London Under Midnight Part 20

'Twin diesel motors; a top speed of thirty knots; she'll do the job.' Trajan rubbed his strained elbows. 'Ever sailed a motor yacht like this before?

'I've rowed a dinghy on a park lake, that's all.'

'You're going to learn fast. I need you to man the pilothouse and steer the boat as I cast off the lines.'

'You trust me enough not to wreck it?'

'I trust you with my life, Ben. Come on, once we have April and Mr Kigoma on board we need to move fast.'

But even as they headed out on to the deck Elmo Kigoma leapt on board, with April over his shoulder.

'Elmo, we can give you aa'

'Move!' Elmo shouted. 'They're here!'

Ben looked at the deserted street.

'No, not on sh.o.r.e,' Elmo called out. 'In the water! Trajan, you must get the boat moving or they'll swarm all over us.'

Ben tried to help the man carry the unconscious woman.

'No! I can manage. You help Trajan.'

Trajan raced to the pilothouse at rear of the boat. 'Ben, follow me. I'll start the motors and put her into forward at slow speed, then I'll untie the lines. As soon as she starts to move head to the centre of the river and keep the nose pointing downstream.'

'Trajan. This thing's a h.e.l.l of a size. I don't know if I can-'

'You'll be fine. It's like steering a car. Just don't touch the throttle controls. As soon as we're free of the mooring I'll take over. Okay?'

In near darkness they ran to the stern deck where the pilothouse was located. By now the lights in the high-rise buildings should be blazing but they were in darkness. Was this Edshu's doing? Had the trickster G.o.d from Elmo's homeland killed the electricity supply? From across the water it seemed as if a hundred different sirens wailed as ambulances and police cars raced to a mult.i.tude of emergencies that the power failure had caused. Before entering the pilothouse Ben glanced over the railing into the river. The moment he did so the surface exploded into gouts of spray as shapes broke the surface. In that swirl of movement and water he saw thres.h.i.+ng limbs. Faces broke the surface; they possessed blazing eyes that stared at him with a ravenous intensity.

Trajan had seen, too. 'Mr Kigoma was right. If we don't get away in the next twenty seconds they'll be on board!'

He rushed into the pilothouse. Meanwhile, Ben stood there, transfixed by that vortex created by the vampires as they writhed in the water. They appeared to be in a state that combined ecstasy and agony. He sensed their hunger. And he knew why they fixed him with their searing eyes.

'Ben! I need you now. Take the wheel!'

Ben snapped out of it. Engines hummed as the propellers chopped at the water. Although they'd be going nowhere until Trajan untied the mooring lines. Ben ran into the wheelhouse to be confronted with banks of monitors and electronic equipment.

'Ben, when she starts to move steer away from the bank. Keep midstream. I'll be right back.' The engines' purr sent vibrations through the boat's wheel. He felt the vessel tug at the lines as if it craved its release from dry land. Through the windows he could see Trajan in the gloom. The blond head bobbed as he ran to the prow to untie the lines there; seconds later he was back amids.h.i.+ps to release a line. One remained at the stern.

Then they climbed the steps that ran up the harbour wall. Ben watched as a dozen men and women moved like panthers. Water dripped from their matted hair; their soaked clothes were torn; some only had a few strands of material hanging from their grey bodies. Again, he sensed that vampiric hunger. It drove them at ferocious speeds. And at that moment Ben had no doubt at all the creatures knew that two of their own kind were on board. Elmo Kigoma had warned Ben and Trajan that they would be the focus of the trickster G.o.d's attention now. From whatever lair these creatures spent the daylight hours they would be converging on the boat. Above the hum of motors he heard the thump of fists striking the hull. Meanwhile, the vampires that had scaled the steps began to lope toward the boat.

'Trajan!' Ben yelled. 'We've got company!' He glanced round the pilothouse for a weapon of some sort, but even the furniture was bolted to the floor. 'Hurry up!'

The grey forms flitted along the harbour pathway towards the boat. Five more seconds. Then they'd simply leap on board. And still Trajan worked at the loop of orange rope around the mooring point on deck. The prow of the boat began to move away from the harbour wall; only the motion was so slow it was agonizing to watch.

Ben shouted, 'Hurry!' At that point it could have been aimed at Trajan or the boat - or both.

A second later Trajan moved along the deck carrying the unhitched rope. Instead of hanging slack it was taut. Ben realized that one of the vampires in the water had been able to reach up and grip it. Now it wouldn't let go. On the harbour wall the creatures were only a dozen paces from leaping on to the deck. A glance at those powerful arms told Ben that he wouldn't be able to manhandle them over the side. Trajan still appeared to be having trouble with the rope as he struggled to tug it free from the hands of the monster in the water. The boat continued its unhurried departure from the harbour.

Ben called to Trajan. 'Have you untied it?'

'Yes, but-'

The affirmative was all he wanted to hear. Ben gripped the helm wheel in one hand, while he gripped a large chrome lever that extended from the controls with the other. Although he'd only seen this done on TV he knew that this must be the throttle lever. He rammed it forward as far as it would go. The power units down in the engine room were no weaklings. The bellow of the motor battered his skull. For a moment the boat appeared to stand on its tail as it surged away from the dock. At the same moment the vampires leapt from dry land to the deck.

A howl of pure joy erupted from Ben's mouth as the boat jetted toward the centre of the river. As the water raced by, waves exploded against the prow to send drops of water fifty feet into the air where they gleamed like diamonds in the moonlight.

'We did it, Trajan!' Ben screamed. 'We b.l.o.o.d.y did it!'

When he glanced round Trajan had vanished. The silver wake formed a s.h.i.+ning trail back across dark waters to the harbour. Worse, when he looked through the windows toward the front of the boat he saw three pairs of arms clinging to the guardrail. Most of the vampires hadn't made the leap aboard, but three of their kind had jumped far enough to catch the rail. Now they hung down the port side. He saw three grey faces appear over the rail. Their eyes, which burnt with an uncanny fire, locked on to him through the window. He recognized the satisfaction in their expression. We've got him, their faces seemed to say. There's nothing he can do to save himself. Ben searched the banks of the river. On Cheyne Walk cars still ran freely. Their headlights illuminated part of the banking there. Then he saw a block of darkness at the edge of the river. With the motors pounding at full revs he steered the boat toward that black oblong on the water. The three vampires that clung to the rail were now hoisting themselves up the side of the boat. In seconds they would climb fully on board.

Ben prayed that he'd mastered the steering enough to get this right. He charged at the block of darkness on the river.

Only at the last moment did the shape resolve itself into the outline of the huge dredger that scooped mud from the Thames. He swung the nose of the craft round, then deliberately raked the port side of his vessel down the ma.s.sive steel flanks of the dredger. Pieces of that beautiful ivory hull were sheered away with a piercing, grinding noise. Electric blue sparks filled the air as the two surfaces chafed against each other as the boat sped alongside. Then the dredger was gone. Along with a streak of ivory paint left by the motor yacht's contact with the dredger was an almighty smear of glistening red. Two of the vampires had vanished. A pair of hands and a head remained at just the other side of the rail, but when Ben leaned forward to take a closer look he saw that the entire body beneath the creatures' armpits had been torn away. For a moment the face of what had once been a man turned toward the pilothouse. With nothing less than hatred the eyes continued to blaze at Ben. Then a wave buffeted the boat. The tremor shook what was left of the creature free; it dropped into the water to be buried by the foaming wake.

As soon as Ben was satisfied nothing remained of the vampires that had clung to the rail he pulled back the throttle lever. The motors dropped from a bellow to a hum. Within moments the boat had slowed until it did little more than drift in the current. To one side the huge Gothic bulk of the Houses of Parliament slipped by.

Ben scrambled out on to the stern deck; now it was so dark he had to rely on lights from cars plying the roads that flanked the river. At that moment he was sick with not only dread at what might turn out to be the loss of Trajan, but a guilty excitement as well. What if Trajan had been dragged overboard by one of those creatures as the man tried to wrest the rope from it? With Trajan gone April would be his responsibility. If he could free her from this vampiric curse then what would stop him from declaring his true feelings to her; that he loved her, and he was prepared to devote his life to her? Trajan's death wasn't his fault. Neither guilt nor blame would attach to him. As he stepped across the smooth surface of the deck a kind of dreaminess stole over him as he pictured himself helping April through her recovery. He'd stroll with her in the park as she convalesced; when she was tired she'd link arms with him. He could almost imagine the light pressure of her arm against his.

'Bena'

He looked down over the rail. Trajan clung to the mooring rope. His face was a mask of exhaustion as he grimly hung on for dear life. Beneath him the black waters became smooth, almost unctuous, as he clung on.

'Ben,' he grunted. 'I didn't expect you to hit the throttle like that.'

Ben continued to stare down. The man's feet were just inches from the water. Just beneath the surface grey faces peered up with wide eyes as their prey dangled.

'I can't hang on much longera if you give me your hand. I should be able toa uha' A hand broke the surface of the river to grip Trajan's ankle.

Ben watched the long fingers that were the colour of raw fish. Each finger terminated in a deathly blue nail.

'Ben!'

Just one tug and Trajan would fall back into the river where dozens of vampires swarmed like predatory sharks. His death would be almost instant. With Trajan's disappearance there would be n.o.body in the way. April would become the love of Ben's life. He pictured the pa.s.sion they'd share. A tingle spread through his veins. He could imagine hugging her as she whispered his name into his ear.

A new image invaded the one of him sliding beneath the bed sheets with a naked April; this one was of Elmo Kigoma intoning, 'Ben, Edshu's greatest pleasure is turning friend against friend.'

'Got you! Kick your legs! Kick it in the face!' Ben sucked the air into his lungs as he dragged Trajan clear of the creature below. The vampire still hung on to Trajan's ankle. Ben's adrenalin-fuelled lift raised not only the human but the monster from the water. He saw the figure of a girl of about twenty. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s gleamed in the moonlight, while her mouth yawned wide in readiness to bite Trajan's limb.

'Kick!' Ben yelled.

Trajan, as he dangled there, kicked as hard as he could. The toe of his shoe struck the creature in the side of the head. With a howl it released its grip and fell into the water. By now the creatures in the river used one another as floating platforms in order to climb up the stern of the boat. Already, he saw fingertips brus.h.i.+ng the bottom of the guard rails as they tried to get a grip so they could haul themselves on board.

Ben gritted his teeth while he dragged Trajan on to the deck. As soon as he was satisfied the man was back over the rail, and in relative safety, Ben set to work. By now, vampires had begun to climb up the hull. He let fly with almighty kicks that smashed fingers as they gripped the rail. The creatures screamed as they tumbled back into the water.

'Ben, get us out of here,' Trajan shouted. 'We're drifting into a jetty.'

Ben hurled a punch into the face of something that had once been a middle-aged man. With a grunt it tumbled back into the Thames. Using his last reserves of strength he kicked the hands of a pair of vampires that climbed up the other side of the rail. When their broken fingers could no longer hold them, they, too, slipped back into the swarm of vampires that churned the water around the boat. There must have been dozens now. Ben knew he couldn't fight them all. Exhausted, he staggered back into the pilothouse. Once more he hit the throttle. Only this time he managed to find reverse. The boat slid backwards as the big propellers chopped the river like whirling knife blades. A second later it wasn't just liquid they chopped as the propellers hacked through limbs and torsos. When he accelerated the boat forward again he left the remains of a dozen shattered bodies twitching in the waters. More vampire bodies slammed against the vessel's prow as he sped away from the bank into the gathering darkness, and toward their destiny.

THIRTY-ONE.

Ben had no qualms in handing over the piloting of the motor yacht to Trajan. The man skillfully guided the boat downstream despite him still panting with exhaustion, and the fact that he'd only narrowly avoided being torn apart by the vampires just minutes ago.

I nearly let them take him, Ben thought to himself, as he watched the blond man at the wheel. There was an opportunity to get rid of you. It would have left the way open for me to get close to April again.

Ben gripped the back of the chair almost to steady himself mentally rather than physically. Because with the mental image of Trajan falling victim to those creatures he realized he felt no guilt at the thought of his rival for April being destroyed. Even at this moment he could grab Trajan and topple him over the rail into the river. n.o.body would suspect Ben because n.o.body knew about that secret longing for April. For a while he was so wrapped up in this electrifying revelation that he didn't realize that Trajan called to him above the thunder of motors.

'Pray we don't hit any debris or any boatsa The moon's bright but it's still hard to see objects in the water. Ben, keep a look out through the windows at your side. Shout if you see anything in the water. Okay?'

'Okay.'

'The tide's turned so we've a current of around four knots pus.h.i.+ng us downstream anyway. I'm hitting thirty knots now so we should be out of the city in thirty minutes.' He shot him a grim smile. 'We're breaking the speed limit, so just hope the river police are busy somewhere else tonight.'

The ma.s.sive boat skimmed across the water. In the moonlight Old Father Thames resembled mercury. One moment it was black, the next a metallic silver. With the failure of the electricity supply the buildings that flanked the banks were huge monolithic oblongs; tombstone shapes that blotted out the starry sky. Cars still crawled along the streets. Every so often he glimpsed a face onsh.o.r.e that turned to watch the boat, and sometimes he suspected that it was not a human face. London's landmarks were nothing more than indistinct ghosts of their former selves under the flood of darkness. He glimpsed the dark finger of Cleopatra's Needle pointing skyward. Each bridge they pa.s.sed beneath could have been an entrance to h.e.l.l itself as they cut out the moonlight and left Trajan's steering to become an act of faith in the total blackout. Then the boat would surge into moonlight again to allow glimpses of the London Eye and the glittering colossus of Canary Wharf.

He glanced back at their wake, which formed a V shape of white foam that rushed out to the riverbanks. The Thames itself wriggled through London in elongated S-shapes; so, despite their speed, sometimes their progress was almost thwarted when the water channel double-backed on itself as it did now at the Isle of Dogs with its ma.s.s of warehouses and the glittering pools of the West India Docks. The blackout extended even out here. Some power that Ben couldn't begin to comprehend had strangled London of her electricity supply. When Ben glanced back again to watch their wake he saw the silhouette of two figures in the doorway to the aft deck. Trajan kept his eyes forward on the night-time river, so he hadn't noticed the intruders. From the bank the stray lights from a vehicle illuminated their faces with a sudden brilliance that made Ben catch his breath.

'April!'

This made Trajan turn his head. 'April, thank G.o.d you're alright!'

And yet Ben noticed a change. 'April, what's wrong?'

Somehow her face appeared to blaze with its own inner-light. Her eyes held a flame of ineffable power. The smile on her face held his own gaze. She was the picture of warmth, joy and tenderness. At that moment he couldn't see past that to notice the sticky spikes of her hair, or the fact her dress had become little more than a filthy rag that clung to her body. Dimly, he was aware that a hole had been torn at the waist to reveal an area of naked flesh the size of his open hand. The wounds caused by teeth that had violated her skin. At that moment the negative aspects of her appearance were obliterated by her uncanny beauty. He saw himself grasping her, and hugging her, while he released all those secret feelings he harboured. The urge became overwhelming. He could put his arms round her and confess everything. How much she meant to him. Leave Trajan. He, Ben Ashton, would prove he loved her.

'Trajan,' she called. 'Something marvelous has happened to me. I need Ben to tell the world about it.'

The second figure shook his head. 'First we must go back to the island. Then we can talk.'

'No, Trajan, please turn the boat round!'

'First, the island,' he insisted. 'Once we've regained control of ourselves, then we can discuss this.'

Trajan was torn between looking ahead as he piloted the boat and wanting to look back at April. 'What happened to you, April? Have you been hurt?'

'No, something wonderful happened, Trajan. Oh, G.o.d, please let me share it with you. It's New-Life. It is going to change the world. Stop the boat. We can talk about it right now.'

A third figure slipped like a ghost into the pilothouse. Ben recognized the slim figure of Elmo Kigoma. 'Gentlemen, these are vampires. You must take care.'

April looked hurt. 'Why do you say we're vampires? That's not true! Ben, look at me. See how healthy I am.'

Elmo said, 'They possess self-control at the moment. It won't last. As soon as they become hungry they'll become dangerous.'

'That's rubbish.' April's eyes flashed. 'We wouldn't harm you!'

The stranger spoke. 'The man's right. Our only hope is to return to the island. I could control this thing there. We weren't crazy.' The man's gold-tipped teeth glinted as he spoke. 'I can show you where it is. It's down in the estuary, opposite one of the big oil refineries. Look for a low-lying mound toward the south sh.o.r.e; there's a ma.s.s of willows and a ruined house. It's the only building on the island.'

'Don't listen to him, Trajan. Yes, we went through a rough time at first. But we know what to do now. We can control this thing.'

'Yes! By feeding on people, wringing every last drop of blood from their bodies!' The stranger became agitated. 'This man understands us.' He nodded toward Elmo. 'I can tell from his face. He's seen our kind before.'

'You must do what you can to remain calm,' Elmo told him. 'What's your name?'

'I'm Carter Vaughn. This is April Connor.'

'We know her,' Ben said.

Elmo continued. 'Carter Vaughn. You have a name and ident.i.ty. Remember it. Strive to hold on to your memories. What's your mother's name?'

Carter had become edgy. 'Why's that important?'

'Your memory belongs to you. It is the anchor of your personality. Can you remember your mother's name?'

'Yes, of course, it'sa' He bit his lip as his eyes roved the ceiling of the pilothouse as if he'd find it written there. Meanwhile, Ben noticed that April's smile had widened into a leer; her eyes fixed on him with a fiery intensity.

'April,' Ben said. 'Do you remember your mother's name?'

'Ben. You're the most brilliant writer in the world. Write my story for the newspapers. You know people in television, too. They can make a film about what happened to us. We discovered New-Life. It's going to change the world. n.o.body will be ill again. And it fills you with sucha' She took a deep breath that seemed to sizzle with sheer eroticism. 'It fills you with such happiness.'

'The island,' Carter grunted. 'Take us back there.'

'I'm trying,' Trajan answered. 'But the estuary's vast. You've got to help me.'

'I will, sir. I will, sir.' Carter began to perspire. 'If I can, I will.' He closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them he gasped, 'My mother's name is Pearl. Pearl Vaughn, aged fifty-two. Lives in Lambert Road. Takes medication for blood pressure. Likes to watcha likes to watcha' His eyes rolled before he took another breath to steady himself. 'Watches doc.u.mentaries about ancient history. Works as a cleaner in a school, but she loves programs about ancient civilizationsa'

'Carter?'

Elmo held up his hand. 'Trajan, let Carter speak. If he's remembering he's keeping a hold on his rational mind.'

'Ancient cities,' Carter murmured. 'She knew that the Romans built the first London. Roman galleys sailed the Thames. Centurions, legionnaires. My mother's name is Pearl. She told me to be proud of my colour. We aren't strangers in a foreign town because London was founded by Romans from Italy. And people from all over the world built the rest of it. She said if you took everything contributed by the Poles, French, Russians, Chinese, Africans, West Indians; the Huguenot, Hindu, Muslim and Jew; if you could magic everything away that they gave to London you'd have nothing but a swamp again. No city, no-'

'Shut up!' April slashed one arm at Carter, knocking him down as if he'd been nothing more substantial than a reed.

'Turn the boat around. This is a miracle! Don't throw it away! The world is dying; it needs a second chance!'

'Don't listen to her!' Elmo Kigoma held out his hands. 'What she's talking about is infecting everyone with the curse. She wants everyone to become a vampire.'

She lunged forward, trying to claw her way to the controls. Elmo gripped her in his wiry arms. 'Listen, child. I know you still have some humanity inside of you. Fight this thing.'

'No, this is New-Life. Don't you people understand? This is the good news that the world has been waiting for. This is the end of death.' She pushed forward until she could grab Trajan's arm. 'Listen to me. Turn around. Bring scientists and doctors, I'll make them understand!' With a formidable strength she shoved Trajan aside despite Elmo's best attempts to hold her. Trajan immediately lost control of the boat, causing it to swing violently to one side. It seemed at that moment it would capsize.