Heliotropic 3: To the Light

by Mardi Ballou

  “Stay calm, Val. We’ll get to the bottom of this delay. Once you set foot on Apoll’ex, all the bullshit we’ve had to go through will be worth it.”

  To say Val looked skeptical was an understatement, but at least he wasn’t punching holes in any of the transport’s walls -- yet.

  A ’bot from the flight crew came out of the cockpit to stand guard over them. Paul wanted to tell him that precaution wasn’t necessary, but in view of the ’bot’s grim expression, he figured he might as well save his breath.

  “When will they let us off this transport?” Soleil asked. “Paul de l’Astre and I are both native Apollans, returning with our Earthling lovers.”

  The ’bot looked at them quizzically. “You say you’re Apollans and vampires?” His face screwed up with evident puzzlement and a hint of suspicion. “How is that possible?”

  Paul scrubbed his hands over his face as if to wipe away the current horror and the fatigue of the journey. “It’s a long story.”

  The ’bot appeared skeptical, which Paul could understand. His questioner held up a hand. “You might as well save it for the land authorities. They’ll board as soon as they’ve completed processing the other new arrivals.”

  “We should be among them,” Soleil muttered. “In fact, as natives, we shouldn’t even have to go through any processing. We should be able to leave this transport as the free men we are here on our home planet.”

  The ’bot’s mouth tightened into a grim line. “You might as well sit down while we wait.” He gestured to the seats.

  “I’ve been sitting enough to last me a century,” Val growled.

  “Suit yourself.” The ’bot continued standing in the doorway, looking determined to block their access while still retaining his air of courtesy. Paul wanted to tell him he could relax, but he saved his breath.

  “You don’t think it’s possible --” Trey started.

  “What?” Paul asked. Maybe whatever Trey was thinking would distract him.

  “The way they’re preventing us from disembarking… This goes counter to common knowledge about the hospitality and generosity characteristic of Apollans. I’m trying to understand.”

  Paul nodded. “Me, too. We just need to hang a bit longer. All will shortly be clear and cleared up. This is just a temporary delay.”

  “I’m not so sure,” Trey continued. “Earlier you guys said there had never been any vampires on Apoll’ex, which made perfect sense. The only reason we were able to come here was because of our exposure to Retkove’s serum, a recent creation. Since the explosion at his lab, Retkove’s been missing. We assumed -- okay, hoped -- he’d been destroyed by the force of the blast, but there was never any real evidence to support that. What if, instead of his being destroyed, he somehow contrived to get to Apoll’ex faster than we did?”

  Silence greeted Trey’s reasoning.

  “Bloody hell.” Val grabbed his head as if he wanted to pull it off. His face was screwed up in the worst pain Paul had ever seen him show. “That blast had to have destroyed him. Can you imagine what a fuckin’ catastrophe it would be if that slimy bastard got loose here?”

  Paul’s insides clenched up worse than when Retkove had tortured him.

  “Here they come.” The ’bot nodded in the direction of two dour-faced Apollan officials.

  “We could throw ourselves on their mercy,” Soleil whispered.

  “That wouldn’t be nearly enough.” Paul took a deep breath and prepared to meet his fate. Until now, he’d never completely believed his exile from Apoll’ex would last forever. But with their transport on Apollan soil and the portal effectively blocked, Paul faced the terrifying possibility.

  * * *

  Val couldn’t fuckin’ believe it. After enduring the claustrophobia of the interminable trip to Apoll’ex, he couldn’t stand to be cooped up for a minute longer. Not a second. Geez, even if the powers that be were going to detain them, or imprison them or fuckin’ send them back to Earth on the next vehicle out, couldn’t they at least let them off this transport first? It wasn’t like the four of them had anywhere they could hide for long on this small planet.

  Val struggled to bite back his disgust and disgruntlement. In his gut he knew whatever pain he was experiencing, Paul’s was a hundred times worse. Though he’d put a good face on it, Val realized Paul had lived with constant disappointment while he was stuck on Earth. Much as Val despised Retkove, the serum that scum had developed had made it possible for Paul to come home again. But now this.

  The officials, two gorgeous men of a slightly older vintage dressed in uniforms that highlighted their amazing builds, stepped on the plane. Val, pushed beyond his limits, opened his mouth to protest their detention.

  “You’d better let us talk,” Paul said, indicating Soleil.

  Trey, who looked pretty miserable, too, nodded his assent. Nothing for Val to do but go along with majority rule. But if he didn’t like the way the officials acted or thought Paul and Soleil were being steamrolled, he’d step in with both combat boots.

  The officials looked at the four of them with an expression of consternation, disgust and shock. “Is that you, Soleil DuCosmos?” the older of them asked.

  Soleil, whose eyes now glistened with unshed tears, nodded. “And this is Paul de l’Astre,” he said, “the man I went on the search mission to find.”

  The two Apollans warily embraced Soleil and Paul. Val experienced the merest twinge of jealousy. Compared to everything else that was going on, he could handle the wave of emotion -- as long as he didn’t have to handle it for long. Jealousy on top of claustrophobia… None of this fit with his idea of paradise. If this bullshit was all Apoll’ex had to offer, he’d take polluted rotten Earth over it any day.

  When the men broke their embrace, the younger official asked, “But Paul, Soleil, why are you identifying yourselves as vampires? And who are these men with you? Please speak frankly. If they are in any way coercing you, we will help you.” He glared at Val and Trey. Val held back an impulse to punch him out.

  “No, sir. Nothing like that.” Paul lightly laid a hand on Val’s arm, which defused some of the tension coiling in him. Paul wasn’t about to abandon him now that they’d arrived on his home planet. Val breathed a little easier. Then Paul cleared his throat. “It is a very complicated affair, sir. I’ll shorten it drastically for now, though I’m sure you’ll want to hear the full details at a later time. You see, to save my life when I was close to death, my lover Val, an Earthling vampire, transformed me. Soleil had a similar experience with his lover, Trey.”

  The older official looked uncomprehending. “This is a complex matter, indeed. Unprecedented. Perhaps we should sit down as you clarify further.”

  “Can we sit down somewhere other than in this transport? We’ve been here for days.” Val could hear the edge in his voice no matter how hard he tried to sound calm and cool.

  “I’m afraid we cannot permit you to step foot on Apoll’ex just yet,” the younger official said.

  Val clenched his fists at his sides.

  “We don’t understand these constraints, good sir, but we know there must be a good reason for them.” Paul’s voice sounded as if being calm wasn’t a huge effort.

  “Unfortunately, there is,” both officials said simultaneously.

  Paul inclined his head in a slight bow. “Soleil and I give you our word as loyal Apollans that we will not betray your trust if you allow us to step off this transport. Furthermore, we both will vouch for the conduct of our companions, Val Cutter and Trey Duke. We will unquestioningly obey you in all matters. But our continued confinement after the long flight is difficult for some of our party to endure.”

  Both officials looked him over. They conferred for a few moments, then nodded. “Very well. Paul de l’Astre and Soleil DuCosmos, we accept your words as Apollan gentlemen in good standing. Follow us to the Visitors’ Center, where we can speak at length in comfort. Do not abuse our hospitality.”

  Biting his lip to keep
from retorting, Val gratefully followed the others off the transport to the building enclosure which, like almost every other structure on Apoll’ex, had no roof.

  * * *

  Well aware of Val’s rising agitation, Paul tried to maintain an attitude of calm, but it wasn’t easy. He hadn’t been gone from Apoll’ex for that long in terms of time measurement, yet it seemed everything had changed in a most fundamental and alarming way. His people, known throughout the universe for their tolerance and acceptance of all beings, had reacted very negatively and harshly to his and Soleil’s transformation into vampires. Yet he’d pointed out neither of them would be alive if they hadn’t undergone this change. Surely the Apollans would extend their traditional welcome to fellow citizens no matter how much they’d changed.

  Paul took a deep breath of clean, pure Apollan air the moment he set foot outside the transport. Great Apollo and all the gods, how he’d missed the sweet air of home. With a pang of regret, he once again asked himself why he’d ever undertaken the journey that had taken him so far from home. Though he knew he’d never have met Val without his near-fatal journey, Paul still had to ponder whether, if given the chance, he’d rewrite history and stay home.

  The Visitors’ Center was surrounded by a group of Apollans looking fiercer than he’d ever seen his compatriots look. Though they bore no weapons, they had the demeanor of armed prison guards. This was unheard of. But Paul quickly realized their evident belligerence to their group might turn out to be only the first of many unpleasant surprises.

  The officials, facial expressions unwelcoming and wary, sat down at the table opposite Paul’s party. Paul looked at Soleil, who seemed equally at a loss to explain what the bloody heck was going on. Well, there was nothing to be gained by delay. “Sirs, Soleil and I are extremely puzzled by this strange and unfriendly reception. As native Apollans, we never expected to experience anything of its like on our home planet. Please explain why we are being detained.”

  The oldest of the officials nodded. “Let me assure you both we never expected to have to deal with anything like this on our peace-loving planet. In truth, we have been challenged to devise new policies in a haste that goes contrary to our ways. But in the past few days, we’ve had to contend with a bizarre new development. Men have been reported missing, sometimes for several days. When the authorities find them, they’re physically weak and mentally dazed and distressed. When questioned, they mention meeting a stranger and then losing awareness. You as Apollans know this sort of mystery is unprecedented and unacceptable.”

  Paul and Soleil gasped. Paul shook his head as if his gesture would somehow banish the devastating news.

  “But how could this happen?” Soleil asked. “Has there somehow been a shift in the atmosphere that has driven some Apollans berserk? Maybe a meteorite landed and released a harmful chemical?”

  As Soleil voiced these possibilities, Paul studied the facial expressions on the two officials. He had a sinking feeling they were about to learn exactly why he and Soleil were no longer welcome home. No shift in atmosphere, no crash landing of a meteorite. The pain of realizing they might have come all this way only to be turned back clawed at Paul.

  The older official shook his head in response to Soleil’s speculations. No surprises there. “Based on our medical examinations of the victims, it would appear each one has suffered severe blood loss. From our knowledge of other cultures, this would seem consistent with the attacker being a vampire. Until now, we’d understood vampires couldn’t survive on our planet. The possibility of a change has caused us to revoke welcome to vampires until we can determine they pose no danger to Apollans.”

  There it was -- the worst possible development. The recent arrivals absorbed this bombshell in stunned silence. Paul thought he’d be sick. Soleil’s expression indicated a similar reaction. Both Val and Trey appeared more puzzled than horrified. But even without any real understanding of Apoll’ex’s culture, they had to realize the attacks were bad news for them. “Nobody in this party is responsible for these crimes.” Trey’s voice sounded reasonable.

  Val looked a combination of sick, worried and ready to kick butt.

  The younger official shrugged. “If we thought you were, you would already be on your way back to Earth along with a strongly worded recommendation that you pay for your crimes.”

  “If you don’t suspect any of us, why are you holding us?” Val gritted out. Paul could tell his lover was dangerously near the boiling point. A temper tantrum would not play out well here.

  The older official looked from one to the other. “As Paul and Soleil are aware, we on Apoll’ex remain blissfully ignorant of the ways of vampires. We’d have been content to remain so forever, but change evidently has come.” He paused. “With your information about the new serum and your confirmation that a vampire is most likely responsible for these deaths, we realize how to proceed. We must pursue and capture the creature responsible for these attacks and revoke his welcome.”

  Val jumped up, waved his arms around and began pacing furiously. “We can help. Paul and I, actually all of us, are experienced in dealing with the fiend who must be responsible.”

  Though love for him pulsed through Paul at Val’s heroic gesture, he knew his lover’s jumping and waving his arms around was not the most effective way to get the Apollan officials on their side. Paul grabbed hold of Val in mid-step and sat him down. Not fully believing it would be effective, he nonetheless telepathically ordered Val to calm down and let him and Soleil do the talking.

  Once the sputtering Val had subsided sufficiently for him to be heard, Paul took up the same refrain.

  “You have an idea who is responsible?” the older guy asked.

  The four travelers looked at each other and nodded. There was only one possible culprit: Ideg Retkove. Somehow he’d managed not only to survive the blast, but to make his way to Apoll’ex. Why the bastard hadn’t just basked in the glory of being here -- why he had to bring destruction to paradise -- was unclear. In just a short time, Retkove had managed to spread enough mayhem to disrupt centuries of tradition on Apoll’ex.

  On second thought, the gratuitous generation of misery was so typical of Retkove, Paul wondered why they’d even given the culprit’s identification any thought. “We have a strong suspicion the perpetrator of these crimes is one Ideg Retkove, whom we’ve all had the misfortune of dealing with on Earth.”

  “Ideg Retkove?” both officials repeated. The older one checked some paperwork and typed in some information on a device he withdrew from a pocket of his uniform. The device hummed before clicking a response, which he read from a small screen. “No one by that name has arrived here recently.”

  “I can believe he’d travel under an alias. But what’s happened here smacks of Retkove. We’d all love to help you stop him.” Paul looked at his companions, who nodded.

  The older official shook his head. “If having one vampire on Apoll’ex is a catastrophe, why should we tolerate four more? Even if we make an exception for our Apollan vampires, why should we open our portals to two more Earthling vampires?”

  “Good question.” Trey appeared to be thinking faster than all the rest of them. “First of all, let me assure you Ideg Retkove is a villain in every sense of the word. He doesn’t hesitate to exploit beings of all kinds to meet his needs and desires. He’ll stop at nothing to meet his own ends.”

  The official snorted. “That does nothing to explain why we’d welcome any more of his -- your -- ilk on our planet. Aren’t you driven by your need to consume blood, no matter the cost to your host?”

  Soleil took that one. “Yes, blood is our nourishment. But there are numerous sources that bring no harm to our fellow creatures. For instance, we can purchase our nourishment in packaged form. When we do feed off each other or other creatures, we stop well before we bring any harm to our host.”

  “Is this true?” The Apollan looked doubtful.

  All four men nodded.

  “You would be wil
ling to provide your expertise to capture this Ideg Retkove?” the younger official asked.

  “Ready, willing and able,” Val muttered. Paul and the others nodded in agreement.

  “But don’t you have loyalty to your own kind?” the same man asked.

  Paul exhaled. “Ideg Retkove has abused us and so many others so often and repeatedly, he’s forfeited his claim to any possibility of loyalty.”

  “We will need to confer about your offer and how to proceed,” the younger official said. “You will please wait here until we come back and tell you our decision.”

  Paul thought Val would jump out of his skin. He did spring up and resume pacing. “I can’t believe the bastard is here. As if all the shit he pulled on Earth wasn’t enough.”

  Though Paul was getting dizzy watching Val, he figured it was better to let his lover use up energy this way.

  In a much shorter time than Paul would have predicted, the officials returned to the room. “We have decided to accept your offer,” the older official announced without preamble.

  Paul felt a weight lift off his heart. The officials weren’t sending them back to Earth. Now all they had to do was actually deliver Retkove to the powers that be on a platter.

  “But before we undertake this search, the governing Council of Apoll’ex wants to formally extend our traditional welcome. You will follow me to the main ritual hall.”

  * * *

  At the realization that he’d be able to get out of the structure that confined him and at last get a look at the renowned scenery of Apoll’ex, Val felt a surge of relieved excitement. At the realization that they’d now be officially welcome to Apoll’ex and that welcome would include one of the legendary Apollan sex rituals, Val’s dick sat up and took notice. He’d been waiting a long time.

  His first real view of the scenery told him beautiful surroundings truly were a given on Apoll’ex. The sun, which he hadn’t been able to appreciate since his transformation more than a century before, loomed huge in the sky. If he wanted to describe the color, he’d probably resort to a palette of fruits he’d eaten long ago -- apricots, peaches, the flesh of plump nectarines and cantaloupe melon. None exactly named the hue that glowed in the soft periwinkle blue of the sky. Apoll’ex itself was a lush green and gold, with flowers and trees blooming in fertile profusion right up to the banks of golden waters.