"Am I not superhuman?" He arched an eyebrow, the glint of his fangs showing at his lips, and then sighed. "Of course, I'm not. I missed the signs of an illicit flow of BloodDark artifacts going on right under my nose. I'd convinced myself I had misread or misunderstood the manifests when I spotted a few unusual, apparently very old pieces in the museum in Frankfurt a month ago. The German ambassador swore they'd obtained them from one of our authorized contacts."
"What were these museum pieces?" Caveman frowned. "I don't recall authorizing any antiquities or ancient art sales recently."
Hernando closed his eyes in thought. "Hmm...I think they're called balits. Small, roundish and carved from dark, almost black stone. I remember seeing some in the Clan Alpha House when I worked there. They have some ceremonial or sentimental purpose?"
Dradix took a step back. His turquoise eyes flashed his horror. "No... It is not possible. Not even an Alphan would do such a shameful thing."
Annara made a step toward the technician, but Caveman put out his hand to stop her. "Give him space," he commanded. "I have some idea of what these antiquities are about. It would be an unforgivable breach of etiquette to allow them to leave a clan house, let alone send them to Earth for aliens to handle."
Dradix silently returned to his console and sat down, his pained expression indicating shock. Olivia's curiosity was piqued. "Sort of like a family heirloom?"
Caveman shook his head. "More than a simple heirloom—more like stealing the relics of a saint."
"The balit is placed on a small pedestal in the grand hall on special holidays and treated with great respect and honor, but I never understood its significance," Hernando said in hushed tones. "They're small enough to fit in my hand, but the stone itself is beautiful and smooth, polished like a mirror."
Just like blood diamonds... a cherished clan memento to sell to some rich type who wants something no one else has or can easily obtain. "Small enough to only need a limited power Portal device to transport to Earth perhaps?"
"A test of their illegal operations?" Annara nodded her approval. "I think Olivia has the right idea. They want to impress an Earth contact with their secret Portal, but it's not quite strong enough to transport larger items or living things yet."
"Yes, exactly." Olivia squeezed Hernando's hand. "There's no need to beat yourself up over missing something on the manifests. These balits were never on them in the first place. It seems odd they'd sell them to a public museum, though."
Hernando flashed a wry grin at her. "Ah-ha! I remember now. The Germans said the balits were on loan to the museum from a distinguished benefactor, a very well known, international benefactor."
"You don't mean..." Olivia's stomach made a sickening flip-flop at the thought. "Oh, no, you're not saying what I think you're saying. Our friendly hijacker?"
He nodded. "Yes. The curator told me they were on loan from a private collection owned by a Mr. Roland Grundfest."
Olivia shook her head in disgust. Was there nothing the billionaire buffoon wouldn't do to make more money or call attention to himself? Was there nothing he wouldn't do to insure the continued flow of goods from BloodDark to keep his earthly fortune and reputation for avarice afloat, including kidnapping the ambassador and his entourage?
She turned and observed the Deltan technician at his console. He sat with his head in his hands, shoulders slumped. "From the look on poor Dradix's face, I'd say they're worth quite a lot—which explains why Mr. Grundfest didn't value our lives one bit."
Caveman shook his head. "We need to discuss this outside." He led them out into the antechamber, waiting until each had passed before turning and locking the door. Olivia watched the little motes of ruby light dance into a new pattern within the crystal rod before the locks inside the massive doors clicked. Caveman turned to face them and leaned against the doors, looking grim.
"Now, Clan Alpha contacted this Grundfest chap somehow. Where would they have met him for the first time?"
Hernando rubbed his jaw. "It has to be through one of the receptions given on Earth at our embassy when we allowed a handful of the clans' rulers to visit. The Pure Bloods have a way of finding those of a like mind to them. It wouldn't take much for each to see the advantages of dealing with the other. Once first contact was made, they'd be able to use the other Portal to transfer contraband to Grundfest on Earth." He glanced at Olivia. "We saw the size of this airplane hangar. The immense doors shut it off from prying eyes. Grundfest and his allies could use the hanger and any other building like it for their purposes."
"Sneaky stunts like pirating alien artworks would fit in with his reputation," Olivia agreed. "What can we do to stop the trade?"
Caveman pushed away from the door and began to walk back the way they'd come. "We need more intelligence about this Grundfest and the Pure Bloods he's dealing with. Then we'll figure out a plan to put them both back in their place."
Chapter Nine
Olivia found herself awake before the rising of the smallest moon, the closest she could come in reckoning "morning" on the dark side of the planet. She dressed quickly and made her way from her small room in the council's dormitory wing to Annara's door and knocked.
"Come in."
Olivia opened the door as quietly as possible so as to not disturb others sleeping in the small rooms nearby. Annara was dressed and sitting at a small desk with pen and paper at hand. It was odd to think of writing on paper and not using a laptop or tablet. How quickly humans adapted to technology or, in BloodDark's
