If humans were so easily fooled into selling themselves to the Pure Bloods, what other things were the Pure Bloods purchasing from men like Grundfest? Nuclear weapons? Biological weapons? Earth's oceans? Olivia knew for a price anything could be bought and sold. Hadn't a large multinational bottled water manufacturer claimed a small town in Maine didn't even have a right to their own drinking water? The townspeople's water could be bought out from beneath them without their permission and sold back to them at an obscene profit.
Greed and selfishness knows no bounds, her mother always said. Olivia knew Grundfest and his kind had no qualms about destroying her home world by denying climate change, polluting it with impunity and exploiting Earth's natural resources for quick profits. Why should these billionaires care if they sold the bulk of humanity to aliens for a profit? They lived to make their fortunes greater yet.
As long as they have their yachts and mansions and plenty of food, the rest of us are expendable. It's always been that way, or so it seems. History has an awful way of repeating itself on both Earth and BloodDark. We've got to stop it.
I'm going to stop it. Somehow, someway it's going to be stopped.
Hernando's pacing ceased. Olivia rose from the table and went to put an arm around him, but he resisted her touch. "I've failed as an ambassador for BloodDark, haven't I?" The pain in his voice was palpable. "I should have known these wealthy and powerful individuals who've invited me to their parties and events didn't care about the well-being of our world. They were trying to trick me into giving into their self-seeking plans. How blind I've been!"
Olivia opened her mouth to say, No, you're only human, but thought better of it. Part of Hernando wasn't human, and his home world was being threatened by humans. The idea he might have played unwittingly into a scenario, which could lead to the end of their ruling council and BloodDark's destruction, haunted him. How could she comfort him?
I can make things right is how I can comfort him. Annara and I have been discussing the problem of the vampire brides for some time. We both think we could infiltrate and destroy their system from within. Whatever I do, I won't involve Hernando. His reputation won't be at risk. I swear I'll protect him at all costs.
Olivia shook her head. "You haven't failed—it's me. I've failed you, Hernando, and I've failed to protect BloodDark." She reached out and lightly stroked his shoulders. "I should have warned you about how the amassing of great material wealth plays a factor in our society, but I wanted you to kiss up to the powers-that-be so I could watch you pull the switch and drop the crystal ball in Times Square on New Year's Eve. I confess—I'm greedy, too."
Hernando narrowed his eyes as he considered her remorse, but he didn't push her hands away. "No, you're not to blame. It was my decision to allow the sale of art from BloodDark on Earth in the first place. I thought it would allow Earth people to see us as fellow intelligent beings with similar cultures. Now I admit it—I was wrong. It's being used to finance evil intentions. It reminds me of what I've learned about the second world war of Earth's last century. The Nazis stole art and gold from their victims and sold the items to finance their unjust conflict." He shrugged off her touch and began pacing again.
Olivia knew what had to be done. "Well, we can stop art sales from here on out. Can't we, Caveman?"
Caveman scratched his chin in thought. "We could try. I will propose it to the ruling council and give the reasons, but some are going to oppose it. They've enjoyed great profits from art sales as well. Penumbra City is really pushing for more exports of art, of everything, really."
"I don't think it's a bad thing, so long as it's new work," Hernando said. "Keeping artisans employed is good. We need to keep them on our side." He paused, frowning. "Caveman, remind me. Have there not also been sales of human artwork from the ancient refuge cities on the sunlit side?"
Caveman nodded. "Yes, and that's a real bone of contention."
"I thought we were going to keep the things discovered here as a reminder of how our ancestors adapted and thrived on BloodDark in spite of hostile conditions."
"Refuge cities?" Olivia had wondered if earlier generations of humans had run away from their masters and built remote communities of their own.
Caveman nodded. "Yeah. Legends of settlements built by those fleeing the Pure Bloods have circulated for centuries. I always thought there was some truth at the heart of it all. A few months back I commandeered a couple of Pure Blood landships and sent an expedition out to explore a promising region on the Day Side. They found two ruined places, all covered by drifted sand. Excavations turned up a tidy haul of artwork and other artifacts." He glanced at Hernando. "There are traces of another settlement not far from the first two."
Olivia frowned. Perhaps climate change had caused the desertification of the sunlit side she'd witnessed. Maybe the blowing sands had buried all evidence of humanity's creative instincts on BloodDark until at last they were forgotten? "So the majority of the people think the historical artworks should remain here."
"Oh yes. They are proud of their heritage. We'd discussed gathering the artifacts for a museum display, but many claim since they belonged to their human clans they should have the right
