Author: J. C. Diem
Date: 2014-02-02T18:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fiction; Fantasy; Dark Fantasy; Paranormal; Romance; General; Vampires
Description: Evicted from their own world by the humans that they had twice saved, Natalie Pierce and her few remaining kin float in the void of space inside the ship that has become an icy tomb. Rescue comes in the form of an alien spacecraft and Nat and her friends are soon facing adversaries that they have never encountered before. Their dwindling species is on the brink of extinction and it quickly becomes apparent that their new enemies would be only too happy to finish them off once and for all.(paranormal romance, fantasy romance, dark fantasy, vampire series, dark fantasy series, paranormal romance
Publisher: Seize The Night Agency

Death Banishes

J.C. Diem

Copyright 2014 J.C. Diem

All rights reserved.

Amazon Kindle Edition, License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be copied, resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.

Cover art: J.C. Diem

Images: ©Veronika Vasilyuk - Dreamstime.com

© Angela Harburn - Dreamstime.com

Dedication

To my immediate family, aunties, cousins, friends and the kind souls who have left such wonderful reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Thank you all for your encouragement and for giving me the inspiration and motivation to write this series.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

.~.

Chapter One

Floating weightlessly in the cold, dark belly of the spaceship, I was surrounded by my slowly dying kin. I’d only just woken up from a sleep that had felt more like hibernation and already the psychological burden of responsibility was wrapping around me in an invisible web. My friends and allies were counting on me to save them from eventual death by starvation and I was failing them utterly.

We’d been banished from Earth an unknown length of time ago, rejected by a world that wanted nothing to do with creatures like us. Sure, we’d saved the humans twice from a vampire infestation that would have turned them into cattle, but they’d decided they would be better off without us anyway. I should have been used to it by now but I was still stunned by Colonel Sanderson’s betrayal. The soldier had tried his hardest to do away with me by ordering his men to toss me out into the sun. Rendered helpless by the unbearable pain of being boiled alive inside my clothes, I’d been unable to stop the men from blowing me apart with weapons that had been designed specifically to kill vampires. The sun had reduced what was left of me to ash then the colonel had swept my remains into a metal box and had thrown it into the sea.

It had taken me four and a half months to free myself from the tiny prison. While I’d been busy trying to figure a way out of the box, my small army had been captured. I’d made my way from Bulgaria to France and had managed to discover where my kin had been taken after cornering and questioning the Comtesse. Former ruler of the European vampire nation, she had also been my arch nemesis. The Comtesse hadn’t known where my friends were and believed they were all dead.

After unleashing my holy marks and reducing her into a messy stain on the ground, I’d descended into despair. My grief had been interrupted by the human soldiers I’d bamboozled into believing I hadn’t been slaughtering a mansion full of vampires right under their noses. One of the men had told me my kin weren’t all dead and that the survivors had been taken to the United States.

I’d immediately travelled to Denver, Colorado and had eventually broken my small band of kin free. They’d been experimented on like lab rats but the tests had more closely resembled torture rather than scientific studies. Every single one of the survivors had turned on their captors and had fed from them to renew their depleted energy. The remaining humans had then been mercilessly torn apart. It was a fate they’d earned and had heartily deserved.

For a few short nights after fleeing from the compound, we’d mistakenly thought we had managed to evade Colonel Sanderson. But the wily soldier had foreseen a possible escape attempt and had embedded my friends with tracking devices. We had been located, rounded up and flown back to America. Our fate had been decided by the U.S. government in conjunction with other world leaders, and we’d been kicked off the planet. Now here we were, drifting aimlessly through the void in a shiny white spaceship.

Once our fuel had run out, the temperature had quickly begun to plummet. Within days ice had begun to cover the hull. It had spread to its undead cargo and now we were all frozen solid. My eyes were stuck shut and weren’t about to open anytime soon but I could sense my kin drifting insensate around me like deadwood on a tide.

Wishing Gregor was able to offer me guidance, I had to figure a way out of our dilemma on my own. Even my inner voice was quiet this time. Usually when I was in trouble it would offer suggestions on how I could escape from the latest calamity I’d managed to get myself into.

If my memory served me correctly, blood tended to be drawn inwards and away from the extremities when hypothermia was setting in. I had passed far beyond hypothermia and had reached the status of an ice cube. It appeared that escape from our icy tomb was impossible but I had learned that very little was impossible for me. I might be average in intelligence but I’d always had an active imagination and I just had to think of a way to make myself move.

Drawing my consciousness deep inside my body, I probed my flesh and found it to be completely inert. The only way I was going to be able to move was if I could somehow break my flesh apart. When I’d been reduced to ash by the sun, I’d managed to possess a few tiny particles at a time and gradually escape from my confinement. That had been tricky but I’d managed to pull it off. This was different. My body wasn’t in teeny tiny little bits and pieces, it was whole and unharmed. How was I supposed to reduce any of my parts back to particle form again?

Heaving a silent sigh, my subconscious finally came to my rescue once more. Don’t you remember what happened when the scientist in Colorado tried to shoot you in the face? It sent me a picture of my head splitting in two to avoid the bullet. I didn’t have any control over that, I reminded my inner voice. My body did it out of self-preservation or something. Waiting for me to put two and two together, my subconscious tapped a mental foot impatiently. Throwing its hands into the air when I remained blank, it gave me the answer to my dilemma. Your body now reacts to your thoughts, stupid! Jeez, I can’t believe I’m stuck with a numb nuts like you.

Mentally scowling at the insult, I mulled over its advice. So, my body does what I want it to just because I ask it to, huh? Concentrating on my left hand, I silently told it to detach. I couldn’t see it since my eyes were frozen shut but I heard a faint snap through my ice clogged ears as the appendage came free. So far so good. I then commanded Lefty to break down into tiny particles. For several minutes, nothing happened. Then I felt it begin to tremble violently before it suddenly disintegrated. Hopefully, it had turned into millions of tiny specks that were almost too tiny for me to see even if my eyes had actually been operational right now.

A hand would be useful but I needed to see what I was doing before I could have any chance of saving us. Concentrating on my eyes, I instructed them to detach. With another tearing sound, they came free from my face. Eventually responding to my mental command, they broke down into much smaller components before becoming whole again. My plan worked and, for the moment, the orbs were unfrozen and I was able to see. Obeying my direction, they clumsily turned to observe each other. I’d accidentally torn my eyelids off when my eyes had detached and they perched on top of my orbs like tiny little hats. I giggled silently and noted a touch of hysteria in my amusement. I was almost glad my friends weren’t conscious to see my fumbling attempts to rescue them.

Turning my orbs towards my kin, I gave a mental gasp of horror. Geordie floated only a few feet away from me. His young face was prematurely wrinkled and he’d turned into an old man since I had seen him last. His once dirty blonde hair was now almost completely grey. His eyes were partially open and seemed to be staring at me accusingly. The irises still showed a faint sliver of blue. The likelihood of him living long enough for all of the colour to fade as his pupils grew to their maximum size was now slim. I uneasily wondered just how long I’d been asleep for.

Emperor Ishida was even more wrinkled and wasted than Geordie. He’d been twelve when he’d been turned and would be child sized forever. Due to the experiment the scientists had performed on him, he was missing half of the diseased blood that powered us. He’d aged during the process and had become horribly weakened as a result.

Geordie wasn’t much older in mortal years and had been fifteen when he’d been turned. He had been undead for roughly two hundred years and was the youngest of the survivors by far, except for me, of course.

Frost covered the rest of my kin as well. It distorted their faces and coated their clothing. Every single one of the twenty-eight other survivors of our species were in dire jeopardy but the two teens were in the gravest danger. Unless I found a way to land the ship and find them food, Geordie and Ishida would be the first to die. With my vivid imagination, I could easily picture everyone’s undead lives being snuffed out one by one as their bodies turned to sludge. Their empty clothing would continue to float in the weightlessness and so would their frozen, liquefied remains.

Mentally shuddering at the thought of blundering through their frozen, watery ooze when I succumbed to sleep again, I very nearly broke into dry sobs. I probably would have if my body hadn’t been frozen.

Enough whining already! I started at the sneer that reverberated around inside my head. Take a look around you, Natalie, my inner voice said more calmly this time now that it had my attention. What do you see?

Unwillingly, I rotated my eyes and saw Luc floating a few feet away. His normally serene, handsome face was pinched and haggard. Deep lines grooved his forehead and grey flecked his black hair. My gaze fell on Gregor next. He was frowning as if deep in thought but there was no activity going on inside his head. All of my kin had shut down in self-preservation even before they had become vampsicles. Igor, at fifteen thousand years old, was weathering the forced starvation better than most yet the Russian had also begun to show signs of suffering beneath his icy visage.

I swept my eyes across the rest of my friends and allies. Kokoro, prophetess for the Japanese vampire nation, had known that we would face death and darkness. Even so, she hadn’t been shown a vision that we would end up in the darkness of outer space. I had but I’d been unable to understand what it was that I’d been seeing in my dreams.

Aventius, ex-Councillor for the French Court, had gathered his flock around him when he’d still been able to. They were still clustered around him now, as if he was somehow keeping them safe even in his unanimated state. Cristov, Aventius’ new right hand man, floated beside his leader. He had proven to be steady and reliable during our escape from the underground compound in Denver. The rest of the Japanese and European vampires were spread throughout the hold. A few had frozen together, unknowingly becoming unified in their comas. Some were face up and some were face down, all were unaware of what was happening around them.

Again, my attention was drawn to Luc. He had been known to all as ‘Lord Lucentio’ before I had blundered into his unlife. Luc, as I’d quickly nicknamed him, had found me in my home town of Brisbane a couple of nights after I had been turned into a vampire. Luc had come to Australia in search of my maker, Silvius. I now had no doubt that fate had thrown us together. My beloved had taken me under his wing in the early stages of learning that I was Mortis. Even knowing that my purpose was to bring death to the damned, he had stayed by my side. Now we were the damned, sentenced to oblivion by the same fate that had brought us together.

Do you want to lose Luc? My subconscious asked. Of course not, I responded miserably. I don’t want to lose any of them. After a brief pause while my inner voice searched for any signs of a lie, it finally had a few words of advice. Then I suggest you get your arse into gear and save them.

.~.

Chapter Two

Drifting towards each other, my eyes touched and immediately stuck together. In a few minutes my sight would become obscured as they froze solid again. Using the optic nerves that floated behind them like tiny little arms, they propelled themselves towards the hatch that separated the bulk of the ship from the cockpit.

I’d examined the hatch countless times in the first few days that we had been banished from Earth and had never once found a weakness to exploit. I was the strongest vampire in the ship and had only succeeded in smashing my hands down into broken shards when pounding on the thick metal hatch and the walls to either side of it. I’d healed instantly each time but had given up after Geordie had begun sobbing in distress at seeing me in pain.

Nothing had changed since then, the hatch would still be impenetrable and I would still smash my bones if I managed to unfreeze the rest of my body and attempted to try to punch my way through it. Yet here I was, anchoring my eyes by the optic nerves on the narrow, circular hatch anyway.

My eyeballs iced over again before I could begin my exploration. It took a few minutes to break them down into tiny particles and reform them again. Using my enhanced vampire vision, I went over every inch of the hatch, searching for flaws. Again, I came up empty. If there were any defects, they were too tiny for me to see.

Desperate to save my kin, I called Lefty over to the hatch. Some of the cells had clumped together, making them too large to be effective. It was getting easier to break them down but it still took several minutes each time. With Lefty reduced to microscopic cells again, I sent them out to search for a way through to the other side of the hatch.

It was a long, slow and boring process. Time weighed on me heavily and I could feel it rapidly running out for my friends. I had almost fallen into a coma again from the sheer monotony of sliding my cells over the smooth metal surface when I finally found an irregularity. My eyes floated closer to watch as the cells tested the hollow. Sliding inside, they felt their way deeper inside the hole until they came to a sudden stop.

Disappointment set in when I realized the hole didn’t extend all the way through to the other side of the hatch. Bitter at the thought of being so close to breaking through, I wished I had a drill. Make a drill, my inner voice suggested and gave me a mental picture of my particles turning razor sharp and digging away at the metal.

Sending a swarm of particles into the shallow hole, I set them the task of grinding away at the metal. Bit by bit, the hollow deepened. Set to autopilot, the particles drilled away, swapping over regularly to keep up the momentum. I estimated that several days passed before they finally broke through. It would have been a much quicker process if I hadn’t had to keep unfreezing myself every few minutes.

Snapping out of a semi-doze, I realized my particles had stopped grinding away and were now floating on the other side of the hatch and waiting for another command. I couldn’t do much with just a pair of eyes and one hand but I could at least take a look around the area. Commanding my eyes to break down, they squirmed through the microscopic hole in the hatch to join Lefty.

Both my hand and eyes reformed as ordered on the other side of the hatch. Cupping my eyes in its palm, Lefty clumsily turned in a circle to give me some idea of what lay on the other side. The brief inspection showed me a small area that tapered down to yet another hatch. Clawing at the air, Lefty gained some momentum and bumped into the wall. Leaving several layers of skin from my fingers behind on the icy metal surface, it crawled over to the second hatch. My detached eyes examined the edges and I was relieved to see the door hadn’t been welded shut this time. A circular handle barred my access.

Leaving my orbs to float on their own, Lefty grasped the handle but it wouldn’t budge. It would take more strength than one dismembered hand owned to open the hatch. Gaining access to the cockpit was our only hope and that meant I had to shift the rest of my body through the tiny hole in the hatch. Bit by bit, I began to break my body down and reduce it to particle form. Finally, just my head remained. I wished there was some way to take my clothes through the door but I had no control over them. They remained behind, floating peacefully while my head disintegrated.

Funnelling my head through the hole, finally my entire body was together again. I called my eyes and Lefty over as my particles turned into a swarming mass then took the shape of my body. Instead of taking hours to reform, this time it happened in seconds. Whole again, I studied my hands in amazement. The last time I had tried to rebuild my body from tiny molecules and atoms, it had taken a whole day. You’d been badly injured that time and had to heal everything from scratch, my inner voice reminded me. This time I had been reduced to microscopic particles at my own will so maybe that was why I’d reformed so quickly.

It was freezing inside the ship and being naked wasn’t helping to warm me up. My teeth chattered as I propelled myself the short distance to the second hatch. It opened easily now that I was using two hands as well as my full vampire strength. With a screech, the handle turned and the hatch hissed open.

I’d expected to see the vast reaches of space through the windows but a grey shutter blocked my view. I was dismayed by the confusing array of ice coated buttons and levers on the console. Drifting over to the twin seats, I pulled myself into one and buckled the straps. Kept in place by the harness, I floated a couple of inches above the seat and studied the control panel. I could barely see it beneath the layer of ice so pried it off. The chunks floated around me like oversized snowflakes.

Half an hour or so later, I was no closer to understanding how the ship worked. No one had left me a handy manual to read and the buttons and levers gave me no indication of what their functions were. Figuring that I couldn’t do too much damage since the craft had long ago run out of fuel, I methodically began to push buttons.

One of the buttons finally worked and the grey shutter suddenly began to move upwards. It revealed a vast inky darkness with a smattering of distant stars. Staring at the void that surrounded the ship, I now knew why Kokoro had been sent her vision of death and darkness. Darkness had enfolded us and now death was hovering nearby, ready to snatch up my friends one by one and entomb them in oblivion.

Giving into despair would have been easy but I didn’t think my subconscious would agree with that idea. I had a feeling it would nag me until I did everything I possibly could to free my people.

Leaving the shutter open, I searched for a way to call for help. Humans had been the ones to send us out here and it was highly doubtful they’d change their minds about wanting us around. Sending out a distress call was our only chance of rescue so I picked up what looked like a microphone and started pushing buttons around it. I blinked in surprise when the lights suddenly came on. They illuminated the panel but didn’t help me to figure out what each button, dial and lever did. Whatever power source I had just tapped into probably wouldn’t last long.

“Hello? Is anyone out there?” I said into the microphone. “Our spaceship is out of fuel and we’re drifting helplessly. If anyone can hear me, please send help.” I repeated the message until the power ran out a few hours later.

After several never ending nights of watching the darkness that surrounded our ship, my subconscious admitted defeat. Give it up, it told me wearily. If anyone was out here, they would have found you by now.

Drawing my knees up to my chest, I wrapped my arms around them. Too defeated to cry, I sent my senses out in a last ditch effort to find help. Through the two hatches behind me, my kin were a barely detectable presence. Their unnatural life forces flickered, as if they were on the edge of death. Sweeping outwards from the ship, I sent my senses out as far as I could and felt nothing but emptiness.

Rotating in a circular motion, I began to bring my senses back in. Pausing when I felt a disturbance, I zeroed in on what felt like a ripple at the faintest edge of my radar. I went utterly still and concentrated with everything I had. Slowly but inexorably, something came into my range and drew closer with each moment that passed.

Hovering near the life forms, I knew they weren’t vampires or imps but they felt similar to them somehow. Maybe my abilities had changed again and I could now sense humans. Frankly, after the way we had been treated by them, I think would have preferred an alien rescue over humans any day.

.~.

Chapter Three

Eventually, the craft drew close enough for me to be able to see it through the window. Only my enhanced vampire vision made this possible. Without it I wouldn’t have noticed the craft at all. The gigantic ship was dead black and was almost invisible to the naked eye. Our ship would stand out, since it was so shiny and white.

As the craft descended, the cockpit was plunged into an even greater darkness. It occurred to me that I would be visible cowering naked inside the cockpit and I scrambled for the harness release. Leaving one eye behind as a spy, I scurried out through the hatch and closed it just as bright light blossomed inside the cockpit.

Holding onto the chair by the optic nerves, my eye tried to squint against the light but couldn’t since it didn’t have an eyelid stuck to it this time. It grew used to the brightness and goggled at what was clearly alien technology. Our ship shuddered when a gigantic pair of robot arms reached out and took hold of our hull. Another robot arm descended and violet light pierced the cockpit. My eye flinched and ducked back behind the seat as the robot presumably scanned for life forms. I wondered what their senses would pick up since we were pretty much just corpses that were animated by a strange dark magic.

Using the chair, my eye propelled itself backwards. I cracked the hatch door open just wide enough for the orb to float through it then closed it again. Popping my eye back into place, I made my way back to the other hatch and underwent the painstakingly long process of reducing myself down to particles again. It went slightly more quickly this time, mainly due to the fear that was invading me. I didn’t want to be separated from my friends when the beings that had snatched us came to investigate their find.

My panic turned out to be premature. I had plenty of time to funnel back through the hole and reform in the hold alongside my kin. My clothes still floated near the hatch. I shook the worst of the frost from them and performed an inelegant mid-air ballet to get dressed. We were all wearing clothing that we’d stolen from a store in Colorado. My outfit of a dark blue hoodie and black jeans matched Geordie’s almost exactly.

A quick count gave me the same number of vampires that I’d left behind some nights ago. Thankfully, no one had died during my absence. Expecting the outer hatch to be blown open at any moment, I gathered my insensate friends and allies together into one big jumble. Hours passed and nothing happened, except the temperature seemed to be warming up. Hours turned into days and my vigilance eventually slipped enough for me to fall asleep.

Opening my eyes, I was surrounded by dull silver walls. They stretched out in two directions with an occasional hallway branching off now and then. I’d had this dream before but was no less confused by it this time around.

Choosing a direction, I started walking. Passing the first opening, I glanced down it to see it breaking into another intersection. Wherever I was, I still had the feeling that it was huge. The smell of rotten eggs was still there but it was fainter this time. I suspected that if I’d been human, and this hadn’t just been a dream, the air would have been barely breathable.

Reaching the end of the main hallway, I looked left and right and saw more hallways. Choosing a different path from the one I’d taken in my previous dream, I glanced up at a painting that hung about a foot above my head and shuddered. The artist was brilliant but also very disturbed. He, she or it had painted a post-apocalyptic scene that was realistic enough to give me nightmares.

Blasted by war, a city sat in the distance. An ancient mountain range loomed behind it. Dry, cracked ground surrounded the city. Buildings had been shattered by weapons that were probably far more sophisticated than anything earthlings had yet invented. Only a few tall, thin towers remained. Whole blocks had been reduced to rubble. It was night time but the sky was a sickly yellow the exact shade I imagined the air would be if it had had colour. Thick, black clouds were massed over the city and almost seemed to be slowly moving.

Mesmerized by the exquisite detail, I caught something from the corner of my eye. Turning my head, I realized it wasn’t a painting at all. I was looking at an almost invisible monitor. Some kind of biped was on the move, it was so far in the distance that it was just a tiny dot. From the jerky way it was walking, I suspected it was mechanical.

Dazed that I seemed to have dreamed myself onto an alien planet, I continued down the hallway. Strange chirping noises, like hundreds of birds all trying to communicate at once, caught my ear. A few more turns brought me to a much smaller hallway. Rows upon rows of doors branched off to either side.

Stopping at the first door, the window was far too high for me to peer through. Stretching up, I found enough purchase to haul myself up and peeked through the glass. Tiny creatures that were maybe two and a half feet tall were grouped together. Some were curled on their sides and huddled together like puppies as they slept. Their skin was grey and their ears were long, pointed and curled up at the ends. “Aww,” I whispered. They were so cute I almost wanted to pick one up and cuddle it.

Alerted by the noise, one looked up and saw me. Red light blazed from its eyes. Reaching out with a tiny, clawed hand, it chirped something and my blood tried to run cold. “Food?” it asked me. Others heard and turned. Soon they were all awake and started climbing over top of each other to reach me. They built a tower of bodies until one of the creatures was only a few inches away on the other side of the window. Exposing razor sharp teeth, it smashed its face into the glass and tried to eat its way through. Battle lust was turning it crazy as it frantically tried to reach me.

Dropping to the ground, the hairs on the back of my neck rose as the rest of the creatures in the hallway realized prey was standing only feet away. They started bashing against the doors in a frenzy to rend, tear and feed.

Waking, I tried to sit up, momentarily forgetting that I was weightless. The tiny creatures had seemed vaguely familiar but had quickly become very familiar when their rage had become uncontrollable. I didn’t know what they had been originally but they were now a form of the imps I’d known and despised back on Earth.

Again wishing Gregor was awake so I could pick his brain, I was left to puzzle this out for myself. Even my subconscious was quiet as I reviewed my dream. I came to the conclusion that the same alien that had infected the First had somehow also infected the creatures of the planet that I had just dreamed about. I also suspected we were now heading for that very planet.

The small creatures had probably been harmless enough before the alien blood had changed them into soulless eating machines. Unlike the imps I was used to, these hadn’t been hairless but had sported soft fuzz on their scalps. Their noses had been short stubs rather than flat and batlike. They had been remarkably similar in size and shape, making me think of them as clones again. Their eyes had been red rather than orange but maybe that was because they had originated from a species that wasn’t even close to being human.

I had managed the improbable by breaking into the cockpit and calling for help. Now it seemed that help wouldn’t be forthcoming at all. My dream was a warning that we had just jumped from the frying pan into a raging inferno.

Cocooned deep within the gigantic black spaceship, I only knew we had landed when gravity suddenly returned. Vampires thumped to the ground, still insensate and totally unaware that we had been captured despite being mostly thawed out since the temperature was much warmer now. The ice had melted a couple of nights ago but no one had woken from their comas yet. I was beginning to worry that they’d been frozen too long to be able to recover from it.

Moving quickly, I bundled my friends into a pile, making sure to push Geordie and Ishida into the centre. They were the most vulnerable and needed the most protection. I figured the hatch would be the most likely spot where the aliens would enter so I positioned myself on top of the mound facing the doorway.

Bright white light cut through the metal beside the hatch instead of through it directly, so I was half right. Keeping my eyes open a sliver, I watched as a large rectangle was carved into the hull then was suddenly yanked away. A creature that I estimated to be about nine feet tall entered. Beneath the simple black long sleeved shirt and pants, its skin was grey.

I wanted to sit bolt upright in recognition when I saw it’s red eyes and pointed ears but forced myself to lie still. It looked a heck of a lot like the alien that had crash landed on earth millions of years ago. This had to be one of the beings that had first spawned our unnatural species then had eventually caused us to be sent into space to be captured…by the same alien beings. I felt the hands of destiny closing around me as an ancient circle closed, capturing us in its midst and trapping us inside.

What the hell is going on here? I wailed at my subconscious. Take a closer look at it, it sent back at me. I did as commanded and noticed something strange about the alien. It didn’t blink and its movements were almost automated. It had a short, stubby nose and a mouth that was almost just a thin, lipless line. A bulky contraption that looked like a really ugly bracelet was attached to its left wrist and it held some kind of monitor in its right hand. The thing that offered its blood to the First wasn’t an alien at all. It was a robot just like this one, I realized. The explanation did little to clear up my confusion. Now that my inner voice had pointed it out, it was obvious that I was looking at a machine rather than at a living creature.

Striding forward, the robot aimed its monitor at the mound of bodies and violet light flared brightly. “Interesting,” the mechanical imp said in the same language the First and his clone hordes had used. Its mouth opened and closed slightly as it spoke but was a poor imitation of speech.

“What did the scanner pick up?” a gravelly, guttural voice barked through the contraption on the robot’s wrist.

“There are no signs of life within the creatures,” the robot responded without emotion or inflection. “The one that presumably sent the message appears to have been in far better health than the others before it also perished.”

“Are you sure it’s really dead?” the deep, raspy voice sounded suspicious. “It might be a ploy sent by my enemies. Check the creatures for traps.”

Kneeling beside the pile of bodies, the robot pressed the monitor to my leg. I controlled a wince at the small flash of pain that quickly faded. Studying the readings, the robot stood and backed away a pace. “The scans have picked up something very strange,” it said.

“Toxins?” grunted the other voice.

“Not toxins or anything that is harmful to you or your kind, master.”

“What is it then?”

“These creatures are not from our solar system. We have never encountered their species before yet I have detected ancient Viltaran nanobots in their blood.” My mind scrambled to translate what it was saying and nanobots was the best it could come up with.

“Can you guarantee that these things are dead and are not harmful to us?” The owner of the rasping voice was suspicious even of its own droid.

“Yes, master,” the robot said subserviently. “I can confirm that no harm will come to any Viltarans if they should come into contact with these creatures.”

“Stay where you are, I’m sending someone to take a look at the aliens.”

A wild giggle at being called an alien fought to escape me but I kept it in through sheer force of will. The poor robot had no idea what it was dealing with. Fate had brought us here and I assumed it now had a job for me. I was Mortis and my purpose had been made very clear. I could pretty much guarantee that any Viltaran that came within touching distance of us was probably going to come to a great deal of harm.

.~.

Chapter Four

Staying put as ordered, the robot continued to examine us as it waited for backup to arrive. Despite being told we were harmless, the Viltaran came dressed in what passed for their version of a biohazard suit. Its outfit was black, appeared to be lightweight and had no visible breathing apparatus in sight. Their race was clearly far more advanced than ours. Who knew what wonders they’d invented that we didn’t even have the capacity to think of yet?

Ducking to enter our ship, the alien was even bigger than the First had been after he’d been converted into an eight foot imp. Bulky muscles strained against his suit as he brushed past the droid. The face behind the helmet was subtly different but bore a close resemblance to the First. His nose was squashed but lacked the batlike quality I was used to seeing in the First’s clones. Long fangs protruded from his upper mouth. I couldn’t see his ears but I would have been willing to bet they were long and curled up at the tips. Scarlet eyes settled on me, probing for signs of life.

Even knowing the creature’s blood had to be as diseased and deadly as the ooze that ran through my veins, my hunger began to rise. Stealthy and insidious, it worked its way into the forefront of my brain, drowning out all other thought. I was nowhere near as close to starvation as my friends and allies were yet I also hadn’t fed since being ejected from our home world. The urge to feed was quickly becoming overwhelming.

Crouching down, the Viltaran reached for me and my hunger took over. Grabbing the alien’s arm, my teeth tore through his suit like it was made of paper. I unerringly found a vein and bit down hard. Bone crunched as my grip tightened, blood spurted and my mouth was flooded with acrid, bitter, beautiful blood. It might be horrible to taste yet it wasn’t the same black ooze that tainted my kin and I was pretty sure it wasn’t harmful as ours was.

A few mouthfuls were enough to sate my hunger. I realized the Viltaran was screaming and futilely tearing at my face as it tried to pry me loose. All around me, my kin were becoming reanimated and were waking from their comas as they sensed food. As mindless as zombies, they crawled towards the alien that I easily held in place.

Luc didn’t even seem to see me as he grabbed the meal’s arm and buried his face in the same spot from where I’d just fed. Both the biohazard suit and the clothing beneath it were torn away in the feeding frenzy as they bore the creature to the ground. Bellowing in terror and thrashing helplessly, the Viltaran’s struggles began to weaken and he finally lay still as my family drained his blood.

Kokoro was the first to regain her senses. Wiping thick, fluorescent yellow alien blood from her mouth, she met my eyes. My own widened when I saw her eyes were no longer white but were as black as mine. “Can you see me, Kokoro?”

Nodding, the seer glanced around at our still dazed kin. “It appears that my sight has returned.” Her tone was only slightly perturbed but she had to be freaked out to some extent. Reaching for Ishida, she gently drew the teen to her. His lids fluttered open and he gave her a sweet smile before he subsided back into unconsciousness. The small amount of Viltaran blood he’d consumed had been enough to restore a tiny portion of his former youth. Some of the grey had left his hair and his wrinkles were slightly less deep.

Rolling Geordie over, I saw the same had happened to him. His hair was back to being dirty blonde and he only looked eighty instead of his true two hundred now. Some of the Japanese warriors and Europeans began to rouse. Igor became alert and reached for a knife that wasn’t there. Aventius looked around for his flock and was relieved to find them all still intact. He’d also regained some of his lost vitality from his short snack.

Gregor was the next to regain his senses. Wiping the blood from his chin, he grimaced at the stain it left on his sleeve. Maybe he was mourning his lost tweed jacket. Like most of us, he wore a sweater and jeans. Luc crouched beside him with head cocked to the side as if he were listening to something the rest of us couldn’t hear.

“Fascinating,” the robot said and captured my attention. It had made no move to help the Viltaran as we’d drained him to death. “It appears that I was incorrect, master,” it said into the device on its wrist. “The creatures are not quite as dead as they appeared to be.”

“What do you mean?” Alarm made the gravelly voice slightly deeper.

“Your subordinate has just been overwhelmed and was drained of his blood,” the robot replied. “The aliens appear to have gained strength from this and are even now regathering their wits.”

“How many are there?” the guttural voice asked.

“Twenty-nine, master.”

The droid’s master issued an order. “Kill them all.”

As the robot reached for a weapon on a metal belt at its waist, I was already on the move. Tackling the mechanical biped to the ground, I knelt on its hands. Even my vampire strength wasn’t quite enough to hold it in place. Rolling from side to side quickly, it dislodged me and scrambled to its knees. Reaching for the weapon again, its hand encountered only empty air.

Aiming what looked like a small silver remote control for a TV at the robot, I was glad to see Luc climbing to his feet. He still seemed slightly dazed but it was wearing off. He’d consumed more of the alien’s blood than the others had and all signs of premature aging were gone. He was as handsome and flawless as he’d been the first night we’d met.

“Do you know how to use that thing?” Igor asked me, gesturing at the weapon in my hand.

“Nope. But the robot doesn’t know that.”

“That is untrue,” the droid said in perfect English.

“How can it possibly speak one of Earth’s languages?” Cristov asked. He sat beside his leader, offering the older vampire his shoulder to lean on.

“I have accessed the data that is stored on this vessel,” the robot replied. “It was simple for me to translate this unsophisticated language.”

“Nat?” Geordie said weakly as he finally roused. “What is happening? Where are we?”

“What strange customs you humans must have,” the robot observed.

“What are you talking about?” I asked it, lowering the weapon since the droid knew I’d been bluffing about blasting it apart.

“Is a gnat not an insect?”

Lying in Kokoro’s arms, Ishida had regained consciousness and snorted out a laugh. Geordie joined him. Howling with laughter, he fell onto his side and held his stomach. “Even aliens think you were named after a bug,” he managed around his giggles.

Pressing my finger to a tiny muscle beneath my eye that wanted to twitch with annoyance, I tossed the weapon to Igor. If anyone could figure out how it worked, it would be him.

“My full name is Natalie Pierce,” I told the machine. “What are you called?”

“‘Robot’ would be the closest word, I believe.”

“You don’t have a name?” Geordie looked sad for the mechanical man, as if the thing had feelings. “Can we call you Robert instead?”

“As my captors, you may call me whatever you wish.”

Regaining his usual poise, Gregor had been taking in our situation. “What planet are we on, Robert?” Geordie flashed him a smile that the name he had chosen had already been adopted.

“You are on Viltar.”

“How far from Earth are we?” As Gregor questioned the robot, Igor moved towards the new door that had been carved into our hull.

“I am unable to ascertain that information.”

Luc and Gregor exchanged glances. “Why not?” I asked. “I thought you scanned all the data stored on the ship.”

“The information relating to your origins and subsequent journey is missing.”

“You mean there’s no way for us to return home again?” one of Ishida’s people asked.

“I might be able to calculate the general area you came from if you can give me information about your journey.”

Igor returned from his quick inspection. “That can wait. We should leave before more of these aliens are sent to investigate this creature’s death.” He nudged the dead Viltaran with a boot. Behind his mask, red eyes stared upward blankly. We might have somehow originated from these creatures but they were flesh and blood rather than undead creatures of the night. He wouldn’t be rising to seek vengeance on us any time soon.

“Will you come with us peacefully or do we have to pull your legs off and carry you?” I asked the robot.

“You are my master now, Natalie Pierce,” he responded. “I am yours to command.”

Throwing a baffled look at Luc, he shrugged to indicate he had no idea why I was suddenly the master of a mechanical man either. “Can you take us somewhere safe?”

“Not unless you can withstand the toxic atmosphere outside.” There was no hint of humour in the robot’s tone as it answered my question but I had the feeling it was making a joke.

“Since none of us needs to breathe, I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Gregor replied. He was first out the makeshift door and craned his head back to take in the space our ship had been stored in. I was right behind him and saw a vast room that dwarfed our ship. The walls, floor and ceiling were all made from the same dull silver metal.

“I do not understand,” the robot said, addressing his confusion at me as he exited from our craft. “Why do you not need to breathe?”

“We’re vampires,” I told him. It was hard not to think of the droid as male since Geordie had given him a name.

“Vampires; undead creatures that survive on blood,” he said as if quoting from a dictionary. “According to the information I have gleaned, vampires are mythical creatures.”

“Tell that to vampire bats,” Geordie said with a snigger as Igor helped him through the opening.

Kokoro lifted Ishida to his feet. The child king glanced up to thank her and started. “Kokoro, what has happened to your eyes?”

“It appears that I have regained my sight, Emperor Ishida.” She didn’t sound particularly happy about that. I wondered if, in regaining her sight, this meant that she had lost her visions.

“If you wish to escape from harm, we should move quickly,” the robot informed us.

“After you.” I gestured for the droid to go first. He moved surprisingly quickly for a mechanical man. Only the faint jerkiness gave away that he wasn’t made of flesh and blood.

Striding away from the hole he’d made in our hull, the robot made less noise than I’d expected as he walked swiftly towards a gigantic door. Keeping pace with Robert, I hoped he could be trusted and wouldn’t lead us directly into an ambush. I hadn’t heard anything from his former master since tackling Robert to the ground but he could very well be listening in. “What is your master’s name?” I asked as we hurried down a wide silver corridor.

“My master’s name is Natalie Pierce,” he replied without any discernible sarcasm, although he did flick a glance at me.

“Call me Natalie,” I corrected him. “What is your former master’s name?”

“His name is Uldar, Natalie.”

“Can Uldar hear us?” I glanced at the contraption on his wrist. It wasn’t hanging around his arm like the bracelet it appeared to be but was actually a part of him. About four inches wide and raised about an inch off his metal skin, it was covered in tiny buttons and dials.

“He cannot. Once you became my master, I cut my ability to communicate with Uldar.”

“Why?”

“Because you are my master now, Natalie,” he said as if the answer should have been obvious. Giving up on questioning the droid, I glanced back at my friends and was relieved to see them all following us. No one had been left behind in our haste to leave.

The route we followed reminded me of the dream I’d had twice now. With the unrelenting silver all around us and never ending series of corridors, we might have been in the very same facility I’d visited in my sleep.

.~.

Chapter Five

After traversing through dozens of identical hallways, we ended up at a dead end with a set of stairs that seemed to lead to nowhere. The stairs were far larger than any I’d seen before and had to be sized for the average height of a Viltaran. Robert pressed a button on the control panel on his wrist. Concealed doors above the steps slid sideways and I almost gagged at the odour that wafted inside. Dirt swirled inside as well, carried on a gust of wind.

“Ugh, what is that horrible stench?” Geordie complained from somewhere behind me. “It smells like eggs that have been left in the sun for a thousand years.”

“It smells more like sulphur to me,” Igor said as he pushed past me, dragging the teen along with him.

Robert waited for everyone to climb the stairs before pressing the button on his wrist again. The doors slid shut and we contemplated the wasteland that spread out as far as the eye could see. Unfortunately, a dust storm was raging so we couldn’t see very far at all.

The cracked dirt was brown and looked like normal soil to me, but I was far from an expert. I couldn’t see any sign of the devastated city from the wafer thin screen in my dream. Just like the picture on the monitor, the sky was a dark, sickly yellow. Clouds roiled, shoved around by the same breeze that threw dirt into our faces.

Gregor scanned the area. “I don’t see anywhere to hide from either the sun or any Viltarans that may be hunting for us.”

“How curious,” Robert said as he broke into a fast walk.

“What’s curious?” I queried, almost jogging to keep up with him.

“As well as sharing what you call DNA with the Viltarans, you also seem to share their allergy to the sun.”

“What kind of reaction do they have when sunlight touches them?” Gregor queried.

“They burst into flames and die,” Robert replied. It sounded undramatic when said with a complete lack of expression.

“Will you be able to find us somewhere safe to hide before the sun comes up and fries us all?” I asked Robert.

“Yes, Natalie. The destination I have in mind is a two hour walk away, in your time measurements. I myself must also find shelter before too much time passes.”

A gust of wind swirled more dirt into my eyes. Shielding them with a hand, I peered up at the droid. “What will happen if you don’t find shelter?”

“If I remain outside for more than three of your hours, I will begin to malfunction. The soil is corrosive and even your kind might suffer eventual harm if you remain outside for too long.” The look he sent me was bland but I had the feeling he’d like to strap me to a table and slice me open with a scalpel to see how we worked.

We trekked in silence and I dropped back a few feet until I was at Luc’s side. He flashed me a smile and I slid my arm around his waist. Geordie urged Igor forward so he could link his thin arm through mine. He was trembling from either exhaustion or fear. The sky seemed to be getting just the slightest bit lighter and I wondered how long their nights lasted. Not that it felt like night with the sky being dark yellow instead of black. Whatever disaster had befallen the planet of Viltar, it had severely screwed with their atmosphere.

Turning his head, Robert did the robot equivalent of a double take at seeing us banding together. “How very strange,” he observed quietly.

After close to the two hours that he’d estimated, Robert stopped and pressed something on the control panel on his wrist. The ground shuddered then began to slide sideways, revealing another set of stairs just in front of the droid. It was pitch black inside but I could sense the foreign sun growing closer so urged my friends inside. Once more, Robert was the last to enter. The portal slid shut, entombing us in darkness. The red glow from the droid’s eyes shed only weak light then cut off almost entirely as he dimmed them suddenly.

Turning to contemplate us, Robert stood silently and made no move to lead us deeper into the underground facility. “Are you just going to stand there or are you going to switch the lights on?” Geordie looked up at him to ask impatiently.

“You can see me?” Robert asked. His tone came as close to being astonished as it was possible for a machine.

“You wouldn’t believe some of the things we can do,” I told him dryly. “Seeing in the dark is a fairly minor talent that we all share.”

Pushing a button on his control panel, soft lights came on, illuminating the silver walls that I’d expected. “This way,” the droid said and started off down the hallway. His eyes switched back to their usual bright glow again.

Gregor touched my shoulder before I could follow the robot. He waited for Robert to be halfway down the corridor before speaking. “Do you trust this machine?” He spoke so quietly that no human would have been able to hear him. The droid cocked his head slightly and I suspected that he could hear us very well indeed.

“Of course,” I replied while shaking my head in the negative.

“Then I shall trust him as well,” he said almost grimly. Uneasy glances were exchanged between the rest of the group.

All had listened to our conversation and knew that the droid shouldn’t be trusted. Robert the robot might profess to be my devoted slave but something told me he would turn on us in an instant. I wasn’t sure if it was that he resembled the Viltarans so much or if it was because he held such a high level of sophisticated artificial intelligence. I’d seen dozens of sci-fi movies where machines had turned on their creators. Since we hadn’t created him, there was a far greater chance he’d turn on us. It didn’t make sense that a robot this smart would be compelled to obey a stranger’s every command.

We hurried after Robert, glancing down hallways that led deeper beneath the subterranean facility. Pausing at the end of the hallway, the metal man waited for us to reach him before turning left. Several minutes later, he pushed a button on his wrist and an almost invisible door hissed open. It retracted into the walls, leaving an opening large and high enough for the natives of the planet to be able to walk through without ducking.

Dwarfed by the door, the feeling of walking into a giant’s lair intensified as we entered what appeared to be a dining hall. A long table with fifty chairs took up most of the room. Made of the same silver metal that matched the walls, floor and ceiling, they were much bigger than usual. I had to jump up to seat myself, which made Geordie giggle. Igor tossed his apprentice into the chair next to me. Landing with a jarring thud, the teen’s lower lip pooched out slightly but he kept his complaint about being manhandled to himself.

Robert waited for us all to be seated before he spoke. “Please excuse me while I perform routine maintenance on myself.” Turning smoothly, he left through another door that blended in with the walls so seamlessly that it was practically invisible.

Ishida nodded subtly at one of his female warriors and she quickly slipped from her seat and raced over to the door. It ignored her attempts to open it and she returned to the table, shaking her head in defeat.

Seated beside Luc directly across the wide table from me, Gregor ventured a question. “I for one am curious to discover how we ended up on this planet.” Everyone’s head turned towards me as he continued. “Do you have an explanation for us, Natalie?”

Squirming forward so I could rest my elbows on the edge of the table, my legs swung far above the ground. “After watching you all turn into vampsicles, I eventually fell asleep. I’m not sure how long I slept for but when I woke, you had all aged and were covered in ice. I could see that you were slowly starving to death and I was desperate to find help. I knew that getting through the hatch into the cockpit was my best option.”

Igor’s grizzled face reflected his confusion. “The hatch was thoroughly welded shut. I checked it for flaws myself many times.”

“It wasn’t quite as impenetrable as we thought,” I told him. I explained how I’d detached my hand before breaking it down into microscopic pieces and sending them out to find the tiny hole. “Then I managed to set the cells to drilling through the metal,” I finished up.

“Remarkable,” Gregor murmured, unintentionally sounding a bit like Robert. “How long did it take for you to break through?”

“A few nights, I think.” Once upon a time I would have judged the passing of time in days rather than nights.

“What did you do then, Natalie?” Ishida asked. He had been helped up to his seat by Kokoro and sat halfway down the table across from me. All up and down the table, my kin listened to my tale with fascination.

“Bit by bit, I broke my body down and sent it through the hole to the other side. Then I made myself whole again.”

“Does that mean you were floating around the ship naked, chérie?” Geordie asked slyly. Igor raised his hand threateningly and his apprentice instinctively winced away from a blow that never fell. I caught my young friend before he could topple to the floor.

Hiding my amusement as I righted him, I nodded. “I can only break my cells down, not my clothes so I had to leave them behind.”

“What was the cockpit like?” Gregor asked.

“Confusing. There seemed to be hundreds of buttons and dials all covered in ice and I had no idea what any of them did. After smashing the ice and pushing a few buttons at random, the shutter on the windows opened.”

“What does space look like?” one of Ishida’s male warriors asked.

“Cold, empty and lifeless.” Everyone shuddered at my answer. No one looked jealous that I’d seen what no vampire had ever witnessed firsthand before.

“I take it you managed to get the communications equipment working?” Gregor deduced.

“I guess so because a light came on and the console was lit up for a while. A few nights after I started calling for help, a gigantic black ship arrived and grabbed us. They took us back to this planet and sent Robert in to examine us. He determined that we weren’t a threat and a Viltaran came to take a closer look.”

“I presume that your hunger became uncontrollable and that you fed from him,” Ishida said. Still withered and prematurely aged, the child king looked like a little old man being propped up by Kokoro on one side and one of his warriors on the other side.

Nodding sheepishly, I fessed up. “I didn’t plan to feed from him but he was right in front of me and my blood hunger kind of took over.”

Luc spoke, mercifully drawing the attention away from me. “I remember my own hunger rising, waking me from my unnatural slumber.” He received nods of agreement. “The Viltaran’s blood was barely palatable but even a few mouthfuls were enough to restore my health.”

Silence descended and nervous glances were exchanged until Geordie spoke. “I hope there is some other kind of food on this planet or we will have to start hunting these aliens down for snacks.” He smiled to show he was joking but everyone else remained serious.

With the uncanny idea that Robert was somehow listening in to our conversation despite the fact that he was off cleaning himself, I spoke quickly. “I’m pretty sure there are other life forms around here somewhere.”

“Why do you think so?” Cristov asked. Unlike the beautiful and glamorous European vampires who had been created by the members of the Court, Aventius had gathered people who were ordinary of face and form. Cristov was unremarkable to look at but had a fierce dedication to the vampire he now treated almost as if he were his maker. He sat beside Aventius, keeping a close eye on him and ready to catch him if he fell.

“I had a dream about this planet and saw some small creatures that had been turned into imps,” I explained.

“What did they look like?” Geordie asked.

“They were about two and a half feet tall, had grey skin, fuzzy hair, long ears that curled at the tips and fangs long enough to rip your face off before you could blink.”

Gregor tented his hands and stared over the tops of his fingers. “Did they appear to be very similar to each other?”

I nodded, unsurprised that he’d grasped my meaning so quickly. “They were identical, almost as if they’d been cloned or something.”

“They were cloned,” Robert said, startling all of us. Reaching for weapons that weren’t there, the Japanese warriors stared at the droid mistrustfully as he entered the room. The door closed behind him automatically, sealing us in again.

“Maybe it’s time you told us more about this planet and the Viltarans,” I said to the metal man.

Taking a seat at the far end of the table, Robert rested his hands on the surface. The table and chairs were too big for him as well but at least he didn’t look like a child as we did. “The Viltarans are a race dedicated to war. Their sole purpose is to invade and conquer. They have destroyed every inhabited world that is within reach of their ships. The beings of over a dozen worlds have been enslaved and turned into copies of their Viltaran overlords.”

“How do they turn the conquered into their replicas?” Gregor asked.

Pressing a button on his wrist, Robert withdrew a small vial of bright yellow fluid from a compartment. “Each Viltaran has their genetic imprint stamped into tiny machines that you would call,” he paused for a second to search his mental files for the correct word, “nanobots. The nanobots are designed to infect the blood of the conquered. They permeate the cells and turn the captured natives into Viltaran slaves. Each slave is easily distinguishable as they take on the appearance of their master.”

“So if the Viltarans go to war against each other on the planet they have just conquered, they will easily be able to tell which slaves belong to them?” Kokoro asked.

“That is correct,” Robert confirmed.

“What happens to these worlds after their inhabitants have been enslaved?” Luc queried.

“They are stripped of any materials that the Viltarans find useful then abandoned.”

Geordie was the most troubled by this news. “What about the clones that are made?”

Robert’s stare was pitiless even for a machine as he answered the question. “They are left behind and ordered to eradicate all other life forms and then each other. My former masters leave each world that they encounter a lifeless ruin that can never again be inhabited.”

“They are ruthless yet practical,” Igor decided. “They leave no chance for the conquered to rebuild and one day exact their revenge.”

“It would be very interesting to see humans and Viltarans at war,” Robert said.

I asked the question no one else wanted to. “Why?”

“The small amount of information I was able to gather from your ship was enough to indicate that your species is almost as bloodthirsty as my master’s.”

From the guarded glances Luc and Gregor sent each other, I wasn’t the only one who picked up on the droid’s usage of present tense when talking about his master. He had told me that I was his new boss but I was starting to believe the story less and less. To my knowledge, you could only effectively serve one master at a time. Despite my hunch, I would go along with the lie for now. What else could I do?

.~.

Chapter Six

“What kind of disaster happened to turn this planet into a wasteland?” I asked, turning the discussion away from an uncomfortable and potentially dangerous topic.

Turning his red eyes on me, Robert couldn’t quite shrug, although his shoulders moved slightly. “My masters turned on each other many millennia ago when the planet’s resources became depleted and they could find no other planets to plunder. They unleashed weaponry that came very close to destroying all life. In desperation, several ships were sent out to search for new planets that could be invaded and its sentient inhabitants colonized.”

Understanding dawned around the table. “You mean it was a robot like Robert that landed on earth so long ago and not an alien?” Geordie said in wonder.

Inclining his head, Robert confirmed the teen’s suspicions. “All but one of the droids returned without success. It was assumed that the final droid was destroyed.”

“He crash landed,” I told the machine. “His ship must have been too badly damaged to return to Viltar.” I pointed at the contraption on the droid’s wrist. “He fed his master’s blood to a human and the First eventually became a clone of the Viltaran who sent the ship out. We are all descended from him.”

Examining us closely, Robert seemed confused. “I do not understand how the First you speak of became a Viltaran clone yet you do not resemble my master at all.”

Gregor fielded this one. “The immediate physical change in the First was death, followed by his corpse becoming reanimated. He had a thirst for blood and became allergic to the sun. Over time, his shadow began to change. It became sentient and eventually took control of its host. The First’s vampire body was then replaced by an eight foot tall, grey skinned creature that greatly resembles the Viltarans.”

“Such a thing has never happened before.” Robert seemed to be almost disturbed by our strange origins.

“Humans are an unpredictable species,” Luc told the machine with a chilly smile. He didn’t trust Robert and wasn’t trying to hide his feelings.

“Once he turned into an imp, the First had the ability to turn other vampires into imps as well,” I said to draw the droid’s attention away from my beloved. I didn’t like the way Robert was eyeing Luc.

“Imp?” Consulting the information he had downloaded, Robert shook his head. “I am unfamiliar with that word.

“They are creatures of myth, said to be spawned in hell,” Cristov said helpfully.

“Hell is another mythical construct thought up by your kind,” the droid remarked. “Perhaps you are not quite as similar to my masters as I’d first believed.”

As shrewd as ever, Gregor reached a conclusion. “I take it Viltarans have little imagination.”

Turning to view him, Robert didn’t disagree. “They believe in what they see and not in made up tales.”

“Tell us something, Robert,” Luc said and the droid shifted his attention. “Why do you call Natalie your new master?”

“According to Viltaran law, anyone conquered in battle becomes a slave to their conqueror.”

“We barely even fought,” I protested. As a battle, it had been short and tending towards pathetic.

“You wrested my weapon from me,” Robert explained. “Although you had no idea how to use the weapon, you still bested me in combat.” Something didn’t feel right about his explanation but I sensed it wouldn’t be a good idea to push the robot on this topic.

“When are we going to discuss what is really important?” Geordie whined. “What are we going to do for food?”

“Are there any other creatures on this planet, apart from your masters?” Igor asked our new friend.

Inclining his head slightly again, Robert responded. “It is rumoured that a colony of Kveet has taken up residence near one of the ruined cities.”

“What is a Kveet?” Ishida asked. He looked like he’d gained some strength and was sitting up straighter.

“They are small bipeds around this tall.” Robert held his hands about two feet apart. “They are intelligent and can be quite cunning when threatened.”

I shared a look with Luc, remembering my dream about the little grey imps I’d seen locked up in their cells. I was fairly sure we shared the same thought, that they had previously been Kveet before being converted into mini imps.

“How far away is this city?” Cristov asked. He was anxious to see Aventius returned to health, as were the rest of the Europeans sitting at the table.

“It will take us half a night to travel there,” Robert replied.

Geordie’s eyes suddenly became hard to keep open and he blinked owlishly. “How long before the sun comes-” Before he could finish his question, the sun burst into life above our underground shelter and the teen went limp. Igor and I reached out to grab him before he could slide to the floor.

Looking as astonished as possible for a machine, Robert was momentarily speechless. “What is wrong with him?”

“He’s young,” I said with a shrug. “He won’t be able to stay awake when the sun rises for another few decades yet.”

“May I ask, how long does your kind…exist for?”

“Well, the First was fifty thousand earth years old when I killed him,” I explained. “He was the oldest, obviously. Kokoro over there is the next oldest at forty thousand.”

“Are you saying that your kind has the potential to live indefinitely?”

“There is some speculation that Natalie could very well live forever,” Gregor said with a falsely cheerful tone. I read dread in his eyes and wondered if I had revealed too much information to the droid.

“Why?” the droid demanded. I was uncomfortable beneath his blank yet avid scrutiny.

“Because nothing can kill me,” I told the robot. “I’ve been beheaded, shot, stabbed, set on fire, burned to a skeleton by the sun, blasted to pieces, crushed down to ash and I just keep regenerating.”

There was a long pause while our new friend processed that information. “Remarkable,” was his eventual response.

“Do the Viltarans sleep?” Igor asked the droid. He had hold of Geordie’s shoulder to keep him in his seat. I helped to prop the teen up from the other side.

“Of course,” Robert replied. “Daylight lasts for eight of your earth hours and Viltarans rest during this period.”

“How long do the nights last?” Gregor queried.

“Twenty hours.”

“Long nights,” one of the Japanese warriors said in awe. If most of the life hadn’t been blasted from the planet and we weren’t faced with a race of aliens that would undoubtedly try to enslave or kill us, this would have been a paradise for our kind.

“Are there any bedrooms in this place?” I asked the robot.

“Do you mean sleeping quarters?” I thought the question was pretty obvious but nodded anyway. “They are not far from here.” Standing, Robert waited for us to clamber down from the oversized chairs. He headed for the same door he had disappeared through earlier.

Igor hefted Geordie over his shoulder as we trailed after our guide. Again, Robert opened the door and waited for us to file into the hallway before closing it again. “Has this place suffered from some sort of mechanical malfunction?” I asked Robert.

Turning to look at me, he nodded once. “Yes. Why do you ask?”

“Because we might not be as advanced as the Viltarans but even we have doors that open automatically.”

“I had planned to address the problem while you were all sleeping.”

The thought of the droid creeping around while we were all on lockdown didn’t appeal to me. Apparently it didn’t appeal to some of the others, either. “I am very curious about this facility,” Gregor said almost casually. “I would like to see what passes for your maintenance area.”

I had no intention of leaving anyone alone with the droid. “I’ll tag along with you,” I said just as casually.

Conceding to our request with a short nod, Robert continued on down the hallway and took a few turns. Being well acquainted with Ishida’s mountain fortress, I found it easy enough not to become lost. Ishida’s fortress and all of his people are gone now, my inner voice reminded me gloomily. Colonel Sanderson had bombed their island, killing both the vampires and humans who had resided there. I felt a stab of grief for Yori, one of the seven young men who had provided me with their blood while I’d learned how to become proficient with my samurai swords. I’d lost the weapons when Sanderson had betrayed me. He may have been ordered to turn on me by his superiors but I would never forget that he had stabbed me in the back and had allowed what was left of my kin to be tortured or killed.

Stopping at the mouth of yet another corridor, Robert pressed a button on his control panel and doors slid open all up and down the hallway. Igor poked his head inside the first room then entered. Curious, I followed him into the Viltaran idea of a bedroom. While the ceilings were high, the uniform silver on all surfaces made the room seem almost cramped. There were no decorations at all, just a hard, narrow bed lying along one wall and a large metal dresser with four deep drawers. The bed lacked a mattress, pillows, sheets or a blanket. “Comfy,” I noted and earned a quick grin from the Russian. Sadly, even this utilitarian room was better than the cells Igor and his apprentice were used to. At least they’d had a pallet to lie on and hadn’t had to sleep on the hard floor.

No one was happy at the idea of bedding down alone in the bedrooms and wisely paired up. Eyeing the couples as they chose their rooms, Robert seemed puzzled. “Are they all mated?” he asked me.

“No. They’re just really good friends,” I said lamely. Ishida sniggered from somewhere down the hallway and Kokoro shushed him. Trying to explain our insecurities and unwillingness to be alone to a machine would be a waste of time.

Luc linked his arm through mine, clearly not willing to part from my side. That was fine with me since I didn’t want to be separated from him either. Gregor and I weren’t the only ones who didn’t trust Robert. Two of Ishida’s warriors accompanied us. I hadn’t heard the kid give them an order to follow us but I was sure he had given them some kind of signal to do so.

With five vampires close on his heels, Robert took a convoluted path to a short hallway that ended at another hard to see door. The droid activated the door and entered a large room filled with square columns. Moving amongst the pillars, he stopped somewhere in the middle and touched one of the pillars. A panel opened, revealing a confusing array of what looked like highly advance microchips and circuitry. It only took him a few minutes of tinkering before he was done.

Testing to see whether the robot had fixed the problem with the doors, one of the Japanese warriors approached the entrance. The door slid open and closed again when he was a few yards away from the opening. Clearly unhappy to have his friend out of his sight, the second warrior hurried over to the door. His concern was needless and the other vampire was unharmed on the other side of the opening.

“Will all the doors open for us now?” I asked Robert.

Shaking his head, he slid the panel back into place. “Some areas will remain locked as they might be dangerous for your people.”

Gregor narrowed his eyes but let the comment pass. Just as I’d suspected, the mechanical man was clever enough to make decisions about our welfare and act on them rather than waiting for us to tell him what to do. Unfortunately, I wasn’t convinced that our welfare was particularly all that important to him.

I’d been the target of Alexander, a mad vampire wannabe scientist, once and had the feeling that I had stumbled into a trap again. This time, I wasn’t alone and had dragged my friends and allies along with me. I hoped they wouldn’t go through more experimentation at the hands of the aliens who were no doubt hunting for us.

Our return trip was just as convoluted but Robert took us along a different route. He glanced back several times to judge our reaction. The Japanese warriors and I all knew what he was up to but gave no indication that we were on to him. The droid was testing our mental agility and we didn’t want him to know we were smarter than we looked.

Gesturing for us to precede him down the final hallway that led to our temporary bedrooms, Robert left for a destination unknown. Choosing an empty room halfway down the hallway, Luc and I climbed up on the bed but didn’t lie down. The beds reminded me of the time I’d been taken to a mortuary to be dissected. The tray I’d been placed on when they’d tucked me into the meat locker had been a smaller version of the bed I was sitting on now. It wasn’t a pleasant memory and added to the general creepiness of the room.

Luc cocked an eyebrow in invitation. My response to his unspoken suggestion that we get naked together was a grimace. Only Geordie had succumbed to sleep. No doubt everyone else was worried about our predicament. Also, they’d been in a frozen starvation coma for weeks or possibly even months while we’d drifted helplessly in space. They were too unnerved to attempt to sleep just yet.

“If we’re not going to use this bed then why don’t we go for a stroll?” Luc suggested.

Snooping around without the droid watching our every movement held a certain appeal so I nodded and jumped to the ground. The bed was a good two feet higher than I was used to and it was a longer drop than normal. At least they have beds, I thought as the door automatically opened for me. Being aliens, they might have slept in cryogenic tubes or on hooks that were suspended from the ceiling or something even worse. So far, we had yet to see anything truly strange, apart from Robert. Something told me we would stumble across something weird or maybe even horrible soon enough.

.~.

Chapter Seven

Taking a different route from the ones Robert had taken previously, we found corridor after corridor of unrelenting silver. Sometimes we didn’t even know we were near a doorway until it swished open.

Pausing each time a door appeared, we saw little of interest inside. Most rooms were empty and the ones that weren’t mainly contained metal tables, chairs and cabinets. Finally, we came across a room that made both of us stare in wonder.

Luc entered first, wide eyed at the sight of cities that had been reduced to ruin. Dozens of rows of monitors hung in mid-air. Razor thin, they were nearly invisible to the naked eye when viewed from the side and were identical to the one from my dream. Walking around behind them, I couldn’t see anything holding them in place.

Returning to Luc, I slid my arm around his waist as we studied each monitor. It quickly became apparent that we were looking at many different cities. Each one would have rivalled some of the largest cities on Earth in size. What was left of the buildings were strange and seemed wrong somehow. For one, they were all the same uniform sandy-yellow colour. That was probably due to dirt coating them from the storms as well as the toxic atmosphere. Then I realized none of the structures had windows. With the Viltaran’s allergy to sunlight, I could understand why they wouldn’t want to expose themselves to possible danger.

Luc pointed at something he spied on one of the screens. Moving closer, I made out a shape walking away from the ruins. From its jerky movements, it had to be a robot. Something was tucked beneath its arm and was struggling weakly. My one true love opened his mouth to voice a question but I shook my head. I didn’t want Robert to know we had stumbled across this room. For all I knew, he was in another room watching similar monitors but of the underground area instead of the cities. We could be featuring on one of the screens right now. Grabbing Luc’s hand, I hurried out of the room before my paranoia could spiral out of control.

I wasn’t sure if Luc’s flesh hunger woke mine or if it was the other way around but I was suddenly struggling not to rip his pants off and have my way with him. Hurrying further down the hallway, we stopped at the next door that suddenly slid open and ducked inside. Completely without furniture, it didn’t have much romantic appeal but that was fine since romance was far from our minds.

Far enough away from our friends and allies that they couldn’t overhear us, my inhibitions faded as my hunger took over. Our clothes went flying then we were on the floor, grappling for supremacy. Pinning me down, Luc kissed me hard, stealing the breath I didn’t have. Sliding down my body, he took one of my breasts in his hand and closed his mouth over the other one. Biting me almost hard enough to break the skin, he gently tweaked my other nipple. The combination of gentleness and near pain brought my pelvis off the ground, seeking his.

Putting me out of my misery, our bodies joined and I gave a groan that came all the way from my feet. It had been far too long since we had been able to feed our flesh hunger. Although our minds had been inactive while frozen, our bodies seemed to know they’d been denied pleasure.

Luc moved hard and fast, just the way I preferred it. My body would have been mangled beyond recognition if I’d been human. When I reached my utopia, light burst from my eyes, bathing the room in a rosy glow. It was so bright it reflected in Luc’s eyes before he reached his own peak then rolled onto his side.

We didn’t need to regain our breath so he was able to comment about our sexual episode straight away. “Something has changed.”

“It felt pretty much the same to me,” I argued. Unbelievably awesome as usual. My smile was wide and satisfied.

“Your eyes are no longer orange. They have turned red.”

My smile disappeared and I brought a hand up to my face. Sure enough, the glow reflecting off my palm was scarlet. “I guess drinking the Viltaran’s blood must have triggered this change,” I said uneasily.

Showing no discomfort at lying on the cold floor beside me, Luc frowned. “I wonder what reaction the rest of us will have?”

Reaching for my clothes, I dressed quickly. I had zero body heat and would soon begin shivering. “You drank more than the others,” I advised him since he might not have been aware of that fact. “Do you feel any different?”

Zipping his pants, he tugged his black sweater over his head. “Not that I’ve noticed,” he replied to my relief. “Except that none of my bones broke this time.”

I’d been so wrapped up in my own pleasure I hadn’t even noticed his lack of pain. “Thank G-G-G.” Giving up on trying to utter a word that was forbidden to our kind, I forced out a sigh.

“You will get used to being unable to say the Lord’s name one day,” my one true love said with only a touch of amusement at my stuttering.

Linking arms, we left the empty room and worked our way deeper into the silver hallways. I was confident we would be able to find the way back but some breadcrumbs would have come in handy. Hearing a strange sound in the distance, I cocked my head to the side. “Do you hear that?” I whispered. My instincts were telling me to be careful and I wasn’t about to ignore them now that we were on an alien planet facing unknown dangers.

Turning his head slightly, Luc nodded. “It sounds like birds.”

Creeping closer to the noise, we found a corridor that was different from the others. Rows of doors with windows I would have to climb up to look through marched into the distance. Picking up on my nervousness, Luc moved forward slowly. Even he wasn’t tall enough to look inside the window to the first cell. Hoisting himself up by his fingertips, he took a quick peek inside then dropped lightly to the ground. The chirping ceased at the slight sound he made and silence descended.

Waiting for the chirping to restart, it was my turn to take a peek. Luc motioned me over to the door and put his hands around my waist. He lifted me just high enough so I could look inside. Just as I’d expected, dozens of two and a half foot imp clones filled the cell. Some were sleeping, curled on their sides just like they had in my dream. The rest seemed to be waiting for something. A panel on the wall directly across from the door slid open, revealing a trough set at ground level.

“Food?” one of the little monsters chirped.

“Food!” another declared. The demand came from hundreds of throats in the cells around us. All slumbering mini imps woke and gathered at the trough. With a wet, splattering sound, food was suddenly pouring into the trough from chutes. Tiny dark brown arms, legs, torsos and heads disappeared into the maws of the imps. Sickened by the sight, I motioned for Luc to put me down.

He waited until we were out of earshot before stopping me. “What were they eating?”

“I’m pretty sure they were the Kveet Robert told us about.”

“How could you tell?”

“Their skin was dark brown instead of grey but they looked similar to the imps.” Fortunately they had been killed and pre chopped up before being fed to their former kin.

“Do you think the imps are aware that they are cannibals?”

“I don’t think they would care even if they did know.” Ravenous, they would probably eat almost anything, alive or dead. I was surprised Robert hadn’t blocked off access to this area since he professed to be concerned about our welfare.

“Just how extensive is this underground structure, I wonder?” Luc said.

“I don’t know but I can’t wait to get out of here.” This place was starting to give me the creeps.

“I wonder how secure this area really is since Robert led us to it so easily.”

Stopping him with a touch on his arm, I put a finger to my lips to indicate we should be very quiet. “What are you getting at?” I asked, speaking at barely above a whisper.

“We’ve already seen another robot on the monitors,” Luc explained just as quietly. “Who knows how many mechanical men are in the employ of these Viltarans?”

“If one of them knows about this place then they probably all do,” I concluded.

“We need to leave as soon as night falls.”

“How do we know that Robert won’t lead us right into a trap?”

“We don’t,” was his less than comforting response.

.~.

Chapter Eight

We weren’t the only ones who were anxious to leave. As soon as we felt the alien sun tucking itself away for the long night ahead, my kin emerged from their bedrooms. I was surprised to see Geordie already awake and at Igor’s side. It usually took him a few minutes to wake up after the sun disappeared.

Sidling over to me, the teen wrapped a skinny arm around my waist. He was picking up on the tension we all shared. “Are we leaving soon, chérie?”

“We’ll go as soon as Robert arrives. Has anyone seen him?” I asked.

“I am here, Natalie,” Robert said as he rounded the corner. “If you will all follow me?” Without waiting for a response, he continued to the end of the hallway and turned left.

We walked for a few hours beneath the ground along corridors that all looked pretty much the same to me. Only the sense of direction I’d gained from my time spent in Ishida’s mountain lair told me were moving roughly eastward.

Speaking of Ishida, he had revived some more and had shed a few years from his advanced age. He walked unassisted between Kokoro and Gregor now. The pair looked even more like his parents as they exchanged conversation over his head. Not that Kokoro was much taller than the teen. It was still weird to see her with black eyes rather than her usual white orbs.

Walking beside me, Igor handed me the weapon I’d stolen from the droid. He shook his head when I lifted a brow in silent enquiry. Either it was too sophisticated for him to be able to figure out how to use or it couldn’t be used by our kind. I slipped it into my pocket, fairly certain that I’d never be able to figure out how to operate it either.

Up ahead, Robert came to a stop when a door stubbornly refused to open for him. “This is the only way to the city using the underground facilities,” he said when we all caught up to him. “It appears we must go the rest of the way on the surface.” It was hard to tell but he didn’t seem particularly happy about that.

We took a short detour to a set of stairs and Robert opened a portal to the surface. Winds howled across the ground, whipping dirt into our eyes. Geordie opened his mouth to complain and promptly shut it again when flying soil coated his tongue. Huddled together, we kept our heads down and followed the robot almost blindly.

After an hour or so of trudging along, the wind suddenly lessened. Gigantic trees, petrified by age, blocked the windstorm. Tilting my head back, I couldn’t see the tops of the trees. Each one would have taken fifteen men linking arms to encircle it. The bark was smooth and completely devoid of life. A branch broke off somewhere high above and crashed to the ground nearby. It smashed to pieces like shattered crockery. One of the shards was as long as my arm.

“They must have had some kind of nuclear war to wipe out all life on this planet,” Geordie said as he negotiated his way around the fallen branches and over large cracks in the ground. He’d pulled the hood of his sweater over his head and it put his face in shadow.

“Your kind has developed weapons powerful enough to destroy all life on your planet as well?” Robert asked without turning around.

“You wouldn’t believe some of the weapons humans have developed over the past century,” the teen replied dryly.

“Do your people war with each other often?” the droid asked. His steps were longer than ours but he had slowed his pace to match ours.

“We’ve had a couple of wars where a bunch of countries all got involved but once the Americans bombed Hiroshima, things settled down a bit,” Geordie replied.

“What happened to this Hiroshima?” Robert turned to face Geordie to ask the question.

The teen mimicked an explosion with both his hands and mouth. “Absolute devastation.” His expression was solemn rather than mischievous for a change. “The humans realized they had created a weapon so awful that to use it could end their civilization and possibly destroy the entire planet. They haven’t had an all-out world war since then.”

“Fascinating,” the droid said and returned to leading the way again.

Our guide’s movements were becoming jerky as he began to seize up. His joints started to squeak and protest against the corrosive dust finding its way into his nooks and crannies. My nooks and crannies weren’t very happy about being exposed to the winds either. I hadn’t had this much dirt in my butt crack since I’d been to the beach one weekend a couple of years ago. It had been sand rather than soil but the sensation was just as unpleasant.

Our group began to pass the robot as his pace slowed even further. Reaching the edge of the petrified forest, we came to a halt. The storm continued to howl, obscuring our vision and making it impossible to see more than a few yards ahead. Shading my eyes from dust, I scanned the horizon. When the wind dropped briefly, I caught sight of the distant city. It was still too far away to make out much about it. It would take us hours to reach it at this pace.

“You will have to go on without me,” the droid said as he caught up to us. “I will only slow you down.” He sent a sharp glance at Ishida and Geordie when they unsuccessfully attempted to smother their sniggers. “You find it amusing that I will shortly cease to function?”

“Of course not,” I replied on their behalf. “They find your choice of words to be amusing.” At his blank stare, I elaborated. “That line is often used in movies where we come from.”

“Movies?” He said the word like I would have said ‘rabies’.

“Movies are people acting out stories for other’s entertainment.”

“I do not understand.”

“I guess Viltarans don’t have cinemas,” Geordie said to Ishida.

“Their form of entertainment is probably to tear off someone’s arms and legs and watch them bleed to death,” the child king responded.

“That practice fell out of favour many millennia before the fall of our world,” Robert said. Geordie and Ishida shared a disturbed look when they realized the droid wasn’t joking.

“What is your plan?” I asked the robot.

“I will remain in the forest until the winds die down then continue the trek to the city. You should continue on and seek shelter. I will find you when I arrive and we can attempt to locate the Kveet together.”

Exchanging glances, we silently agreed to go ahead with the plan. Not that we had much of a strategy beyond finding a food source. We might still have around nine or ten hours of nightfall left but none of us wanted to stay in the forest when we could possibly find a building to hide in instead. A nagging sense that something wasn’t right tugged at me but we had little choice but to proceed.

Staying together and moving in a cluster, we left the trees and braved the wind. Our vision was instantly obscured and we huddled even closer together so we wouldn’t become separated. We made it about two hundred yards away from the forest before the ground fell out from beneath us.

Clutching Luc and Geordie instinctively, I barely had time to look down before we landed. Staggering on the unsteady ground, I lost my grip on both of them and landed on my butt. High above, the door that had opened beneath us slid shut and sealed us in. My eyes quickly adjusted to the lack of light and I examined what I’d stumbled over. A badly weathered skeleton glared at me through eyeless sockets. Judging by the size of the skull, it had once been a native of this world. Several more fleshless bodies still clad in tattered black clothing hinted strongly that this was a death pit for naughty Viltarans.

Luc extended his hand and helped me to my feet while Geordie stared at the jumble of bones. His hood had fallen back to reveal his face. Wide eyed, the teen was on the edge of panic. “What is this place?”

Well aware of what we had fallen into because he’d had one a lot like it on his former island, Ishida answered the question. “It is a death pit. We will be imprisoned here until the sun rises. When it does, the door will reopen and the sun will kill us all.”

“I knew we couldn’t trust that robot,” I muttered, brushing dirt and flakes of dead Viltaran from my clothes.

Geordie opened his mouth but I held up my hand to stop him when I heard squeaking joints and footsteps above. “They fell for my deception, master,” Robert said in the Viltaran native tongue as he came to a stop beside the sun trap. “All are held captive in one of the pits and will be dead within the hour.” If he’d been human, he would have followed up that statement with an evil laugh. Instead, the droid simply walked away. The sound of his creaking joints rapidly faded as he moved out of our earshot back the way we’d all come.

Appalled by the treachery, I couldn’t hide my anguish. “What did he say?” Gregor asked. Kokoro’s small white hand crept into the crook of his arm as she peered upwards at the metal ceiling that was at least fifty feet above us.

“Apparently, Robert has been lying to us from the start,” I said to no one’s surprise. “He was only pretending to be my servant and was really serving his Viltaran master, Uldar, all along.”

“There’s more,” Gregor deduced.

“He also said we would all be dead within the hour,” I said bleakly. Everyone except for me, that was. At least I didn’t think their sun could kill me. I guessed I’d find out soon enough.

“I thought it was unlikely that their nights would last for twenty hours,” Gregor said softly.

Ever practical, Igor searched for a way out. His knuckles rang with a metallic sound as he worked his way around what would shortly become our tomb. “Solid metal,” he pronounced when he was done.

Fumbling the alien weapon from my pocket, I pointed it at the metal doors above and methodically pushed every button.

“Let me try,” Geordie said and held out his hand when I failed to get it working. I handed it over then gathered in a huddle with the others.

One of Ishida’s warriors had a suggestion. “We could try to form a pyramid and attempt to break the door open by force.”

“It is worth a try,” Igor said and swiftly got everyone into motion. He put the strongest warriors at the bottom and we quickly formed a pyramid in the middle of the pit. Naturally, I was chosen to be at the top since I was the strongest of all. Busy playing with the weapon, Geordie stood off to one side as I studied the door. I could see a tiny seam in the middle but couldn’t get a purchase with my fingers to pry it open. Bright violet light burst into life below, bringing spots to my eyes. The pyramid wobbled as everyone turned to stare down at Geordie. The teen was staring at a scorch mark that used to be a Viltaran skeleton with his mouth open in surprise.

Stationed below me, Gregor steadied me with a hand on my knee and looked up at me speculatively. Gleaning his intention, I heaved an internal sigh and accepted the inevitable without protest. “I have a new plan,” Gregor said. “We need to move quickly if we want to survive.” At his urgent tone, the pyramid broke up as we jumped to the ground. “Can you make the weapon work again?” he asked Geordie.

Nodding, the teen pointed at a couple of buttons. “You need to push these two buttons simultaneously. But what good will that do? It destroyed bone and clothing but it had no effect on metal.”

“He’s not going to shoot metal with it,” I told my young friend. “He’s going to shoot me.”

Luc’s expression turned thunderous. “We have no way of knowing whether you can survive being shot with their weapons. Why can’t you just break yourself down into small particles to free yourself as you did when you were frozen?”

“Because that will take too long.” My response was heavy with dread and I could feel time sprinting away from me. “If we don’t try this, you’ll all be dead and I’ll be reduced to ashes. Then I’ll regenerate again and have to live on this shithole of a planet alone possibly until the end of time or until Viltar finally implodes.” Even then, I wondered if I would die or if I would simply drift in space forever. It was a daunting thought and one I didn’t want to contemplate.

Luc was swayed by my reasoning but he wasn’t happy about it. Taking the alien weapon from Geordie, he gestured for everyone else to move aside. Just before he depressed the buttons, I remembered he was about to incinerate my clothes. If this worked, that meant I’d be naked. While Geordie might appreciate me being in that state, I wouldn’t enjoy being unclothed in front of them all. “Wait! Let me undress first.”

“I’m finally going to get to see you naked!” Geordie said with unseemly glee. Igor gave his apprentice a sour glance but was too far away to punish him. One of Ishida’s female warriors did the honours and Geordie let out a yelp as her hand connected with the back of his head. Ishida gave his warrior a nod of approval then smirked at his fellow teen.

“It would be nice if everyone would turn around,” I said dryly. Everyone complied until only Kokoro and Luc remained facing me. Stripping off, I handed my clothes to the seer. “I don’t suppose you know what’s going to happen when Luc zaps me?” I asked her hopefully.

Shaking her head regretfully, Kokoro folded my clothes neatly over her arm. “I am afraid my visions have not yet returned.” Her tone seemed to imply she doubted that they ever would.

Bracing myself, I turned to Luc and nodded. With an expression of intense self-loathing, he depressed the two buttons Geordie had indicated. Violet light burst over me and the most excruciating pain I’d ever felt in my life burned me to nothingness.

My agony only lasted for a moment and then I was a swirling mass of particles so tiny that they floated on the toxic air trapped in the death pit. Gathering a clump together, I formed eyes and a rudimentary hand and gave Luc the thumbs up. His relief was palpable as he smiled and blew me a kiss.

Aiming for the crack in the door, I broke my eyes and hand down to tiny cells again and slid through the opening. Once free of the pit, I was almost torn apart by the wind. Growing my eyes back again, I oriented myself. Forcing my particles to remain together, I was propelled towards the petrified forest on the wind.

Robert hadn’t been faking his malfunctioning state and I quickly caught up to him. Forming myself into human shape, I became whole again in seconds. Rushing forward, I accidentally kicked a petrified branch and Robert swung around to face me. His face couldn’t convey shock but his body language said it all. “Impossible! No one has ever been able to escape from one of the sun pits before!”

“Here’s a news flash you traitorous sack of crap, there’s never been anything like me before.”

Without warning, his arm flicked out and batted at my head. I ducked the blow and kicked his knee. The droid stumbled back and I launched myself at him. Wrapping my legs around his waist, I took his head in both hands and wrenched it around. His head spun in a full circle until he was facing me again. The move that would normally kill a human easily had no effect on the machine at all.

Grabbing my head in his hands, he attempted to return the favour. My head decided it didn’t want to become detached and became a whirling mass of particles. Leaning back out of his reach, I reformed again. Putting a hand against my naked chest, he shoved me hard. I hit the ground and skidded a few feet with my hands scrabbling to stop myself. One came to rest on a petrified branch and I leaped to my feet.

Fleeing as fast as his near crippled joints would allow, Robert turned his head to see if I was following him. He gave a high pitched shriek of alarm when he saw a projectile flying towards him. The thin branch that I’d thrown like a spear lanced through his back, causing him to stumble and fall.

Picking up another branch, I ignored my nakedness and stalked the metal man as he weakly tried to crawl to safety. Red light from my glowing eyes bathed my body when I glanced down, almost making me look like I was coated in blood.

Kicking the droid over onto his back, I hefted the branch threateningly. “Free my friends and I’ll let you live.” It was a lie, of course. I wasn’t going to give him another opportunity to turn on us.

“I cannot.” I doubted he could feel actual pain but he plucked ineffectually at the petrified wood sticking out of his chest.

“Why can’t you?”

“My master forbids it.”

“Can he hear and understand me?” The droid nodded, red eyes riveted to the branch in my hand. Leaning down, I spoke directly into the machine’s face, instinctively knowing his master could see through the glowing orbs. “Know this, I was created for one purpose and that purpose has brought me to this planet. I told your servant that my name is Natalie but I have another name. I am Mortis, which means ‘death’.” Staring into the mechanical eyes, I had one more thing to say. “Watch your back, Uldar, because I am coming for you.”

The last thing Robert’s true master would see before I demolished his pet droid’s head was the petrified branch zooming right at him.

.~.

Chapter Nine

Sensing the alien sun drawing dangerously close, I finally had my proof that Robert had lied when he’d told us their nights lasted for twenty hours. It appeared their planet rotated faster than ours and only had a sixteen hour cycle.

Turning in a circle, I couldn’t see shelter anywhere. Kicking at the ground with a toe, it was hard packed and devoid of moisture. Digging a tunnel for all of us to hide in would be difficult bordering on impossible. My only chance to save my friends was to try to break them free from the death pit and find another underground area to hide in for the day.

Robert’s metal corpse was still twitching and jerking spasmodically. To make sure he wouldn’t rise as a robot zombie, I wrenched his head from side to side until it came off. Both of his feet left the ground then thumped back down again, sending a small puff of dirt flying. His arms were splayed out, palms down. It took some effort but I wrenched his left arm free from the elbow down and sprinted back to the death pit.

In my absence, a thin scrim of dirt had already begun to cover the lid of the metal box that held my friends prisoner. The wind was dying down now and would soon stop altogether when the sun made its appearance.

I began pushing buttons on the control panel that was attached to Robert’s arm, hoping it didn’t need to still be attached to him to work. Nothing happened and my panic increased as the faintest trace of light touched the horizon. With the wind now gone, the blasted city was revealed in all of its pathetic ruin. For a few seconds I saw several tiny brown figures running close to the ground then they suddenly disappeared.

My hand was shaking slightly as I frantically continued to push buttons. A whooshing sound from behind me made me jump slightly. Whirling around, I teetered on the edge of a staircase leading to another underground locale. Making note of the button I’d pushed, my fingers flew as I depressed more of them in the hope of opening the cage.

“If that’s you up there, Natalie,” Geordie’s voice floated up from beneath the ground, echoing hollowly, “then I really hope you can get us out of here soon.” He sounded as bleak as I felt and a dry sob almost escaped from me.

There were too many buttons left and not enough time so I mashed my palm against the bottom half of the panel, depressing as many as possible. All around the nearby area, doors to death pits opened wide and so did the one that imprisoned my friends.

Blinking up at me, Geordie’s eyes went wide as he finally had his wish and saw me naked. Before he could make an inappropriate comment, Igor grasped his apprentice and threw him upwards. The teen sailed over my head, eyes still glued to my chest before landing in the hole behind me. He thumped and bumped down the stairs with startled squawks. Then vampires were suddenly flying past me, being flung by their friends and allies in a desperate bid to be free from the death pit before the sun burst into life.

All ran for the stairs as soon as they spied the opening in the ground. Kokoro landed beside me lightly and handed over my clothes. With a grateful nod, I donned the t-shirt. Thankfully, it was just long enough to cover my nakedness. Ishida appeared and Kokoro and I caught him before he could sprawl on his face. I pushed the pair towards the stairs and they ran for safety.

Cristov landed beside me and teetered before I steadied him. Turning, he caught Aventius before the aged ex-Councillor could topple headlong down the steps like Geordie had. Gregor was next and he squinted as the sun began to appear. Shimmering like a mirage, it was still faint at the moment but would soon to turn bright and deadly.

At my count, only two vampires were still in the pit. Luc gracefully landed nearby and then there was only one still trapped. While we could jump fairly high, I’d never seen any of our kind leap fifty feet before. “Go!” Igor yelled from the bottom of the pit. “Save yourselves!” Great, now Igor sounds like he’s quoting a line from a cheesy movie.

“Hold my legs,” Luc instructed then threw himself at the pit. Gregor caught Luc’s feet a split second before they disappeared back into the darkness that would soon be obliterated by sunlight. I grabbed hold of Gregor before he also went over the edge. “Jump, Igor!” Luc shouted at his oldest friend.

I was too far back to see into the pit but I heard the Russian backing up. Then his feet thundered across the metal before he launched himself into the air. At the sudden gain in weight, I knew Luc had caught him. Even with my enhanced strength, my feet started to slip. Glancing up, I winced against the growing brightness. Then multiple pairs of hands came around me, yanking both me and my friends backwards. We tumbled down the stairs in a tangle of arms and legs.

Fumbling for the severed robot arm, I jammed my finger on what I hoped was the correct button just as the horizon became a wall of searing fire. Blessed darkness descended when the door swished shut. Trembling in reaction to how close I had come to losing the love of my unlife and two of my closest friends, I covered my face with my hands.

Luc lifted me onto his lap and cradled me against his chest. He smelled slightly singed, as did the other two. Peeking at my friends between my fingers, steam wafted off Gregor and Igor, giving them a ghostly appearance. Strangely, it wasn’t wafting from either myself or Luc. We’d been pulled into the staircase so quickly I wasn’t sure who had been where but the other pair must have been on top of us.

“Is everyone ok?” I asked when I’d regathered my equilibrium.

“We’re fine but I’m guessing Robert isn’t feeling too great,” Geordie said and pointed at the grey arm lying on my lap. Wires sprouted messily from the end but the rest of the limb was intact.

With the sun now blooming, it occurred to me that the teen should have been unconscious. “Why are you awake?” I asked him. Igor did a double take at his apprentice and he wasn’t alone in his consternation.

“I don’t know.” The teen’s confusion was unfeigned but he was far from unhappy about this development. He probably felt like a grownup now.

“This must be due to drinking Viltaran blood,” Igor concluded as he climbed to his feet. The steam had dissipated but his skin was slightly reddened.

“I wonder what further changes will occur?” Gregor murmured more to himself than to us as he stood.

Gregor and Igor offered me a hand and I allowed them to pull me to my feet. They both hugged me at the same time so I felt a bit like the filling in their sandwich. “You saved our lives,” Gregor said and leaned down to kiss my cheek.

“Again,” the Russian added and stroked my hair. It was one of the few signs of tenderness I’d ever seen from Igor and it brought a lump to my throat.

Geordie stumbled over and added himself to the pile. “Thank you, chérie.” His arms wormed their way through to encircle my waist. Vampires swarmed over us in a group hug as they all murmured their thanks.

Even without the need to breathe, it quickly became suffocating. “You’re all welcome,” I said when it looked like they would stay like this for the next decade or so. “Can we break this up so I can put my pants on?” Geordie and Ishida sniggered and a hand snuck beneath my shirt to pinch my bare butt. “Ow! Ok, that’s enough. Get off me before I unleash my holy marks.” The threat was empty but it worked and the huddle broke up.

Luc scooped up the jeans and sweater I’d dropped and handed them to me. He and Gregor made a fairly effective screen while I dressed. My shoes had been kicked down the stairs during the stampede for safety and Geordie shamefacedly offered them to me. “It was I who pinched your derriere, Natalie. Are you going to punish me?” He gave me puppy dog eyes that were impossible to be angry with.

“No, I’m not going to punish you,” I said as I finished lacing my shoes and stood. Relieved, he turned then staggered when my hand connected with the back of his head. He turned and glared at me accusingly. “I lied,” I said blandly then linked my fingers through Luc’s and pushed past the adolescent. The poor kid would probably suffer brain damage if we kept smacking him in the head but he brought the abuse upon himself so I couldn’t feel too bad about it.

Snorting out a laugh, Igor gathered up his sulking apprentice as everyone followed closely behind us. Our vision was good enough to see down the dark hallways but not quite all the way to the end. I listened for any sound that would indicate that we weren’t alone down here.

“Do you think you could turn the lights on?” one of the Europeans asked.

“I could try but pushing buttons on this thing randomly could be a bad idea,” I replied as I held up Robert’s arm.

“Why?” Cristov asked. It was curiosity rather than rebellion that made him ask. Aventius was silent and wan at his follower’s side. I had the feeling that he badly needed some blood. He’d been starving himself long before we had been ejected into space. His cheeks were hollow enough to have formed small caves and the black bags beneath his eyes had doubled in size. Like everyone else, he’d been energized from the small amount of Viltaran blood he’d consumed but it had only been a temporary boost and was already fading.

“Natalie and I explored the last underground lair and came across several hundred imps that were contained in cells,” Luc explained. “Someone is feeding them regularly, which means that these buildings aren’t as abandoned as they appear to be.”

“If I start pushing buttons, I could alert the Viltarans,” I said to the others.

“You also might unlock the doors to the imp’s cells,” Gregor pointed out. That possibility had occurred to me and I nodded in agreement.

“Ok, no random pushing of buttons,” Geordie said. “Do you think we could find somewhere safe to rest? I’m new to this staying awake during the day business and I’m already feeling tired.” His shoulders were slumped and he was fighting to keep his eyes open.

“If this facility is anything like the last one then we should be pretty close to the bedrooms,” I told the teen.

“They should be three more hallways down and two to the left,” one of Ishida’s female warriors said. Since her sense of direction was even better than mine, I gestured for her to take the lead. One of the male warriors shadowed her and stuck close to her side. I wasn’t sure if they were romantically involved or if the warriors had all decided to remain paired up for safety’s sake.

Picking up the pace, we followed the couple and discovered her sense of direction was accurate. This place was an exact copy of the previous facility. This time the doors opened automatically for us, proving that Robert had deliberately locked most of them to keep us under his control.

Geordie headed for the first bedroom on the left, unintentionally choosing the same one Igor had used last time. Maybe it was on purpose, I wasn’t sure and it didn’t really matter.

“Natalie, do you think you could find the monitor room again?” Luc inadvertently stopped everyone from dispersing into their rooms with that question.

“What monitor room?” Gregor asked.

“We couldn’t say anything about it earlier just in case Robert was listening to us,” I explained. “During our search of the other area, we found a room with a bunch of screens hanging in mid-air.”

“What did the screens show you?” Ishida asked. He also looked exhausted but his curiosity wouldn’t let him fall unconscious now.

“Destroyed cities,” Luc answered. “Dozens of them, as far as we could tell.”

Gregor tented his hands, deep in thought. “We should try to find this room and see what information we can glean about our enemies.”

I was pretty sure I could find the room again but I wasn’t sure what good it would do to see the blasted cities from afar. “It’s this way.” I pointed back up the hallway. Ishida motioned for some of his people to stay behind and one entered the room Geordie had disappeared into. I was glad the teen would be guarded while we were away. Aventius chose to remain behind as well. Cristov was torn but one of his European kin volunteered to watch the ex-Councillor so he could join us.

With a large entourage in tow and my friends at my side, I followed the map in my head and went in search of the monitor room.

.~.

Chapter Ten

After a couple of wrong turns and a bit of back tracking, I found the room I was searching for. Just like the last facility, dozens of wafer thin monitors hung suspended in the air. Each one showed a view of the cities that had been destroyed countless millennia ago.

Being heavily addicted to computer games, Ishida wormed his way through to the front of the group. This was probably the closest he was ever going to get to watching TV again. Studying the closest screen, he spied something and pointed. “What is that?”

Crowding around him, we squinted at tiny dots running across the ground towards one of the cities. They were too small to make out in detail but I was pretty sure they were Kveet.

“I wish we could zoom in,” Ishida said and touched the screen. Some of the small group started back when the view changed and we were suddenly watching the Kveet in close up.

Tiny and brown skinned, their heads were completely bald and perfectly round. One threw a look back over its shoulder as it sprinted, revealing a scrunched up face. Its eyes were slightly too big, it had a rudimentary nose and a wide mouth. While its features were alien, we could all recognize its terror easily enough.

“I wonder if their blood is drinkable?” Cristov mused. He had voiced the question that had been on all of our minds.

I counted half a dozen more Kveet sprinting flat out. Their bodies were thin and wiry and they wore shirts and pants that matched their skin tone almost exactly. All seven suddenly disappeared beneath the ground almost like an optical illusion. A few seconds later, a silver droid came into view. It was the same size and shape as Robert but the similarities stopped there. Unclothed, it was made of the same metal as the subterranean facilities. It didn’t have ears at all but did have glowing red eyes. The rest of its face was devoid of features but had a similar thin, lipless opening for a mouth as Robert. I figured it was some kind of soldier droid.

Stopping where the Kveet had disappeared, the robot pushed a button on the control panel on its wrist and violet light flared. Turning in a full circle, it scanned the area then shook its head in an almost human gesture of frustration. I had to revise my opinion that the robots were completely emotionless.

There was no sound accompanying the picture on the screen but I imagined the robot was stomping as it turned on its heel and stalked away. It only managed to take a few steps before Kveet erupted from the ground. They swarmed towards the droid and grabbed hold of its legs. Caught by surprise, the robot tried to shake them loose but there were too many of them. Like a swarm of ants, they climbed up its body.

Thrashing around like a person being stung by an angry swarm of wasps, the droid tottered and went down. Most of the Kveet jumped to safety but a couple were crushed to death. Blood that was as brown as their skin splashed across the dry ground and was instantly absorbed. The rest of the aliens rushed to subdue the metal man. One pulled a long, thin tool from beneath its clothes and jumped onto the downed droid’s head. Balancing precariously, it rammed the tool into a red eye then leaped clear. The rest of them turned and ran in different directions, as the robot climbed to its feet. Shaking its head, it put a hand to its injured eye to pull out the tool that had been inserted. A blinding flash of violet light burst across the monitor, making me wince and blink to clear my vision. All that was left of the droid were a few fragments of blackened metal.

Cheering silently, at least to those of us watching, the Kveet’s celebration came to an abrupt halt when they saw the bodies of their fallen. Grief etched their tiny faces as they tenderly gathered their dead and carried them towards the blasted city.

Ishida touched the screen again when they became too small to see and the picture zoomed in closer. This time we all saw the tiny tunnel they disappeared into just before reaching the outskirts of the city. The view wouldn’t move in any closer no matter how many times Ishida tapped the screen.

“If we could somehow communicate with these creatures and convince them that we mean them no harm, we might be able to form an alliance with them,” Gregor said as Ishida moved over to the only blank monitor amongst the collection.

“Robert said the Kveet could be cunning when cornered,” I told him. “But I didn’t expect them to be this intelligent.”

Resting his chin on his fist, Gregor was silent for a few minutes. Most of us were aware of his thinking process so we left him alone to plot. When he spoke again, he quickly gained our attention. “We are stranded on an alien planet with no way of returning home. The Viltaran race is extremely hostile and I cannot see us ever being able to come to a truce with them.” Putting it starkly like that, it looked like we were in serious trouble. “We need food and hunting Viltarans would be very dangerous. I propose that we attempt to make contact with the Kveet and seek their aid.” We’d originally been planning on hunting them down and eating the Kveet but this did seem like a much better strategy.

“How do we know they won’t just blow us up like they did to the robot?” one of the Japanese warriors asked.

“We don’t,” I replied. “I think Gregor is right, we need food and the Kveet are our best bet.”

No one was happy about it but they didn’t openly disagree with me. Motioning to Kokoro, I drew her out into the hallway. She didn’t want to let Ishida out of her sight, now that she had actually regained the ability to see, but I wasn’t taking her far.

When I judged we were far enough away that no one would be able to overhear us, I asked a question that had been nagging at me for the past couple of nights. “Can you still read our minds?”

Shaking her head, her shoulders slumped. “I seem to have lost all of my gifts when I regained my sight.”

“You don’t have any idea what is going to happen to us on this planet, do you?” It came out sounding more accusatory than I’d intended.

“It is hardly fair to blame Kokoro for her lack of visions,” Gregor said as he stepped around the corner. He slid an arm around the ex-seer’s waist and she leaned into him with a shy smile.

“I know. I’m sorry,” I said to Kokoro and touched her arm briefly. “Do you have any theories why she has lost her gifts?” I asked the most sophisticated of us.

Since he had snuck up on us so easily, he wasn’t about to let it happen again and Gregor motioned for us to follow him to the far end of the hallway. We gathered into a small huddle and he gave us his insights. “I believe we have moved beyond fate’s influence. By sending us here, it has corrected the mistake it made when it allowed us to be created. In effect, fate has washed its hands of us.”

I didn’t like his implication at all. “Are you saying that we’re completely on our own now?”

Gregor nodded. “We must make our own destinies and it is up to us whether we survive in this new environment or if we allow ourselves to perish.”

It finally hit me then, we were stuck on this inhospitable rock forever. We’d only been gone from our home planet for a short time and I already missed it. I missed animals, grass, oceans and actual living trees rather than dead petrified ones. I even missed the people a little. Sure they’d kicked us out of our home but, in their place, I might have done the same. Now we had to live in a radioactive-like atmosphere which resulted in hideous yellow skies, howling winds, dusty, parched ground and dead trees. Don’t forget the evil Viltaran overlords, my subconscious reminded me. I hadn’t seen any sign of animal life so we had a choice of feeding from Viltarans or the Kveet we had yet to meet. Neither prospect particularly thrilled me.

“We should probably keep this possibility quiet for now,” I advised the pair and received nods of agreement.

Entering the monitor room again, I noticed immediately that something had happened while we’d been gone. Luc stood beside Ishida and they both stared intently at the monitor that had been blank when I’d left the room. Manoeuvring through the crowd that had gathered behind them, I stood on the other side of the child king to examine what he’d found.

The once blank screen didn’t show a view of one of the ruined cities. Instead, it showed a series of rooms. All were identical, with a long metal table and matching chairs. Most of the rooms were empty of life but eight held Viltarans, talking animatedly. I guessed that we were the main topic of their conversations.

Between eight and twelve Viltarans were seated at each table and all had a droid servant identical to Robert standing behind their chairs. All of the Viltarans were huge, grey skinned and red eyed with the long ears that curled at the tops. Instead of being clones of each other, their features were widely different. Some had batlike noses, others had almost piglike snouts. Most had fangs but a few had tusks that thrust upwards from their upper or lower jaws. Many were bald but the rest had coarse black hair that was filthy from having never been washed. Most bore scars, presumably from decades of fighting their rivals. Roughly a quarter of the aliens appeared to be female, if the twin bulges in their chests beneath their plain black shirts were anything to go by. It was eerie how closely they resembled our species, except for their heads and skin colour. All were heavily muscled, even the females.

One of the Viltarans seemed to shout the others down and all eight groups settled down and turned to view a monitor on the table that we couldn’t see. Standing, he addressed the monitor in front of him, making a speech. Intuition told me we were looking at Uldar. When he sat, the other groups conferred amongst themselves. All of the groups finally finished their chat and their leaders spoke to the hidden monitor. As one, the eight leaders thumped their chests with their fists then our screen went blank.

“Is it just me or did it look like they all just came to some kind of agreement?” I asked the others uneasily.

“Their kind has been warring for millions of years yet they are now joined in a common cause,” Gregor said almost tiredly. “We can only assume that we are that cause and that they have just agreed to work together to eradicate us.”

“If that was all of the Viltarans, then there are less than a hundred of them and they die easily enough,” Ishida pointed out.

“That is true,” Luc said to the teen. “But we do not know how many servants they have at their beck and call. They could have thousands of robots and imp clones stashed throughout the planet.”

In this instance, I wished Luc wasn’t as intelligent as he was attractive. We both remembered the cells full of ravenous imps we had seen. I doubted we would be very tasty to them but I had a feeling they would tear us apart before they figured out that we were inedible.

“I vote we don’t wait for nightfall and head for the closest city now and begin our search for the Kveet,” I proposed.

“Agreed,” Gregor replied immediately. “We will be much harder to locate in the ruins.”

I led the way back to the sleeping quarters at a run. Again, Geordie was the only one who had fallen asleep. Everyone else was still too nervous and scared to allow unconsciousness to render them helpless. Igor collected his apprentice and we trotted off in the direction of the closest city.

.~.

Chapter Eleven

Dead to the world and unaware of the danger we were in, Geordie hung limply over Igor’s shoulder. Luc carried our only weapon and I was holding Robert’s arm. So far it hadn’t been necessary to push any buttons to open the doors but the arm could always double up as a club if necessary.

We’d been jogging for a few hours when I heard a faint chirping sound somewhere in the distance. Slowing down, I motioned for everyone to be quiet. Luc and I shared a glance, hoping the mini imps were still in their cages and hadn’t been set loose.

“Shouldn’t we have reached the city by now?” Gregor whispered when I waved for everyone to gather around.

“We should be near the outskirts,” I replied. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to get any closer beneath ground. We need to find an exit to the surface.” Unfortunately, the sun was still high overhead and it would be several hours before it would sink beyond the horizon again.

Cocking his head to the side, Cristov looked worried. “Is it just me or are those strange noises getting closer?”

I’d been hoping that was just my imagination but there was no use kidding myself any longer. “I think some of the Kveet imps have been released from their cells and are roaming around free,” I said reluctantly. A picture of free range chickens came to mind, except chickens weren’t carnivorous and wouldn’t swarm over us and tear into our flesh once they saw us.

“They sound hungry,” Ishida murmured. “I wish we had some weapons to defend ourselves with.”

While the robot arm would make an effective club, my samurai swords would have been far better. They were probably decorating Colonel Sanderson’s walls back home. I felt a small stab of grief and anger at the thought.

“Standing out in the open like this probably isn’t very smart,” one of Ishida’s people pointed out.

Clumped together, we were almost soundless as we searched for an exit. The chirping grew close enough for me to be able to understand what the imps were saying. Not unexpectedly, they were searching for a meal.

“The stairs should be just around the corner,” said one of the Japanese warriors a little too loudly as she pointed off in the distance.

Almost instantly, the chirping surged in our direction. “Food?” The question was spoken longingly by dozens of voices that all sounded exactly alike.

Following the vampire who had targeted the exit, we raced down a long hallway to a set of stairs. We had passed several doors but none of the rooms would be able to offer us safety. The doors would open just as easily for the clones as they would for us. The sun was still out, which meant we were trapped in the underground facility.

“I have an idea,” Gregor said as the first tiny imp appeared at the far end of the hallway. “Hand me Robert’s arm.” He held his hand out impatiently so I gave him my only weapon. “Which button do you need to press to open the exit?” I showed him and he nodded his thanks. “The air does not appear to harm the Kveet but it is supposedly toxic to the Viltarans. I’m hoping the clones have been altered enough that the air will now be poisonous to them as well,” Gregor explained.

Our options ran out as more imps rounded the corner and spied us. Dozens of high pitched voices screeched in unison. “Food!”

“Quickly, into the room!” Gregor urged us and pointed at the closest door.

It seemed like a longshot to me but I didn’t have a better idea. Luc and I were last to enter the room. Tiny feet thundered down the hallway and my beloved pointed his stolen weapon low to the ground where the little monsters would appear. The others huddled at the back of the long, narrow room. Gregor pointed Robert’s arm towards the staircase out in the hallway with an expression of fierce concentration. He knew that his timing was going to be crucial. He had to wait for the imps to come close enough for the toxic air to wash over them before opening the doors. I hoped he wasn’t too far away for Robert’s arm to open them remotely. If he was then we were in for a battle and not all of us might make it through.

Gregor pressed the magic button a second before our door whooshed open and a pack of ravenous mini imps boiled into the room. Violet light dazzled my eyes as Luc blasted half a dozen of them into oblivion with one shot. Dancing dust motes were all that was left as they were evaporated.

Leaping forward, I booted a Kveet clone against the wall. It burst with a splatter of fluorescent yellow goo. The imps still out in the hallway coughed, grasping their throats with tiny clawed hands as they breathed in the poisonous air. Gregor’s gamble was paying off and I mentally gave thanks for his quick thinking.

The imps that had escaped from the toxic air swarmed over me, much like their Kveet kin had done to the robot they’d taken down. Needle sharp teeth sank through my clothes and into my flesh as more bursts of violet light went off. It only took a small taste for the clones to realize I was far from delicious. Like their brethren currently dying in the hallway, these also clutched their throats in agony. Far more poisonous than the air, my tainted blood ate straight through their flesh. It rapidly dissolved their mouths, making them even larger as it burned its way through their internal organs. It melted its way all the way through their meat and skin and sizzled to the floor. Thankfully, my blood could only destroy flesh rather than metal and pooled on the floor in small black globs beside the bodies of its victims.

Using my hands and feet since I had no other weapons, I snatched up the horrid creatures and either tore them limb from limb or stomped them to death. Battle lust had me in its grip and the clones began to quail from my blazing red eyes that were identical in colour to their own. Sensing the tide turning, Ishida’s people surged forward to attack.

“Not food!” one of the imps wisely, if belatedly, decided and turned to flee. Proving they weren’t quite as stupid as they looked, most covered their mouths and noses with their hands as they bolted out into the hallway. Some didn’t and joined their brethren in death throes as they asphyxiated from the toxic air that was still swirling inside from the open doors above the staircase.

While my clothes now sported over a dozen holes, my flesh had healed instantly from the bites. “Are you alright?” Luc asked as he waved Kveet imp dust motes away from his face.

“I’m fine. You?”

“I am well. This weapon might be small but it is very powerful.” He held the weapon I was beginning to think of as a death ray with new respect.

“I bet Colonel Sanderson would die a happy man if he could get his hands on one of those,” I said.

“I’d be happy to demonstrate its usage to the Colonel personally,” my most favourite companion said grimly.

“It would be a quick but extremely painful death.”

“It was painful when I shot you?”

I could see how upset he was by the thought. “Don’t worry, it only lasted for a moment.” I took his hand and he dredged up a smile for me.

“What did it feel like to be zapped?” Ishida asked as he wandered over. Four of his warriors flanked him. All were alert for any further imp attacks. “Was it more painful than being burned by the sun?”

I could have lied and spared Luc’s feelings but he probably couldn’t feel much worse than he already did. “It was like being burned by a thousand suns all at once.” My beloved’s grip became crushing for a moment before he released me and took a few steps away, ostensibly to examine one of the dead clones.

Kokoro moved to stand beside him, prodding the grey flesh with her shoe. “Do not push her away,” she said quietly. “Mortis needs you, Lord Lucentio.”

Reminded of his duty, Luc bowed his head for a few moments then nodded. I turned before he could see the heartache on my face. Is that all I am to him? A chore? A burden that he has been stuck with? I waited for my subconscious to argue with me but my inner voice remained silent.

With at least another couple of hours left before we could leave the dubious safety of the underground facility, I didn’t think I’d be able to hide my anguish at this unexpected revelation for long. “Wait here,” I said to everyone while avoiding Luc’s gaze. “I’ll be back soon.”

Before anyone could object, I darted out into the hallway. Slipping a little in clone blood, I shied away from the daylight streaming down the stairs at the end of the hall. Still filled with the urge to main and kill, I went imp hunting.

.~.

Chapter Twelve

The little monsters didn’t even know I was closing in on them until I was in their midst and started rending them to pieces. I found there was something quite therapeutic about tearing your enemies apart with your bare hands.

Soaked in fluorescent yellow blood, guts and ooze, I finally allowed them to overwhelm me and take me to the ground. In a move reminiscent of the seven foot imps back home, they piled on top of me until I was completely covered in grey flesh. While their little claws could gouge tears in my clothing and flesh, they didn’t have the strength to tear my limbs completely off. Biting me was extremely bad for their health so we were at a stalemate, or so they thought.

I’d been wondering just how similar these clones were to the ones I was used to and now was a good time to find out. Sending out my senses, I picked up on all of the imps that were attempting to smother or crush me to death. Checking that my kin were still a safe distance away, I groped around until I had hold of a tiny head in each hand.

Staring into the rage filled eyes of an imp that sat on my chest and was vainly trying to strangle me with its tiny hands, I let the force of my holy marks build. I knew the dark power was going to work when the ground trembled slightly. Unleashing the power, I rolled over onto my stomach, dislodging the horde of berserk creatures. I covered my head with my hands a split second before the imps exploded and gore rained down from their rent bodies. When the splattering sounds ceased, I raised my head to survey the carnage. Body parts were strewn up and down the hallway.

Climbing to my feet, I sent out my senses again and felt someone approaching. I knew who it was even before he rounded the corner. Eyeing me warily, Luc lowered his death ray. “I see that your holy marks work just as well against these foes as they did on our enemies back home.”

Wiping goo off the backs of my hands onto my equally filthy jeans, I nodded, avoiding his gaze. “Looks like it.”

Picking his way through exploded parts, Luc stopped a couple of feet away. I figured we might as well have the discussion he clearly wanted to have now while we had some privacy. I couldn’t quite hide my misery when I met his eyes. I knew mine were still glowing scarlet. They were so bright they were reflected in his.

“Just say it, Lucentio.” His full name sounded awkward and cumbersome when I uttered it.

“Say what, Natalie?” He seemed genuinely confused.

“That you’re tired of being my emotional crutch.” Crossing my arms, I gripped my biceps hard enough to leave bruises. They would fade as soon as I let go, of course.

Utterly bewildered now, he moved closer and stared down at me, forcing me to tilt my head back. “Why would I say something that is so untrue?”

Now it was my turn to be confused. “I saw how you reacted when Kokoro reminded you of your duty.”

“She wasn’t reminding me of my duty,” he contradicted. “She was reminding me how much you love me.” Studying my face, he frowned uncertainly. “Is she wrong? Do you not love me?”

“Of course I do!”

“Then why are you pulling away from me?”

Fisting a hand in my filthy hair, I was tempted to tear it out and strangle Luc with it. “You pulled away from me, remember?” Clearly he didn’t judging by his blank expression. “When I told Ishida how much it hurt being shot by the death ray, you dropped my hand and walked away.”

Understanding dawned and his smile was pained. “I did not walk away because of any lack of feeling for you.” Closing the distance, he pried my hands from my hair and twined his fingers through mine. “Hearing that I had hurt you yet again tore my heart asunder. I love you more than I can express yet I continually end up causing you pain.”

Thinking about his broken bones every time we were naked together, I understood what he meant. “It hurts me more when you turn away from me than it does when you shoot me with your new toy.”

Proving just how much he loved me, Luc pulled me into his embrace, smearing his clothes with imp remains. A sob echoed down the hallway then footsteps rapidly approached. We braced ourselves just before Geordie’s thin body thumped into my back. The teen wrapped his arms around me and dry sobbed into my shoulder. “I can’t stand to see you two fighting!” he wailed into my ear.

More footsteps approached and my young friend was gently eased away by his mentor. Worried for our safety, the entire group had come in search of us. “Everything is fine,” I reassured them all and reached out to take Geordie’s hand. He clutched it with panicky tightness. “Luc and I had a misunderstanding but we cleared it up.”

“You still do not truly believe that Lucentio could possibly love you,” Kokoro said, much to my discomfort.

“He could do a lot better than me,” I pointed out, earning a frown from my one true love.

“You are very wrong about that,” Luc declared. “While you are beautiful, it is not just your face and form that attracts me to you. It is also your intelligence, resourcefulness and even your decidedly strange sense of humour,” he said solemnly.

Struggling beneath the weight of his unjust praise, I mounted the only defence I could. “My looks aren’t that great.” I didn’t bother to remind him that my intelligence was only average. That would just incite ridicule from the two teens amongst us.

Geordie begged to differ. “We’ve all seen you naked, Nat,” he reminded me. “You’re even more gorgeous than I thought.”

“You should have seen me before the vampirism made me irresistible,” I joked weakly. “Tell them how ordinary I was, Luc.”

Hugging me to his side, he bent and almost kissed my hair before he remembered it was encrusted with filth. “I’ve told you before that you were always beautiful to me. You are simply even more beautiful now.”

Knowing when I was beaten, I changed the subject. “We should leave before the Viltarans send some more clones after us.”

I’d assumed the sun had gone to bed since Geordie was up. But I still felt it burning away up there, although it did seem to be waning. “Why are you awake?” I asked the teen. He still had my hand clasped in his and used me for balance as he daintily picked his way over strewn body parts.

“I have no idea, chérie. One moment I was out cold and the next moment I was awake.” His cheeky grin turned to surprise when I pulled my hand free and grabbed his chin. “What is wrong?” It came out slightly muffled and I released my grip.

“Your eyes have turned black.” The slight edge of blue was gone, which shouldn’t have happened for another century yet.

On the teen’s other side, Igor whirled Geordie around and peered at his eyes. “It would appear that Viltaran blood has sped up Geordie’s vampire maturity,” Gregor observed.

“None of our kind has ever been able to wake before sunset before,” Ishida said. “Except for Mortis.” All eyes turned on me, as they had so many times before, reminding me that, to them, I was and always would be a freak.

“How do you feel?” I asked Geordie.

“I feel fine,” he answered but looked worried now.

The rest of our trek was made in silence. Only a dim trace of light still filtered down the stairs. The winds hadn’t started yet and I wanted to find the Kveet before they arrived. As soon as the light faded entirely, we left the underground dwelling. Gregor closed the door then offered Robert’s arm to me. I motioned for him to hang onto it and he tucked it beneath his own arm.

Luc held the death ray in one hand, alert for signs of trouble. Less than a mile away, the ruined city beckoned. Now that we were so close, the lack of windows was obvious. Uniform sandy brown in colour, the buildings also could have been clones. None were intact and most appeared to be mere shells full of rubble. I was beginning to doubt that they would offer us any shelter at all.

“This is where the Kveet disappeared underground,” the emperor said. “We should all start searching for tunnels.” He received several affronted looks from the Europeans but we all followed his order since it made sense.

Cristov found a hole by stepping in it. It was so tiny his foot barely fit inside. “Great,” Geordie complained when we gathered around to examine the opening. “Now all we need to do is shrink ourselves down so we can fit inside.”

As if in response to his thought, the hole widened and the teen was sucked beneath the ground. Launching myself headfirst after him, I stretched out my hands but he was out of reach. Far too hard to be made of dirt, the chute we flew down seemed to have been made of metal. Our ride was smooth and lengthy enough that we had to have been several hundred feet below ground when it came to an end.

With an alarmed screech, Geordie dropped out of sight. Spinning around so I was feet first, I reached the end of the ride and fell into a pool of darkness.

.~.

Chapter Thirteen

Geordie and I weren’t the only ones to be sucked beneath the ground. Startled shouts echoed in the darkness that my eyes were already adjusting to. My kin hurtled down multiple shoots then landed either on their feet like I had or on their faces like Geordie had.

Blinking up at me in bafflement, the adolescent was still trying to figure out what had just happened. I offered him my hand and helped him to stand. “Where are we, Nat?”

Seeing bars on all four sides of us, the answer was fairly obvious. “We’re in some kind of prison.”

Geordie’s eyes adjusted as well and he stepped forward to test the bars. He yanked as hard as he could but they didn’t budge. I tried as well and failed just as miserably. All around us, similar cages held our friends and allies. Most were trapped by themselves but a few had fallen together.

The bars were about two inches thick with a gap of three inches between each one. After we’d been dropped inside the cage, bars had slid into place above us. Although bare dirt lay outside the cells, the floor beneath us was solid metal so we wouldn’t be digging our way out in a hurry.

A quick count only gave me twenty-eight vampires. “Someone is missing,” I said to my young companion.

Geordie was trembling in fear and reaction at being jailed. Clutching the bars, he peered at the others who were held captive. All wore expressions of dismay, fright or anger. “I do not see Gregor anywhere.”

A few cells down from ours, Luc came to the same conclusion. “Gregor!” His bellow echoed around an area that was so large we couldn’t see the sides or the ceiling. No answering call came.

“Natalie, can you escape from your cell?” Luc asked. He still held the death ray but there were five European and Japanese vampires standing between us. Our cells were small and the ray’s blast zone was wide. If he tried to zap me, someone was bound to be caught in the crossfire.

Escaping wouldn’t be a problem, I just didn’t relish the idea of breaking my body parts down in front of Geordie. “I’ll give it a try,” I replied to my beloved then turned to my cellmate. “You might want to close your eyes for a minute.”

Backing away as far as he could, Geordie gave me space to work. Concentrating, I told my body to disassemble and it immediately began to break apart from the head down. I wished I could bypass this stage and instantly turn myself into tiny particles but that was an art I hadn’t quite mastered. Maybe one day I would be able to skip this step altogether.

From the gagging sounds coming from behind me, Geordie had ignored my warning not to watch. He couldn’t actually vomit but the urge to do so still came over him when he was grossed out enough. Considering my bits and pieces were now scattered over the cell floor, I couldn’t really blame him. Some of my body was still contained within my clothing, which had been reduced to a shapeless lump.

I’d left my hands intact and they went into motion, pushing the bulk of my body through the bars to the dirt floor outside the cell. “Give her a hand, Geordie,” Igor called gruffly from one of the other cells. I swivelled an eye to see the teen’s horrified expression. Proving he was braver than I’d thought, he bent and began scooping my pieces through the bars.

It only took a few seconds to reform once all of me had been tossed into a pile. I managed to become whole while still inside my clothes so at least I wasn’t naked this time. Geordie gave me a weak smile but I was pretty sure he had been cured of any lust for me after seeing me in a state that looked a lot like dog food.

Moving to Luc’s cell, I took the death ray when he offered it to me. It wouldn’t do him much good at the moment. “Be careful, Ladybug,” he said quietly.

Wrinkling my nose at the nickname, I leaned forward and gave Luc a quick kiss. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I didn’t make any promises that I would save his friend. For all I knew, Gregor could be dead already.

Kokoro pointed out the obvious from her cell. “Can you still sense Gregor?” Her small hands were wrapped around the bars and her normally serene expression had been replaced by worry. They might be a fairly recent item but she obviously cared for the most refined of us.

Feeling a bit dim for not thinking of it myself, I sent my consciousness out. Not far in the distance, I felt the familiar presence of another vampire. I also felt a large number of other creatures. They weren’t imps, my kin or Viltarans, that much I could tell. There was also another, much smaller group of something else that my senses could pick up but not yet identify.

I gave my friends and allies the good news first. “I can feel Gregor somewhere nearby.” The ex-seer immediately sagged against the bars in relief. Ishida, just one cell over from hers, sent her a sympathetic glance. “I can also feel two different types of other beings. One group is large but there are only a few of the second type.”

Aventius voiced his theory. “Your powers appear to be strengthening if you can now sense creatures other than us. Perhaps you are sensing the Kveet.”

Cristov, in the cell next to his leader, hunched his shoulders and peered around at the darkness surrounding us. “I wonder what the other creatures Natalie can sense are.” No one ventured a guess as to what these mysterious creatures might be. It was a small comfort that there only seemed to be a few of them compared to the dozens of Kveet.

Geordie waved forlornly as I trotted in the direction that I could sense Gregor had been taken. I hated to leave the teen on his own, or the others for that matter but I couldn’t save anyone by standing around. As usual, I had to step up and be the hero. It would be nice if someone could save me for once, I whined to myself. My inner voice gave a snort of derision but refrained from commenting.

Row after row of empty cells stretched onwards before finally stopping at a cave wall. I was strongly reminded of the First’s cavern of doom but it thankfully lacked humans roasting over a fire. Apart from their current few captives, most of the cells didn’t look like they had been used in a very long time. There were no smells of sweat, terror or the inevitable waste that was excreted by living beings. All I could smell was dirt and a faint trace of the toxic air from above that had probably come down the chutes with us.

The cave wall was roughly hewn and stretched out in two directions. Heading towards the right, I followed the wall until it was broken by a tunnel. A Viltaran would have trouble fitting inside the narrow passageway but it was large enough for a human, or vampire as was my case. Moving quickly but quietly, I held the death ray in a death grip and jogged down the long, twisting tunnel.

Quiet, high pitched voices speaking in an unintelligible babble reached me and I slowed down. Spying light, I crept to the end of the tunnel but made sure to stay in the shadows. Another large cavern waited. Instead of being full of cells, it was largely empty. Gregor knelt in the middle of the space, facing a semi-circle of tiny Kveet. Most brandished the long, thin explosives they had used to blow up the droid.

Completely ignoring the Kveet, Gregor stared in revulsion at something beyond them. Shifting my gaze, I beheld what kept him so still. Ten creatures that looked like something out of my worst nightmare stood clustered together. Maybe ‘stood’ wasn’t the best word. How could you stand when you didn’t have any legs?

As black as the shadow imps that had plagued me for a brief time, they were somewhere between five and six feet tall. Instead of arms and legs, they had hundreds of thin tentacles that writhed constantly. They didn’t seem to have a body or head, just a shapeless mass of jellylike flesh.

One of the creatures clutched Robert’s severed arm in a tentacle. In a bubbling language that sounded like it was coming from underwater, the five were discussing it and their captive.

“How do you think the primitive being managed to gain possession of this?” the one holding the arm asked.

“It must have found the device,” another answered. “It is inconceivable that beings as un-advanced as these could have conquered one of the Viltaran’s personal droids.”

“I say we destroy them all before they cause us trouble,” a third declared.

“Let us not be hasty,” a fourth immediately argued. “We should study them first and see what information we can glean from them. We need to know where they came from. Perhaps they could turn out to be our allies.” Finally, an alien that doesn’t want to kill us on sight!

“I concur,” a fifth said. “We should attempt to communicate with the creature instead of destroying it and the others that are being held in the cages.”

Not wanting to put Gregor in danger, I pocketed the death ray, put my hands in the air and slowly stepped out into the cavern. I made it halfway to my friend before the Kveet spotted me. “Beware, one has escaped from its cage!” It came out so high pitched and panicked that I couldn’t quite stifle my snigger.

My amusement changed to alarm when half a dozen explosives were hurtled towards me. The Kveet might be small but they could throw much further than I’d thought possible. The tiny brown bipeds turned and ran to escape from the blast zone. Putting on a burst of speed, I ducked and rolled beneath the flying explosives and sprinted to Gregor. Dropping to my knees, I shielded him with my body as the bombs went off in mid-air. Bright violet light bathed the area and my back was shredded down to the bone. My flesh healed instantly but my sweater and shirt were in ruins. They were held on only by the shoulders and sleeves now.

“Are you alright?” I asked Gregor. Checking over my shoulder, a wide but shallow crater had been blasted in the ground.

Shaken and still unable to take his eyes of the black, tentacle ridden aliens, he nodded. “I am well. How are the others?”

“They’re being kept in cells but they’re ok, so far.”

Finally tearing his gaze away from the aliens, Gregor stood, drawing me to my feet as well. He turned me around and examined my missing clothing. I was just glad my jeans hadn’t been destroyed. I could just imagine Geordie’s reaction if I had to walk around with my bare butt hanging out of my pants.

“Your ability to heal still manages to amaze me,” Gregor said when I turned around to face him.

“Yeah, me too.” As we spoke, the creatures I was beginning to think of as a cross between an octopus and a squid moved closer. They moved very fluidly on their tentacles, leaving hundreds of small divots in the dirt for footprints. A few of the braver Kveet joined them.

“Bring the droid,” one of the Kveet said when they came to a stop. Several of the small beings pushed their way through the crowd and returned dragging what was left of a Robert clone. The droid’s arms and legs had been removed so he was just a naked torso and a head. The Kveet dumped the droid on his back and his head turned to examine us.

“Tell these creatures that we mean them no harm,” an octosquid instructed the crippled robot.

Red eyes shifted to the ten black aliens, stopping briefly on the severed arm in their possession before returning to us. “We mean you no harm,” the mechanical man said in English.

“How can you possibly know our language?” I asked him.

Gregor answered me. “I would assume that the robots are all linked somehow. Anything that Robert knew was shared with every other droid.”

“This is correct,” the robot said. If that was the case then he knew all about my friends and I. They might even be aware of our strange abilities.

“Tell them all that we aren’t a threat to them,” I told the robot. He dutifully repeated my words in the alien’s bubbling language and then again in Kveet.

“What are you?” one of the octosquids asked.

“That’s a long story.” Knowing me, I’d dig us all a hole so deep we’d never be able to get out of it if I tried to explain our history. “I’m Natalie and my friend is called Gregor. He is going to explain our origins.” Giving the dapper one a clap on the shoulder for encouragement, I motioned for him to begin our tale.

Gregor summed our story up much more quickly and succinctly than I would have been able to. The ocotsquids and Kveet didn’t interrupt with questions or comments. If they’d been human, they wouldn’t have been able to help themselves. It was a crazy story no matter what species you belonged to.

When he was done, I had the sense that the jellyfish-like aliens were sharing some kind of communication the rest of us couldn’t grasp. The Kveet hadn’t relaxed their vigilance and watched Gregor and I closely with their strange weapons at the ready.

“Does your planet contain water?” one of the octosquids asked.

“Earth has lots of water, both salt and fresh,” I told them. I wasn’t sure what that had to do with anything but Gregor grasped their interest immediately.

“Humans are an intolerant species,” my friend said to the aliens. “They would undoubtedly kill you on sight.”

“Why?”

“Because, in their own way, they’re just as bad as the Viltarans,” I said to the group of black monsters. “Instead of killing you for pleasure, they would destroy you out of fear. They are scared of what they don’t understand and, no offense, but you guys are…” There were no words to describe them that wouldn’t cause at least some offense.

Gregor stepped in, rescuing me from making an undiplomatic blunder. “You are not like any beings we have seen before and most humans would find you to be extremely frightening.” I sent him a grateful smile for his intervention.

“If they think we are frightening, they should see our cloned kin,” an octosquid whispered to the others. The robot didn’t bother to translate.

“You are not from this planet, I presume,” Gregor said.

“We are not,” one of the jelly bodied aliens replied. “Our world was conquered many millennia ago and has been reduced to ruin, like every other planet the Viltarans have come into contact with. Many of us were brought to Viltar to serve as amusement and to eventually become their slaves. We ten are all that is left of our species.”

Knowing how they felt about being the last of their kind, I paused for a respectful moment before speaking. “The owner of that arm,” I pointed at Robert’s arm still in the clutch of a tentacle, “told me the Viltarans don’t just colonize other planets but they also war with each other.”

“This is so,” was the response. “When they could not locate any more planets to plunder, they turned on each other. It is in their nature to destroy even if it is their own kind.”

“I get the feeling there aren’t many Viltarans left. In fact, I’m pretty sure there are less than a hundred of them.” That had been all we had seen on the monitors.

“We can tell that you are trying to make a point but we fail to see what it is.”

“A long, long time ago, one of the droids crash landed on our planet and fed a vial of nanobots to a human. Doing so turned him into the undead and gave him a thirst for blood. Gregor has a theory that this should never have happened and that our species is a mistake. Fate wiped most of us out and sent the rest of us here. I have my own theory, that we were sent here to put an end to their reign of terror.”

At their baffled silence, Gregor clarified my meaning for them. “Natalie intends to kill the Viltarans.”

“Impossible!” one of the Kveet said in a high pitched voice. It pushed its way through the throng to stare up at me. “No one can match the Viltaran’s weaponry. Over a dozen worlds have fallen to them with only minimal resistance.”

Gregor smiled down at the Kveet. “That may be so but we have a weapon that is far more dangerous than anything any world has ever seen before.”

“What is this weapon?” one of the octosquids asked.

My hand rose into the air. “That would be me,” I replied.

.~.

Chapter Fourteen

Breaking into the babble my statement caused, I addressed the Kveet who had spoken. It was stooped and wrinkled, which probably meant it was in charge. “Do you have a name?”

“I am M’narl.” It sounded like muh-gnarl to me and I doubted I’d be able to pronounce his name correctly. My brain did its best to translate but it wasn’t perfect.

“What about you guys?” I said to the octosquids.

“You would be unable to pronounce or understand our names. You may refer to us as you wish,” one replied.

“What do we have to do to get our friends released?”

“That is a decision that will be made by myself and the other elders,” M’narl answered. “You would have to give us a good reason why we should do so.”

“Our planet was on the verge of being overrun by the clones created by the Viltaran robot,” Gregor said to the diminutive alien. “Between us, we have killed thousands of the grey skinned beasts. We are used to battling the clones and are accomplished at destroying their kind.” If he had been completely honest, he would have admitted that I had done most of the killing and members of two human armies had helped me out.

“You have told us that you are a weapon that the universe has never seen before,” an octosquid said. “Explain how this is possible.”

“I will, but only if you let my friends go,” I said bluntly.

Clearly they didn’t trust us but we offered them possibly the first ray of hope they’d ever had. Motioning us to stay where we were, the Kveet and their black tentacle covered friends moved away, dragging the robot with them. The octosquids dropped down to Kveet height, spreading out in inky pools of constantly moving tentacles. From above, they would have resembled squished spiders with way too many legs. They had no idea we could hear every word they uttered, even if only one of us could understand them.

M’narl kicked off their not so private meeting. “They have different coloured skin and faces but they resemble the Viltarans far too much to be trusted.”

“They even admitted they have been infected with the nanobots,” another Kveet said.

“The nanobots must have malfunctioned,” an octosquid decided. “They did not manage to convert the humans into Viltaran clones.” The robot automatically translated for everyone else while I murmured what they were saying to Gregor.

“If they did manage to kill the Viltarans, how do we know they won’t simply take their place?” another aged Kveet demanded. No one had an answer for that.

“Let us vote,” an elder said.

When their decision was reached, M’narl strode back over to us. “We will free your friends and aid you to destroy the Viltarans in any way we can.”

Gregor waited for the droid to translate and asked a pertinent question. “Are there any other life forms on this planet?”

“Only we Kveet and our ten allies are left,” M’narl said sadly. “All other races and species have been converted into food for the clone armies.”

“What are we going to do for our food?” I asked Gregor.

“Do you really survive on blood?” a Kveet elder asked.

“Yes,” I said and had to restrain myself from rubbing my empty stomach.

“How much do you need?”

I held my hands out and they peered into my cupped palms. “About that much each every few days or so.”

“We should be able to supply you with enough food,” M’narl said. Gregor and I looked at their numbers doubtfully. There were less than a hundred of them and I doubted they would be able to feed one of us let alone all of us. Picking up on our doubt, the Kveet leader waved away our concern. “There are many more of us in hiding near the ruins of each city. We will send word and gather more of our kin together.”

“What about our friends?” I reminded the little brown alien.

“They have already been released.”

Sending out my senses, I saw he was telling the truth and the captives were heading in our direction. Gregor and I moved to meet them when they appeared at the mouth of the tunnel. Geordie pushed his way through the group and ran to meet me. “I am so glad you are alive!” Wrapping his arms around me, he found only my bare back instead of clothing. “What did they do to you, chérie?” He turned an accusing gaze on the Kveet.

Luc’s arm came around me and I leaned in to him. I almost started when his hand slipped into my pocket but he was simply retrieving the death ray.

None of my friends or allies had spotted the octosquids yet and I thought it would be a good idea to warn them. “The Kveet have graciously agreed to help us and are willing to feed us their blood,” I told the group. Kokoro released Gregor and turned to face me. She might not be able to read minds anymore but she sensed my tenseness.

“Why do I sense a ‘but’ in there somewhere?” Cristov asked more with resignation than suspicion.

“But only because I said I was going to kill all of the Viltarans,” I told him. “By the way, there are ten other aliens in here that are probably going to scare the pants off most of you.”

Ishida’s expression was haughtily amused. “I have played many computer games that contained all manner of disgusting and hideous creatures. I highly doubt…” His words trailed off and I guessed the octosquids had regained their normal height.

Some of my kin again reached for weapons that had been left behind on Earth. Others staggered back a few steps, on the verge of running. Geordie’s mouth had sagged open and I was pretty sure he was going to scream once his shock wore off. Igor’s hand clamped over the teen’s mouth before he could voice his horror.

“They don’t have names that we can pronounce but I’ve been thinking of them as octosquids,” I said into the tense silence. “They have a tame robot that acts as a translator so they can understand everything we say.” My warning was taken to heart and words that may have sparked a war were swallowed.

Igor leaned down to whisper in his apprentice’s ear. “Just think of them as giant jellyfish. They coexist peacefully with the Kveet and there is no reason why they cannot get along with us as well.”

“Giant jellyfish,” the adolescent said faintly. “Don’t jellyfish have stings that can kill people?”

“Yes,” the Russian replied gruffly, “but they cannot harm the undead.”

Reminded that he had left humanity behind a long time ago, Geordie nodded and struggled to remain calm. Luc squeezed my hand and I realized I’d been holding his tight enough to crush bone. Nothing popped back into place when I eased my grip so maybe I hadn’t been holding him quite that tightly after all.

“Now that your friends have been released, it is time for you to explain how you can be a weapon powerful enough that the Viltarans should fear you,” one of the octosquids said.

Describing what I could do would probably cause confusion so I opted to show them instead. Grasping my left hand in my right, I commanded it to come free. Astonished murmurs swept through the Kveet. Concentrating, I eventually reduced Lefty to particles so tiny they couldn’t be seen. Then I enlarged the particles and clumped them together so the shape of my hand was apparent but appeared ghostly. None of the aliens in the room seemed to be impressed so I took my transformation a step further.

Astonishment turned to alarm and the tiny brown aliens backed away when my body broke into tiny pieces and fell to the ground. Some of the Kveet covered their eyes in revulsion. Geordie looked like he wanted to do the same but managed to control his gag reflex this time. Within a few minute my whole body was a swirling mass of particles. Lighter than air, they formed into my usual shape without being solid and floated a few inches above the ground.

“As you can see,” Gregor said into the silence, “Natalie has the ability to break herself down into pieces so tiny they can infiltrate any area.”

One of the octosquids moved closer to examine me. Geordie blanched and shuddered when the appendages carrying the creature brushed past him. Tiny holes on its tentacles opened and closed like mouths that were perpetually seeking for food. Examining me without discernible eyes, the alien still wasn’t convinced of my danger. “This is an astonishing feat yet I am not sure how this could be used as a weapon against the Viltarans.”

“This is just an example of how different Natalie is to the rest of her kin,” Gregor explained. “She is a highly skilled warrior and has strength and speed that is unparalleled. Her most useful talent is that she cannot die.”

“That is not possible,” one of the octosquids said flatly. “All creatures die. Even we do not live forever.”

Moving back to my tattered clothing, I made my form substantial enough to tug the rags on before reforming. I wondered just how long they were able to live but it seemed rude to ask. Geordie apparently didn’t think so. “How long does your kind live for?”

The robot translated for my friends. “Several hundred thousand or more of your Earth years.”

“That is a very long time,” Ishida said slowly. “I am not sure that I would want to exist for that long.” Realizing it was very likely that I would still be around when the universe finally imploded, he cut a glance at me. Luc’s hand tightened on my waist in silent support.

“Believe it,” I told our tentative new allies almost curtly. “Every possible way to kill a vampire has been tried on me, including being zapped by a robot’s death ray. I just regenerate every time.”

Apparently deciding to trust us, the octosquid holding Robert’s arm stretched its tentacle out and handed the arm back to me. I took it, being careful not to touch its black flesh. I wasn’t sure I would be able to contain my abhorrence if one of the tiny mouths brushed against me. “Do you have a plan on how you are going to infiltrate the Viltaran strongholds?” it asked.

Thankfully, Gregor was ten steps ahead of me as always. “We will not need to. If we are clever enough, they will come to us.”

.~.

Chapter Fifteen

“You mean to set a trap,” the Kveet elder speculated.

“That is my intention,” Gregor confirmed. “Before we discuss the details, can you assure me that the droid will not be able to warn the Viltarans?” He nodded towards the crippled robot as it translated his words.

Waving his hand, M’narl dismissed the dapper one’s fears. “We have disabled the return uplink between the droid and its former masters. It can still receive information but it is unable to convey any. It has been reprogrammed to obey our commands.”

“You must be quite technologically advanced,” Ishida said with some surprise.

His observation caused the Kveet some amusement. “We may be small in stature but we are fortunately well endowed with intelligence.”

Geordie sniggered at the alien’s choice of words then cringed away from his mentor. Igor merely frowned at his protégé and turned his attention back to our allies. “Why did you remove his arms and legs?” Igor asked.

“The droid is far easier for us to transport without the extra weight.”

“Are you natives of this planet?” I asked M’narl.

Instantly, their mood turned sombre again. “No. We were also snatched from our home world and brought to Viltar to be slaves and food for their clone armies.”

“You have formed a resistance,” Aventius said. He’d been so quiet lately that it was almost a surprise to hear him speak. “Some of us saw you laying a trap for one of the robots.”

“We do what we can to thin their numbers but they simply produce more in their factory.”

Gregor thought for a few moments then altered his plan. “Destroying this factory should be our first task before we confront the Viltarans.” Even with my lack of strategic skills, I realized shutting down their ability to make more enemies for us to battle was an excellent idea.

Most of the Kveet goggled at him. Presumably, the octosquids did as well. “That would require entering their most strongly guarded fortress,” M’narl spluttered. His voice went up several more octaves and Geordie bit his lip to stifle a smile.

“Do you know where this factory is?” Luc asked.

“It is several days travel away, deep within the blasted zone. Even we are unable to survive in the toxic atmosphere in that region.”

“I guess it’s lucky for us that we don’t need to breathe,” one of Ishida’s warriors said.

“Then only the droids are guarding the factory?” Igor queried.

“Yes but there are many sentinels on patrol,” M’narl warned.

Gregor’s fist came up to rest beneath his chin as he put some thought into his new plan. Even the Kveet remained silent to allow him to think. “Is there any way we could see the blueprints of the factory?” he asked at last.

“What are blueprints?” the Kveet elder repeated in confusion.

“Gregor is talking about a detailed map of the building,” Luc explained.

Brightening, M’narl nodded. He’d only known us for a short time and he was already beginning to take on human mannerisms. “The droid will be able to assist us with this information.” He turned and headed towards a wider tunnel and his kin and allies followed. Several of the larger Kveet dragged the crippled droid by a rope that had been tied around his neck. They left deep drag marks in the soil.

Expecting more primitive tunnels, I was astonished when we entered what appeared to be a workshop. Industrious Kveet stood beside metal benches that were at roughly my shin height. Some were tinkering with explosives, several were making clothing and the rest were busy with tasks I couldn’t even begin to grasp. All lifted their heads to stare at us mistrustfully. Sprinkled through their numbers were a number of females. They were smaller and more delicately built but not much different from their menfolk. Both males and females were hairless.

Next, we passed through their sleeping quarters. Metal barriers had been erected that were high by Kveet standards but that I could easily glance over. They had created tiny homes for their families that looked like oversized doll houses to me.

A dank, low tunnel led us to an underground lake. The water smelled almost stagnant to me. Weird insects about the size of my hand with gigantic eyes and short, stubby wings, crouched on the surface of the water. Iridescent fungus grew on the walls, bathing the cavern with greenish light. “This is our food source,” M’narl said and indicated the fungus. He and his kin had worn a path around the edge of the lake. An island sat in the centre of the lake and glowed softly under a covering of more fungus.

“Yummy,” Geordie said then shared a giggle with Ishida.

At a barely perceptible splashing sound, I turned just in time to see the last of the octosquids slipping into the water. They disappeared beneath the surface with only a tiny ripple to mark their entry.

At the end of the next tunnel, we entered their command centre. Flat, thin monitors, presumably stolen from the Viltarans, hung in mid-air over to one side. Some featured the ruined cities. Others showed flat, lifeless ground. A couple even showed the petrified forest. I had a feeling the monitors had been set up at strategic points where the Viltarans sent their robots out to hunt for Kveet to feed to their clone armies. They’d be able to set up ambushes where they would be the most effective.

Another pool of water, only twenty feet or so wide, sat off to one side. Tentacles suddenly appeared and the ocotsquids heaved themselves silently onto dry land. I figured the pool connected to the lake through a sub-tunnel.

Being dragged towards the monitors by several of the Kveet, the droid was unceremoniously dumped on his side again. A Kveet that was far less grizzled than M’narl, came forward with another, smaller screen. He spent a few moments tinkering on it then several of the larger monitors joined together. They went blank for a few seconds before coming to life again. When they did, they showed a confusing three dimensional map of what had to be the robot factory. It seemed to be gigantic with multiple levels both above and below ground. I despaired that we would actually be able to shut something that large down.

“What is the most effective way to obliterate the factory?” M’narl asked the droid.

“Simultaneously destroying these three areas with explosives will result in the factory being damaged severely enough that repairing it could prove to be impossible,” the Robert clone replied. Three red dots appeared on the screen, supposedly zapped there by an uplink from the droid. All were on different levels but that was about all I could tell from the diagram.

Ishida stepped forward to examine the map. His eyes flicked from one red dot to the next, possibly assessing their location. “If I could take one of these monitors with me, I believe I could navigate my way to these areas.”

Sharing a whispered conversation that they had no idea I could both hear and understand, M’narl discussed the pros and cons of allowing us to use one of the monitors with the other elders.

“What harm could it do?” one asked.

“They are so primitive they would have little chance of figuring out how to use the device effectively,” another argued.

“I can program it to display the quickest route to the factory and the ‘blueprints’ they require,” the Kveet controlling the robot arm told the elders. He was much younger than they were but they listened to his council anyway.

“Agreed,” M’narl said finally.

They re-joined us and the younger Kveet reached up and grabbed another monitor. It shrank down to a size he could hold easily and he rapidly moved his fingers over the bottom section of the screen. Ishida watched him keenly without being too obvious about it.

When he was finished, the young Kveet made the monitor larger by grasping the edges and stretching until it was about twelve inches wide and six inches high. “I have programmed the monitor to lead you to the factory,” he said. “Once you reach your destination, the blueprint will automatically be displayed.”

He handed the screen to Ishida and the teen gingerly reached out and grasped it by the edges. It settled into his hands and the screen went blank. The Kveet might be willing to help us battle the Viltarans and their droid army but they clearly didn’t trust us and I couldn’t really blame them. Once they saw we only meant to rid this world of the Viltarans rather than taking over from them, they would hopefully realize we weren’t a threat.

“You will be able to make most of the journey beneath the surface,” M’narl told us. “When their air became unbreathable, the Viltarans forced their slaves to create a vast network of intersecting underground dwellings.” I could just picture tens of thousands of enslaved Kveet digging out miles of passageways and building the belowground dwellings. “When they turned against each other and began to decimate their own people, many of their residences were abandoned. There is no telling what you might find within the underground facilities during your travels.”

Gregor nodded at the warning. “We should head towards the factory and strike before the Viltarans become aware of our intention.”

A female Kveet entered, carefully carrying a bowl that was large for her but cup sized to us. It was full of a familiar thick liquid that made my stomach try to cramp in anticipation even if it was the wrong colour. “I’d better try their blood first,” I said to my friends and allies. Everyone stared at the bowl longingly. Kneeling, I took the bowl and took a careful sip. Dark brown, the liquid was rapidly cooling but it tasted a lot like human blood, if sweeter than usual. I drank half of the cup and waited for something horrible to happen.

Luc hunkered down beside me to study my face. “How do you feel?”

“I feel fine. It might be a strange colour but it’s pretty tasty.” Relief swept through the group as I downed the rest of the contents without suffering from any obvious ill effects.

.~.

Chapter Sixteen

It took time to feed twenty-nine vampires and dawn arrived before the last of Ishida’s warriors drained his bowl. Blinking owlishly, Geordie was weaving on his feet. I hadn’t slept properly since I’d woken up as a vampsicle on the ship and we had a lot of work ahead of us. Rest would be a good idea. “Do you have somewhere where we can sleep for the day?” I asked our tiny hosts.

Clearly uncomfortable at the thought of welcoming us into their homes, the Kveet exchanged hasty words. “If it would not offend you too greatly,” M’narl said when their discussion wound down, “the quickest access back to the surface is in the cavern where we imprisoned you. This would be the most suitable area for you to rest.”

Gregor had bypassed the cells entirely so had no input to offer. Igor, Luc and Aventius nodded to indicate they were ok with the idea so I accepted the offer. “That will be fine, thank you.”

M’narl himself guided us back through the maze of tunnels. Several of the younger Kveet trailed along behind us, dragging the droid so he could continue to act as a translator. All were armed with their explosive devices and watched us closely. “Some of your bombs would come in handy when we try to blow up the factory,” I said to M’narl when we reached the mouth of the tunnel that led to the cells.

“A supply will be left on the surface for you,” he said. “I wish you every success in destroying the factory.” With that short speech, he and his entourage left.

Waiting until the small group had disappeared from sight, Geordie made an observation that I agreed with wholeheartedly. “I am very glad to be away from the jellyfish creatures.” He shuddered and I put my arm around his narrow shoulders. His instincts were finely tuned for someone who could be so childish at times. “The Kveet seem to be trustworthy but I am not so sure about their allies. I do not like them very much.”

“Then we should make sure we do not give them any reason to turn on us,” Igor said and led the way through the tunnel to the cavern with the cells.

Instead of rows of cells, the cavern was empty. Only the squares of metal flooring indicated the cells had ever existed. The Kveet had full control of their lair and seemed to be able to manipulate it at will. There was no sign of transportation that would carry us to the surface but I didn’t let that concern me. Right now I just wanted to lie down and try to get some sleep.

Choosing an area of soft soil to lie on, I curled on my side and Luc lay down behind me. His chest covered my bare back, not that he had any warmth to offer me. His arm went around me and I snuggled against him. All around us, our kin either settled down to sleep or stood watching guard. Closing my eyes, I succumbed to weariness.

Walking through grass that was long enough to brush against my knees, I wrinkled my nose at the smell of sulphur that hung in the air. I was in a large field that had been left to run wild. The grass was dead and dry, just like the trees that were dotted here and there. Dark clouds roiled overhead and the sky was a sickly, familiar yellow colour.

Reaching the edge of the field, I found a path and followed it. The trail wound through lifeless trees that were tiny compared to the ones in the petrified forest. Leaving the path, I picked my way through the grass to a small copse. A long strip of bark came off when I tugged at it, revealing the sickened flesh of the tree beneath. Wherever I was, it had been bombed far more recently than the planet of Viltar.

I wandered back to the path and it led me to the edge of a road. Skyscrapers that had once reached for the stars lay in ruins. Glass, metal and other debris were strewn across the road. Cars, most of them yellow, lay crushed beneath the rubble. I realized I was dreaming about Earth when I saw the bodies. Humans lay dead on the streets and sidewalks everywhere.

I was pretty sure I’d never been to this city before but it was somehow familiar anyway. One of the yellow cars was only partially crushed. The driver hung limply through the window, as if he had been trying to crawl free. On the door beneath the dangling hands were the words; NYC Taxi.

“NYC?” I puzzled out loud. New York City, my inner voice said when it became obvious I wasn’t going to figure it out on my own in a hurry.

Sitting up with a start, I found most of my kin were already awake. This was far from normal since the sun was still burning away in the sky far above us. Geordie was still out of it but he was frowning, which also wasn’t normal. I put my hand on his arm and his frown smoothed out as he sensed my presence.

Luc, Gregor, Igor and Aventius huddled together and were talking quietly. Ishida lay beside Kokoro but his eyes flickered open when I crept past him. It shouldn’t have been necessary to creep at all but it appeared the vampires weren’t subsiding into a deathlike state when they lay down for the day.

Taking the hand Luc held out to me, I was in time to overhear Gregor offering a theory to the small group. “It appears that the Viltaran blood has altered all of us. Those I have spoken to agree their rest felt more like true sleep than the usual blank states we are reduced to upon daylight.”

“Did any of you dream?” I asked them as casually as possible.

Luc shook his head. “My slumber was deep and dreamless yet I woke when I detected movement nearby.”

“That has to be a good thing, right?” I directed my question at all of them.

Igor was the only one brave enough to answer me. “Being able to awaken at will can only be to our benefit. Yet we cannot help but wonder what other changes might occur due to ingesting the blood of our ancestors.”

The thought of being related to the Viltarans in any way was repugnant yet undeniable. We shared their DNA and drinking even a small amount of their blood had initiated changes within our makeup. I mentally crossed my fingers that nothing horrible would happen to my friends due to this.

Those of us who were still resting woke shortly after sundown. Geordie rubbed his eyes and glared around crankily, searching for something to whine about. Igor met his apprentice’s gaze and shook his head once. Grumbling beneath his non-existent breath, the teen rose, brushed himself off and joined us.

Moments after we had all gathered together, a screeching sound came from the far side of the cavern. Luc pointed his death ray at the noise but it turned out to be our ride to the surface. A metal cage had appeared in the wall as a door slid aside. It looked like an ordinary elevator and would have been at home back on Earth. It was large enough to carry all of us, as long as we didn’t mind being squished in together.

Once we were all inside, the doors closed and we slowly began to ascend. Holding the robot arm like a club, Gregor was on my left and Luc was on my right. Geordie stood right behind me, fidgeting like he needed to go to the bathroom. Knowing him, he was probably bored. “The ride on the way down was a lot more fun than this,” he complained, inadvertently proving my point.

Finally, a door opened above us and sulphur tinged air wafted inside. The elevator rose to ground level and we stepped out, wary of a trap. As soon as the last of our group left the elevator, it descended into the ground and a sheet of metal slid back into place. The wind would blow dirt over it again soon enough, concealing it once more.

Ishida spotted the equipment that had been left for us in several large baskets. They appeared to have been made out of the same material their clothing was made from. Since there was no plant life, apart from fungus, I had no idea how they made their clothes. They probably scrounged it from the cities, I reasoned. Maybe they’re made from fungus, my inner voice countered.

Four of the Japanese warriors sprinted over to the supplies. One held up a long, thin explosive and another held up the same type of black shirt and pants that Robert had worn. The clothing had apparently been adjusted to fit us. Ishida’s monitor came to life, showing M’narl and the crippled translator droid. “We have provided you with spare clothing and enough weapons to destroy the factory,” the elder said with the droid dutifully translating. “To use the weapons, tap the top and bottom at the same time then throw the device. It will explode after five of your Earth seconds has passed.”

“Thank you,” I said then bowed. The tiny alien hesitated uncertainly then offered me a short bow in return before the screen went blank again.

Ishida and his warriors seemed amused that I had lapsed back into using their customs but it had seemed appropriate somehow. We gathered around the baskets and sorted through the clothing. I had no idea how they had pulled it off but the Kveet had stitched an outfit for each of us that fit nearly as if they had been tailor made. It took some swapping before we all had the correct outfit. Gregor looked at the clothing distastefully but deigned to change out of his stained and filthy jeans and hooded sweater.

Donning the black pants and shirt someone handed me, I was surprised at how soft the material was. Somehow, I’d expected it to be scratchy. The Viltarans didn’t strike me as if they would be able to care about the comfort of their mechanical servants.

The monitor in Ishida’s hands came to life once more, showing a map of the area. The child king pointed roughly northward. “One of the underground buildings is just ahead.” A short walk later, Gregor used Robert’s arm to grant us access to the stairs.

Once we were all inside, Gregor shut the door again. Since Ishida was the one with the map, he and several of his people took the lead. The warriors ranged ahead and remained on the lookout for signs of trouble. The faint glow from Ishida’s monitor was the only light and glancing at it briefly was enough to ruin my night vision for a few seconds.

Sending my senses out on a routine sweep, I almost missed a step. We’d been trotting steadily for several hours along the dark hallways, following the map on the monitor. Luc caught me beneath my elbow as I righted myself. “What is it?” he asked. His tone was sharp enough to draw everyone’s attention.

“We’ve got company,” I said grimly.

.~.

Chapter Seventeen

Distant shouts of alarm came from somewhere ahead. Kokoro grabbed Ishida before he could sprint to the aid of his people. Rapid footsteps sounded and three of the five warriors appeared at the far end of the hallway. Two made it to safety but the third was caught in a blast from a death ray. Violet light seared our eyes and the warrior winked out of existence.

“Hunt them down!” The gravelly shout was spoken by a Viltaran.

“Yes, master,” several identical droid voices responded.

Anger surged through me that our already low numbers had just been reduced by three. Luc urged us to race back down the hallway and around the corner. We piled into a room and my beloved took up a stance beside the door with the stolen death ray held ready.

Much stealthier than they should have been at their size, the robots entered the hallway. Luc waited until they were almost too close before stepping out and sending a blast of violet light at the group of metal men. Like the droid that had been ambushed by the Kveet, these robots were the same dull silver as the hallways. Only their red eyes and size were the same as what I presumed were the personal servants of the Viltarans. Unfortunately, the weapon had no effect on them at all, except to blind them momentarily. Swearing in a blend of Italian, French and English, Luc leaped forward to battle the droids by hand.

I was right beside him and grabbed the first robot’s weapon hand before he could fire. Vampires boiled out of the room behind us, intent on killing the machines before they could reduce us all to dust. One of the Europeans joined the Japanese warriors in death before we were done tearing the automatons to pieces.

Booting a robot’s head down the hallway, Geordie scowled after it. “I forgot their weapons don’t have any effect against metal.”

Luc touched the teen’s shoulder briefly. “None of us remembered, Geordie.”

Aventius stared bleakly at the spot where his follower had been. A few flecks of ash settled to the ground on the spot where he’d been obliterated. Ishida was equally devastated to lose three of his people. We were now down to only twenty-five.

“Perhaps we should see how well these things work against the Viltarans,” Igor said as he scooped up one of the death rays that had been dropped by a droid. Cristov, Ishida and three others nabbed the other weapons. With murder in his black eyes, Ishida darted back the way we’d come.

Four grey skinned, red eyed Viltarans panicked when we rounded the corner and came face to chest with them. The death rays worked just fine on them and they became dust motes floating in the stale air.

“Is it just me or does it seem like a stupid idea to arm robots with weapons that don’t harm them but can kill their masters?” Geordie said as he waved dead alien particles away from his face.

“These creatures are as arrogant as they are bloodthirsty,” Gregor replied. “They have pillaged, sacked and destroyed so many planets that it is inconceivable to them that anyone or anything could fight back.”

“They should be used to it to some extent,” Luc said dryly. “The Kveet have managed to both elude them and destroy their droids for centuries.”

Ishida roused himself from his grief. “We will be reduced to becoming like the Kveet if we do not kill the remaining Viltarans. I for one do not wish to cower in caverns below the ground for the foreseeable future.”

“I’m sorry I let my guard slip,” I said. Both Aventius and Ishida looked at me as if I’d said something idiotic.

“We are at war, Natalie,” Kokoro said on their behalf. “There are always casualties in battle.”

“I could have prevented their deaths if I’d been more careful,” I argued.

Geordie slipped his hand into mine and squeezed my fingers gently. “You know to keep your senses at full alert now, chérie.” Continuing to beat myself up about my lack of vigilance out loud would only sound like I was whinging so I kept my self-abuse to myself.

Ishida had dropped the monitor during our rush to escape from the ambush. Instead of smashing to pieces on the floor, it hung about a foot above it. Once he touched it, the screen came to life and it settled back into his hands. I could barely fathom how creatures advanced enough to create technology like that could be a race of murdering savages so bent on destruction that they would almost destroy their home planet as well as their own species.

Really? My subconscious rose up to say. Just take a look at what humankind has done to Earth and to each other over the past few hundred years. I hated to admit it but my alter ego was right. It seemed the more advanced we became, the more we trashed our world and the people in it. The humans could very well end up just like the Viltarans, reduced to less than a hundred globally and forced to live beneath the ground due to the toxic air up above. Plenty of books had been written about just such an occurrence but they were all fiction. It was terrifying to think that it could become a reality. Then again, why should I even care what happened to my former home?

Ishida took the lead again but this time no one ranged too far ahead. His monitor led us unerringly towards our goal and I remained far more vigilant this time. My senses picked up signs of life well before we heard the distant and distinct chirping of Kveet imps.

Clustering around the monitor, we were dismayed yet unsurprised to see that our route would take us directly past the cells where the little monsters were kept.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Geordie said.

Igor nodded, eyeing the screen suspiciously. “The Viltarans may have figured out our destination. This would be the perfect opportunity to lay underground traps to impede us.”

“I would like to know how they knew where to set their traps,” Ishida said. “How could they know we were heading this way?”

“Maybe they locked on to the trackers Colonel Sanderson put in our arms,” the youngest of us joked.

Gregor looked stunned for a moment then smacked himself in the forehead. “Of course! I should have thought of that.”

“I was just kidding,” the adolescent said, amazed by Gregor’s reaction.

Gregor stripped off his new black shirt to remove the tracking device that had been implanted in his upper arm. Igor did the same, revealing a pale torso covered in a thick pelt of hair. I glanced at Geordie when he removed his shirt and he gave me a cheeky smirk. His ribs were far too prominent and I hoped he would be able to eat again soon. I almost wished we had kept one of the Viltarans alive so we could top up on blood but that probably wasn’t a good idea. Who knew what would happen to my kin if we continued to drink the blood of our alien ancestors?

I was the only one who hadn’t been implanted with a tracker by Sanderson. I shielded Kokoro and some of the other more modest females from view as they removed their shirts and tore the tracking devices out. Just as the last implant was dropped to the ground and crushed, I realized our mistake. “Maybe we should have left this area before destroying the trackers,” I said uneasily.

“Why?” Geordie queried as he donned his modified shirt again.

Several corridors away, doors slid open and Kveet imps began to emerge from their cells. I was the only one who understood their never ending verbal quest for food but I and the others stirred nervously as hundreds of tiny grey feet began to shuffle in our direction.

“Run!” I whisper-shouted and we stampeded back the way we’d come. Apparently we weren’t quiet enough and high pitched cries of “Food?” followed us.

Now that we weren’t following the map, we quickly became lost in the maze of never ending hallways that all looked the same. Either the imps were being guided or they knew the place well. No matter which way we went, we seemed to be running straight towards them.

One of Ishida’s female warriors recognized where we were. “The exit should be this way!” She took off at a sprint and we were fast on her heels. Her memory was accurate and we reached a long hallway that ended in a set of stairs. Gregor pointed Robert’s arm at the steep staircase and the door slid open. The smell of sulphur wafted down to meet us just as the Kveet imps came into sight. Cries of rage and despair at missing out on a meal echoed after us as we raced up the stairs. Even if they could have reopened the door after Gregor closed it, they would have been unable to follow us into the poisonous wasteland.

Leaving the imps behind, I sensed nothing following us as we hurried across the inhospitable surroundings. We had already jogged through most of the night and dawn would soon be upon us again. Ishida located another underground facility and I searched it with my senses before giving Gregor the go ahead to let us in.

Instead of darkness, soft light filled the silver hallways. Geordie huddled at my side, afraid to voice his fear and give away our position to possible enemies. His trembling was enough to tell me he was in the grip of another bad feeling.

“What do you suggest we do?” Luc asked his old friend.

Gregor glanced at the horizon. It was still dark but that would soon change. “We do not have time to search for another sanctuary. I am afraid we have no choice but to enter.”

Just like a GPS driven map back home, Ishida’s map had recalibrated with our change of direction. We continued our trek and it once more guided us towards the factory. We were halfway there now and we were making good time. No one wanted to stop to rest. Even tottering on his feet and half asleep when the sun rose, Geordie didn’t slow us down. Igor and one of the Europeans slung his arms over their shoulders to make sure he wouldn’t fall on his face.

Detecting a new kind of life form, I couldn’t figure out what it was. It was similar to the imps but different somehow. “There is something up ahead that might be more imps,” I said to my friends and allies.

“How many are there?” Igor asked.

“I’m not sure.”

“You can’t tell what they are?” Luc asked me.

“I think they’re different from anything we’ve seen so far.” No one was happy with this but we had little choice but to continue onwards.

Treading quietly, we inexorably closed in on the alien presence and my tenseness grew with each step. The same female warrior who had guided us to the exit earlier glanced up and down each hallway we came to with a puzzled frown. “This place is different from the others,” she said.

“How can you tell?” Geordie slurred. If Igor and the other guy hadn’t been holding onto him, the teen would have been on the ground long ago.

“The layout is different,” she replied. Stopping at the next junction, she turned her head left and right then pointed straight ahead. “I think we are going to come across a large open area at the end of the hallway.”

I wasn’t the only one dreading what we would find on the other side of the door that blocked our path.

.~.

Chapter Eighteen

“What is that noise?” Geordie whispered as we started down the corridor.

“It sounds like water,” Igor replied.

“A whole lot of water,” someone else clarified. Liquid sloshed inside the room that the Japanese female warrior seemed to think would be sizable. Nervous at what we might find, I made sure I was the first to step inside when the door hissed open.

Ishida’s warrior was correct. Far larger than any room we had come across so far, a gigantic pool took up most of the square space. There were no safety fences to stop the unwary from falling in. Wet patches on the silver floor meant something had been in here recently. Ripples were making their way from the centre of the pool outwards. Tiny tsunamis splashed onto the narrow walkway that ran around the outside of the pool.

According to Ishida’s map, our route would take us past the pool and through a door directly opposite from where we stood. There was no sign of the creatures I’d sensed but I could feel them somewhere close by. We were armed only with six death rays and one robot arm. Not that the arm would be of much help, unless we wanted to open or close a door in a hurry.

Taking charge, Luc pointed at two of the death ray wielding vampires to stick with him and for Igor, Ishida and Cristov to band together. Under his silent direction, our group split in half and began filing around the edge of the pool. Geordie was torn between staying with me and following his mentor. I gave him a light shove towards Igor’s group and he trotted to catch up to them, covering a yawn with one hand.

Luc and Igor headed the two groups. Ishida and his armed warrior went in the middle. Cristov and the final armed European went last. We were halfway around the walkway when I felt a strange presence rapidly approaching. Before I could warn anyone, gigantic grey tentacles burst out of the water. Four feet wide at their base, they thinned down to almost delicate tips and sported the same mouth holes that the octosquids possessed. Some of the holes were easily the size of my head. Up this close, I could see tiny teeth gnashing thin air as the holes incessantly opened and closed. Two of the tentacles grabbed the European next to me by the waist and tore her in half. Black ooze splashed on the wall, me and anyone else in the nearby vicinity.

Rising out of the water, the misshapen top section of the creature split almost in two as a gigantic maw appeared. It opened wide to expose concentric rings of razor sharp teeth that were easily large enough to rend us to pieces. The vampire who had been ripped in half silently begged me to save her. I grabbed for her hand but she was yanked out of my reach and thrown into the mouth of the beast. No one but me could have healed damage that extensive and I knew there was nothing I could have done to save her yet guilt made my insides clench. Sending out more tentacles, the monstrous imp snatched up someone else and tossed them into its mouth as well. Both vampires would disintegrate the moment they died so they wouldn’t be much of a meal for the hideous abomination.

Luc and the others who were wielding weapons fired blasts of violet light at it but they only inflicted a small amount of damage. Geordie screeched in alarm as Ishida was snatched up by the ankle. Twisting around, the teen fired into the open orifice of the imp. It flinched in pain, causing a mini tidal wave to wash over everyone on the opposite side of the pool. Smacked against the wall by the wave, the vamp next to me dropped his weapon. Luc was already sprinting around the edge of the pool as Igor and Cristov fired their rays into the creature’s mouth.

Snatching up the death ray, I shoved my way past my kin. Slipping on the metal floor that was slickened by water, I bolted around the edge of the pool and fired at the tentacle holding Ishida. Blackened by the blast and oozing bright yellow blood, it dropped the child king. Geordie and Aventius caught Ishida and righted him. Calm despite almost becoming dinner, the emperor fired into the gaping mouth that was now starting to close. Tentacles that had taken hold of victims dropped them as the enormous octosquid began to sink beneath the water.

My battle lust refused to let the beast escape and I was on the move before I had fully formulated a plan. Jumping onto a tentacle, I raced down its slimy length and leaped into the mouth just before it closed. Scarlet light from my eyes bathed the area and glinted off the teeth that were retracting into the sides of the imp’s mouth. Before I could figure out how to disable the creature, it swallowed and I was suddenly rushing down a long, slick chute and into the depths of its stomach.

Surfacing, I wrinkled my nose at the smell of rotten meat and other things that I couldn’t identify. I floated in the putrid water and wondered what I was supposed to do now. If it had been a vampire I would have tried to cut off its head or to stab it through the heart. Unfortunately, this thing didn’t seem to have either, or any other weaknesses that I could exploit.

At a sudden sinking sensation, I figured the monstrous imp had begun its descent to the bottom of the pool.

Waiting for the monster to stop sinking, I swam over to the side and put a palm against its stomach lining. If I had still been human, I was pretty sure being down this deep would have killed me. My holy marks had worked against the Kveet imps but that didn’t mean it would work against an octosquid imp. A barely perceptible twitch came when I used the holy mark and some of the flesh beneath my palm melted. It gave me hope that using both together could mortally wound the monstrosity. I’d never used the dark power against anything this big before but I had to at least try.

Shoving the death ray into my waistband, I put both hands against the lining of the imp’s stomach. Concentrating hard, I let the force build until the water around me began to tremble. The octosquid shifted uneasily and putrid water sloshed over my head. Ignoring the rotten chunks of meat that showered over me, I waited until I was all but bursting at the seams with power before unleashing it.

I was buffeted from side to side as the giant began to explode from the inside out. Abruptly reversing its direction, it rose towards the surface. It moved so fast that I was pressed to the floor of its disintegrating belly. Then I was being forced upwards as the beast regurgitated the contents of its stomach. In a gush of disgusting liquid, I flew out of its mouth, hit the wall with my chest then slid down to land on my face.

Luc and Igor raced forward to scoop me up while Ishida and the other two vamps blasted the already dying monster. Close to sobbing in fear, Geordie dragged me away from the pool when Luc and Igor put me down. “I wish you wouldn’t scare me like that, Natalie.” It was weird to be scolded by a fifteen year old kid but I didn’t protest his shrill remonstrations.

Most of my surviving kin had wisely moved into the hallway to escape from the octosquid imp. Ishida and the other two armed vamps ceased firing at the direly wounded beast and joined us. We stayed near the door so it would remain open and allow us to see the death throes of the monstrosity.

Thrashing, gnashing its teeth and flailing at the air with its tentacles, the monster began to swell alarmingly. “I think we should probably move back and let the door slide shut,” I suggested and backed away from the opening. The others apparently agreed with me and stepped back with alacrity. The door hissed shut just as the imp burst. Thick, yellow ooze splattered through the narrow gaps in the door.

I was almost positive that I didn’t want to see the aftermath of the creature’s demise but pure curiosity made me step forward again. The door was reluctant to open and did so with a wet sucking sound. Previously silver, the walls, ceiling and floor were coated in fluorescent yellow ooze and grey chunks of flesh. The smell made me want to gag and I wasn’t alone in my revulsion.

“Eww! Let’s get out of here,” Geordie said with a hand clamped over his nose.

One of the Japanese warriors handed over the monitor Ishida had dropped when he’d been attacked. Thankfully, it still highlighted the direction we needed to head to reach our goal. Stashing his death ray in the waistband of his pants, the child king pointed down the hallway. “The map indicates that we will need to travel along the surface again soon.”

“But we’re having so much fun down here,” Geordie said with heavy sarcasm. Ishida cracked a rare smile and Geordie giggled at his own wit.

Gregor, with Kokoro’s hand clasped in his, made an observation that would have been funny if it hadn’t been horrifyingly true. “Our kin are dying like extras in a horror movie. We are now down to only twenty-three in number.”

“Do you think the monitor has been programmed to put us in danger?” I asked.

Gregor shook his head. “I believe we will face deadly obstacles no matter which route we take.” Gregor’s reassurance eased the group’s fears. For a moment there I’d thought the Kveet were trying to kill us off. They would be stupid to turn on us before we’ve finished killing the Viltarans for them, I told myself.

As we traversed the halls, I couldn’t help but notice that everyone was giving me a wide berth. Even Luc was keeping his distance. Being covered in stomach juices and half-digested Kveet meat had left me reeking so badly I almost expected to see stink waves radiating off me.

Ishida led us to another set of deep stairs that would carry us up to the surface. “We have to cross a stretch of open ground but we should reach another set of underground passageways before dawn.”

No one wanted to be faced with the howling winds but we could go no further underground, unless we wanted to take the long way to reach our goal. Gregor opened the door and dust instantly coated us from a gust of sulphurous air.

“As least we won’t be able to smell Nat up there,” Ishida said and received a few laughs. No one needed to be told to stay together. If we lost sight of each other, it would be all too easy to become lost in the storm.

.~.

Chapter Nineteen

Blinded by the swirling dust that was flung in our faces by the wind, we huddled together while Ishida consulted his monitor. He pointed wordlessly but Igor stopped him with a raised hand before he could move. “We will have a greater chance of remaining together if we form several lines. Link arms and keep the row in front of you in sight.” It was sound advice and after a bit of shuffling, we were ready to brave the arid region.

Since he was leading us, Ishida, Kokoro and two of their warriors made up the first row. I was in the next row with Luc to one side and Geordie to the other. Igor and Gregor were on each end. Aventius, Cristov and three Europeans came behind us and behind them were the remaining Japanese and Europeans. A hand came to rest on my shoulder and I leaned forward to grasp the shoulder in front of me.

We made good time despite the dirt that bombarded us constantly. With my arm linked through Luc’s and my other hand on Ishida’s shoulder in front of me, I couldn’t shield my face from the wind so kept my eyes on the ground. My senses were on full alert but consistently came up empty. It truly was a wasteland with only a distant mountain range to break the monotonous view of dead brown dirt on the rare occasions when the wind dropped.

I almost stepped on Ishida’s heel when he stopped a couple of hours later. He waved Gregor forward and pointed at the ground just ahead. Nodding, Gregor pushed the button on Robert’s severed arm to open the hidden door. A sinking feeling hit me when nothing happened. Pushing the button again, Gregor turned in a circle. He searched for the door but had no success at locating it.

Luc gestured for us to form a tight huddle. Shoulder to shoulder, we blocked most of the wind and could speak without swallowing mouthfuls of dust. “Gregor, do you still think the Kveet aren’t trying to send us to our deaths?” my beloved asked his old friend.

Baffled, Gregor shook his head. “It simply would not be in their best interests for us to die before we have accomplished our goal of destroying the factory and eradicating the Viltarans.”

“Maybe it isn’t the Kveet who are trying to kill us,” Ishida said. He stared at the monitor suspiciously. “It is possible the Viltarans, or their droids, have hacked into this screen and have altered our route.”

“Dawn will be here within the hour,” Aventius pointed out. “They have led us out into the open with nowhere to shelter from the sunlight.”

We would never make it back to the previous underground passages before the sun came up. “I never thought I’d say this but I wish there was a death pit around here somewhere,” I said. My comment drew glances of consternation.

“Why would you say that, chérie?” Geordie asked.

“Because the last one had some bodies in it. We could try to use their clothing to cover us.” No one seemed enthralled by my admittedly pathetic plan. “Does anyone else have a better idea?” Sadly, no one did so Gregor started pushing the other buttons on the dead droid’s arm. A faint sliding noise came from somewhere in the distance and we hurried towards it.

Standing on the edge of the death pit, I gaped at the mound of skeletons that littered the floor. There were so many deceased Viltarans inside that I couldn’t even see the floor. Worming his way in beside me, Geordie made a small sound of pity. The aliens might be trying to kill us but it was horrifying to see so many of them had died so painfully even if it had been thousands of years ago. “Are we really going in there?” the adolescent asked me with a hint of revulsion.

“Yes,” Igor said then shoved his apprentice into the pit.

Flailing his arms, Geordie fell face first onto the pile of bodies. Igor jumped in next. Neck deep in skeletons, he fished Geordie out and helped him over to the side. With great reluctance, the rest of us followed suit. Gregor closed the door but we all knew how futile the gesture was. As soon as the sun came up, the door would probably automatically reopen and the frying would commence.

Annoyed at his mentor, Geordie kicked bones out of the way and waded off into the corner. The carcasses on top were so badly eroded they were all but dust and shattered easily. Crossing his arms, the teen’s bottom lip came out as he subsided into a sulk.

I made my way over to him and handed Geordie my death ray. “See if you can blast some of the bones to bits and give us some room to move.”

His lower lip was still pooched out but he emerged from his sulk enough to obliterate a few of the skeletons. Meanwhile, everyone else was stripping the dried out remains of the long deceased Viltarans. Gusts of wind had been swirling inside and when they suddenly dropped off, we all knew the sun wasn’t far away.

We hollowed out a space in the centre of the pile of bones then started erecting a makeshift tent from the Viltaran clothing. Most of the fabric was in even worse condition than the skeletons and fell apart in our hands. Despair spread throughout the group as the faintest trace of sunlight hit the horizon.

Still playing with the death ray, Geordie adjusted something then cocked his head at the high pitched whine that issued from the weapon. “Huh. I wonder what that did?” Pointing the death ray at the wall, he fired a shot. A five foot diameter of metal disintegrated and dry dirt showered to the ground. Glancing over his shoulder guiltily, Geordie waited for someone to berate him for causing the destruction.

Gregor and Luc exchanged an amazed glance then scrambled out from beneath the dubious cover of the makeshift tent and attacked the wall of dirt. Joining them, I stopped long enough to give Geordie a quick hug then grabbed Gregor by the ankle. “Allow me,” I said and unceremoniously dragged him out of the short passageway they’d already dug out. Being the undisputed master of digging, I quickly passed Luc, tunnelling ever deeper through the crumbling soil. This far down, it wasn’t as dry as the dirt on the surface and it was possible, if not easy, to tunnel through.

“That should be far enough, Natalie,” Luc said when the last of our kin had squeezed inside the narrow tunnel. The end was blocked with the salvaged clothing only moments before the doors slid open and the killing rays of the sun spilled into the death pit.

We all hollowed out a space large enough to lie down in. Some of the smell from my encounter with the octosquid imp still lingered but the wind and flying dirt had scoured most of it away.

Peering back down the tunnel, I located Gregor about halfway down. He had dug out a nest beside Kokoro and Ishida. “Gregor.” He turned and lifted an eyebrow at my soft call. “Sorry about dragging you out of the way like that,” I apologized.

“That is quite alright, Natalie.” Despite the smile he gave me, he still seemed a bit stiff.

“That thing in the pool was an octosquid imp, wasn’t it?”

Thawing a bit, he nodded. “So it would seem.”

“Why was it so big?” Geordie asked, struggling to remain awake now that the sun was up.

Gregor had already put some thought into the question and had an answer ready. “I assume that, in their usual form, the octosquids do not eat Kveet. When they were transformed into a Viltaran clone, they presumably became as ravenous as the other imps that we have encountered so far.”

“It’s stomach was full of half-digested Kveet meat,” I confirmed.

“It is possible that the Octosquids normally grow larger when they consume food that agrees with their metabolism,” Gregor concluded.

“So, if they were eating anything other than fungus, they would be larger than the ten we saw?” Ishida asked.

“I can’t be certain without speaking to one of the aliens themselves, but I believe so,” the dapper one replied.

“Geordie,” Igor called from somewhere at the far end of the tunnel. “How did you make your weapon disintegrate metal?”

The few of us who were in possession of a death ray turned to peer at the teen. Uncomfortable at being the centre of attention, Geordie hunched his narrow shoulders. “I don’t know. I was just fiddling with it and it made a noise.”

Reaching into his pocket, Luc leaned across me and handed his weapon to the adolescent. “Try to remember what you did.”

Turning the death ray over, Geordie examined it and compared it to the one I’d handed him earlier. His expression brightened when he figured out what he’d done. “Twist this thing here, push that button then twist the thing back,” he said to my one true love.

Taking his weapon back, Luc followed the young vampire’s instructions and the death ray gave a brief high pitched whine. Duplicating the process, the whine came again as the setting changed back. “This could come in very handy when we next battle the droids,” Luc said and grinned at Geordie. The flash of his white teeth made my flesh hunger rise.

“Get a grip, Nat,” the teen said as he sensed my need.

“I’d like to,” I muttered, thinking of something Luc possessed that I’d like to wrap my hands around. Ishida sniggered, which sent Geordie into a fit of giggles. Igor sat forward to glare at his protégé and Geordie promptly succumbed to sleep before he could be punished.

Lying beside Luc, I took my weapon back and stuck it down the front of my new pants since they didn’t have pockets. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Geordie, he just wasn’t that great with operating weaponry most of the time. It was a minor miracle that he’d twice managed to figure out how to use the death ray.

One by one, my friends and dwindling number of allies slipped into their new version of quasi-sleep. For the first time since we had arrived several nights ago, they felt safe enough to relax for a few hours. As far as the Viltarans knew, we had just been obliterated by the sun. Ishida had left the monitor amongst the desiccated bones in the pit. There was no use using it anymore when it was clearly rigged to lead us to our doom.

Hopefully we would be able to find our way to the factory and put stage one of our plan into action. We may have been led astray from our path but the Kveet had shown us where the factory was. Surely it couldn’t be that difficult to find the centre of the blast zone that had all but killed the entire planet?

.~.

Chapter Twenty

I dozed off and on as I waited for night to fall but couldn’t quite slip into a deep sleep. By the time the sun went down, I was more than ready to climb out of the tunnel and back into the pit.

Instead of being zapped into tiny particles and floating my way out of the pit, this time I was thrown out by Igor and Luc after Gregor used Robert’s arm to open the door. I’d already sent out my senses and located some Kveet imps somewhere to the north. Imps meant underground shelter from the storms and we had half a dozen weapons now that should be able to take down scores of the ravenous clones. We still had our supply of explosives M’narl had given us but they would only be used when we reached the factory.

Igor was the last one out of the pit again. This time he clambered up the pile of bodies then leaped the rest of the way out. Those of us who were armed with a death ray stood sentry. Geordie hovered at my side and remained anxious until his mentor appeared.

Ishida moved beside me as I took the lead. “You are certain there is another set of underground passageways ahead?”

Nodding, I raised a hand to shield my eyes as the first puff of wind spattered my face with dirt. “I can feel a bunch of imps nearby so there has to be shelter of some kind.”

Jogging past me, Gregor grimaced against the strengthening wind. Kokoro ran at his side with a hand tucked into his arm. She might not need physical guidance anymore but she enjoyed being close to her new love interest. “How about we pick up the pace?” Gregor said then put on a burst of speed.

Moving far quicker than we had last night, we raced across the desiccated ground. Being undead gave us the bonus of never running out of breath and it also gave us incredible stamina. Cutting a glance at Luc, I smirked as I thought of his stamina when we were naked. Catching my eye, he rolled his and put some more distance between us. I didn’t take it as an insult. Now was definitely not the time to succumb to my rising flesh hunger. The two hungers often battled each other. If there had been any possibility that we might come across some food, my need for sex might not have been quite so strong at the moment.

We sprinted flat out for over an hour before I called the group to a halt. If this underground facility was like the others then the entrance had to be around here somewhere. “Try the button,” I said to Gregor. He did so and a door slid open to our right.

Just in case some droids were waiting for us, we pointed our death rays at the stairs. It was dark inside and no scarlet eyes glowed in the gloom. Luc, Ishida and I went first with the bulk of our group in the middle. Igor, Cristov and the other armed vampire guarded the rear. You still haven’t learned everyone’s name, my inner voice said suddenly. The comment Gregor had made earlier that our kin were dying like extras in a horror movie hadn’t left me. I hated to admit it even to myself but I wasn’t expecting our group to survive for long on this planet. If fate had dumped us here and left us on our own, what was the point of getting close to everyone since there was a good chance they were only going to die anyway?

Once Gregor closed the door again, Ishida voiced an idea. “We need a replacement monitor that the Viltarans haven’t hacked into and tampered with.” He led the way and the rest of us trotted to catch up.

“For all we know they might be alerted as soon as we use one of the monitors and hack into it all over again,” I pointed out.

Shrugging, Ishida didn’t seem terribly concerned. “They think we are dead so this should buy us time to find the factory and shut it down.” I wished our task would be as easy as the kid made it seem but nothing had been easy since we’d landed here.

Hearing the chirping sounds coming from the caged clones from several hallways away, Geordie unconsciously rubbed his stomach. “I wish they were edible,” he said softly. Sound carried in the silver halls and the last thing we needed was to rile up the imps.

“Their blood is full of nanobots,” I reminded him. “I wonder if that’s why we die when we drink each other’s blood, because we’re already infested with microscopic alien robots?”

“That could very well be the case,” Gregor said and smiled like a proud parent whose child had just turned out to be smarter than they’d thought they were.

“So, we have tiny little Roberts swimming around in our veins?” Geordie seemed sickened by the thought. I smiled at the picture of microscopic Robert clones busily doing whatever it was that nanobots did. My amusement died as I picked up life forms at the periphery of my senses. Everyone stopped when I did and glanced around uneasily, searching for danger.

“What is it, chérie?” Geordie asked. His hand slipped into mine, seeking comfort.

“Viltarans,” I said quietly. “I can sense a small group of them.” Based on what we’d seen when spying on their secret meeting, there were probably a maximum of twelve in their party.

“Where are they?” Gregor asked.

“In the dining hall, I think.”

Luc, Igor, Gregor and Aventius shared a silent exchange of ideas that seemed to run along the same lines. “Their blood didn’t harm us last time,” Luc pointed out.

“Please tell me you aren’t thinking of eating them,” I said. All four men turned stoic expressions on me.

“There is no telling when we will be able to feed again, Mortis,” Aventius pointed out.

“Luc is right, Natalie,” Geordie said. “We all drank the alien’s blood and we’re all fine.” His newly black eyes pleaded with me to see reason. “You might be able to last for months without food but we are still recovering from starvation.”

As much as I hated to agree with him, Geordie was right. He still bore the signs of advanced age and Ishida could definitely do with a decent feed. “Ok, fine,” I gave in with a distinct lack of grace. “But we need to scout the area first and come up with a plan.”

“I have a plan,” Igor said and hefted his death ray meaningfully. “We creep up on them, blast the droids then jump the Viltarans and tear their throats out.”

What the plan lacked in detail it made up for in its simplicity. As one, our group quietly began to sneak down the corridor. Clearly, I didn’t have a vote this time. Grumbling internally, I elbowed my kin out of the way until I was back in the lead again. I understood their desire to find sustenance but there was no need to put them in more danger than was necessary. Out of all of us, I was the only one who was un-killable so it made sense for me to go first.

Geordie grinned at me when I stalked past him and Ishida gave me a tiny bow. I replied to both with a grimace to indicate how badly I thought their plan sucked. This was supposed to be the second phase of our plan but since the Viltarans were handy, we might as well wipe them out now. Besides, I could also do with a snack.

Before we reached the dining hall, I called everyone to a halt again. “Instead of bursting in there with our death rays drawn, why don’t I scout out the room first?”

I’d kept my voice at barely above a whisper and Geordie responded in kind. “How are you going to do that? As soon as you get close, the door will open and they will know we’re here.”

“Not if I just send my eye in,” I replied. The teen made a face but refrained from gagging when my right eye popped out of its socket and fell onto my palm. Motioning for everyone to stay back, I snuck closer to the dining hall then rolled my eye the rest of the way.

Possessing the eye as I crept back to the group, I waited for it to come to a stop near the door before flattening it down into a thin puddle of ooze. The ooze inched its way beneath the door and a hazy picture of a dining room came into view. Reforming my eye, the table and chairs looked even more gigantic from my view from the floor. Ten Viltarans were spaced out around it and were chowing down on what I assumed was Kveet flesh. Twenty droids stood at attention with two behind each chair. Half were identical to Robert and wore the same plain black clothing that most of us now wore. The rest were the more functional silver soldier droids. From their complete lack of alarm, I was pretty sure none of them had any idea they were about to be attacked.

Splitting my consciousness, a small part of me remained in control of the orb to guide it back to my body while I filled my friends and allies in on what I’d seen. “The Viltarans are also armed with death rays,” I finished up after describing where they were all placed.

Gregor, Igor, Luc and Aventius put their heads together to refine their plan. My orb rolled to a stop beside me and I bent to retrieve it as they came to an agreement. We gathered around to hear their verdict.

“Ishida, would you mind relinquishing your weapon to one of your more able warriors?” Gregor asked. With only a slight stiffening of his back, the young ruler chose one of his female warriors and handed his death ray over to her. He might be used to being in charge but we weren’t in his empire now and he was far from his top physical condition.

“We six,” Igor pointed at the other five of us who were armed, “will go in first. We will split up to cause as much confusion as possible. Our weapons are set to destroy metal so we should take out the droids first. Only use the setting to destroy flesh if absolutely necessary.”

“As soon as the droids have been obliterated, the rest of our group should rush the Viltarans,” my beloved said. “I doubt anyone needs any instruction on how to take down their prey.” Luc received a few tense smiles at his dry witticism.

“Are you all ready?” Gregor asked, making sure to meet everyone’s eyes. We all nodded and kept our misgivings to ourselves. I shot a glance at Aventius and he nodded at my unspoken request to make sure that Geordie remained safe. At least, I hoped that was what he was nodding about. The teen in question blew me a kiss as our small group of armed combatants silently headed towards the dining room. Ishida watched us go grimly, probably wishing he was going with us. Kokoro put a hand on her charge’s shoulder, clearly glad he wasn’t going along. He was the closest thing she would ever have to a child of her own and she didn’t want to lose him. I didn’t want to lose anyone but extras always died in the movies whenever there was a showdown with the bad guys. The only question was; who were the extras going to be this time?

.~.

Chapter Twenty-One

Igor waved us to a stop when we were only a few feet away from the door. Raising a hand, he held up three fingers and counted us down. When his final finger lowered, we rushed at the door. Ten Viltarans and twenty robots froze in alarm when the door opened and we boiled inside. Six Robert clones disintegrated before any of our adversaries could react.

Six more robots died beneath our fire then we had to use our vampire strength, speed and agility to dodge their return fire. Scorch marks and gouges scored the table, floor and walls from the rays we sent towards the robots. Ducking to avoid a blast from a droid, I dived beneath the table and shot the robot in the legs. The ray passed harmlessly through a Viltaran who was bellowing orders that no one was listening to.

“Now!” Igor shouted and the rest of our group joined the fray. I wasn’t sure if we or the Viltarans were more surprised when they turned and ran. I doubted alarm was an emotion the grey beings felt very often but they were certainly feeling it now. “After them!” Igor shouted and galvanized us into action.

In the hallway outside the dining room, our prey split up. Their footsteps echoed as they disappeared from sight down different paths. I followed Igor and heard more of my friends at my back while the rest of our group headed in the opposite direction.

They might be several feet taller than us but we were still faster. Rounding a corner, we caught sight of the fleeing Viltaran and raced after him. Throwing glances back over his shoulder, the alien frantically pushed a button on his own version of a control panel on his wrist and a door whisked open. It didn’t lead to a room but to what looked like an elevator hidden within a wall.

Checking to see how close we were, our quarry tripped and sprawled on his face. We were on him before he could scramble into the opening that was only a few short yards away. Like the elevators back home, the door closed automatically after a few seconds.

Luc had landed on the creature’s back and sank his fangs into his neck. Pinning a leg down, I bit right through the Viltaran’s clothes into the tender spot behind his knee. Shrieking in rage and fear, the alien thrashed beneath us. His struggles gradually weakened as his blood was drained.

Almost rancid in taste, his blood was horrible yet it was the most filling substance I’d ingested since becoming the undead. I drank until my stomach was all but sloshing with fluorescent yellow liquid.

Staggering away from the feeding frenzy, I collapsed to my knees, almost wishing I was capable of throwing up. I’d never been this full before but my stomach was flat instead of being distended. Feeling faintly dizzy, I watched my six close friends as they continued to feed. From the sounds of disappointment echoing throughout the halls, the rest of my allies had been unsuccessful in their hunt. A chilling thought crossed my mind briefly that maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that only my closest friends had joined together in this feast. Gregor had proposed that fate may have abandoned us but I wondered if that was true. It certainly seemed there was some kind of higher power that still had a use for us.

That thought was bolstered when my friends all sat back from their meal. Crouched on the back of the now dead Viltaran, Luc swayed unsteadily. “Are you guys alright?” I asked with a hint of trepidation. They turned at the sound of my voice and I involuntary flinched back. Six pairs of scarlet eyes stared at me in confusion then closed as they all lost consciousness.

Hearing someone approach, I scrambled to my feet and turned to see Aventius and Cristov rounding the corner. The ex-Councillor hurried over and knelt beside Gregor. “What has happened?”

Hysteria wanted to burst forth but I forced it down. “I’m not sure. We fed from the Viltaran then they all passed out.” Since it was night time, it shouldn’t have been possible for them to fall asleep. I had a feeling things had just changed and I wasn’t sure if it was for the better.

“We should move away from here before the Viltarans send more droids to hunt us down,” Cristov decided. “We need to find somewhere safe for your friends to rest.” He hurried off to get help as Aventius picked Ishida up. Scooping Geordie up, I balanced him over my shoulder just as my allies arrived. I counted heads and was saddened to see we were missing another Japanese warrior. Another extra had bitten the dust in the horror movie that had become our lives and now there were only twenty-two of us left.

One of Ishida’s anxious warriors led the way through the confusing array of corridors until we deemed we should be at a safe enough distance from the battle site. Following the usual path, we found the closest sleeping quarters. With their former enmity gone, none of the Japanese warriors tried to relieve Aventius of his small burden during the trek. It proved just how much the two vampire nations had changed since we’d first banded together.

My friends were deposited on the hard metal beds with someone left to stand watch. I anxiously alternated between rooms, checking on all six frequently.

“Great plan, people,” I said beneath my non-existent breath as I kept vigil. “Let’s just burst in there, chow down on the aliens and don’t bother to think of the possible consequences that might arise from drinking their blood.”

Kokoro was the first to snap out of her mini coma, presumably because she was the oldest. Her minder gave a shout for me and I hurried into her room. “Are you ok? How do you feel?” I put a hand to her forehead to find she was still cool to the touch. I’d been afraid they would magically become alive again like the vampires that had been converted into imps had back home. Her eyes were no longer scarlet, which I took to be a good sign.

Still a trifle dazed, Kokoro was puzzled to find herself in one of the sleeping chambers. “I feel fine,” she said finally. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. We drained the Viltaran dry then you all passed out.”

“Is Ishida well?” I knew she would be worried until she saw him with her own newly returned eyesight so I guided her to the room next door. The emperor’s minder gracefully bowed her way out of the room to give us some privacy. The young ruler was lying on his side and Kokoro gently rolled him over onto his back. We shared an astonished glance at the change in Ishida. All signs of excessive age were gone. His hair was jet black again and his wrinkles had disappeared.

Kokoro smiled tremulously then broke into tearless sobs. She turned and hugged me hard enough to make my ribs creak while she let her anguish out. If Ishida had been awake, she probably would have suppressed her feelings to save them both the embarrassment of losing control of her emotions. When she had recovered her poise, I left her alone with her charge.

Igor was the next to rise. He listened to my explanation of what had happened without expression. “I do not feel any different,” he told me. “Let us hope that we will not come to any harm from this.”

Ishida woke next. Kokoro gave him the rundown of what had happened but the teen was too busy touching his newly smooth cheeks to take in what she was saying. He came close to sobbing as well but manfully kept his emotions in check. It was a relief to see him reverting back to his normal age of twelve rather than looking like a wizened old man.

Gregor roused a while later and Igor filled him in on what he had missed. I listened to their conversation from Luc’s room. I held my beloved’s cool hand and waited for him to wake. When he did, he went from complete unconsciousness to sitting up and studying me in an instant. My lower lip trembled then he pulled me into his arms. My whole body was shaking and I couldn’t stop it. The past few hours had been a nightmare of waiting for something horrible to happen. Now nearly all of my close friends were awake and none of them seemed to have been altered by ingesting so much alien blood.

“What happened?” Luc asked when my trembling finally stopped.

“What do you remember?”

Frowning he smoothed a hand down my tangled hair. I’d have gladly given my left arm for a shower and a change of clothes but I didn’t think showers existed on this planet. “I remember pinning the Viltaran down then the horrible taste of his blood flooding into my mouth.”

“That’s all?”

He looked at me sharply, knowing I was hiding something from him. “What else happened to us?”

In the room next door, Geordie stirred, saving me from having to answer. With a glance that said he wasn’t done with the conversation, Luc allowed me to leave without protest.

Geordie opened his eyes to see both me and Igor standing beside his metal bed. “Why do I have such an awful taste in my mouth?” he asked as he sat up.

“That is the aftertaste of Viltaran blood,” his mentor replied.

Understanding hit Geordie as he remembered. “I think I drank too much.” His hand went to his stomach as if to soothe it.

“You should take a look at Ishida,” I said to the teen as he jumped down from the high bed.

Following my pointing finger, Geordie left the room and entered the emperor’s chamber. “Wow! You look like a kid again instead of a thousand year old mummy!”

I winced at his undiplomatic wording but Ishida just laughed.  “You also have been restored to your youth.”

“I have?” I was glad the two teens were happy at their transformation but unease still roiled around in my stomach. Either that or the Viltaran blood still wasn’t sitting well. I hadn’t noticed any changes in myself so far and mentally crossed my fingers that there would be no new powers or weirdness cropping up in the future.

Most of the night was gone and dawn was only moments away but none of my close friends seemed particularly sleepy. “Let’s find the monitor room,” Ishida suggested when we all gathered in the hallway. “We might as well try to find out where we are and how far away the factory is.”

Gregor threw me several narrow eyed glances during the short journey to the room that contained a wall of floating screens. He knew I was hiding something but was wise enough not to ask in front of everyone else. I gave him a smile that I hoped was more reassuring than it felt. If I had the chance to speak to him alone, I’d fill him in on what I had seen. Maybe he could come up with a theory on what having scarlet eyes might mean for them. Then again, maybe I wouldn’t want to hear the theory. Torn with indecision, I decided to keep quiet about the new development for now.

.~.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Filing inside the monitor room, we saw the familiar sight of ruined cities and various views of the lifeless areas that surrounded them. Again, one monitor was blank and Ishida headed straight for it. He surprised us all by pulling up a map of our current location then a map of the factory. His extensive experience of playing computer games must have paid off because he easily manipulated the images to show us where we needed to go. He’d watched the Kveet carefully as the tiny alien had keyed in the information we’d needed. Apparently, Ishida had memorized what our ally had done.

If the map was correct, we just needed to head west through a series of underground dwellings then ascend to the surface for a final time. A vast, blank area was flashing an ominous red far beyond where the last subterranean building finished. I figured that must be the blasted zone where the air was unbreathable even for the small but hardy Kveet. We would be safe from Viltarans and their imp armies but we would also be vulnerable to the droids. At least we had more weapons now. After destroying the last twenty droids, we were all armed. Everyone had practiced changing between both settings that would either obliterate flesh or metal.

Finished with the monitor, Ishida put it back in its place and the screen went blank again. Before we surfaced and entered the blasted zone, we would have to check another screen to make sure we were still on track and hadn’t been led astray again.

Despite the sun now burning away high overhead, Geordie showed no signs of drowsiness. He was alert and was almost dancing on the spot with energy. “Aren’t you feeling tired at all?” I asked him as we headed northwards through the hallways.

“No. I feel as if I could run forever.” The teen received a few glares at his enthusiasm. Those who hadn’t gorged on Viltaran blood were flagging. I hoped we would be able to find food for them all soon.

Cristov called a halt a couple of hours later. Aventius was looking decidedly the worse for wear. He and his small band of followers had been starving themselves months before they had joined our cause and all were ragged and needed rest. After my recent feast, I felt like I’d never need to sleep again. My stomach was still full and I probably wouldn’t need to eat for days, if not weeks. My closest friends were also showing no signs of needing to rest but we had to think of the majority so we headed for the closest sleeping quarters.

From the looks that were being exchanged between Kokoro and Gregor, they would shortly be seeking some time to be alone. Luc’s eyebrows went up in invitation and my flesh hunger flared to life again. Feeding on blood had dampened my flesh hunger but it hadn’t gotten rid of my need for sex entirely.

We walked off arm in arm, putting enough distance between ourselves and our allies that they wouldn’t be able to hear us when we were naked. Choosing an empty room, we quickly stripped and leapt at each other. Luc’s cool lips trailed a path from my mouth down to my neck. His fangs dug into my skin, stopping just short of piercing my flesh above a vein. Since becoming an undead creature of the night, it didn’t take much foreplay to get me going. Grabbing a fistful of his hair, I lifted his head and mashed my lips to his.

Our arms and legs tangled as Luc chose a rhythm that was fast and hard and suited us best. Moans that I didn’t bother to control echoed around the room as I reached my utopia. My legs tightened as I orgasmed and I waited for Luc to groan in pain as his bones snapped.

Seconds later, he finished pounding inside me and released his own sounds of pleasure then collapsed beside me. There were no tell-tale sounds of bones popping back into place. Opening his eyes, his smile disappeared at the expression on my face. “What is wrong?”

“Nothing,” I replied a little too quickly. Luc’s brows drew down in a frown at my obvious lie. “Ok, there is something different about you since you drank the Viltaran’s blood but it happened to the others as well.”

Sitting up in alarm, he looked down at his body but didn’t see any changes. Then he saw the scarlet glow on his chest. Raising his hands, he held them to his face then drew them back. “My eyes are glowing, aren’t they?”

Mine were, too, but he was used to seeing it by now. “Yes.” He blanched but otherwise showed no reaction. “After you all finished chowing down on the Viltaran, your eyes turned scarlet. They were back to normal after you woke up so I kind of thought it was a once off and didn’t mention it.”

Anticipating the cold that I should have been feeling by now, I reached for my clothes. They were tattered and filthy but they were better than nothing. Sneaking glances at my beloved’s face, I wasn’t sure if he was angry with me for keeping the change a secret or if he was afraid at what the change might signify. He tucked my hand into his arm when we were both dressed, easing my fear that he was angry. “We should speak to Gregor about this,” he said.

“I agree,” Gregor’s voice floated to us from around the corner. He and Kokoro came into view along with Ishida, Igor and Geordie. “We should discuss this anomaly away from the rest of our kin.” I guessed that both he and Kokoro had had the same reaction as Luc when they had shared their flesh hunger. The fact that their eyes were still glowing softly was a dead giveaway.

Geordie crossed his arms and his bottom lip pooched out. “Why didn’t you tell us, Natalie?” His, Igor’s and Ishida’s eyes were still black but they would undoubtedly change once they felt a strong enough emotion.

Guilt stabbed me and my answer was a guilty shrug. “I didn’t know how to break the news to you,” I said finally.

Gregor held his hands up to forestall a tirade from the teen. “None of us feel any ill effects so far. I am fairly certain that if the Viltaran blood was detrimental to our health, we would have seen the signs of it by now.”

“She still should have told us,” Geordie sulked.

“I think I know of one change that you might not have noticed yet,” I ventured.

Ishida was almost as put out by my actions as Geordie was. “What might that be?” he asked almost stiffly.

“Luc is stronger now. None of his bones broke when we were…”

“Intimate together,” Luc said, saving me from the embarrassment of having to say it myself. Apparently he hadn’t noticed the lack of breakage and gave me a smile that made me want to drag him off into another empty room. The thought of being able to jump his bones without breaking any of them was the best thing that had happened to me since Silvius had turned me.

“Does that mean we are as strong as you now?” Geordie asked me. His petulant sulk was forgotten at the prospect of his strength being increased.

“I don’t know. Maybe.” I had no idea how they could test the theory to find out for sure.

“That would be awesome,” my young friend said with a grin. Ishida shared his excitement and gave Geordie a high five.

Igor devised his own method of testing their strength and smacked Geordie up the back of his head much harder than usual. Staggering forward a few steps, the teen rounded on his mentor wearing an expression of hurt betrayal. “Did that hurt?” the Russian asked.

Gingerly touching his scalp, Geordie shook his head then grinned. “Not as much as usual.”

“We should head back to the others,” Kokoro said. “We would not want them to think we are harbouring secrets from them.”

We were harbouring secrets from them but I agreed with her sentiment. We needed to stick together, especially since our numbers kept dwindling with each encounter we had with our enemies. Walking behind my friends with Luc’s arm in mine, I wondered how I would handle it if any of them were to die. Luc glanced at me when I shuddered and I gave him a quick smile. Even my inner voice that was usually so vocal when it came to criticizing me was quiet on this topic. If one of my closest friends were killed, I suspected my reaction would be terrible in its fury.

.~.

Chapter Twenty-Three

When night fell again, we recommenced our underground journey. Following the map in his head, Ishida led us through the maze at a fast jog. I kept my senses on full alert but encountered nothing that might slow us down. Small pockets of caged imps cropped up now and then. Thankfully, we didn’t come across any more octosquids that had been converted into gigantic grey clones.

It took us another two full nights of jogging before we reached the end of the underground structures. Geordie wrinkled his nose at the heavy smell of sulphur that permeated the hallways. No Viltarans or their imp slaves would have been able to survive in this toxic environment so we were safe from attack by them at least.

Ishida went in search of a monitor while most of our allies chose to rest. The seven of us who had fed from the Viltaran still showed no signs of fatigue or hunger. We had kept their added strength and glowing eyes from the rest but they sensed we were different. It was selfish of me but I felt less alone now that my friends shared a couple of my weird attributes.

With nothing better to do, the six of us followed the emperor and watched him work his magic with the only blank screen in the room that housed them. The other monitors didn’t show the usual devastated cities we were used to seeing. Instead, they were focussed on a vast crater where another city had once been. It was daylight, not that you could tell from the thick black clouds that roiled above and blocked most of the light. The sky was a sickly yellow that made me feel ill when I remembered my dream of New York and the destruction that had been wrought. It was just a dream rather than a prophecy but it still worried me.

One monitor showed the only building still standing. Vast and made of the same dull silver metal as everything else on the planet, it stood on the edges of the crater. From the angle of the camera or whatever device was monitoring it, the building looked like it was on the verge of toppling over the edge and into the pit.

Dozens of soldier droids patrolled the perimeter. They moved jerkily, as if their joints were freezing up. There was no wind at the moment but the dust storms would come with nightfall, making visibility difficult and corroding the droid’s circuitry even more.

“They must go through a lot of droids patrolling in the blasted zone,” Igor observed. “I wonder where they get the materials to create more robots from?”

Studying the semi-crippled machinery, Gregor voiced a theory. “They most likely cannibalize their brethren for parts once they become too damaged to function.” To back up his prediction, one of the robots toppled over onto its face. As it thrashed weakly, two much spryer droids rushed out from within the building and dragged their downed colleague back inside.

“How do they get the newly made droids to their Viltaran masters?” Geordie asked. “Look at what the dust and wind does to them.” He pointed at the closest droid on the screen. It moved as slowly as an elderly person who was riddled with arthritis and had two broken hips as well.

“They must use the elevators within the walls of the underground structures,” Ishida said. I almost smacked myself in the forehead for not thinking of it myself. The brief glimpse I’d had of the elevator made me think it ran from side to side rather than up and down.

“We’ve been running around like idiots when we could have been riding in the elevators, haven’t we?” Geordie said.

Gregor clapped the youngster on the shoulder. “Yes, but until we can figure out how to use the elevators, I believe we should stick to using our feet.”

Calling up the blueprints of the factory again, Ishida zoomed in so we could get a sense of where the three vulnerable areas were. If we were going to set our explosive devices off simultaneously, we would have to split up to accomplish the task.

Gregor’s fist went beneath his chin as he formulated a plan. I hoped he would think up a way for us to shut the factory down with minimal losses on our side. Studying the jerkily moving droids on the monitor, I doubted we would come out of this encounter without suffering further casualties.

In dribs and drabs, our sleeping kin woke and joined us until we had all gathered in the monitor room. Gregor waited for the last person to arrive before outlining his plan. “The dust storms should cover our arrival and aid us to sneak inside the factory. Once inside, we should remain together until we reach the first target. By then we should have a good idea of the factory’s defence systems and how many adversaries we will be facing.” None of us were happy at the prospect of walking into a gigantic building without any idea of what we would be up against. Gregor ignored the low murmurs and continued. “A third of our number will have to stay at the first attack point with someone keeping an accurate countdown.”

Ishida stepped in then. “I estimate it will take us twenty minutes to traverse the factory to the second and third attack points.”

Aventius looked at his people enquiringly and received nods of support. “We will remain at the first attack point,” he volunteered.

Nodding his thanks, Gregor shifted his attention to the Japanese warriors. One of the women bowed to her ruler. “We will remain at the second attack point, Emperor Ishida.” The teen bowed back, showing no sign that he was nervous about being separated from his warriors during the upcoming battle. He was our navigator and that meant he would have to guide the final team to the third attack point.

“We will need to leave now if we want to reach the factory before dawn,” Gregor informed us.

Delving into the baskets M’narl had given us, the explosives were divided amongst everyone. We had a total of six each and I wasn’t the only one to carry them gingerly. They were even more powerful than the explosives Colonel Sanderson had given to us to destroy the fledgling vampire hordes back home.

Instead of walking in a clump when we emerged into the wasteland, we went in single file this time. I led the undead conga line and Ishida was right behind me with his hand on my right shoulder. My body would shield his screen from the worst of the swirling dust and he would correct me if I started veering off course.

Even at a distance from the crater where a vast city had once been, the smell of sulphur and other toxic chemicals was nearly overpowering. Shielding my face from the winds that had already begun to blow, I took off at a fast jog. I glanced back once to make sure everyone was following then concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.

A couple of hours later, Ishida corrected my direction yet again and I adjusted my trajectory. The reek had become much worse and so had the dust storm. I jogged with both hands over my face. Staring downwards at my feet, I only occasionally peeked out through my fingers. The ground was bone dry, cracks zigzagged madly and required most of my attention. Some of the cracks were almost wide enough to fall into. Every now and then someone would trip and the conga line would become momentarily disrupted.

After another two hours of jogging, I assumed we were closing in on our goal. The air was a mixture of yellow and brown from the whirling dirt and toxins that still hadn’t dissipated after thousands of years. Whatever weapon the Viltarans had used against each other hadn’t been a nuclear bomb. If it had been, our hair and teeth would have been falling out by now. Maybe they used a giant stink bomb, my inner voice said sarcastically. I sniggered at the idea, thinking I’d have to tell Geordie about it later.

My amusement died when a wheezing, clanking noise wafted to me on the wind. A dull red glow through the storm warned me that a robot stood only yards away. Its visibility was even worse than ours but probably only because of the damage the winds had caused. One quick zap from my death ray disintegrated it. I bent and picked up the weapon it had dropped and passed it back to Ishida.

I took down three more robots before the factory was suddenly looming over us. Straggling to a stop, we tilted our heads back and tried to process the sheer size of the building. It was larger than any warehouse I had ever seen on TV and that included ones where huge ships were built.

Ishida pointed to a spot on the wall and we hurried over to the almost invisible door. Gregor produced Robert’s arm and pushed the button that usually opened doors for us. It worked once again and we piled inside. I was glad to be out of the storm despite not knowing what we would find inside.

Expecting to be faced with hundreds of angry droids, I whipped my head from left to right but the silver hallway was empty. Consulting his monitor, Ishida pointed to the right. “We need to head east and then descend two levels.”

Long ago, before the bombs went off and destroyed the cities, the robot factory would have been a thriving hub of activity. Now it seemed to be all but abandoned. The sounds of machinery at work echoed through the halls but it was muted and distant. There didn’t appear to be any kind of guards in place, apart from the malfunctioning droids that were on patrol outside. Being so close to the crater, no living creatures should have been able to approach on foot. Since we were unliving and could survive the poisonous air, we had the advantage of surprise.

Moving silently, we only ran into one robot during the short journey to the end of the hallway and down two flights of overlarge stairs. Red eyes flared in alarm but Ishida zapped the droid before it could sound a warning. Apart from the tiny particles floating on the air, there was no evidence of its demise.

Ishida unerringly led us to a large room that was full of machinery that made little noise but seemed to let out a pulse every few seconds. “Generators,” Gregor mouthed when I looked to him for an explanation. Larger than most cars, all twenty machines were circular and ran very quietly. Aventius and his diminished following hid behind one of the generators in the middle of the room. Cristov nodded to the young ruler that he had commenced the twenty minute countdown.

Consulting his map again, Ishida waved for us to follow him and headed down a corridor that took us to the west. From what I’d been able to gather, we needed to head back up to ground level and find the centre of the factory. We encountered four more robots along the way but multiple blasts from our death rays took care of them.

We reached the second attack point a few minutes later and Ishida’s people hid inside another room full of gigantic machinery. This time Gregor shrugged when I silently asked him for an explanation of what we were looking at. The strange alien technology in the form of dozens of consoles had him stumped. Taking up their positions, the female warrior in charge of the group bowed to her emperor. Ishida bowed to each of his people in turn, wordlessly thanking them for risking their lives.

Down to only seven now, we headed for the far side of the factory. This time we had to descend several levels beneath the ground until we were deep in the bowels of the building. A smell similar to oil permeated the hallways. Geordie wrinkled his nose but wisely kept his complaints to himself. Stealth would be paramount if we wanted to pull this off.

Wherever we were headed, it was far more strongly guarded than the levels above. I quickly lost count of how many droids we zapped into dust particles before we emerged from a silver hallway into a natural cavern. Huge pipes ran across the ground below, carrying the oily crud we could smell to different parts of the planet. Dozens of robots worked on the machinery and it was only a matter of time before we would be spotted.

At that thought, a droid down below saw us, pointed and shouted a warning. Red lights began to flash and sirens went off. “How long do we have left before the countdown is over?” I asked Gregor as we sprinted to the end of the metal runway and down a set of stairs.

“Five minutes,” he replied with envious calm. I had a feeling the next five minutes were going to feel more like five years.

.~.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Clutching the explosives in one hand, I fired violet blasts from the death ray with the other. Once the droids realized we had figured out how to change the settings on the weapons so we could zap them to death, they quickly fled. The epic battle I’d expected fizzled out after only a few shots were fired. Worker droids rather than soldiers, they had been programmed to run rather than to stand and fight.

With the alarm still bleating and the lights flashing madly, I didn’t know how Gregor managed to concentrate enough to continue with the countdown. “One minute left,” he informed us as we reached the cavern floor. “Spread out and try to target as many of the pipes and machinery as possible.”

As instructed, we split up and chose a section of pipes or machinery to blow up. With forty-two explosives amongst our small group, we should be able to do enough damage to destroy the pipelines at least.

“Ten seconds!” Gregor called and I readied the explosives. “Five, four, three, two, one, now!” Depressing the top and bottom of the first explosive, I held it for a couple of seconds before tossing it at the alien machinery. I was blown back a few steps by the blast three seconds later. Fire erupted and the air instantly became toasty. Shrieking in terror, Geordie tossed all six of his explosives at his chosen targets then raced to my side. I threw my last one then grabbed his hand and sprinted for the stairs.

Gregor, Kokoro and Ishida were already waiting for us. Almost dancing on the spot with anxiety for his mentor, Geordie grinned in relief when Igor appeared through the smoke and haze. Then it was my turn to wait with increasing dread until Luc jogged into sight. He was slightly singed but appeared to be unharmed.

“We’d best leave before the whole place comes down around us,” Gregor suggested and received no argument from the rest of us. From the distant explosions going off, I assumed our allies had also been successful with their sabotage attempts.

“Do you think everyone will be able to remember the way out, chérie?” Geordie asked me hopefully.

“I hope so,” I said. With the sirens, lights and smoke, it was going to be pandemonium. Metal crashed as the ceilings and walls fell in. The floor shook constantly as explosions went off somewhere down below. If Ishida hadn’t been guiding us with his electronic map, I doubted we’d have been able to retrace our route through the collapsing building easily.

Almost back at our starting point, we rounded a corner and were confronted with the tail end of a line of droids. Luc motioned us back and we peeked at the robots without being seen. A hidden elevator door slid open and six worker drones stepped inside. The door closed and the line of fleeing robots moved up.

Spotting movement at the other end of the hallway, I tried to warn our allies as they sprinted towards us but the droids reacted too quickly. Three Europeans were turned to dust before the rest of us opened fire on the remaining metal men. Aventius hunched over with grief at losing more of his followers but allowed Cristov and his final few people to herd him to meet us.

Our weapons went up again then were lowered when Ishida’s people joined us. Geordie jumped and almost fired off a shot when the elevator door opened. The carriage was large enough to hold ten of us if we squished inside, which meant we would have to split up again. Gregor summed up our choices. “It will take hours to return back to the underground facilities on foot and this place is about to come apart. I am afraid this is our only chance of survival.”

“But it will take us directly to wherever the rest of the droids went,” Geordie pointed out.

“Not if I can help it,” Ishida said and went to work on the monitor. Pulling up the map of the factory, he zoomed in on our location and tapped on the picture of the elevator. A different map came up, showing us the route the elevator would take and its final destination. Ishida chose a spot halfway along the route and tapped on the screen. The route instantly shortened instead of continuing on. “I think that will stop us from ending up in the middle of a robot infestation,” he said with only a trace of nerves visible that our survival was in his hands.

Another explosion went off beneath our feet and the entire building shook. Luc propelled me inside the elevator and eight more of our kin crammed inside. My stomach flopped over as the elevator first dropped several floors then zoomed sideways at what felt like a phenomenal speed. I was glad the metal coffin didn’t have windows. Knowing we were moving faster than a bullet was one thing, seeing it would have been too much for me to handle. I’d never been a fan of fast rides.

Coming to an abrupt stop, the doors opened and we exited with our weapons drawn. No droids, imps or Viltarans confronted us. We were in one of the underground dwellings in an almost comfortingly familiar silver hallway.

We stepped away from the elevator to give the rest of our group room when they arrived. “Can you sense anything nearby, Natalie?” my one true love asked. Even covered in dust and blackened by smoke, he was gorgeous. At Luc’s amused smile, I stopped mentally undressing him.

Sending out my consciousness, I felt nothing in the immediate area so expanded the search as wide as I could. Suddenly inundated with signs of life, I staggered a step and almost lost my balance. Hands caught and steadied me. Frantic questions were asked but they sounded far away and almost seemed to be coming from another galaxy.

Every being on the planet vied for my notice. Kveet in the tens of thousands were clumped together in caverns around the globe. They appeared to me as a sea of yellow dots on a vast black background that mimicked the planet. The ten octosquids were a small, dark grey cluster next to the brighter Kveet they lived with. Imps of various species, some we hadn’t even encountered yet, were caged in their cells. Others roamed the underground structures freely, probably in search of food. I found three more gigantic octosquids lurking in wait for the unwary. They were a disturbing jet black the same colour as their flesh compared to the almost festive orange of the much smaller Kveet imps.

Viltarans stood out from the rest and I found myself being drawn to them. Each one was like a bright red beacon, warning me of danger. They stood out individually and I knew exactly how many we would need to hunt down.

Then my attention was drawn to a far more familiar presence of our kin. Nine white dots were zooming towards us at a fantastic speed.

“Shouldn’t the others be here by now?” someone said uneasily.

“Here they are,” I said and pointed at the wall just as the elevator arrived and disgorged our allies.

“Nat! What happened?” Geordie asked. His young face was pinched with worry. Luc hid his anxiety a little better but his hands on my shoulders were almost too tight.

“It looks like drinking the Viltaran’s blood has amped up my ability to be able to sense things,” I explained to the group as they gathered around.

“How far can your senses reach now?” Gregor asked. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to take in the implications of my enhanced abilities.

“I’m pretty sure I can sense everything that has the ability to think everywhere.” I hadn’t sensed the fungus or insects that lived in the caverns below so assumed my ability only stretched to creatures that had a certain level of intelligence.

Geordie blinked, trying to take that in. “What do you mean?”

Luc eased his grip and slid an arm around my shoulder. I leaned against him, grateful that he never seemed to be repulsed by my strangeness. “When I sent my senses out, they covered the entire planet. I felt where all the Kveet live, where the imps are either caged or roaming around and I sensed these guys zooming along in the elevator.” The late arrivals exchanged disturbed glances, wondering what they had missed while they had been parted from us.

“Did you sense the Viltarans?” Gregor asked. From the small grin he was trying to hide, he already knew the answer.

“Yep, all ninety-one of them.” Gregor’s grin escaped at my reply and was shared by Igor and Luc. No one else seemed to grasp what this meant.

Ishida proved me wrong by his next statement. “There will be nowhere on this planet that they will be able to hide from us.” Kokoro nodded and her smile was just as wide as Gregor’s. “We will be able to anticipate their moves before they make them.” The emperor finished his explanation and the smiles began to spread. We had told the octosquids that I was the most dangerous weapon the Viltarans had ever seen and now I was even more of a threat to them.

“It is a pity you cannot sense the droids,” Geordie said wistfully. “They could sneak up and ambush us at any time.” He’d made a good point and managed to dampen our enthusiasm like a cold bucket of water to the face.

Igor moved to his cringing apprentice but merely put a hand on his shoulder instead of assaulting him. “We have an added advantage that we did not possess before. With these weapons,” he held up his death ray, “and Natalie’s abilities, we have a far greater chance of defeating the Viltarans now.”

Ten of our allies had already died and we numbered only nineteen. Despite Igor’s reassurance, I wondered if anyone but me would still be alive by the time we finished destroying the last Viltaran.

.~.

Chapter Twenty-Five

With over half of our group still weak from lack of food, we headed for the closest sleeping quarters to let our exhausted kin rest. The seven of us who had last snacked on Viltaran blood were still showing no signs of hunger or tiredness. We gathered in the monitor room more out of habit than from a desire to see the ruined cities again.

Ishida grabbed the only blank screen and moved aside so he could show Geordie how to use the device. Kokoro caught my eye and we shared a moment of mutual gratitude that the pair had recovered fully. Ishida giggled at a quip his new friend said then darted a glance at us adults to see if we had noticed his momentary lack of decorum.

Ignoring the youngster’s antics, Gregor stared at the monitors but his mind was far away. Knowing him, he was probably planning our next move and figuring out how he could put my enhanced abilities to their best use against our enemies.

“Before we tackle the Viltarans, we should visit M’narl and ask for more food for our allies,” Luc said. His compassion was just one of the things I loved about him. When we had first met, he had been a justice bringer for the Court. All but one of the Councillors was now dead and the Court was no more, thanks to me, but his instinct to help his own kind hadn’t disappeared.

“I can find them easily enough,” I told my most favourite companion. “The ten octosquids make locating M’narl’s particular group fairly easy.”

Geordie looked up from the monitor. “Are we going to ask them how the imp that ate Natalie then spat her back out got so big?” A mischievous grin played around his mouth when I shot him a sour glance at the reminder of being regurgitated. It hadn’t been one of my finest moments.

“With so few of their kind left, they might not be happy to learn that we have dispatched one of their own,” Kokoro said. “Gregor’s theory that they only grow larger when they consume the appropriate food is the most logical answer.” The most cultured of us smiled at his new love interest and she dropped her gaze modestly. If Kokoro had been human, I was pretty sure a blush would have stained her cheeks. Ishida rolled his eyes but made no comment. Kokoro had waited for a very long time to fall for someone and I was glad the kid wasn’t going to ruin the experience for her.

Testing my newly enhanced senses, I searched for M’narl’s group again and found them a relatively short distance away. Thanks to our speedy trip via elevator, we wouldn’t have to travel far to reach them now. That news would undoubtedly be welcomed by our slumbering allies when they woke for the night.

Uneasy at the thought of leaving our people unguarded, I refrained from dragging Luc off to a distant room to tear his pants off and have my way with him. As Geordie had pointed out, I couldn’t sense the droids so we would have to remain vigilant. Igor had the same thought and crooked his finger at his apprentice. “We should take it in turns to patrol the area just in case the robots come hunting for us.”

“I suggest we all stay away from the dining hall,” Ishida. “We have seen the Viltarans on the monitors when they held their meeting. There is a good possibility that all of the dining areas are monitored.”

Giving the teen a salute that I was pretty sure wasn’t intended to be sarcastic, the Russian steered Geordie out of the room. Engrossed in playing with his new toy, Geordie wouldn’t be much help on the patrol but at least he would be safe with Igor.

At a subtle nudge from Kokoro, Gregor hastened to think of an excuse for the two of them to leave together. Ishida forced out a small sigh and waved his hand. “Just go,” he said in resignation. “I am sure Natalie and Lucentio will be happy to keep me company.”

Kokoro barely remembered to bow to her ruler before she scurried off down the hall with her new love. She was willing to leave her charge in our care while she and Gregor sated their flesh hunger, which meant she trusted us completely. The Japanese and Europeans had come a long way from the feuding nations they had once been. There were so few of us left that neither groups could really be considered to be nations any longer.

Luc draped an arm over the much shorter vampire’s shoulder. “Do you begrudge them their happiness, Emperor Ishida?”

Ishida shook his head. “It is long past time my maker found happiness.”

My mouth dropped open at the revelation that Ishida was aware Kokoro had been the one who had turned him. “You know she’s your maker?”

His smile was smug that he’d managed to hide his knowledge for so long but it was also a trifle sad. “I lost my parents to fever and was delirious and on the verge of death when Kokoro came for me. I remember her white eyes looking into my own as she told me she would save me and that I was destined to become a great ruler.”

“Kokoro loves you as if you are her own child,” Luc reflected.

Struggling to keep his emotions in check, Ishida nodded again. “I care for her just as greatly. She has never used her position to force me to make decisions that I did not agree with.”

“How do you feel about Gregor?” I asked out of sheer curiosity. If our friend and Kokoro continued to hit it off, Gregor would become something like Ishida’s stepfather.

“He is an honourable man and treats Kokoro with the respect she deserves.” The answer was very formal but I suspected the kid liked Gregor just as much as the rest of us did.

As the day progressed, we took turns to patrol the area. Come nightfall, everyone was awake and we all gathered in the hallway outside the sleeping quarters. No one disagreed with the plan to knock on M’narl’s door, figuratively speaking, and beg for more food. Considering we were planning on killing their evil overlords, offering us blood was the least the diminutive aliens could do for us in return. Now that we knew just how many of the little brown beings were hiding out in their underground lairs, it would be less awkward for us to feed from them.

Under Ishida’s guidance, Geordie used his new monitor to bring up a map of the complex, not that we really needed it since they were mostly identical. The teen led the way, shooting nervous grins over his shoulder at us while checking to make sure we were still following him.

We trotted through the lightless hallways, on guard for robots that might have been sent to hunt us down. We had no way of knowing how many had escaped from the factory as it was falling apart. The Viltarans would know that they had a limited supply of metal men now and I doubted they would be particularly happy about that. I wished I hadn’t warned Robert’s master that I was coming for him. I reminded myself that Uldar and his brethren would have figured out that we were gunning for him sooner or later after the Viltarans started turning up dead anyway.

After only a couple of wrong turns, we climbed another set of deep stairs that carried us to the surface. The winds were less severe now that we weren’t at the centre of the Viltaran version of a holocaust. We didn’t need to link arms as we jogged across the wasteland towards where I felt the Kveet and ten octosquids but most of us did so anyway.

We stopped where the elevator had brought us to the surface and waited. Moments later, the ground opened up and the elevator appeared. It was far less squishy this time now that we had lost almost half of our small family.

M’narl was waiting for us with an escort of several younger Kveet in tow. Their gnarled little faces were excited so I guessed they knew our mission had been successful. He didn’t have the robot with him to translate and he had no idea I could understand them so M’narl gestured for us to follow him without a word.

Their legs might be extremely short but they moved fairly quickly as he led us back through the maze of tunnels to their command centre. As I’d suspected, several of their monitors showed the now collapsed factory. Hopefully, the Viltarans wouldn’t easily be able to rebuild the factory.

“The Viltarans will be very unhappy with you and your people,” the crippled droid translated for M’narl as the Kveet gestured at the monitors and spoke in his piping voice. “You have disabled their ability to replenish their droid armies. This will make them very dangerous to both your kind and ours.” M’narl seemed more excited than nervous at the prospect of incurring the wrath of the Viltarans.

“We have the means to hunt them down and your explosives would come in very handy,” Gregor proposed.

M’narl barely waited for the nod the other elders gave him when the droid translated his words. “Our warriors are ready to join you in your battle.”

All ten octosquids came forward from the shadows where they had presumably been watching the proceedings. “We are curious how you are going to locate the Viltarans,” one of them said.

“I can sense them,” I replied.

“What device will you use to sense them with?”

“My sixth sense.”

When it appeared they had no idea what I was talking about, I elaborated. “Humans, or vampires as in our case, have five senses; sight, touch, smell, taste and hearing. I have a sixth sense and can send it out to find other creatures.”

“You cannot use this sense to find the droids?” M’narl asked with a hint of disappointment.

“Unfortunately, no. I can only sense living beings.” I could sense the undead as well but didn’t bother to mention that fact.

“Do all vampires have this sixth sense?” another of the black aliens asked.

Geordie snorted a laugh. “Our Ladybug is one of a kind.” That wasn’t entirely true. The Second had also gained the ability to sense vampires and humans after thousands of years of captivity in his underground tomb.

“Interesting,” the droid murmured. He was so reminiscent of Robert that he received double takes from almost everyone in our diminished group.

“We should work together to formulate a plan,” Gregor said to our host. “Would it be possible for our people to feed and perhaps get cleaned up?”

“What do you mean by ‘get cleaned up’?” M’narl queried.

“We require clean water to wash with,” Kokoro told the Kveet. The little aliens shared confused looks but one of them shrugged and gestured for us to follow him. In desperate need to be free of the dirt coating me, I hurried to Kokoro’s side. Our tiny guide led us through a series of tunnels to a small chamber that held pools of water. Thankfully, they were devoid of fungus. Kokoro crouched down and tested the water. Her fingers came away scum free so she deemed it to be clean enough for us to bathe in.

Our guide disappeared when we began to undress and we were left alone. It should have been awkward being naked in front of another woman but Kokoro ignored my nudity so completely that it was easy enough for me to do the same. We chose one of the smaller pools and cautiously entered. I was surprised to find the water only came up to my neck. The pool was so dark that it had seemed almost bottomless.

Wishing I had shampoo or some kind of soap, I scrubbed dirt, ash and imp goo out of my hair using only my fingers. Thinking of the battles ahead, I was glad the ex-seer could no longer probe my thoughts. I had the sinking feeling that the long ago prophecy that had been written about me was finally coming true. From the moment I had risen, our kind had begun to diminish. It had been foretold that only a remnant of our species would remain. I was beginning to suspect that the remnant would be even smaller than anyone had anticipated. There were already so few of us left but instinct told me the deaths weren’t over yet.

.~.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Before long, we were joined by the other few remaining female vampires. They paired up and chose small pools to bathe in. Naked, one of the Europeans dipped her toe into the pool and yanked it out with a small hiss. “How can you stand it?” she asked Kokoro and me. We shared a puzzled glance.

“How can we stand what?” I asked.

“The water is very cold,” one of the Japanese warriors responded as she crouched and put her hand into the liquid.

“It feels warm enough to me,” I replied. The water felt neither hot nor cold but somewhere in between.

Crossing over to our pool, the Japanese warrior knelt and plunged her hand into the water. Her fingers were only inches away from my chest and I had to fight against the impulse to cover my nakedness. No one else was showing any signs of discomfort and I didn’t want to be pegged as a prude on top of being the dreaded Mortis.

Yanking her hand out, the warrior narrowed her eyes at us. “What is wrong?” Kokoro asked. Unable to read her kinswoman’s mind, she sounded the slightest bit nervous.

“I would ask you the same question, Prophetess.”

Gathering around us, the women each tested the pool and deemed the water to be cold. From their expressions, we should have been semiconscious from lack of heat by now. “This is due to you feeding from the Viltaran, isn’t it?” one of the Europeans said almost accusingly.

Inclining her head, Kokoro remained calm in the face of their consternation. “Most likely.”

“Have you noticed any other changes?” the Japanese warrior asked. Her tone was respectful yet held a hint of greed. If we had been altered just from drinking Viltaran blood then they probably would be as well.

I fielded this one. “Well, their eyes all turned red after they chowed down on the alien. Apart from that, there haven’t been any noticeable changes.” That was a big fat lie. They were stronger, didn’t have the need to sleep yet and weren’t showing signs of hunger. The last thing we needed was for anyone from our small group to go out on a suicide mission to hunt down the Viltarans and snack on them just for a few extra perks.

“Oh. Is that all?” Crestfallen, the Japanese warrior headed back to her chosen pool. The others followed her lead and gingerly slid into the water. While the others were occupied, Kokoro and I took the opportunity to exit from our pool and dress. Kokoro was hiding it well but I sensed her distress at lying to her people and our allies. We both saw the need to keep their changes a secret to avoid any unnecessary loss of life.

Usually after bathing, the cold began to get to me fairly quickly. Now that it had been pointed out to me, I didn’t feel particularly chilly. Even with wet hair dripping down my back, I didn’t shiver. Squeezing as much water out of my hair as possible, I dressed and hurried after Kokoro as she headed back towards the hub of activity.

The menfolk had been busy while we’d been bathing. Most had found their own pools to wash in and were still shivering slightly from the ordeal. Luc, Igor, Gregor and Ishida sported wet hair but only pretended to be suffering from the chilly water. Being male, they had washed must faster than we had and were already working on a strategy.

It didn’t bother me that they hadn’t waited for us before coming up with a plan. I was far from a master strategist and left that task up to Gregor. Speaking of the sophisticated one, he was crouched beside M’narl and his fellow elders with the robot lying nearby to act as interpreter. They were working out the final stages of whatever plan they had concocted. It was hard to tell but the Kveet seemed to be excited by the prospect of taking the fight directly to their oppressors.

Luc smiled at me. His dripping hair was slicked back from his face and my heart tried to stutter at his male beauty. I went to him and took the hand he offered. Following the subtle nod of his head, I saw Geordie standing off to the side. His arms were tightly crossed and his lower lip was pooched out. His hair was also wet but it was a dirty shade of blonde that would never look clean. “What happened?” I asked quietly enough that only a few of our nearest kin could hear me.

“Geordie tried to sneak off to join you ladies.”

From the way Igor was glowering at his apprentice, I figured he’d had to chase the teen down and drag him back, most likely listening to his shrill whining the whole time. My lips quivered and I broke into a snigger. Geordie saw me laughing at him and his lip pooched out even further before he turned his back. Igor turned his glower on me and I stifled my laughter.

“You’d better go and speak to him,” Luc suggested and nudged me towards the sulking youth.

Wondering who had voted for me to stand in as Geordie’s mother, I picked my way through the tiny Kveet and put my hand on the teen’s shoulder.

Flinching away, Geordie cast an angry look at me. “Go away.”

“Where do you suggest I go?” I asked him reasonably.

“I don’t care. Just leave me alone.”

He sounded so miserable that I couldn’t comply with his request. Moving around so I was standing in front of him, I studied Geordie’s face. Usually mischievous, he was far more solemn than usual. I sensed his misery was deeper than simply being laughed at. “What’s wrong, Geordie?”

Peeking through the dripping hair that hung over his eyes, he checked whether my sympathy was real or just a ruse. Seeing my concern, he shrugged his thin shoulders. “I am lonely, chérie.”

My mouth dropped open but nothing came out. That was the last thing I’d expected to hear from a fifteen year old, even one that had been undead for two hundred years. “Is that why you tried to spy on the women?” I wasn’t exactly an expert on the mindset of the opposite sex but surely there had to be a better way to gain someone’s attention than that.

Indignant, he scowled. “I was not trying to spy on any of you!” Turning to make sure no one was listening, he dropped his voice. “I was going to ask one of the Japanese warriors if she cared to share her flesh hunger with me.”

Blood wanted to rush to my face but it was far too sluggish to attempt the task. “Aren’t you a little…young for most of Ishida’s people?” I was pretty sure the Japanese emperor had brought only his oldest and best warriors with him.

Head sagging, he nodded. “It has been a long time since I have fed my flesh hunger. Since feeding from the Viltaran, my hunger is becoming harder to deny.”

Remembering how strong my own hungers were becoming, I couldn’t blame him for wanting to satiate his need for sex. For the first time, I was forced to think of Geordie not just as an adult, but as a man. It was a foreign concept to me and one I didn’t want to contemplate. But letting him stalk the women while they bathed was a sure fire way to start trouble. “Why don’t you let me talk to the other girls?” I couldn’t believe the words had just come out of my mouth but it was too late to take them back.

Brightening, Geordie gave me a huge smile. “You would do that for me?”

Desperately wanting to shake my head in the negative, I nodded instead. “I won’t make you any promises but I’ll find a subtle way of asking if any of the women are available.” Yeah, because ‘subtle’ is your middle name, my inner voice said with heavy sarcasm. Since I agreed with it, I couldn’t really argue.

“Why does Geordie suddenly appear to be so happy?” Luc asked me when I reached his side again.

Grimacing, I explained the new mess I’d gotten myself into. “I’m going to speak to the women privately,” I told him when I was done. I might as well get this debacle over with. “I’ll be back soon.” Giving Luc a quick kiss and ignoring his amusement, I headed back down the tunnels to the pools.

Kokoro caught up to me before I was halfway down the tunnel. “Did I hear correctly that you are going to try to…hook Geordie up with one of the other women?” It was weird to hear such a modern turn of phrase coming from a forty thousand year old vampire. With her newly black eyes and wet hair tumbling down her back, she barely resembled the seer I’d first met on the tiny Japanese island. Instead of the usual pure white kimonos that she preferred, she wore one of the modified droid suits that matched mine.

“I’m going to give it a shot. Do you think any of them will be receptive to the idea?”

Giving the matter some thought, Kokoro shrugged her dainty shoulders. “Perhaps.”

The rest of our walk was done in silence. Most of the women were dressed and finger combing their sopping hair when we reached the pools. Shivering, teeth chattering, a final European hauled herself out of the water and quickly donned her clothing. Kokoro and I received curious stares as we waited for them to gather around. There were seven females to choose from and I had no idea which one Geordie had his eye on, except that she was Japanese.

“Is something wrong?” one of the Europeans asked.

“No.” I didn’t sound very reassuring, even to myself. I’d told Geordie that I would find a subtle way to broach the subject but my inner voice was correct, subtle wasn’t exactly my forte. “I was wondering if any of you felt the need to share your flesh hunger.”

My question received stares of surprise and amusement. “I did not realize you swung both ways,” a European said. A wave of giggles sounded.

“I’m not asking on my behalf,” I replied.

“Then whom are you asking on behalf of?”

“Geordie,” I blurted. Instead of the expected laughter, my proposal was met with speculation.

“I have never shared my flesh hunger with a European,” one of the Japanese warriors said. Their barriers truly had been broken down if she was contemplating the idea now. When she spoke next, I understood her lack of reserve. “Tell us, Mortis, what are our chances of survival on this planet?” Her direct stare demanded an honest response.

Turning to Kokoro, I read the sadness in her gaze. We both knew the answer to that question but it looked like it was up to me to answer it. “I’d say they are fairly low.” No one was surprised by my answer. “Kokoro and I have both been sent visions of our extinction since I was first turned into Mortis. I think very few, if any, of us will make it through the next few nights ahead.”

At my stark honesty, murmurs swept through the small group. Heads bowed in sorrow and hands were clasped in solidarity. Kokoro’s hand grasped mine and held me tightly. My grip was just as crushing as hers. The truth was out in the open now, even though Kokoro had warned everyone that she had seen death and darkness coming. Trapped on a strange planet with no way to return home, we finally had to face the inevitable.

Composing herself, the Japanese warrior lifted her head proudly. “I will approach the young European and offer myself to him. If I am going to die, I would like to share my flesh hunger one last time or two.”

Her sentiment appeared to be shared by the others as nods met her words. I had a feeling most of the men were going to be in for a surprise. When we returned to the hub of activity, I discovered I wasn’t wrong. Geordie’s eyes went wide with trepidation and hope when the Japanese warrior marched over to him, bent slightly and whispered in his ear. With a dazed grin, he allowed her to take his hand and lead him off down a side tunnel.

Luc and Gregor were the only two who weren’t approached. Every other male, bar Igor, went with one of the females. Igor had declined the offer with a brief smile and an almost kind shake of his head. After fifteen thousand years, was he still mourning the death of his wife? His guilt at killing his family after rising as a monster had to be extreme if he could deny his flesh hunger even in the face of almost certain death.

.~.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“We will ensure that our people are ready,” M’narl was saying to Gregor when I turned my attention back to the pair.

“Thank you,” Gregor said as the tiny brown creature hurried away with his fellow elders following in his wake.

Whatever plan they had come up with would have to wait until our friends had fed their hungers. Since we had time to kill, I decided to ignore Kokoro’s advice and question the octosquids. I’d probably fail at being subtle again, but I would at least attempt to be circumspect. With Luc at my side, I approached the nearest black, tentacle ridden alien. It didn’t turn to face us, and I was pretty sure it didn’t even have a face, but I sensed it was waiting for me to speak.

“When sending out my senses, I’m pretty sure I came across a few of your kin that have been turned into Viltaran clones,” I told it. The dismembered droid lying nearby dutifully repeated my words in the octosquid’s bubbling native language.

“How can you be certain the beings are our kin?” the jellylike creature asked.

Waiting for the robot to translate gave me time to embellish my lie. I didn’t want them to know that I’d exploded one of their brothers or sisters, after all. “They share the same…signature as both your kind and the other clones I can sense.”

“How many did you sense?” one of the other octosquids asked. There was no emotion in the query that I could discern but I sensed some anxiety.

“Three.” There had been four to start with, before I’d dispatched the one that had tried to eat me.

“You cannot sense any more of our kind on Viltar?” a third black alien asked.

I shook my head then realized they might not be familiar with human gestures. “No. Sorry.” I gave them a few moments to grieve for their fallen before launching into my query. “There was something about your cloned kin that was different from any other clone I’ve sensed before.”

After a brief pause, the original octosquid shifted on its tentacles slightly. “Different how?”

“It seemed to be bigger than you guys. A lot bigger,” I amended before they could point out that all clones seemed to gain extra size and bulk after being transformed.

There was another pause before one of the creatures answered. They’d drawn together so it was hard to tell which one of them was speaking. “Our size depends on the amount of food and water that is available. We cannot survive at all without a water source to replenish ourselves in frequently. Our kin that you can sense must have access to far more food and water than we have in this cavern.”

It seemed like a plausible explanation but I still had the feeling they weren’t being entirely truthful. “How big can your species grow?” I asked.

“Under the correct conditions, we have the capacity to grow to the size of this cavern,” was the response.

Judging the size of the room, it was roughly the same size as the octosquid imp I’d killed. They had given us no reason to doubt their word but Luc sent me a minute headshake not to ask any more questions. If we had to share the planet with these aliens it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to annoy them.

Seeing Gregor and Kokoro quietly entering one of the side tunnels, I nudged Luc in the side and surreptitiously pointed at Igor. The grizzled Russian was watching the monitors with a blank expression. I caught a hint of pain beneath his stoical exterior and felt compelled to speak to him.

Leaving the octosquids to their alien thoughts, we strolled over to Luc’s oldest friend. “See anything interesting?” I said to break the silence.

Starting as if he hadn’t realized he was no longer alone, Igor shook his head. “Only dust storms and broken cities.”

With my usual lack of tact and diplomacy, I blurted out a question. “Why didn’t you take the Japanese warrior up on her offer?”

Lowering his brows, he tried to intimidate me into backing off but I wasn’t to be deterred. Forcing a heavy sigh from airless lungs, he crossed his arms. “I did not feel the need to feed my flesh hunger.”

I waited for him to elaborate but his grumpy expression told me I was going to have to drag the answers out of him. “Do you ever feel the need to get naked with anyone?”

Luc sent a disapproving frown at me at my choice of words but he was also curious. “In all the centuries I have known you, Igor, I have never once seen you with a companion.”

“I lost the only companion I ever wanted or needed the night I rose as a vampire,” Igor said, keeping his gaze on the monitors. “There will never be anyone else for me.”

Emotion swelled inside me and lodged in my throat. Luc put a hand on Igor’s shoulder and I slipped my arm around the Russian’s waist. He allowed us to offer him our sympathy for a few moments before shrugging us off. “You should also take some time to be together while you still have it.”

“Natalie and I will have many opportunities to be together,” Luc said, making no move to leave his old friend’s side. I admired his confidence and only wished that I could share it. Our chances of battling the Viltarans and winning were far from assured. We had already lost too many of our people and more would soon be joining them. We had no chance of ever being able to exist peacefully with the original inhabitants of this planet. They had to be annihilated for our safety and for the safety of every other being that was currently subject to their tyranny. If we didn’t take the fight to them, they would eventually smoke us out with their army of droids.

While we waited for the others to satiate their flesh hunger, our Kveet hosts bustled in and out of the cavern. None of us three were particularly hungry but when a trio of tiny female Kveet arrived and offered us bowls of their brown blood, we drank to be polite. It didn’t have the same kick as Viltaran blood but it tasted about a thousand times better.

“Thank you,” I said to the trio and the robot automatically translated for us.

“You are welcome,” one of the aliens replied. “When your companions return, they will also be offered sustenance.”

Nodding my understanding, I turned my attention to the monitors as our Kveet hostesses disappeared again. Studying the ruins, I was reminded of my disturbing dream. New York always seemed to be so full of life and vitality in the movies. In my dream, it had been a blasted shambles just like the cities on the screens before me. A chill raced down my spine at the thought of the Viltarans unleashing their weaponry on Earth. Robert had told us he couldn’t retrace the route we’d taken without input from us about our journey so my fears had to be groundless. He also told me I was his master and that their nights last for twenty hours, I thought sourly.

Eventually, our friends began returning in pairs. Blowing his temporary companion a final kiss, Geordie strutted over to join us. The Japanese warrior gave the teen a coy smile and joined a European female and Japanese male that were still holding hands.

Linking his arm through mine, Geordie stared into my eyes. “Thank you, Natalie.”

Embarrassed and feeling a bit like I’d pimped the kid out for the night, I patted his hand. “Don’t mention it.” I sincerely hoped he would drop the topic and he seemed to pick up on my wish.

Gregor and Kokoro were two of the last to arrive. Their bond had grown even closer and they remained arm in arm as they joined us. Ishida and one of the older European women appeared moments later. She giggled like a teen when the emperor gave her a deep bow. He might look like a twelve year old kid but Ishida was well versed in the art of naked romping. He usually took several girls to his bed at a time. One probably wouldn’t have been much of a challenge to him, even if she was far older than him in mortal years.

The former child king’s smirk withered slightly under Kokoro’s raised eyebrow. I hid my smile at the chastened bow he gave her. They lived by a strict code and he must have crossed a line in her eyes. Kokoro relented enough to pull the teen to her side and place her arm around his shoulder. Gregor exchanged a secret wink with Ishida behind his new love’s back and the teen perked up again.

Regaining his decorum, Gregor gestured for everyone to gather in close. “M’narl and his council of elders have agreed to a plan that I believe we should put into action immediately.” There were a few grumbles about not being able to rest when dawn arrived in another couple of hours.

“Tell us your plan,” Igor invited. He sounded gruff, almost abrupt but that was just part of his charm. I suspected his bark was far worse than his bite, unless someone pissed him off then his bite could take the offender’s head off.

Reaching across Kokoro to place his hand on Ishida’s shoulder, Gregor nodded at the youngster. “Emperor Ishida raised a point earlier that sparked an idea.”

“You may call me Ishida from now on,” the teen said. Shock followed his pronouncement. “Our empire has been destroyed and we are on the brink of extinction,” he explained. “I no longer desire to be the ruler of the few of my people that remain.” Our astonishment couldn’t have been greater if Elvis had popped into existence and started serenading us. “That job now belongs to Mortis.”

Eyes swung to me and, to my horror, heads nodded in acceptance. Luc steadied me as I swayed on my feet slightly. It was nearly impossible for us to faint but for a moment or two there, I had felt like I was on the edge of blacking out. “This is just temporary,” I reminded everyone.

“Natalie,” Gregor said almost gently, “we have been evicted from our home world and have no way of going back. We’re stuck here and we need a leader. You are Mortis.” He said the final three words as if me being Mortis meant that there could be no solution other than me being in charge of their safety and wellbeing.

“Shouldn’t we take a vote on this or something?” I said with quiet desperation. I’d taken charge while we’d been hunting the Second and his horde of fledglings but I hadn’t intended to remain their ruler forever. Forever might only last for the next few nights, my subconscious said sourly.

“Fine. Let us vote,” Igor said. “Who wants Natalie to be in charge?” His hand went up and so did everyone else’s.

Geordie giggled and pointed at me. “See. Even you voted for yourself.”

Staring at my right hand that was up in the air, I snatched it down and clasped it tightly with my left hand. I could have sworn I hadn’t moved of my own volition, which meant my body had acted of its own accord.

“It is unanimous then,” Gregor said dryly. “Natalie is our leader.” Luc offered me a wide smile, knowing how uncomfortable I was with the idea. “As I was saying,” Gregor went on, “Ishida made a point earlier that gave me an idea of how we can set a trap for the Viltarans.”

Trying to concentrate on Gregor’s plan, I couldn’t help but notice a faint hint of sorrow on Ishida’s face at relinquishing the title he’d held for ten millennia. I wanted to howl in hysterical laughter at being voted the ruler of the remaining vampires. I was the youngest of our group by far, in vampire years at least, and was woefully unqualified for the job. Everyone had taken the change in their stride so I would just have to deal with it, at least for now. Once this was all over and whoever was left, if anyone was left, was safe, we could revisit this conversation and they could pick another leader. I was pretty sure the last thing fate had ever intended was for me to become a queen.

.~.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“We have seen evidence that the dining halls, for want of a better term, are monitored by the Viltarans.” At Gregor’s gesture, we turned to examine the floating screens. One of M’narl’s people had altered them to show several of the dining halls that had been built in the centre of the underground complexes. All were empty but that wasn’t a surprise. There had to be hundreds of these rooms and there were only eight groups of Viltarans still in existence.

Igor’s grin indicated he had a fair idea of the plan that had been cooked up. “You want us to use one of these halls and pretend we don’t know we are being watched and lure the enemy to us.”

“Exactly.” Gregor’s grin was crafty and as pleased as Igor’s. “While we set up a base in one of the dining areas and pretend to be resting, Natalie can monitor the Viltarans using her remote senses.”

“What if they just send a bunch of robots to kill us?” Geordie asked, disturbed at the idea that our ambush might be turned against us.

“M’narl’s people will be hiding in the rooms nearby and will alert us to an attack. We can then engage our adversaries from two sides, crushing them in the middle.”

Luc voiced the question that was on my mind. “Do the Kveet have other weapons than the explosives?”

Nodding, Gregor indicated the weapon several of our group were holding. “They have acquired many ‘death rays’, as Natalie likes to call them, from the robots they have lured to their demise.”

“I presume they have worked out how to change the setting from destroying flesh to destroying metal?” Ishida asked.

“They are aware of how to alter the setting now.” Switching his gaze to the other teen in our midst, Gregor gave him a smile. “We have Geordie to thank for figuring out how to change the weapon’s setting.”

Surprised at the rare praise, Geordie ducked his head after giving Gregor a shy smile. The female warrior he’d spent several hours with winked wickedly and his smile turned into a smirk.

“The Viltarans know that, like them, we rest during the day. There is now less than two hours remaining before dawn arrives. With Natalie’s help, we should be able to choose a suitable area to set our trap. I suggest we do so and head for the Viltaran facility of our choice as soon as possible. With luck, one or two of their groups will choose to move against us and will fall neatly into our trap.”

It went without saying that, if more of them moved against us, we would be in serious trouble. We had to rely on our adversaries’ mistrust of each other to keep them from banding together in an all-out attack.

“What do you need me to do?” I asked.

Gregor gestured to what looked like a vast, sprawling map of the identical structures on some of the other monitors. “This is a complete map of every inhabitable dwelling beneath the surface. We need you to pinpoint where the Viltarans are located.”

“Don’t they move around constantly?” Cristov asked.

“Yes,” Gregor conceded. “Except when they are sleeping and they will shortly be choosing their lodgings for the day.”

“And while they do, we will choose where to set our trap,” Igor concluded.

Needing some kind of reference point, I stared at the map blankly. “We’re in this general area,” Gregor told me and pointed towards the bottom of the map.

Closing my eyes to block out distractions, I sent out my consciousness. As before, I felt the life force of every intelligent or semi-intelligent creature on the planet. My kin weren’t technically alive and they were a lighter, more ethereal presence than the aliens.

Picturing the map in my mind, I put a mental blue dot at the bottom where we were then started adding red dots in the areas where I sensed Viltarans. Finding all eight groups easily, I opened my eyes and quickly pointed out where I’d sensed them on the map. They were spread out far and wide, intentionally keeping their distance from each other. While we were the bigger threat right now and they had agreed to work together, they had been feuding for so long that they might never be able to trust each other fully.

Gregor, Igor, Luc and Aventius crowded closer to the gigantic map. With studied indifference, Ishida tinkered with his own personal monitor. Now that he had willingly abdicated, he seemed to be determined not to take any responsibility.

Slipping through the small crowd, I hesitated at the teen’s side. “Do you have something you wish to say to me, Nat?” he asked.

Surprised by his usage of my nickname, I was momentarily lost for words. “Um. Are you going to be ok?” I asked lamely.

Frowning, he tucked the monitor beneath his arm. “What do you mean?”

“I mean with you not being an Emperor anymore. Are you going to be able to cope with that?”

“According to Jacquline, we are all going to die shortly.” The European he had spent the night with heard her name being mentioned and glanced towards us apprehensively. My smile must have reassured her that she wasn’t in any trouble because she glanced away again. “If this is indeed the case then I would prefer not to be responsible for the deaths of our entire species,” he continued. I couldn’t hide what must have been a stricken expression from the former ruler. “I do not mean that you will be responsible,” he said and put a hand on my arm. “I simply mean that, for once in my lengthy life, I will not be required to decide the fate of others.”

Patting Ishida’s hand to show there were no hard feelings for his poor choice of words, I stepped into a side tunnel to steal a few moments of alone time. The teen had just said what everyone was probably thinking, that we were all here because of me. We’d already lost a third of our original number and I was to blame. Few seemed to realize that none of this had happened because of any choice on my part. After waking up as a vampire in the mausoleum in the cemetery in Brisbane, I’d proceeded to blunder from one disaster to the next. I’d stumbled into worse and worse situations that resulted in my dismemberment more often than not. My incessant floundering into danger had spread to our entire species and now we were all that was left.

Being Mortis was a horrible burden that I wished I could offload onto someone else. Who would you choose to inflict this responsibility on? My inner voice sounded curious rather than cutting for once. Thinking back on all of the times I’d been shot, stabbed, staked, sliced, skewered and sautéed, I conceded that I wouldn’t have wished any of that on anyone. Except Nicholas, Anna-Eve, Colonel Sanderson or the Comtesse, I mentally amended. Any of the four could have suffered through my tribulations and I wouldn’t have had any sympathy for them.

I jumped when a voice spoke right behind me. “Are you going to stay here alone in the dark or are you going to join us?” Geordie’s grin faltered when I turned around. “Are you alright, chérie?”

“I’m fine,” I lied and tried to pretend that I hadn’t been sulking. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

He might have relinquished his rulership but Ishida still had his part to play and would guide us to our destination. Geordie was beginning to understand how the small, portable monitors worked but the former emperor was a whiz with the devices. Targeting the dining hall that had been chosen to be the setting for our trap, he was ready to lead us towards our goal.

As promised, M’narl had organized a team of fighters to join our hunt. They flowed around my knees in a flood of brown skin and matching clothing. Their tiny legs scurried to keep up with our far longer strides as we headed through the tunnel system to the area where we’d previously been imprisoned.

It was impossible to count the Kveet while they were on the move but I estimated there were several hundred warriors. All carried a pack on their backs, presumably filled with food and weapons. Their gnarled faces wore a mixture of determination and exhilaration at the idea of finally taking on their oppressors head on. They outnumbered the Viltarans by the tens of thousands and I wondered why they’d never risen up to overwhelm their kidnappers before now. Even as the question formed in my mind, my inner voice had an answer; Fate wouldn’t allow them to until now. Gregor thought fate had abandoned us the moment we’d left our home planet but I wasn’t so sure. Why else would the Kveet be suddenly ready to go forth and slaughter their enemies?

“What are you thinking about so fiercely?” Luc asked as he strode along beside me. The dismembered robot was far to the rear of our noisy group and was in no danger of overhearing us. It was strapped to a small cart rather than being dragged through the dirt. None of the Kveet would be able to understand what we were saying so I decided to tell him the truth.

“I’m thinking that fate isn’t quite finished with us yet.”

“Did you ever really believe that it was done with us?” He lifted his eyebrow in sardonic amusement.

I gave him a one shouldered shrug. “Not really.”

“Fate is a fickle yet harsh mistress,” my beloved mused. “While she has whittled our people down to the brink of annihilation, I fear she will never allow us to slip from her grasp completely.” His mouth might have been smiling but his eyes were bleak.

We were speaking quietly enough that even our kin would have to strain to hear us. No one seemed to be paying any particular attention to us but I checked to be sure before speaking my thoughts. “You think you’re all going to die and I’ll be left alone, don’t you?”

Taking my hand, he lifted it to his cold lips. He didn’t need to voice his answer out loud. The dread in his eyes said it all.

.~.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

We reached the vast cavern that held the elevator that would take us up to the surface and only had to wait for a few moments for it to arrive. I was astounded to see over twenty elevators appear this time as cleverly hidden doors that had been carved into the rock walls swished aside. One of the Kveet carried his own monitor and seemed to be controlling the lifts with it. I was pretty sure he was the same one who had programmed Ishida’s monitor on our mission to destroy the factory.

Piling inside one of the elevators, we waited until everyone was on board the others before the doors slid shut and we began to ascend. The ride was smooth and silent and it was almost a shock to step out into a raging dust storm. With our eyes slitted shut and our hands covering our faces, we huddled together as Ishida led the way.

We had only a short distance to go before a staircase leading to the nearest underground facility appeared. While we could all survive the toxic air, we were glad to be out of the wind. I’d only been clean for a short while and was now coated in dust again. The thought of living on this planet forever filled me with despair. I wondered if anyone else was feeling homesick or if it was just me.

We still had an hour or so before it would be daylight and the Viltarans would presumably retire to their hard, uncomfortable metal beds. Their droid bodyguards would remain vigilant, watching the monitors and hallways in case of the very ambush we were planning on setting up. We would have plenty of time to make sure our people were in place then wait for our enemy to take the bait.

We walked at a pace that was slow enough for the Kveet to keep up without having to run. They chattered quietly in their high pitched voices, sounding eerily like their kin that had been turned into grey skinned clones. We were in no danger of being attacked by anything alive, not with my senses on full alert. Two of Ishida’s warriors scouted ahead just in case any droids had been dispatched to roam the halls.

Our chosen ambush site was positioned directly between two of the Viltaran groups. The other parties were much further away and hopefully wouldn’t join the other two. As far as the evil alien race was aware, our army consisted of nineteen vampires. Hopefully, they didn’t know that we had formed an alliance with the Kveet. With luck, they also weren’t aware that the small brown creatures were scampering through the halls with the intention of lying in wait and killing anything with grey or silver skin.

Carefully stepping around the Kveet, Geordie sidled up to me. He wore a pensive look as he walked beside me almost close enough for our shoulders to touch. “Do you think our plan will work, Natalie?”

I may have been voted in as their leader but I was the last person he should be discussing strategy with. Look how long it had taken me to break them free from their torture chambers in Colorado. Since Gregor had been the main force behind our ambush, I had no reason to doubt that it would work. Yet luck would play a big part in the events that would unfold once we set our trap. Don’t forget fate, my subconscious reminded me. It still has its claws in your hides.

“Of course I think it will work,” I said to reassure the teen. His smile was grateful and relieved yet he still looked worried.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him softly.

Glancing past me to study Luc’s serene face, Geordie was reluctant to tell me what was on his mind. Slanting a glance at me, Luc winked and increased his pace to catch up to Igor and Gregor.

As alone as we could get while surrounded, Geordie still didn’t want to spill the beans. I waited patiently and clasped his chilly hand with mine. “I have a bad feeling,” he said at last.

I’d had a bad feeling from the moment I’d realized I was the living dead. My new life had lived up to the feeling of doom ever since. “Can you be more specific?”

Darting a glance to make sure no one was listening, he elaborated. “I feel that none of us are going to be around for much longer.” His usual mischievousness was gone and moroseness had taken its place. “None of us…except for you.”

My hand tightened on his with shared anxiety. The words I wanted to say were lodged in my throat so I remained silent. I didn’t want to promise him that I would keep him safe because it would be a lie. I would do my best to make sure none of my friends came to any harm but if fate decided it wanted them, I wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop it.

“What will you do if we all die and you are left all alone?” he asked me softly.

It was a question I’d asked myself many times and one that I didn’t have a definitive answer for. “I don’t know,” I replied. “Go insane, probably.” He didn’t smile because he knew I wasn’t joking.

“Will you avenge us, chérie?”

I checked to see if he was serious and his expression was solemn. “Geordie, I promise you that if any of you come to harm, no force in this world will save the Viltarans. Not even G-G-G,” giving up on attempting to say God, I tried again. “Not even the creator of the universe itself would be able to stop me from wreaking my revenge.” It was a promise that I would keep and he knew I was speaking the truth.

Geordie’s smile was huge but it trembled slightly. “I thought you would say something like that.” Having his death avenged would be a small comfort but I guessed it would be better than nothing. “Promise me that you will never forget me?”

“I don’t think it would be possible for me to forget you,” I said in all seriousness. I’d never met anyone like Geordie before. He was a contradiction of youthful mischievousness and surprising wisdom all rolled up in the same package. He’d wormed his way through my defences and straight into my unbeating heart. Sensing the emotion choking me, he clutched my hand tightly and looked away so he wouldn’t burst into dry sobs. Doom was stalking us and it was slowly closing in with the intention of picking us off one by one. Casting my gaze over our dwindling numbers, I wondered which one of us would be the next to be sacrificed to destiny.

Before either of us could spiral into depression, Ishida’s voice floated back to us. “Our target destination is just ahead.” The scouts he’d sent out had returned to report that the area was empty of droids. They had steered clear of the dining room where we would set our trap. We wouldn’t enter the hall until our allies were in place.

Gregor worked his way through to the former emperor, careful not to step on any of our diminutive allies. Studying the map on Ishida’s screen, he hunkered down next to the Kveet who carried his own monitor with an identical map on it. The robot was dragged forward on his trolley to interpret.

Pointing to the map, Gregor spoke in a hushed tone and everyone quieted down to listen. “The dining room is only accessible from two doors.” He indicated the doors on the map then pointed out a series of hallways and rooms. “Your people should split up into several teams and hide in these areas. Most of you should set your weapons to destroy the robots but make sure some have theirs set to target the Viltarans, who will most likely be bringing up the rear. Wait until the robots are almost upon us before you begin your attack. As soon as we hear the sound of battle, we will come to your aid. Does anyone have any questions?”

It seemed like a fairly straight forward plan to me but Gregor spent the next few minutes answering questions from both our kin and our new allies. Once everyone’s fears had been settled, we were ready to set our trap. Half of the Kveet split off and headed to the far side of the dining area. Their map would show them how to reach their destination without having to enter our ambush site. The rest split into smaller groups and hid in the rooms up and down the hallway.

Most of my kin were hiding their fear that they were all about to die behind stoical expressions. Geordie fidgeted nervously until Igor calmed him with a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t say anything but the teen seemed to find comfort in his mentor’s presence. Igor had lived for a very long time and it was hard to believe his lengthy unlife might soon be snuffed out.

Luc and Gregor stood side by side in companionable silence. Gregor somehow managed to appear debonair while wearing one of the modified Viltaran suits. My one true love wore his borrowed black outfit well. He looked powerful and almost invincible. Ishida stood nearby and should have looked frail in comparison. Instead, he appeared young, wiry and full of energy. Kokoro seemed like a warrior herself wearing all black instead of her usual white garb. Her eyes roamed the corridor, searching for trouble. They lit on Ishida and Gregor and I sensed her concern for them both.

When he’d estimated that enough time had passed for our allies to be in place, Gregor waved us forward. Most of us didn’t have to pretend to be weary and beaten down. I still felt fine and in no particular need of sleep. The Viltaran blood in my system was still powering my cells to full capacity. I had no idea what this would mean in the long term but for now I would enjoy my added alertness while it lasted.

The door to the dining room whooshed open as Gregor approached it. Only the tightening in his shoulders belied his nervousness as he stepped across the threshold. We filed in behind him quietly, dragging our feet. If we were being watched, and something told me we were, we wanted to appear to be defeated. The more pathetic and bedraggled we seemed, the more confident the Viltarans would be. If they were as warlike as the Kveet said they were then they would be driven to seek us out and kill us. All we had to do was stay in one place long enough for them to approach with their murderbot bodyguards.

.~.

Chapter Thirty

From the moment I stepped into the dining area, I felt hostile eyes latch onto me. Hidden cameras were watching and someone was monitoring them. As per Gregor’s request, I kept my senses trained on the two closest groups of Viltarans. It didn’t take long before first one then the second group stirred. Our alien ancestors should have been tucked away in their metal beds and sleeping by now but the two groups were on the move. They didn’t go far, probably just to their monitor rooms to gawk at us.

Gregor caught my eye and I nodded subtly. Everyone who didn’t already know we were being watched was silently notified of the fact as we chose a spot to lie down. We spoke in quiet murmurs, not mentioning our plan at all just in case we were being listened to as well as being observed. What one robot knew, they all knew, with the exception of the Kveet’s droid captive. They would be able to translate our words for their masters and we didn’t want to give them any cause for alarm.

Lying down on the cold metal floor near the gigantic table, I cuddled against Luc’s side. For once, Geordie kept his distance and remained near Igor. While we looked like we were spread out, we remained within touching distance of one another.

I knew our plan had worked when the Viltarans went on the move several hours later. Touching Luc’s arm to warn him, I then reached out with my foot and nudged the leg of the vampire closest to me. Within seconds, everyone was aware that the enemy was on their way. As per the plan, we continued to pretend to sleep.

Gregor had been worried that the Viltarans would send in their droids to annihilate us while remaining behind and watching from their monitors. With their blood infecting me with battle lust, I knew they wouldn’t be able to resist the lure of seeing us die with their own eyes and at their own hands.

As we’d hoped, the enemy approached from two directions. They stopped a short distance away, probably so they could communicate and coordinate their attack. I hoped the Kveet were ready because all hell was about to break loose. I elbowed Luc then nudged the nearest member of our group again to warn them to get ready. A ripple of movement spread through the room as we all tensed for battle.

“Any second now,” I murmured just loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear me.

Just as the doors whooshed open at both ends of the room, the Kveet burst out from concealment and began to shoot their hated oppressors. Springing to our feet, we opened fire on the robots through the doorways. Torn between shooting us and defending themselves, the droids hesitated. Deep in their midst, a Viltaran roared an order in his grating language. “Kill them all!”

His enraged bellow helped to add to the confusion and the killbots couldn’t decide who to shoot first. We cut down half of their numbers before some turned their backs on us and began firing at the larger numbers of Kveet warriors. Bright violet light from the death rays lit up the dining room and hallways. The European next to me was bathed in brilliance before his body turned to dust motes and slowly began to fall to the floor. If the droid had aimed to my right, Luc would have been the one to turn to dust.

Chilled at how close my beloved had come to death, I zapped the droid before it could cut down anyone else on our team. Shrill, high pitched screams of rage and triumph came from the Kveet warriors as they slaughtered the droids. With most of their metal bodyguards destroyed, the Viltarans tried to flee. They didn’t get far before the beams were altered to destroy flesh and brilliant violet light stole their lives.

When the last grey skinned alien turned to ash, there was a short silence. Then one of the Kveet gave an ululating cry that was taken up by the rest of the diminutive warriors. Dancing in joy, they revelled in their victory. Their captive translator watched on in silence. The robot wasn’t capable of much emotion yet he still seemed dour to me.

After a quick count of our numbers, Gregor closed his eyes in relief. I’d also taken a tally and only one vampire had met his end. Luc ambled over to his old friend and I followed in his wake. “I’d say our ambush was a success,” my beloved said.

Sparing a moment to watch our allies celebrate, Gregor didn’t look as though he was in the partying mood. “The Viltarans are too intelligent to fall for this ruse again.”

“Then we’ll have to think up another way to trap them,” I said as I reached them.

“If they are as vicious and battle minded as the Kveet has told us, then they will no doubt retaliate against this attack.” Knowing Gregor, he already had some idea of how our ancestors would take their revenge on us. Frankly, I didn’t even want to know just yet. I preferred to bask in what would probably be a short victory. We had all seen just how thirsty for death and destruction these aliens were. They had killed off most of their population simply because they hadn’t had anyone else to kill. They’d brought their own planet to the edge of destruction in their endeavour to gain supremacy over each other. I had no idea how the remaining few could work together instead of simply throttling each other as their instincts drove them to. The remaining leaders of each group must have wills of iron to keep their people from fighting amongst themselves.

“How many Viltarans are left now?” Igor asked as he and Geordie joined our group.

Closing my eyes, I sent my senses far and wide and counted how many foes we faced. “Seventy-three.”

“I wish we could monitor our adversaries as they do us,” Ishida said he and the rest of our kin gathered in the centre of the room. “It would be good to know their plans.”

“I’m pretty sure we shook them up,” I told him. “They’re scattering like ants in a kicked nest right now.”

“What is our next move?” Luc asked our master planner.

Gregor didn’t need to think about his answer. “We target the closest group of Viltarans, hunt them down and kill them.”

All eyes swung to me to judge my reaction. “Sounds good to me,” I replied with a shrug. I might be their leader but I was the first to admit I wasn’t the smartest amongst our group.

“Before we embark on our next hunt, would it be possible for us to rest?” Cristov asked. Although they were being fed regularly, most of my remaining kin looked tired. Maybe the Kveet blood didn’t have enough nutrients or something. I still felt chock full of energy, as did the other six who had fed from the Viltaran.

“I think it would be a good idea to leave this area first, just in case some more murderbots are sent after us,” I proposed.

Geordie giggled at my name for the droids. I wasn’t sure if anyone else had noticed that the teen’s eyes were glowing faintly. Mine were no doubt blazing scarlet from the latest battle. The strange lust to kill and maim was already receding, thankfully. Unlike the imp clones, I could control my instinct to destroy.

Ishida and Geordie used their monitors to locate another area where we would hopefully be safe from attack. As my kin began their trek, I checked on our allies. M’narl had lost a lot of his people during the fight and grief bowed his gnarled head. Their celebration at besting their enemies had died swiftly once they had taken a headcount.

“Are you guys going to be ok?” I asked the leader of the Kveet army.

Waiting for the droid to translate, M’narl’s expression hardened. “We have suffered many losses but we are determined to eradicate this planet of the parasites who occupy it.”

I guess that means they’ll be ok. “So, you’re sticking with us to the end?”

Exchanging glances with the other elders and some of the warriors, M’narl gave a single nod. The survivors had retrieved their packs and were ready to march. “We are with you, Natalie, to the end.”

Once Gregor figured we’d travelled far enough away from the ambush site, we stayed well away from the dining area and headed for the sleeping quarters. The Kveet broke into small groups and filed into the bedrooms and our people did the same. Luc offered me his arm, knowing I wasn’t ready to attempt to sleep just yet. He looked as alert as I felt. Leaving our chosen bedroom, we weren’t surprised to see Gregor, Igor, Geordie, Kokoro and Ishida waiting for us.

Gregor put a finger to his lips to warn us not to speak then led the way towards the monitor room. Once we were all inside and the door had swished shut, we gathered around the floating screens. Most showed the bleak landscape and the blasted cities. One had been set to watch the factory we’d destroyed. It had been reduced to rubble and was still smoking. Strong winds tore the smoke to shreds and coated the new ruin in dust.

“I take it none of you feels the need for rest as yet?” Gregor said quietly.

Geordie shook his head. Worry etched a line between his brows. “Are we ever going to need to sleep again?”

Hesitating, Gregor wasn’t sure for once. “It is too soon to tell how permanent this change is.”

“It will not be very permanent if we are all going to die soon,” Igor said with his usual gruffness.

Glum at the prospect of no longer being of this world, or any other world, our silence was heavy.

Geordie was the first to break it. “Natalie has promised to avenge us, should we all die.”

Luc turned to survey my face. “I believe I would like to see that. I am sure it would be a memorable sight.” His smile was teasing yet I read the dread behind it. He wasn’t afraid to die but rather of leaving me all alone.

Ishida was curious about my promise. “What form will your revenge take, Nat?”

My smile disappeared and I could feel my expression turning grim. “I have no idea but I suspect Luc is right and it would be memorable.”

“We should not give up our lives without a fight,” Kokoro said.

Taking his new love’s hand, Gregor gave her a look that was so tender it brought imaginary tears to my eyes. “We have been abandoned by fate and so must make our own. I for one will continue to fight to the very end.”

With a soundless sob, Geordie buried his face against my shoulder. I patted him on the back until he composed himself and straightened up. “We should make a pact,” he declared.

Ishida’s interest was piqued. “A pact to do what?”

“To kill every last Viltaran on the planet and to try not to die.”

Hiding his smile, Luc gave the teen a solemn nod. “I swear to destroy the Viltarans and to try not to die.”

Our amusement faded as we each made our pledge. Our vow hadn’t exactly been worded very profoundly but I felt purpose settle over me as I repeated the words. I added a silent afterthought that I would try to keep my friends, my family, safe from harm.

.~.

Chapter Thirty-One

When darkness spread across the desolate land above, our kin and the Kveet emerged from their bedrooms. M’narl and his chosen few gathered in the monitor room with us to discuss strategy while the rest of his warriors waited out in the hallway.

Naturally, Gregor had already worked out a plan and directed a question at me. “Natalie, can you pinpoint where the closest Viltarans are?”

Closing my eyes, I searched for the aliens and found them all on the move. They had shifted towards what I thought of as the north end of the planet. The young Kveet warrior had worked his technological magic and the vast sprawling underground complexes were displayed on the monitors again. I pointed towards the top of the screens. “They’re all concentrated up there, as far away from us as they can get.”

“It will take us weeks to reach them,” one of Ishida’s warriors complained.

“Not if we take the elevators,” Gregor said.

M’narl brightened at the prospect. “We should be able to work out a way to control them and take them to any destination we desire.”

Ishida bowed to the tiny leader. “I have already done so once and should be able to duplicate the feat again.”

It was hard to tell with their scrunched little faces but they appeared to be surprised. We were a fairly primitive species compared to the Kveet and the Viltarans but they were learning that we weren’t complete idiots.

“There is a bunch of Viltarans to the north-west that is more isolated than the others,” I told the brains of our operation. “Maybe we should target them first.”

Gregor indicated the map. “Can you pinpoint where they are?”

“They’re still on the move but they’re roughly around here.” Stretching out my arm and standing on my tippy-toes, I pointed at a spot high on the upper left side of the monitors.

Ishida had a smaller version of the map system on his screen and made a note of where I’d indicated. Geordie had pretty much given up on trying to operate his monitor. It was tucked beneath his arm but he made no move to use it. He didn’t have the same fascination for electronic devices that Ishida had and the novelty had worn off already.

“I suggest we waste no more time and proceed to the elevator immediately,” M’narl said. He politely waited for my nod before heading for the door.

Ishida carefully negotiated his way to the front of the group and led us to the elevator that was hidden behind the walls. Tapping something on his screen brought the elevator door open. Another tap would hopefully take us to within a short distance of our prey. “We will have to make many trips,” the teen said as he moved aside to allow M’narl and some of his people to enter. They crammed inside but were in no danger of overloading the elevator with their light bodies. “I will send the next elevator on to you shortly.”

With a dignified nod, M’narl readied his weapon just in case they ran into danger at the other end. The doors closed and the elevator took off in a barely audible rush. Moments later, another carriage appeared and the doors opened. This time, I stepped inside. Half of my kin followed and a few Kveet squeezed in with us. I took Luc’s hand as the doors closed. I hadn’t enjoyed the first ride in one of the superfast elevators and I didn’t enjoy it this time either.

M’narl and his people waited in the hallway, safe and sound. I sent out my senses and found the Viltaran group nearby.

“How close are they?” Luc asked.

“Pretty close. If we were in a normal city, they’d only be about five blocks away. They’re moving in our direction but we should have enough time to set a trap for them.”

The robot hadn’t been transported yet so Gregor had to use hand signals to move the Kveet into place. As the little brown folk scurried further down the hall, the elevator doors opened to disgorge more of our allies. Minutes later, the last of our army joined us and then hurried to hide in the rooms up and down the hallway.

According to my internal radar, our quarry was still heading in our direction. My eyes started glowing in anticipation of the fight that was about to ensue. There were only eight of our distant ancestors on their way but they would have numerous killbots to back them up.

We heard them well before they stepped within our clutches. The Viltarans made no attempt at stealth and were bickering amongst themselves.

“How can a race so inferior to ours be hunting us down like vermin?” a raspy voice complained.

“They carry our nanobots in their veins,” another replied. The voice was slightly less gruff and I assumed the speaker was female. “These humans,” she spat the word out as if it tasted horrible to her, “are far too much like us.”

“They are small and puny,” another male whined. “We should be able to crush them beneath our heels!”

“I will crush you beneath my heel if you do not stop whining!” Presumably that threat was snarled by their leader. A cringing silence followed.

Waiting until our targets were roughly in the centre of our trap, Igor gave a roar and we spilled out from hiding. Believing themselves to be far enough away from the last ambush site that they were safe, the Viltarans had only one personal robot and two silver guards each. We annihilated the metal men and their fleshy masters in a barrage of violet flashes of light.

Viewing the ashy remains, Geordie gave me an uncertain grin. “That was almost too easy.”

Unfortunately, I agreed with him. “I think we’d better leave the area.”

Ishida hurried back down the silvery hallway to the elevator doors but they stubbornly refused to open. One of Ishida’s warriors heard the sound first and cocked his head. “Are there any birds on Viltar?”

“They aren’t birds,” I said as the high pitched, piping sounds carried to me. “Run!”

The Kveet didn’t have our exceptional hearing but they broke into a sprint without any urging. With their short stature, they quickly fell behind. Glancing back over my shoulder, I saw our allies turn to face the grey skinned beings who had once been their kin. There were far fewer of the imps than I’d expected from the amount of noise they’d been making.

“Be careful, Ladybug,” Luc said from right behind me. He didn’t need to see my face to know I was going to the Kveet’s rescue.

Scrunching up my nose at the nickname Geordie had bestowed on me and my one true love had taken as his own, I grabbed his shirt and pulled him down for a quick kiss. “I’m going to try something and I have no idea if it is going to work or not. Keep everyone back.” Without waiting for a response, I ran back towards the Kveet.

At the far end of the long hallway, the imps spotted their former kin and surged forward. “Food?” one queried as they began to stampede.

“Food!” another confirmed. Perpetually hungry, they raced bare handed to rend then eat M’narl’s people. They were a relatively small group of around thirty imps in total. If there had been more, I wouldn’t have attempted what I was about to do.

At a full sprint, I leaped over the cowering brown aliens, landed clear of them then propelled myself down the hallway. Dropping to my knees, I slid to a stop halfway between the two similar yet very different groups.

Faltering at the sight of a being that shared their blazing red eyes, the imps slowed and approached me cautiously. One of the larger and bolder clones trotted over to stand only a yard away from me. “Food?” it queried as it stared into my eyes.

“Not food,” I replied, not that it could understand me.

Its curiosity gave way to blankness as it fell beneath my spell. “Master?” it asked and whispers spread throughout the group.

“Not master, food!” another clone declared and strutted forward. I picked it up before it could try to bite me and made it mine before putting it down again. “Master,” it said in a wooden tone. Confused, the rest of the group became mine one by one until I had a whole herd of tiny grey slaves at my beck and call.

Almost afraid to see the reactions of my friends and allies, I stood and turned. I hadn’t heard my kin approaching and was slightly surprised to find them all standing just a few feet away.

“Well, this is an interesting development,” Cristov said. He’d volunteered to fall beneath my spell after I’d confessed that I seemed to be capable of hypnotising vampires as well as humans a while back. It must have been disturbing to see the blank stares of the imps and know that he’d been reduced to being my puppet for a short while.

Gregor’s chin came to rest on his fist as M’narl and his people joined us. The robot had been abandoned as we’d fled and the elder sent some of his people to retrieve it. When Gregor began to smile, I knew he’d concocted another plan. He waited for the small party of Kveet to return with their translator before he directed a question at me. “Where is the next closest group of our adversaries located?”

Ishida held up his monitor and brought up the map. Being on one screen instead of many, it was so tiny that it was almost useless. Checking where the Viltarans had fled to took only seconds and I pointed to a spot on the monitor. “They’re moving fast towards the east so it will be hard to catch up to them.”

Igor was no slouch at planning himself and smiled grimly. “Then why don’t we try to get ahead of them instead?”

“But they hacked the elevators and have blocked our access,” Ishida said.

The Kveet technician stepped forward. “I should be able to circumvent their block and get the elevators moving again.”

“We will have to time our arrival well,” Luc mused. “The Viltarans might be able to monitor the movement of the elevators and anticipate our arrival.”

“I very much doubt they will be able to anticipate what I have planned,” Gregor replied.

Our small group of survivors had been through a lot lately. We’d been booted from Earth, had travelled an unknown distance through space then had been hijacked by a Viltaran spaceship and brought to their ruined planet. Despite the alien environment and entities we’d faced, Gregor had managed to keep his cool and to come up with a plan every time we’d needed one. Is there anything that can faze this guy? I hoped not, because if we ever faced it, it would be far beyond my capabilities to figure out.

.~.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Zooming along at a reckless pace, I steadied myself with one hand against the wall of the elevator. My companions jostled for room but there was none to be found. We were a silent group as we hurtled towards our destination. The plan Gregor had come up with had been a stroke of genius. His guess that the Viltarans might be expecting us was correct and I felt a small group of them a short distance away as the elevator came to an abrupt stop.

When the doors whooshed open, my companions blinked stupidly at the twenty or so silver droids that filled the hallway. Scrunched into a corner of the elevator, the droids didn’t see me take a quick peek at them.

“Why aren’t you firing?” a Viltaran asked when none of the robots blasted the interior of the elevator.

“It’s just a group of Kveet slaves, master,” one of the killbots said.

His pronouncement was met with confused murmurs. “Move aside,” the same Viltaran commanded and the droids made a path for him.

Timing was crucial so I waited for all ten of my ancestors to move in closer before issuing an order to my ravenous servants. “Kill.” At my soft word, spoken in the native Viltaran language, they surged forward with shrill, bloodthirsty cries.

Astounded that their slaves had turned against them, the Viltarans were slow to react. Their leader was overwhelmed and tiny, sharp teeth began stripping his flesh from his bones. I slipped out of the elevator and remained unnoticed in the furious battle between masters and slaves.

As soon as I stepped out of the elevator, the doors swished shut and the empty carriage departed. I heard the next one approaching seconds later and readied my weapon. Two of the Viltarans were dead and their yellow blood coated the floor and walls. The remaining eight had regained their wits and were firing at the clones. None had issued an order for the robots to help out so the metal men merely watched from the sidelines.

A slight hum announced the arrival of the next elevator carriage. The instant the doors opened, violet bursts of light spilled out. I used my death ray to target the closest silver droid and blew it into microscopic particles.

Apart from the blood and two Viltaran corpses, there was very little mess when the short, vicious fight was over. The death rays didn’t leave much behind to clean up, not that I was inclined to mop up the halls.

“Ugh!” Geordie said as he exited the elevator to take a closer look at the bodies. The Viltaran leader’s face had been eaten off and his empty eye sockets glared up at the ceiling. Most of his flesh was gone and he’d been reduced to a bloody skeleton.

Luc stepped up beside the teen and studied the carnage with his usual serenity in place. “The Kveet clones remind me somewhat of piranhas.”

“They can strip a cow down to the bone pretty quickly,” I agreed. All thirty or so of my temporary slaves had been destroyed and I was kind of glad about that. They had come in useful but I didn’t want a bunch of starving monsters following me around. The instant their hypnotism wore off they’d turn on us and try to eat us all.

“We should head back to the others,” Ishida urged from inside the elevator.

Taking Luc and Geordie by the hand, we all turned back towards our ride. A short while later, we were back with the rest of our party again.

Gregor did a quick headcount and determined that none of the vampires or Kveet who had been crammed inside the elevator had been lost. His relief was profound but brief. “I fear another mob of clones has been freed from their confinement,” he said quietly as we exited from the metal confines.

“We heard what sounded like a thousand birds twittering somewhere in the distance,” Cristov said nervously. As always, he was by Aventius’ side. The ex-Councillor had barely spoken since we’d landed on Viltar. I met his ancient, weary gaze and saw a flicker of doom in the black depths before he turned away. My closest friends and I hadn’t given up but he apparently had. Maybe he figured living for five thousand years was long enough. Maybe he couldn’t stand the thought of eking out an existence so far from our home. Whatever his reasons were, I had a feeling he would be of little help to us as we fought our foes.

“We’d better leave before they find us,” I suggested.

No one argued and we headed away from where I sensed a far larger group of imps massing. I’d managed to bamboozle a small group of clones but I doubted I’d be able to capture hundreds of them. One bite of my flesh would tell them that I was inedible, as well as killing them, but the rest wouldn’t just walk away and leave me or our group unharmed. Their need to kill was almost as strong as their need to feed. While vampires turned to sludge after death, that didn’t mean their flesh couldn’t be stripped from their bones first. I shuddered at the mental picture of my friends becoming fleshless skeletons surrounded by pools of black blood before finally disintegrating.

We trotted through the hallways, heading southward away from the Viltarans and the large group of clones that were presumably hunting for us. I’d found them easily when sending out my senses and didn’t have the heart to tell everyone that there was another pack of the little monsters approaching from the east.

While the Viltarans learned more about us each time we clashed, they still didn’t know all of my tricks yet. They had no way to know that I could sense them and anticipate where they were heading. If our luck held, we could play cat and mouse with them until we whittled down their numbers and gained complete victory.

As if reading my mind, Gregor sped up until he walked at my side. “How many Viltarans are left now?”

“Fifty-five.” I’d counted them several times, just to be sure.

“We have been lucky not to lose more of our kin.”

“You can say that again.”

“We cannot count on our good fortune holding out for much longer.” Gregor’s expression was almost glum, as if he was anticipating our eventual failure.

“Not even someone as brilliant as you can anticipate every eventuality,” I told him. “Who knows how the Viltarans will retaliate against us next time?”

It had appeared to us that the Viltarans had agreed to work together to kill us when we’d watched their meeting on one of the monitors. Two of the smaller groups had managed to trust each other enough to band together. My worst fear was that the remaining fifty-five would do the same and bring hundreds of murderbots to eradicate us. If I’d had this thought, then everyone else probably had as well. Maybe that was why no one complained about the fast pace I’d set.

Dawn was approaching when I figured we’d put enough distance between us and the ravenous clones. A small part of my consciousness was on full alert, sweeping the area in a wide circle to make sure nothing was creeping up on us. Nothing alive anyway.

Once more, we retired to the sleeping quarters. Most of my kin paired up and disappeared inside their chosen bedrooms. Geordie’s eyes went wide in surprise when the Japanese warrior he’d shared his flesh hunger with crooked her finger at him. With barely a backward glance at his mentor, he disappeared down the hallway and into one of the rooms with her.

“I will keep watch,” Igor told me as Gregor and Kokoro also paired up. The former seer gave her new love a coy smile that meant he was about to get lucky.

Knowing my squeamishness at both being listened to when I engaged in sexual antics as well as listening to others, Luc offered me his arm. Geordie’s high pitched giggle floated out into the hallway and I quickly dragged my beloved away. I just didn’t think I’d be able to look the kid in the face again if I had to hear him getting horizontal with the Japanese warrior.

Since we were alone and there were no Viltarans or imps in the area, Luc and I ducked into a vacant room. His eyes were already glowing before we stripped off our borrowed clothing. Instead of jumping on me and bearing me to the floor to have his wicked way with me, Luc took my hands. “In all of the seven hundred years of my existence, I have never known love before I met you.”

“I bet you never thought you’d end up falling for me when we first met,” I joked.

Smiling at the memory, he inclined his head in agreement. “From the first moment you burst into the mausoleum full of drug tainted human blood, I knew my life would never be the same.”

“There’s never been a vampire like me before, huh?” Since I was the one and only Mortis, figure of dread and legend, it was a fairly stupid question.

“There never has and never will be anyone like you again,” he said sincerely.

I eyed him narrowly, wondering if he was making fun of me. “Why did you feed my flesh hunger that night?” I asked him abruptly. “You’d abstained from having sex for three hundred years. You didn’t have to sacrifice yourself, I could have used a human or two to sate myself.”

Luc’s eyes dropped from my face, travelled slowly down to my feet then back up again. “You underrate your appeal.”

I’d been fairly ordinary as a human, so much so that I’d practically been invisible, at least to the opposite sex. I was still baffled that Luc had been attracted enough to me that he’d thrown aside his vow to abstain from getting naked with another person.

“Perhaps we were fated to be together,” he said then drew me in and touched his mouth to mine.

As besotted as a bamboozled human, I fell beneath his spell and wrapped my arms around his neck. He lifted me and my legs went around his waist then my back was being pressed up against the metal wall.

My moan echoed around the room as Luc joined our bodies together. Instead of pounding out his need, he moved slowly, taking his time and ignoring my frustration. The slow sliding of flesh against flesh maddened me until my eyes blazed and my hands dug into his shoulders. His cold mouth closed around my breast and my legs tightened around his waist. There were no distressing sounds of bones breaking so I gave myself over to the moment.

Sensing my complete surrender, Luc took us to the ground. Our eyes met and he quickened his pace. My hand slid around the back of his neck and he lowered his mouth to mine. He muffled my moan with a deep kiss as he suddenly gave me what I craved and drove himself into me hard and fast. I went over the edge into ecstasy first and he joined me not long after.

If we’d been human, we would have been panting with exhaustion. Being undead, we merely lay side by side with our hands clasped and our fingers intertwined. Normally I’d have been shivering lying naked on the floor. The Viltaran blood had either raised our internal temperatures or we had become impervious to the cold.

I might not feel cold but I did feel exposed so reached for my clothes. As we dressed, I mulled over Luc’s words. I didn’t like the idea that fate had deliberately thrown us together. My bafflement that someone as worldly and sophisticated as Lord Lucentio had chosen a nobody like me to break his sexual fast with continued. Maybe he didn’t choose to have sex with you, my inner voice said insidiously. Maybe he didn’t have any choice about it at all.

Luc offered me his arm again and I took it with a strained smile. My arrival had been foretold by at least two prophets thousands of years before my human birth. Fate had been planning for Mortis for a long time. Maybe it had arranged for Luc to be the one to find me. He had guided me nearly every step of the way and look where we had ended up; stranded on an alien planet with no way to return home. Not that I blamed him. Rather, I blamed the force that had thrown us together.

Frowning, deep in thought, I took my musings a step further. Maybe fate forced Luc to love me, knowing I would love him in return and that I would follow him anywhere. A chill raced down my spine at the thought that Luc was a shiny lure and I had taken the bait. If my idea was correct then his free will had been stripped away and he wasn’t in control of his own emotions.

Let’s face it, my inner voice said in a tone that was full of pity, there is no way a hot guy like Luc would ever fall for someone like you. While I was beautiful now, I certainly hadn’t been the night Luc and I had met. I had always harboured doubts about his feelings for me and my subconscious had just summed it up nicely. If given the choice, I sincerely doubted my beloved would have looked at me twice the night he’d stumbled across me.

.~.

Chapter Thirty-Three

With little else to do, we returned to our room and climbed up on the metal bed. Luc closed his eyes and lay still beside me. He didn’t succumb to a deathlike slumber but appeared to have fallen asleep like a normal human. It was a relief to see we could still sleep after ingesting so much Viltaran blood so I tried it myself. Even a short escape from the thoughts that were currently running around inside my head would be welcome.

Walking down a deserted street in a strange yet familiar city, I saw destruction everywhere. Store windows were smashed and the contents had been looted. Cars had been abandoned in the streets or had crashed into buildings or other vehicles. The vast majority of cars were yellow with signs indicating they were New York City cabs. There were no bodies this time, just splashes of blood to indicate where the dead had fallen.

Voices speaking a familiar alien language drew me down the street to an intersection. Peeking around the corner of a building, I tilted my head back to take in the row of skyscrapers. Windows had been shattered and glass littered the street below. The buildings were empty of life but I sensed a large number of familiar beings approaching.

The scorched remains of a helicopter lay on its side halfway down the street. Its colouring suggested it had been an army chopper. The smell of old blood drifted to me on a breeze, coming not just from the downed vehicle but seemingly from all around.

I drew back slightly as the sound of heavy footsteps neared. I’d been expecting it but was still disturbed to see ranks of silver droids round the corner ahead. Each carried a strange weapon I’d never seen before. Perfectly square and about twelve inches wide, they looked a little bit like rocket launchers. Dozens of small holes held projectiles that I couldn’t quite make out from this far away.

As the droids stepped out onto the street, they were followed by clones. First hundreds then thousands of humans who had been transformed into grey skinned imps filled the street.

The city might have been overrun but the humans hadn’t given up. The sound of several choppers came from different directions. Unconcerned, the metal men stood out in the open and waited. When the first helicopter came into sight, a burst of dazzling violet light shot from mid-air and washed over the chopper. Instead of disintegrating the metal, the blast had disabled the engine. The pilot and passengers screamed as their aircraft fell. The screams cut off as the chopper smashed to the ground and exploded in a searing ball of fire.

Sickened by the destruction, I didn’t want to see the other helicopters suffer the same fate and forced myself to wake up.

Luc was still asleep so I quietly slid to the ground and made my way to the monitor room. During the short journey, I wondered why I had dreamed about New York, or more precisely, Manhattan, being attacked. I’d never been there and didn’t know anyone who lived there. The Viltarans had no way of being able to find Earth so I failed to see why I had now twice dreamed that it had been attacked. I put the dream down to stress and general worry then put it aside.

Gregor was already up and was studying the monitors when I entered the room. He gave me a distracted smile then frowned when all I could manage was a weak facsimile in return. “What is wrong?”

His concern was genuine and almost brought a lump to my throat. How do you know his emotions are genuine? My inner voice muttered the question darkly. Maybe fate is forcing all of them to care about you. I would be the first to admit there were far more intelligent, interesting, witty and likeable people than me. It suddenly struck me as being highly unlikely that Gregor, Igor or even Geordie would have ever become my friends if I hadn’t been Mortis.

“I have a theory,” I said to Gregor when he continued to stare at me in concern.

Turning his back on the monitors, he gave me his full attention. “I would be honoured if you would share your theory with me.”

He didn’t seem to be laughing at me so I hit him with it. “How much control do you think fate has over us?”

“For an ordinary individual, I would say it has a moderate influence over our lives.”

“What about someone like me?”

Hesitating, he saw I wasn’t going to be put off with platitudes and that only the truth would suffice. “For someone as extraordinary as you, I am afraid fate had a very detailed plan. The prophecies that were written about you indicate that you are restricted from making your own decisions. You may feel like you are choosing a certain path but it is more likely fate has already made the choice for you.”

“Would that also extend to my friends?”

Hesitating again, he gave me a single nod. “It is more than likely that fate has guided us all, as it has guided you.”

I wanted to sink to the floor, cover my face with my hands and tearlessly bawl at the confirmation of my worst fear. Luc didn’t really love me. None of them did. It was all just a lie and they had been forced to care about me.

Reading something of my revelation in my expression, Gregor grew alarmed. Before he could question me further, distant voices alerted us that our kin and allies were on their way. “I think we should speak about this further, when we have the time,” he said.

“I’ll pencil it into my diary.” He gave a distracted smile at my pitiful attempt at a joke.

Luc was the first through the door. A faint worry line on his forehead smoothed out when he saw me. “There you are. I was concerned when I woke and found myself alone.”

His concern and love looked genuine, which broke my heart even more now that I knew it was just a sham. “I had a bad dream and decided to get up,” I told him.

“What was your dream about, chérie?” Geordie asked me. The teen had adored me almost from the moment I’d woken up with my face in his lap in the back of Igor’s black car. It was almost as painful knowing Geordie had been forced to love me in his own way as it was to realize Luc’s feelings were false.

His grin began to falter when I took too long to respond to his question. “Something about back home on Earth. I can’t really remember,” I said.

Dragging the robot interpreter forward on his trolley, the Kveet were ready to talk strategy. “What is our plan for tonight?” M’narl asked.

Gregor had been mulling over his plan and had an answer ready. “I am reluctant to repeat our tactics from yesterday. The Viltarans must be aware of our tricks by now.” If their robots were linked then the ones who had been ambushed would have relayed the information to their masters.

“What do you suggest we try this time?” Igor asked.

“I think we should travel overland for a time to avoid running into any roving imps or droids.”

None of us particularly wanted to brave the dust storms but they didn’t become unbearable for another couple of hours yet. “Good plan. Let’s go,” I said, making the decision for everyone. I was their leader after all so I might as well use the privilege that came with rank. Knowing the hallways well by now, I led the way to the closest stairs that would take us up to the surface.

My mood was too gloomy for me to be amused by the sight of the Kveet struggling to climb the stairs that were as high as they were tall. They might be small but they were nimble and it only took a few minutes for them to clamber out into the open. With their colouring and matching clothes, they almost blended into the ground. They scurried along quickly, matching our normal walking pace. One of Aventius’ people took over the task of dragging the robot on his trolley since he’d had to carry it up the stairs anyway. Some of the elders hitched a ride on the trolley, perching beside or on the droid. M’narl was far too dignified to show any signs of weakness and hobbled along at my side. I would have offered to carry him if I thought he would have accepted the aid.

“I have a feeling that you can understand what I am saying,” he said abruptly. “Am I correct?” We’d pulled ahead of the others and a small distance had opened up between us.

“Yes,” I replied and nodded because he wouldn’t be able to understand what I was saying.

“There is something I believe you need to know.” He glanced up at me to make sure I was paying attention. “The Viltaran’s robots are programmed to be devious with everyone but their masters.” At my raised eyebrow, he elaborated. “They lie as often as possible. Whatever the droid you first encountered told you, it was most likely telling you the untruth.” I hiked my thumb over my shoulder and raised both of my eyebrows this time. He accurately guessed my unspoken question. “Our captive droid has been stripped of its original programming and was reprogrammed to our specifications. It can no more lie to us than the Viltarans can breathe their own poisoned air.”

“Thanks for the information,” I said to my miniscule ally and bowed. Showing a flash of amusement, he bowed in return.

Sensing M’narl was flagging, I slowed down to give him a rest and the others quickly caught up.

As the Kveet dropped back to mingle with his people, Luc and Geordie flanked me. “What did you two talk about, Nat?” the teen asked.

“We were exchanging recipes for chocolate cake,” I said snidely and immediately regretted it when he gave me a wounded look. “Sorry.” He nodded but his bottom lip trembled slightly. “I’m in a bit of a foul mood and I guess I’m not going to be much fun to be around until I snap out of it.”

“Let me know when you do snap out of it,” Geordie said and dropped back to walk beside his mentor.

“Are you going to try to chase me away as well?” Luc said after the silence stretched out for a couple of minutes.

“Would it work?” I asked curiously.

“No.”

Dirt swirled in the first sign that the winds were about to pick up. The sickly yellow sky, thick with clouds, boiled far above. Soon we would be fighting against the full brunt of another dust storm.

“Are you going to tell me what is wrong?” my companion asked when our silence became unbearable. “Have I done something to anger you?”

Turning to study his perfect profile, a stab of sorrow lanced through my chest. “You haven’t done anything wrong. This isn’t about you.”

He glanced at me then away and squinted as a spattering of dirt hit us both. “Please do not give me the ‘it is not you, it is me’ speech.”

I squelched my snigger when the look he shot me wasn’t at all amused. “I should have said this isn’t about us.”

“Then what is it about? Why are you pulling away from the people who care about you?” His serenity was momentarily replaced by frustration.

“That’s just it,” I told him. He looked baffled and even to me it sounded cryptic. “I don’t think any of you really do care about me.”

Raising a hand to block the wind as it began to howl around us, Luc pulled me to a stop. “What are you saying?”

Gregor answered for me as he reached us. “Natalie has developed a theory and I believe I now understand it fully.”

Sullen and pouting, Geordie stayed back as my closest friends gathered around. Everyone else continued on, giving us some privacy to have this painful conversation.

“Please enlighten us about this hypothesis,” Ishida said.

I couldn’t bear to face them and turned my head to study the skyline as Gregor shared my idea with them. “Natalie has been ruled by fate from the moment Silvius stole her life and possibly even before then. Her choices have been made for her and she has been little more than a puppet.”

“That is a hard thing to bear,” Kokoro said quietly, “but I do not understand why this should impact on her friendships with us.” It must have been frustrating not to be able to pry into my mind any longer. She now had to rely on what people said rather than on what they thought.

“Natalie, would you explain your idea to us?” Gregor asked.

If I tell them what I’m thinking, I could lose them all. My thought was full of despair and I teetered on the edge of crushing loneliness. If you don’t tell them then you are as bad as fate itself, my inner voice argued. They should be able to make their own choices and not be controlled by you or anyone else.

Steeling myself, I turned to face the people I’d believed I’d come to love. “Fate didn’t just strip me of my choices, it stripped you of yours as well.”

Confused, Geordie pulled his bottom lip in long enough to query me. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m saying that none of you had a choice about being my friend and caring about me. Fate made the decision for you. Any feelings you have for me were forced on you. They’re false.”

For a few moments there was silence, apart from the now howling wind. “If this is the case,” Luc said at last, “does this also mean that your feelings for us are false?”

That was the question I had avoided asking myself but I had to face it now. “I don’t know.” Shocked by my answer, no one tried to stop me as I turned and continued my trek.

Not unexpectedly, I trudged through the storm alone. My friends kept their distance as they discussed the bombshell I’d just dropped on them. I didn’t turn to see their expressions, one; because the dust all but obscured them and two; I didn’t want to see their anger at being duped by the fate that had forced us all together. They would need to focus their annoyance on someone and that someone would undoubtedly be me.

Keeping track of the Kveet and the rest of our allies ahead, I didn’t realize Geordie was beside me until his hand slipped into mine. He gave me a look of profound sorrow. “I do not care if it was fate, our creator or even the Devil who threw us together. I do not care if my feelings for you are false. They feel real to me. I do not care if what you feel for us is false. I love you, Natalie Pierce and nothing will ever change that.” His lips quivered, which made mine tremble then he broke into dry sobs. I hugged him tightly, grateful to have at least one friend willing to love me despite being forced into it.

Another set of arms went around me, then another and another until I was surrounded by the family I’d never wanted but now couldn’t live without. When they pulled back at last, it took me a few moments to collect myself. “I guess this means we’re stuck with each other.”

“For better or worse,” Geordie joked but his eyes were shadowed.

It was only when I turned to apologize to Luc that I realized he wasn’t there. I caught a glimpse of his tall, dark form striding away and realized he wasn’t going to be as forgiving as the others.

.~.

Chapter Thirty-Four

High pitched screams from ahead had me breaking away from the group hug and moving into a sprint. Diffused by the dust storm, violet light fired from death rays intermittently lit up a scene from a nightmare. During my short mental crisis, a small army of murderbots had snuck up on our allies and were now attacking them. Three of my kin were hit and became dust motes swirling in the wind. M’narl’s people, long used to being targeted, reacted quickly and began firing at the droids.

By the time I was within firing range, most of the droids had been destroyed. Luc gave me a glance that was almost cold as he calmly sidestepped a ray of violet light and cut down the offending robot. My heart shrivelled at the evidence that my theory was correct. Now that Luc was aware he had been manipulated into loving me, the spell had been broken and he was free of his bondage at last.

The Kveet had suffered the brunt of the attack and their numbers had been whittled down by almost a third. There were still a couple of hundred of them left but I wondered how many more they would allow to die before they gave up and retreated back to their caves.

M’narl’s face was scrunched up in sorrow when I dropped to my knee beside him. I couldn’t fit my entire hand on his narrow shoulder so gently rested a couple of fingers there instead. Mastering his grief, he moved aside and gathered his shaken troops. “We have suffered a great loss,” he shouted over the wind. “I would not blame any of you if you wished to admit defeat and return to your homes.” From the shuffling feet and shamed glances, many of the aliens were contemplating doing just that. “I will not force anyone to stay who does not want to continue the fight.”

One of the younger warriors stepped forward. He glared at his frightened comrades and shook his tiny fist. “For many thousands of years we have lived beneath the Viltaran’s oppression. Thanks to the vampires, there are only a small number of them left. To stop now would be foolish. We Kveet are many things but I do not believe that we are foolish!” If they’d been human, his speech would have inspired cheers and clapping. The Kveet were far more subdued and instead silently weighed their options.

“If I must die so that our families can live free, then so be it,” a petite female finally declared. Without waiting for anyone to agree with her, she put her head down against the wind and trudged onwards. Shamed into following her example, the rest of the Kveet fell in behind her.

The captive robot didn’t bother to translate for us since their short meeting had been private. I gave my kin a quick relay of what had just transpired and we also continued on through the storm.

I didn’t bother to pull Luc aside and speak to him since he was doing his best to avoid me. He had made his decision and I wasn’t going to humiliate myself by trying to force him to talk to me. Despite what I’d told them all, my feelings felt very real. I’d never been in love before and had nothing to compare it to but the feelings I had for Luc were unlike anything I’d experienced before. The pain I felt now that I had lost him was almost crippling and I didn’t think it was going to go away any time soon.

When our allies began to flag, Gregor fought his way through the storm to me. “Do you sense any Viltarans or imps nearby?”

With the wind blowing dust hard enough to strip my skin off, I was reluctant to open my mouth so just shook my head instead.

“I think it is high time we sought shelter again,” the once suave and now bedraggled vampire said. He hurried forward to inform our allies of the new plan. He’d discarded Robert’s arm at some stage since Ishida and the Kveet technician had worked out how to use their portable screens to open and close the subterranean doors. The pair spread out and started searching. At the Kveet’s shout, we hurried towards him and the shelter he’d found.

A sudden sense that danger waited below had me darting in front of the little brown aliens before they could start scrambling down the deep stairs. “You’d better let me check it out first,” I said then descended the steps alone.

The usual hush surrounded me when I reached the bottom of the staircase. As always, a long, dark hallway stretched out into the distance. There were no obvious signs of danger yet my instincts were telling me to flee. Following a hunch, I approached one of the all but invisible doors leading to a room that should have been empty. The door swished aside and I was confronted with dozens of pairs of glowing red droid eyes. With an electronic snarl, weapons were raised and I leaped aside as a wash of violet light bathed the hallway where I’d been standing.

Panicked screams came from the top of the stairs as the Kveet realized they had almost walked into an ambush. They fled into the dust storm and my kin followed them. The killbots weren’t far behind me when I darted back up the stairs. I kept my pace deliberately slower than usual so they could keep me in sight. I led them in the opposite direction to where my friends and allies were heading before putting on a burst of speed and doubling back.

The winds obscured my vision almost completely and I had to rely on my senses to zero in on the fleeing band of Kveet and vampires. Geordie stumbled a step when I suddenly appeared beside him. I grabbed his arm to right him and he gave me a worried smile. “Do you know where we’re going?” I asked him while shielding my face so I could speak without getting a mouthful of dust.

“M’narl has a plan,” the teen replied. “But he does not seem to be very confident about it.”

Increasing my pace, I caught up to Gregor and M’narl. “Where are we heading?” I asked Gregor. Even beneath a layer of dust and grime, he retained his dignity. I was pretty sure I looked like something the cat had dragged in, eaten then coughed up again.

“Into one of the devastated cities,” he replied. His expression didn’t fill me with reassurance since he looked even more worried than Geordie.

“Why don’t you look very happy about that?”

Gregor glanced down at the Kveet elder before replying. “Only dire need drives M’narl and his people into the cities now. The ruins have become unsafe over the millennia, which is why they now live in caverns beneath the surface.”

“What makes the cities unsafe? Is the air too toxic even for them to survive?”

Gregor shook his head. “M’narl believes creatures have taken up residence within the cities that prey on his kind. No one has survived to identify what these creatures are.”

Without needing to be asked, I scanned the approaching city with my senses. They came up blank. “I don’t sense anything alive in there,” I told him. “Maybe it’s more droids.”

Again, Gregor’s head moved from side to side in the negative. “That is doubtful. Apparently, the droids avoid the ruins as well. They also do not return if they enter.”

I was starting to be creeped out by the ruins that I could only just make out through the storm. Whatever it was that lurked inside sounded like it was even more dangerous than the droids. Speaking of which, a glance backward revealed dozens of pairs of glowing eyes approaching. Robert had been telling the truth for once when he’d said that they could only be out in the storm for three hours or so before the corrosive dust started making their joints freeze up. The droids would have to turn back soon or else follow us into the city. Somehow, I didn’t think their Viltaran masters would allow them to return empty handed.

The dry, cracked ground suddenly gave way to the Viltaran version of pavement and roads as we entered the city. Coated in dirt from the storms, it was hard to tell what colour they had originally been. The wind didn’t die down altogether once we entered the ruins but the buildings that were still standing shielded us from the worst of the barrage. Rubble from collapsed structures choked the wide streets. A crumpled pile of metal roughly the same size as a large van was half squashed beneath a fallen wall. It didn’t have wheels but it might have been the Viltaran version of an automobile. More of the vehicles were scattered up and down the street and were in various states of decay.

Hurrying as fast as they could on their stumpy legs, the Kveet scrambled over the obstacles that lay in their path. I wished I could take the time to explore some of the buildings but couldn’t since we were fleeing for our lives. We were the first Earthlings to visit another planet that contained intelligent beings and we hadn’t had much of a chance to study it so far. Learning that there was something else out there that was potentially even more dangerous than the Viltarans and their droid armies effectively killed any urge I had to search for a souvenir.

Several streets behind us, the murderbots entered the city. The flying dirt had caused enough damage that they no longer ran smoothly or silently. Creaking and groaning, their joints gave away their positions as they spread out to search for us.

Exhausted, filthy and on the verge of collapse, M’narl eventually called a halt to our forced march. As the oldest Kveet in his group, he was holding up better than some who were probably less than half his age. Heaving for air, he waved us towards a huge archway that was miraculously still intact.

Tilting my head back, I took in a gigantic sand coloured wall that curved out of sight in both directions. Ishida paused beside me to examine the structure. “It reminds me of a sports arena,” he said.

Geordie came to a stop on my other side. “What kind of sports could a race as warlike and horrible as the Viltarans possibly be interested in?”

Igor answered that question. “Blood sport.” With a glance backward at the empty streets, he urged us to enter the archway. We’d left the droids far behind but they would catch up to us eventually. I hoped M’narl’s people would recover quickly. I had a feeling that the unknown threat that stalked the ruins would find us before too much longer.

.~.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Stepping beneath the archway, we entered a long, wide tunnel that opened up into a vast, circular space. Most of the ceiling was still intact but dust swirled through a large hole over to the left. The arena was even vaster than I’d expected and I couldn’t see the far side. We had entered at ground level to find we were actually at the top of a series of staircases that led down to what must be the killing ground far below.

Both teens huddled at my side, although Ishida was being more discreet about it. Geordie was shivering slightly. My eyesight was excellent but even I couldn’t see all the way to the bottom of the stairs. Morbid curiosity drove me to begin the descent. “I’m going to take a quick look around down there and make sure it’s safe,” I told the two teenagers.

“Hurry back,” Geordie urged me anxiously.

“We should move away from the entrance,” Gregor was saying to M’narl as I headed downwards. The droid dutifully translated but kept his eyes on me. I felt them boring into my back as I disappeared into the gloom.

My death ray was in my hand and I wasn’t sure when I’d reached for it. My senses were at high alert as I scanned the entire structure with my senses. Apart from the Kveet and my kin, I was coming up empty. Still, the hairs on the back of my neck started to rise as I continued moving downwards.

Rows of plain metal seats, far too large for the average human, sat in concentric rings around the arena. I lost count of how many levels I descended before finally reaching the bottom. When I did, a large, high metal gate attempted to bar my way. It hung slightly askew and I pushed it open just wide enough for me to squeeze through. A final set of steps took me to the bottom of the arena.

Dirt that had filtered through the hole in the ceiling coated the ground and the debris that had fallen from above. There were no bodies, skeletons or remains of any kind in sight yet Igor’s guess had to be correct. Whatever games had been played in this stadium had most likely been to the death.

Picking a direction at random, I jogged until I came to the wall. It reached far above my head where a safety fence would presumably keep the spectators safe from the combatants.

Following the wall, I came to a ramp leading down into darkness. I knew the others would be waiting for me to return but again curiosity held me in its grip. My eyes quickly adjusted to the complete lack of light as I reached another gate. The lock was broken and the heavy metal door swung open when I gave it a shove. I winced at the screeching sound that accompanied it.

Another long, wide tunnel stretched out beneath the ground. Cells lined each side. Most of the doors were open and the rooms behind them were empty. Some doors were closed but I sensed and heard nothing dangerous on the other side of the thick metal obstructions. There were no windows for me to peek through so I left the cells alone.

I was beginning to think that my intuition that danger lurked below had been wrong when I heard a skittering sound ahead. Freezing for a few seconds, I was tempted to run but I still retained enough human inquisitiveness that I couldn’t resist the urge to see what was down here in the bowels of the arena. Whatever it was, it wasn’t showing up on my internal radar and I wanted to know why.

Sneaking over to an intersection, I cocked my head to the side to listen. The faint skittering noise came again, somewhere to the right if I wasn’t mistaken. Moving soundlessly down the passage, I spied movement. Whatever it was, it was low to the ground and moved very fast. It disappeared into one of the cells halfway down the tunnel.

Gripping my death ray tightly, I crept down the hallway. When I reached the cell, I slowly and carefully leaned sideways to look through the door. The carcass of a silver droid lay in the centre of the small room. Covered in clods of dark brown dirt, I saw only flashes of its body as the dirt seemed to move constantly. The skittering noise came again but from right beside me this time.

Looking down, I saw something scuttling towards me that made me utter a sound of profound disgust. It was around the size of a small dog but I was pretty sure it was actually an insect. Its legs and body were the same brown colour as the dirt and multiple purple eyes were clustered on a head the size of my fist. Mandibles dripped clear fluid that was probably toxic, going by the putrid smell. Its dozen legs moved with unnerving speed as it closed the distance between us. Long and roughly oval in shape, it looked far too much like a cockroach for my liking. I’d never been a fan of them as a human and even now that I was a monster, seeing one this big gave me the heebie-jeebies.

Taking an involuntary step left, I put myself in full view of the cell. Heads popped up and purple eyes latched onto me. It wasn’t shifting dirt that covered the droid but half a dozen mutant roaches. Leaving the metal carcass, they focussed on a meal that they thought might be tastier; me.

The quick glance I had of the dead droid was enough to tell me I didn’t want to be bitten by any of the insects. His metal skin had been eaten away and his inner workings were on display. The fluid dripping from the insect’s mouths must have been acidic as well as toxic.

With a flurry of stubby wings, the roach to my right launched itself at me. I sidestepped, changed the setting of my death ray to destroy flesh and zapped it. I was relieved to see the bug disintegrate. It wouldn’t really have surprised me if it had been impervious to the blast. Scientists had predicted that roaches could survive a nuclear blast and these insects lent weight to that theory.

The other six joined it in cockroach heaven then the black ooze that clogged my veins tried to run cold at the skittering sounds that came from all around. I’d assumed that most of the cells to be empty but I’d been wrong. They were infested with metal and flesh eating bugs that were now aware that they weren’t alone.

Racing back the way I’d come, I shot beams of deadly violet rays at the roaches that tried to bar my way. One leaped at me and I booted it against the wall. Viscous guts splattered in a smear of brownish goo. Too many of the insects had bunched together in front of the exit for me to zap so I picked up speed and jumped over them. Landing safely on the other side, I pulled the gate shut but had a feeling it wouldn’t hold the bugs for long. They would just use their acid spit to melt their way to freedom.

It occurred to me that there was probably more than one entrance from the cells to the arena when I began crossing the killing floor. Fluttering wings and skittering legs came from several directions. I had to get everyone out and hope the Kveet could move faster than the bugs or they would shortly end up as roach treats.

I was about two thirds of the way back up the stairs when I heard the panicked rush of feet coming towards me. Spreading my hands out, I stopped the Kveet before they could rush past me. Without the translator bot they couldn’t understand my words but my expression was enough to deter them from rushing headlong to their deaths. Pointing silently, I urged them to start circling around the arena rather than continuing downwards. I mentally crossed my fingers that there would be another exit on the other side of the stadium.

Igor was the first of my friends to reach me. He carried the dismembered translator droid over one shoulder. “I take it you encountered the unknown danger below?” he asked me sardonically.

I grimaced and gave him a short nod. “Giant roaches. I’ll tell you all about it later.” I wasn’t about to admit that my nosiness had just put us all in danger. “I guess the droids found us?”

Nodding sourly, he indicated for his apprentice to keep moving when Geordie bounded into view. The teen sent an anxious glance at me before sprinting along the row of seats. “We heard them wheezing and clanking in our direction,” Igor explained. “They will be here at any moment.”

“See if you can find another way out of here. We’re about to be caught between two enemy forces.” Not waiting for the Russian to acknowledge my command, I started making my way upwards. The Kveet veered off the main staircase and started racing around the ring of seats when I blocked their descent and pointed for them to flee.

Ishida, Kokoro and Gregor didn’t stop to ask me questions and simply headed where I indicated. Luc and M’narl began herding the last of our diminutive allies to safety when I reached them and gave them a quick explanation. The Kveet elder couldn’t understand me but followed my hand signals. Luc nodded without meeting my eyes but at least he had listened and hadn’t ignored me in a fit of pique.

To buy our group time to escape, I headed back down towards the arena floor. The roaches had just finished eating their way through the gate that I’d propped shut. Fluttering their wings, they gave chase as I turned to run.

Reaching the top of the steps, the droids began to descend. The corrosive dust had done enough damage to the robots that they no longer moved smoothly. Clanking jerkily, they made enough noise to cover the sounds of my friends and allies fleeing towards the far side of the stadium.

Leading the oversized bugs upwards, I dodged fire from death rays as the droids finally caught sight of me. The roaches realized a banquet had just presented itself and their antennae went up. Debating for a short moment, they abandoned their chase for me and flowed up the stairs towards the small army of killbots.

Electronic shrieks of alarm sounded as I quickly made my escape and sprinted around the circular row of seats. Blasts from the death rays lit up the main staircase behind me as the insects swarmed over the droids.

Another wide set of stairs took me back up to ground level. My friends and allies were clustered around a door that wouldn’t budge. It hadn’t been designed to be a main entrance and was probably where the staff and combatants had once entered. Igor and Luc were trying to force the door open but they weren’t having much luck.

“Let’s zap our way through,” Geordie suggested and pointed his death ray at the door. Although it was set to destroy metal, he waited for the pair to move before shooting. The bright light left a slight dent in the metal and that was enough encouragement to have all of us firing our weapons at the same spot. It took a few minutes to make an opening large enough for everyone to squeeze through.

Checking on the battle that was raging on the far side of the arena, I was disturbed to see the death rays were no longer lighting up the stairs. While I hoped most of the roaches had been destroyed, something told me enough had survived that they would still be a danger to our group.

I wasn’t alone as I guarded the rear. Geordie and Ishida were beside me when the first skittering noises came. We began firing even before we saw the giant mutant roaches appear. They didn’t have a brain that was capable of rational thought but they weren’t entirely stupid. Flinching away from the bars of light, they scattered into the rows to hide. The two teens and I continued to lay down fire until I sensed our allies had moved far enough away that we might actually be able to escape from the ruins without being eaten.

Zapping a final bug, I pointed to the hole in the door. “Let’s go before they rally and attack us again.” Neither teen needed to be told twice and bolted for the exit.

Following my remote senses, we caught up to the tail end of the Kveet force as they made their way towards the edge of the ruins. We had learned our lesson and now knew that it would be safer to brave the storm and try to avoid roaming droid armies than to risk entering any of the devastated cities again.

.~.

Chapter Thirty-Six

We hadn’t managed to cross all the way through the city when fleeing from the droids but had moved far enough away from the entry point that I hoped we wouldn’t be followed. We spent the next hour trotting as quickly as the Kveet could manage. I secretly wondered if all of the underground facilities were now being guarded. Dawn would be here before long and we needed to find somewhere safe to rest.

Ishida and the Kveet technician started pushing the buttons that operated the subterranean doors. Eventually, Ishida lucked out and waved to indicate he’d found what we hoped would be a safe haven this time. I felt no sense of doom when I checked the main hallway but made sure to search for enemies before calling everyone inside.

It was far too dark inside for the Kveet to be able to navigate their way easily. Their technician activated the lights and the hallways became bright. Dust sifted off us to coat the metal floor. It gritted in my eyeballs and was stuck between my teeth. I was pretty sure I’d taste it for the next year or so.

M’narl and most of his warriors had reached the edge of their endurance. We didn’t bother to traverse the distance to the sleeping quarters and instead bedded down in the empty rooms halfway down the hallway. Even after our frantic flight, I was wide awake as the sun made its appearance. So were my six closest friends but we all pretended to be as tired as everyone else and chose a spot to lie down. Geordie lay beside me but my other side felt cold and empty without Luc. Determined to distance himself from me, he had chosen to sleep in one of the other rooms.

When we roused after nightfall, I searched for the closest group of Viltarans and found them nearer than I’d expected. They had mostly been sticking to the northern end of the planet but now appeared to be moving in a southerly direction. The group I was concentrating on halted momentarily then moved towards us at a blinding speed that I could barely keep up with. When they stopped, they were only one underground area away from us.

Gregor could tell something was wrong from my expression. “Has something happened?”

Kokoro stopped trying to finger comb the dirt out of her hair to listen, as did everyone else who was futilely attempting to tidy themselves.

“A bunch of Viltarans just hopped out of an elevator nearby,” I said to the group.

“Are they heading towards us?”

I shook my head, still concentrating on our adversaries. “They’re not moving at all at the moment.”

“We should move in and attack them before they can get away,” one of the four remaining Japanese warriors said. Not including Cristov and Aventius, there were only two Europeans left. On one level I’d known just how few of my kin were left but I was somehow shocked anyway. We’d started out with twenty-nine and we were now down to fifteen. I’d deliberately not allowed myself to learn the names of my allies because I’d known most of them would die. A tiny part of me had hoped that I’d somehow be able to thwart destiny and save my people from extinction. That hope withered and died, just like the false love that Luc had once felt for me. A hollow emptiness began to form inside me.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Geordie murmured as we headed towards the Viltarans.

“You always have a bad feeling before we go into battle,” Igor pointed out.

“True. But this time I have a really bad feeling,” his apprentice said.

I also had a bad feeling but it was about my life in general rather than just the battle ahead. Luc had dropped back to the rear and I could almost feel his accusing gaze boring into my back. Was he regretting all the times we’d been naked together? Of course he is, my subconscious sneered. Remember how he reacted the first time he had to sleep with you? As if I’d ever forget it. Luc had covered his eyes with his arm when we were done that first time and his misery had been palpable. I was the last person he’d wanted to do the horizontal mambo with. The fact that he had changed his mind about not wanting to have sex with me so swiftly was proof that fate had stepped in and forced him into line.

Sensing my despair, Geordie glanced at me then back at Luc before shaking his head. “Once this is all over, you two need to talk.”

“What’s the point?” My tone reflected my dejection and defeat. “He doesn’t love me and he never really did.” I spoke so quietly that not even Igor could hear us and he was only a few yards away.

Turning a look that was far wiser than I’d seen before, the teen shook his head again, presumably at my stupidity. “Luc does love you. You’re just too insecure to admit it.”

“If he loves me then why is he avoiding me?”

One of his shoulders went up then down in a half shrug. “He is probably angry and disappointed.”

“Of course he is!” I said miserably. “He just found out that everything he feels about me is a lie.”

“He does not care about that,” Geordie said. “I don’t think he believes in your theory at all.”

Stunned, I almost missed a step. “Then why is he so upset with me?”

Proving he was more mature than he appeared, the teen leaned in to whisper the answer. “He would lay down his life for you. He would tear heaven and hell apart to keep you from harm and yet you do not believe in him. You do not believe your feelings for him are real.”

“They feel real,” I said in a small voice.

“Then why would you hurt the man you profess to love so much?” Leaving me to think over his argument, Geordie dropped back to his mentor’s side.

My inner voice gave me only a few seconds to mull over what Geordie had just told me. You know he’s full of crap, don’t you? It was snide and nastier than usual. Why are you being such an arsehole, I asked it. The answer was unexpected and sounded genuine. I’m just trying to save you from getting your heart broken. You and I both know how this is all going to end. Luc and the others are going to die and you will be the only vampire left in creation. Isn’t it better to make him hate you now so it won’t hurt so much when he is gone?

There was something flawed about my internal argument but I didn’t have time to address it just now. The Viltarans were only a few short hallways away and I had to concentrate on the battle ahead.

Gregor raised a hand to stop us and dropped down to one knee to divulge his battle plan to the Kveet. He wanted them in the flanks with us in the middle. We had a far greater chance of being able to dodge the blasts from a death ray. The Kveet would target the automatons and the undead would fire at the Viltarans.

It was a simple yet solid plan and no one objected to it. Cristov stayed near Aventius, ready to lend assistance if needed. The ex-Councillor seemed to have aged several centuries during the past few nights. He handled his weapon gingerly even though I’d seen him blast plenty of droids previously. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d given up and no longer wanted to go on with his unnatural life.

Moving as quietly as possible, we crept up to the corner of the hallway where I could feel the group of Viltarans lurking. At M’narl’s signal, his people began to shout as they raced around the corner. As planned, they split into two groups and kept to the sides of the hallway. The evil aliens were ready for us, as if they had somehow known we were coming.

Instead of a hundred silver droids facing us, there were only ten. All held the strange new weapons that I’d dreamt about. Four of the droids were disintegrated before they could pull their triggers. The other six fired and suddenly dozens of what looked like small darts were flying towards us. I had enough time to realize they were full of iridescent yellow fluid then the first wave struck.

Halting in their tracks, the Kveet who sported a dart in their flesh gasped for breath. Dropping their weapons, they clutched their heads or chests and their tiny bodies began to transform into something else. Screaming in pain, they shuddered, writhed and their brown skin changed to grey. Rapidly growing half a foot in height and much bulkier in size, they studied their new imp bodies and faces in wonder.

Turning in confusion, they spied their former kin. “Food?” queried one.

“Food!” another responded and brown blood began to flow as they fell on their friends and family members.

Anguished screams and piping roars of rage and despair sounded as the Kveet turned their weapons against their own. The transformation had happened in seconds and another wave of darts was already heading towards us. Ishida blasted the last murberbot into oblivion but it was already too late and the missiles were on their way.

At the front of the line, Luc turned his head and met my gaze. There were too many projectiles heading for him, he’d never be able to dodge them all. I read deep regret in his black eyes and acceptance of his fate.

Thwarting destiny, Aventius stepped in front of my one true love. Hit by over a dozen darts, he staggered and went down. Luc caught him before he hit the floor and eased him onto his back. Sparing a pitying glance at the fallen vampire, Gregor waved the others forward as the Viltarans ran for the elevator further down the hall.

Unlike the Kveet, Aventius wasn’t instantly transformed into an imp. He had already been infected by their nanobots when he’d been turned into a vampire five thousand years ago. Eyes wide in terror and pain, they changed from black to red then back again. His skin alternated from white to grey then became a sickly green as his flesh swelled and bulged before shrinking again.

Dropping to his knees, Cristov watched on in anguish as his leader thrashed in agony. His ears lengthened and curled at the ends and his nose became squashed and batlike. Thin fingers thickened, lengthened and turned into claws. Meeting Cristov’s gaze, Aventius beseeched him wordlessly to end his misery.

Obeying the silent plea, Cristov pointed his death ray at his leader and violet light spread over his body. The dust motes that had once been one of the rulers of a vampire nation settled to the floor as the rest of our diminished party returned from their chase.

Ishida grimly eyed the carnage and our wounded. “We killed all of the Viltarans.”

Stunned that Aventius, one of the few of my kin that I had allowed myself to get to know, was now dead, I slowly climbed to my feet. “How did they know we were coming?” I asked Gregor.

Running his fingers through his mussed hair, he looked disgusted at himself. “I believe we must have triggered a silent alarm when we switched on the lights. They realize we have the ability to find them so they set a trap and we walked right into it.”

Shattered by their losses, the Kveet tended to their wounded. I met M’narl’s accusing gaze then Cristov’s grieving one. I couldn’t let anyone else die, not when I was unkillable and had the means of hunting down our enemy. “I think you should all head back to the caves and let me handle this from now on.”

As expected, an uproar ensued at my decision. “You cannot fight the Viltarans without us, Nat!” Geordie almost begged.

“Even you cannot face so many enemies alone, Mortis,” Ishida told me archly.

“You yourself admit that your talent for strategy is somewhat…lacking,” Gregor said as diplomatically as possible.

Igor was far blunter and to the point. “What you plan is sheer idiocy.”

“Am I your leader?” I asked when they were all done.

“We did all agree to follow your counsel,” Kokoro conceded.

“Then follow my counsel now and find somewhere safe to hide. I’m not going to risk anyone else. I can’t die and there is nothing they can do to stop me from sneaking in and killing them all one by one.”

No one could argue against my logic. I’d proven again and again that I was impervious to death. Colonel Sanderson had managed to confine me for a time but I’d broken free from my prison eventually. The Viltarans might be more advanced than us but they were also far more arrogant. They would never believe that a lone vampire would be able to eradicate their species. I’d have the element of surprise on my side because who in their right mind would take on a superior force on their own?

“Wait!” It wasn’t the voice I was hoping to hear but I turned around anyway as M’narl gestured for his warriors to drag the disassembled robot over to translate. “I have a gift for you that may come in useful.”

Intrigued, I waited as several Kveet rolled the droid onto his side. Lying beneath him were twin samurai swords. They were plain in comparison to the swords Ishida had gifted me with back home but they looked sharp and would get the job done.

Crouching down, I took the proffered weapons and stood to test them out. They were perfectly balanced and the ideal length for me. From their dull silver colour, they must have been made from the same material as the walls, floor, ceiling and droids.

“They have only just finished being crafted and we did not have time to etch a dragon and lion onto them,” Ishida said with regret.

Speechless, I offered the teen a deep bow. He and his small retinue returned it automatically. “Thank you, Ishida. This is the best present anyone has ever given me.” Sadly, it was one of the few presents I’d been given since my parents had died in a car crash when I’d been nineteen.

“Use them well,” he replied with quiet dignity.

“Are you really leaving us, chérie?” Geordie asked. His expression reminded me of a puppy that had just been swatted on the rump with a rolled up newspaper after peeing on the carpet.

“I’ll be back,” I promised. “This is the only way I can make sure no one else gets hurt,” I explained when he looked unconvinced.

“Promise me you will be careful.” As soon as he said it, he grimaced, knowing the futility of asking that particular plea.

“I’ll find you once I’ve finished off the Viltarans,” I promised him instead.

Despite the teen’s intuition that Luc really did love me, my beloved didn’t even look at me as I turned to walk away.

.~.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Going by past experience, striking out on my own usually resulted in something horrible happening to me. I wasn’t deterred by that prospect since my goal was to stop something horrible from happening to everyone else. Luc had come within inches of dying right before my eyes. Hopefully one day he would see that my choice to hunt the Viltarans alone had been motivated by a desire to keep him safe. I stomped on my inner voice before it could remind me that my kin were doomed no matter what steps I took to save them. I couldn’t just stand by while my friends and allies were zapped out of existence. The Viltarans didn’t know it yet but Death was now stalking their halls.

Without a portable monitor, I wouldn’t be able to operate the elevators so I would have to hunt my quarry on foot. That was fine by me. Thanks to the Viltaran blood infusing me, I felt like I could run forever. Besides, I had no idea how to operate the monitors anyway.

Angling towards the closest group of adversaries, I checked to make sure no one was following me. As per my order, the Kveet and vampires were heading in the opposite direction. At least they’ll be safe now. Gregor would make sure no one did anything stupid.

Armed with a death ray and my new swords, I felt equipped to deal with any threat that might appear. I missed my original samurai swords but now I had replacements that were almost as good. Since they were made from the same metal that everything else on the planet seemed to be made from, I hoped they would be able to cut through the droid’s armour.

Keeping my senses on full alert, I picked up on a small group of Kveet imps as they arrived via elevator near the next batch of aliens I intended to target. It seemed the Viltarans had stolen Gregor’s idea to rapidly shift the clones into position.

There was another, larger mob of imps slightly to the east. They were stationery so they were most likely still penned in their cells. I’d managed to bamboozle one small horde of the creatures and I’d heard that you should fight fire with fire so I shifted direction and started to sprint.

Silver walls, floors and ceilings flashed by as I soundlessly traversed the distance to the cells. We’d always been careful to stay away from the imp holding areas as we’d made our way through the subterranean hallways so these corridors were unfamiliar. Without my remote senses, I would have stumbled around down here for hours before managing to locate my targets.

Just like their masters, the imps were nocturnal. Only one of the many cells held occupants. Standing beneath the window, I placed my swords on the ground then lifted myself up by my fingertips on the tiny windowsill.

Crammed in together in a wall of grey flesh and scarlet eyes, they were difficult to count visually but my senses told me there were seventy clones. These ones had a light dusting of fuzzy black hair on their scalps, a piggish snout and no chins to speak of. Their ears were the same as usual, long and curling at the ends.

One of the little monsters glanced up and saw me. It opened its mouth to utter a warning but I captured it before it could give me away. Alerted by instinct, more and more of the imps turned to stare up at me. As systematically as possible, I hypnotized them all until they were motionless and staring up at me blankly.

Step one of my plan was complete but the next step would be more difficult. The door was locked and I had no way of opening it. I had to find a way to break them free. Tapping on the window, I wondered if it was breakable. “Only one way to find out,” I murmured and dropped to the ground.

Picking up one of the swords, I levered myself upwards again and clung to the windowsill with one hand. Turning the sword so the blade was facing away, I hammered the window with the pommel. It might look like glass but the window was made of a substance that resembled thick plastic. It cracked and it took several more blows before it shattered.

Clearing most of the pane away, I dropped down long enough to pick up my other sword then dived headfirst through the window. Instead of trying to eat me when I landed amongst them, the imps merely shifted to give me room and waited for instructions. I’d bowled several of them over when I’d landed but they showed no animosity or any other emotion. It was creepy having them all staring at me silently. They reminded me of dolls with their softly glowing, unblinking eyes and lack of anything resembling thought.

Putting the swords down again, I started to free my new slaves the quickest way I could think of. Using both hands, I tossed small grey bodies out through the window into the hall. It took time to free them all and I hoped my plan would be worth the delay. I also hoped they would work as a distraction for when I attacked the Viltarans.

When the last clone sailed through the window, I retrieved my swords and clambered back into the hallway. At my gesture, my small army fell in behind me as I started running. Like their smaller, brown kin, their legs were short but they were fast. Unlike me, they weren’t tireless and started panting after we’d been running for several minutes. Remembering they weren’t undead and therefore required rest, I slowed down to a walk.

Alternating between running and walking, we closed the distance between us and my quarry. There were twelve Viltarans in the group I was targeting and dozens of clone guards were standing between us. I assumed there would be a substantial number of personal droids and soldier droids to defend their masters as well.

By moving southward, the malevolent aliens had brought themselves within my reach. Their strategy might be to eventually band together and trap us but their plans were about to change. My friends and the Kveet were on their way to safety and Mortis had just stepped up her game. Please tell me you’re not going to start referring to yourself in the third person, my inner voice complained. I had to concede it did sound kind of pretentious so I made a mental note not to do it again.

Dawn was near when we drew close enough to the imp clones to be able to hear them. My slaves were blinking owlishly and some were looking around as if seeking a place to lie down. Their adversaries must also need sleep by now and it was the perfect time to strike.

Motioning for my slaves to stay where they were, I crept up to the corner and cupped a hand beneath my right eye. It followed my mental command to come loose and dropped into my palm. I knelt and put the orb down then sent part of my consciousness into it. Rolling over to the corner, it peeked around the edge and beheld a hallway full of clones. Beyond them was the door to where the Viltarans had chosen to bed down for the day. Two silver droids stood guard. Both held the weapons that could shoot nanobot darts at their prey.

Waiting until most of the clones had settled down and closed their eyes, I recalled my orb and popped it back into place. My slaves were weaving on their feet but were still awake. They became more alert when I dropped down to my knees before them.

“Food,” I said in Viltaran. I’d heard the word repeated often enough that I doubted I’d ever be able to forget it. They instantly became attentive and ready for action. Grabbing one of the imps, I carried it to the corner and held it out far enough that it could see its kin.

“Not food,” the imp told me when I stepped back and put it down.

“Damn it!” I swore quietly. There went my plan to use them to tear the other imps apart. I’d kind of figured they’d go on the warpath as soon as they sighted what should have been their rivals. Then I remembered they were like attack dogs in a way. They had to be ordered to rend and tear. “Kill?” I asked almost tentatively in Viltaran. I’d learned the word from M’narl’s pet droid the last time I’d used the imps against their masters.

The imp’s face brightened and it showed its sharp little teeth in a bloodthirsty grin. “Kill!” it agreed. Just like their masters, they lusted for blood, not because it would offer them sustenance but rather from the sheer pleasure of being able to shed it.

Standing, I pointed at the end of the hallway. Seventy pairs of bright red eyes followed it. “Kill!” I ordered them and the pitter-patter of clawed feet commenced. While they apparently had no desire to eat their cloned kin, they would happily tear them apart with their bare hands instead.

Screeching at the top of their lungs, they fell upon the sleeping sentinels before most of them could even wake. Bright yellow blood flowed as limbs were torn off and skulls were cracked.

Confused by the melee, the droid guards watched the battle but made no move to shoot my servants. Their weapons would be useless against Kveet that had already been transformed into clones. Using their death rays would mean they would also wipe out their own guardians so they were reluctant to fire at all.

Alerted by the noise, a Viltaran appeared in the doorway at the far end of the hallway. Stepping out into the open to catch his attention, I waved cheekily then fired a shot at the killbot to his left. It disintegrated and the other droid fired his nanobot gun. I’d already stepped back around the corner and the darts splattered harmlessly against the wall.

“After her!” the Viltaran roared. I peeked around the corner to see several droids emerge from the room where the Viltarans were hiding and thunder down the passage towards me.

I could have easily outdistanced the metal men but stayed just far enough ahead of them that they could see me each time I turned a corner. I led them only a short distance away before ducking into a room and waiting for them to pass. The instant the last metal foot thudded past the door, I went on the chase.

Now pursuing the half dozen robots instead of being chased by them, I used my new swords for the first time. They were as sharp as they looked and sheared through the knees of the closest droid. It went down with a startled squawk and I cut its head off before it could alert the others. Two more fell beneath my blades before the last three became aware that I was behind them.

All three turned to confront me and fired their nanobot guns. Launching myself into the air, I sailed over the darts and landed behind the robots. Both swords stabbed through a pair of backs and scrambled the droid’s circuits before I yanked them free. Pushing aside its malfunctioning brothers, the final robot reached for me with its bare hands. My swords stabbed upwards, putting out the light from its eyes. It dropped to its knees and fell from the robot equivalent of severe brain damage. Two more slashes from my weapons took the heads off the malfunctioning robots, silencing their distress calls and mindless blundering.

More soldier droids would be on their way but I was already hurrying away from the area. Knowing the subterranean dwellings well by now, it was relatively easy for me to sprint through the halls with the blurring speed that was native to vampires. Keeping a remote watch on the Viltarans, I sensed them moving into another area where they would have more room to attack and defend.

Reaching the far side of the dining hall where my enemies had gathered, I sent out my eyeball to check the corridor for sentries. The dining room wasn’t guarded so I rolled the orb to the door and it oozed through to the other side.

All twelve Viltarans were huddled together in the centre of the room. They were surrounded by both personal droids and the silver automatons that were armed with nanobot guns. The thought of being shot with the microscopic robots was repugnant after seeing what had happened to Aventius. Our bodies couldn’t assimilate an infusion of more of the machines that had originally turned us into vampires. God only knew how my body would react if I was shot but it was a risk I was going to have to take.

By the time my eye oozed back into the hallway, I was waiting for it just out of range of the automatic door opener. Anticipating the battle ahead, my eye settled back into its socket and both began to glow as a smile touched my mouth. It was time to show my forebears what happened when they messed with humanity. They’d created creatures that were, in their own way, just as monstrous as the Viltarans.

With a quiet hiss, the door opened. None of my enemies were expecting an attack from behind and I remained unnoticed until the first killbot fell. I might have been child sized compared to the nine foot droids and ten or eleven foot Viltarans but I was fast and nimble. I cut a swathe through the robot guards and reached the centre of the circle to their furious and frightened masters cowering inside.

My swords were a blur as I severed limbs, stabbed hearts and sliced jugular veins. Yellow blood rained down and the floor became slick. The droids couldn’t shoot at me for fear of hitting their masters. The Viltarans were too panicked to raise an effective defence. All twelve went down beneath my blades and I was exposed to the robots.

Darts flew, violet bursts from death rays flashed and I used my speed and agility to dodge the attacks. My swords cut through the droids just as easily as they had through flesh. Metal arms and legs became detached and robot heads flew as I cut my way through the small army.

When the last metal man fell, I made sure none of the Viltarans were still alive by beheading them all then stabbing them through the hearts just to be sure. That was the traditional way to kill my kind so I figured it would also apply to our ancient ancestors.

Checking the state of my swords, they were coated in yellow goo but were otherwise unharmed. I’d need to find some kind of sharpening stone to keep them in pristine condition but that would have to wait until my hunt was done.

Sending out my senses, there were still thirty-six Viltarans left to destroy. All should have been sleeping but they were on the move instead. I assumed their droids had witnessed my battle on their monitors and had informed their masters of the danger that was me. All four groups were converging, which meant they had put aside their rivalry and had finally agreed to band together. That would just make it easier for me to cut them all down without having to chase them all over Viltar.

.~.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Expecting to face hordes of soldier droids and imp clones, I traversed through corridors that remained stubbornly empty. I ran until night fell, keeping my senses at full alert the whole time. The Viltarans had chosen to make their stand dangerously close to one of the octosquid imps. It lurked in its watery cell, a hulking mass almost unbelievably large and no doubt ravenous. I was suddenly very glad that I was on a solo mission. Two of my kin had been killed by the last octosquid imp we’d encountered but at least none would have to suffer that fate this time.

Although the hallways all looked the same, I had a sudden sense of déja vu that was heightened when I saw a window about a foot above my head. Stopping to study it, I saw the bleak, blasted landscape and a ruined city with mountains looming behind it in the background. At first it looked like an exquisitely detailed painting but then I noticed the clouds boiling in the yellow sky.

It wasn’t a window at all but one of the ultra-thin screens. I had no idea what it was doing in the hallway instead of being in the monitor room. Remembering the dreams I’d had before I even knew we were going to be kicked off Earth, I had a fair idea of where to go next.

Following my instincts, I headed for what would be the dining hall of this particular area. I came to a halt when I saw a door different from the rest. Instead of being blank silver metal, it had a window that I couldn’t quite see through. Sneaking up to the door, I was unsurprised when it didn’t open.

Holding my swords with one hand, I pressed my face up against the thick plastic. The dining table had held ten Viltarans when I’d seen it in my dream but it was empty this time. My senses had told me that none of my ancestors were inside but I’d been compelled to take a look anyway. My quarry was on the other side of the ocotsquid enclosure, which was to the northwest from where I was.

Leaving the dining room, I made my way through increasingly unfamiliar hallways towards where the Viltarans had gathered. If the mental map in my head was correct, I was now close to the centre of what was a gigantic, subterranean city that had been built by generations of Kveet slaves. The hallways were growing wider and taller and the intersecting hallways were becoming fewer.

Reaching the door to the octosquid imp’s cell, I figured it would be quicker to face the beast rather than to try to find the long way around. With my enemies so close at hand, I wanted to face them and put an end to their reign of terror forever.

The door slid open when I approached it and I entered warily. Just like the last time, a gigantic pool took up most of the area with only a small walkway around the edges. Ripples spread out from the centre of the water and lapped at the edges.

I took two steps into the room then massive tentacles exploded from the water. One tried to wrap around me but I sliced the tip off before it could squeeze the unlife out of me. A squeal of pain and rage bubbled up from beneath the surface when I chopped off about four feet of the second tentacle.

Moving faster than I’d expected, the monster surfaced and caused a small tidal wave to splash out in every direction. Leaping over the wave, I raced around to the far side of the room. As I’d expected, the door didn’t budge when I approached it. There were no windows to smash this time so I would have to improvise.

Blundering in a circle, the octosquid clone spied me with whatever senses it possessed and opened its maw. Several rows of razor sharp teeth waited to rend me to pieces as it roared its rage. Putrid breath wafted over me, making me want to gag. A tentacle hurtled towards me and I sidestepped it and sliced off the tip. Two more flew in my direction and I dropped to the floor to avoid them. The tentacles crashed against the door, it groaned in protest but didn’t burst open.

From my prone position, I rolled onto my back and stabbed the writhing appendages. Bellowing in rage, the creature did what I’d hoped it would do and sent half a dozen arms to capture me.

Moving faster than the octosquid could follow, I rolled out of the way as the tentacles landed where I’d been only a moment ago. The metal door was strong but even it couldn’t withstand the force of an enraged Goliath sized imp. Metal panels went flying and the path to my quarry was cleared.

Saluting the imp with a sword, I sprinted down the hallway until I was beyond its range. Now all that lay between me and the Viltarans were an unknown number of silver androids. I sensed more Kveet clones in captivity but they were too distant to be a bother.

Only one more door barred me from my goal. It was also without a window and I wasn’t sure how I was going to break it open. I was surprised and suspicious when the door opened as I approached it. The room behind the door was large and empty of furniture. All remaining thirty-six Viltarans were present at the far end of the room. They stared at me with eyes that mine now matched in colour whenever I was feeling strong emotion. I knew they were glowing at the moment because battle lust had me in its clutches.

I’d expected to have to fight my way through an army of droids and was almost disturbed not to see any in evidence. None of the Viltarans were holding weapons but I wasn’t about to trust any of them.

One of the Viltarans stepped forward and gestured for me to approach. I recognized him to be Robert’s master, Uldar. Not only the tallest Viltaran, Uldar was also the ugliest. He had fangs on his upper and lower jaws that were almost tusks. His nose wasn’t quite as flat as a bat’s but the nostrils were like small caverns in his face. Long, filthy hair fell to his waist. I was pretty sure the clumps that were stuck in the tangled mess were Kveet meat.

Once again, curiosity had me stepping inside and crossing the room. I came to a stop a safe distance away from the Viltarans. Each was as hideous as they were tall. All wore the dead black outfits that my own outfit resembled but didn’t quite copy exactly.

“Mortis,” Uldar said in his guttural voice. He drew the s out in a long hiss.

“That’s me,” I replied.

“You say that your name means ‘death’.”

He didn’t have a translator bot in the room but one must have been communicating what I was saying to him somehow. “It does.” He would shortly get to see Mortis in action for himself rather than watching the carnage via a monitor.

“I have to thank you, Death, for dispatching so many of my rivals.”

This conversation wasn’t going in the direction I’d expected it to at all. I thought he would declare war on me then blood would begin to fly. “You’re welcome?” I said uncertainly.

“You have been a worthy opponent and are a fine warrior but you have one flaw.”

Only one? He clearly doesn’t know me very well. “What might that be?” I sensed treachery but couldn’t see what form it would take. Nervously looking over my shoulder, I checked to make sure nothing was sneaking up on me.

When I turned back, the Viltaran was holding up his left arm and his right hand hovered over the control panel that was strapped to his wrist. “You have underestimated how advanced our technology is.”

With that pronouncement, he pressed a button on the device. Wall panels slid aside to reveal dozens of nanobot guns that were all trained on me. Uh oh. Turning to run, I ducked and rolled then leaped into the air. Darts flew all around me but my acrobatics ensured that none hit their target.

Landing, I almost made it to the door before it whooshed shut, trapping me. Turning to face the proverbial music, I saw hundreds of darts racing towards me. Throwing myself sideways, I wasn’t quite fast enough and pain lanced through my body. Roughly fifty darts had pierced my flesh. They were expelled quickly and clinked to the ground but it was already too late. The new nanobots had invaded my system and were already marching through me. This time, my body hadn’t automatically managed to protect itself from harm but I was in too much pain to wonder why.

Writhing in agony as acid ate its way through my veins and then into my flesh, I dropped to my knees and ground my teeth together to contain my screams. Any second now my skin should start to turn grey and my body would begin to swell and bulge. Falling on my side, I jittered and spasmed beneath the invasion of my cells.

As the agony inside me finally began to abate, I realized there were no visual changes to my body at all. I closed my eyes briefly in relief that I hadn’t turned into a misshapen monster. Being Mortis had many downsides but it also often worked in my favour.

“I do not understand,” one of the Viltarans said as they cautiously approached me. “Why is she not being transformed into your servant?”

“Because I’m Mortis, dumbass,” I told him. I wanted to stand up and face them on my feet but I wasn’t sure my legs would be able to support me just yet. “I am able to repair any damage that is done to my body. There is nothing you can do to me that hasn’t been done before.”

“We shall see about that,” Uldar said. Shouldering the other alien out of the way, he pointed a death ray at me and violet light blinded my eyes.

Reduced to dust motes, my consciousness was scrambled for only a few seconds before I managed to gather my wits. I tried to reform but only managed to assemble a hand before I ran out of room. Feeling around, I determined I was in a tiny container that was smooth and square. Forming an eye, it took a few seconds for it to adjust to the darkness. It confirmed that I was in yet another tiny coffin.

My senses told me that the Viltarans were on the move. They stopped after only walking a short distance. Before I could even think up a plan to escape from the box, my particles were sucked out of the container. My eye went through the tiny opening but my hand was far too large. I ordered it to break down and the chunks were sucked through into another prison.

Twirling through the air, my eye saw a dizzying array of images. Whatever enclosure I’d had been placed in this time seemed to have been made from the tough plastic that passed for their glass. The container was small, maybe the size of my head and gave my eye nothing to grasp onto when it was flung against the side. My optic nerves scrambled to secure my orb but it was swept away by the perpetual Viltaran-made wind. I tried to reform my body but my particles where whirling and dancing in a constant blast of air and were unable to obey me. Just as I’d feared, I’d told the traitorous Robert too much about my abilities and the Viltarans had found a flaw. Their trap was simple yet irritatingly effective. I wondered which of the aliens had come up with the idea to keep me in perpetual motion to prevent my reformation, not that it really mattered.

My plastic jar had been placed in what looked like a war room. The Viltarans had all taken a seat around a table that could have seated four times their number. I spied my swords resting on the far end of the table. From time to time their red orbs would turn to study me before they returned to their meeting. I had no ears to hear what they were planning but I knew they had to be scheming about how to flush out their enemies.

Arrogantly believing that nothing would be able to permanently harm me, I’d stupidly walked straight into their trap. Now the world killers were free to hunt down and eradicate my friends and allies. Despair washed over what was left of me when I realized how utterly I’d failed my secret vow to keep my people safe.

.~.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

They might have agreed to join forces but the Viltaran alliance was an uneasy one. It was hard to tell with my orb constantly being tossed around as if it was in a washing machine, but a couple of times there seemed to be a challenge for leadership. Over the next few nights, I witnessed Uldar killing two Viltarans who dared to defy him. They fought with their bare hands in a brutal battle that left the winner scarred and the losers minus their limbs and their lives.

Yellow blood dripped from a wound to Uldar’s throat as he sat at the head of the table. His remaining kin bowed their heads in submission before taking their seats. After the second body had been dragged away, monitors carried in by droid servants were placed on the table. I only caught glimpses of what they were looking at but it seemed to be maps of the cave systems that ran beneath the surface of their poisoned world.

My worry and fear increased with each hour and so did my guilt. Uldar and his minions would send their droids into the caves with their nanobot guns and shoot anything that moved. The Kveet thought they were safe in their subterranean homes and wouldn’t expect to be flushed out of hiding. Instead of sending them to safety, I’d unwittingly ordered my friends and allies to their deaths.

Falling into something that closely resembled sleep but wasn’t quite, I withdrew my senses deep into my subconscious. I didn’t want to remotely sense the deaths of all those I held dear. I’d abandoned my theory that fate had forced me to love them. I’d come to the realization that love couldn’t be forced, it could only be given of your own free will. Luc, much wiser than I would ever be, had known this all along. I now understood why he had been so disappointed in me. I hadn’t believed in his love and had thrown it away. My inner voice had goaded me into making the decision to reveal my theory to my friends but I couldn’t blame it entirely. My one true love was going to die, as would the rest of our kin and I would be just a bunch of particles, a few chunks of flesh and an eyeball floating in a jar for all eternity.

My self-pity party was interrupted a couple of nights later when I felt a twinge from my senses. They were trying to tell me something but I had too tight a rein on them for their message to make it through. The twinge became a flurry and I reluctantly set my senses free.

Bursting from their confinement, they zeroed in on a group of Kveet that were heading towards the war room. They were almost at the doors and there were dozens of them. Zooming away from the Kveet, my sixth sense arrowed in on a far more familiar band of individuals. If my heart had been whole, it would have lurched to find my kin and another group of Kveet approaching from the south.

I had no idea how they had found the Viltaran stronghold but my friends and allies were poised for attack. Shifting my attention to the gigantic table, I saw all of the remaining Viltarans currently seated. Their personal droids and a couple of dozen silver soldier robots stood at attention near the walls. Neither aliens nor their robots realized they were about to be attacked.

Moving in tandem, both groups burst into the room and began firing. Whirling madly in the never ending gusts of wind, my orb saw Cristov point directly at me. A second later, violet light seared him to the bone as he disintegrated.

Luc turned, saw me then narrowly missed being hit by another blast from a death ray. Additional silver murderbots poured into the room as the Viltarans tipped the table on its side and took cover behind it. More of my kin were caught in blasts and ceased to be. Kveet by the dozens were wiped out but more poured into the room to engage their enemies.

Geordie fired at a robot and pumped his fist in victory when it turned to dust. One of the Viltarans stood, vaulted over the table and landed behind him. I tried to shout a warning but couldn’t since I didn’t have a mouth to form the words. My orb watched in horror as the alien reached down and took the teen’s head in his hands. Evil pleasure radiated from the grey skinned monster as it tore my young friend’s head from his shoulders.

My eye stopped moving and my particles ceased to twirl for the length of time it took for Geordie’s body to drop to its knees then topple onto its side. Unable not to see now, my eye watched as Igor screamed in grief and fired at the Viltaran. His death ray was set to destroy metal and passed harmlessly through the alien.

I’d heard the term ‘mindless with rage’ before but had never experienced it for myself. I was experiencing it now and time caught up to me. I wasn’t sure how it happened but one moment I was inside the jar and the next instant I was free and whole. There was no sensation of reforming, I was just suddenly me again.

At my incoherent banshee scream of rage, all movement stopped and heads turned. The Viltaran who had murdered one of my closest friends stared at me with almost superstitious fear then turned to flee. Without conscious thought, I crossed the floor and punched my fist through his back. Fishing around inside his chest, I yanked his heart out and held it up like a grisly trophy.

Scarlet eyes went wide as the Viltaran fell to his knees then thudded to his face. The aliens were becoming acquainted with an emotion they had probably never felt before; fear. Crushing the heart in my fist, I dropped it to the floor. It hit the dull silver metal with a wet splat. One by one, the Viltarans stood and began to back away.

Naked and splattered with yellow blood, I stalked them. Uldar was the first to turn and run but he wasn’t the last. In a flash, I landed on the back of my closest ancestor. Biting deep into her neck, I drank my fill then grabbed her by the hair and tore her head off. As her lifeless body dropped to the floor, I stalked my next victim. He went down when I hurled the head that I was still clutching at him. It hit him in the chest so hard that it became embedded in his flesh. Both faces stared at me in horror, one was already dead and the other was about to be.

Surrendering to the battle lust I had inherited from these very creatures, I managed to tear twelve of them apart before they disappeared behind a door that locked behind them.

While I’d been busy hunting Viltarans, my allies had finished off the killbots. With no enemies left to kill, my battle lust faded. Sorrow and grief instantly took its place. My senses were still heightened and they told me that only six of my kin were still alive. The Kveet had retreated out into the hall. Maybe they wanted to grieve for their dead in peace.

To delay the moment I would have to see which of my close friends, if any, still remained, I stripped the shirt off a Viltaran and used it to wipe the blood off my face, hands and body. Choosing another shirt that wasn’t too badly stained, I donned it. It was far too large for me but it was better than nothing. Unable to delay any further, I turned around.

The first vampire I saw was Luc. He speared a glance at me that scorched me right through to my core then turned his attention to Igor. I could just make out the top of his dark, shaggy head over the overturned table. Gregor, Kokoro and Ishida were huddled together. Gregor smiled at me but worry soon replaced his happiness to see me unharmed.

Rounding the table, I saw Igor on his knees beside the body of his apprentice. He had retrieved Geordie’s head and cradled it in his lap. Stunned to see the teen hadn’t broken down to the usual watery slush yet, I felt a thrill of hope worm its way through the grief that was trying to crush me.

Sobbing tearlessly, Igor was beyond words. He didn’t seem to notice me when I knelt beside him. He ignored the hand I placed on his shoulder. “He’s not dead, Igor,” I told him and had to repeat myself before my message reached him.

“What do you mean?” the Russian asked with wild hope.

“I can still sense him,” I explained.

The others gathered around as I rolled Geordie’s body onto its back. Igor was reluctant to hand over his apprentice’s head but complied when I patiently held my hands out.

Geordie had fed from a Viltaran twice and had gained some of the abilities that I had. He could sleep like a human, he was stronger and faster and his eyes tended to turn red when he was feeling strong emotions. I prayed to a God who had abandoned our kind long ago that the teen would now also be able to heal like I could.

Placing Geordie’s head on the ground beside the stump of his neck, I moved the severed ends together then moved away so I wasn’t touching him. His eyes were closed and he looked peaceful and even younger than normal. We waited for something to happen but he remained inert. When his body finally twitched, Kokoro made a small sound of surprise. Both arms went up as he tried to grasp something the rest of us couldn’t see. Then the raw ends of his neck melded together until just a thin red line was left.

Sitting up, Geordie opened eyes that were scarlet with anger and fear. Realizing no enemies remained, he blinked at me in confusion then noticed the rest of our small team gathered around him. “Why are you all staring at me?”

“Do you not remember what happened to you?” Igor asked in a tone that was almost gentle, for him.

Frowning, the teen rubbed the back of his head then his eyes widened. “I remember a pair of really big hands closing around my head and then nothing.”

No one wanted to tell Geordie what had happened so Gregor stepped up to the task. “The Viltaran decapitated you.”

Feeling his neck with both hands, Geordie couldn’t detect the red line that had already almost completely faded. “What does this mean?” he asked, more bewildered than frightened.

“I’m pretty sure you’re all immortal like me now,” I told him.

Dead silence ensued, then Geordie grinned widely. “That is totally awesome!”

.~.

Chapter Forty

M’narl and a few of his people appeared before my friends could fully grasp their new status of being unkillable. Dazed and still grinning, Geordie took the hand Igor offered him and stood. I remained kneeling so the Kveet could chat with me without having to crane his head back too far. Two of his warriors dragged the translator robot forward.

“How many of our enemies now remain?” the elder asked me in his piping voice.

Sending out my senses after the fleeing Viltarans, I found them some distance away. They must have boarded an elevator and zoomed to their new location. “There are only twenty-one of them left now.”

Saddened by his losses, M’narl forced what passed for a smile for his people. “I believe it would be prudent for us to retire to our caves again and gather more warriors.”

I had no intention of quitting the hunt now. “That’s a good idea. You and your people have been a great help and I’m sure they could use the rest.”

“You’re not going to stop until every last Viltaran is dead by your hands, are you?” Luc asked. “You have this strange idea that you and only you can face them. Have you not learned by now that you need us by your side?”

Affronted by his arch tone, I searched for a reply but Geordie beat me to it.

“We work better as a team, chérie. If not for Cristov, you would have remained trapped in that bottle forever.”

“What do you mean?”

“He somehow sensed you were in trouble,” Gregor explained. “He had the overwhelming feeling that you required rescue and led us directly to you.”

“How?” Even as I asked the question, I realized what the answer had to be. “It was because I hypnotized him, wasn’t it?”

Nodding, Gregor flicked his dirty hair away from his face. He was badly in need of a shower, as were we all. “It forged a link between you both that he was able to follow back to you.”

I wished Cristov was still alive so I could thank him for saving me. I wished all of our fallen were still alive. We are seven now. This is the remnant that was prophesized so long ago. If I was correct then we were all immortal now. We were doomed to live out our impossibly long lives on a desolate planet that we didn’t belong on.

“Do you still plan to hunt the rest of the Viltarans on your own?” Ishida asked me almost conversationally. I’d learned to read his bland expression well enough to know he was on the verge of anger.

“We vowed to kill the Viltarans together, remember?” Kokoro said.

Considering how handily I’d been captured, I gave up on the idea of being a solo vigilante. As Geordie had said, we worked better as a team. “Fine. We’ll stay together from now on.”

“Finally, she sees sense,” Luc muttered. It was obvious he was still angry with me. I could see I had a lot of grovelling ahead before I’d be able to get back into his good books.

Sensing movement amongst our enemies, I closed my eyes and sent out my consciousness. The Viltarans moved a short distance then stopped again. A bad feeling, something much like doom, settled into my stomach. It was a familiar sensation that I’d felt far too often for my liking.

“What is wrong, Nat?” Geordie asked.

“I’m not sure,” I replied with my eyes still shut. “They’re up to something.”

“Can you be more specific?” Ishida asked with a hint of sarcasm.

Ignoring his tone, I stayed focused on the Viltarans. My frown deepened when they began moving again. They were joined by a vast group of Kveet imps far larger than any we’d encountered before.

Once the two groups came together, they began to move upwards. Neither would be able to survive once they hit the surface and my brows drew together in confusion. Then they suddenly streaked upwards so fast that I lost track of them. Just before they disappeared, I felt another presence amongst them but they moved out of range before I could identify what it had been. Probably another kind of imp, I guessed. I’d sensed several more varieties that we hadn’t come into direct contact with yet stashed throughout the planet.

Opening my eyes, I discovered I was the centre of attention. “I think they just left Viltar in a spaceship.”

One of M’narl’s warriors asked the question I was dreading. “They have already destroyed the known habitable planets within range of their ships. Where could they possibly be going?”

Remembering the warning M’narl had given me about how the droids were programmed to lie, I knew the answer. So did Gregor, judging from his bleak expression. Robert had told us that he had been unable to configure the way to our home planet but that had been a big fat fib. “They’re heading for Earth.” My tone reflected my dread fairly adequately.

I’d had two dreams now of Manhattan lying in ruins. The first time the city had been enveloped in a poisonous fog. The second time it had been full of human imp clones. It seemed that they hadn’t just been dreams after all but had instead been premonitions. Our planet faced two possible fates now; being turned into an uninhabitable wasteland or the population being changed into grey skinned imp slaves.

It appeared our job wasn’t done yet despite Gregor’s intuition that fate had dumped us here and wiped its hands of us. We had been banished from the world that had rejected us and now we would have to find a way to return so we could save the ungrateful humans yet again.

Not so deep down inside, I was tempted to just let the Viltarans escape and wreak havoc on our home world. Why should we attempt to rush to our former kin’s rescue after they had rejected us so completely? After all they’d done to us, didn’t the humans deserve to suffer a terrible fate?

Reading my expression accurately, Gregor nodded in understanding. “You feel the humans don’t deserve to be rescued for a third time?”

I turned his question back on him. “Do you?” As expected, no one had an answer for me. “After everything we’ve done for them and the horrors they put you through, do you really want to climb up on your white horse and charge to the rescue?”

Ishida and Geordie exchanged amused looks at my metaphor. “What we want doesn’t really matter,” Ishida said. “Whether we like it or not, we have a duty.”

“The humans destroyed your entire island and killed your people,” I reminded him, not that he needed it. I doubted he’d ever forget their treachery. “How can you possibly have any sympathy left for them?”

Eyes that were far too old and wise for his young face stared into mine. “We were created for a purpose, Natalie. After fifty thousand years of our specie’s existence, that purpose has now become clear. The Viltarans created us and it is our responsibility to destroy them before they can annihilate our world.”

Searching the expressions of my friends, I read the same sentiment on all six of their faces. No one looked particularly happy about it but, once again, we were going to band together to save the world. “Fine,” I said sulkily. “We’ll liberate the Earth from its wannabe oppressors yet again. Does anyone have any idea how we’re going to get off this rock?”

“We will find a way,” Kokoro said with supreme confidence.

Gregor inclined his head in agreement. “It appears that I was incorrect in my judgement that fate has abandoned us. I am certain that it has a plan in place to assist us to escape from Viltar.”

I screwed my nose up at his mention of fate once more shuffling us into position like pieces on a chess board. It had banished us from Earth and now it apparently planned to send us home again.

“I wonder how Colonel Sanderson will react when he discovers that we have returned?” Geordie said reflectively.

The prospect of standing face to face with Sanderson hadn’t occurred to me before the teen had pointed it out. “I will personally make sure the good Colonel won’t be happy to see us,” I told my young friend. Geordie giggled and I grinned at him. Deep in the back of my mind, I started plotting how I was going to murder the man who had killed our kind and had locked the survivors up to be tortured. Whatever I came up with, I had no doubt that it would be slow, horrific and very, very painful. We hadn’t even found a way to leave Viltar yet and I was already looking forward to catching up with the back stabbing soldier.

.~.

Note from the Author:

If you are like me, your time is valuable and I am very glad you enjoyed this novel enough to read it through to the end. As you no doubt know, reviews are an excellent tool to help new readers find my work and decide if the book is for them. I would very much appreciate it if you would take a few moments to click on the link below and leave a review on Amazon:

Death Banishes

Also by J.C. Diem in the Mortis Series:

Death Beckons

Death Embraces

Death Deceives

Death Devours

Death Betrays

Due for release in April 2014: Death Returns