by J. C. Diem
“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?