Mark’s eyes flashed in amazement. Yuko continued her story. “Bethany Anne and her team effectively chased the Yollins off, following them back through the gate that had brought them here from a far region of space. But then it exploded, leaving them stranded.”

  Jacqueline had stopped drying her hair and was listening intently, her eyes betraying uncharacteristic signs of distress at the lovers’ plight. “So how will they get back to Earth?”

  Yuko jumped in. “They’re rebuilding now, but it’s taking time. I understand the distance is considerably farther than anything which Bethany Anne’s Kurtherian technology could handle.”

  Jacqueline became more agitated, emotion welling in her chest. “But she knows that Michael is alive? She’s coming for him?”

  Eve continued to explain calmly. “Yes. We’re able to get short messages to her, but our communications with her are limited to a few words.”

  She turned to her computer screen and pulled up a new interface. Mark and Jacqueline shuffled over to see. Eve indicated with a nod of her head. “Here,” she told them. “This is what we showed her.”

  The words within the message envelope, separate from some code that looked like a foreign language to even Mark, were clear as day to them.

  “ArchAngel lives,” Jacqueline mouthed breathlessly.

  A tear welled in her eye. There was silence in the gray office while the pair of newcomers absorbed the information.

  Eventually, Jacqueline spoke, her voice cracking with emotion and determination. “We’ve got to help them!”

  Yuko nodded, her own eyes a little damp. This conversation only accentuated the feelings she was already experiencing from her morning’s trip. “We need to find the pieces of the ship, put it back together, and get Michael into space.”

  Mark took a deep breath, clearing his head. He frowned. “Hang on. Let’s say we manage to get the pieces of the ship put together and we launch it. How on Earth are we going to find Bethany Anne in all of space? And if the gate is destroyed and she’s trapped on the other side, then at best we’ll just be hanging around waiting for them to finish repairing it…in space?”

  He shook his head, feeling foolish for even entertaining the possibility that he, a random out-of-place geek-turned-vampire, was now seriously talking about going into space.

  Yuko moved to the computer that Eve and the others were gathered around so that she was in their line of sight. “We have maps. Kurtherian maps. We can find the gate. And as you said, Michael isn’t a detail kind of vamp. Getting through the gate is something we’ll figure out once we get to that…er…bridge.”

  Jacqueline was nodding her head as she listened. “Well,” she said, pulling herself out of her brief emotional interlude, “I guess first things first. We need to find the pieces of the ship and get them put together.”

  Yuko nodded. “Hai.”

  Jacqueline flicked into tech-seeker mode. “Ok, so what can you tell us about the ship?” she asked. Mark noticed the change in her demeanor and looked at her.

  Jacqueline noticed his gaze. “What?” she asked, a little distracted by the task at hand.

  Mark shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just, you’re on the case all of a sudden. I’ve only seen you like this when you were ready to tear someone up.”

  Jacqueline smiled. “You didn’t know me before I met Michael. This was what I spent my life doing—scouting for lost technology.” Her smile widened. “This is what you might call ‘my gig.’”

  Mark’s eyes widened. Yuko was sure she saw something else behind the new admiration he had for her.

  Yuko sighed quietly to herself. “We know more, yes,” she continued. “The ship belonged to the third Kurtherian group, known as the Sacred Clan. We have some of the pieces safe in our warehouse already. However, the ship was broken up into sixteen boxes by the Queen of the Leopards before Bethany Anne executed her for her part in killing Michael.”

  Jacqueline closed her eyes. “I think my head's about to explode,” she said, a little bewildered at this point.

  Yuko nodded. “It’s a lot to take in,” she agreed sympathetically.

  Mark’s face was lit by a grin, hardly believing his ears. He barely wanted to seek clarification in case someone burst his fantasy that this kind of tech might be real.

  Eve started programming coordinates into her computer. “I guess it’s time to pay your friend in Yokohama a visit,” she called to Yuko.

  Yuko nodded. “Yes, I believe so. Jacqueline, Mark, we should leave soon.”

  Jacqueline glanced out the door at the green vegetation and the glimmering lake. She remembered that they had been trying to have some quality downtime, but nodded her agreement, trying to hide her disappointment.

  Mark, on the other hand, tried to hide his excitement at the prospect of new, advanced, and alien tech. “Suppose I better go grab the rest of our gear then,” he said, keeping his voice as level as possible.

  Jacqueline mumbled something about drying her hair and followed him out.

  Eve smiled. “Looks like personal lives will have to wait just a little longer.”

  Yuko paused, registering Eve’s reference to personal lives. “What do you mean by that comment?” she asked, somewhat suspicious.

  Eve shook her head. “Oh, nothing. Just, Mark and Jacqueline will have to wait for more vacation time until this is squared away. And then they can resume. That’s all.”

  Eve turned back to her computer, sensing Yuko’s eyes still on her and hoping that her point had been received.

  Chapter Ten

  Peckham, England

  Noah, George, and Thomas all stood on the small stage in the warehouse, with seventeen men and four women at the tables in front of them. George moved to the center and raised his hand as the afternoon sun shone through the antique glass on the second level, bathing the old brick warehouse in natural light.

  George waved to his two partners to the center with him. “We all appreciate you coming on such quick notice.” He hitched his thumbs in his belt. “I know most of you have your ears to the ground to find the next vampire and get one of our bounties.”

  There was general murmuring in the group, which George allowed to die down for a moment.

  “Well,” he continued, “we have good information about two.”

  “You’re going after the Dark Messiah?” Alfie Cimmons called. Tina, who was next to Alfie, slugged him in the arm.

  George frowned at the outburst. “Alfie, keep your mouth shut or we will have to sew it shut for you. Wait until my message is over and then ask.” He returned his attention to the whole group. “All of you know about Europe’s Duke, and now most of you know about the one called the Dark Messiah. This one’s an addition to the list. None of us have heard of him before so we are thinking he must be relatively new, but he is very powerful. If you believe,” he looked around at the tables of bounty hunters, “even half the rumors, he can call down lightning out of the sky and walk on water.”

  The chuckles around the room were mirrored by the three on the stage. “I know,” George continued, “enough lead will make anyone drop to the bottom of the lake.”

  “Nothing out there I’ve ever fought,” a guy named Henry commented to no one in particular, “was able to ignore a judicious application of lead poisoning.”

  “Or a shit-ton of fire,” the woman next to Henry added.

  George put up his hands. “Noted, and I think we all agree. However, none of us are here because we are stupid. We have two powerful vampires that need to be captured.”

  Noah spoke up from behind George. “Preferably painfully.”

  “Very,” Thomas agreed. “No telling how many innocent humans have been eaten by them in the dark of the night.”

  George turned to look at his two partners. “Well, it’s definitely the darkest before the dawn.”

  “And dawn kills,” three of the bounty hunters called out.

  “For those who are willing to join us, we will have three teams. One with Noah, one with Thomas, and one with me. Everyone will be outfitted with blood for the fights.”

  Thomas spoke up. “Which we will sign out to you, and if you don’t need it, we will charge you for it.”

  Several laughed. Trying to keep an extra vial of vamp blood was a damned game for the bounty hunters. The blood-baggers would charge them eventually, but every once in a while, if you got clean away, the extra vials could save your ass.

  “How many vials we going to be issued?” Henry asked.

  George turned to answer him. “Each person will have five.”

  Henry whistled. Five was unheard of. “The good shit?”

  “Yeah,” Tina called back. “I don’t want the cheap pansy blood you sell to the little jerkwads trying to play ‘big man on their block.’”

  “Listen,” Thomas answered from behind George, “each of us will be leading a squad, so we don’t want you sucking wind in the middle of the fight.”

  “We will all,” George finished, “be packing the good stuff.”

  Yokohama, Japan

  The black box landed in the corner of a lush green park. Mark was the first to exit, a renewed spring in his step. He looked back at the container, waiting for the others to disembark almost like a terrier waiting for his owners to take him for a walk.

  Yuko was the next one out, her sword strapped across her back for the first time in several weeks. It felt strange, having hardly worn it for so many decades and then to have been battle-ready constantly during the days with Michael.

  She shook her head, noticing how different she was feeling since embracing the less than diplomatic side of her. It was no longer an intellectual conversation with her friends, but rather it integrated into a new way of seeing herself and her role in the world.

  She wandered across the grass, taking in the skyline of the city of Yokohama juxtaposed against the immediate surroundings of the manicured gardens.

  She inhaled the clean air and the fragrance of grass mixed with blossoms, remembering how much she had loved her time here, training in the mornings and evenings with Kashikoi and working on her projects with Eve in the afternoons.

  While Akio had always given the impression that he had just been waiting, she really felt she had managed to live some semblance of a life despite the loneliness. And no matter what dangers they might face now that things were heating up with Michael’s return, she had no regrets.

  Jacqueline tumbled out of the black container as she scrambled to strap her holsters and weapons to her body, clearly not thrilled to have her dirty weekend plans interrupted. And yet, secretly she now had a sense of purpose. Not just born of honor, but a real desire to get back in the saddle with the next mission and achieve something.

  Not that she was going to admit it to Mark.

  Eve jumped down after her, closing the door remotely by whatever synaptic connection she had with the box. “Remember where we’re going?” she called to Yuko.

  Yuko nodded. “It’s been a while, but yes, I remember,” she confirmed, striding across the green carpet of grass toward a main path. The others followed her, feeling a little surreal at being in the middle of a gunfight one minute, lakeside the next, and now in a beautiful Utopian park.

  Jacqueline hurried to catch up with Mark. “You’re excited about all this, aren’t you?”

  Mark looked suddenly defensive. “Well, it’s extraordinary. But it doesn’t mean I’m any less excited about us,” he clarified, slinging one arm around her shoulder as they walked.

  Yuko led them through the park and onto a main street with cars running along and above it. She found the nearest crossing, then led them deeper into the maze of buildings and skyscrapers. After a while, they found themselves in an area of town that wasn’t quite as pristine as the park where they had landed.

  Yuko slowed and called, “Just down here on the left.” The group closed the spaces between them, suddenly more alert.

  Jacqueline felt Yuko’s attention sharpen. Her head started moving more often, presumably looking for signs of trouble. “Thought we were going to see a friend of hers,” she whispered to Mark.

  Mark raised his eyebrows. “Suppose it depends on your definition of friend,” he retorted, using his first two fingers on each hand to air quote the word “friend”.

  Jacqueline drew a deep breath. “I guess so…” she said, suddenly not feeling at all comfortable about what they might be walking into.

  Yuko stopped outside an inconspicuous door between a disused computer hardware shop on one side and a shuttered shop front on the other. She flicked her attention up and then down the street.

  There wasn’t a soul around.

  There hadn’t been for about three blocks now.

  Jacqueline unsnapped her holsters, thinking that a gun would be less messy than claws in the close-quarter environment they were heading into.

  Mark clenched and unclenched his fists, getting ready to move if he had to.

  Yuko took a breath and then marched up the two stone steps to the white door with its peeling paint. She rapped decisively on it and waited.

  Nothing.

  She tried the handle.

  It opened.

  Yuko started to glance back as if to look to the others for reassurance, but then breathed in her own courage and pushed through the door into the darkened hallway.

  The others followed.

  Once inside she took a few paces forward, then paused for her eyes to adjust to the dimness.

  There was a smell of damp in the air, and a hint of old food. She stood still, waiting. Listening.

  There was a cough from upstairs. Her head tilted upward, still waiting.

  Mark could hear her elevated heart rate.

  “Hello?”

  There was another cough and a shuffling. And then a muffled voice responded, “Come.”

  Yuko seemed to relax a little once she took off her boots. As she headed to the stairs and started climbing, holstering her Jean Dukes. Three steps up, she turned to her friends. “Probably best you wait down here for a few.”

  Eve nodded and stepped back off the first step, then turned to look at Mark and Jacqueline as the Diplomat walked up the staircase. After arriving at the top she headed left, farther into the building, and disappeared from view.

  “Konnichiwa,” she said, bowing at the door and then entering the clean, spartan training room.

  “Konnichiwa, Yuko,” the old man replied. His quiet voice traveled through the space as if powered by some unearthly force. Or chi. There was a moment of silence as Yuko paused, acclimatizing.

  His voice traveled to her again. “To what do I owe this honor?”

  Yuko approached the kamiza side of the dojo where he was seated. “The honor is mine,” Yuko responded, bowing in respect to her old comrade.

  The old man struggled to his feet stiffly. He returned the bow, then used his wooden walking stick to support his weight as he sat back down on his cushion.

  He motioned for her to join him.

  Yuko picked up a cushion from a pile in the corner and dragged it over to place herself directly in front of the old man. She sat down and breathed, becoming present with her old friend. “How are you, Kashikoi?”

  “Better in health than temper, my dear,” he said, smiling sagely. “It’s been quite a while since I saw you last. How go your projects?”

  Yuko relaxed as they talked, catching him up with some of what she had been doing. They chatted for several minutes before Kashikoi brought them around to the obvious question. “What brings you back after all these years?”

  Yuko shifted her crossed legs, considering where to start. She found her place and took a deep breath. “As the keeper of knowledge of the Sacred Clan, I have supported your quest to grow your following of the worthy and to maintain your secret.”

  Kashikoi closed his eyes and bowed his head. “For which I am very grateful.”

  Yuko bowed slightly in acknowledgment before continuing. “You’re welcome,” she told him. “But I come to you with new information which may change our agreement.”

  Kashikoi’s face remained unchanged. “Our agreement for you not to ask and for me not to lie to you?”

  Yuko nodded. “Hai.”

  Kashikoi’s old face cracked into a smile as he paused to consider the prospect. “What is the new information?”

  Yuko lowered her eyes. “The Patriarch has returned. And now he needs to reassemble the ship.”

  Kashikoi’s face became grave. “You know I keep that knowledge from falling into the wrong hands,” he responded, his tone taking on the weight of thunder.

  Yuko was undeterred. “Yes, I know. And I have always supported that. But Michael’s are not the wrong hands.”

  “But there are forces still active in these regions,” he protested. “Forces who would take this knowledge and this technology and exploit it for their own ends.” His manner remained sage and mostly gentle, but Yuko recognized the passion that burned in his eyes. This had been his project longer than most people had lived.

  Yuko softened her tone. “This is true. But with Michael returned, these threats are no longer a risk to the knowledge or the technology.”

  The old man sighed, contemplating this unprecedented and unanticipated change in the status quo.

  Yuko remained silent.

  Eventually, he asked hesitantly, “What assurances do I have? That this will not end up in the wrong hands,” he qualified.

  Yuko thought for a moment, keeping her face expressionless in the negotiation. There was a slight glint in her eye for a moment before she spoke again. “Your followers…you trust them?”

  Kashikoi nodded. “Of course. When I leave this mortal coil, they will maintain the ‘vallitseva tila.’”

  Yuko nodded her understanding. “Yes, dedication to the vallitseva tila must be continued. So, do I assume that your willingness to leave them as the sole protectors means that you might send them as your proxies to assist my team and me in securing the relics?”