The Ophir (11 page)

“Contona, call the men. We have to turn the
tide for ourselves, I think.”

“Aye, Cap’n.”

“Have you given thought to what you’ll
do?”

“I stand by you, sir.”

“Thank you, Contona. You’ve been a good Mate.
It will be my honor and comfort to have you by my side.” The men
shook hands to acknowledge their decision and commemorate their
friendship.

The crew of the Ophir gathered on deck. The
crews of the entire armada stood to listen to the Captain’s words.
They stood shoulder-to-shoulder and waited for Captain Antonio to
step out onto the deck and address them. He took care to disguise
his thoughts from those that learned the power of probing another’s
mind. He knew that those with him the longest felt the same as he
did. They were loyal and would never go against their Captain.

Captain Antonio was prepared either way to do
what he must. He had to take precautions because even in the world
of vampires there were young ones that, in the past, challenged the
Captain. Those that stepped over the line were beheaded. It was a
short, precise, permanent death. Regeneration, as in other cases,
was not possible.

I had no choice but to wait and ‘hear’ what
the Captain’s decision would be. My condition was a sham. I had no
just cause to continue my life as a puppet.

The Captain gave his crew the alternatives
available, and let them choose the path they wanted for themselves.
As always, he would listen to all that were reasonable.

“Long before some of you joined us, we were
given a choice. We could become victims of the lamia, or we could
become lamia. We chose to become. We were given certain abilities
and restricted in others.

We’ve shared the gifts our makers gave us and
learned to respect our limitations. But, time has moved ahead, and
it’s left us in its wake. Our time has ended as it once was.

The future was not foretold. We were seduced
into a bad bargain. I take full blame. We believed that
immortality, regardless of the mortal things we might lose, was
better than death. But, I tell you that this is not a life. It is
an existence. The world moves on, and we are trapped in repetitive
motions going neither forward nor back.

Wealth beyond the imagination is ours, but of
what good are treasures, if they cannot be put to use? Of what good
is strength if it can only be wielded on the ocean? Of what use is
power when we wear it like a cloak without warmth?

It’s time to make another decision, and I
therefore place alternatives before you. Each man must choose for
himself the path to follow. Do not be swayed by whatever path I
choose for myself. Each man to his destiny.” Captain Antonio
addressed the alternatives aloud:

“We can separate now. Those that wish to
continue their life at sea, may do so. We would split the booty, an
even share for all. Ship’s berth would need to be shifted to
accommodate those that wish to continue in this fashion.

Those that wish to sleep until a better time,
may do so. This plan would, by necessity, be very structured to
insure the safety and undisturbed sleep of our brethren, until such
a time as the world is ready for us to draw forward again.

An alternative to sleep, would be the
formation of an island that would be found by those whose destiny
it is to enrich our lives with theirs. I would suggest the place
known as the Ring of Fire. There are three other mystical areas in
the world with the same capacity to hold you securely.

Last, there are strange things that occur in
those areas, which have created a place that goes by the name
Lemuria. It is not on any known map, real places never are. On this
great island live many races, but not all races there are human, as
we understand it. This knowledge was passed on to me alone by the
Master, known as ‘The One’. Perhaps he knew that this day would
come, and a decision would have to be made equitable to all.”

“Tell us, Captain, what of Lemuria?”
whispered their minds.

“Lemuria is a continent of the ancients. It
is in the Ring of Fire. It is visible to those with eyes to see.
You have heard it called by many names in the mind of man. It is
known by Hiva, Bolutu, Mu, and Hawaiki.

It is inhabited by small and giant alike.
Monuments exist to its aura and influence. Mystic arts are
practiced there. It is a place where time is but an illusion.

We have many of the same gifts as the healers
and ancient Egyptian Magik Workers on that land. We retain those
gifts as long as they are used for the betterment of humanity. Our
hearing, speed and strengths transcend that of mortal men but can
be matched in Lemuria.

Earthly gains are of no use to us. The
differences we experience with this common world will be normal to
that parallel existence. We would be free to explore them.

The Prophet Mohammed once said, “
Anyone
growing out of the unlawful would not enter Paradise.
” In
Lemuria, we are not unlawful. It is in the world of man that we are
called an abomination.

In truth, I myself grow tired of this world.
I will not, cannot, continue this way. I choose Lemuria. There, I
can retire to a life that is of my choosing, and where controlled
sustenance is supplied by an abundance of natural growth. I know
not what else may await me there, but I am keen to find out.

Decide for yourselves, as I have done. Bear
in mind, whatever your decision, you must endure, evolve and adapt
if you are to survive.

In fairness, I will give you a decade in
man’s time to make your decision but no longer. In that time, we
will ply the seas in search of ships laden in treasure to secure a
safe retirement, regardless of where that might be.”

No one spoke. No one questioned the
alternatives. They would each decide and gather with those of
similar mind, and the move would be made. Captain Antonio knew that
the men would be divided according to cast or progression, in most
cases. ‘Becoming’ did not guarantee intellect nor did it guarantee
survival. Even in this world there would be leaders, and there
would be followers, but neither could survive alone. The year was
1312.

* * * *

Those that wished to live under the illusion
of an island, switched onto three of the nine vessels once under
the command of Captain Antonio. They sailed toward the Bahama’s and
Devils Triangle at the southeastern tip of the North American
continent. There they would create a hive, drawing a veil over the
eyes of many. They drew on memories of past land excursions near
beautiful uncharted islands in the Pacific and Mediterranean Oceans
to build their illusion.

The lush green islands with gentle sloping
beaches surprised unsuspecting ships and casual travelers alike.
The occupants of passing ships saw a shallow beach leading to a
tropical, pristine island that did not exist on their maps. When
they accidently ran their ships aground on the sudden appearance of
what they thought was land, they were actually sliding over one or
another of the ships previously lured into the vampire’s trap. The
spider web of ships, yachts, schooners and boats would add to the
intricate scaffolding.

“Captain? Is there a problem? Why has the
full stop
order been given?”

“Look ahead. Do my eyes deceive me? Never
have I seen this place before. Check the map again. Recheck the
coordinates. Log the find and put a description in the
journal.”

“Look at the gauges. They’re going crazy.
There’s no way to get an accurate reading.”

“A storm? Think a storm might do this?”

“Seas are calm, Mister. Look about. Like
glass. This ... this is extraordinary. We’ll never stop her in
time. Sound the alarm; we’re on a collision course!”

“But—”

“Do it!”

The General Gates, captained by John Shimmer
in 1780, went missing. The General Gates was a British war ship
commissioned to transport prisoners to New York. No one claimed to
know the reason for her disappearance. Later, it was recorded in
the official register as a sinking, “cause unknown”. It disappeared
with all hands on board.

Most victims were taken with speed. Those
that survived the “landing” would for a very brief time, moments in
reality, be separated through subterfuge, and shared with the other
vampire ships. The victims, if allowed to live a while, became
participants in the different fantasies playing in their own
minds.

While waiting to be rescued, they offered
their throats to phantom lovers, or fell asleep in a nonexistent
hammock, under the shade of a nonexistent palm tree where the lamia
would drain them without prejudice. The pirates joined in the quite
extravagant “play”, enjoying it like one might enjoy playing with a
child or favorite pet. Few visitors were lucky enough to
escape.

Among the few that did escape, were the very
young. In the collective memory of the vampires, there had been one
instance of a child being taken. The man that founded the pirate
vampires was credited with that particular atrocity. No one knew
the truth of it.

It was sworn to by all vampires from that
time on, that a child would never be “made”, nor would a child ever
be used for sustenance. The children would stay aboard in their own
fantasies until another ship was within a distance safe enough to
set the children free.

The method for seeing to the safety of the
children was often creative but never dangerous to them.

Sometimes a silent net was cast out to a
passing ship causing a hypnotic illusion. In the minds of the
passing ship everything was normal, and they thought themselves to
be making good speed, when in actuality they were standing
still.

Children were taken aboard and deposited near
the Captain. Upon the veil being withdrawn, he would be amused,
surprised and then concerned to find children with no adult
supervision surrounding him. A search would be put into motion to
find the parents of the abandoned children.

“Oh, hello children. Are you taking a tour of
the ship?”

The oldest or most verbal would answer, “No,
Sir. Our parents left us on the boat to play.”

“Where did they go?”

“Don’t know, Sir.” In an aside to the First
Mate, the Captain would give orders for the parents to be
found.

The Captain’s rage would grow until all
reports were in. With the negative reports in hand, he would try to
reason the sudden appearance of the children. He would file a
report and investigators would board the ship in route, but nothing
more would be discovered. The Captain and crew would question their
own sanity.

“What’s going on? How could this happen?”

“Make a schedule to interview the crew.
Someone must’ve seen something. Children don’t just “appear” as if
by magic. In my opinion, the parents are criminal and should be
flogged.”

When no parents could be found, one more
report would be filed. The report would be filed as one of those
mysteries about the Bermuda Triangle people so loved to be
entertained with late at night.

At other times, cloaked in invisibility to
the more mature and those that lacked imagination, the pirates
would row the children in a skiff to a nearby yacht. They would
instruct the children to scream for help. Once sighted, the
passengers and crew would scramble to the aid of the babes.

“Drop the ladder, Mr. Theus. Pull her
in.”

“Aye, Capn.”

“Use the pike to hook her in and bring the
passengers to me.”

The Memories wiped from the mind of the
children made it impossible to tie ends together. By the time the
crew went to secure the dingy to the yacht, it would have “drifted”
too far from them to get a line on it. It would be left to
float
away with the lamia aboard. As soon as the ripples
could no longer be seen from their dipping oars, the pirates rowed
back to their private island of fantasy.

When questioned, the children, in all
innocence, would tell them the truth about the pirates that rowed
them toward their ship. Believing them to be hallucinating and
confused, they would be treated with kindness and then taken to the
nearest port authority where more questions would be asked.

At times, the rescuers themselves would be
accused and arrested for crimes on the seas, to which they carried
no blame but gave no logical explanation.

“Come man, do you expect me to believe that
these children appeared by some kind of magic? I’ll ask you once
more, sir, where are the parents?”

“Sir, I don’t know, sir.”

“How did this infant board your ship? She
can’t be more than three years old.”

“I swear to you, we pulled her up in the net
along with the other three.”

“Like fish? Why weren’t they wet? Where did
they come from?”

The lamia responsible for the safe delivery
of the children slapped his knee in silent laughter.

The vampires stood aside after each delivery;
they watched the expressions go from incredulity to exasperation to
frustration and rage.

Ancient pirates are easily amused. It didn’t
take much to keep them entertained as they listened to stories that
would soon become myths.

“We were fishing off the trench. Suddenly
everything went kitty waddle, and ...”

“Kitty waddle? What in the name of heaven do
you mean by kitty waddle?”

“Crazy, all over the place. It was the
strangest thing I’d ever seen. The sky turned all different colors.
The ocean went still, smooth as glass. A fog rolled in and there in
the middle of the fog was a boulder. The children were huddled in
the middle of it. At first I thought I was seein’ things. I wiped
my eyes and looked again, but they were still there.”

Over the years, the pirates managed to build
a better platform on which to develop communication skills as well
as theatrical ones. The ships that were confiscated from the
average man were scuttled at the center of a triangle formed by
three of Antonio’s fleet.