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Jayport, Jaapore on the Krai Peninsula, Jaer neighbors-Cuba to the north and Haiti to the west-the reen hills sits like a tollboth in the center of a network of water routes around her North is the passage between Cuba and Haiti leading to the coast of Florida and the Bahamas, west is the Yucatan channel off the coast of Mexico, and to the south is the Latin America coast Far to the east lay tiny island chains and cays that mark the boundary like a lattice curtain between the Caribbean and the Atlantic proper

In the days of the great buccaneers Morgan, Blackbeard, and Captain Kidd, the legendary pirates of the Caribbean pillaged French and Spanish possessions in the New World, spending their loot in the sinful dens that the seventeenth-century Babylon, Port Royal, boasted The latter-day freebooters of Ja wealth Their desired booty is li materials

The latest ruler of Jareat southern bay But the Kurian&039;s realm extends only to the foothills of the Blue Mountains These peaks, naive the island its serrated spine that rese in the Caribbean Outside the Kurian&039;s land, isolated coastal communities live in the primitive conditions of the Arawaka Indians Colurasses and banana leaves, or of h to control one of the pre-2022 buildings still standing after the titanic wave that washed across the Caribbean, followed by foundation-shattering quakes and roof-ripping hurricanes

In Montego Bay, a bloody-handed sea lord rules with a brutality that would curl Morgan&039;sthe central ht to be the re, leave piles of severed heads along the jungle trails to warn trespassers away But for thethe bounty nature sewed in the rich volcanic soil of the island and the surrounding sea and sharing what little they have with the generosity of people who have known hunger and misfortune between periods of plenty

One bay to the north, however, is an exception to the rule in a nuood a repair as local utted, multistory hotel stands untouched in its beachfront location-and hundreds of white bungalows of wood and thatch show the best example of what can be created out of clay, leaves, and coconut coir Two thick palisades of wood run for e along the flatter ground south and east, bordered by fields of rice and corn with the jungle cut back fro ships now dot a broad concrete pier that at one tiray-and-rust ship, a relic of the Old World do the center of the bay like a castle&039;s keep She sits separated by thirty feet of water crossed by a floating bridge leading to a portal in her hull big enough to drive a truck into She is a strange sort of ship, four decks of superstructure crowded over the bow, and perhaps a hundred yards of what used to be flight deck broken only by the housing for the ship&039;s offset stack At the top of her aerial stack, a white flag with a

red cross alternately ripples and droops in the shifting noontime air

Farther out in the shalloaters of the bay, on a cal, now encrusted with coral, for the seaward approaches to the dock At the south end of the great concrete pier, a gate stands beneath a guard tower, allowing passage of landward trade, as well

This is Jayport, refuge of the Co to be recounted here, goes back to the last days of 2022, when two ships of the Royal Navy and a liner full of refugees ca hospital But this flotsam and jetsam of the world-that-was eventually formed an alliance with a band of island mariners Now their combined children roa off the Kurian Order just as their English forebears plagued the Spanish Main and French Colonies

Standing on the Thunderbolt&039;s bridge, David Valentine watched as they approached the Jayport harbor The ship threaded her way through the reefs, unainst the coral obstructions projecting just past the surface A fishing trawler led the way, like a pilotfish swiraceful pyrael She had shortened sail to keep position behind the plodding gunboat

Valentine squinted his eyes against the glare of the sun The light refracted off the ar with spiderwebs of cracks froht Carrasca, the officer in charge of the prize creatched the Thunderbolt&039;s progress froe deck over the ship&039;s side, her black hair now untied and fluttering in the landward breeze like a pennant She watched the course of the Thunderbolt as carefully as if she did not have a guide through the reefs

protecting the port The pirate at the wheel wore a sleeveless, cut-at-the-knees jus planted wide on the deck The hel tiller ropes, rather than the hydraulic rudder of the Thunderbolt

"This reef is a bastard," the helap likes to silt up- over it"

Valentine moved outside the enclosed wheelhouse and joined Carrasca on the starboard side He looked down at the forward Grog deck, where the other surviving "loyal" hands of the Thunderbolt sat in an apathetic bunch under guard They remained under the supervision of the chief petty officer, a frog-faced toady of the captain named Gilbert The captain had never been found, dead or alive, and Worthing-ton had been killed with the crew trying to load the e

Valentine could still see the wine stain of his for Somewhere to the rear, Ahn-Kha and the men who joined Valentine&039;s fruitless atte the decks clean after laying out the corpses in a neat row By tradition they should be sewn up in their bedding, but the cloth was too valuable to waste in such a fashion The fourteen ht would leave the world as naked as they came into it

"Nice breeze," Valentine co Car-rasca&039;s hipped hair Had he reached out his arest strands

"We call it the Doctor It usually blows all day Then there&039;s the night wind off the island, it&039;s called the Undertaker It doesn&039;t sood, but it&039;ll keep you cool" Valentine enjoyed hearing her speak There was so of the music of a Caribbean accent mixed with Hispanic pronunciation

"Pretty view," Valentine said, applying it both to the woh he kept his eyes on the bay

He was used to the coastlines of North America: flat expanses of beach, wood, and ht out of the ocean like a green wall

"Yes You&039;ll want a hat The sun is strong, even this ti ship in the center?"

"She&039;s the hospital Once was the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus She&039;s been here my whole life; I was born in her So were a lot of the men you see around here"

"How many people do you have?"

"A census isn&039;t one of our priorities There are the townspeople and plantation fauess around seven hundred or so Then there are the ships&039; crews You could add in the folks inland and along the coast, fisherrain or pork when it suits theht say that they&039;re allies of ours, even if their product goes out on Kurian ships, as well Maybe six thousand people could call Jay home"

"Jay? Does that refer to Commodore Jensen?"

She looked away from the ship&039;s bow for the first time "You&039;ve heard of him?"

"He&039;s not theto take Jayport seriously in the KZ"

"KZ?"

"Kurian Zone My former employers"

"Ahh, I see We call it Vampire Earth"

Valentine smiled, his first unforced s the name is inaccurate?"

"I wish Our maps show this island as Kurian controlled-Vampire Earth"

"Most of Jamaica is theirs-or his We call him the Specter"

"Friendly terms?"

Her mouth writhed "No We&039;re no lackeys of his As

long as we don&039;t bother him, he leaves us alone Better for us"

"Better for the Specter, too"

She crossed her arms, and looked him up and down "Just like " The sentiment trailed off "Would you like to meet Commodore Jensen? I suppose he&039;ll have to decide what to do with you and your rateful if you could arrange a , if you think you can"

Her lips parted, revealing white teeth as she shter"

The ships docked and began to diseood-bye to Post as attendants carried him and the other injured off and placed them on wheeled litters The attendants then pushed the litters toward the hospital ship, which in proximity dwarfed even the bulky Thunderbolt

Then the Jamaican soldiers, then prisoners, and finally sailors cao in New Orleans

Valentine, with nothing to do but wait, watched Jayport&039;s inhabitants They were for theA er boy received a holloooden tube froel and sprinted off toward the shore like a runner in a relay race He wondered which building held whatever passed for governs clustered around the bay Fishing shacks and a few hung nets dotted the beach

Valentine felt the odd sensation of standing on a firs sat down hard, holding their heads in their hands at the motionless feel of terra fires still echoing froht north of the tropics were not so noticeable in the central Caribbean Farther down the dock, the

"loyal" hands of the Thunderbolt squatted on the bare concrete surface, slapping at flies hardy enough to venture out this far frolared in his direction, some looked to his with a fatalism bred by a lifetime in the KZ

Dockside idlers examined the Thunderbolt from behind a rope line that divided the captured ship&039;s part of the dock from the landward extension, where a few armed men in white T-shirts and khaki shorts that looked more like school unifor platters of fruit followed by graceful women with tall wooden tuan distributing the island&039;s bounty to Valentine&039;s men and prisoners alike

"Enjoy,out bananas and halves of coconuts

"No worries,water for now,out the ca-denced phrases ed a feords and a smile with a dockhand, but Valentine couldpatois

One uard&039;s ear, pointed at Valentine, and spoke A few others craned their necks, and Valentine wondered what sort of dockside ruht on the Thunderbolt

Valentine tasted his first fresh banana-he&039;d had banana bread and a pudding mix in New Orleans, and there was no comparison-and followed it with the meat and s, ere learning to peel their fruit before eating it in imitation of the humans A knot of the Chief&039;s men crammed down the colorful fruit with Went and Torres

"What do they have in, flexible lips

"We&039;re safe for now It seeive the royal treat-

ment to prisoners They&039;ll try to recruit the captain&039;s ory we&039;re in We&039;re not under guard, but I don&039;t think those ate will let us just wander into town"

"They left you your weapons They locked the rest back up in the s or very confident," Ahn-Kha mused

"Either suits me, for now We&039;re lucky to be alive, old horse"

"Your race needs to learn to greet every day with those thoughts"

"There&039;s so kind of old-fashionedly formal about the way they&039;ve handled us It&039;s like we&039;ve stepped back three hundred years or so Like letting uns: a captured officer used to be allowed to retain his sidearainst other gentle an invitation to dinner, rather than an interrogation"

The invitation to dinner arrived two hours later, waking hih to indicate aed white ducks and a straw hat arrived with a note fro Valentine&039;s presence at the Governor&039;s House for dinner, Ahn-Kha laughed loudly enough to send the flies fleeing in alarm Carrasca arrived shortly thereafter with an escort, announcing that they were to be moved to more comfortable quarters They formed up behind her, and the procession of visitors walked the pier toward town

The wide pier ree he&039;d seen long ago in a book Croith buildings at the landward end, so much so that it resembled a narrow street for the last hundred yards before it reached the shore, the as where goods fro up in floors what they lacked in width and depth, overhung both the

street to the inside and the water to the outside, creating a shaded corridor leading toward the town proper Carrasca explained that the twentieth-century dock was one of the best-built foundations in the bay, an important consideration on an earthquake-prone island Valentine&039;s e were placed in a series of rooe roos The prisoners froside the dock in a permanently moored ship, where Carrasca assured him they would be well looked after Valentine asked to see the wounded who&039;d been taken to the hospital ship, and Carrasca wrote hiet him on board He and his men were free to ht not want to be too visible," she warned "A lot of characters coet spies sent by the Kurians now and then Once a s ship blew itself up at the pier-perhaps you noticed the big patched-up crack We depend on trade too ers But even men such as you e assume to be friends are not allowed in town, and are searched before going on board the Argus"

Of all the choices Valentine had faced in the last twenty-four hours, thewhat to wear to dinner at the Governor&039;s House With the e he had inlike an ally rather than a castaway Going in his full Coastal Marines uniform would be inappropriate-he no more represented the Kurian Order than the Zulu nation Lacking anything else presentable, he wore his tailored unifor it with a simple white shirt He washed and coht pigtail Torres completed the ensee combination of sash and cummerbund, an item common to what passed for aristocracy in his native part of Texas Valentine&039;s long arled from the sleeves of the jacket, but he at least looked properly dressed

One of the ubiquitous er boys-this one had shoes on his feet-arrived at the rooms to escort him off the dock as the sun went down The breeze had reversed itself with the cooling of the land What had Carrasca called it? The Undertaker It smelled of the decay on the seashore rather than the clean ocean

The boy led him past another watchman&039;s post on the dock and into the first of Jayport&039;s streets An open carriage rocked back and forth on a heavily patched turnaround at the base of the pier; a single horse shifted impatiently in the traces before an elderly driver The old man&039;s white hair and whiskers fraave Valentine a look more like that of a suspicious police officer rather than a taxi driver

Carrasca waited for hi a neat blue uniforht bun at the back of her head Oddly, the uniform made her even more feminine, thanks to her wide, dark eyes and portrait-perfect face The thought crossed his mind that perhaps Carrasca-or the co his own efforts in securing proper attire

Valentine assumed the attitude of one who took her presence there, in a cushioned and polished carriage, as if it were the , Lieutenant," he said with a perfunctory bow that see ht?"

"Thank you, Mr Valentine My duties on your for" She opened the tiny door to the carriage, and Valentine primly took the seat opposite her The corner of her mouth flickered up, and he answered with a raised eyebrow that dissolved their playacting pretenses She giggled and he snorted

The driver called out a low "e lurched into motion as the horse started off at a brisk walk, iron-ri on the mix of cobblestone and tar

"Actually, Valentine, your presence is a bit of a coup for me For a people whose ships travel a thousand miles in every direction, you&039;d be surprised how cut off we feel out here We get shortwave contact sometimes, but it&039;s usually passive-we&039;ve been burned a couple ti over the radio The only people we really trust now are the Dutchmen to the south"

He could smell her now, a mixture of soap, a coconut-scented lotion, and a hint of perfu out the collar of her uniform The animal in him wanted to tear open the tunic, pull her head aside, and let his lips explore her neck, his hands those round, high breasts beneath

Madness He regained control of his thoughts, crated up his lust, nailed it down, and padlocked urges too long sublimated

"Please call me David We&039;re both off duty, aren&039;t we?"

Her pupils narrowed for a second, then widened again "Maybe You may call me Malia, if you like"

Valentine liked "Gladly, Malia So the comer for news from the north The people we pick up know less about the real story than we do"

"I ht disappoint him," Valentine said "I&039;ve beenI suppose you&039;d call it &039;undercover&039; for about a year My only current information is what the Kur are up to on the Coast between Florida and Texas I&039;m sure it will be useful to him, but if he needs current news about events farther in than that, I&039;ll be a dry well Since I&039;ht, ed your aed "I had little to do with it Your captain&039;s h if you askwent right This town

has grown in the last few years, grown a lot It&039;s funny hoord of a haven gets around-we havefor shelter We&039;ve even started another settle the coast at Port Maria to help accommodate the newcomers"

"Jamaica can provide for you all?" He looked at the feanderers on the main street The Jas by dressing in brightly dyed colors: deep reds, brilliant yellows, and heavy purples

"Rich soil and richer waters" She waved to a young couple out for a stroll "But back to your ship Your captain did not keep his mission a secret We have a spy or two in most of thehile is shipping for the most part, but we heard about your-or their, IJust because the Thunderbolt&039;s gun could sink anything we have afloat didn&039;tabout you at sea One of our cutters kept watch at thefor you to come out, and then it raised every sail when it saw you, and beat you here by two full days A coastwatcher told us of your landfall by radio We need to keep an eye on Montego Bay and the west end of the island all the ti up the coast, so ent out to meet you on it I had a motorboat full ofout for you fro and saw the gun flashes, Captain Utari brought the Rigel out and put the extrathe coast like that"

"No one was expecting you to come after us It turned out for the best Or at least, I hope it will I need the ship, Malia"

"I can&039;t iunboat, other than sink it trying to get it back up the

Mississippi I proh probleet"

"What&039;s that?"

"Battles, shortages It see but bad news ever co That&039;s so started?"

"Yes We expected it to be a lot worse We had an inflatable boat full of explosive ere going to use as a last resort All the confusion you caused made the difference; otherwise, I expect it would have been a lot bloodier"

"It was bloody enough," Valentine said "If it weren&039;t for you and Captain Utari, I doubt I&039;d even be alive now I&039;m in your debt"

Her voice turned colder than any winter Ja us alone We do not need h"

The carriageway to trees and lush ferns Valentine ss all around and felt newly invigorated in the cooler night air "Aren&039;t you afraid souns?"

"We&039;re pretty sure they do not bother with big warships Our worry has always been a strong landing force We&039;ve also heard ru that takes to the water-that&039;s one of the reasons you saw armed men on the docks It&039;s well for us the vaanize themselves properly"

"It&039;s their weakness," Valentine agreed "They&039;re about as cooperative as a cave full of rabid rats They can&039;t see past the next infusion of aura"

"Aura?"

"Do you call it so else here? It&039;s what the Kurian Lords live off Kind of an energy created by sentient beings No, strike that-it&039;s generated by anything that lives, but

it&039;s just hundreds of ti"

"I thought they drank blood," she said, puzzled

"Their Reapers do, but the Reapers are just puppets, walking and talking tools for the dirty work of killing There&039;s some kind of mental link between the Kurian Master and his Reapers The Reaper feeds itself off the blood, yes, but its Lord gets the energy we call &039;vital aura&039; Either way, your calling it vampirism is correct, even if it sounds kind of poetic"

"Not a pleasant subject for conversation on such a beautiful night, David We&039;re aled out of the palht The Governor&039;s House turned out to be a substantial building constructed on a flat pro from the steep hill, or small mountain, just west of the town Behind it, somewhere in the forest, the wooden ound down fro itself was fashioned of cut and ashed stone with a red clay roof, re Valentine of an old Spanish mission he&039;d seen on the Texas coast The driver waved to a pair of white-shirted police at the entrance to a flowered courtyard and wheeled the carriage around a fountain in the center of the circular drive The horse seemed to know the routine better than the driver, and it stopped before the door at the tiniest mur the driver on the shoulder "We will be several hours, so be sure to have your dinner"

"I&039;ll see to the horse first, but thank you, e, and held the door open for his escort "Miss?" he asked, as the driver ht rew up here He&039;s as much of a fixture of the place as the corandfather&039;s life way back when He&039;s a bit of everything: bodyguard, driver, interpreter He knocked together my first boat, a little clinker-built toy I learned to

sail He alsothat fluttered fro, built to cover the door as well as the road co up the hillside fro is half blue and half green, with a sun in the center, kind of like the old French sun-king design Do flags s? They&039;re not much used up North Maybe nobody in the Free Territory could figure out what color represents survival I&039;ll have to have a look when it&039;s lighter"