They all heard the shots, even from the top of the ladder. Sharkey didn't bother to say anything. If there was gunfire, then there was a battle going on. His boys were experienced enough to know that. He didn't need to spell it out. He catapulted down the ladder, stake in hand. Hopefully, Riley truly knew what he was talking about and this pointy monstrosity would do for the vampire chick.

He could feel their presence at his back as the five of them charged down the corridor. The bilge room door was ajar, and they dodged around it, exploding into the room.

Sharkey took the situation in at a glance. Doc McKenzie down by the moon pool, bleeding, but conscious. Admiral Nelson standing between the doc and the vampire. The skipper – face gushing blood where he'd been scratched – angling to get close to the bitch with his dive knife. Mr. Morton about a yard from the door, holding one wrist against his chest. In the other hand, he held his handsome dive knife – a gift from the admiral, that one – at the ready. The gun was nowhere in sight, but when he had had it, he had clearly hit his mark; the vampire woman had four clean bloodless bullet holes clustered just above her left breast, every one a killer. The best proof that Riley was right, that she was a vampire. She sure as hell wasn't alive, because if she had been the first shot would have killed her... And if she were walking around with four bullets in her heart, she wasn't dead... Finally, Sharkey understood what undead meant.

She was watching each man in turn, licking her lips, as if the smell of blood made her hungry. By turns, she looked predatory and innocent, both fear and greed shining in her eyes. When she looked at Sharkey, he shuddered at the hungry red glow that pierced him, as if she were stripping away his skin, looking for the blood that flowed beneath it. This was a killer and no mistake...

She looked back at the captain, ducking her head, as she watched him creeping closer. Then without warning, she darted in the opposite direction, directly at the XO. The skipper called an unnecessary warning; Mr. Morton lifted his dive knife, moving almost as quickly as the woman. She screamed and backed away. The COB couldn't see a wound, but judging from the scream, she'd felt the point of that knife…

Sharkey shook himself, lifted his stake, and descended on her with a battle cry. The guys spread out through the room, each one attaching himself to an officer. Sharkey had trained his boys good; they knew where their first duty lay...

The vampire woman shrieked in Sharkey's face, and for a moment, her eyes showed him real terror... For a minute, he was looking at a beautiful and terrified woman... Every instinct cried out at stabbing her; he'd always been a gentleman, and a gentleman didn't hurt a woman... He hesitated... That was all the time she needed. In less than a second, she was on him, drawing him into her cold embrace, fastening her teeth on his neck. He cried out, and swung the sharpened pipe against her back as hard as he could, but she didn't flinch. The pipe dropped from nerveless, tingling fingers. He just couldn't seem to hold onto it anymore… Instinctively, Sharkey's hands went to his neck, grabbing her head and trying to pull her off him. Her teeth sheered through flesh, and as close as she was, he could see the fierce, animal gleam in her eyes, smell the charnel house that was her breath. Blood dribbled from the corner of her mouth as her eyes glared fiercely at him, daring him to stop her... His blood, disappearing down her throat... She was a messy eater, he thought with a strange kind of clinical detachment... Then he thought of Dolores Brown; they had grown to like each other a lot… What would she say if she could see this? How would she feel if he died here?

His legs shook like spaghetti, and he wanted nothing more than to sink bonelessly to the ground, but this bitch vampire's arms were like iron bands, holding him upright... He struggled, but it was a feeble effort at best. She was draining him dry, and there was nothing anyone could do…

Then she jerked in surprise and let him go. As Sharkey dropped to the ground, he saw Riley looming up behind her out of the blurred fog the rest of the room had become, his stake in his hand. He seemed oddly reluctant to impale her on it – that gentleman's instinct again - but the kid swung his stake like a club with a ferocity that both surprised and alarmed Sharkey. The COB tried to get to his feet, but a strange, dreamy sort of lethargy held him down. "Riley..." His voice came out as a croak. "Don't mess around..."

It hurt too much to talk, and Riley wasn't paying attention anyway. "Get. Off. The. Chief!" A hard whack punctuated every word; Stu was too caught up in what he was doing to hear either Sharkey or Malone's warning shout. Even the XO's warning didn't penetrate. Stu went right on whacking the woman. The only good thing about that was that she was on the defensive, rather than on the attack. Sharkey tried to crawl away from her, but he couldn't seem to find the strength…

"Stu!" Malone's voice. "Stu, get out of the way!"

Sharkey slowly and painfully turned his head to the crewman and blinked to clear his vision. Malone swam up out of the fog, assuming a classic javelin thrower stance. Yeah, that was right... Malone had been a track and field star in high school. He'd told them about it. His event had been the javelin...

Sharkey's eyes widened, as the information sank in... "Riley!" Again his voice was little more than a croak, but this time, Riley glanced his way in surprise.

"Chief! I thought..." His white face told Sharkey exactly what he'd thought, but neither of them had much time to contemplate it. The vampire woman slipped away from them flinging herself at the captain.

One thing for the skipper, though; he was never taken completely by surprise. He had his knife out, too, so when she flew at him, he palmed it, and stuck it in her side, up to the hilt. But he must have missed the heart, for though she screamed, the strangely bloodless injury didn't slow her down. Her claw-like fingers swiped across his face, then she fell away from him. Turning, she glared at them all, as if seeking fresh prey, then flung herself toward the admiral and the doc, where Crowe and Alfaro stood waiting. Both lifted their stakes, determination written on their faces. Riley had been oddly squeamish about staking her, even if he'd come up with the idea himself... Well, he was young, and hadn't ever killed anyone, and it was sure as hell that Sharkey hadn't done any better himself... Crowe and Alfaro with worlds more experience than the kid, and the example of Sharkey's failure before them, clearly weren't going to let her get by them...

But neither of them had to do anything. Malone was ready and waiting. As soon as she was clear of everyone, heading toward the admiral who stood like a shield in front of Doc, Malone sent his stake soaring through the air. Though she moved quicker almost than the eye could blink, the sharpened pipe flew straight and true, striking her in the back with an audible thump.

She didn't even scream... Perhaps she didn't have time to... Instead, she fell forward face-down almost at the admiral's feet. Her last, feeble movement carried her over on her side, and she looked up at the admiral, then turned her face toward the skipper as he closed in on her, her eyes dying even as her lips moved... Sharkey didn't catch what she said, but he heard the admiral's answer clearly...

"Riposa in pace..."

Sharkey didn't need to have a translator to know that the admiral had told her to rest in peace... If dizziness wasn't spinning the room about him, he might have been inclined to resent that. As much havoc as she'd caused on board, killing one crewman and injuring others… He shook his head to clear it of the cobwebs, but that was a big mistake…As the vampire slowly crumbled to dust at the admiral's feet, Sharkey folded up, succumbing to the blood loss. The room swirled around him and went black...