“But make sure we reload before we depart, ammo, all the stuff Pete used at Absolution, speed loaders, rations, more loads for the Ass-Kicker. Whatever he thinks we need. Oh, and a cannon if he has one. And have him be quick about it. I want to be under way before Mullen and the rest of his Pinkertons out there change their mind.”
“Yes, sir, but I don’t think Monkey Pete has a cannon, sir,” Chee said as he left the main car, leaving Shaniah and Hollister alone.
Shaniah walked along the train car, studying the drawings and paintings around the windows and doors. The weapons and other items stored in the rack.
“These drawings, around the windows, what is their purpose?” she asked.
“Well, I don’t reckon if I should tell you or not,” he said.
Shaniah looked at him, head cocked. “Really, it is some sort of human secret?”
“Naw, I was just joking with it. I don’t think it matters one way or another. According to this fella we met, named Dr. Van Helsing, they are called devil’s traps. He said there are creatures called vampires and these markings keep them from coming into someplace you don’t want them.”
Shaniah straightened up at the mention of Van Helsing. “I have heard of this man, Van Helsing, he has pursued a vampire Vlad Dracul for many years, it is said.”
Hollister had questions.
“Do Archaics sleep? Do you have to rest?”
“Only when we have not fed for a very long time. It is one of the differences between us and vampires. Vampires must sleep every night in the soil from their native land. Archaics can go days, weeks without sleep as long as they are feeding.”
“How do you know about Van Helsing? I thought you lived way up in the mountains. Don’t seem like news would get up that way very easy.”
Shaniah shrugged. “We are not without contact with the human world. Dracul is a vampire, not an Archaic. We are similar but different. But we have heard of Van Helsing’s pursuit of him.”
Hollister stared at her, plainly not understanding the difference.
“As I have traveled your world, I have seen different species but the same in the animal kingdom. Horses, dogs, cows, all the same, but different, do you understand?”
Hollister nodded.
“Take horses. Certain breeds are faster, stronger, more surefooted. Others are slower of foot but less temperamental. They all have different characteristics. Such it is with… my world. We are Archaics. Even vampires know we are the oldest, longest living of our kind. Dracul, who your Dr. Van Helsing bases his studies on, is a vampire and not an Archaic. He can be killed by sunlight, not just burned by it. He must sleep in the dirt of his native soil at night or he weakens considerably. And unlike us, he cannot survive without human blood. Which in a way makes him more dangerous to humans. He is a different species. Does that make sense?
“Or think of it this way,” she continued. “You might be able to kill a cheetah with a spear, but you need a gun to kill a lion. That is the difference between Archaics and vampires.”
From what Jonas had read in Van Helsing’s journals about vampires, and from what he’d seen of Archaics so far, they seemed like the same damn thing to him. But he wasn’t going to start an argument.
He sat at the desk, unrolling the map Monkey Pete had marked up with abandoned mining camps. Shaniah continued to study the interior of the train and Chee finally returned from the engine room.
The silence among the three of them was nearly unbearable. Chee was naturally quiet anyway, but finally even he couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Where are we heading, Major?” Chee asked.
“Just a hunch, but I’ve been studying the map here of all the mining camps.” He turned it around on the desk so Shaniah and Chee could see it.
“Something the Declan kid said. It’s been bothering me,” he said.
“What did he say?” Shaniah asked.
“He kept saying ‘mine’… ‘mine’… and at first I thought he was just jabbering away about the mine in Torson City and so we went to Absolution to see if there was a mining connection and there is. Or was. But then something Shaniah said…” He was drawing circles on the map now, Chee and Shaniah waiting patiently.
“What did I say?” she asked, growing impatient.
“You said he wants to destroy us, correct?” Hollister said.
Shaniah nodded.
“He does?” Chee asked. “You didn’t tell me about this…”
“Didn’t have a chance, but he’s been killin’ people right and left, so it seems obvious he wants us all dead, doesn’t he?” Hollister asked, trying to mollify the sergeant.
“Yes… I suppose… but…” Chee started.
“You’re right, Chee, I should have told you. I’m sorry.” Hollister wanted to move on.
“After what we’ve seen at Torson City, and Absolution, there seem to be two logical places for him to hide. He circled two small dots on the map, a town called Clady, in southern Wyoming, and another called Lamont, in northern Colorado.
Shaniah looked at the map. “What makes you so sure Malachi would be in either of these places?”
“Tactics. I studied military tactics at a place called West Point. It’s where the government sends men to train them to become military officers,” Hollister explained.
Shaniah tried not to show surprise or emotion on her face, but this was another reason she feared her people would not survive the human incursion. They sent their best men to places to study tactics and battle. Humans were far too clever.
“And my study of military tactics tells me two things. Malachi needs a place to hide and gather his initiates, as you called them, and he also needs a place that’s easier to defend. Of the two, I’d say Clady is the best choice.”
“Why?” Shaniah asked, genuinely curious. She had been following Malachi blindly for years, using luck and intuition. Yet Hollister had come closer to finding him in a few days than she had in all this time. She needed to learn this thing he called tactics.
“Three reasons. One: it’s a higher elevation so it’s harder for us humans to attack; two: it’s an abandoned mine, so it solves the problem with the sun; and three: it’s been deserted a long time-no one coming in or out of town they need to worry about. A stranger who might report something,” he said. “Also, if he’s going to send soldiers out to turn humans, he’s going to need a base. It makes the most sense, given where the other attacks have occurred.”
Chee studied the map for a second longer then, nodded. No matter what, they needed to find this Malachi. Before he attacked Denver or some other densely populated place. The major’s plan was as good as any.
“Chee, would you take the map to Monkey Pete and show him where we are headed?” Chee took the map and left.
“What if you’re wrong?” Shaniah asked.
“Then I guess we’ll just keep looking,” Hollister said. “Until we find him, or he finds us.”
Chapter Fifty-two
Monkey Pete had the train resupplied and on its way in a matter of hours. When it came to his train, Pete did not mess around. If Clady was the best choice, it was also the farthest away, and it would take them longer to get there.
While they traveled Chee and Dog made themselves scarce. Chee was clearly uncomfortable around Shaniah and she felt the same about him. He stayed in his bunk most of the time. Hollister had no idea what Monkey Pete did; he appeared with meals and the rest of the trip he remained in the front of the train doing Monkey Pete things.
Hollister and Shaniah spent most of their time in the main car talking, asking each other pointed questions and generally passing time. Each of them knew the other was trying to gather as much intelligence as they could on
