Inspired by an adventure by Simon Wentworth
Write up by Ant L. (Team Archivist)
Akira was currently absent from the team, apparently dealing with a ‘labour dispute’ with the spirits and little folk that inhabited his house of Ffrwd Dylluan. It seemed that the sprites had formed a ‘union’ and were demanding better employment conditions.
Back in Wessex, the rest of the team received an unexpected call from Tess Challenger-Wildeman.
<<Call connecting>>, Frankie announced, <<Balance team members designated Banshee and X-Ray present.>>
“Sorry to bother you, but I have some bad news. Bethany has been spending the school holidays with her maternal grandfather in Gibraltar, and she had been attending a street party last night when she was attacked by an unknown assailant. She has been left in a deep coma, and…and if that wasn’t bad enough, her attacker had also drained her of several pints of her blood.
Theft was not considered a motive as her personal valuables weren’t taken. Even her unusual necklace was untouched, and that should have caught a thief’s eye. I first thought that her attacker must have known that she is a millionaire in her own right, but it seems that the attack was just a random event.
Unfortunately, Bethany has been unable to be given a blood transfusion because she has an extremely rare Blood type – RH-Null.
Because Rh-Null lacks all of the possible antigens it can be donated to others who have highly unusual blood types outside of the main eight types; however, those with Rh-Null can only accept blood from others with Rh-Null. The scarcity of Rh-Null blood worldwide, coupled with its unique properties, make it very valuable to scientific research.
There are such a tiny number of people with Rh-Null blood worldwide that it is used sparingly and they are encouraged to donate regularly so that the blood will be there for themselves should they need a blood transfusion. Bethany is still too young to donate blood even for her own use, and the only person in the region known to have RH-Null blood type, her grandfather, is considered too old to be a donor, though he has elected to donate a pint to help her anyway. They have found a suitable donor in the UK who has offered a couple of pints. Her grandfather has asked if the Balance could oversee the delivery themselves?”
“Of course, Tess,” answered Mary, “I shall fly the blood out there myself. We’ll be on our way as soon as we collect it. I’ll stop in and see her when we arrive. Blessings to you all, love.”
Brian, X-Ray, respected the work of the Challenger-Wildemans’, but Banshee clearly had known the family for a long time, and her connection was obviously deeper than simply being business associates.
Brian knew that Bethany was both a close personal friend of the Challenger-Wildeman family and the sponsor of The Balance, that she was an extremely rich individual, at least a multi-millionaire in her own right and that she was emancipated from her father despite only being thirteen-years-old. Days of miracles and wonders, indeed.
“Frankie, can you find any news reports about the attack on Bethany?”, asked X-Ray of the team’s AI.
Frankie hacked into the Spanish Policía Nacional / Cuerpo Nacional de Policía (the National Police Corps), and discovered that there had been several similar attacks on young teens in La Línea de la Concepción, the Spanish town next door to Gibraltar, and one of the children had subsequently died as a result of blood loss. In each case the surviving victims remembered seeing a shadowy female figure rushing towards them before becoming comatose. The survivors awoke a few days later after receiving blood transfusions to replace the blood they’d lost.
The rest of the victims, apart from Bethany, were all AB+ blood group and were from either La Linea or Gibraltar. RH-Null was so rare that most basic blood tests mistook it for AB+ if the tester didn’t know how to check for it.
Social media covering La Linea was going on about the “Vampire of the Rock” who feeds on the hard working Linenses (people from La Linea) despite all the victims being too young to work and not all of the victims being Linense, which is increasing tensions between the two cities. Spain has threatened to close the border for a month, which would be disastrous for Gibraltarians (the nightlife was more lively in La Linea) and for Linenses (who commute into Gibraltar every day to work) alike.
A pair of Linenses claimed to have seen what they thought looked like a large bat-like creature fly into Gibraltar, so they were blaming the Gibraltarians for it.
Frankie revealed that all UK and European Community passports recorded their users blood type, if known.
—
Sitting in his starship, currently located on the seabed off the West Coast of Scotland, a male humanoid alien named Celestus heard an alert from his Oracle AI. It had been programmed to search the planetary Information nexus the local inhabitants called the ‘World Wide Web’, though it felt the need to report that no arachnids appeared to be involved with its functionality.
Oracle had found an image of an imperial artefact from the Ziru Sirka Empire – a protection seal of the Royal Family, a pendant in the form of two hands holding a scarlet gemstone. It had been identified in a stationary image (the locals refer to these as ‘photographs’) hanging around the neck of an unconscious young female!
Why would a young female native to this solar system be wearing a pendant showing that she was under the hallowed protection of the Shadow Emperor himself?
She had been attacked and left comatose, but alive – had an assassin attacked her, possibly even one of his 25 half-brothers? Though, if so, were they seeking another brother in order to reduce the numbers eligible to inherit the imperial throne on the death of their father?
If so, why attack her and not the person who gave her the amulet? Did this mean that one of his brothers was also exiled to this primitive rock beyond the edge of the Empire of the Stars, now blockaded and interdicted by the Star Khan’s interstellar fleet?
Celestus knew that he had to find out where the female had got the necklace from, which meant a visit to this island the locals called Gibraltar to question the female!
It was unlikely that he himself was the intended target despite being the only known Prince on this planet; not only did he not know this girl but he was not a popular choice at court to inherit the throne on the demise of their father – after all, he’d only faced seven attempts on his life growing up, unlike, for example, their father’s youngest and current favourite, Prince Ishugi, who had faced thirty-three attempts on his life before he has reached adulthood – all undertaken by their fellow siblings!
Assassination of their rival Princes was an accepted means of gaining higher status within the Royal Court but had to be undertaken personally by a Prince of the Realm – Royal Blood could only be spilled by Royal Blood, else the assassin would be obliterated when caught and the Prince that had engaged the assassin punished for their failings by being cast out of the line of succession. Only the Shadow Emperor knew which of his surviving sons he would elect on his deathbed to succeed him to the throne…
“Oracle, what can you tell me about the place where the necklace was seen?”
“Facts about Gibraltar: Population: 34,000 (Approximate)
Demonym: Gibraltarian (Official), Llanito (Colloquial) Language: British English. Spanish and Llanito also widely spoken.
Gibraltar is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom on the southern-most tip of the Iberian Peninsula, with Spain to its north. Gibraltar was ceded to Great Britain from Spain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 after Britain fought in the War of Spanish Succession. It remains a vital base for His Majesty’s Armed Forces, as it controls the Strait of Gibraltar. The Strait of Gibraltar is a 9-mile long chokepoint which remains strategically vital, with half of the entire world’s seaborne trade passing through it. No cargo ship can sail through the Strait without being seen from Gibraltar. To control Gibraltar is to be able to monitor and control who goes between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Before the Suez Canal was built, the Strait of Gibraltar was the only way to get into the Mediterranean Sea at all, making it even more valuable than it is now. The entire territory is visible for miles because of the world-famous Rock of Gibraltar, a promontory traditionally recognised as being at the end of the Mediterranean Sea before sailors reached the Atlantic Ocean. It possesses a British Army base (Devil’s Tower Camp, home of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment), a Royal Air Force base (RAF Gibraltar), and a Royal Navy base (HMNB Gibraltar). All three are under the combined command of British Forces Gibraltar. Gibraltar’s modern economy is based largely on tourism, online gambling, financial services, and bunkering (supplying fuel to ships). Gibraltar is recognised today as a self-governing British Overseas Territory. This means that while it must defer to Great Britain in matters of defence and foreign relations, it is independent in its domestic matters.
Entering Gibraltar: British Citizen passport holders without a criminal record don’t need a visa to enter, live, and work in Gibraltar. End Synopsis download…”
“It seems that I must possess one of these…passports…in order to avoid scrutiny by the authorities.”
Oracle recreated a UK passport in the name of Magnus Smith, and Celestus headed for the island.
—
On arrival in Gibraltar, Banshee and X-Ray went straight to St Bernard’s Hospital, where they dropped off the two pints of Rh-Null blood with Bethany’s consultant. They then went to Bethany’s room to see how she looked, and for Brian to read through her medical notes, only to find a young, dark-haired man standing by her bed. He was reaching for a necklace that was lying on the bedside cupboard. Bethany was still unconscious.
“Err, hello? Are you family?” Brian asked, trying not to sound confrontational. The man was possibly in his thirties, and had dark grey eyes, but his attire was most unusual – a silvery-grey bodysuit that looked like a futuristic space costume, like something from an old Dan Dare story. He was holding a domino style mask in his other hand.
The man withdrew his hand and turned to face X-Ray, “I beg your pardon, sir?”
That threw X-Ray somewhat – whoever this person was, he sounded British, and extraordinarily polite!
“Are you related to the young lady in the bed?” he asked.
“Not directly, no, I am concerned for her welfare.”
Banshee, or, at least, Mary, as she currently was, went to the side of the bed, and took Bethany’s hand.
“So are we.” X-Ray said, eyeing the man suspiciously, “She’s our benefactor.”
“And who are we, sir, if I may enquire?” The man had not taken any kind of aggressive posture, but X-Ray couldn’t read his intentions. Still, a hospital room wasn’t the place to start a ruckus.
“You know, you are extremely polite and…very British.”
“Thank you!” the man said, with a smile and a nod.
“Well, I am X-Ray…that’s all the name you’ll be getting for the time being…and we have Mary just here.”
The man acknowledged them both, then said, “You may call me Celestus.”
Brian frowned. “You’re definitely not one of their family, then,” he said, pointing to Bethany.
Celestus looked toward the girl again, his eyes lingering on the pendant. “No. I am not of this planet.”
Upon hearing this, X-Ray narrowed his eyes and reached out with his mind and senses, analysing Celestus’s electro-magnetic aura. The man, if man he was, was powerful, his form surrounded by, and sustained by, an immense cosmic energy field. Celestus was possessed of incredible endurance, resistance to injury, and regenerative abilities. Brian also realised that his speech did not match his lip movements, as though he was speaking a native tongue and some other power was translating his words into English.
Celestus didn’t seem to notice X-Ray’s invisible examination,
“I understand that the young woman was found…” he picked up the pendant, “…wearing this. It is a symbol of the Royal Family of my planet, of which I am a member. I am curious as to how she came to have it. And,” he looked at Brian, “given that she appears to have been attacked, I fear that she may have been mistaken for a member of our Royal Family.”
Brian was having a hard time taking all this in – meeting a royal alien hadn’t been on his agenda when he boarded the Crate that morning.
“So…you’re from a different planet?”
“Yes. My father is the Shadow Emperor of Ziru Sirka.”
Mary giggled, and gave Brian the sort of smiling, raised eyebrows expression that said, “Looney tune.”
Earth had been contacted by this group of aliens, which included humans, a few decades before.
‘Perhaps he’s not as crazy as we initially thought!’ he muttered to himself.
Celestus continued, “I’m here in my own capacity, as I am not on good terms with my father.”
The ramifications of these revelations were giving Brian a burning desire to quaff a couple of pints of decent ale.
Just then, the consultant arrived with a nurse, indicating that they were going to set up the new blood for transfusion.
“I think we need to go and find somewhere more…amenable,” said Brian, as they were ushered out of Bethany’s room.
“That’s already been sorted out,” said Mary, “Tess got in touch during the flight over, and we can use Bethany’s private suite at the five-star Sunborn Gibraltar Hotel.”
At the hotel, which Banshee and Akira had previously stayed at when they’d last visited the Rock, Mary told X-Ray and Celestus not to allow any of the Barbary macaques into the suite – “Not after what happened last time…”
The men passed quizzical looks with each other, before Brian asked, “Is there something that we need to know, Mary?”
“No, no…it was Sam… before your time…”
Shortly into Brian’s first bottle of cold beer, Frankie got in touch to impart some useful information regarding the case.
<<In late August, an off-duty member of the Royal Gibraltar Police, named Kenneth Jenkins, saw a flying female as he was relaxing on the balcony of his tower block. The problem with his observation is that he had already drunk a glass or three of rum at the time, and no-one at the R.G.P. was willing to believe him. In fact, one of his colleagues told him quote ‘to pull the other leg, it had bells on.’>>
Brian nearly choked on his beer at the last comment, but managed to swallow the draft before laughing and coughing simultaneously.
<<However,>> Frankie stated, <<he remains a witness to the possible perpetrator of the attacks. I have located a contact number for him.>>
“Shall we ring him?” asked Mary. “What about Celestus?”
Brian turned to the alien prince, “We’re a team member down at the minute; would you like to work with us? We seem to be investigating a similar lead.”
“I accept your proposal, and would be delighted to accompany you,” he said, matter-of-factly.
They had Frankie put a call through to the policeman from X-Ray’s mobile, and Brian introduced himself.
“Oh thank God! I thought she’d never find help in time! I’m a bit concerned about security, so I’ll be brief. I’ll send you a text soon after I hang up. It contains the time and location of our meet tomorrow afternoon. Full details will be given then, is that understood?”
“Err, yes, okay…” Brian managed.
Kenneth said, “See you tomorrow,” and hung up.
Shortly after, Brian received a text message, reading “3pm, Calpe Arms Pub, 184 Main Street. I will be outside wearing a red top, white shorts, sandals. Do not wear your uniform or I will leave!”
“Mary?” Brian showed her the message, “he copied someone else into the message. Does that number seem familiar to you?”
“Ah, yes,” she said, “That’s Superintendent Julia Cunningham’s. Oh, of course! I remember now. She served at the R.A.F. base in Gibraltar before transferring to the Met. She and Kenneth must know each other. It must be her that he meant when he said, ‘I thought she’d never find help in time.’”
“Oh, right. Well, either she hasn’t got around to asking us yet, or she doesn’t believe him. It certainly seems like he was expecting us more than we were expecting him.”
Mary agreed, “Yep.”
The trio enjoyed a quiet night at the suite, and awoke to a beautiful morning of sunshine and blue skies.
Brian was just about to suggest a relaxing breakfast by the pool when Frankie alerted them to a local news broadcast.
GBC, via Radio Gibraltar, and La Linea FM both issued news reports that another bloodless dead body of a young teen male has been found in La Linea. The Spanish government was threatening to close the border for a month to protect their citizens, although this action would be a disaster for Gibraltar as a lot of commuters visit every day from La Linea. This was now the second death from the eight attacks.
Celestus asked for a map of La Linea, and Mary found one amongst Bethany’s books in the lounge. Together, they plotted the scenes of the attacks, looking for a pattern, but it became apparent that the locations were not linked in a way they could fathom. So far, the only connection they could see was that the attacks took place in late evening or overnight, mainly in La Linea, which counted for six of the victims.
“Do you think that this could be the work of what you call a ‘vampire’?” he asked.
Brian blew his cheeks, “Well, we have them, but there have been no reports of the usual twin bite marks so far. Plus, most of the targets have had just a pint or two taken; we would expect a hungry vampire to completely drain someone, or even to turn them, and that hasn’t been the case.”
Celestus was obviously thinking about the motivation for the attacks, “If this person, or…thing…is not feeding on the blood, why would it be collecting it? Did the victims have anything in common?”
“Just their ages,” Mary said, “they are all young people, aged from twelve to fourteen. Oh, but their blood types are all AB-plus. Otherwise they don’t seem to be connected at all; six Spanish, two Gibraltarians, two were tourists…”
“I understand that your recording systems on this planet are largely electronic, and protected. How would someone discover the blood group of a complete stranger?”
“U.K. passports carry the blood group of the holder,” said Mary. There followed a discussion about the possibility of the perpetrator having access to customs information, possibly via a mole in the Customs team, or access to the database somehow. It was all conjecture; they simply had no way to confirm any of their theories yet.
A fruit-based breakfast became lunch, and before they knew it, the team were heading out to meet with Jenkins.
The Calpe Arms was mostly empty of people, with just a couple of punters inside and the barman on duty. A fit middle-aged man in a red t-shirt and white shorts was having a pint of cola at a table outside, in the shade of a large table umbrella. His hand shook slightly – nerves or alcohol withdrawal? Wondered X-Ray.
Given that Celestus had no civilian clothing with him, it was agreed that Mary and Brian would initiate contact with the policeman.
“I suggest that whilst you are talking to him, I choose a vantage point where I can watch to see if anyone else is watching him.”
Mary gave Celestus a spare Commdot device so they could remain in contact with each other, and he settled onto a nearby building with a flat roof that gave a good view of the pub.
Brian took the lead, walking past Jenkins with a wave, “Can I get you anything?”
Seeing that the Heroes were in plainclothes, he followed Mary inside and said to the barman, “I’m going to borrow the upstairs room now. Is that okay, Jim?” The barman nodded.
Kenneth led the way upstairs to a private room. The room contained a table with six seats around it, where Jenkins sat, beckoning Brian and Mary to join him.
“We have a mutual friend on the Mainland who said that you could be vouched for. I asked for a daytime meeting so I could be certain you’re not the person who needs sorting out.”
“Sorting out! I like the sound of this.” Brian grinned, loving the cloak-and-dagger feel of the meeting.
“What do you mean by the Mainland?” asked Mary.
“The Mainland is what we call Britain,” Jenkins explained, “It’s common slang among ex-pats and for native Gibraltarians with a strong British heritage.”
Brian glanced out of the window, using his enhanced vision, and spotted Celestus across the road, “So, what can you tell us, Ken?”
“I can barely believe it myself, but it looks like a bloody vampire is active in Gibraltar! She’s already killed two people in La Linea that we know of!
“I saw her fly onto the roof and enter the new tower block of Folkestone House. She entered one of the top floors. I don’t know which flat she entered, but I’ll be headed back home soon. At 9pm, I’ll shine a green laser pen on the balcony in question. I’ll do it for fifteen minutes, don’t be late.
“Bad news is that I can’t just buzz you through or identify the actual flat she went to. The intercom systems in every council block in Gibraltar log everything to help with murder and terrorism inquiries. If I used my police key, the Royal Gibraltar Police will know I helped you when I’d very much rather they didn’t.
“I can’t agree to you breaking in even if you don’t break anything, but I know how you can take out two birds with one stone. The good news is that I know where and when a major drug drop-off is going on later tonight. I’ve made sure that the R.G.P. don’t know about it and I know that the bloke picking it up lives on the same floor in Folkestone House as well; I just don’t know which flat is his, or hers.”
Kenneth then slid over an envelope containing a folded note with a photograph inside, of an Afro-Caribbean man wearing colourful loose clothing. He continued, “This is Levanta, a known drug smuggler and Meta who’s been moving a lot of weed and coke onto the Rock. Get to them before the R.G.P. do and you can use his key to just walk right in to the building. She didn’t arrive back until 3am when I saw her. If you’re quick enough, you might even catch the vampire when she comes back!”
Kenneth points at the note, saying, “Everything you need to know is right there.” The note read: 12 Midnight. Abandoned Motorcycle Club, 48 Sir Herbert Miles Road, 36°07’48.1″N 5°20’32.0″W Plus Code: 4MJ5+242 Gibraltar ///twin.refuse.mouth
“What’s a Plus Code or those slashes for?” asked Brian.
“They make it easier to remember co-ordinates. Plus Codes are made by Google. Just whack it into Google Maps on your device, sorted. The three slashes are the indicator for What3words coordinates.
What3words use their own app, but it’s easier to use with voice-activated tech. And it’s easier for a person to remember.
The postcode is exactly the same for all of Gibraltar. I get that it’s different on the Mainland, but the Rock’s small enough that it doesn’t need any more than one at the moment. In Britain, every street has a different postcode. The postcode for all of Gibraltar is GX11 1AA.
Let me know if you find anything out.” And with that, Jenkins left.
Brian and Mary met up with Celestus again outside.
“Anything untoward?” asked Mary.
“I have observed crates containing people that move on metal cables, a transport link that can be closed with gates to allow aircraft to land on it, and what you call ‘monkeys’ populating a stony outcropping, and causing great mirth to your human inhabitants. What a strange planet!”
The trio retired to the Sunborn Hotel suite, where they discussed the information that Jenkins had given them.
Mary started, “So he wants us to pay a visit to this drug dealer, presumably catch him with incriminating evidence, then take his key-card?”
“Mind you,” Brian said, “we don’t need a key with Banshee, do we?”
Mary smiled, “Shall we try to short-cut it, then, and go straight there?” She pointed to the address of the apartments, “Although he would know which flat we were after, I suppose. He should know who his neighbours are.”
Brian rubbed his chin, mulling things over, “Nah. Go on, let’s pre-empt the situation. We’ll go straight there tonight, and you can get us in.”
They made the most of the Sunborn’s facilities for the remainder of the day, and set out in plenty of time to reach the apartment block by 9pm.
The team took up separate positions around the building, keeping themselves hidden from view as much as possible. The sun had set on the Rock, and at the pre-arranged time Kenneth Jenkins strode along the street, taking up position in a dark side-alley across from Folkestone House. He used a laser pen to highlight a balcony on the second-to-top floor of the building; the seventh floor of the eight-storey block.
At 9:20pm, the laser turned off. X-Ray used his E.M. vision to watch Jenkin’s heat pattern wander off down the street.
“Okay, shall we?” said X-Ray, more to Banshee than Celestus, though the alien had his own plan to relay.
“Are you capable of flight?” he asked.
“Funny you should mention it,” said Mary, “I was just about to ask you the same question.”
“I would suggest that, given we seem to be dealing with an entity that can fly, and has gone in via the balcony, it might be advisable to have someone covering the balcony on the outside.”
“Can you fly?” Mary asked.
“I can fly,” Celestus said, “Shall I ‘volunteer’, as you say?”
“That would be a good idea,” X-Ray said, “By the way, what other abilities do you possess?”
Celestus was happy to inform them that he could fly at approximately two-thousand miles per hour (at which X-Ray showed indignant jealousy, for he could fly at only half that speed), great strength, the ability to understand all earthly languages, and some psionic powers as well.
“I can heal myself quite effectively,” he continued, “and I am immune to some of your earthly hazards; I cannot drown or suffocate.”
“Ah,” said X-Ray, “so this cosmic energy that you possess sustains your life essence?”
“That’s correct,” confirmed Celestus.
“And do all of your people have these abilities?”
“No. It seems that my world is similar to your own, in that we also have mutations that gift some of our population with grand powers, of which I am one, but it would seem that we have less such individuals than your own. Now, what is our strategy for this mission? Will you attempt to knock on the door of the flat, or otherwise signal your presence, or will you try to find a way in?”
“It’s my turn to explain something,” said Mary, “I have this other form, whereby I can become insubstantial and invisible, and I can walk through walls.”
Celestus quickly worked out the significance of this information, “So do you propose to enter first, then, and see if there is anyone in?”
“Yes,” she confirmed, “I will have a scout around. It’s what usually happens.”
“So you two will enter the building and locate the room of the attacker, I shall monitor the balcony from outside, and we shall see what transpires!” Celestus was wonderfully blunt.
“Sounds like a plan!” X-Ray said, and the three of them moved in, Celestus alighting on the flat roof close to the wall overlooking the balcony, whilst Banshee met X-Ray in mid-air, revealing her Meta-form to the alien for the first time.
‘Most intriguing,’ Celestus thought to himself when he saw the spectral shape, ‘a wholly separate entity exchangeable with its human host.’
Banshee became invisible and floated through the balcony doors. The balcony led to a lit corridor with six flats off it, three either side. Banshee performed a recce of all the apartments on that corridor, noting that four were occupied by locals or rich tenants, younger people, possibly funded by the bank of parent, and only two of the apartments were currently unoccupied and of interest – one occupied apparently by a couple, going by a search of their underwear, the other by a lone female. She could find no indication of blood supplies or drugs.
Banshee floated back outside, becoming visible and substantial again, and relayed the findings to X-Ray and Celestus.
“I’ve narrowed it down to the two flats on the other side of the building, although there’s nothing to give the game away.”
Whilst Banshee had been inside the building, Brian had taken up position over the main entrance. Since most buildings in Gibraltar were fitted with security access systems, he was waiting for someone to leave via the front doors, which somebody did just as Banshee began to relay her findings. He used his gravitational powers to trick the door into remaining slightly ajar instead of closing, and when the young man who had just left was out of sight Brian floated down and entered the foyer.
Almost immediately, another person appeared from the stairwell access door – a young child, a boy, about eight-years-old, followed by his father. The boy stared, open-mouthed, at X-Ray, and Brian wished he had one of his action figures with him. Instead, all he could offer was a quick “Good evening” and “be a good boy for your dad” before he darted into the lift that was ready and waiting for him, just to the side of the stairwell door.
On the way up, he mused to himself, ‘Why didn’t I just let Mary get me inside?’ He filed the thought away with his other big question, ‘Why do I keep forgetting to activate my force field before going into combat?’
He shook himself out of his apparent daydream when he reached the seventh floor.
Banshee’s voice came through his Commdot, “What about the drug dealer? Shall we go and deal with him?”
X-Ray checked his watch. “It’s nearly 10pm. How about you put me into one of these flats, and you take the other, see what happens for a bit? If it gets closer to midnight, we’ll go to the club after him.”
“Is that what you humans call ‘clubbing’?” asked Celestus.
“Well,” said Brian, “there’s that, and there’s hitting things with sticks…”
Celestus sounded bemused, “Hitting things with sticks?”
Banshee appeared next to X-Ray, holding his hand to confer her power of intangibility onto him, and ghosted him through the door of the flat that was seemingly occupied by the single female. In turn, she went into the flat that was being used by the couple.
They informed Celestus, who replied with, “I shall continue to monitor the surroundings.”
Banshee knew there was a laptop in the flat that she fully suspected was used by the drug dealer, but after firing it up she discovered that it was password locked.
X-Ray had similar bad luck; he, too, found a laptop that asked him to input a four-digit passcode to unlock it.
Using the Commdots, the trio had a discussion about possible codes – the building and apartment numbers, dates, etc. – when out of the blue, Brian tried 0000.
“I’m in!” he cried, as the laptop opened its file browser.
His excitement was short-lived, however, as the text revealed itself in Spanish.
“Celestus?” he called out.
“Yes?”
“You say you can speak all earthly languages?”
“Yes.”
“Can you understand all earthly languages? I mean, can you read them?”
“As far as I am aware, yes.”
“Let’s give it a try,” Brian said, “Banshee, would you mind letting Celestus in, please?”
Seconds later, Banshee appeared next to Celestus, taking his hand. The alien felt a subtle shift in his energy field as Mary’s fae power relaxed the molecular bonds of his atomic structure, and as he let Banshee guide him off the roof, he was slightly surprised to see his own lower legs and feet pass through the lip of the wall without impediment. He raised one eyebrow as he passed through the balcony doors, and Banshee said, “Don’t worry, we’ll tell you more about ourselves when this is all over.”
X-Ray had opened the door to the apartment, and Celestus walked in, closing the door behind him as Banshee floated back into the other flat.
Celestus began to read the words on the computer, then tapped into some of the folders on its drive. He quickly relayed to X-Ray that the occupant of the flat was one Francesca Sforza, and that she had dealings with someone named Jason Knight, from whom Sforza had been receiving large payments of European Credits. Knight was a man of ninety-eight years, and he had lots of health problems; as such, he had the requirement for multiple blood transfusions every month.
“Does it give a location for this Jason Knight?” asked Mary.
“Not that I can read,” said Celestus, “though some of what you call ‘bank statements’ show that he is paying this woman thousands of local currency. There are several encrypted files, but without a password I cannot access them. And 0000 does not work.”
“Frankie,” said X-Ray, “have you got any way of tracking down the location of a man named Jason Knight, on Gibraltar, or possibly mainland Spain? He will be quite rich, and apparently ninety-eight years old.”
<<Designation X-Ray, we have a man by that name who was a wealthy crook, now living in Gibraltar. Medical records show that he appears to be dying of old age. I can establish that he received an unregistered blood transfusion a little over six-months ago; where the donation came from is not recorded, but it was not through a registered hospital or other medical facility. His medical records, however, state that within twenty-four hours of the transfusion the effects of his aging were halted and reversed. He became, physically, at least, young again. After twenty-eight days had elapsed he began to age again, quite rapidly, until he was once more at his actual age and previous state of health.>>
“Perhaps he’s the vampire?” Celestus said, echoing the thoughts of X-Ray and Banshee.
<<Designation X-Ray, it is possible that this circumstance relates to designation Daedalus, and that of his descendants>> said Frankie.
“Has there been any suggestion that Daedalus or his kin have any reliance on the ingestion or transfusion of blood, Frankie?” X-Ray knew about the time that Daedalus had conversed with The Balance, but he had no memory of any dietary requirements mentioned by the immortal.
<<It was mentioned on record that the assimilation of blood belonging to Daedalus would have the effect of de-aging a normal human, restoring a person to their physical prime, but only for a period of around twenty-eight days, which would be the expected lifespan of a blood cell. The timeline of events would infer that Jason Knight received this de-aging transfusion five-weeks before the first victim was found in La Linea.>>
“So, Banshee, we could be saying that this is connected to a descendant of Daedalus.”
“Well, at least one of the donations seemed to belong to one of the immortals,” she replied. She had no luck trying to get into the drug dealer’s laptop, and shut it down, replacing it where she had found it.
Banshee continued, “Since Jason Knight had his aging-reversal episode about six months ago, we can safely say that Bethany does not have this ‘Golden Blood’, as Daedalus called it. Nor does he have access to the actual immortal donor. I assume that he has hired this…Francesca, was it?…to steal more blood in the hope of striking lucky again, but he hasn’t so far.”
<<Designation Banshee, my hypothesis would be that Jason Knight is unaware of the existence of the immortals, and that his subsequent actions have been founded on the assumption that his de-aging was the result of being given the blood of a young adult, hence the attacks have been targeting children below the age of fifteen in the hope of repeating the effect.>>
Just like a game of Tetris, things slowly began to fall into place. There was no grand conspiracy, no database hacking, no corrupt Customs officials – it was just a selfish old man who had, somehow, managed to receive a blood donation from a descendant of Daedalus, felt its power, but had not kept hold of his prize. Now, he had hired someone to steal more blood, under the impression that it was the young age of the ‘donors’ that held the key to his rejuvenation. And that had led to Bethany, and to The Balance. They had to stop this.
“We don’t know who it was that held the ‘Golden Blood’,” said Banshee, “although we can assume that the person was in this specific area at that time, and that they were, at least to look at, a young adult, but regardless of that we need to stop this blood-collector.”
“Yes, I agree,” said X-Ray, “if we can locate Jason Knight…”
Banshee finished for him, “Then we can wait for the next delivery to happen.”
Celestus seemed uneasy.
“It concerns me that the person to whom this flat belongs is currently out, and may currently be assaulting someone. And we have no idea where they are, nor who they might be attacking.”
Another brief search of the apartment did not reveal any other useful information; no photographs could be found, either of Francesca or of Jason Knight.
It had crept around to 11pm. The team had to start making decisions as to where they went next.
“Frankie, can you find a location for this Jason Knight?” X-Ray was missing Akira; he was a surgeon, not a detective. This was out of his comfort zone.
‘<<Designation X-Ray, if you can provide me with the banking details used in the transfers to Francesca Sforza, I should be able to trace the account holder.>>
Several minutes later, Frankie was able to give them an address – a large mansion on the south side of the Rock.
“And, Frankie, can you locate any photographic images of Francesca Sforza?” X-Ray’s mobile lit up with a photo attachment, showing a young woman with short dark hair, wearing a black bodysuit with a golden serpent’s head design on the chest. She was an unregistered Meta, and there was no listings of her abilities.
“Well,” said Celestus, “we know she can fly, and that’s about it.”
The team began another discussion concerning their priorities and plan of action. X-Ray was conscious of their obligation to assist Jenkins in the apprehension of the drug dealer, but had to agree that the main priority was to capture the person responsible for the attacks. The waters were muddied; they had very little evidence, they were actually guilty of breaking and entering, and X-Ray had been seen by the child and his father, so he couldn’t deny his presence at the apartment block.
Why, oh why, did superheroes have to obey the Law? Brian knew the answer, of course; he just disliked it. A lot.
Eventually it was agreed that Banshee would travel to Knight’s mansion, and there snoop around and, if it came to it, await the arrival of the blood courier. At least if that happened, they would be able to alert the police and have him arrested with the ill-gotten gains.
—
Banshee headed out, ghosting Celestus outside where he took up position overlooking the front of Folkestone House. Banshee continued to the house, reporting back that there were armed security guards on Knight’s property, either a sign of vanity or insecurity.
She was able to enter the mansion without difficulty, and located Knight within a few minutes of searching the house. He was in a medical bed, looked very frail and old, and was currently receiving a blood transfusion as she spoke. Apparently, his nurses looked more like playboy bunnies that medical staff. She would remain on overwatch for the time being.
—
It was almost 1am when Celestus informed X-Ray that a man resembling the drug dealer had entered the flats.
“I think we might have missed our chance,” X-Ray replied, “he won’t have any incriminating evidence with him now. Keep waiting, we may yet get the blood collector.”
A little after 3am, X-Ray was once again contacted by Celestus, to be told that a flying figure was heading towards the flats, carrying something over their shoulder.
“She will be at the flat in seconds. I will be waiting outside the balcony door.”
Inside Sforza’s flat, X-Ray readied himself. The lights had been off since the drug dealer came home, and he was waiting, his eyes shielded against the expected glare of the lights and his infra-red vision in use to track her body heat.
A hand appeared through the opening door, reaching for the light switch, but stopped before flicking it on. X-Ray saw a female heat pattern emerge through the doorway, look around, shut the door, and take a step towards him. A second later he noticed a warm glow from something at her shoulder height, something that she then placed on the low coffee table next to the sofa. The heat was fading even as he looked at it. Of course! If that was fresh blood, it had to be cooled; it was probably inside an ice bag.
Outside, Celestus dropped onto the balcony, alert for any sounds coming through the Commdot. Knowing now that the balcony doors were unlocked, since Sforza entered without using a key, he opened them and stepped inside, heading to her flat and pausing by the doorway, listening intently.
Inside, X-Ray saw the woman raising her arms towards him as she stepped past the table; he rose from his chair and unleashed a gravi-kinetic wave at her, but she managed to avoid the blast. She now ran at him, only feet away, her hands glowing noticeably in the darkness. Instinctively X-Ray twisted to the side, narrowly avoiding her hands.
“Bugger!”
—
Across the island, Banshee knew that something was happening at the flats, but had no idea of the gravity of the situation.
—
Hearing X-Ray’s exclamation of frustration Celestus pushed the door, his strength snapping the cheap wood clean off the hinges. Light from the hallway streamed into the flat, and X-Ray reverted to normal vision. The alien saw the woman reaching out for X-Ray, and a pale glow surrounded his head as he summoned his cosmic energies, coalescing them through his cerebral cortex and loosening a psionic blast at her.
The woman yelled, her body stiffening for a second as pain tore through her neural pathways. She took a step backward but swayed, staggering against the back wall of the lounge.
As Celestus walked into the room, crushing a section of the ruined door as he trod on it, X-Ray steadied himself and created a heat barrier around the woman. As she recovered from Celestus’s attack she reached out, burning her hand on the barrier briefly, then recoiling quickly. She was trapped.
X-Ray glanced at the coffee table. Yes, it was blood, but more than he had expected. There was probably about a litre, and that was a dangerous amount to remove from a human body.
Celestus stepped over to her and asked, in Spanish, “Who are you working for, blood-thief?”
“None of your business!” she retorted vehemently, and in English.
“Ah! You speak English!”
“I can speak many languages.” The disgust in her eyes was obvious. She was not used to being bested, never mind detained.
“Why are you stealing blood?” Celestus continued, seemingly oblivious to her palpable hatred.
“Who said I was stealing it?” she replied.
X-Ray and Celestus looked at each other, both wearing incredulous expressions.
“Well, you’re hardly reclaiming it, are you?” sneered X-Ray.
“Or borrowing it,” said Celestus.
The woman snorted. “You’ve broken into my apartment, illegally…”
“And you have taken blood from someone, illegally,” countered Celestus, “how else do you account for those two bags of blood on the table?”
The woman looked over at the ice bag, “You just put them there!” she exclaimed, “I want my lawyer, now!”
“X-Ray shook his head, “How about you tell us where the poor person is lying, right now, that you took that blood from, so we can try to save their life?”
“How about,” she replied, “I tell you, and you let me go?”
“That depends on the veracity of your information,” said Celestus.
A pregnant pause, before the woman asked, “Is it a deal?”
X-Ray took a deep breath. “Not until you verify that you are working for Jason Knight, then we’ll let you go.”
“That I don’t have a problem with, but what good is it going to do you? This is all illegal.”
“As opposed to assaulting people and taking their blood without permission?” Celestus appeared to be losing his patience with the woman’s runaround answers.
X-Ray tried a different tack, “We’re not looking to take you to court, we’re not looking to get you arrested. We want you to verify that all this is going on because Jason Knight wants the blood. If you tell us that that’s the case, you tell us why that’s the case, you tell us where the body is that you’ve taken this blood from, and we’ll let you go.”
The woman thought for a few seconds, weighing up her options. She decided to err on the side of caution.
“The body is in a side street off Main Street, just by the Snak Attack bistro.”
“Frankie, can you contact the local authorities to that location, please, and alert them that it is a medical emergency?” X-Ray was urgent now, his medical training urging him to action.
“I only saw the body, you know? I had nothing to do with any attack on the person. And as for Knight, he’s only going to lawyer up. You have no proof that he has received any of the blood.”
“We’re not after proof,” X-Ray said, “we just want you to say that his is what you’re doing, collecting blood, and giving it to Jason Knight. That’s all we want to know.”
Celestus chipped in, “You seem to be under the impression that we are policemen.”
“Let me leave the island! I confirm that the blood is going to Knight; I am not willing to incriminate myself any further than I have, given that this is illegally gained information. If you insist on holding me any longer, I want my lawyer! And, yes, I do want the police here. You have broken into my apartment illegally; just look at my door! Now, release me, or be prepared for the consequences.”
X-Ray couldn’t resist the bait, “What consequences would they be, exactly?”
In response, Sforza carefully pulled a mobile phone from a pocket, and hit 999.
“Police? I’ve been attacked…”
X-Ray fried the device with a burst of electro-magnetic energy.
“Too late! They have the location from my number; they will attend anyway given that the call was interrupted.”
X-Ray could barely believe his ears. The criminal element had come a long way since his first experience as a Meta, all those years ago during his university days.
Looking back at Sforza, Brian realised two things: firstly, the heat barrier had gone, as he had channelled his power into the EM blast, and secondly her eyes were glowing.
—
As she watched over Jason Knight, Banshee heard two loud ‘thuds’ through the Commdot. As she listened she heard the woman’s voice say, “Next time, do not attack the Basilisk!”. Receding footsteps were the only other sounds, then silence.
—
Celestus heard everything that Basilisk said, heard her footsteps echoing down the corridor; he just couldn’t move.
It took a moment for him to access his cosmic energy field, willing it to heal his condition. It worked, but it had cost him time, and he wasn’t back to his full power yet. He was able to stand now, but he was unsteady. He looked around, noticing that the blood was still there, and knelt down by X-Ray’s motionless form, wondering whether he could help him in any way.
Brian could see his alien comrade, could hear him saying, “We have to get out of here,” but he couldn’t move. Damn that woman, this was a neat trick! Would his force field have helped? And why hadn’t he activated it – again! He tried to focus his mind, willing himself to move. Somewhere in the back of his mind he realised that he was breathing…good, so Basilisk only affected a person’s voluntary nervous system, not their autonomous system. Phew!
And with that thought, he felt relief flood through his senses. A deep breath later, and he began to move his fingers. Before long, Brian was sitting upright, trying to shake the cobwebs away.
—
“What’s going on, boys?”
Banshee had relaxed a little since she heard Celestus speaking, but she was still worried about the events at the flat.
“Banshee,” said Celestus, “this woman might be on her way to see Jason Knight, though she has left the blood behind.”
—
The ‘boys’ took some time to gather their wits, then grabbed the blood and left Folkestone House. En route to Main Street, X-Ray told Celestus to hang back so as not to attract any undue attention, before he landed at the scene of Basilisk’s earlier attack. He saw a paramedic, and handed the blood bag to him, saying, “This is the blood that was taken from that person during the assault earlier tonight. Unfortunately, the attacker has got away, but we are trying to track her down.”
There were police present as well, and X-Ray gave Sforza’s address to them, stating, “She left her laptop behind, which contains evidence linking her actions to a man named Jason Knight, who is behind the recent attacks on young people, and the collection of their blood. I have to go, now, but I can be contacted through the Metropolitan Police.”
He flew off to rejoin Celestus, as Banshee asked, “How long do you want me to stay here, boys?”
The ‘boys’ looked at each other as they flew back to the Sunborn.
“Call it a night,” said X-Ray, “I know I’ve had enough.”
—
Bethany came out of her coma a day or so following the new blood transfusion and, whilst still weak, thanked the team for coming to her rescue, as well as solving the mystery of the Gibraltarian Vampire!
Celestus asked her about the amulet, to be told that it was a gift from someone at her school.
She seemed embarrassed when X-Ray asked her if it was a gift from a ‘boyfriend’ and refuses to respond, a sly smile on her face.
—
Mary hadn’t really wanted to leave Bethany, and it had taken Bethany herself, as weak as she was, to implore Mary to head back to the U.K.
There was nothing further to be done in Gibraltar; Mary was fretting for no good reason, Bethany told her, and it would be better for her, for The Balance, to go home. Even then, Brian had to persuade Mary to get on board the Crate, citing an induction for Celestus back at the BASEment as the very best of reasons to get going.
The team had heard from Akira; he was injured – not seriously, but badly enough that he was going to be out of action for a few weeks at least.
Meeting Celestus, and the alien’s own eagerness to join forces with The Balance, was a blessing in disguise, and X-Ray was determined to get Celestus up to speed as quickly as possible. Even though he had his own A.I. system, called Oracle, there really was nothing like hands-on experience to get someone used to something new; X-Ray wanted Celestus to start getting used to Earth as soon as possible.
However, once they got home, Brian realised that Mary was more upset than he had first thought.
As was normal after a mission Brian had gone home to Stacy and Chris, this time taking Celestus with him as a way of introducing the alien to a functional family unit; that, and pizza.
The next morning, though, Jeeves contacted Brian just before 9am, voicing concerns regarding Mary’s state of mind overnight. Mary had apparently barely eaten, not slept a wink, and had been utilising Frankie’s bandwidth for most of the night. Brian agreed to head over later that afternoon, but he had four surgeries lined up that morning that he had already agreed to take on, so he couldn’t make it any earlier.
Of course the surgeries overran, with two emergency Appendectomies added to Brian’s list before he could knock off, and it was close to 6pm when he met Celestus at the BASEment. According to the support staff, Mary had managed a couple of hours sleep during the late morning, but had gone straight back to working with Frankie after that. Jeeves could relay that Mary was worried about Bethany, and that she had been trying to research and locate other Rh-Null donors, both in the U.K. and around the world.
“Mary? Mary, what’s going on? Jeeves tells me you’ve been up all night. Come on, take a rest.”
“No, oi’m fine. Leave me be, lad.” She didn’t even look at Brian and…Magnus…otherwise Celestus.
When stressed, her Irish accent and heritage was more emphasised he noted.
Brian scanned the computer screens in front of him and Mary; it was easy to see that she had Frankie scanning through blood type registers across the planet, and a small list of Rh-Null donors had been compiled.
“Mary, duckie, you can’t keep on like this. I might be a surgeon, but I’m still a doctor, and I can see that you need rest, a proper night’s sleep. How about some hot food…”
Mary slammed her hand on the desk, “Fer the love of all that’s holy, will ye jest leave me alorn?!”
Brian looked at Magnus, who shrugged.
“No, Mary, that is enough!” Brian wrapped his long, powerful arms around Mary’s torso and lifted her off her feet, “Magnus, grab that chair for her, please!”
“Poot me doon afore I scare the livin’ beejeezus arta ye!”
So he did, lifting her up and over the chair that Celestus had made ready, and plonking her down in it unceremoniously. He didn’t let her go.
“Mary, for goodness sake, talk to me. What is the matter?”
Mary shook and struggled, but Banshee remained hidden – thankfully.
“Mary! We are your friends! We are here for you, but you need to talk to us. Please, tell us what’s going on.”
Abruptly, Mary was still. She sniffed, and Brian thought she was close to tears. He released his grip on her, moving to kneel down at her side, taking her hand in his, and looked into her watery eyes. For a woman who was the living embodiment of a Celtic spirit, she looked haunted.
“’Tis wee Bethany. Oi cannae bear to see her so!”
Brian had already guessed that Bethany was the root of Mary’s obsession, but he didn’t understand why Mary was so totally wrapped up in trying to help her this much. The young millionaire had plenty of staff around her, she was as safe as she was ever going to be in the hospital on Gibraltar; she needed rest, time, for her body to produce its own new blood.
“Mary, take your time, but I think you need to tell us.”
Suddenly X-Ray understood what had been driving her. Mary was a hundred and eighty years old and, in her original universe, had been the last of her line. Since she’d been transported to this world she’d made a family for herself and Bethany was like the granddaughter she’d never had. No wonder she was being so protective, especially given their choice of lifestyles.
“Tell ye what?”
Brian smiled warmly, “Tell us about you and Bethany.”
—
A month later, Jason Knight was buried at the Garrison Cemetery in one of the few remaining burial plots left on the Rock. There were only a few people present for the internment, all of whom were apparently business-related, and all dressed in corporate black, with one exception; a youth dressed in casual clothes who watched the proceedings from afar.
As Knight’s coffin was lowered into the ground the boy smiled. Death was not something he feared, as he’d been alive for hundreds of years and would potentially never die, not if his great-grandfather Daedalus was anything to go by – he just wished his ‘generic inheritance’ hadn’t activated while he had been so young, trapping him in a kid’s body forever. His only other regret was ‘allowing’ himself to be ambushed and his blood stolen months before. It had taken him until now to track down the attacker and discover the recipient of his stolen ‘Golden Blood’, hence his presence in the cemetery. Justice served, he turned and walked back towards the airport; he just hoped his great-granddad never discovered what had happened, as that would be so embarrassing…
Superhero Adventures, UK Style 