Amish Vampires in Space (48 page)

Jeb placed a hand over his chest and bowed his head. “With all respect, Miss Singer, you wouldn’t know. You aren’t one of us.”

She frowned. “No, I’m not Amish. But I know what the Bible teaches. And it isn’t that. Paul said, ‘I write to you so you will
know
that you are saved.’ But how could he say that? How could anyone
know
he’s saved if salvation was based on actions? You wouldn’t know until you got to Judgment and found out what God decided. But Paul said we could know now. It isn’t based on your works, Jeb. It is based on God’s grace. On what Jesus did, not on what you can do.”

Jeb shook his head. A shame this woman had studied the Word of Gott but had not come to embrace Amisher ways. “Nee, not for me. I have fallen too far. Look what I’ve brought my people to.”

Ahead was a pair of doors—one large and sliding, the other people sized. White letters were painted on the larger door. They read “Bay 16.”

“And you think another action will make things right? That you can somehow offset your mistakes?” Singer’s frown deepened. “That’s a hard world to live in. The Bible also says—”

“Halcyon,” Greels said. “What crazy are you two mumbling about?” He took a last look up the hallway in both directions and approached the smaller door. He opened it deliberately, like a man returning home. “Come on. We’re here.”

• • •

Singer hadn’t been in Bay 16 before. When Greels brought the lights up, she looked with some trepidation at the rows and rows of white-sealed packages. They were stacked from floor to ceiling, and so many of them looked identical. Similar sizes and dimensions. She knew the loading crew used special coding on the seals to determine which box was which. But lacking that, it would be an all-day chore to find the cryomatrix amidst all this.

Jebediah looked equally awed. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open. A hand came up to absently stroke his beard. “Amazing.”

Singer expected to see Greels pull out his com unit and use it to start locating the package, but he walked straight to the nearest row, turned left, and followed it to its end. He paused in front of a package that was just a head or so taller than her, studied it, and gave a quick nod. “This is it here.” He drifted toward the package’s left side. Pointed. “I helped load it, of course. And it has a zip seal, so it is easy to remember.” A smile. “Not too many of those in here.”

He went to work on the seal on that side, slowly separating the two portions. When he reached the midpoint, Singer took over, pulling back the flap of material until the dark surface of the cryomatrix was revealed. There was a transparent section that was slightly frosted. The scientist’s face was clearly visible, though. Black hair and a rounded face. Reasonably attractive, especially for someone from a profession where appearance wasn’t typically a high priority.

Greels stared at the scientist’s face for a long moment before snapping his fingers. “What was I thinking? We need to strip the seal all the way off.”

The process required additional pulling on both their parts. Even Jebediah helped strip the matrix completely from its shell. Singer noticed a small bank of controls on the right side. A green one was clearly marked “Resume.”

“So should we try to contact Darly now?” Singer asked.

Greels was still staring at the front of the case. Lost in thought.

“Greels?”

He started and looked her direction. “I think we just use that green button there.”

“I would guess,” Singer said, “but shouldn’t we call anyway? In case something goes wrong?”

Jebediah stood to Singer’s right. “How long has she been in there?” he asked.

Singer shrugged. “Weeks, at least. Possibly longer.” She glanced at the nearby packages. “So where is the one Congi broke into?”

Greels pointed at the large package situated directly behind the matrix. “That one there. I saw some scuff marks on the ground. Assumed he cut it. If you look close at the side, you can see where he resealed it.”

Singer nodded and removed her com unit from her waist. “I’m going to call anyway.” She worked the unit to call the medical officer. The screen swirled as the unit worked. She saw Darly’s image, the image smiled in recognition, but then the screen started to swirl again.

“We need to do this soon,” Greels said. “We need answers, right? We need her free.”

Singer scowled at her screen, but when the image continued to swirl, she nodded. She reached toward the controls.

Greels stepped in front of her. “Here,” he said, “I’ll do it.” He pressed the button.

A light on the control panel began to blink. Next a small screen lit up, and biometric data started to display—heart rate, blood pressure…other readings Singer wasn’t sure of.

“I think I did it,” he said.

They all walked to the front of the case. The frost on the transparent portion was gone already. Clearly the thing was warming. Bringing the scientist—the patient?—back to consciousness. Singer hoped there wasn’t an immediate medical need. She had some medical training, but if there was anything serious…

She breathed a silent prayer. Hoped for the best.

• • •

Greels could barely contain himself. His stomach was flipping and his hands felt cold and sweaty. He squeezed his hands together a couple of times, and when that didn’t help, he purposely wiped them on his shirt. What if he had to help her? What if she needed a hand? He didn’t want her first contact to be with someone with hands like a caught fish.

This wasn’t how he’d imagined it would be. Their first meeting. He glanced at Singer and the Amish fellow. First off, they shouldn’t be here, not now. And not like this, with an emergency and all the pressure to make a good impression. It was maddening.

The light on the control panels stopped blinking and the screen blanked, taking all the biometric data away. His heart found his throat. Was she still okay?

“Maybe we should try Darly—” he began, but then the front section of the matrix snapped free. Next came a hissing sound and the smell of ozone. Clouds of fog exited all around the break. He waited for the door to open itself, but when it didn’t, he rushed forward and grabbed the front at the seam. Pulled it forward. It swung away.

The scientist’s eyes were open. Such beautiful eyes. They followed the motion, but she didn’t say anything. She studied Greels for a moment, then her eyes panned to Singer, and then Jebediah. She was dressed in a light blue jumpsuit, with yellow pinstriping at the side of the arms and legs. Very technical looking. There were blue slippers on her feet, blue gloves on her hands.

She was even more beautiful than he’d imagined. Soft color filled her cheeks. Her eyes were blue and bright, her lips full and perfect. He was speechless.

“I’m sorry,” Singer said. “We don’t know your name. But I’m Crewmember Singer. And this is Jebediah and Greels.”

The young lady looked at them all again, pausing an extra long time on him, Greels thought. She opened her mouth to speak, but only a croak came out. That was followed by violent coughing, to the point that she almost fell forward. Greels stepped in and caught her shoulder.

She weakly raised a hand to her mouth. Coughed again, and then shook her head and put out her free hand to grip Greels’s shoulder. “Sorry,” she said. “My throat is a little—”

Greels just smiled. Shook his head. Tried to decide what his first words should be. She was touching him!

Singer scowled. “Ack, we should’ve brought you some water.” A look at Greels. “Darly would’ve known that.”

The young woman’s hand was still touching him. “Yes,” Greels said. “I’m sorry.” He remembered the water dispenser that every bay had. Held up a hand. “Wait here!” He ran to the inner wall near the middle of the bay, found the square water dispenser and a cup, filled it, and brought it back.

The young lady smiled when he returned, thanked him, and took a long drink of water. She leaned forward and put her hands against her knees. “Wow, that’s really a strange thing,” She scanned their faces. “Leaves you feeling really odd. Like your skeleton is missing.”

Singer looked at Greels, her face showing discomfort. “Yes, we’re sorry about that. We have a bit of a situation here. What was your name again?”

“It is Tenra, thanks…” She slid her hands down her calves and, straightening, patted both thighs. “I think my burns are gone.” She touched her forearms and the back of her head. “Cuts too.”

Singer nodded. “Cryo renewal. There’s a positive.”

“Yeah…” Tenra squinted, searched the bay. “Are we in a warehouse?”

“Almost,” Greels said. “A Guild delivery ship. The
Raven
.”

“A ship? How did I get here?”

“Some accident in your science facility,” Greels said. “You were evacuated, apparently. And…we’re not exactly sure, but we think you brought something with you. Something that has changed people on this ship.

“Brought something?” Tenra slowly stood and looked back at the matrix. The surface behind her was a dark, foam-like material. There was still an impression from where she’d laid. “I don’t see anything I recognize.”

“You came with a scientific shipment, Tenra.” He pointed. “That large package there. Something in it got out, we think.”

Tenra took a step, and then paused and put out a hand for Greels again. “Whew, walking. Is the room spinning?”

Greels shifted to place Tenra’s arm over his shoulder. “Let me help you…” He was amazed at how light she was. How lithe.

She smiled at him, then looked at Singer and Jebediah. “So you have something on your ship? Something dangerous?”

“Really dangerous,” Singer said. “Bizarre abnormal and violent behavior.”

“Bloodsucking,” Greels added.

Tenra looked at him, aghast. “Bloodsucking? Like a vampire bat?”

“I guess so.” He shrugged. “Never seen a bat. That’s an ancient thing, right? Like from old Earth?”

“Yes…”

Greels smiled. “I spend most of my time here.”

“In this room?”

“Could we get into this later?” Singer said. “We are all in danger here. And the ship is out of our control.”

Tenra nodded. “Okay…that’s not good. Not sure how much I can help, but I’ll try.”

“You were part of a science station,” Greels said. “So you must be smart.”

Tenra looked at the ground, smiled. “I don’t know about that.”

“But you were a scientist, correct?” Singer asked. “You had to know what was going on there.”

Tenra nodded slowly. “Sort of. Nothing too detailed. I mean, I had a lot of exposure to everything that was going on. The experiments. But none of them were really, you know, mine.”

“Any knowledge will be better than what we have now,” Singer said. “So what did you do there?”

“I was more of an assistant.”

“An assistant?”

Tenra looked at the floor again, shrugged. “Okay, an intern, actually.”

Seal spread his hands over the desk. Panned
the faces of those in the room with him. Forced a smile. “I’ve tried to reach all the sections of this ship,” he said. “I either get no response or I do get a response, but from crewmembers that appear to be infected. Or perhaps, given what we now know, I should say
infested
.”

Deacon Mark nodded. “It is a tragedy, Captain. For both our communities. My wife, my son…none of us here have complete families now.”

Seal nodded. “I understand. And we don’t know what we can trust. The only certainties we have, the only resources, are what is in this room. Do you understand?”

Samuel repositioned himself in his seat. Grunted. “Just because we don’t make use of your instruments doesn’t mean we’re ignorant.”

Seal shut his eyes. “I wasn’t implying that you are. I just want to emphasize the position we’re all in.” He pointed at his desk. “This device, the system it represents, contains thousands and thousands of regulations. Thousands of rules and procedures I have to daily follow. My life and profession are dedicated to upholding them. Upholding the schedule we’re on.”

Samuel nodded. “Life is full of obligations. We understand that, as well.”

“I’m sure you do. But my point is…” Seal glanced in the direction of his frizard aquarium. There were two young Amish children next to it—a boy and a girl. They weren’t yet to the point of being pressed against the glass, but they were leaned in very close. Watching. The frizard seemed unconcerned. “My point is this: Though I have always lived by those regulations, I would be willing to throw it all away to save the people on this ship.”

“Very admirable,” Samuel said. “You would doubtless find that much of what you do is a chasing after the wind. Meaningless to what is truly important.”

Seal would give him that one. “Undoubtedly, that’s true. However, I am asking a similar sacrifice of you. That, for this present crisis, you would close your rulebook, as well.”

Mark leaned forward, placing both elbows on his knees. “You are asking us to forsake our Ordnung, correct? To commit violence. Even against our own.”

“They’re not your own anymore, I don’t think.”

Samuel coughed. Shook his head. “Captain, may I ask you a question?