From: "L.D. Steele" Hmmm... I'm not sure this qualifies, but I don't have time to write something new. (The perils of being a M.Sc. student) I sent this in to the DOWII fiction contest, so half of you have probably read it. :) It's ending. Set far, far, in the future... ----------------------------------------------- LaCroix's Worst Nightmare By: Dawn Steele LaCroix was in a miserable mood. In fact, he'd been in one for the last century and a half. It was a beautiful spring evening, in the year 3488, and as far as LaCroix was concerned the good life had ended a long time ago. He dressed in his best, and most expensive suit. Current fashions tended towards the ancient Victorian era, and he knew he looked well. LaCroix had looked good in black throughout many a fashion trend. "It's time to visit an old friend." He mused, "maybe I can at least get some satisfaction out of annoying Nicholas. It's been far too long, and he can always improve my mood by reacting predictably." A quick flight to the local transport center, and he was soon punching the destination into his private spaceship. LaCroix moved into the rear living quarters, settling himself into the customized sleeping area. The trip through pasha-space would only take a couple of days, but he had no intention of staring at the walls, and putting himself in an even worse mood than he was already. *BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE...* LaCroix's fist slammed into the off button hard enough to leave a distinct dent in the metal surface. He stepped into the navigation area, and turned on the viewscreen. Andros. Nick's home for the last century. They were heading into the dark side of the planet, but it still looked distinctly cheerful with it's fluffy cloud patterns and large ocean seas. It was LaCroix's first trip to the planet, but he ignored the information readouts. He opened the spaceship door as soon as the automatic safety systems would allow, and was over fifty clicks on his way by the time the transport crew came up for the automatic refueling. As he touched down, he stared at the geometric dome. His vampire night vision showed all the intricacies of the contemporary structure. He almost checked the flight navigator on his wrist before realizing that he had to be in the right place. The whole building was composed of various shades of blue and green, with the predominant color being one he remembered so well from Nicholas' time in Toronto. LaCroix had enjoyed watching that car blow up. He deliberately refrained from letting Nick feel his presence. It was always better to enjoy the surprise, and consternation on his face. "LaCroix!" Nick was dressed in an unfashionably comfortable green jumpsuit, and seemed entirely too happy for LaCroix's mood. "Come on in... mi casa et tu casa, and all that." He followed Nick into the large interaction area, still a bit unnerved at the welcoming smile on Nick's face. His opening gambit therefore lacked the knife sinking nastiness he had meant it to. "I see you still prefer that horrible shade of green." "It's blue." Nick motioned for LaCroix to sit down, and then headed to the food unit in the wall. "Would you like something to drink? I've got all the popular versions programmed in, but I have to tell you that I can't tell the difference between most of them." "You were never a connoisseur, Nicholas. That millennium of drinking nothing but animal blood destroyed what few taste buds you ever had." "That's what Janette always says. Have you seen her recently? We were linked up the other night on the net, and she mentioned that you might be coming to see me." LaCroix's stare appeared faintly reptilian as he tried to knock Nick out of that appalling good humour. "I have no idea how she got that idea." "She also mentioned that you've been acting like your clothes have been laced with garlic for a long time now." Nick picked up the two heavy goblets full of human blood (warmed to body temp), and sat down next to LaCroix. "Here. It's supposed to be European, about the middle-ages. Maybe it'll improve your mood." LaCroix kept silent until he had drunk most of the goblet's contents, then whispered angrily, "this is why I've been in a bad mood lately!" He drained the goblet, then set it roughly on the hovering coffee table. "Synthetic blood. It's all I've been able to drink for the past century and a half! It was bad enough when I only had to drink it occasionally..." He leaned back into the sofa. "You've been drinking this stuff almost since it was invented five hundred years ago." "I helped develop it actually. The company's public relations touted it as a boon to the medical services, but most of the start-up money came from interested vampires." "I can't even hunt anymore. The police net identifies vampire body signatures, and woe betide any of us identified near a mysterious disappearance or death." "Get a net linkup, and run one of the black market hunt/kill scenarios. I've heard they're quite realistic." When LaCroix didn't even dignify the remark with a muted growl, Nick continued. "It had to happen. The humans would have discovered the technology to identify us sooner or later. Despite the slow-down of scientific progress since the population implosion, we all saw it coming." Nick's face creased with a momentary frown. "You haven't talked to Janette since she revealed our presence to the net, have you?" "No." "It was only a matter of time, anyway. Twenty, thirty years at the most." Nick moved his legs, and plunked his feet on top of the coffee table. "You're just annoyed because she made a bundle of money on the 'vid rights, and gene patents." LaCroix said nothing. His basilisk eyes rested on the far wall which was covered with sun, and moon imagery. He had almost decided to leave. He just didn't have the energy to try and disrupt Nick anymore, and the cheeriness of the place was starting to give him a headache. Nick was humming. "Just are you so bloody cheerful? Two hundred years ago you were still moaning about, and painting those blasted suns! Now you're humming and seem glad to see me..." His voice faded off with an enquiring air. Nick's face became serious, but the twinkle didn't leave his eyes. "I've been a changed vampire for quite some time now... You remember Natalie, don't you?" "How could I forget? She hounded me for almost four centuries after I brought her over..." "We had a reunion, and she set me straight on a few things." Nick stared at the half-finished painting across the room. It was a view of a tourist-oriented fishing wharf. The sun glimmered along the hulls of the boats. "You know you've always said I didn't know I wanted? Well, a little over two hundred years ago, Nat came to see me. She gave me two things... Did I mention she's kept up with the current technology? So... she gave me the thing I'd been asking for since the nineteenth century. A cure for vampirism." "By your presence here I presume you declined. Perhaps you remembered all the wisdom I've tried to pound into your head?" "No, I started tuning that out after the first couple of centuries." Nick grinned. "She asked me to really think it over, and she gave me something else." He gestured to the small gold disk that was pinned to his jumpsuit. "There are a few others around now, but I believe I got one of the prototypes. It's a sunshield." "Sunshield?" "It lets me walk into the sunshine without worrying about burning to a crisp." "So now you've got it all don't you? Human blood without ever worrying about where it came from, probably a few human friends now that it's all out int he open, and sunlight. Bright, warm sunlight. That's what you've been complaining that I took away from you, wasn't it?" LaCroix's voice had turned dark, and dangerous. "Um-huh. No kids, but Natalie's still working on that." "She's here?" "Yes." "You know. I think it's time we finished our relationship." LaCroix stood up, and straightend his black vest. "Perhaps I was wrong in bringing you across so long ago. you certainly haven't been enjoyable company." He looked meaningfully towards Nick. "Goodbye, then. I'd like to say I'll miss you, but I doubt it." "I don't think you will either..." LaCroix grabbed ahold of the front of Nick's jumpsuit, and casually tossed him across the room into the unfinished painting. The frame splintered, and wood flew everywhere. Nick picked himself up, and started to gently remove the wood splinters embedded in his arm. "It's no use, you know." "What?" LaCoix had crossed the room, and now stood directly in front of Nick. "Trying to kill me. And don't start spouting all that 'old and powerful' crap. You know full well that a vampire's powers level off after the second millennium. If we fought now... i don't know who would win, but Natalie will be home soon, and then it'll be two against one." "Are you sure?" "You couldn't control her when she was a hundred. You certainly couldn't now." The two vampires stared at each other in silence for a minute. "Then it's over." "Yes." LaCroix straightened his jacket, and left without another word. He was last seen on Rigelten-3 trying to instigate the takeover of the local government. The End.