistress discovered this substance at the headwaters of the Nile when she was still a young woman. She was born in Egypt and traveled to the mountains searching for the lost mines of King Solomon with her husband. It was there she found a cave filled with this substance and it was there she met Lazarus. He freed her from her marriage and from all worldly concerns, but she remembered the strange substance when she met Sir Horace. He was building this ship and needed a fuel to power his steam engines.”

Tomlinson cleared his throat. “What happened to Sir Horace?”

The tall vampire smiled and his fangs were revealed. “He had a fatal accident and my mistress took over the building of the ship.”

“I believe Africa is our destination,” Tomlinson yelled into Brighthouse's ear.

Brighthouse looked stunned. “You can't be serious. Africa?”

“Absolutely, my good man, we are headed for the Congo.”

* * * *

Bryn woke next to Quinn who still slept. She rose quietly without waking him, washed her face in the tiny basin set cleverly into a wall panel, and raked her fingers through her hair. It was a crazy mess. She was struggling with it when someone scratched on the door. She opened it to a smiling Samantha.

Bryn stared at Sam for several seconds. Her former lover wore sailors baggy pants shoved into the open tops of slouched black boots. A sash was tied around her waist and a saber casually hung from it. Her white shirt was open at the throat to reveal a gold necklace Bryn had never seen before. Bryn embraced her. “Where did she take you?”

Sam hushed her, grabbed her hand and led her out of the cabin and into the passageway. Once in the passageway, Sam hugged her again. “I have passed the most wondrous night. Tures is amazing.”

Bryn frowned. For some reason she was not happy to hear these words out of Sam's mouth. “How so?” She asked as Sam led her through a maze of narrow passages to a small room filled with crew members who still remained among the living. They were seated at tables eating. Bryn's stomach growled.

Sam slipped around the tables; the room was crowded and very small, and found two plates which she filled with slices of cured meat and porridge. Bryn accepted one and they sat in two spaces recently vacated by crew members with leprosy. “Why are all the living crew members diseased?” Bryn whispered.

“Tures told me leprosy and a few other diseases are dangerous to vampires. She recruits the afflicted because they are safe and provide the vampires with no temptation to stray from her strictly-imposed ban on consuming human blood.”

Bryn dug into the food. “Makes sense,” she finally said. “Did you get to see much of the ship?”

Sam colored and dropped her eyes. “Some,” she mumbled.

Bryn couldn't help but laugh. She placed her hand on Sam's arm. “It's alright, my love. I am happy for you. I found someone. It is good that you seem to have also discovered love.”

Sam beamed. “The ship is a marvel. The command center is surrounded by huge glass panels. You can see the ocean bottom. Fish swim around the ship as it moves through the water. It is enchanting.”

“Did you get to see the engines?”

Sam shook her head. “No, but I heard the priest, Father Antonio, took Tomlinson and the Commodore through them earlier. The engines use cubes of fuel mined in the Mountains of the Moon. Tures is happy to take us up the Congo because she wishes to procure more of it. Tomlinson raved about how light and concentrated it was. If we can obtain enough, it will revolutionized steam power. We shall be able to build any number of small, lightweight engines to do…oh I don't know how many wonderful things.”

“If this fuel is only available there,” Bryn said. “It will not be very practical.”

Sam frowned. “Do not be so negative. I am sure if we obtain enough, Tomlinson or Monsieur Diesel will be able to discern its components and either manufacture the substance in the lab or a reasonable facsimile with all of its useful properties. We will have the example. Maybe we can find another source if we can't manufacture it. The discovery is momentous either way.”

Bryn patted her hand. “As you say, my dear. How fast does this craft travel? I would like to know when we can expect to arrive at the Congo River.”

“I shall ask Tures. She's currently in the command center.”

“Have you seen my sister?”

Sam shook her head. “She was sleeping earlier. We can go check on her if you like.”

Bryn rose to do just this when the door opened and Fenix walked in. She looked radiant, not a hair out of place, and was wearing breeches and boots.

Bryn examined her sister for a moment and decided her new air of competence and self-assurance was annoying in the extreme. She knew she should be happy Fenix had matured and assumed control of her life but she felt as though she'd lost something. Where was her darling immature little sister who always needed her? She was gone, replaced by the new Fenix who not only didn't need her big sister to take care of her, but had an alarming tendency to take charge.

“Bryn,” Fenix exclaimed. “We've been invited to join Tures in the control room.”

Fenix bubbled with enthusiasm. Bryn had to fight her first impulse which was to squash her excitement. She forced herself to smile. “Then by all means, let us go inspect the wonders of the ship.”

Fenix grabbed her hand and led her through the maze of narrow passages. The entire ship seemed to be constructed of brass and mahogany, a wood that never rotted, resisted worms and was impervious to water damage. They emerged from the maze into a large open cabin at the front of the undersea vessel. Tures stood with her hands spread above a globe filled with swirling blue liquid. When she moved her hands, the liquid followed the pattern she created. Bryn was immediately captivated. “What is that?” She asked Sam in a low voice.

But the vampire heard her and lifted her head. “This liquid is filled with tiny living creatures that swim through the pipes in the ceiling to transmit commands to my engine room. Only vampires can hear them or understand their language. I couldn't run the ship without them. They are also sea creatures so they are able to enlist the aid of other sea creatures when we run into trouble.”

Bryn's interest was captured. “What a unique idea. How did you discover it?”

Tures dropped her head and smiled. “I did not. The ancients knew about these creatures long before I existed. I just discovered how to keep them alive while I use them.”

Bryn couldn't resist spreading her hands and touching one of the globes. She immediately snatched her hand away. “It shocked me,” she said to Tures.

“Yes, the tiny creatures are very protective of themselves and of this ship. They are imbued with electrical properties which help them communicate with the sea creatures outside the ship.”

“I can hear a tiny sound like a thousand voices whispering,” Bryn said.

“Yes, that is them. We call them
masika pire.”

“Ocean fleas?”

Tures nodded. “One translation.”

Fenix and Sam were staring out the huge windows in the nose of the vessel. A sudden dark shape swam by, casting the room into deep shadow. Fenix screamed and Bryn spun to look. Draak Priest, in his dragon form, had found them. The huge dragon opened his mouth and liquid fire flowed toward the ship. The globe under Tures's hands swirled with activity and the ship abruptly dived. Bryn tumbled to the deck, Fenix held onto one of the brass rails lining the room and Sam rode the slanted deck like she'd been born on it.

The liquid fire, much like molten lava, flowed above the ship, missing the nose but raking the top and the dome. Alarms sounded as the ship rolled to the right, turned and came back to fight.

Tures stepped to the second globe as Bryn pulled herself up using one of the formed chairs placed in the center of the room. “Strap yourselves in,” Tures said in a tight voice. “Things are about to get crazy.”

“Kill him,” Bryn snarled.

“I plan to try,” Tures said. “Sam, make your way to the engine room and tell Father Antonio I'm activating the cannons and calling in the leviathans.”

Samantha ran out of the room, easily handling the tilted deck and the rolling motion of the ship as it blasted forward at an amazing speed. Fenix crawled across the deck and into the chair next to Bryn's. They now had a ringside seat for an amazing battle. Whales swept toward the ship. “Blue whales,” Fenix said.

The huge creatures lived off tiny organisms, but right now they were after big prey, particularly a big black dragon. Twin booms echoed through the ship which immediately rocked violently. “They're firing at him,” Bryn whispered.

More whales, these possessing bumpy skin and a hump, shot toward the dark shadow streaking through the water that was Draak Priest. Tures's hands flew above the globes as she communicated with the sea fleas.

A stream of molten fire spread across their field of vision. The wake cast by the blue whales as they fled the fire rocked the ship. Priest, his wings folded against his sides as he swam, chased the whales, spewing molten flames. Bryn gasped as one of the whales rammed Priest, rolling the black dragon over and over. But the dragon righted himself and shot toward the ship on a collision course.