Chapter 5: Aket Makes Himself Known

Jane sat back on the bench, her hand gliding over the paper. She brought the charcoal over to the right of the paper, pressing hard on the page as she colored in the swastika. She glanced up at the German zeppelin and down at her page. Satisfied, she finished coloring in the swastika on the tail fin and wrote in the zeppelin's name on the front of the dirigible. The Graf Siegfried.

Jane took her attention off the Germans and flipped her sketchbook back one page. Patty's nude body stretched out on the bed of the cabin. She was sleeping peacefully, one knee slightly cocked. A sheet covered her crotch, but her breasts were exposed. Jane had spread the sleeping woman's luxurious red hair out on the pillow, fanning it out around her head. She quickly sketched her sleeping friend and now lover, wishing she had a set of colored pencils with her to capture the red of Patricia's hair and the pink of her nipples.

Jane was putting the sketchbook away when Patty woke. The Irish Catholic would have been scandalized by the nude sketch of her, but as it turned out, the young woman was even more horrified by the events of the previous night. In her eyes, they had committed a mortal sin together. "Many cultures throughout history have allowed and even promoted homosexual behavior," she told Patty. "Not my culture and not my god," replied Patty, her fingers fumbling with the rosary around her neck. Jane told her friend to lock the door behind her and left the cabin to allow Patty the time to pray for guidance. She took her sketchbook and decided to stroll around Budapest for a bit while the train moved some cars around.

The Graf Siegfried had arrived an hour earlier, descending and mooring beside the Orient Express. The train crew moved and attached a luxury car with Nazi swastika flags hanging under each of the windows at the rear of the train behind the baggage car. Two men left the airship and headed toward the luxury car once it had been attached. The distance was too far for details, but there was something familiar about the baring of the taller man. The second man wore a black uniform with a Nazi swastika armband. He was shorter and more portly then the bigger man.

The two entered the train car followed by several uniformed crew members of the zeppelin carrying their luggage. The crew members quickly returned to the Graf Siegfried whose engines roared to life even as the train whistled that the Orient Express was preparing to leave for Vienna. Jane gathered her things and walked to the train just as the giant airship once again took to the sky.

The room had been turned down for the day, the beds pushed back and the room converted into a sitting room with a couch and table. Patty was kneeling on the floor, leaning over the table still praying when Jane returned to the room. She looked up when she heard the door slam. "Did god answer you?" asked Jane.

"Yes, I've come to accept that I was under the control of some heathen artifact and my actions weren't my own. God will forgive, but I must confess as soon as possible." Patty stood. "How are you handling it?"

Jane shrugged. "I found the whole experience quite enjoyable. I've always felt close to you, but now I feel even closer."

Patty gasped, "But it's a sin!"

Jane shrugged again. "I don't see how anything so pleasurable and mutually consensual could be wrong. I was hoping you'd share my bed again, even move into my room after we reach London."

Patty's face grew flushed even as her nipples visibly turned hard underneath her dress. "I'm not some SAPHIST POOFTER, Lady Stalwart!"

Jane looked sad as she gazed at her friend. "I'm afraid you might be just that Miss O'Toole. I fear the COCK's effects may be permanent. I still like men, but at the same time I want to take you in my arms and kiss you again. Judging by your body's reactions, you feel it also."

"I do, but I will pray for the strength to fight this desire."

"Very well," said Jane. "Perhaps I'm wrong and the effects will diminish over time. The legend did say it took three baptisms to turn Isis into a wanton whore." Patty's belly growled loudly. "Hungry? The dining car should be serving supper." Patty nodded and the two women walked down to the dining car. Jane took a seat with her back to a window while Patty sat across from her. Patty ordered the grilled turbot with white wine and butter sauce. Lady Jane had ordered a pogacsa from a street vendor in Budapest and wasn't quite hungry yet. She requested that the waiter bring her some sliced bread and a whole cucumber so that she could make cucumber sandwiches later in their room. She ordered a glass of Merlot and casually sipped it. Patty always deferred to Jane's taste in wine and she seemed to relish her own drink.

Jane wanted to stare into Patty's green eyes, but someone had attempted to kill them last night and she needed to be alert. Her eyes scanned the diners finding nothing out of the ordinary. That is until the black man arrived while she was topping off her wine. He attracted the attention of all the other diners, most openly gawking at him. He was dressed in a white robe with gold trim that formed a V down his bare chest displaying his musculature. He was big, hulking was a better word. He had a long pointy ancient Egyptian style beard and wore dark eyeliner. The man was also shaved bald including his eyebrows. Most of the crowd had never seen anyone so exotic and continued to rudely stare at the black giant. Most of the crowd had never dined with a negro before either. He took a seat alone, facing Jane and ordered something from the waiter before turning his head to stare directly at Jane. His lips curled up, exposing white teeth as he grinned at her.

"O, villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!" she muttered.

"What?" asked Patty.

"Hamlet," said Jane. "I believe our foe has arrived Patricia."

"Can I look?"

"Be my guest, he's making his presence known."

Patty glanced over her shoulder and gasped at the sight of the strange black man. He nodded at her and continued to smile. "Jesus wept," muttered the red head.

"I think it's time I met our opponent," said Jane. Jane stood, grabbed the bag and left. Patty watched Jane leave the dining car. The black man's gaze followed Jane's. Patty didn't like being left alone and prayed the black man wouldn't come over to her. She was distracted by the arrival of their food.

Jane raced through several sleeper cars until she arrived at her cabin. The room had been reconverted for sleeping. She quickly pulled the hieroglyphic box out and opened it. The scorpion snapped up at her. She'd put the surviving deathstalker in the box as a trap for anyone trying to steal it. Jane snapped her fingers to distract it and easily lifted it by the tail with her other hand. She placed the scorpion in a drinking glass and closed the box back up. She retrieved her Enfield revolver and opened the cylinder, checking on the bullets. She set the revolver by the box, ready in case she needed it and then she left to meet her foe after securing the cabin door.

The first thing she noticed when she returned to the dining car was that Patty was gone. She'd cleaned her plate. Jane's food was sitting in her spot, untouched. A man in a dark black uniform was seated at the table beside hers. A Nazi armband around his bicep. One of the Germans she'd seen arrive earlier that day. "Fraulein," he said, nodding at her, noticing her attention, and quickly noticing her form and beauty. His eyes roamed up and down her body, stopping on the swell of her breasts.