VI

VI

Asthe dropped a pill into her glass of mineral water. It bubbled and danced before turning the fizzing water a deep ruby red. She took a few sips, then tilted the glass back and downed the whole thing. Methuselah Life Water always tasted bitter to Asthe.

She couldn't sit still. From the window, she could see a lit airstrip that stretched out to the sea. Despite the late hour, a plane was landing. A long line of people waited at the waterbus stop en route to Venice.

Carnival was over, but lots of folks were still out.

"I'm sorry, Asthe," Abel offered.

"It's my own fault. There was nothing you could do," she replied. She put her remaining blood capsules back into her pill case and tried to force a smile.

She'd failed, and she could only blame herself. She would have to pay for her foolishness and arrogance. It was inevitable.

"This is the Iron Maiden, Father Abel, refueling is almost complete," Sister Kate said into Abel's earpiece.

Asthe could easily hear her soft voice.

"We will probably depart in about ten minutes. Please board soon," Sister Kate instructed.

"Understood, Sister Kate. Where isTres?"Abel asked.

"He went to the control tower to delete the flight records. I'd like the two of you to board first."

"Shall we go?" Abel motioned for Asthe to go on ahead of him.

The airport was busy. A sinking feeling welled up in Asthe as they walked through the terminal"! trust you to resolve the Endre case, Abel," she said.

The lights from Venice flickered atop the surface of the ocean. It was quite peaceful, even charming.

Unmoved, Asthe silently seethed. "Use any means necessary," she whispered. "Kill him if you have to. Don't hesitate. Too much is at stake."

"I will do what I can," he answered honestly.

There wasn't much to go on. They'd gotten nothing from the casino crime scene. They learned nothing from the fiasco at the bridge. The count's whereabouts were still unknown. They couldn't even tell if he was still in Venice.

"He will definitely go to Rome. You can't let him enter Rome," she said.

They walked through the bustling crowd.

"You said as much back at the hospital. What's in Rome? Rome is the Vatican's stronghold. The security is too heavy for him to try anyth — ah, I'm sorry!" Abel apologized. The priest bowed apologetically to the nun he'd bumped into.

Asthe shook her head at her goofy partner. "Why is it so crowded? Is it always like this?" she asked.

"No, tonight is special. There will be a large Mass at the Saint Mark chapel," Abel responded.

"Large Mass? Two nights ago was Carnival, and tonight a large Mass? Terran are always celebrating something." She chuckled.

"The holy remains of Saint Mark were missing for years, but they were rediscovered last month in Rome. Tonight is a celebratory Mass for their return," Abel explained. "Saint Mark was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, one of the writers of the Bible, and was the Patron Saint of Venice. His remains were stored in Saint Mark Plaza's bascilica, and many people believe he protected this town by making several miracles happen."

They passed another aircraft full of pilgrims. "These travelers are flocking here to see the revered Saint Mark," he concluded.

"But it's only old bones, right? Why are you guys honoring a set of bones that you're not even sure are his? You Terran never cease to amaze me." She chortled.

"How rude! You shouldn't make fun of our rituals like that. Scientists have repeatedly analyzed the bones to ensure authenticity, and the remains are officially being escorted back to their proper burial place by His Holiness," he said.

Asthe stopped walking and grabbed Abel's arm. "What?" she asked.

Abel looked at her like she was crazy.

"What did you just say?" she asked again.

"Well, uh, tonight, there will be a large Mass to return the body — "Abel started.

"After that! You said, 'escorted by His Holiness,' right? Do you mean the pope?" she demanded

"Yes. His Holiness arrived in town from Rome, and will personally conduct the Mass to safely return the body. It was in all the newspapers," he said.

She rushed to a newspaper vendor. Sure enough, the front page of that day's paper showed a pimple-faced boy sporting a weak smile. It was Pope Alessandro XVIII.

"Holy crap," Asthe swore. She didn't realize that her fangs stuck out. "This is what he was waiting for," she growled at Abel.

"Who's waiting?" Abel asked stupidly.

She grabbed Abel's shoulders and pulled him close. "When is the Mass? When is the pope going to conduct it?"

"Just after midnight."

She turned on her heel and dragged him forcefully behind her. "We have no time. The pope is in danger," she said as they ran.

"What are you talking about?"

"Endre committed genocide against the Terran, that's what he's notorious for, yes. But he was exiled from the Empire because he was guilty of treason. Don't you see?" she whispered, exasperated. She'd been ordered to never reveal the real reason for Endre's exile, but she was past that now. "He was secretly trying to start a war between the Empire and the Vatican. That's why Augusta banished him."

"What does that have to do with the Saint Mark Mass?" Abel asked.

"Stupid, don't you see?!" Asthe yelled in disgust, then collected herself. "Endre wants the Empire to start a war, but Augusta is firmly against it. He couldn't persuade her to invade. But there is more than one way to start a war."

"He'll get us to strike first," Abel reasoned.

"Yes. By assassinating your pope," she whispered. "What would happen if an imperial noble killed the pope? We'd have a full-blown war in less than twenty-four hours."

"We need to inform the Vatican," Abel said.

"We can't! If word of an assassination attempt—even a failed one—becomes public knowledge, war will break out anyway."

"What should we do?" he asked.

Asthe stared intently at her companion. "I need to stop it, Abel." Her voice cracked. For her, this meant a second chance. But for Abel, he'd be defying orders and running the risk of revealing a secret pact between humans and vampires.

"I won't ask you to come with me, partner," she said.

Abel's crystal-blue eyes bore into the beautiful Methuselah. If he read her underlying meaning in calling him "partner," he didn't show it. "I can't let you do that. You have your orders, and I have mine," he said.

"So it's no use . . ." She sighed, her shoulders slumping

Cardinal Sforza had withdrawn her support of this mission, and wished Asthe to return to her homeland before any more damage  was   done. Asthe   didn't  blame Abel  for  obeying  his superior.

"But . . ." Abel murmured, taking out his revolver. He pulled back the hammer and held out the pistol to Asthe."If you take me hostage, then it's a different story." He smiled.

Asthe's pretty mouth stretched in a devious smile of her own.

He flipped the revolver over and pushed the grip into Asthe's hand. "Hello, Sister Kate? Can you hear me?" Abel said into his communicator.

"What is it, Father Abel? You can board now," Sister Kate replied.

"Actually, I ran into a problem. The duchess of Odessa is demanding to return to the city," Abel informed.

"Abel, I'm really busy. Flight plans, fuel plans, et cetera. Get her on the plane now. I don't care if you have to do it at gunpoint. Just get her on the ship," Sister Kate scolded.

"That's the thing. The duchess took my revolver. She has it pressed against my head. I'm a hostage. Save me, Kate," he said with absolutely no emotion.

"Abel, don't you dare pull a stunt like this. I'll get chewed out for a week if you don't get her on this ship now! Abel? Are you there?!" Sister Kate yelled.

"I really am a hostage here. No, seriously. The rest is up to you," Abel said and removed the earpiece.

"Wait! Abel—" She was cut off.

"Okay then." Abel put the communicator down. "Let's get out of here, Asthe."

"Are you sure about this?" she asked.

"No problem at all."

Asthe tilted her head, considering her partner's strange personality as she followed the smiling priest out of the terminal.

"So how are we getting back to the city? By swimming?" she asked incredulously.

The airport was on the mainland, so they had to cross the sea to get to Venice. Asthe would probably have a hard time swimming ten miles and dragging an injured priest along at the same time.

"Let's procure a boat," Abel said. He pointed to a water taxi. The steamship's boiler had been fired up. It just sat there, docked at the port, no passengers in sight. The duo boarded. As the pulled up the mooring and Abel started flipping switches on the control panel.

"Can you drive this thing?" she asked as he fumbled with knobs. The steamship began to pull away from the dock.

"I can ride a bicycle. Does that count? Look, I'll figure something out," Abel said. "Oh . . ."Above them, the Iron Maiden took off. "We should have flown instead," Abel muttered.

"You said you could drive this thing!" Asthe yelled at the incompetent priest.

There was no way a slow steamship could outrun the Iron Maiden. They'd barely left the pier before the Iron Maiden was right on top of them.

"This isn't good. Sister Kate is going to beat me senseless," Abel confessed.

"Idiot! Look out!" Asthe screamed.

"Eh? Wh-whoa!"The little ship hit a marina buoy and tipped over on its side. Part of the ship's belly rose above the water as they careened into the main road's supporting wall.

Asthe shrieked as she was knocked off her feet. Both of them were thrown to the sinking side of the ship. They bumped their heads on the way down.

"Idiot! Buffoon! Moron! Twit! Turnip head!" Asthe cursed as they abandoned the steamship.

"I can barely hear you!" he yelled over the splashing waves. They swam furiously, and pulled themselves up onto the ledge of the roadway.

"Warning! Drop your weapons and surrender yourselves.You have three seconds," boomed a mechanical voice.

Abel looked up and saw that it was Tres, amplifying his voice.

"H-hey, Tres." Abel smiled and waved at the gun Tres pointed down at him. Gunslinger's mechanical eyes coldly assessed the wet pair. "Sorry for causing a disturbance," Abel sheepishly said. "Three, two . . ." Tres counted down.

"Whoa, whoa, stop! We'll drop our weapons! I surrender! You too, Asthe," he said.

"Idiot," she muttered. Asthe felt like a fool for getting her hopes up. She raised her hands and sighed.

"Iron Maiden, this is Gunslinger. I have secured the targets. Please report the dereliction of duty by Father Nightroad to Cardinal Sforza,"Tres said.

"You're going to report this to Caterina? She's going to ream me." Abel groaned.

"Get Abel sskskksksk . . . onboard . . . skskskkkks . . . problem with comm . . . skskskss . . . interference . . . sksksksk," Sister Kate said.

Tres winced at the electronic howling. He pulled out his earpiece and reinserted it. Abel did the same. "What's wrong?" Abel asked.

"Can't sksksksks . . . problem with skskskskkssk . . . contact broken, perhaps?" Sister Kate said.

Ocean spray splashed up around Abel and Asthe. The Iron Maiden was directly above them, engines humming, and that must have caused signal interference.

"It's the Maiden, she's causing our comm-links to break up," Abel said.

"Well, it (5 Terran technology, after all." Asthe snickered. She turned to regard Venice and her attitude changed. "That's it!" she screamed over the din.

"Eh? What?" Abel asked.

Asthe grabbed his shoulders and spoke quickly. "Father Abel, the second murder case at the construction company, the guy they killed, did he specialize in tide gates?! Like making dams and seawalls?!" she yelled.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Abel asked in disbelief.

"Contact Cardinal Caterina! The pope is in danger. No, all of Venice is in danger! We must evacuate all Terran in the city! The count planned to lure the pope here all along!"

"What is she talking about, Abel?" Sister Kate asked over the radio. "Caterina is visiting the tide gate as we speak."

"We have to get to her now!"Asthe yelled. "She's in mortal danger, especially if she's at the tide gate."

The red laser dot on her cheek disappeared.

"Explain," Tres commanded.