A Matter of Blood by Lucy True & Jea Hawkins

Author:Lucy True & Jea Hawkins [True, Lucy & Hawkins, Jea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: lesbian
Publisher: Persephone Press
Published: 2020-06-03T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

The bed in the stateroom was quite comfortable and Alice woke up more refreshed than she expected the next morning. She stretched along the crisp cotton sheets and raised her eyes to the porthole to glance at the sky. It was a trifle disorienting at first, as was getting to her feet and looking down through the glass. Although all she saw was a vast expanse of ocean, she knew from her pocket watch that it was only a matter of hours before they docked in New York City.

Once she was dressed in a day gown with black and white stripes, layers of black tulle skirt, and a black leather bodice, she picked up the transmitter to examine it once more. The small machine was nothing more than a handheld device, no wider than her palm, and only five or six inches in length. It was a cold rectangle of metal, with a short, retractable antenna. The small white light on top had remained unlit since she acquired it. Other than two small slots on the front, there was nothing else to the machine. She saw no discernible seams, bolts, or screws.

Alice reached into the brown leather pouch hanging from the bottom of her bodice and extracted a small, flat tool similar to a metal nail file. Taking a deep breath, she inserted the tool into one of the slots and began to poke around. There was a small click and then the casing separated in two pieces in her hand. She set the tool aside on the bed and gently pried the case apart to look inside.

The array of wires and copper tubing didn’t look as confusing as she had initially expected. After a thorough examination of the components, she let out a string of filthy words worthy of a sailor. She rose swiftly to her feet and stepped through her stateroom door into the sterile white interior hall of the airship. Her fast steps brought her to the deck, where she let the metal instrument fall from her hand into the ocean below.

When she stalked into the dining room in a huff and sat down at the table, both Verti and Nora edged away from her, with an exchange of knowing glances.

“What is it?” Nora asked hesitantly.

Alice smoothed the cloth napkin across her lap and reached for the teapot to pour herself a cup, still rattled by her discovery. “It was a decoy,” she hissed.

“Do you mean the transmitter?”

Alice nodded wordlessly and fortified herself with several sips of the strong, black tea. When she felt ready to speak, she explained.

“I managed to open it this morning and found it was made of nothing but bits of cheap wire clamped in there, along with some useless copper tubing. It was infused with just enough Aetheral energy so I could sense the item and call it to me, but it had no purpose other than that. None of the components were connected to anything and it wasn’t a functioning piece of equipment.

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