Chapter 8 – Ship of Sin
30th May, 2021.
Act 1
Scene i: Harbor Island (cont.)
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Observing the three kindred as they concluded their business in the foreground of the Storm Breaker, Ed had immediately recognized Monica, the Brujah whom had screened he and the other member of his coterie in the final nights of Leo’s court (Chap 2, 3:i). Also present was another Brujah, Jamar, and an unknown thug with an inverted cross needled down the temple of his shaved scalp.
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The flutter of wings alarmed the spying Gangrel, shifting his sight cautiously to discover a pigeon had alighted on the crates he had been using for cover. Like himself, the other kindred on the docks that night would be sensitive to the environment around them, so Ed knew he had to keep the bird from reacting to his position.
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Calming the feathered beast with his eyes, Ed silently retreated from the avenues of shipping containers to explore the Harbourmaster’s building at the southern end of the island, gaining easy access to the office rooms as he searched for any records that might be connected to the Storm Breaker. Sure enough, the prowling Gangrel found the ship’s name in a cargo manifest and the port traffic ledgers, detailing imported clothing and foodstuff that had travelled with the ship from Mexico.
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Carrying the thick logbooks under his arm, Ed scanned the northern limits of Harbor Island from the height of the windows, making certain that the Brujah and their unknown friend had already left the docks. In the lanes of industrial lights and cold sea mist nothing stirred, allowing him to walk away from the scene along the lonely Spokane Bridge unnoticed, the package he carried now hidden in the folded raincoats he couched in his arms.
Scene ii: Starter Catering & Supplies, Burien.
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Early the next evening the Burien coterie convened in the upstairs office, having yet to give an answer to Porzia and her client, the Prince of Vancouver. Ed let the weight of the Xerox copies he had made of the logbooks slump on the table before the others, explaining how he had found the records after his stakeout of the island. Mikhail and the others listened as he described the meeting of Krystal’s childer with an unknown Cainite close to the cargo vessel, but the description of the shaven man was yet unknown by any in the room, a stranger among the Clans of the city.
Thanking Ed for his skill in acquiring the paperwork, the Ventrue suggested they return to the Italian restaurant and ask Porzia for more information before they risk aggravating the Brujah by crossing into their territory a second time, using the evidence of the Xerox copies to gain her trust. The offer of a minor boon from the Prince was a substantial reward, and not to be scoffed at, but Mikhail believed that they were not being made aware of all the facts regarding the cargo ship, let alone the identity of the ‘snake’ in Oran’s court.
Scene iii: Vecchia Venezia Restaurant, Atlantic.
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An hour later, Elwin, Ed, Aurore, and Mikhail arrived at the restaurant address of the Vancouver agent, waiting at the reception until Porzia herself waived them toward her table in the half-light ambience.
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Greeting them all warmly, Porzia briefly studied the paperwork Ed had acquired, commenting that even though the Vancouver Prince would be pleased with this information he would be expecting the Captain’s logbook from the ship itself. What Silas (the Prince) was looking for specifically in the ledgers she did not know, excepting his interest in the Storm Breaker’s movements along the Pacific coasts of the Americas.
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As for the name of his suspect, Porzia declined to speak it, citing her instructions from Silas. However, now that she was aware the effort that they had already spent in copying the Harbourmaster’s records, she promised to make a phone call later that night to gain his consent in answering their question, meeting her again the following evening to learn the name if Silas approved.
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Having searched for any deceit in Porzia’s words, Aurore and the coterie believed the Giovanni for now. Rather than wait another night for the Prince’s answer (the ship would be leaving in three nights), Mikhail warily accepted the task on behalf of the others.
Act 2
Scene i: “Storm Breaker/Rompe Tormentas”, Harbor Island.
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Travelling together in a single vehicle with Sascha at the wheel, the Burien coterie crossed the Duwamish Waterway to enter the island, port terminals and rail lines spanning the concrete surface as they cautiously drove past light masts and storage silos looming out of the background environ.
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Dimming the headlights, Sascha brought the car to a gentle halt once the sea weathered hulk of the Storm Breaker came into view. Within the vehicle, the four Cainites conferred their plans a final time: Ed (+ his bloodhound familiar) would stalk the nearby area as a lookout, Elwin would remain in the vehicle with Sascha, and Mikhail & Aurore would attempt to enter the ship with the gift of their persuasive influence over the living.
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Dressed in heavy raincoats that Ed had lifted from the harbour offices the previous night, Mikhail and Aurore walked toward the terminal, searching above the vessel’s portside gunwale for the security guard their Gangrel companion had warned them of.
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Their movements on the dock were eventually noticed by an elderly night watchman who had been pacing the decks, as well as a lone shipmate that had remained aboard whilst other crew enjoyed their shore leave. The two Cainites called up to the confused mortals, claiming to be sent by the harbour authority to inspect the cargo ship. The guard radioed back to base to try and confirm their request, and after receiving no satisfactory explanation through the speaker he relented to lowering the gangway with Miguel’s (crewmate) help.
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As soon as the Ventrue and Tremere came aboard they locked eyes with the guard and Miguel, compelling them to obey their demands and lead them to the captain’s logbook or any other records that were related to the Storm Breaker’s itinerary.
Climbing the access stairwell to the bridge, Miguel unlocked the door and waited passively as the two intruders hunted for the ledgers, recovering the logbook from on overhead shelf above the instrument panels. Turning back to the hypnotised crewmate, Mikhail asked that they be shown the captain’s own quarters to continue the search.
* * *
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Descending into the access passages below deck, Mikhail and Aurore followed Miguel’s progress toward the cramped living quarters he shared with the crew, indicating the hatch to the captain’s private room.
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Inside, the room appeared to be normal, personal effects occupying the cupboards and racks until Miguel nervously revealed a hidden safe behind the hanging clothing. In a noticeable contrast to his earlier behaviour, Miguel had become extremely anxious to leave, inching his way toward the cabin door until the authority of Mikhail’s voice persuaded him otherwise, fixing him in place whilst the Ventrue returned his attention to the clicking tumbler mechanism of the safe’s dials with his heightened hearing until they had aligned.
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During this attempt, the metallic echo of a wailing voice sounded briefly from somewhere deeper in the ship. Initially dismissing it as the hull settling in the cold harbour night, Mikhail soon had the safe open, removing any pertinent documents and a bound ledger to add to the logbook. Again the ship echoed with a sobbing cry, too loud to be ignored like the initial disturbance.
* * *
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Meanwhile outside the Storm Breaker, Ed had noticed a set of headlights navigating toward the vicinity of their own vehicle parked nearby. Hurrying back to warn them, Elwin had already turned to notice the approaching lights through the rear windscreen from where he was seated in the car. Tapping the side window, Ed advised Sascha to leave with the vehicle, allowing enough time for Elwin and Harry (the bloodhound) to exit before turning the ignition.
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Driving away from the terminal slowly to avoid a confrontation, the vehicle’s movement became the sudden target of the Jeep Cherokee that had arrived on the scene, tyres whining as Sascha made a sudden turn to change direction and pass his would be pursuers. Tail lights painted the vacant roads with streaking red as they raced in and out of the container stacks, Mikhail’s bodyguard leading their foes back south toward the Spokane Bridge viaduct to give those aboard the ship more time.
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Certain that the occupants of the Jeep were Brujah, Elwin and Ed had waited for the vehicles to move on before they crossed the open ground of the terminal to reach the ship, gaining egress to the upper deck with the gangway that was still in position.
* * *
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Against his inner compulsion, Miguel had revealed another secret of the Storm Breaker to Aurore and Mikhail, his hand trembling as he opened the hatch to a sealed compartment of the ship, six cell rooms on three-a-side, their occupants blubbering for release at the sound of their approach.
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Speaking to the most coherent one through the view-slot, the two kindred asked how they had come to be confined inside the ship. Piecing together a story of drugging and kidnapping, the young man known as Michael had been an easy target as an underage sex worker. Rose, whom they conversed with, and Penny her teary friend had been the unlucky attendants at a wild party, from which a cruel man with a shaved head had bound them all and delivered them to Harbor Island. Barely conscious during the exchange for their souls, Rose could only recall three names mentioned by their kidnappers: Jamar, Monica, and “Nicolai”.
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By this time, Elwin and Ed had arrived, the rap of their feet coming down the access stairs initially making their companions fearful that they had been caught. Warning them of the events that had just transpired outside the ship, the coterie paused long enough to debate the fate of the prisoners before they quickly released the trio to flee with them off the ship before the Brujah returned to catch them in their domain.
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Running through the train corridors and warehouse avenues of the industrial island, the threat of discovery had reduced Elwin to animal instinct, escaping from the others as any semblance of order among them collapsed. Surveillance cameras recorded the suspicious activity of the remaining group in their own endeavours to escape, galloping back to the midnight maze of the city that glimmered from the other side of the bridge.
Scene ii: West Seattle Pathology, Fairmount Park.
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Having fled from the docks of Harbor Island, the coterie had no opportunity to rest until they had arrived at Elwin’s private clinic, taking the three youths upstairs so that the Tremere could examine them for any signs of injury they might have sustained during their incarceration on the ship or the subsequent escape.
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As they let the ‘doctor’ attend to each of them in turn, Mikhail and the remaining kindred continued to question them about the cruel circumstances that had led to their kidnapping. Taking a blood sample from the three before declaring that they were all relatively fit, Elwin left the question open as to whether the three mortals should be released back on to the streets after witnessing the Brujah and Burien coteries. Mikhail and Aurore made certain that neither Rose, Penny, or Michael would ever recall the events of that night, washing their memories away with a sonorous command to forget.
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Eager to feed before the dawn and recover their strength, the coterie knew that once the Brujah had caught up with and interrogated Sascha for the name of his master (Mikhail), there would be severe retaliation from the Clan. As they departed the pathology, Aurore volunteered to drive the three mortals back to the suburbs and release them before she retired to her haven.
* * *
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Waiting until the others had departed, Elwin let himself into a secure room at the back of building, the sanctum in which he practiced the thaumaturgical arts of the Tremere. Since the revelation of the Storm Breaker a night previous, he had been shaping the droplets of his own blood, magnetised into a shard like red ice. This blood stone retained an etheric connection to his own being, allowing him to ‘feel’ it’s location.
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Continuing the ritual to stabilize its growing form, it would be another night before the crimson crystal would be solid enough to remove from the apparatus and sigils that held it.
Scene iii: Des Moines.
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After the panic on Harbour Island, the coterie had divided to feed and retire to their respective havens. Ed had drifted south of Burien, slaking his thirst on the sleeping homeless before he found himself wandering the empty streets at the fringes of Des Moines where the last hints of farmland had been subdivided and sold off.
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The old man’s curiosity about the “vampire” murders that had been reported on Channel 11 had given him a reason to snoop around the open fields before dawn. Trampled with the passage of police and perhaps the killer itself, Ed crouched over the crime scene to try and feel out who they could be, mortal or otherwise. Aside from the ominous stains on some rocks emerging from the grass, the field offered no other clues to his sensitive eyes.
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Returning north to the more populated neighbourhoods, he came across a day old newspaper under the lid of a trash can, skimming the printed columns until he could find a brief mention of the murders. According to the account there had been two bodies recovered so far in the Des Moines area, the first having been discovered by hikers near Saltwater State Park. Both had been drained of blood, but only the first had been found positioned alongside what the police had described as “occult” type symbols.
Scene iv: Georgetown.
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Unknown to the others, Aurore had kept one of the three youths, unwilling to let Rose leave the passenger seat of her car after dropping off Michael and Penny. Held in the persuasion of the vampire’s gaze, Rose had remained seated until they had returned to the warehouse loft that Aurore kept as her main residence.
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Leading the waif into the unlit space of her secluded dwelling, she sealed the bedroom door behind them, tracing her nails across the exposed nape of Rose’s shirt, holding her like a kitten by the back of the neck to direct her toward the satin sheets...
Act 3
Scene i: Vecchia Venezia.
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Early the next evening, the four members of the Burien coterie had returned to the soft dining ambience of the Italian restaurant, joining Porzia at her table beside the wall. As anticipated, Sascha had not returned or left any indication that he had survived the encounter with the Brujah, and the thought of losing this trusted ghoul had soured Mikhail’s mood already as he and the others finished their formal small talk with the Giovanni.
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Porzia accepted the Xerox copies of the evidence they had uncovered inside the ship, with frequent mention of a port in Mexico that seemed to be the origin of the Storm Breaker’s operations; Lazaro Cardenas. After examining the collection of documents, she informed them that Silas had consented to their request to learn the name of the traitor in Seattle’s court. However, she was curious to know if they had already guessed, teasing them to speak their thoughts aloud. Aurore gave the name of the Tremere elder, Isaiah Walker, whom she had come to resent for restricting her behaviour after the public fallout with the Toreador over her Sire, Blake (Chap 7, 1:iii).
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Displeased to hear the Giovanni make light of the danger they were in now in for having crossed into the Brujah domain, Mikhail requested that she drop the games and speak the name of the one whom was undermining the Camarilla. Understanding their frustration, she finally spoke the word “Krystal”.
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As promised, Porzia handed to each of them a roll of parchment paper that had been sealed in wax and ribbon by Prince Silas, detailing the minor boon he would now owe to them for services rendered in exposing Krystal and her bloodline. With her own business concluded in Seattle, Porzia wished them luck as she gathered the documents to take back with her to Vancouver, a charted plane waiting for her at King County International.