Olivia could tell from their expressions that the Peruvian sisters did not approve of this liaison. Before she departed their company to look for others, she led the sisters over to the refreshments that had been hastily gathered and spread on long tables dragged out of the clan houses.
Olivia sighed. If Claudette wished to stay on BloodDark, it was her decision. No one had the right to take away another's choice, but was love a strong enough reason to stay? How should I decide? Best not to dwell on complicated subjects while a victory party is happening all around me...
"Hello."
Olivia spun around. The soft voice belonged to the young African mother.
"It's good to see you." Olivia threw her arms around the painfully thin woman dressed in a maid's apron and drab work dress. "We will take you home to your baby very soon."
Tears streamed down the young mother's lovely face. "My baby. Yes. I go home. You go?"
Olivia choked back a sob and nodded. "I see you learned to speak English."
"Yes, but I go home now. You see me there?"
"One day. Yeah, I'd love to visit you. Where exactly do you live?"
They shared a long conversation with many pauses and foreign words mixed in, but Olivia eventually learned her friend's name and the name of her small village in Botswana.
The party continued, growing larger and more boisterous by the minute. Olivia connected with many of the others who were abducted with her and did her best to share in their joy to be returning to Earth soon, but found it difficult. She accepted a glass of BloodDark wine and toasted to the bravery of her fellow Resistance fighters several dozen times.
No sign of Hernando. She sighed. He had much more important things to do, she realized, things that didn't involve her as an outsider to BloodDark. She felt like calling it a day and leaving the party to find a place to lie down and rest for a few hours when a big commotion at the opposite side of the square caught her eye.
"What's happening?" She tugged at Pablo's sleeve as he passed by her carrying a large wine cask on his shoulder.
"A group from our farm has arrived," Pablo said.
"From the farm?" Olivia furrowed her brow. "You're kidding me. Doesn't the trip take a couple of days?"
He dumped the wine cask next to the food tables and shrugged. "It can, but they hijacked another transport a short while after we left and pushed the engineers to go much faster than normal. They decided they didn't want to miss out on all the action after all."
"I'm happy to hear it. I'm off to get some sleep now." Yawning, she turned to leave the square and spotted a familiar face in the sea of newcomers. "Valori?" She forgot her fatigue and ran over to hug her friend "You made it!"
Valori's dark eyes twinkled. She hugged Olivia back. "I did, my child. I didn't want to miss the chance of seeing you again before you went home."
"Yes, home." Olivia averted her eyes. "I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't stay here a while longer."
Valori frowned. "Your parents will be sick to death with worry. Child, you may go home now, but you will come back later. I have a feeling you will learn to live on both worlds and become a bridge between our peoples."
"What a beautiful idea." She hugged the older woman again. "I wish you'd travel with me to meet my family, Valori. They'd simply adore you."
"Perhaps I will travel someday." The deep wrinkles about her mouth turned up into a big grin. "I've never had the chance to take a holiday in all my days. It might be nice to visit another planet. Is it warm there?"
Olivia shrugged. "Where I live? In the summertime, it can be very warm. We'll make the arrangements for you to come then. No use in you arriving in winter and being frozen solid by a blizzard!"
"A blizzard?" Valori's eyes widened. "Frozen solid? What manner of torture is that?"
Olivia swallowed her giggles as she motioned for her friend to sit down beside her on the Portal's steps. She carefully explained to Valori—and several other human and Quadsang natives of BloodDark who gathered about her to learn more—how snow and rain fell in abundance on Earth and how each season in turn had its own weather. Their dubious expressions after her lengthy explanation of the water cycle made Olivia determined to convince them that she was telling the truth.
"I will take you all on a fall color tour if you visit me in October. The trees will be full of red, orange, and gold leaves. I promise!"
"May I join your tour group?" Hernando's smile was evident in the question. Those standing parted, allowing him to approach her.
Olivia's heart skipped a beat. He'd cleaned up and found some new clothes since she last saw him. He looked very official in his long cape, but she didn't want it to go to his head. She pursed her lips into a fake pout. "Why certainly you may come along with us, sir, provided you don't interrupt the tour guide while she's doing her job."
"Never." He plopped down beside her on the step. His eyes twinkled and his grin melted through Olivia's indignation at being kept apart for most of the celebration. "I'll need to learn all I can about Earth. Who better than a native to teach me?"
Valori chuckled. "Yes, I see that I am right. You will both learn to live on two worlds."
Hernando placed an arm around Olivia's shoulders and winked. "What's she on about?"
"You have been designated our first ambassador to Earth," Valori said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Congratulations."
Hernando's jaw dropped in surprise. "H-how did you know? You weren't at our discussions these past few hours, were you?"
The gray-haired woman touched a bony finger to her temple and smiled. "Remember, I am a part Pure Blood. Some of us have the second sight."
"Ha! I don't believe in that superstitious stuff about the bloodsuckers reading minds and predicting the future." Hernando laughed it off, but Olivia could sense Valori's insight had unnerved him. "So, if the Pure Bloods can see into the future, how come they weren't better prepared to defend the Portal?" he asked. "They wouldn't just let us stroll into the city and take it without a fight if they knew our plans in advance."
Valori knitted her brows, considering her reply. "Perhaps they gave in because they knew their time of ascendancy was ending. Perhaps the Pure Bloods realized it's time to allow human beings to take charge of things so they can concentrate their energy on other matters."
He frowned. Olivia sensed a dark mood coming over Hernando and did her best to distract him by pointing out how funny the drunken dancers twirling about in the square were, but he'd have none of it.
"What other matters?" he asked Valori. "If you know something..."
"I know nothing. Perhaps you will learn what they are when you are made ambassador?" Valori shrugged and grinned. "It's time for me to talk to some old friends I see over by the tables." She accepted Olivia's offer of help to regain her feet and then wandered off into the crush of party goers.
"Congratulations, Mr. Ambassador." Olivia bowed with a flourish of hands. "I'd be happy to join your staff as your personal assistant."
The mood passed. He jumped to his feet and pulled her, laughing, into his embrace. "Now, you read my mind."
*****
The next day at the feasting hall, Caveman stood at the head of the long table in charge of the assembly. The leaders of the Pure Blood’s clan, looking suitably pale and sullen in their dark ceremonial robes, sat on both sides. Olivia was glad she and Hernando had seats on the nearby dais to witness such a historic event.
"We are agreed. You will accept our terms or the humans, Quadsangs, and those Overseers who wish to do so will depart this world and shut down the Portal permanently."
Olivia smiled to herself. Caveman has turned out to be quite a tough negotiator. Drucinda and the other clan leaders look like they've been run over by a steamroller. Somehow she hadn't thought the vampires would have given in so easily, but if looks could kill the other clans acted as if they wanted to strangle the Alphan clan members on the spot. The other clans despised the Alphans for their duplicity in hiding the spaceship fo
r what Valori had reckoned was well over ten centuries.
"We are agreed," Drucinda said in dry, reserved tone that did little to hide the inner turmoil evident on her features. "Humans and Quadsangs will be trained to operate the Portal for the good of all on BloodDark. We will live by your terms."
"Good." Caveman leaned into his fists planted on the table and stared at the other clans' spokespersons. "The rest of you clans are agreed?"
The other clan leaders mumbled and grimaced, but they acted ready to go along with the treaty's terms. Olivia could tell there was no love lost between the lesser clans and the Alphans. The other clans probably felt that if they couldn't have control of the Portal then neither could their Pure Blood enemies. Maybe some of the humans and Quadsangs who chose to remain should act as official mediators between the clans to prevent further conflict? It could be the Alphans only hope of survival.
Surprisingly even Wornok, now the elected representative of what Olivia termed the Overseers Union, nodded his agreement.
"Better to serve masters who have endured servitude and understand what it's like to be a slave than to continue to serve those who hold nothing but contempt for our kind." Wornok seemed adept at rationalizing his actions to his fellow Overseers. "We will be seen as equal partners in the development and care of our world rather than used as cannon fodder by a selfish ruling class."
"Preach it!" Olivia clapped her hands at the end of Wornok's remarks. Who knew Wornok was such an eloquent speaker? Drucinda and her fellow clan leaders cringed at the Overseers' leveled stares. Olivia sensed the Pure Bloods knew their days of ordering their lackeys around had come to an end.
There'll be no more fooling these guys into kissing Pure Blood butt. They know the score, and they won't be pushed around again.
Could the Overseers, mostly trained soldiers and guards, be trusted not to take advantage of the situation? Olivia had read enough history to know that armies sometimes couldn't wait for a democracy to establish itself before seizing power. The Overseer class had been fooled into thinking they'd be able to share in the reign of the Pure Bloods someday, but would they easily slip into a role where all of BloodDark inhabitants were considered equals?
Olivia agreed with Hernando that the terms of the treaty were fair and straightforward. The Resistance leaders had laid out a temporary governing council in which each group—human, Quadsang, Overseer, and Pure Blood—had uniform representation. Caveman had been made acting president for now, but elections were scheduled to be held within six Earth months' time so all citizens of BloodDark could have a say in their new government.
As Valori had foreseen, Hernando was chosen to act as BloodDark's first representative to Earth. He was assigned to return with the first group of humans to be repatriated—those most recently kidnapped and the elderly who'd been long separated from their loved ones and desired to return to Earth to spend the remainder of their years. Regular trips through the Portal would be scheduled for the remaining humans wishing to go home as well as for other BloodDark citizens who wished to see Earth first hand. No one would be denied access to the Portal as had been the case for centuries.
"None of the hunting vampires should be permitted to return to Earth!" came a fervent cry from the galleries. "Those kidnappers should be punished!"
"We will establish tribunals and punish those who have wronged others," Caveman assured the protesters. "For now, only humans and official representatives of the ruling council will travel to Earth. Each application for Portal transport will be carefully screened."
"By whom? And what about witnesses? If the humans have returned to Earth, how can they testify as to the truth of these criminals?"
That voice is familiar. Olivia turned in her seat and searched for the face of the questioner. Annara. I wonder will she have a hand in tracking these kidnappers down in the future?
"We will establish a tribunal," Caveman continued. "We will authorize representatives to take statements from kidnap victims both before and after they are returned to Earth, but for those of you whose parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents were kidnapped, you must be patient. Your loved ones' kidnappers may be difficult or impossible to discover and identify. As the new order is established, we will look into this matter further, but for now..."
Caveman picked up a writing utensil, scratched his name onto the bottom of the document and passed it to the clan leaders and other leaders of the various BloodDark factions to sign. Everyone stood and clapped politely as each took the pen to sign.
"I'm glad that's over with at last," Hernando whispered to Olivia as the ceremony drew to a close. They stood and walked through the hall and out the large double doors and into the courtyard beyond. "Are you ready to go home now?"
She squeezed his hand. "More than ready. I've come up with the perfect location for our landing on Earth. Didn't you say it would take less power if all of the group were transported to one place?"
"Yes, it would take less power, but would it be fair to the recent kidnap victims? I'd hope we'd be able to return each to his or her native land. What have you in mind?"
"Since you're going to be the BloodDark ambassador to Earth, what better place for you—and all of us from all over the Earth—to return to than the United Nations? You'll be able to meet ambassadors from all over the world, and they will help each person return to his or her homeland. I figured it's probably the best place for you to formally introduce yourself to humanity through the media."
"The media?" Olivia forgot that BloodDark didn't have any television stations, newspapers, or internet—yet.
"Don't worry," she said, grinning. "I'll stay by your side and help you field their questions, especially the stupid ones some reporters might ask."
Hernando nodded. "Very wise. You'll make an excellent personal assistant, Miss Olivia Brown, intelligent as well as beautiful." He kissed her on the cheek.
"Thanks." She blushed. "It is an honor to serve with you, Ambassador Hernando... Hey, I've never asked before, but what is your last name?"
"I only have the one name besides my clan designation. It's deemed sufficient on this small planet." He raised an eyebrow and winked. "Will I need more names at the United Nations?"
"No, it's not a requirement. I'll warn you, though, it might take the other ambassadors some time getting used to your smile." Olivia chuckled. "Most humans don't have fangs."
Continued in
BloodDark Book Two: Olivia's Return
February 2017
About Cindy and Adrian Matthews
Cindy A. and Adrian J. Matthews are a married writing team who met through a mutual publisher. They have been published multiple times in SF/fantasy/paranormal and contemporary fiction. Cindy writes SF/Fantasy under the pen-name Cynthianna, notably her Doctor Who-inspired rom-com series Loving Who, and adult vampire fiction as Celine Chatillon. Adrian writes SF/paranormal/contemporary fiction as A. J. Matthews. His "Mr. Grey, Ghosthunter" series is intended for mature audiences. Together they have created the exciting world of BloodDark, a tidally-locked world inhabited by the Pure Bloods, a vampire-like race, along with abducted humans and their offspring.
Cindy and Adrian regularly attend several science fiction conventions as panelists. They enjoy chatting on many writing/publishing and sci-fi fandom topics. Adrian also creates SF/fantasy/steampunk three-dimensional artwork for sale at cons and through his Smiling Assassin Productions.
Olivia's Escape Page 17
