Mary led the way into Dubai. Elizabeth was close behind. They'd sailed direct from Lisbon and both were sailing on fumes. At least this time the younger wasn't lagging behind. She'd kept on Mary's stern the whole trip though she'd been unusually quiet these last 500 miles. Mary supposed she as tired. She herself was in desperate need of a nap and a refuel and Elizabeth had even smaller tanks than her!
"You doing okay back there kiddo?" Mary asked. "J-just peachy." Elizabeth panted, voice strained. Marys whistle blew a soft note of sympathy. "We're almost there." "Good, I'm down to my last few hundred gallons." Elizabeth rasped. "Once we're refueled I'll take you to the baths hmm?" Mary promised. "Baths? You mean showers." Mary laughed. "No, I mean baths." She replied. "You'll see what I mean." Elizabeth shrugged, moving up alongside as they sailed past the breakwater.
They docked together, fuel lines passing from the dock to Mary and from Mary to Elizabeth. Both sighed as their empty tanks were filled. It took several hours but was soon complete. "I'll be right back Liz. Wait here for me okay?" Mary asked as she backed out of the berth. Elizabeth shrugged, knowing where she was going. "Sure thing." She replied and Mary raced off without a reply. Elizabeth laughed to herself. She found it amusing that her flagship could become like a shipling when QE2 was involved.
Mary found her mother in her usual spot. "Mary, when I saw you pull in I knew you'd be coming by." QE2 smiled warmly at her. "Don't I always?" Mary purred, nuzzling her. The older liner nipped her affectionately. "How's the fleet?" She asked. "Liz is doing well in her studies. She's got a knack for Mathematics, must've gotten it from you." QE2 laughed. "Now that I highly doubt. I couldn't solve an equation even in the first grade." Mary laughed as well. "She's doing good though even though Victoria's been a corrupting influence." "Uh oh." QE2 sniggered. Mary shoved her good naturedly. "She's into those magazines now. I've seen them reading together. They don't know I know though. Maybe I should change that." Mary mused. "Victoria's right, you are evil." QE2 said. "Good, then the universe is working as intended then." "I can't even..." "Ha!"
Mary turned to her. "What about you? You doing alright?" "As well as a ship who's berthbound I suppose." She replied. "You sound a bit off." Mary replied. "Observant, just like your mother." QE2 gave a raspy laugh. "Just a little soar throat that's been going around locally. I suggest you stay at your dock. Your friends back home won't appreciate it if you bring this home with you." "Alright." Mary laughed, nuzzling her once more. "I'm gonna show Liz the baths but I'll be back later if that's okay." "You can't leave me alone for long. I couldn't stop you if I tried." She nudged her. "Go on now." Mary giggled and bounced away.
She rejoined Elizabeth at the docks. "How's Lizzie?" Mary paused, turning to her younger fleetmate. "Is that what you call her?" Mary wondered. Elizabeth shrugged. "She said I could." "Okay then. Come on. It's time to relax and there's no better way to do that than in he spa baths." She knew what a spa was, but never had she heard of one being used for ships. This was going to be fun.
The turn of the hour saw both ships up to their decks in the bubbling hot jakusi. Mary had a wrap around her neck, cucumbers over her eyelids. Elizabeth too had those amenities, complete with facial mask. "Mmm... this is nice." She purred. "Told ya!" Mary grinned. "I dunno about the whole herbal healing thing but this sure is relaxing." Mary chuckled. "So, I have to ask, Which do you prefer; Baby Beauties or Playboy?" "Eep!" Elizabeth yelped, hitting the edge and nearly falling on her side. Mary giggled. "You know about those? You-" Elizabeth's frantic heartbeat slowed somewhat and she settled back down with a resigned sigh. "How long have you known?" Mary, still laughing managed to find her voice. "Oh a while now. What you and Victoria read isn't any of my business. I just wanted to see your reaction." "Very funny." Elizabeth muttered and to her annoyance, Mary just laughed again. "I won't tell you to give it up but don't tell Victoria I said any of this okay? She gets her punches on me far too often and I need to make her squirm once in a while." Elizabeth laughed. "Okay, Mary whatever you say."
A few hours later the two sailed back to their berths, still enjoying themselves from before. "You did what?" Elizabeth giggled. "Got thrown in the drunk tank right alongside Victoria. I never could hold my liquor like she could but she had started that bar fight and damn it I was gonna finish it. Oh QE2 was so mad, I couldn't dock for a week!" Elizabeth burst out laughing. "And here I thought you were just a stuffy ship with a bad case of bossy boilers." She said. "You're just as evil as Victoria!" "That's just what QE2 said." Mary laughed. "Great minds think alike." Elizabeth shrugged. "You do know vanity's a sin?" Mary pulled her in for a nuggie. "Ack! No-no, ah! Okay, I take it back!" Elizabeth cried. "That's what I thought kiddo." Mary smirked.
Her attention was diverted to the water as she started noticing oil slicks. Dubai was a large port and fell under the same regulations as any would. Oil should never be allowed to float like this without seeing an effort to contain it. Unless, it was a biohazard, which required different procedures. "Hey Liz, your sniffer is better than mine. What do you make of this?" Mary asked. "Dunno. I haven't smelled anything like that before. It's not throw up, I can tell you that." Elizabeth replied. "Could it be blood?" Mary asked, concerned now. "Possibly." Elizabeth conceded. "But I wouldn't know even if it was. It's not like I've ever seen it outside the body before." "Huh, odd." Mary frowned, following the trail.
The source became clear as they rounded a corner. Elizabeth couldn't keep back her squeal of horror and Mary was even worse off. For lying against the dock, mostly unconscious with blood around her muzzle and in the water around her, was QE2.
"Mother!" QE2 had little time to react to Mary's cry when the younger liner was holding her against her side. "What happened?" She whimpered. "I don't know, Mary." QE2 rasped, head dropping as she coughed hard. Her body shook, stem to stern. "I'll help you." Mary promised. "How?" QE2's laugh was perhaps the most frightening from Elizabeth's perspective. The beautiful wind chime sound was not more than a raspy clang now. "For all you know, this could just be a sign of my age." "No, you were never diagnosed." Mary shook her head. "Doesn't mean I can't have it dear one." "No..." Mary snuggled to her, flinching as QE2's spittle landed close to her hull. Her muzzle was nearly touching the water. She didn't have the strength to hold it high, nor could she undo the mooring lines that kept her in position. Mary whimpered. "I'll find something. There's got to be some medicine around here that can help. But I can't leave you alone. Hang on, Elizabeth!" Elizabeth started at hearing her name before coming over. "Yes Mary?" "I need you to stay with her." Mary replied. "While I go and find something that can stop this bleeding." "Um okay. But what if she gets worse?" "Then call me. I'll have my radio on." Mary said gently. "Okay, just be careful. I'm no military ship but my salvage sense is tingling." Elizabeth warned. Mary nodded. "Liz will look after you mother." She told the coughing liner. QE2 managed to pause long enough and offer Elizabeth a warm smile that for some reason, felt very much like deja vu. "I'm in good props then." She replied. "Go on Mary, I know you're not one for long goodbyes." She ordered. Mary kissed her cheek and was gone before QE2 looked up again.
Despite QE2's praises, Elizabeth had very limited medical knowledge. What she did know was from the textbooks Victoria insisted read in case she ever found herself in a jam without help nearby. While incredibly useful she never thought she'd feel like her elder sister-ship's teachings would be inadequate. Nonetheless, she swallowed back her fear, it wouldn't do to recall anything with anything other than a clear head, and attempted to remember any tidbit of information that might improve the current situation even slightly. Victoria's voice came to her. "You need to keep the patient engaged. Talk to them. Have them talk to you. Keep them distracted from their pain. Like you did with me. It saved my life, you can use it to save others and they'll be just as grateful." Elizabeth nodded in conformation. "Rodger that Victoria."
"Liz?" "Hmm?" QE2 turned an eye on her. "How did you come by Mary? I thought the first Queen Mary was her mother?" "And she is, in the strictly biological sense. Her and Victoria's father was Oceanos. He'd died several years before they were conceived but a sperm sample survived. They were the first to be born this way. Mary may not look it but she's half-cruise ship. Victoria however, displays those looks perfectly even though she's half-ocean liner just as you yourself are." "I am?" Elizabeth questioned but QE2 winced and the younger decided not to press the issue. QE2 continued. "Both were born in the spring of '98 and Queen Mary couldn't care for them. She, well..." She broke off coughing. Elizabeth was gentle as she rubbed her side. "She, what?" She prompted. "She was and still is too weak to care for child. The pregnancy alone nearly killed her never mind the birth. Even if she had recovered, caring for them still would've been impossible. She couldn't produce milk for them. She lost that ability in her conversion." Elizabeth's growl of disgust escaped her before she could stifle it. She slapped a wire across her mouth. "Sorry." She mumbled. "It's okay dearie." QE2 looked at her in complete understanding before she returned to her story.
"My aunt wanted to keep them and I don't blame her for that at all but she knew she had to give them up. Fortunately, I was on hand in New York. I had my outbound voyage delayed by a few hours but it was worth it to see and feed those little bundles for the first time. They were carried across country by jet and driven down to the quay. They hadn't been fed once since they were born 18 hours earlier and were nearly starving by the time they bit into my teets. For such little things they had a firm grip." A soft light entered her eyes as she remembered. "Mary was the larger of the two, stronger. Victoria was a bit smaller but significantly weaker. There's a reason why there's such a gap of service entry between them. It took Victoria longer to pass her certifications." "She was the runt." Elizabeth said and QE2 nodded. "I never had children before them and they weren't mine to begin with so I wasn't sure what maternal instincts I would have. As it turned out I had no reason to worry. I love them both as though they really were my own and I protect them just the same." "I can see you love them and they love you. Mary especially." Elizabeth smiled. "She cares for me more than her own mother. And that was my fault." QE2 sighed. "How so?" "I waited too long to tell her the truth. They grew up believing that I had them and I didn't want to change that. It would be too confusing. But waiting until they were adults was a mistake. Victoria adapted to it just fine. I had expected her to. But Mary-she never hated me or blamed me and I'm grateful for that. But my aunt suffered from my mistake. She had lost those shiplings once, gave them up out of love and I took them and that love and never gave anything back." QE2 shook her head, her distress making her illness worse. "Lizzie, don't strain yourself..." Elizabeth tried to calm her but she should've known that like Mary, that was an exercise in futility.
"I've paid the price. My own child as recompose." QE2 coughed hard. Her mooring lines strained and Elizabeth managed to undo the ones on her bow, allowing her greater freedom of movement. It helped a bit, but not enough, not nearly enough. QE2 rolled and Elizabeth only just managed to catch her before she capsized. The coughs seized her completely and Elizabeth could do nothing but hold her until they passed which took several minutes. Elizabeth had a good coating of blood on her hull by the time QE2 was done. "QE2..." She whimpered, fearing for the elder as she lay there, flanks barely rising. "Forgive me." She rasped. "What?" Elizabeth leaned in closer, gently nudging QE2's bow clear of the water so she could breathe better. Another cough and again Elizabeth felt something hot and sticky splatter against her decks. She ignored it without so much as a wince. She looked up, meeting QE2's garnet gaze as she gazed down.
It was in that moment that the deja vu Elizabeth had been feeling all afternoon came full circle. It was in that moment that she understood. QE2 could see the understanding in her daughter's eyes, pressing her muzzle to the top of her head lovingly. "To find you, after all these years only to lose you again." She sighed. "No, never!" Elizabeth growled, putting as much force into her words as she could muster as if that could somehow stave off the inevitable. "My child. Oh my sweet child." Elizabeth had to tighten her grip as QE2 started to roll again but she couldn't hold her forever. She couldn't decipher bow to stern of her emotions. Joy, love, fear, and sadness all mingled into one unstable package and she could feel the tears welling up within her eyes, blurring her vision. She made no effort to clear it. There wasn't a better time to cry than now. Holding back would give off the appearance of coldness and that was the last thing she wanted. "Please..." Her tongue felt like it had swollen to 3 times its size and it rolled around her mouth, making words difficult to pronounce. Her vocal chords had turned to jelly, making any sound next to impossible. But somehow she found herself begging. "Don't leave me." QE2's eyes began to close and Elizabeth played her one last card. "Mother." A fleck of garnet flicked up to her its hard surprise softening in an instant. And the last words QE2 uttered to her lighted a spark of hope in her engines that all was not lost. Of these last words, only one could be heard clearly even though Elizabeth had to strain to hear anything. That one word was "Daughter."