Free Maggie on the Bounty by Kate Danley

be reprimanded."
    "I
gotta go, Lacy.  Bad reception.  Ghosts are screwing up the connection,"
and then I hung up.
    "Ghosts
were not 'screwing up the connection,' Maggie," Killian said.
    "Trust
me, things were getting screwy enough."
    "What
did she have to say?"
    I pocketed
my phone.  "That vampire we got last weekend wasn't supposed to be
here."
    "Good!"
replied Killian.  "That should make the paperwork process smoother."
    "Yeah,
good that we didn't stake an innocent vamp.  Not good that the last anyone ever
saw him was eighty years ago and suddenly he appears out of nowhere in a
bathroom stall dressed like he should be in The Great Gatsby.  Or more to the point," I said as I pointed at all of the
ghosts around us, "like he should be hanging out with these guys instead
of hanging out with us."
    "What
do you think is going on, Maggie?"
    I tried
feeling the boundary, but was getting nothing.  "Mom felt nothing.  I'm
feeling nothing.  These guys shouldn't be here at all.  And yet, here they
are.  I'm wondering if that portal downstairs is so loud, it is just drowning
everything out.  Sort of like noise-canceling headsets."
    It was at that moment that there was
the sound of a low horn.  It was like a foghorn, except louder.  Way louder. 
Earth-trembling louder.  It made the entire floor rumble.  And that's when I
felt the shift.  It wasn't just a little shift, I felt the entire boat shift. 
Smoke started pouring out of one of the stacks and it began glowing bright red
against the night sky.
    "What is that?" I asked
Killian, pointing to the day-glo light coming off the top of the ship.  It was
like the entire place had been put under some dead-head's black light, and we
were joining a party already in-progress.
    He had no answers for me and was
looking just as blown away as I was from the whole thing.  That's when I
realized what had happened.  Everything beyond the boat had disappeared.  The
topography was the same, but the skyscrapers and touristy harbor were gone. 
Inside the boat, everything had a fresh new gleam to it, like it had just been
built.  All the ghosts had been replaced by real people strolling along the
decks, and the real people were now ghosts.  Porters and cruise directors walked
along to make sure everyone was safe and sound.  Laughter tinkled from below
decks as well as the sound of an orchestra playing a swinging tune.  No one
seemed to notice anything was wackadoo except for me and Killian.
    "Fuck."
    Killian let out a slow whistle,
"I should say so."
    I grabbed Killian and dragged him
away.
    "Where are you taking me,
Maggie?"
    "We sort of stick out like
sore thumbs," I replied, pointing down at what we were wearing and the
strange looks we were getting from the passengers.  Killian, in his navy blue
turtleneck and slacks could probably have passed as a sailor, but me in my
leathers, boots, utility belt of weapons, and neck guard were not going to be
fooling anyone.  I pulled Killian into a doorway and tried to pretend like we
could disappear into the shadows.
    Killian breathed deep. 
"Right.  First order of business, find ourselves clothing appropriate to
the local color."
    "First order of business, we
get back to our own time and figure out what the hell is going on," I
muttered as I started feeling the air around us.  "I should have told
Julio to take this job and blow it out his porthole."
    "What are you doing, Maggie?"
    "Trying to find the weak
spot."
    "What do you mean?"
    "To get us home."
    "How do you propose to do
that?"
    "I'll just punch a hole in
dimensions," I said as I gave Killian a good-natured punch in the arm,
trying to reassure him I had everything under control.  "Do you remember
who you're talking to?"
    "I know very well who I am
talking to, Maggie."
    I laced my fingers and gave my
knuckles a good cracking.  I rolled my head and loosened up my shoulders.  I
gathered up the energy and reached out to punch through dimensions... and my
hand stayed exactly in