Dracula Unbound. Brian Aldiss

you want a bed for the night? I’ll ring Mina, if she isn’t twenty thousand feet up.’

      ‘I’ll ring her, Joe, thanks. And Joe – thanks a million. I know you’ll be in the hot seat too. One day, I’ll return this favour.’

      They shook hands.

      Joe said, ‘Mina will take care of you. I may be a little hard to contact, just for a while.’

      ‘How’s that?’

      ‘Never mind. Up guards and at ’em, Bernie. Shake the world! I’m on your side.’

      The great green-and-white waves of the Pacific came curling into Hilo Bay, Hawaii. The foam scattered in the sunlight, the water lost its power, crawled up the volcanic sands, sank down again, and miraculously revived, to make another assault on the beaches.

      Larry and Kylie came out of the ocean shaking the water from their hair.

      ‘I just know something is wrong, Larry. Please let’s get back to the hotel,’ she said.

      ‘Nothing’s wrong, sweetie. Forget your intuitions. It’s something you ate. How can anything be wrong? We’ve only been down on the beach an hour.’