Vampyr looked across the cabin at Tian Dao Lin as they were challenged by Nosferatu’s security force, requesting the proper code word to land. A tone was sounding in the cabin, indicating that a ground-to-air missile radar was locked on the jet. The Chinese was very pale, the loss of blood from his leg wound extensive. Vampyr had had one of his mercenary doctors put a tourniquet on the wound and the bleeding had stopped but Tian Dao Lin was barely conscious.
“Answer,” Vampyr ordered, as one of his men shoved the microphone in Tian Dao Lin’s face.
Tian Dao Lin whispered the proper code word. The warning light went out. Crowded into the rear of the jet were two dozen of the best mercenaries that Vampyr’s vast fortune could buy. They were armed with the latest weapons, and all had night-vision goggles on, as the only light in the cabin came from a single red night-light.
Vampyr looked at a computer screen on the small conference table in the center of the cabin. “Perfect,” he whispered as he saw the signal representing the X–Craft appear.
Nosferatu held the clear plastic tubes in his hands, feeling the warmed blood flowing through them and into Nekhbet. It had taken two minutes to completely drain her of her old blood and replace it with a partially frozen solution that cleaned out her system and kept her in stasis. Her entire body had been cooled down to a point where her cells were just about inactive.
Now, as the new, Airlia-rich blood flowed into her, the technicians began raising her temperature. The process proceeded rapidly to minimize the time when she was between her old and new blood. Within sixty seconds the four intravenous lines had completely flushed out the solution and filled her with the new-processed blood.
Nosferatu let go of the empty lines and leaned over her, waiting. Her eyes flickered, then opened, confusion reigning for a few moments until she could focus. Then her face split in a wide smile.
“My love,” she whispered.
Nosferatu leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips, then helped her sit up. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, her head on his shoulder. “It has been a very long time, but you are now immortal, as I will be soon.”
As Nekhbet held his hand, he took her place on the table. The technicians moved quickly and smoothly, sliding the intravenous lines into his veins as the rest of the blood that Adrik had brought from Moscow was prepared for insertion.
The lead doctor picked up a needle containing sedative to inject into one of the lines to knock Nosferatu out. The Eldest shook his head. “We don’t have time.”
“What do you mean?” Nekhbet asked.
“Trust me,” Nosferatu said, before he felt the chill of the solution pushing out his old blood hit his veins and the world went dark.
Nosferatu came to knowing that Nekhbet was standing by the table. He did not know if it was the power of the pure Airlia blood in his veins or her presence or the combination, but it was the most magnificent awakening he had every experienced.
He felt the warmth of her hand on his and opened his eyes to drink in her loveliness. He was surprised to see the concern on her face, and then looking past her toward the observation room he saw Vampyr standing there, staring down at the two of them. In his hands he held up a large case, and Nosferatu knew it held the blood Tian Dao Lin had recovered. Vampyr disappeared from view.
“There has been an attack,” Nekhbet said. “I heard explosions and firing.” Nosferatu sat up and swung his feet to the floor. “I expected our old friend to show up.”
Nekhbet gave him a hand as he got to his feet. He was growing stronger by the second but his system had still experienced an immense shock. The door to the chamber opened and Vampyr walked in, flanked by two men with, submachine guns.
“I want you out of the room,” Vampyr said. He pointed up at the observation window, where four more men with submachine guns could be seen. “They will ensure you do nothing while I undergo the procedure. You will be killed if anything goes wrong.”
When they reached the observation chamber, they found Adrik with his hands cuffed behind his back, seated near the wall.
“So much for allies,” Nosferatu noted. Adrik cursed.
Nosferatu felt as if every nerve in his body were on fire. He cared little for Adrik’s predicament. He wrapped his arms around Nekhbet and held her tight.
Vampyr stood up and stretched, flexing his muscles. He pounded a fist on his chest in triumph. He stormed past the technicians and down the corridor to the observation room, where Nosferatu sat with Nekhbet and Adrik.
“When does your X–Craft land?” Vampyr demanded.
“Why do you care?” Nosferatu asked in turn. “You have had your blood.”
“I have several very influential friends — humans — who would like to join the ranks of the Undead. Using the blood that would have been Adrik’s and Tian Dao Lin’s, I can make a handful of them half-breeds, Undead. They will serve me then.”
“I am the Eldest—” Nosferatu began, but Vampyr cut him off.
“You are weak. You have spent all this time pining for her—” He indicated
Nekhbet. “Well, now you have her. You can stay here in your hole with her forever as far as I am concerned. You saved me in the beginning, so I will grant you that, even though you betrayed me later.” He turned to Adrik. “I owe you nothing.” He pulled out a pistol and fired without hesitation, hitting Adrik in the center of his forehead, sending brain and blood splattering the wall behind him. He fired the rest of the clip, nine bullets, hitting like jackhammers, smashing into the limp body.
Vampyr went to the body and from a pocket pulled out a small vial of black sandlike material. He looked up at Nosferatu and smiled. “I took this off one of those who hunted me.” He sprinkled it on Adrik’s body. Within thirty seconds it was gone, except for the clothes.
Vampyr stood. “Now the next step.”
Nosferatu took a step toward Vampyr, the mercenaries swinging the muzzles of their weapons to cover him in response. “Can we leave?”
Vampyr shrugged. “You may go where you want. Just do not get in my way. It is the Fourth Age. My Age.”
The pilots of the X–Craft could barely make out the long landing strip. It was painted to mimic the surrounding desert, and only the faint straight lines on the edges allowed them to discern it. They gave up control to the ground computer that guided them along their flight path.
Nosferatu pulled a lever, and the overhead door above the helicopter began sliding open. He and Nekhbet were wrapped in dark cloaks, their faces covered with cloth and their eyes protected by dark, wraparound sunglasses. He’d always known he might have to evacuate the Haven, and the Dauphin helicopter hidden in the underground chamber was one of the preparations he’d made.
He and Nekhbet made their way across the hangar floor to the chopper. Nosferatu got in the pilot’s seat while Nekhbet sat next to him in the copilot’s. He fired up the engines and, as the blades slowly began to turn, Nosferatu pulled out a small handheld that gave him a link to the computer controlling the X–Craft. He checked the status. It was two minutes out.
“What are you doing?” Nekhbet asked, as he handed her the device.
“I am the Eldest,” Nosferatu said. He pulled back on the controls and the helicopter lifted out of the hangar into the night sky.
Vampyr sat in the conference room, surrounded by his mercenaries, watching the X–Craft appear on the video monitors. The powerful men he had negotiated with were on their way here also. With the alliances he had arranged, Vampyr had no doubt that he would achieve a new world order, with him at the head, an Immortal with a cadre of Undead around him.