Hernando winked. "Whoever said diplomacy couldn't be exciting?"
Caveman frowned. "Right. Kidnapping diplomats isn't seen as a friendly act on your planet, is it, Olivia of the Clan Brown?"
The seriousness of their situation crowded into her muddied thought processes, killing the humor of the moment. She took a deep breath before she spoke. "No, it isn't. I think someone from this world put our kidnapper up to the task. From what Grundfest let slip, it sounds like someone from Clan Alpha is behind it."
"So Annara and Hernando have said." Caveman sighed and looked wistful. "Persons with great wealth controlling politicians and whole nations and acting like the rule of law doesn't apply to them—I would have thought Earth people had risen above such petty thievery over time, but it appears not."
"'Wherever there are great resources there will be even greater abuses,' my father the historian says." Olivia sipped her tea slowly and willed herself to not give in to her fears. She leaned closer to Caveman and lowered her voice. "Have the Pure Bloods been behaving themselves?"
He shrugged and threw up his hands. "To all outward appearances, yes. We have no crimes to pin on them. Rumors are spreading, however, this attempt to bring over willing servants to staff the clan houses is nothing but an attempt to raise the next generation of Overseers through forced interbreeding."
"You mean the vampire mail-order brides?" She took pity on Caveman's quizzical look. "Oh, you didn't know these willing servants think they're actually going to be married to the Pure Bloods and become their equals?"
He snorted. "What a joke! The Pure Bloods would never consider anyone their equals—these brides are fools to believe it."
"There are plenty of fools to be had on Earth." Olivia sighed and shook her head. "I guess telling folks they'll become groundskeepers, maids and walking blood banks for an alien race isn't really an effective advertising campaign. The idea of an eternally happy marriage with an adoring, handsome vampire was substituted to bring more folks on board, and it's working. They're signing up by the thousands and demanding visas to come to BloodDark. Right, Hernando?"
Hernando nodded. "They camp outside our embassy's front gate and wait in a long line to request visas. Even when we tell them it's not yet possible to immigrate to BloodDark, they don't believe us. The mail bag between our world overflows with their letters to what they call their potential soul mates."
Caveman raised an eyebrow. "Insanity. Do you personally know of an Earther willing to be bound to a bloodsucker for all time?"
"I do." Olivia cringed at the thought of Lauren Petrowski. "She's the older sister of my friend Jace. She's desperately unhappy and thinks a vampire husband will be more faithful than her last one. The Pure Bloods have hit upon a wealth of lonely people who are more than willing to give away their life on Earth for some fairy tale existence on BloodDark. No amount of reality checks will convince these desperate-for-love people otherwise."
"It explains the Earth ambassador pressuring us to open our borders as he called it." Caveman scratched his stubbled chin in thought. "We told him we're still dealing with stabilizing our world's government. We have enough refugees and immigrants of our own at the moment and can't cope with any more, but he was quite insistent."
"Acted almost obsessed by the idea, did he?" Hernando frowned as Caveman nodded. "I've noticed similar reactions on Earth with various politicians and business-types. They keep pressing me about a date to begin issuing visas. They don't like taking no for an answer."
"It was the only thing the Earth ambassador wanted to discuss with us. Trade, ongoing scientist exchanges, re-uniting abductees with their families, cultural exhibitions—none of these topics interested him." Caveman leaned forward and lowered his voice. "You're right, Hernando. He was obsessed with one thing only. Made me think the lack of sunlight in the city had affected his brain somehow. His total lack of judgment was notable."
Olivia felt a sense of sad resignation overcoming her. It couldn't be so simple, could it? Then again, the simplest explanation was often the correct one.
"I bet I know what's affecting his mind and killing his reason," she said with a sigh. "'Follow the money' as they say. Someone—or several someones—are going to make a lot of money from matching mail-order vampire brides with thirsty Pure Bloods. The clans wouldn't mind liquidating more of their assets to bring in fresh blood and a chance to regain power, would they?"
"They already have. I see the connection now. Excuse me." Caveman rose from the table and approached an aide entering the chamber. After a few whispered exchanges he returned to their conversation. "Our trade council has just approved another transfer of artwork to an Earth art gallery from a private collector in the city, the largest transfer so far."
A shiver of fear tingled down her spine. Olivia swallowed hard. "The name of the gallery is The Grundfest Art Studio, right?"
Caveman's bright blue eyes flashed in awe. He whistled. "I didn't know you were a psychic, Olivia. Yes, it is. The Grundfest Art Studio has purchased the works and for quite a tidy sum. Money is no object to them, it appears."
"Our plane hijacker's gallery?" Hernando asked. Olivia nodded. He slammed his tea mug down, muttering a curse under his breath. "This Grundfest stands to make a fortune from these artworks, and in return, he uses his money and influence to buy off Earth politicians and diplomats so the Pure Bloods gain access to a constant and steady supply of willing servants as they desire."
Hernando rose to his feet and began to pace about the chamber. "No need to sneak about anymore on Earth—it's all out in the open and above board. A legitimate enterprise. Humans are willingly giving themselves to servitude while unscrupulous men like Grundfest profit."
Olivia felt her stomach do a painful flip. Perhaps she was still recovering from the effects
