Alex stared into the darkness. It would be dawn soon. She hadn’t been able to sleep so she’d opted
to take the night watch. Jack was supposed
to be watching with her but he was snoring quietly. He’d managed most of the night so Alex let him rest. Downstairs, Rachel, Kat and Merlin were
sleeping and would soon be rising to take the day shift.
She hadn’t seen the ghost ship. Alex couldn’t decide if she was pleased or
disappointed about that. Disappointed
because she knew she would feel close to Derek and Nick. She hoped, somehow, they would know she was
near and that she was working hard to get them back to where they should be. Yet, on balance, Alex felt more pleased that
she hadn’t seen it if only for the simple reason she didn’t know what to do
when she did.
Four days now they’d been missing,
snatched from this very launch. Alex
held the TK meter in one hand. The
needle hadn’t so much as flickered all night.
Jack muttered and shifted. Alex glanced at him and smiled briefly. He’d come such a long way from Jeffrey
Starr. He’d overcome personal demons
and he was still fighting them. Jack
was one of those people determined not to be a victim. Fate kept pounding on him and he refused to
give in. Take this trip. He could’ve agreed with her and flown back
to Las Vegas. He hadn’t. He’d met this new demon head on and he was
fighting. She felt grateful that he’d
done that for her.
His eyes opened and he blinked. “Did I fall asleep ..? Oh, jeez, Alex, I’m sorry. It’s these shots. They knock me out. If I’m
sleeping, I can’t throw up. How long
was I under?”
“About an hour. Don’t worry about it. Nothing’s happened.”
“It will,” Jack predicted confidently.
“And then what?” Alex asked, glancing
at the meter again.
“What do you mean?” he frowned.
“We’ve figured out where they
are. We have no idea how to use that to
get them back.”
Jack nodded. “Not yet, maybe, but you will.
You’re smart, Alex. You can
think your way around everyone on board, even Rachel. You just need time.”
“Time is the one thing we don’t have,”
she pointed out.
“Yes, you do.” He rose and approached her. “What are you doing right now? Thinking.”
“I’m more brooding on the problems – ”
“That’s thinking, Alex! You have to
consider the problems before you can find the answers.” Jack smiled at her. “Not brooding, it’s .. getting a comprehensive
picture. Not missing anything. And consider how much you’ve found out so
far. Three days .. look where we are. On the trail. Don’t fool yourself that you’re not up to this. You are.
Darkest hour is always just before dawn.”
He put his hands on her shoulders and
turned her east. The sky was
brightening. “Your darkest hour is
over.”
Alex smiled too. It must be some remnant of his erased past,
she thought, but he always has the right words.
“Thank you, Jack.”
“I’m not much good for anything else
around here so I’ll be morale officer,” he shrugged. “And, now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go wake Rachel. My stomach is warning me it’s time for my
next shot.”
“Okay,” Alex agreed, her voice
sympathetic.
He went down the steps, leaving her
alone.
Alex knew she wasn’t alone. There had been that brief conversation the
previous evening. Merlin had been studying
an instruction manual when Alex had said, “Aquila.”
Merlin’s head had lifted sharply, her
eyes intense.
“You’re good at watching things. You watched for hours back at San
Francisco. Put it to use here. I want you on deck at all times, acting as
lookout.”
Alex had sounded deliberate. Her expression had been determined. Then she had spoiled it by becoming
uncertain.
“It won’t hurt Peri, will it?”
“No.”
“Okay then. That’s what I’d like you to do.”
“Like? Is that an order or not?” Aquila had
challenged.
“Yes.”
“Then that is what you order me to
do.” Merlin had risen. “Alex, you are in charge. If it were you missing and in need of being
found, would Derek ask me nicely to go do something? No. He’d tell me. He’d give me my orders. You’ve overcome the fear which was
paralyzing you. Now you must overcome
your doubts.”
Alex had stepped back, her face
flushing. “Then get up on that deck and
keep a lookout.”
“Yes, Alex.”
Merlin had sat down again. Aquila still stood there. As Alex had stared, she’d gone out on deck.
“Don’t let her get to you,” Merlin had
remarked, going back to the manual. “If
she gets mouthy, tell her to shut up.
That’s what I do.” She’d paused,
then shrugged. “Usually works.”
So Alex wasn’t alone. Somewhere around her, Aquila was an
invisible presence, keeping an unflagging watch. She never needed sleep, or food; she could stand for days without
moving. If Alex tired, if they all felt
like giving up, just for five minutes, Aquila would still be there obeying her
orders. Alex just wished she could get
along as easily with Aquila as she could with Peri.
“Why don’t you go below, get some
rest?” a voice said from the air, and closer than Alex expected.
“I’m not tired,” Alex replied,
refusing to move away.
“I know when people lie to me, Alex.”
“Derek would push himself past his
limits for us. I can do the same for
him.”
“Yes, he would but not now, not at
this stage. When he knows what it is he
must do, it is then that he will not give up.
There is no need for you to be here.
I am keeping watch. I will
continue to keep watch. As you said to
Jack, you need to consider your tactics and your strategy and, for that, you
must be rested. You need a clear
mind. Yours is presently fogged.”
Alex turned toward the voice. “You told me last night that I have to
overcome my doubts. Well, I’m
trying. All I want is .. a sign to know
I’m doing the right thing. Just a
glimpse of the ship would confirm we’re in the right place. Then my doubts would rest and,” she sighed,
“I can start figuring out what we do next.”
The air shimmered slightly and a shape
became almost visible. “What if you
don’t get a glimpse of the ship? Will
your doubts continue to dominate you?
Assume you are right. All the
factors so far discovered indicate you are.
Have faith in yourself and your abilities, Alex.”
Alex shook her head. “It’s easy for you to say that, you’ve been
in situations like this before – ”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Situations,” Alex clarified, “where
you have to go on faith, take that leap over the abyss and do it in total
darkness, never knowing if you’ll make it or if you’ll fall. What if I’m wrong? What if this isn’t the right place? We’re wasting time we don’t have!”
Aquila regarded her. “You need to sleep. Go below.
Get some rest. If you don’t,
I’ll make sure you sleep out here. A
leader must lead, Alex. A leader must
be strong, not impaired by fatigue.”
Alex smiled fleetingly. “Exactly who is giving the orders around
here?”
“You are.”
“Just so I’m sure,” Alex
commented. “I’ll .. go get some rest.”
“A wise decision,” Aquila murmured,
smiling faintly as she faded from sight again.
*****
While Alex slept, Merlin, with Kat
tagging along, went up to the sundeck to check with Aquila on the night’s
events or lack of them.
“Nothing appeared. Not even partially. What of your progress?”
“Red hot on all the controls now. I got it covered.”
Aquila shifted her gaze to Kat.
“I’m about half done on my
assignments,” Kat replied, surprised that Aquila would even be interested. “I’ll finish them today.”
“Good,” Aquila said. “With Jack unconscious most of the time,
we’ll need your gift as back up to Alex.”
“Rachel isn’t gonna like that,” Merlin
countered. “Aquila, you can’t go making
decisions about other people without consulting anyone. You do that, an’ I get talked at, okay? This is Alex’s deal. Let her decide how she wants to play
it. You got your orders so .. just do
as you’ve been told.”
Kat sighed heavily. “Sometimes, my Mom can be a real pain.”
Merlin rounded on her. “We’ve been over this before. It is your Mom’s right to be a pain. She’s just looking out for you.”
“Your
Mom was never like that. She didn’t
have to look out for you. She let you
do stuff.”
“My Mom was different,” Aquila began
but Merlin was sitting Kat down on one of the loungers by the simple expedient
of grabbing her shoulders and exerting some weight.
“Kat, what’s all this about?” she
asked. “C’mon, be honest with me here.”
Kat hunched her shoulders, her mouth
pinching in.
“Kat .. it doesn’t need to be said
that I’m your friend. You know that. So what’s the deal here?
You saying you can’t talk to me anymore?”
Kat blushed. “I wanna be like you,” she muttered.
Merlin and Aquila exchanged
glanced. “O-kay. Let’s go into this a little. How do you wanna be like me?”
Kat shrugged, the blush getting
hotter.
“Look like me, is that it? Same personality? That won’t get you as far as you might imagine, believe me on
that one. Is it that you want to be
able to learn things real quick? Or is
it the other stuff I can do?”
Kat looked up. “It’s only cos of what you can do that Nick
loves you. You’re strong. You’re his equal. He respects you. I want
to be respected too.”
“He does respect you, Kat – ”
“But not for the same reasons!”
There was an undercurrent here, some
motive only distantly hinted at, too terrible to be spoken aloud.
“Is there a little jealousy in there?”
Merlin wondered. “You had your sights
set on him, hoped he wouldn’t meet anyone until you were old enough, is that
it? An’ then I came along and upset
everything?”
“We’ll know if you lie,” Aquila
remarked.
Kat shrugged, unable to meet their
eyes.
“Well .. I can understand it, if it is true,” Merlin said. “Kat, it’s okay to have a crush on someone,
especially someone like Nick. I mean,
for God’s sake, he’s a good looking guy, he’s honest an’ decent, an’ very
loyal. Physically strong. Never gives up on his friends. But I’m not his equal, Kat. He isn’t my equal either. Our sphere of operations is different even
if what we do is broadly similar. We ..
balance each other. Complement each
other. Two halves making one whole
kinda deal. So .. what is it about me
that you want to have for yourself?
What do you admire so much?”
“You never get hurt when you fight,”
Kat said.
“Uh huh. Anything else?”
“All those neat weapons.”
“Okay. Anything else?”
“The way you can do anything.”
Merlin nodded.
“And you never get into trouble when
you do it. No one ever finds out.”
“That it?”
Kat nodded. “And, because you can do all that .. you have Nick.”
“Not quite. I met Nick quite a long time before he found out about most of
that stuff.”
“You know what I mean,” Kat accused
sullenly. “If I could do what you do
then, when I’m old enough, I could get any guy I wanted as well.”
Merlin glanced at Aquila. “I’ve never thought of the power as being
useful for that purpose,” Aquila commented.
“Okay, let’s go down the list. I don’t get hurt when I fight. That is true and the reason it’s true is
because I don’t give warnings an’ I fight dirty. I don’t give things a chance to hurt me first. My job is specific and I don’t fight at any
other time so, while I fight dirty, I still fight fair. All those neat weapons … Well, yeah, they are neat. They’re all in my head and I can call on
them whenever I want. But they are weapons, Kat. The samurai had a custom that they never
drew a sword unless they were going to use it.
Likewise, they say you should never point a gun unless you’re prepared
to use it. Weapons equals
responsibility and training – in my case, a hell of a lot of training.”
“What’s next?” Merlin crossed one leg over the other. “The way I can do anything … Kat, don’t the last couple of days show you
that I can’t? I wish I could summon up
the ghost ship, snap my fingers an’ make it appear .. but I can’t. Some things are beyond my ability. Aquila, if it should appear right now, could
you go over to it?”
“Yes,” Aquila replied, “but I could
not remain. I couldn’t bring the others
out. They are not there in spirit
form. They’re physically on board and
therefore in the past. I can’t time
travel.”
“So, that flushes that one down the
toilet. As for never getting into
trouble an’ no one knowing … I don’t
exist, Kat. I was never born, I don’t
live anywhere, don’t have any money, never travel. I can’t be tracked down.
Sure, I’m here, I have a house, a lot of money, an’ I travel all over
the world. But Merlin Gabrielli doesn’t
exist. Until very recently, I had no
one in my life to share it. God .. I
was so lonely. I really did get to a
point where .. I was just about ready to give up. And then I met this guy an’ he pulled me back from the edge. Merlin doesn’t exist. Peri Boyle does. There are plusses an’ minuses.
I never graduated High School or went to college. Never mixed with anyone my own age. Spent a lotta my life among evil in the
dark. It made me hard. There again, I don’t pay taxes and I have a
whole lotta freedom. But I do pay for
that freedom in other, heavier ways.
Responsibility, duty, training, never, ever, letting go when I see something bad going down. Do you understand all that?”
Kat regarded her. “But it’s so neat.”
“It can be,” Merlin agreed. “And, if you really, truly, want to be an
Enforcer, you’d have to grow up some, marry one of us, train for six months,
give up so much of what you are, who you are, and accept the same responsibility,
duty and training as the rest of us.
Sweetie, it isn’t worth it.”
“You think it is,” Kat said, tears
brimming.
“I had no choice! I was born
like this. Not an excuse, Kat, just the
plain truth. I’d never wish my life on
anyone. Nick wanted it, until he had a
taste of it. It scared him, Kat. We are awesome people, yes, but we are very,
very scary people too.”
She watched Kat struggle with this.
“Okay, let’s play what if. What if, say, in five or six years’ time,
you married one of us, did the compulsory six months of training, got the
power, an’ you were at the San Francisco house an’ something got in. Something big an’ nasty. Could you kill it? No warning. Just take it
down.”
“Sure,” Kat replied.
“What if it looked like your Dad an’
used your Mom as an unwitting shield?
Could you kill it? No
warning. Just take it down. Straight thru your Mom. Kill ’em both.” She waited. “C’mon, Kat,
you’ve got the power. You’ve had the
training. It’s your job.”
Kat looked up. “Could you do that, if it was using Nick?”
Merlin regarded her steadily. “Yes.”
“But – ”
“No buts. It’s my job. It’s my
duty, my responsibility. I can never
let it go. You still wanna be like me?”
Kat imagined the scene again and
slowly shook her head.
Merlin put an arm around her
shoulders. “Look, I’ll teach you what I
can to keep you safe just as you are.
Nick will do that too, once we get him back. Nothing wrong with self defense and martial arts. Not even your Mom could say anything about
that. But don’t wish you could be
exactly like me, Kat. It’s a burden
which would break you .. an’ you’re too good an’ nice a person to even dream
about being broken like that. Trust me,
okay?”
“Okay.”
“Friends?”
“Sure,” Kat smiled. “I guess I did have a kinda crush on Nick
but I’m happy he’s with you.” She rose
from the lounger. “I’d better get back
downstairs an’ get on with those assignments .. or my Mom’s gonna complain.”
“She’s a Mom,” Merlin commented,
winking. “It’s part of the job
package.”
In the shadow of the steps, Rachel
smiled to herself.
*****
Breakfast was held until Alex
woke. Rachel and Merlin could live on
black coffee until then.
“Hardly a healthy diet,” Rachel
commented.
“This is hardly a normal lifestyle,”
Merlin responded. “We each do what we
must to get by.”
Rachel glanced round and, maybe for
the first time ever, caught Merlin with her guard down. The voice had been normal, but the way her
head was bent, her eyes dull with pain …
It said two things to Rachel – one, Merlin trusted her more than was
usual to even risk letting her see the Enforcer like this, and, two, Merlin was
worried sick. Carefully, Rachel
returned to the table and sat down.
When she looked up again, Merlin’s eyes were back to their full, intense
brightness. The moment had passed and
Rachel wondered if she’d ever see it again.
“How you doing with all this?” she
asked.
“Okay.”
“Peri – ”
“Really, Rachel, I’m okay. Getting by.” She paused then leaned forward.
“Before, when he was missing, I could do something even if it took a
little time. This is new to me. I’m still feeling my way thru it. But, whatever happens, I’ll be okay.”
Merlin laughed softly as she picked up
her cigarettes. “Y’know, Kat was
talking with me earlier an’ she was saying about how my weapons are neat. I guess they are to someone who doesn’t have
them. To me, they’re tools. Options.
What I find neat .. is the way you guys go on these weird
adventures. I wish I could try it.”
Rachel recognized this. Don’t deal with the problem, talk around it
to take your mind away from thinking about it.
But Rachel knew she couldn’t force Merlin to do anything she didn’t want
to do.
“Can’t you?” she inquired.
“I’ve never had the opportunity,”
Merlin replied, exhaling smoke. “Maybe
I could. Maybe it’d upset too many
balances. I bet if I’d been on this
boat with them, they would’ve gone and I’d’ve stayed stuck right here. Sod’s law.
I don’t know .. but it doesn’t stop me wishing I could try it, just
once, just for the hell of it.”
“Believe me, it doesn’t feel like a ..
weird adventure,” Rachel commented. “It
feels terrifying. You hope you’ll find
a way out or that someone .. out there will find a way to bring you back, yet,
after you’ve been there a while … ” She
slowly shook her head. “You fight it,
you resist it, but the hope starts to drain away. You start to believe the voice in your head.”
“Was Nick like that?”
“No, never,” Rachel replied. “He … ”
She smiled. “Nick has a strong,
personal belief, in himself and in the people around him. He stays focused on the situation. As you know, that often presents itself as a
passionate tirade against the evils of this world and for the rights an’ freedoms
of his fellow man, or as a bull-headed obstinacy to not go the accepted, practiced,
well trodden an’ proved route. He is
one of those guys who will make his own path rather than follow a trail. In so many ways, Derek an’ Nick are alike. That’s why they fight so much. They see a problem, a situation, and they
come at it from two opposing directions – Nick, from the immediate, practical,
action aspect, an’ Derek from the considered response angle, yet they’re doing
the same thing, heading for the same goal, using the same words, feeling the
same internal fire an’ drive. It’s just
one is hands on an’ the other is cerebral.”
“They complement each other,” Merlin
remarked.
“Yes, they do. Each fills a personality gap in the
other. It’s like the way you an’ Nick
complement each other, one supplying the other’s need an’ vice versa. You two, though, make a whole. Nick an’ Derek .. balance each other, one
stopping the other’s tendency to go to extremes. Sure, sometimes, it doesn’t work an’ Nick blows like a volcano or
Derek withdraws into himself an’ won’t speak to anyone. Most of the time, they ride the seesaw an’
get along.”
“How will they be dealing with this,
d’you think?” Merlin asked.
“Well .. if I know Derek half as well
as I’d like to think I do, I’d say they’re working together, finding their way thru
it, dealing with it. It’s a practical
problem which is Nick’s area, plus it’s on a ship, but figuring it out is
Derek’s forte. They’ll be hand in
glove, taking it in turns to lead.
There may be the occasional disagreement because we have to remember the
personalities involved here, but, overall, they’ll know they’re in this
together an’ it’s only by pulling together toward a common goal that they’ll
find a way out.”
Merlin nodded. “Kinda describes our situation too.”
“I guess it does,” Rachel agreed with
a smile.
“Alex is our leader. No turn an’ turn about with us.”
“Do you have a problem with that? Does Aquila?”
Merlin looked at her with a rock
steady gaze. “Rachel, I know what I
look like. Someone with a multiple
personality disorder, especially now that my .. alternate self is capable of
independent existence while I can still function as a normal person as
well. I’m not crazy. I don’t need analysis.”
Rachel laughed. “I wasn’t trying to – I think you’re beyond
my skills. I was simply asking a
question.”
“Well, to answer it then .. actually,
no, neither of us has a problem with it.”
“Then why are you giving Alex such a
hard time?” Rachel inquired, leaning forward.
“Because I’m concerned that she doubts
herself and none of us can afford that, not us, not them. Personally – that is me, sitting here –
sometimes, yeah, I have doubts.”
“You do?” Rachel sounded quietly astonished.
“Sure. I’m human. I doubt other
people, their motives. I’m suspicious
of them because I don’t trust them. I
doubt myself very occasionally about trivial stuff. Important things .. no.
I’m always sure on important things.
I doubt my emotions at times. Am
I feeling what I should be feeling an’, if I’m not, why is that? Is it because I didn’t have a normal
childhood, an’ I don’t live a normal life?
Aquila never has doubts but then Aquila has no life. She rarely
gets to meet people so she’s never had the chance to develop social
skills. When it comes to work though, I
never doubt anything.”
“Then
why aren’t you suggesting you take over as leader?”
Merlin
shrugged. “I don’t have the answers an’
I have no way of discovering the answers.
I’m not an investigator, Rachel.
This is a Legacy matter, not Enforcer.
My place is .. back up, legwork, guarding, keeping watch. I guess I’m giving Alex a hard time because
I know she can do this. She has to know
it too .. and Aquila’s very in your face when there’s a need.”
Rachel
regarded her. “You’re a fascinating
psychological study, do you know that?”
“Ah,
here we go! Here comes the analysis.”
“No! I’m .. just trying to determine which parts
belong to whom. Which is Peri and which
is Aquila .. an’ I don’t think you do display multiple personality syndrome. You’re more like twins than anything, but
you’re one person. Even I find it
confusing. You’re her an’ she’s you,
even though you’re both capable of independent existence. What do you know of the personality parts?”
“Damn
all,” Merlin replied.
“Okay,
well, if you’re up for a brief lecture, there are three personality parts. The id, the ego, and the superego. Initially, I would’ve said that Peri is the
ego and Aquila both the id and the superego but now I can see elements of all
three in both you and her. The id is
the unconscious primitive instinctive drives and forces. The ego is the self, the I which is
conscious an’ thinks, and is concerned with satisfying the demands of the id in
a socially acceptable manner. And the
superego, put bluntly, is the brake.
It’s unconscious and it provides the inhibitory mechanism to the ego,
causing pain when the ego accepts unworthy impulses from the id. It’s the technical term for what everyone
else calls their conscience. The superego
is formed unconsciously from the parents and the environment. Applying those definitions to you, the id is
your instinctive reactions to evil which is Aquila, but it’s also your .. need
for the wilder side of life. The ego is
primarily you but Aquila has an ego too because I’ve heard her use ‘I’. And the superego .. I’d say that’s primarily
Aquila but I’ve heard you put her in line when she oversteps the boundary.”
Rachel
shook her head. “You’re not two
distinct people or personalities, you’re too alike for multiple personality
disorder. You’re not twins, except to
look at. One is more abrupt and
businesslike, the other is more into fun, but .. that’s the only
difference. I don’t really know what
you are.”
“I’m
an Enforcer, Rachel,” Merlin grinned.
“Aquila is only a codename. We
are the same person. We share head an’ heart. I guess the easiest way is to say .. we’re
the body an’ soul.” She laughed. “When you’ve lived with it as long as I
have, you get used to it.” She sighed
suddenly. “Doesn’t change the fact that
I can’t do anything to make this come right.
My husband is trapped .. an’ I’m helpless.”
Rachel
squeezed her hand. “We’ll find a way,
Peri. I know it. With Alex’s leadership, your lecturing an’
my faith, we’ll get thru this an’ we’ll get them back.”
Alex,
yawning, came into the cabin. “I’m
starved. Who wants breakfast?”
*****
Alex
had been listening to most of that conversation from the steps down to the
lower cabin. Suddenly, all the
pointless nagging came into perspective and her resentment vanished to be
replaced by a quiet confidence. Knowing
Merlin, and Aquila, had faith in her worked a small miracle.
Alex
still wasn’t a hundred per cent sure that they were in the right place and she
longed for a sign to settle that last remaining doubt. She was certain Merlin had gotten it right
when she said to go this direction but they could have gone too far or not gone
far enough. If she could just glimpse
the ship, she’d have the answer.
Aquila
was still on point on the sundeck. Alex
went up to join her, leaving Rachel to go check on Kat and her assignments, and
Merlin to check over the launch. She
found it slightly amusing that Rachel was the one with faith. Usually, that was Merlin’s domain. Alex was ordinarily the legwork, the
investigator, and here she was delegating those tasks. And Merlin … Merlin, the all action superhuman, was feeling helpless and able
to do nothing except watch and sail the boat.
Everyone’s way out of their comfort zone, Alex mused. Well, life should be about new
experiences. Legacy life is definitely
forcing that one on us.
“Anything?”
“Not
yet,” Aquila replied. “How are you
feeling?”
“Rested. Not so anxious or doubtful. You were right. Thank you for making me see.”
“You’re
welcome.”
They
stood in silence for a while, watching the ocean.
“Are
you worried about them?” Alex inquired.
Aquila’s
eyes narrowed and she folded her arms.
Alex recognized that body language – it was defensive and hostile, and
she wondered if Aquila would answer in words as well.
“It
depends.”
“On
what?” Alex frowned. “Whether we can
get them back?”
Aquila
shook her head. “Why the ship sank.”
“The
storm,” Alex agreed. “It doesn’t give
us very long. It’ll start the day after
tomorrow.”
“You
don’t know that the storm is the reason the ship sank. It might have hastened something or finished
it but it may not be the sole reason. I
don’t believe it is.”
Alex
turned slightly, her eyes intense with curiosity. “Why?”
“For
the very simple reason that this coast is littered with old wrecks. Not all sank, that’s true, most got beached
then broken up by the sea. Most
happened in thick fog or bad weather.
If it was the storm which sank this particular ship and so turned it
into a phantom, why are there not more of them? Where are the reports of more ghost ships? There aren’t, therefore the weather was not
a deciding factor, only a critical one.”
“So
.. something else must have
happened,” Alex said quietly.
“Something on board .. and Derek’s right in the middle of it.”
“That’s
what I think,” Aquila agreed. “And, as
we have no way of contacting them to ascertain their situation, I am ..
concerned for their welfare. If that is
worry, I am worried.”
“Aquila,
why didn’t you say any of this before?” Alex inquired, frowning.
“This
is a Legacy matter. My presence here is
under the mandate of protecting Legacy members. You requested my assistance, Alex. I obey my orders.”
“But
this is all relevant information!”
“No,
it isn’t. Relevant, yes. Information, no. It is merely supposition.
There are no facts.”
“Your
gut feelings are as good as facts, an’ you know it,” Alex retorted. “When are you ever wrong?”
Aquila
smiled briefly at Alex’s reaction.
“This isn’t my investigation, Alex.
It’s … ”
She
fell silent, her head swiveling to her left, her gaze triangulating.
Alex
tensed. Her eyes snapped round to the
TK meter and she saw the needle flickering.
She turned to stare in the same general direction as Aquila. The air shimmered, heaved, and then .. just
a few hundred yards away, it was there.
A
four masted sailing ship. A wooden
hull, a long bowsprit, a carved figurehead holding a trident. Square portholes, the covers propped
open. All the sails were set but they
hung limp and empty.
Alex
stared. It was a beautiful ship, proud,
noble, yet suffering in some strange way.
Limping north on the current.
She could see men on the upper deck.
They weren’t rushing around – there didn’t seem to be anything for them
to do.
“Rachel! Peri!” she called, her voice urgent. “It’s here!
My God, it’s magnificent!”
Beside
her, Aquila was studying the deck in minute detail, looking for one face she
wanted to see, for two men she knew.
She didn’t see either.
“C’mon,
Derek,” Alex urged. “We’re right
here! C’mon, just jump overboard! We’ll pick you up.”
“I
can’t see them,” Aquila murmured.
Alex
could hear footsteps running thru the main cabin below. “Quick!” she shouted, waving urgently. “I don’t know how much longer it’ll be
here!”
Aquila’s
head rose and she felt a tightness in her chest. “Nick … ”
“Where?”
Alex pleaded.
“The
upper deck … ” She sighed, her eyes
closing. “He’s gone again.”
“No!”
Alex screamed. “No, that isn’t
fair! They were so close!”
Rachel,
breathless, arrived on the sundeck, Merlin scrambling up the steps after
her. “Where is it?”
“It’s
vanished again,” Alex replied, her shoulders dropping, her voice dull.
“You
saw him,” Merlin said to Aquila.
She
nodded. “I think he saw us. He was running to the rail. I think he was going to dive overboard.”
“And
Derek ..? Did you see him?” Rachel swallowed.
“No.”
“That
doesn’t prove anything,” Merlin got in quickly before morale could
plummet. “Maybe he was running along
behind an’ just didn’t make it to the rail in time.”
There
was silence. Alex stared at the water,
smooth, flat, hardly any swell at all.
In her mind, she could still see the image. The ship had looked real, not a spectral apparition at all.
“The
reports all spoke of an obvious ghost
ship,” she muttered. “This time it was
different. Why?”
Rachel
snapped her fingers. “The proximity of
the Shamrock. We thought there might be
a link between the two vessels. Doesn’t
that prove it?”
“Maybe,”
Alex nodded. “It’s as good a theory as
any.” She straightened. “Well .. we know we’re in the right place
an’ heading in the right direction. So
far .. we’re on course.”
“How
do we get them back?” Merlin asked.
Alex
twitched her shoulders. “That’s what we
figure out next.”
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