Chapter 24.

SOMWHERE IN THE INDO-PACIFIC

The S.S. Vlodnik was a Russian freighter of Panamanian registry. Eight hours earlier, it had passed through the Suez Canal en route from Odessa, in the Ukraine, to San Francisco, California. And, the vessel's only passengers were a group of Brown Friars (who must have been severely vitamin-deficient as they were of strangely short stature); and a young, bikini-clad American woman with brownish-blonde hair (whose looks were more lovely than her manners).

This latter fact was verified when John Blalock rematerialized aboard the ship, right next to the lounge chair where she was sunning herself.

"About time you got here!" she complained, partially lowering her sunglasses.

"A thousand pardons, Your Gloriousness. But, I had to wait for the right opportunity to present itself, before I could make my move on this girl."

He partially raised the still-unconscious Cordie in his arms, before lowering her to the wooden deck. Following which, Glory rose from the lounge chair, and straddled the prone figure of the brunette debutante like the Colossus of Rhodes.

"Not bad, Blalock! Not bad, at all."

"Thank you, Your Gloriousness," he replied, with a courtly bow: "I live only to serve you."

She looked at the Kiasyd, with condescending amusement.*

"If you want to _continue_ living, you'd better tell the captain of this overgrown bath toy to crank it up to full speed. Because, the sooner I meet up with that Toth demon, the happier everyone will be. Understand?"

Blalock bowed again: "As you wish, Your Gloriousness."

SAN FRANCISCO

(11:15 P.M.)

The Haven's main showroom had now lost all semblance to a 20th century nightclub. It now looked more like an Old West saloon after a massive drunken brawl. And, the purple-skinned demon called Boone was currently pounding away on Angel like some heroic gunslinger's arch-enemy.

But Angel had not succumbed to unconsciousness, just yet. The next time Boone's metallic right fist came flying towards Angel's left cheek, the latter's left hand was there to intercept. Allowing Angel to throw the bounty hunter off of him (likewise to the left). Following which, he picked Boone up bodily, in a fireman's carry, and began spinning him around and around!

When Angel had gained enough momentum, he threw Boone away from him...right towards the two Fyarl demons.

"Whoa!" screamed Lindsey McDonald, as he flung himself to the floor, face-first. Thereby, narrowly missing being hit by Boone. Indeed, when the young lawyer got back up, he took one look at Boone and said: "Screw this! Enough is enough. Lak? Help me get these two over-priced lugs back on their feet."

The Ahl-i-batin mage telepathically relayed the command to the Fyarls, who proved surprisingly agile in carrying it out. Whereupon, Lindsey got out some more of the sneezing powder.

"OK, boys. Time to inhale."

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

Lindsey looked between and behind the Fyarls. The voice that had issued the command had been female. And, the only female in the immediate area was a petite, pony-tailed blonde with an axe in her hands. Not to mention, a modified M-16 slung, left-to-right, over her shoulders. In addition, she was suddenly joined by a bearded white man with the gold badge of an SFPD detective draped over his left pants pocket.

"I don't who you are," said Frank Kohanek: "But, if you don't drop that white powder, right now, I'm gonna assume its anthrax, and lodge a bullet right between your eyes."

To emphasize, he aimed his semi-automatic handgun in that stated direction.

tbc

*Kiasyd: a bloodline of Sabbat Clan LaSombra. Said to be derived from the Embracing, or vampirization, of a changeling (half-mortal fae). Hence, the reputed resemblance of all Kindred, in that bloodline, to the gray-skinned extra-terrestrials of modern urban legend.