Love and War: Chapter 17

The middy's mess hall was living up to its name. It was a bloody wreck Deryn thought as she moved through the dining hall. Bovril was half asleep on her shoulder. The beastie had run off during the ruckus and got caught up in the midst of this madness. Deryn had recently found it in a cupboard, hiding. It seemed okay despite the rough night.

And now she was in a hopeless search for the lady boffin who seemed to have disappeared. Alek hadn't seen her, Newkirk hadn't seen her, she literally vanished. She heard a commotion in the hall and halted.

"Eww," she heard Alek's voice in the hallway. Deryn peaked around the double doors that separated the mess and the corridor and found a strained and squeamish prince carrying a large sack.

"What are you doing?"

"Deryn!" Alek exclaimed, "Just the person I was looking for. I'm trying to get rid of this beef jerky. Isn't there a disposal in here or something?"

"Barking odd, isn't it beastie?" Deryn whispered to Bovril, and the creature let out a drowsy giggle. "Aye, there is a disposal…sort of…at the back of the kitchen," Deryn said grabbing the other end of the large sack which she quickly found to be disgusting. Deryn led him through the main area of the mess hall and back behind the kitchen area. There was a pair of doors that looked as if they belonged to a hospital and a faintly putrid smell came from behind them. "This is barking heavy," Deryn frowned, shifting her grip on the sack. "And it smells worse than clart."

"It's rancid," Alek said. "That's why I'm getting rid of it."

The thought of Prince Alek throwing away rotted beef jerky would have been funny if it hadn't been so weird. "Where did you get all of this?"

"Well, they're still trying to get the ship back in order after the battle, and I wanted to be of some use. Volger was the one who asked me to get rid of it though." The word 'Volger' sent off alarm bells in her head, but that was perhaps out of habit. This was getting odder by the minute. "I think he had a rough night; when I saw him, he was bloodied and his clothes were out of sorts."

She pushed open the double doors, and the two of them were hit with yet another sickening smell, but strangely, it didn't smell as bad as the putrefied jerky. Inside the small room was a large hole that somehow led to the gastric channels where the garbage would be converted into energy. The pit was lined with railing, and inside the hole was an army of pale wormy beasties to break the garbage down further before it went to the gastric chambers. And if the smell didn't get you to vomit, the pit full of maggots certainly did.

"My word," Alek squirmed, "that's dis—" he didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before he started gagging. He went to cover his mouth, dropping his side of the sack which almost pulled Deryn down with it. Seconds later he vomited over the side of the railing and into the pit which just made him vomit more. Barking Clankers.

When he was finished, he stepped back from the rail and went to pick up his side of the sack. "At least it came out of the attic," Deryn said cheerfully. Alek had his side almost completely lifted but then a strange expression appeared on his face. "What's wrong?" She asked, suddenly anxious.

Alek pulled his hand from under the sack and looked at it in the dim lighting. Deryn gasped; his hand was smeared with a thick red liquid, "Blood?" They gently put the sack down, the opening of which was on Alek's side. The last time Deryn checked, rotted beef jerky wasn't that fresh.

Alek untied the sack, and peeked inside; his eyes widened immediately. Deryn became nervous, and went to his side to confirm that what she was seeing was true. Unfortunately, she wasn't crazy. Inside the sack, they saw a pair of small lace up black boots. "Deryn…I don't think there is any beef jerky in here."

Deryn shook her head, unable to speak as she slowly began to realize that they weren't caring beef. "A…person…" she said, feeling rather queasy herself all of a sudden.

"Maybe it isn't what it looks like."

"Maybe your fencing master is a murderer."

Alek frowned, "There was a battle! Maybe he's a German casualty."

Deryn shook her head, the hair on her skin beginning to stand up. "She's female, Alek. And definitely not a soldier. All of the fashionable ladies in London are wearing boots like that." Alek tilted his head and raised a brow, giving her a look of surprise. Deryn raised a fist to her mouth and cleared her throat, "Or so I heard." His eyes didn't waver, "I don't have time for all that girly nonsense!" she said defensively. "Aye, you get the point."

"Well, maybe…I mean…this is all rather unnerving." Alek sighed and stepped back uneasily. Deryn kept staring at the sack nervously, and then shakily closed it up. "Still looking for Dr. Barlow?" Deryn bit her lip and shook her head. "We should at least ask Volger about it," Alek said. "It wasn't him. Maybe one of the Germans got to her. Yes, that's it." Alek nodded profusely. "And Volger was so distraught that he just couldn't look at her lifeless body anymore."

"Well we can stand here guessing all night, or we could just ask, but we should stash the body first."

"Where?"

"How should I sodding know? I've never hid a dead body before!" Deryn said anxiously.

"Well getting frustrated is incredibly helpful," Alek countered, agitatedly.

"At least I'm trying to think of a solution instead of babbling on, trying to cover for my murderous fencing master."

"He didn't kill her!" Alek snapped. He gritted his teeth.

"Hide," Bovril reminded them. Deryn heard footsteps outside the door.

"Is anyone in there?" a voice called.

"It's one of the officers," Deryn whispered.

"We can't let him see this," Alek whispered. Deryn looked around the room frantically as the footsteps drew closer. Then she remembered an utilities closet at the other end. "Follow me," she said ushering them into the closet along with the body. There was the sound of the double doors opening and closing, and heavy footsteps walking around the room.

"Hello?" the officer called. It was pitch black inside the closet, and Deryn could feel her heart pounding, her breathing was heavy. Locked in such small quarters the stench coming from the bag was now overwhelming. This day had gone all sorts of pear-shaped. At least Bovril was quiet for once.

Deryn could hear movement through the room, but then the sound of double doors opening and closing occurred again and Deryn took that as an indication that the officer was gone. "I think it is safe," she whispered.

"We should not be fighting one another," Alek whispered. "This isn't the time."

"Aye," she said.

"Now what do we do?"

"We get out of this barking closet," Deryn turned the door knob and stepped out into the room. The body would stay in the closet for the moment. Certainly simply sending the body down the garbage disposal was not the way the air service handles the dead, and most certainly not a Darwin. Hopefully they would be back for it before anyone else stumbles upon the corpse. "Now, let's get to the bottom of this."

….…

Alek was right. Volger looked like a train wreck which did not bode well for his innocence. His shirt was ripped and bloodied; there were dark circles around his eyes; it looked as though he were insane, just waiting for the men in white coats to take him to the sick bay. But despite the drunken bar fight look, as he stood in front of his desk, Volger still managed to maintain the air of a stuck-up aristocrat. It was dead annoying.

"We took care of the jerky," Alek said. "But apparently there is still a lot of cleaning up to do."

Volger nodded once, casually, which gave Deryn an eerie feeling. "We are going to have to move up our escape a considerable amount of time."

Deryn frowned. She knew that she and the prince would be separating; but until now, it had been pushed to the back of her attic. It tended to interfere with their kissing sessions.

But moving the escape up was suspicious, nonetheless. Deryn drew Alek closer to her, and they turned around. She was careful to make sure his countship wouldn't hear what she was about to say. "Apparently, Volger is trying to make a getaway." She whispered to Alek.

"There is no proof in that," Alek whispered back harshly. "Maybe the current events altered Volger's plans."

Deryn spun around sharply. "What's the rush?" Deryn asked Volger, hoping for some insight into the situation. He was being secretive that was for sure; but that was nothing new.

Volger scoffed and looked at her imperiously. "That's hardly your concern."

Deryn snarled, "If I were you, I would be a little nicer to me." Volger leaned on the front of his desk, somewhat involuntarily. And she wondered for a brief moment if he wanted them to think he had been in a drunken bar fight. However, humorous that image may be, she reckoned he was too proud for that.

"I would say the same for you, Mr. Sharp."

"Blisters, you may just have to turn me in."

"Don't you have duties to attend to?"

"Well, I was looking for Dr. Barlow, but she seemed to have disappeared. I don't suppose you've seen her?"

"I'm afraid I have not." Volger stood up straight, "Not since, your last visit."

Deryn blinked; this wasn't a very productive conversation. Alek whispered something unintelligible to her. "What?" She whispered back, and they turned their backs to Volger once more.

"Maybe we should just tell him the truth," Alek whispered again.

"What is it that you don't want me to hear?" Deryn heard Volger say gravely, she cringed. "Secrets between lovers perhaps?" She and Alek turned back to Volger who was grinning with a mix of amusement and disdain. "Strange," he muttered. As if he were in a position to comment on their relationship. Though, Deryn wasn't even sure if she and Alek were in a relationship. "I'd tell you to get a room, but that seems ill-advised."

After a considerable amount of blushing, Deryn and Alek found their composure and were serious once more. Alek cleared his throat, "We discovered something very disturbing."

"You opened the bag didn't you?"

"Well…"Alek went silent for a moment, clearly caught off guard. And the question was delivered so informally that it sent shivers down Deryn's spine. That also didn't bode well for his innocence, granted, that was how he always blathered on. But for a guy who apparently cared for her, he didn't seem too shaken up. He was hard to figure out, but Deryn stuck with her gut.

"I am sorry you had to find out this way," Volger frowned. "I was going to tell you once we were safely off this ship."

Deryn looked at Alek, who was staring straight ahead at nothing in particular. "But I just saw her a few hours ago a—alive," he said softly. "Dr. Barlow always seemed so indestructible."

"She isn't immortal, Alek," Volger said a wee bit spitefully. "It's called war. People die."

Alek closed his eyes, somewhat fearfully, "What happened to her?" He asked hesitantly.

Volger shifted painfully and looked at Alek skeptically. "Isn't it obvious?" Volger said in a hushed tone. "She left me no choice."

Deryn felt the temperature in the room drop considerably. Sure the lady boffin got on her nerves at times, but she would never dream of doing something like this. "But how?" Alek gasped, looking scandalized. "How could you do such a thing?"

"She forced my hand." Volger paced back and forth across the room, "I never wanted this, in fact, I hate that it had to come to this. I'm a good person," he said prancing around the question. Deryn rolled her eyes.

"Which answers nothing," she pointed out. Volger stopped pacing and glared at her for a moment.

"She betrayed me," Volger said sternly. "I've noticed the signs, I've heard the rumors. And no woman gets away with that. Not on me." Alek and Deryn exchanged troublesome looks, and Deryn suddenly felt extremely small. "So, one could reason that this is Dr. Barlow's own fault. I may be a lot of things, Alek, and I may be a very proud man. But I'm not above revenge."

"No," Alek breathed as his eyes began to glass over. "This wasn't supposed to happen."

"It never is."

"No," Alek pleaded. "You don't understand, it wasn't supposed to end this way. It wasn't her fault!"

Deryn hung her head. Guilt was slowly sinking in as she realized what they had done. They quite possibly could be the worst people on the planet.

"Wicked," Bovril said from her shoulder.

"The beastie is right," Deryn said ruefully.

"We are terrible people," Alek said breathlessly. "None of that was Dr. Barlow's fault."

"What do you mean?" Volger asked curiously.

Deryn bit her lip, "Well, there was nothing truly going on between her and Dr. Gartner. We just made it seem that way."

Volger held up his hand, "You did what?"

"We're truly sorry!" Alek exclaimed. "We started this rumor about them to make you jealous. And we told you some things that weren't quite true; to get you to think that there was something going on between them. But there wasn't, there never was."

"We wanted to break you up." Deryn said frantically. "But it all went wrong."

"Very wrong," Alek reiterated. "Nobody was supposed to get hurt. But now Dr. Barlow is dead, and it is our entire fault. We're terribly sorry!"

"'Sorry' won't bring Dr. Barlow back!" The count shouted angrily. "How could you do such a thing? Look what you did! How can you live with yourselves?" He walked up to Alek, "Your father would be very disappointed in you," the count said firmly. "How does it feel knowing that you broke your own father's heart?" Deryn watched the two of them, the count and what was now a mere shell of a boy. Tears began to leak out of Alek's eyes. Then she looked Volger dead in the eye. A decision Deryn later regretted. "And you," he pointed at her menacingly, "you don't deserve to wear that uniform," he spat.

"Blisters," Deryn swore and tightly shut her eyes; she didn't want to cry in front of the count. She would have to live with this guilt the rest of her life, not that she didn't deserve it. "I have to tell the captain," Deryn said softly, the statement was directed more towards Alek than Volger. "I'm sorry, I feel dreadful."

"You ripped her away from this earth, and you ripped her away from me. Haven't you done enough damage?" Volger growled.

"I have a duty," Deryn said, feeling even worse than she did before. "I'm sorry, I really am, and I know this is all our fault. But I don't have a choice. Everyone will start asking questions eventually anyway."

"We didn't get rid of the body," Alek said. "After we found out, we couldn't. Not that way, it just didn't seem right."

"Where is it now?" Volger asked, shaking his head.

"In an utility closet," Alek closed his eyes and winced.

"I knew there was something odd about that sack." Deryn told Alek quietly. "That's why the bag was so heavy."

"Are you saying I'm fat?"

Deryn froze, a chill shooting down her spine. The words came from behind, cold and haunting. Deryn spun around slowly and skeptically. It took her a while to register what she was staring at: Dr. Barlow, spry and not decomposing. Deryn just stared, mouth almost to the floor and wide-eyed, she couldn't speak. "You look as though you've just seen a ghost," the woman said.

Deryn hadn't expected the figure to speak; blisters, she didn't even expect her to be real. But she had to be because the woman was clearly mocking her. "Uh…" Deryn opened her mouth to speak, but words failed to come out. "You're alive." Deryn looked at Alek who wore the same shocked and confused expression that she did.

Deryn turned back towards the count who had his arms folded proudly and an annoyingly complacent smile slapped across his face. "I'm confused," Alek said.

"You are?" Dr. Barlow said, clearly disappointed for whatever twisted reason. "I'm disappointed," she frowned. "I was looking forward to the moment when you realized the tables had turned, and your plan failed miserably in the midst of such overwhelming genius."

Bovril began laughing hysterically along with the other loris on the lady boffin's shoulder. "I'm starting to get that now," Alek blushed. "At least you're alive. We aren't murderers after all. We already felt awful about what we did."

"Good." Dr. Barlow smiled.

"I know what we did was wrong, but we had to do something about it. We just didn't like the idea of you two together."

"We still don't," Deryn said. "It's still seems daft."

"But," Alek said quietly, "I don't think we have a choice in the matter. So you have our permission."

"Permission?" Dr. Barlow came closer to them. "'Permission' implies that you had a choice in the matter. It implies that we needed your permission."

"You don't need our permission," Deryn said, placing a hand on Alek's shoulder.

"I know that," the woman said sneeringly, "But I want to make sure you know."

"We do," she grumbled. "But that doesn't mean we have to like it!"

Dr. Barlow gave them a bored look. "I'll try not to lose any sleep over it." The woman looked down at her watch. "I have some things to attend to. Hopefully the two of you have learned to mind your own business." She smiled sweetly and looked them up and down, "I mean, clearly you are in no position to criticize somebody else's relationship. Please check on Tazza for me if you please." Dr. Barlow told Deryn, which prompted a laugh from Volger, and then the lady boffin left the room.

Deryn and Alek turned towards Volger who only stopped laughing after grimacing. "What was in the bag, then? Something was in there." Alek said.

"Rotted beef jerky, and a pair of boots," Volger replied. "I thought that would be obvious by now."

"And you knew we would open it, and believe it was Dr. Barlow?" Volger winced again and leaned against the front of the desk. "Are you okay?" Alek came closer to the count. "Do you need help?"

"No," Volger scowled, and went to sit behind his desk.

"You're bloody."

"I didn't notice." Alek rolled his eyes, which Volger seemed to ignore. "It's nothing," he winced again. "I can thank our German allies for this." Volger said drily. "When I gave the bag to you, it was under the assumption that you wouldn't be foolish enough to dispose of such a suspicious bag without asking questions. Whatever you'd think, I imagined that you would ask me about it. The details don't matter. The point is that you two started this game; you played it well, and yet, you lost."