“Not even one broken down cruiser so far.Can’t you see that for yourself, oh Omnipresent One?”
“Funny,” he said drolly, otherwise ignoringthe slight jab. “I guess survivors with electric boats didn’tbother trying to escape by water because of the downed grids.”
“And the few people with boats like theVictor/Veronicaare already wherever they fled to.”
“Exactly.”
“Yep. That’s what it looks like to me. Howdid you afford one of these much less two of them anyway?”
“Not important,” Victor sniffed. Ohyeah—there was a juicy story there, Veronica realized. She’d goadhim for more info at another time. “What’s crucial right now is youengage the auto-pilot and let the boat do its thing. You probablyneed some rest anyway.”
Now that he mentioned it…
“True,” she admitted. She turned the ship’snavigation system onto auto-pilot. Now everything else, includingthe course it ultimately took, was up to the boat. “Plus I’mgetting hungry and thirsty again.”
Exhausted, she engaged the ship’s protectiveshield against would-be pirates and made her way down into thebelly of the boat. She kept her satchel with her, never letting itout of her sight. Perhaps Veronica no longer needed to beultra-vigilant, at least not until she docked on the Highlands’shore, but after all she’d been through she couldn’t seem to lether guard all the way down. At least not yet.
“It’s okay to relax,” she told herself in amonotone. Her eyes, unblinking, stared at nothing. “You’re safe.For once you’re actually protected.”
Taking a deep breath, she absently ran herhands through her hair as her gaze flicked around. Feeling securein her surroundings was a difficult transition after years ofnecessary hypervigilant paranoia. Every sound, every shadow, everymovement out of the corner of her eye—all of it had mattered andmeant the difference between being a survivor and becoming one ofthe infected.
It dawned on Veronica for the first timethat the shift from being on constant guard to proverbially lettingher hair down was not going to be an easy or automatic adjustment.The process was going to take mindfulness and purposefulness. Evennow she could hear the tormented cries of the bitten, see theirtortured faces in her mind’s eye as they waited to turn. Shesqueezed her eyes closed and forced the memories away in as much asshe could. She took several calming breaths before reopeningthem.
Veronica remembered from meditation thatmindfulness required being present and staying in the moment. Sheeyed her surroundings with intention, calling out the amenities shesaw. “Big bed,” she muttered. “Nicely sized gourmet kitchen. Afully stocked bar that I likely won’t use much of.” There wasrelaxation and then there was stupidity; indulging in inebriationreeked of the latter. “A bathroom. I can see the shower from here.It's a nice one, very modern.” She walked toward said bathroom. “Abidet-toilette: mom and dad would consider that a luxury. Theymostly only had toilets with wiping paper when they were growingup.”
She blew out a breath. Feeling calmer andmore centered, Veronica walked into the gourmet kitchen andfamiliarized herself with its contents. Before long she knew whereeverything—from theFoodmastersto the utensils—was located.Thankfully, Victor had spared no expense back when money had meantsomething and he’d purchased the boats. She would be eating easilyand well during the voyage. Opening the freezers and foodcupboards, she chose faux roast beef with mashed potatoes and cornfor her meal. She threw the sealed bags into theFoodmastersand waited for them to be cooked, spiced, and served.
This was nice. So long as she could stay inthe moment and continue to be mindful then this voyage would proveitself a much needed reprieve from what the world had become. Thatmeant a lot.
When the food was done, Veronica picked up afork and her hearty meal and set them on a tray. She put a bottleof water and a bottle of cranberry juice beside the foods andcarried it all to the big bed aboard ship. She ate. She drank. Sheslept. But mostly, and thankfully, she slept.
*****
Victor decided to tell his sister abouttheir—wellher—bridal predicament later. Like much, muchfarther into the voyage when there was no turning back. Not thatthere was anywhere to turn back to. What was left of the humanrace, a scarce remnant of its former glory, grew smaller everyday.
He could only pray that Veronica came aroundto Lachlan enough to at least give the giant a fighting chance. Shehad always been the type to erect an emotional wall around herselfthat was practically impossible to breach. Maybe having virtualtalks with the laird would help her come to trust him. When next hespoke with his sister, Victor would make learning ancient Gaelicher top priority so the two could converse. With technology beingwhat it was, that chore shouldn’t take too long.
Truth be told, Veronica wouldn’t have achoice in the matter of her impending marriage once she arrived in1155 A.D. What the laird wanted he took and he wanted his sistervery badly. It was the way of things in this century. Hopefullyvirtual talks between them while the boat made its way to Scotlandwould help facilitate at least a basic respect between them.
If Victor hadn’t believed Lachlan to be adecent man who would care for his sister then he would already beplanning their escape from the castle before Veronica’s arrival.That wasn’t the case. He knew he’d chosen the right clan and theright chieftain. He’d done his research after all.
Yes, having the two of them get to know eachother while Veronica was at sea was of the utmost importancebecause his sister would have to bend to Lachlan’s wishes whethershe wanted to or not. If Veronica didn’t realize it by now, shewould soon: the future held no future.
The future lay only in the past.
Chapter Nine
For Veronica, the next two weeks were filledwith mindfulness, meditation, Gaelic lessons, sleeping, eating,drinking, and exercising her martial arts skills. She was familiarwith several forms of martial arts, but was a master in Kalari—oneof the oldest, most ancient forms of battlefield warfare still inexistence. Kalari, or Kalaripayattu, heralded from 600 B.C. in thematriarchal Indian province of Kerala. She had been trained under afemale master in Los Angeles until she herself had become one. Shewondered what fate had befallen Master Anjali; she didn’t know ifit was kinder to wish that she’d died before the dead beganreanimating or kinder to hope she was still out there, a survivorof Armageddon.
She glanced at the laptop screen as shepracticed her weapons training that was part and parcel of Kalari.Still no Victor. She wondered what was keeping him away from his AIscanner. He was always near the thing. Without Victor being on hisscanner, the laptop did her precious little good.
Speaking of the laptop, every once in awhile the giant warlord she now understood to be Laird Gunn wouldmake an appearance on her screen. He would stare at her, unsmilingand unspeaking, as if trying to work her out in his mind. Shesupposed she did qualify as something of an anomaly to a warlord in1155 A.D. She likely had little in common with the women of hisworld—a fact she tried not to think too much on.
The laird seemed most fascinated by herKalari exercises and training. She found herself performing aerialmoves and gymnastic displays to purposely intrigue him. Such featswere awe-inspiring spectacles in her time so she could only imaginewhat he thought of them in his. Kalari was simultaneously beautifuland deadly. She knew it made for a stylistic display.
Veronica had decided early on that the showswere for her benefit as much as his. She wanted Laird Gunn torealize Kalari was a part of her that was going nowhere—ever. Shewouldn’t be giving it up just because circumstances dictated thatshe must leave this world for another one. Hopefully watching hernow would make him realize later that her training was a big partof who she was. It maintained her both mentally and physically.
The Gaelic lessons were coming along betterthan Veronica had expected. Truthfully, the virtual downloads ofthe archaic language which Victor had left on the boat for her weredoing most of the heavy-lifting. They worked best if you activatedthem at night while sleeping. Her brother told her the brainabsorbs information whether awake or asleep. He’d attempted toexplain why the technology worked best during slumber, but she’dquickly grown bored and Victor, knowing her “spare me” look betterthan anyone, had changed the subject.
