“Line up please, graduates!” said Professor Healy. “They’re almost ready for the doctoral candidates in physics at Stamford University.”
Kendra joined her snort of suppressed laughter to that of her fellow graduates. Healy’s pomposity had to be one of the constants in the universe. She adjusted her mortarboard and tassel, then smoothed the black gown. It had been a shame to cover the brilliant blue silk dress she wore. The night before it had taken her an hour and a half to choose it from the collection of gowns that hung in her closet at Regis’ estate.
After Kendra had sent Akhom twenty-five years into the future, half of his rebels had returned with Alex and Kendra in the hour before dawn to free Regis and his community. Alex had encouraged the other half to flee from American Missile before government troops arrived. Kendra had no way of knowing if they had done so. The news that evening carried reports of an industrial disaster at American Missile, but stated only that eighty-nine casualties were reported, and that the Army had assisted with recovery and clean-up efforts. No one mentioned vampires, but then most living humans continued to think of them as fictional creatures. The vamps, except for Akhom, preferred it that way.
“Ms. Tanagawa!” An exasperated Healy looked at her from the head of the line of doctoral candidates. “Get in line.” He adjusted his tam, then led the line toward the stage.
Kendra took a moment to appreciated the breeze that ruffled the trees in the Commons. The branches looked like huge arms waving clumps of hoary green flags under the blue sky--a fantastic image. She had not thought that she would make it to graduation.
Two mornings earlier, completely exhausted, she had fallen asleep in one of the limos as it sped away from American Missile. William twitched and swore beside her.
It seemed to Kendra that they reached Regis’ home in only a few minutes. Certainly she hadn’t slept enough, and woke groggily to a dark sky filled with birdsong. Alex scooped her out of the limo, and carried her into the mansion.
“I’m sorry to ask--” he said as he set her down in the kitchen.
“Oh, I should peel the rest of that silver off you. It must hurt.” She scrubbed her face with her hands, trying to wake herself.
“I can wait, but Regis and the others--Hello, Rich.”
“Good to have you back, sir!” Rich hurried through the side door at the back of the kitchen, and shook Alex’s hand vigorously with both of his. “Does this mean the house is safe again?”
Cyril and the rest of the staff, sleepy but excited, gathered behind Rich.
“Yes,” Alex smiled. “This house is safe again.” Alex waited a moment for the cheers and murmurs of relief to stop.
“Regis and the community need your help, friends. They are chained in silver in the dungeon, and the keys are currently…unavailable.” Alex glanced at Kendra with a sparkle in his eye.
Cyril stepped forward. “Sir, if you will open the master’s safe, I believe I can find the spare set there.”
“Excellent. Let’s go. Rich would you please feed Ms. Tanagawa something quick and fortifying while we’re gone? Kendra, while you eat would you please tell any who wish to volunteer how to free vampires from silver?” Alex and Cyril left.
The blender whirred for a moment, and then Rich slid a shake in front of her. It had both fruit and chocolate in it, and probably some other sort of nutritional boost. It was cold and delicious. Between swallows, she told the staff about the need to pull hard, the charred flesh that came away with the chain, and the screams.
“Does Regis have a large supply of earplugs?” she asked the staff, all of whom had volunteered. One of the waiters dashed off.
“Rich,” she said, continuing to think ahead, “every wounded vampire will be really hungry. Do we have lots of blood?”
“I’ll thaw the emergency stores.” Rich disappeared in the crowd.
Kendra slugged down the rest of her snack, then shook her head when the ache of brain freeze caught up with her a moment later.
For the next six hours, the ballroom, safely dark behind both shutters and shades, had become an emergency ward. Alex carried what was left of Regis up first, and began to feed him with a dropper. The sight of the two of them in those first moments moved Kendra, but when Regis revived enough to feed himself, he tore into the warm bags of blood with a ferocity that frightened her. She went to the kitchen to help Rich and the waiters.
“Put them in the bread baskets,” Rich directed, pointing to a batch of blood bags. “Six to a basket. The napkins will keep them warm.”
Kendra did as he instructed. When she went back to the ballroom half an hour later, Regis had stopped drinking. He looked much more himself. Kendra plucked some silver from the cuts on his face, and the welts on his arms and chest.
“Thank you, Kendra.” He smiled, and glanced around at the eight other vampires that had been freed by then. He plucked at the ruined pair of elegant boxer shorts he wore, then looked at her again. “You certainly are seeing us at a vulnerable moment.”
“I’m glad to help, and pleased that you’re back.” Kendra smiled, and put her hand on his arm for a moment. Thomas sat up, took Regis’ hand and sighed. He too had finished feeding, and was ready for a “going over” as Kendra came to think of it.
After two hours, Kendra sat back on her heels, the strength she’d gained from Rich’s shake had left her.
“Come, Miss,” Cyril helped her to her feet. “You should rest. I brought some soup to your apartment. Mr. Sterling has gone up already.”
Kendra sighed, and allowed Cyril to guide her to the apartment she shared with Alex. It seemed like home. The thought surprised her. Do doctors of physics hang out with vampires? The question reminded her that she was supposed to graduate.
“Cyril, what day is it?” she asked anxiously.
“Friday the thirteenth,” he said with no irony whatsoever.
“I’m supposed to graduate on Sunday.”
“Excellent, Miss.” He opened the apartment door for her, then hurried back into the elevator before she could thank him. Kendra shuffled to the kitchen, where she found a bowl of miso soup waiting for her. Perfect. She sat at the table, and slurped spoonfuls of soup.
Alex padded into the kitchen in his boxer shorts. His arms and chest glinted with silver.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Alex.” Kendra put down her spoon, and began to rise from her chair, but he stopped her.
“Finish your soup,” he said gently. He sat next to her, and held her free hand. They were both too tired to speak, so they grinned stupidly at each other.
“I have an idea,” Alex said when Kendra had finished with the soup. He led her into her bathroom, handed her some tweezers, then grabbed her towel rack and pulled it to the side. The whole wall slid open. A hot tub bubbled in the adjoining chamber, done entirely in cedar.
“Warm water softens scabs,” Alex said, “maybe it will make things easier.”
Did her expect her to strip her clothes off in front of him? “I’ll fall asleep if I get in there,” Kendra lied. Her heart pounded.
Alex grinned. “I doubt it. Your pulse just topped one-ten.”
He kissed her the whole time he undressed her. By the time he finished, she shivered in his arms. She had never felt so naked; there was nowhere to hide.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I’ve gone and made you cold, but this is one of the best solutions.” He gestured toward the tub, and slid his boxers off. Certainly no part of him seemed vulnerable then. Kendra raised her eyes to his face. He looked sweet and somber as he lifted her gently into the four-person tub.
Kendra held still as the heat initially stifled her. Alex stretched out in a corner immediately, and closed his eyes.
After a minute or two, Kendra had become accustomed to the heat. She shifted. Alex looked at her.
“Ready?” he asked.
She looked at him, unsure of what he meant.
He flapped his arms briefly to indicate his wounds.
“Oh, yes.” She grabbed the tweezers and went to work. Kendra didn’t think the water made any difference on the silver scabs, but it had warmed Alex. His lips were warm. The kiss he gave her when she’d finished was delicious. Kendra fell asleep on his chest, and woke in his arms. They were in his bed, and Alex was still warm. The cause for that became apparent. His half of the mattress had some kind of heating unit in it. She turned to look at the clock, eight-thirty. Alex woke.
“You are so beautiful.” He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, and kissed her nose. “Thank you for sleeping with me.”
Kendra couldn’t help it, she giggled nervously.
He kissed her gently. “I meant that literally. I won’t rush you.” And he hadn’t in the day and a half since.
Kendra caught up with her fellow graduates as the line reached the stage steps. The newly hooded Doctors of Linquistic filed off the far side of the stage to rejoin the crowd. Professor Healy led the physics candidates up the steps, and bade them wait at the edge of the stage. He walked to the podium and addressed the crowd briefly. Kendra hardly heard what he said--something about hard work, dedication and excellence.
Healy called the first name. “Neil Crawford.”
Kendra made a face. She wished she were near enough to trip the traitor, but even he couldn’t spoil the day. She looked out at the crowd and found the beaming faces of her parents. Alex, Regis, and Thomas had travelled with her the night before, but couldn’t be in the audience, of course. Cyril was there, filming it for them.
Kendra clapped for her fellow graduates, other than Neil, as Healy read their names and handed each a scroll tied with black ribbon. Professors Chu and Winterbean did the bit, the part that Kendra cared about. Winterbean was tall. He drew the hood over each graduate’s head. Professor Chu was short. He straightened each hood in the back so the purple stripes and silver piping showed.
“Last, but not least,” Healy said hamming it up, “Kendra Tanagawa, the recipient of the prized Estella Nova Award for the best dissertation.”
Kendra crossed the stage, eyes glued to the bundle of power cords taped to the stage between her and Healy. No way was she going to trip at her own graduation. She looked up when she was safely over the cords, accepted her diploma, then stepped to Professor Winterbean, and turned to face the audience so that he could hood her. Before she knew it, Professor Chu gave her a nudge toward the far side of the stage. The hooding had happened too fast. That didn’t seem real. She sighed as she descended from the stage. The other new Doctors of Physics milled about at the foot of the stairs, empty smiles pasted on their faces as they congratulated each other. Kendra shook hands with everyone, except Neil. The and made her way around the crowd to join her parents.
On the way, she saw Phil Rosenburg leaning against a tree to the side of the crowd. Kendra hurried toward him. Maybe he could explain a few things. He saw her coming, and seemed to panic. He nearly ran out of the Commons, eyes glued to the ground in front of him.
Oh well, I have a social life now anyway. Kendra smiled. She was already thinking of ways she and Alex might be able to separate William and Xenopoulos.
finis
