Reece waited in the doorway of Naeva’s cabin, Aika and Pasha standing behind him. Naeva smiled at Reece and licked her lips suggestively. Before she could continue and say or do something that would complicate things further, Reece moved to the side and revealed his two companions. Naeva’s eyebrows shot up and her smile lessened somewhat.

“Oh, you brought friends...cool,” she said a little too loudly.

Reece could hear scurrying around inside the room as Naeva smiled at them all and looked back inside for a couple of seconds before throwing open the door and giving Aika a big hug.

“And who’s this?” she asked, indicating Pasha’s feminine form with an upturned hand.

“You remember Pasha, right?” asked Reece rhetorically.

“Yeah, of course. Is this his sister?” she asked back, clearly confused.

“Nope. This is Pasha,” stated Reece, flattening his mouth and raising his eyebrows.

“How’ve you been, Naeva?” greeted Pasha with a wry smile. “So, yeah...I’m a young woman now. It’s just part of the package of being what’s known as a, wait for it... phoenix! Well, that’s our best guess, anyhow.”

“A phoenix?” asked an even more confused Naeva.

“Yep, apparently when I die, burning my body returns me to life. Only thing is, I change sexes each time and seem to revert to the same starting age. I think I’m somewhere around seventeen or so. Anyways, life is interesting these days,” explained Pasha in his/her typical comic fashion. “How have you been? Still a man-eater? Hey...I’m only a death away...”

“A man-eater, huh? You have no idea. And who says I wouldn’t devour you just the way you are now,” answered Naeva as she smiled wickedly. “Now, why don’t you all come in. We don’t have many places to sit, so don’t be shy.”

“You haven’t changed one bit, Naeva,” replied Aika as she sauntered past.

The three entered the room with Naeva’s urging and Reece noticed that Karina and Ciera were already there. Pasha and Aika took in the sight of the two strangers, clearly not knowing what to make of them. Ciera pushed herself back onto the bed, making the whole edge available. Naeva sat on it and patted the bed next to her for Aika. She hesitated before taking the spot, with Pasha sitting on the other side of her. Karina remained sitting in the one chair in the room with a little smile on her face as if she knew things were about to get interesting.

“Karina, Ciera...this is Aika and Pasha. Pasha, Aika...this is Ciera and Karina,” said Reece indicating each lady with his hand as he introduced them.

The women all nodded a greeting to each other.

“First thing, Aika and Pasha don’t trust my uh... manipulation ability,” said Reece. “I figured you three might be able to help with that.”

Aika looked startled and stared at Reece in shocked confusion. Pasha looked at Reece skeptically. Karina took the lead and explained everything with her reasoned logic while Naeva and Ciera added their flavors of expertise to the conversation. Aika asked several pointed questions which the three ladies answered to her seeming satisfaction.

By the time they had explained everything again, even Pasha seemed to be convinced. Breathing a sigh of relief, Karina nodded to Reece. That relief was just as contagious as his earlier yawns, and Reece drew in and blew out a long breath filled with his anxiety. Things were starting to look up, if only a bit.

“Hey bud, I’m sorry I’ve been a bit of a dick. I was just upset, you know... that you may have taken advantage of Aika, even unwittingly. I hope you can forgive me for being such an ass, err bitch.”

“No worries, bud...uh...lass?” responded Reece.

“Whatever, man,” laughed Pasha. “It’s all good.”

Reece started chuckling uncontrollably at Pasha’s humorous comment. It was infectious and soon everyone was laughing out loud along with them at the ridiculousness of it all. It had taken some time, but everyone had started finally becoming comfortable around each other. Reece’s laugh fell to a chuckle and then stopped as he got serious. He knew the next big reveal may be hard to swallow.

“So, Aika...there’s another revelation you need to hear,” he said. “Karina, do you want to do the honors?”

“Sure,” responded the lilitu. “Aika, what do remember of your rebirth?”

“You mean when I became a vampire?” asked Aika nervously.

“Precisely,” answered Karina.

“Unfortunately, not much really. I remember fighting alongside Reece shortly after the shuttle crash. Pasha died in the crash and we had fought off a pack of zombies before some huge monsters appeared. The next thing I remember is waking up in a shallow grave. It was early morning, but I have no idea how many days later. I found one of my katanas in the dirt, pulled out the remaining supplies from the shuttle, and set it on fire to cover my tracks from the Order. That’s when Pasha came back to life. Why?”

“Well,” began Karina somewhat awkwardly. “I’m sorry I didn’t bury you properly. I simply didn’t have the time, you see. I did try to save you by giving you my blood, but you were too far gone by that point. On the off chance that you carried the right genes, I buried you anyways. But you must understand, there’s like a one in a hundred chance that you would be reborn. And besides, with all the dread wolves and zombies hunting us constantly, we had to keep moving.”

“Wait,” said Aika as she shook her head. “So... you’re the one who turned me into this?”

“Yep,” replied Karina as she raised her eyebrows and smiled. The lilitu’s eyes looked away for a moment. “Guilty as charged.”

Aika looked defeated as she slumped and hung her head.

“Well, I guess it couldn’t be helped,” she replied before puffing up her chest and looking back at Karina. “But we’re both here now. I have a thousand questions. Can I die? What happens if I refuse to drink blood? Why am I so emotional? Do I have any weaknesses I need to know about?”

The string of questions that Aika had kept pent up inside came flowing out. Finally, Karina held up her hand to halt the deluge of queries.

“Okay, I owe it to you to answer all your questions,” said Karina as she attempted to mollify the fledgling vampire, her only progeny.

The others looked on as Karina patiently explained everything Aika would need to know to live as a vampire. Aika took it all in with her usual studiousness. By the time the Q&A session was over, Reece could barely keep his eyes open. Ciera had passed out long ago and Pasha and Naeva both looked like they were about to fall over.

“Okay,” cut in Reece. “Any more questions can be answered tomorrow...or rather, later today. We all need to get some sleep, like right now. I love you all, but I’m getting cranky and maybe a little hangry.”

Aika and Pasha nodded and got up to leave. Naeva laid down next to Ciera and promptly passed out, whispering something about “maybe tomorrow”. Karina led Reece to his room right next door. Waiting for Aika and Pasha to round-the-corner to their room, Karina followed Reece into his room. He was too tired to argue, so he undressed and crawled into the simple bed. Karina crawled in behind him and snuggled up right next to his body.

“Ahh, so moojie,” she said as she quickly drifted off to sleep.

Reece was only moments behind. Despite his grumbling stomach, it had been an incredibly long day, and the sweet darkness of sleep quickly embraced him.

The dreamscape that opened before him was white with snow and streaked with the blue of ice and rime. Before him stood Bjorn. The big warmly-dressed man was beckoning him forward, down a frozen pathway towards a small village surrounded by a log wall. The logs were lashed together by thick rope and chain and the top of each log had been whittled down to a point. Beside him stood Ciera, wearing a thick coat and heavy boots. Reece looked around and saw his many friends and companions spread out behind him, facing away. Looking back, he saw Ciera smiling at him as she gave him a wink and motioned with her head for him to follow. He took a step forward and noticed that he too was dressed in heavy winter clothing. The three of them approached the snowy village.

He woke up to Karina kissing him. Seeing him awaken and noting his look of confusion, she pulled away slightly and tilted her head.

“You were moaning in your sleep, so I decided to wake you,” she told him. “Another dream?”

“Yeah... they seem to be somewhat... prophetic,” answered Reece, still in a fog. “This one showed Bjorn, Ciera, and I headed for somewhere cold, Norway... I think. The rest of you stayed back.”

“I see,” said Karina as she considered Reece’s words. “Your dreams are becoming much easier to interpret these days.”

“I know. I think it’s the nightcore,” explained Reece. “It’s a feeling I get whenever I awaken from these dreams. They’re different from the dreams that the goddess Shoki used to contact me.”

“Well...,” Karina said as she changed the subject. “If you’re going to be leaving on a little quest without me, I want to make sure our remaining time together before then doesn’t go to waste.”

“What did you have in mind?” asked Reece, knowing full well.

She didn’t say anything. She just puckered up sensuously and kissed Reece full on the lips, allowing her dainty tongue to explore his larger mouth. His tongue licked hers in return and he felt her hand slide down his chest and over his stomach to slip into the front of his boxers and take hold of him. He moaned into her mouth, but she already knew that he was ready. She pulled her mouth and hand away and gave Reece a knowing look.

“We’re entirely too over-dressed,” she mockingly stated.

Reece quickly removed his shirt and boxers as Karina lifted the simple blue dress she had on. As the garment went over her head, her beautiful platinum blonde tresses fell back onto her bare shoulders and cradled her seemingly delicate neck. Reece couldn’t help but admire her lithe body with its perfect neckline, soft ivory skin, pink-tipped perky breasts, and toned stomach. Even her belly button was magnificent. Karina fell into him and the dream was all but forgotten for the moment.

Afterward, they snuggled in each other’s arms. Reece was lying on his back while Karina curled into his side with her right arm and leg draped over him. He held her with his right arm wrapped under and around her and she rested her head between his shoulder and chest. They stayed like that for quite a while before Reece finally spoke up.

“I could stay like this forever, but we’ve got work to do,” stated Reece.

“Ahhh, just another minute,” she pleaded. “I’m feeling moojie.”

“Okay, fine with me. You twisted my arm,” chuckled Reece as he hugged her just a bit tighter.

The minute passed, and Karina reluctantly got up and got dressed in a white short-sleeved button-down and a navy-blue short skirt, complete with suspenders. Then she slid on some tall black boots that buckled to the top. She added a black collar with a gold buckle around her neck. Reece couldn’t help but think that no matter what she wore, she looked incredibly cute and sexy.

Reece got up and pulled on a new pair of grey boxers and undershirt, followed by his dark grey flight suit bottoms. He tied the top around his waist, much like Pasha, Thomas, and Aika had done aboard the Zhengzhou so long ago. He slid on his black combat boots and laced them up before grabbing his backpack with the nightcore and cinching down the strap, turning it into a satchel that he could wear at his waist.

Once they had dressed, Naeva and Ciera joined them from their room next door. Ciera was glowing in her white scoop neck camisole and light-blue jeans. Naeva wore a grey-blue decorative lace long-sleeved blouse over dark blue jeans and brown hiking boots. He also noticed that Ciera seemed a bit out of breath and Naeva was flushed.

“Looks like you two had some fun,” teased Reece.

“Hey, it wasn’t our fault,” retorted Ciera. “These walls aren’t sound-proof and Karina wasn’t being very quiet. What did you expect.”

Karina just smiled, clearly pleased with herself.

Reece laughed and put his hands up. “All right, all right. So, are you ready to grab some breakfast and get on with our day? We’ve got a lot to do.”

They nodded and the four of them headed out, Reece filling them in on his dream. They began eating their breakfast of powdered eggs, reconstituted ham, and water that tasted a bit like jet fuel.

“I’m not complaining about free food,” stated Ciera. “But I do miss meals at New Hope.”

“I know what you mean,” added Reece. “With any luck, we’ll be able to go back there someday soon.”

Naeva nodded her head in agreement and the four of them continued to chat while they finished their breakfast. Once they had finished eating, they made their way above deck to try and locate Angel, Micah, and Bjorn. It didn’t take long. The three men were together discussing something with a fourth person, a brunette woman. She was tall with light skin and chiseled features.

“Good morning,” greeted Reece, walking up to the group. “How’s everything?”

“Could be better, bud,” stated Angel.

“Yeah, we picked up a contact a few dozen kilometers back that is headed our way and slowly closing with us,” added Bjorn.

“Luckily, I had spoken with the Captain about your request last night and she has agreed. We’ve been heading that way for several hours already. If we hadn’t, whatever that contact is... would have been upon us already,” cut in Micah.

“So, we’ve traveled about a thousand kilometers already, with about five to six thousand more to go. Luckily, this carrier was designed with four state-of-the-art biodiesel engines which give us a cruising speed of well over 60 knots. It’s the fastest carrier on the planet.”

“Biodiesel?” interrupted Reece. “Do we have enough fuel to reach Norway?”

“Not to worry,” answered the woman. “We’ve enough fuel to circle the earth ten times over and we’re outfitted with a complete fuel processing system that will refine most biomass to a 99% purity for our engines.”

“That’s impressive...” replied Reece, pausing for her name.

“Apologies bud,” jumped in Angel. “I forget my manners. This is Capt. Kathleen Schwarzenegger. She’s in charge of this boat.”

“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” smiled Reece, holding out his hand.

She took it and gave him a strong handshake, impressing him with her strength before letting go.

“Likewise. I’m glad we could finally meet. I hear good things about you,” responded the captain.

“So, it sounds like we have two to three days before we reach Norway. Are we going to make it before whatever we’re picking up on the radar catches us?”

“Well, it’s hard to say,” answered the captain as best she could. “It’s going to be close either way. However, if we can get you close then you can take the Rán, a third-generation Skjold-class corvette and the fastest ship in our little fleet. It has a range of about two-thousand kilometers fully fueled, but travels at over 80 knots so you’ll be able to outrun whatever’s coming until you run out of fuel.”

“That sounds fine, but let me check with our pilot, Pasha,” agreed Reece. “The jet we flew in on is an experimental fighter and might be a quicker option.”

“Ah, I hadn’t thought of that. If it can land vertically and withstand the freezing conditions, then that may be your best bet. Still, we can send the Rán after you. That way, you have a second option with more cargo space in case you need it.”

“Good point,” replied Reece.

“Now, I understand your mission is important,” stated Captain Schwarzenegger plainly. “But if I’m going to risk the lives of everyone here and our entire fleet, I’d like a better idea of what I’m risking it all for.”

“Fair enough,” replied Reece. “I’m sure you’ve had to accept a lot of unbelievable things over the last couple of years. Well, I’m going to have to ask you to accept a whole other level of crazy. You see, I very recently freed a goddess from captivity in Mexico and need to reach Norway to hopefully rescue another. The short version is that most if not all the old gods and goddesses are real, and they were betrayed. Crazy right?”

“Not that crazy,” replied the captain, chuckling to herself. “I may have met a god or two in the last couple of years. You’re not the only one who’s assisted in the jailbreak of a deity. So... how does this god you need to retrieve fit in with what we’re up against?”

Reece was astounded by the captain’s words. “More gods have appeared?”

This wasn’t time, however. Reece recalled the images the goddess Shoki had placed into his mind and came up with a summary of what needed to happen, explaining it to the captain. While he explained, her eyes grew wide and her mouth opened slightly as she took in what Reece was telling her. She nodded.

“Okay, I think understand,” she said. “As crazy as that all sounds, I... trust you. You have my support. Be in your room tonight after dinner. I have a couple of people you need to meet.”

“Okay, I’ll be there...and... thank you,” smiled Reece.

“There’s no need to thank me,” she stated flatly. “Based on what you’ve told me, there isn’t another choice here. We both have a job to do and I, for one, plan on giving it my all. My crew and our world deserve nothing less.”

“Well, rest assured...I’ll be giving it my all as well,” replied Reece. “With any luck, we’ll make it through this. However, the mission must come first. Everything depends on it.”

“Agreed,” answered the captain with a slight nod.

They returned to the group who were busy talking amongst themselves, formulating a rough tactical plan and several contingencies on how to deal with whatever was incoming. Micah had left but soon returned with three others. A slightly pudgy younger man with golden skin and wild black hair, wearing a dark button-down uniform was walking to his left.

Behind the two walked a tall dark-skinned fully bald man with colorful loose-fitting clothing and a pleasant smile. He was speaking with a fierce-looking blonde woman with pale skin and piercing blue eyes. She wore dark tactical-looking cargo pants and a black t-shirt to match. Micah smiled at Reece and his companions as he walked up to them with his group.

“Greetings. Since we are discussing our plans, I collected the missing members of our leadership here,” said Micah. “Now, let me introduce everyone.”

Micah motioned to the man next to him. “This is Li Jie. He’s our tactician and strategist,” he said before then motioning to the two behind them. “This is Bembe and Ann. They are both spokespeople for the refugees from all over the world that we’ve rescued.”

Micah went on to introduce Reece and his group to the new arrivals. Aika and Pasha showed up during this and he included them in the introductions, again naming the three new arrivals for their benefit. Once Pasha arrived, Reece drew her to the side for a moment.

“Do you think you can fly the Phoenix to Norway and drop Bjorn, Ciera, and me there?” he asked. “Can the jet take the temperatures?”

“Yeah, I believe so,” answered Pasha after a moment of thought. “I had forgotten how cold that area had become ever since the climate shifted so dramatically. Let me double-check some things on the jet, and I’ll get back to you once I’m sure.”

“Thanks, bud. That sounds great.”

“No worries. When do you want to go?” asked Pasha.

“In about two days. We’ll figure out a rendezvous time and place between now and then,” explained Reece. “The carrier group is going to need you once that radar contact arrives. I’m sure it’s something that the Order had cooked up to finish us off.”

“It’ll be my pleasure,” spat Pasha grimly. “But I must say, it’s getting a little old taking out their grotesque toy monsters. There doesn’t seem to be an end to them. In my opinion, we need to take the fight to the source and take out the leaders of this Order.”

“I hear you,” answered Reece. “I hope that what we find in Norway will help us do exactly that.”

Pasha nodded and the two of them rejoined the rest of the group who were busily discussing their plans.