Caveman strode from the room, a man on a mission. Olivia felt confident the ruling council would pass good laws, but would Earth's governments, under the control of their corporate paymasters, allow them to take effect? Wouldn't Earthmen pick and choose what they wanted to follow from BloodDark's legislation to make as much profit as possible?
Olivia had learned enough history to know making slavery illegal in much of the United States in the nineteenth century didn't end it overnight—the compromises had only led to a bloody civil war. Seldom did people consider the morality of a situation, only its economic impact. Worse yet, those who profited most from an immoral activity worked hard to maintain and rationalize it, no matter its costs to others.
Why are human beings so damn selfish? Why can't they see they're hurting others? What can I do to stop this mess once and for all?
Hernando had settled into a chair near a great fireplace at the end of the chamber, his brow furrowed, deep in thought. Undoubtedly he still feeling the effects of the Portal transport. Olivia decided not to disturb him. She tiptoed through the door Caveman had used to exit the room. She needed to find out what had happened to Annara and to check on Valori's condition.
Olivia asked one of the milling staff members in the ante-chamber what was happening elsewhere in the ruling council chambers. Annara was still conversing with the security committee she was told, so she'd have to wait to talk to her about their slowly evolving plan. Valori, she learned, wasn't resting in a medical clinic but at the main house of Clan Alpha.
"I don't know all the details," said a pretty, thin south Asian woman with long brown-black hair and dark eyes, along with the notable Quadsang feature of sharp teeth, "but it was thought best she see a Pure Blood healer rather than a human healer."
"Really? I thought us lowly servants had to go to our own medics?"
"Sometimes we do and sometimes we don't. Valori is closer genetically to the Overseer caste possibly?"
From what Olivia knew of the BloodDark caste system, if Valori could be called Overseer it made her more than an ordinary servant, and more like a respected aide. Valori had told them she had once taken care of her mistress's children. Did her role indicate she was a cherished family retainer? Perhaps her former mistress upon hearing of Valori's illness insisted Valori be treated by only the best doctors?
Olivia nodded as she was given the directions to the Alphan healer's address. She knew exactly where it was. The last time she had been inside the main Alphan clan house, it had been during the Resistance's takeover of the city.
"Would you like an escort?" the aide asked.
"Oh, no. I know the way." Olivia remembered her first ill-fated walk in the mechanized suit of armor borrowed from the Pure Bloods' arsenal. "I won't get lost, but thanks all the same."
Walking along the dark streets, the dwarf star dominant in the sky brought Olivia's fuzzy brain back into sharp focus. I'm really back on BloodDark. I'm billions of miles from home. Valori isn't a Quadsang like she told me but an Overseer? What other surprises will I find here?
The Gothic-styled architecture and rat maze of streets which dominated BloodDark City hadn't changed since her return to Earth, but Olivia sensed its culture had. She smiled at a bazaar of small shops and restaurants catering to humans and other non-Pure Bloods which had sprung up not far from the ruling council's chambers. These were signs and posters and other indications the former slaves had taken the initiative and achieved an independence only dreamed of by the generations before them.
She had missed the deep blackness of the shadows in the city and how light reflecting from the huge gas giant outlined the tall and imposing brick structures of the Pure Bloods' enclave in a reddish, blood-like light. Had they become dependent on the blood and D.N.A. of humans because of the shadows and lack of sunlight? Would humans have resisted the need to change, mutate, and experiment with their genetic code to survive on just such a world?
Do not judge us by outward appearances, an oddly captivating voice lectured. The need to survive is great. Sometimes it supersedes the need to practice humility, and that is its biggest failing...
"Valori?"
Olivia froze in place, and then spun around. She stood alone on the sidewalk. She scanned the area only to notice how little traffic there was in this particular neighborhood. Humans had claimed the outer sections of the city and opened shops and built homes there, leaving the oldest, most formidable buildings in the center of town to their former masters. Olivia realized she was drawing near to her destination. Could it explain the apparent mental contact with her friend?
She closed her eyes and concentrated her thoughts. Valori, is that you? It's me, Olivia. I'm coming to visit, to see how you're doing.
We are not, Valori, but please, come to us, become a part of us. We need you, Olivia of the Clan Brown. We need fresh ideas. We need fresh blood...
Olivia startled from her trance and quickened her pace. "Not if I have anything to say about it!"
The narrow cobblestone street eventually widened into a large square in front of the Clan Alpha house. The flat-faced facade of black stone gave no clue to its occupants' tastes. A siege-proofed medieval castle would have appeared friendlier. It stood functional and aloof, daring her to knock upon its massive double doors by lifting one of the extra-large-pizza-sized doorknockers.
The running of Clan Alpha businesses and important social functions took place in this main building. It truly was the BloodDark equivalent of a palace or
