Valori cringed, still avoiding Olivia's gaze. "They said I needed more Pure Blood genetic materials in my system to stabilize my powers. I quite impressed the medics when I told them how I'd put all those men on the aircraft to sleep with my mind. It's a feat which hasn't been witnessed in a very, very long time I'm told."
"You're special, but then again, I always knew you were." Olivia smiled. She hoped the tinge of sadness she felt at discovering Valori's frightening alien side wasn't noticeable in her voice. "Will they keep you here for much longer?" she asked, trying to sound optimistic.
"I don't know. They told me they will monitor me for several cycles and see what happens. The ancient texts aren't clear on what all might happen if the treatment doesn't stabilize my condition."
Ancient texts? Stabilize your condition? Olivia took a deep breath, trying her best to remain calm and supportive. Was her friend in danger of becoming something even more alien? Something the Pure Bloods with all their vast genetic and technical expertise couldn't explain or—worse yet—control?
"Don't worry, child. I will recover. You will be safe. I will make certain of it."
Olivia startled from her musing. "Oh, I forget you read minds."
Valori laughed. "No, this time I only had to read your face."
Chapter Eight
"Annara has been in a so-called briefing in the security committee room for hours. What part of brief doesn't she understand?"
Olivia muttered to herself as she paced the long hallway of the council chambers. Here she had taken a long nap, discussed their situation with Caveman and Hernando and then walked across the city to visit Valori at the Alpha Clan House and then walked back to council chambers—and Annara was still discussing security issues concerning BloodDark and Earth. Didn't they ever take a bathroom break?
She would have stayed longer with Valori, but a nurse had interrupted their visit and shooed her out, reminding them both Valori needed her rest. Fine, her friend's recuperation was understandable, but if Olivia had known Annara would still be tied up in a committee meeting upon her return, she would have stayed longer at the Alphan house. She would have stayed longer to observe the golden-hair god she'd first seen at the festival...
He was an almost angelic apparition in the otherwise dark and gloomy clan house. She caught sight of him coming down the stairs in the entrance chamber as she stood partially hidden by the tapestry covering the service hallway door. Her eyes were immediately drawn to his fair features, his intense blue eyes and halo-like hair. What was it about this particular Pure Blood who captured her imagination so?
He's different from the rest. It's not just his coloring or attitude, which seems a thousand times brighter than his peers' dark, sullen natures. His whole manner of movement and his presence is practically glowing. He takes over the space, including one as massive as the entrance hall, whenever he steps into the room. Charisma. A vampire with true charisma, not mere glamour. What makes him different? Why is he different?
It was all Olivia could do to steal her gaze away from him and slide further behind the tapestry before anyone could notice her. She didn't wish to give herself away or engage any of the Pure Bloods in conversation. They were a suspect clan, and she was only here to check up on her friend, she reminded herself. Still, a part of her wanted to rush up to the golden-god and introduce herself in a flurry of giggles and blushes.
What's wrong with me? He's not a movie star—he's a bloodsucker. Stay away. You're acting like one of those wannabe mail-order vampire brides. Hey, now there's a good idea on how we could infiltrate and spy on Pure Blood activities...
She had pinched herself hard until she winced to bring her mind back to the present. She waited for the Golden Boy and his group to exit the entrance chamber so she could slip out the front entrance undetected and head back to Hernando.
Hernando, your boyfriend. Remember him?
The guilty feeling didn't go away. An hour later, Olivia caught herself wondering what Golden Boy's favorite song was, or if he was into sushi like her friend Brittany or anchovy pizza like her friend Jace or spicy Thai foods like she liked... She gritted her teeth and picked up her pacing. Why did Hernando have to go and lock himself in a room full of other council members while she was visiting Valori?
"I'm going to find a comfy cot and take another nap." Olivia halted her pacing, finally giving up on Annara making an appearance. She gave one last long look at the closed meeting room door and sighed. Turning to leave, a rumble of voices and chairs being moved away from the committee room table alerted her to the end of the briefing. At last.
Olivia summoned her enthusiasm and smiled at the serious-looking committee members filing out of the room and into the corridor. Their faces all possessed a lingering weariness and no doubt explained their hurriedness to depart and find something to eat and a place to relax after such an excruciatingly long meeting. Annara was the last one out the door, her expression thoughtful. She was toying with one of the pepper spray canisters she'd brought back from the scene of their kidnapping. When she looked up, she saw Olivia watching her. Glancing down, Annara blinked at the canister and hurriedly stuffed it in a pocket.
"Finally!" Olivia decided not to mention the pepper spray. "You've been in that briefing forever, Annara. I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever see you again." Her friend's dark scowl indicated she wasn't in the mood for joking. Olivia took a step back and bit her lip, studying her fellow Resistance cell member for hints to why she looked so angry. "What's wrong?"
"Everything."
Annara strode down the hallway toward the council chamber. Olivia found it difficult to keep up and thought best not to quiz Annara further while in such a foul mood, so she followed in silence.
Turning the corner, they bumped into Hernando and Caveman deep in conversation. "Is it like you said?" Hernando asked. Annara nodded.
"Is what like you said? What are you guys talking about?" Olivia felt left out of the conversation as Annara, Hernando and Caveman talked under their breath. They completely ignored her as they walked toward the council chambers. "Hello?"
Hernando finally stopped. "It's all right, Olivia. Why don't you go visit a friend or ask the aides to find you food and a place to rest for a while?"
Olivia pushed his arm away. "How dare you try to treat me like a cranky toddler needing a nap! Why are you running me off? I have the right to know what's going on. I was kidnapped, too."
Hernando frowned and looked askance at Caveman and Annara. "Yes, you were, and you should know what's going on, but you can't be in on these discussions. Not yet anyway."
Olivia cringed. He averted his eyes and acted more hurt and trapped by the situation than angry with her. She could see his side of the argument, too. Did she really have the right to insist she be let in on all matters BloodDark? Was she pushing Hernando away from her by demanding equal rights?
Whatever was happening, she couldn't help herself—she needed to know. An odd feeling came over her... Yes, it was vital she knew.
"I might be able to help," she ventured.
"Look, it's nothing personal, but it's an internal BloodDark matter," Caveman explained. "You're from Earth. You're not officially working for the BloodDark embassy at present, so you don't have the security clearance."
"Security clearance? When did that come into place?" Olivia wrinkled her brow in thought. How could she convince them she wasn't a risk and was already on the same page?
Page. Letters. I know more than they think.
"Annara, you shared information with me about the current crisis here before you came to Earth. It might be considered classified information, wasn't it?" Olivia stood tall to give her words emphasis.
Hernando flashed a puzzled grin at her. Caveman's jaw dropped open.
"So, it's too late to be secretive. The beans have already been spilled." Olivia crossed her arms and smiled. Gotcha.
Now it was Annara's turn to sweat. "Uh, what I wrote to you was supposed to remain just bet
ween the two of us." She flashed a stop talking before you get us both in trouble look. "This is another matter altogether."
"I bet it's related, though."
Hernando shrugged and Caveman grunted. "Women don't keep secrets from each other it appears," the older man said. "If she takes an oath not to share any of this intelligence with Earth, I guess we can trust her."
"Trust me?" Olivia wasn't certain she cared for Caveman Charlie's attitude toward her and its implications. "Of course, you can trust me. Didn't we fight alongside each other to bring about this ruling council you now lead? Caveman, I'm hurt."
A loud sniff and a quick dab of her eyes brought about the desired response. Caveman threw up his hands. "All right, all right. You can come with us. Keep up and keep quiet."
Annara let go a long held breath and started down the corridor. Hernando sighed. "Glad that's over with," he said, taking Olivia by the elbow and pulling her to his side as they hurried through one passage after another. Olivia had a strong sense they were spiraling downward beneath the council building. "What you're about to see is top secret and is known only to members of the ruling council and its closest aides."
"I'm glad you consider me one of your closest aides."
Olivia's happiness faded as she noticed her normally good-humored Hernando didn't return her grin. Maybe it's the fast pace keeping him from smiling? He's not usually so serious. It's harder to tell with Annara since she keeps up a tough front, but she's generally more laid back, too. What dire security concerns kept her in the security briefing for hours?
"Quiet, please." Even Caveman's Irish jocularity went missing as he quickened the pace. What had happened as she slept off the effects of the Portal to add to the seriousness of their confusing and frightening kidnap attempt?
Olivia found herself almost gasping for breath by the time they stopped in front of large double doors. They were made of some kind of metal with a satiny sheen, the surfaces showing signs of clever machining work. At first she thought them featureless then spotted a tiny brass plate at chest height on one door. She could barely see it and the hole at its center. The interior light on this level was inadequate. If BloodDark City itself was bathed in starry night, then this area of the building was in eternal twilight.
Caveman pulled a short, clear crystal rod about the circumference of Olivia's pinkie finger from his jacket's top pocket. Hesitating at the lock, he turned and looked deeply into her eyes. "What you are about to see you cannot speak of, Olivia, neither with us outside the confines of the chamber, nor with any other being under any circumstances. Do you understand?"
She nodded. "I understand, but—"
He hushed her. "No talking. Breaking your vow of silence is an offense punishable by the possible death of us all."
Olivia gulped. Hernando put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed it. She patted his hand. At least he cares about me to keep me safe... Didn't he try and convince me to go lie down and leave this to the ruling council? What got into me? Why did I act arrogant and boss my way into this situation?
Caveman slid the rod into the hole in the plate. Tiny motes of ruby light glittered within the rod, dancing to a complicated pattern. She heard several series of mechanical bolts sliding back and clicking into place before the large door slowly opened. It was all Olivia could do but gasp in awe as they stepped one-by-one into the chamber.
This couldn't be happening... This wasn't what it appeared to be, was it? Could it be some kind of mind control trick such as Valori had used on the henchmen on the plane?
Olivia blinked. No, it was real, but it provoked more questions than answers. The Pure Bloods' technology was this advanced? Their present culture and civilization on the surface appeared antiquated and degenerate, a steampunk world of metal gears and coal powered machines, but the sleekness and newness of this technology belied this notion. They had been spacefarers after all and possessed the technology of the Portal.
She slowed her pace and turned around as they stopped before a row of monitor screens and input keyboards. No doubt about it, the Pure Bloods had built their own version of NASA Mission Control.
The video screen images of the skies above them yielded splashes of vivid colors and masses of constellations against the blackness of space, a visual smorgasbord only the Hubble telescope could have imagined. A low melodic hum of electronics and twinkling of multi-colored indicators on the control panel in front of them added an eerie feel of a sci-fi Christmas tree minus the pine scent. Caveman wandered down a dark row of terminals and stopped to converse with a tall Pure Blood in a long, white lab coat.
"I thought the Pure Bloods couldn't get off the planet," she whispered to Hernando. "I thought they let this sort of thing rot away."
"This room isn't for their spacecraft operations. It's essential to running the Portal successfully," he replied. "It can't just point at Earth and send things back and forth. It needs computing devices and other electronic eyes to scan the heavens." He waved his arm to indicate the room. "From what I've read of Earth technology there's more computing power in this one room than on the whole of your world. It's needed to calculate the incredibly complex equations which allow the Portal to zero in on any particular point on Earth. Only a handful of Pure Bloods’ technicians remain who know how to work these machines, but we are training new ones, Quadsangs and humans. This technology cannot be lost or else BloodDark will be totally cut off from Earth."
So few with so much knowledge and technology... so much power. "I can see how important this technology is, but why all the hush-hush? Everyone knows about the Portal on BloodDark and Earth nowadays."
"They know about it, but they do not understand how it works." Hernando laughed. "I remember how the humans grilled me for information when I first came to Earth. They didn't get much from me because I honestly couldn't tell them anything. My ignorance kept this place safe from their prying eyes."
Olivia reached out and took his hand. "You laugh about it now, but I know it wasn't easy for you then."
He shook his head and forced a smile. "It's all in the past. Anyway, the ruling council didn't understand how this place is essential to its operations until we took charge of the Portal. Very few had access to it, and only one of the coordinators agreed to show us how it operated. We had to win their trust first."
Olivia scanned the terminals and noted there were only a handful of technicians present. They all appeared to be Pure Bloods, lean, angular-featured, thin-skinned with needle-sharp teeth. She tried not to show her discomfort at the thought of being in a sealed chamber with those who had abducted her...
It's what it must have felt like for the freed slaves to have to ask their former masters to help them read and interpret their new world upon Emancipation. Can you really believe what they're teaching you now if they enslaved you before?
"How did you win their trust?" she asked.
Annara chuckled. "Weapons pointed at their heads helped a little, but in the end it came down to the clan rivalries. The Clan Delta had provided technicians for the Portal the time before the control of Clan Alpha. One of their very old instructors agreed to teach humans and Quadsangs the procedures provided we allowed the Deltans use of the Portal from time to time to sell artworks to Earth clients."
"They wanted in on some of the auction action, huh?" Olivia scanned the room again for signs of humans or Quadsangs, but so far all she saw were Pure Blood monitors of the equipment. "Has any of the new class passed their tests yet?"
"A handful." Annara turned her face away. Her posture revealed her embarrassment. "It's not been easy learning the old ways. Our peoples have not been educated to the level necessary to easily learn how to operate these machines. We have had to rely on the Deltans more than we've felt comfortable doing, but it is a temporary thing." She shuddered. "When I think of how the future of this world came down to the knowledge held by a mere handful of beings... One bad accident could've wrecked everything."
Olivia winced. "You're right,
of course, but once you have the non-Pure Blood techs up to speed, the Portal operation won't be so vulnerable, and you can rely on their loyalty one-hundred percent." That is, if any individual can be relied upon all the time and under all circumstances. I'm too realistic to believe otherwise. Or have I become cynical?
"That's the plan." Hernando sighed. "For now, we observe our Deltan technicians closely and accept their expertise. So far, they've proven worthy of our trust."
Caveman returned to their group. His dark scowl indicated to Olivia that all wasn't well at Portal Control. "Dradix has spied that unusual spike of energy again. Once is an anomaly he says, twice a coincidence, but three times...? Well, let's say he's certain it means there is another Portal operating somewhere on BloodDark."
Olivia furrowed her brow. "How can there be another Portal on this planet? Doesn't the one we just used take enormous power? Where would anyone get such power?"
"From the same place the original Portal receives its power."
Olivia turned around and put a face to the cold, deep voice which interrupted their conversation. The Pure Blood scientist called Dradix wore his long, silver-white hair in a single braid that trailed to the small of his back. He fixed his turquoise-green eyes on her. They glittered like polished gems in his deathly pale face. From the way his nostrils flared and his eyes gleamed, Olivia knew Dradix had caught her virgin scent, and she suppressed a shiver of fear. The moment passed. Dradix looked like the kind of man who'd always have total control of himself. He held himself erect, his mannerisms giving off a detached air, his tone the same as a bored daycare worker addressing a group of four year olds.
"The geothermal energies in BloodDark's molten core have more than enough to power a thousand Portals and a million cities. It is only a matter of willpower and technical expertise needed to tap into the power beneath the planet's crust and create a new Portal device. I suspect this Portal we've noticed on our instrument is much smaller, but it is capable of doing the job for its owners."
Olivia's Return Page 9
