"I've been waiting for you to get up. I think I have the details worked out."
Olivia smiled and shut the door. Annara wasn't one to hesitate when action needed to be taken. Her fellow rebel fighter had accepted the challenge without a word after their meeting with Dradix in the console room. Before retiring they'd both acknowledged it was time to formulate a plan to solve the mystery of the purchased balits.
"You think you've solved our biggest problem?"
"How to infiltrate the Alphan's clan house?" Annara put down her pen and turned around on the low stool to face Olivia. She leaned forward and grinned. "Yes. We're going to send in a spy."
Olivia plopped down on the edge of the bed. "We discussed the spying operation last night, but the how, when, where and who got to be the spy were the big questions."
Annara picked up her paper. "The how is what I've been working on. I thought introducing a new servant might be too obvious, as the Alphans have always been in the habit of choosing their own from one of their plantations. Even with freedom of movement, they'll prefer to choose a servant they're familiar with, and most likely someone related to a person already on their staff."
"Okay, no servant. A door-to-door salesperson then?"
Annara screwed up her face and frowned. "You know, humans have some of the oddest occupations. This salesperson job I've read about makes no sense. You either buy what you need in the market or you don't. No more and no less. No need for arm twisting and emotional manipulation. It's unfair and it's impolite."
"Remind me not to take you Christmas shopping when we return to Earth." Olivia sighed. Even now she was missing the excitement of the holiday season and shopping for pretty new things. Hernando had said they'd return to Earth in two weeks’ time, enough time for things to settle down over their disappearance and time enough for him to catch up on what was happening on BloodDark. The joyful yuletide music, fun festivities and delicious goodies existed billions of miles away. Oh, what I wouldn't give for some eggnog and Grandma's gingerbread right now after an afternoon of caroling at the senior citizens' center...
"You haven't asked me how we're going to enter the Alphans' abode with them being none the wiser about our aims."
Olivia snapped out of her reverie. "Oh. How are we going to do it? Hire James Bond or Austin Powers perhaps?"
"Who? I'm not familiar with them. Friends of yours?"
"Not quite." Olivia giggled thinking of how her dad loved to watch old spy capers on TV. She'd saved up her money one Christmas and bought him a complete box set of James Bond DVDs. The look of pure joy on his face... He really was easy to please.
Why did she somehow think he wasn't? Was it a part of growing up? Learning to accept her parents as they were, not as she wanted them to be?
Annara passed her the paper and brought her back to the present again. "We're going to send the Alphans a vampire-loving, mail-order bride they can't resist."
"You can't mean..." Olivia looked at what Annara had written. It read like a classified ad for the lovelorn.
I am looking for an eternal soul mate to take me from the drudgery of Earth to the moonlit beauty of BloodDark. I can't wait until you take me away to your dark castle and make me the princess of your hearts...
"Ugh." Olivia shook her head. "They'll never believe it for a moment." She looked at it again and wrinkled her nose. "Hearts?"
Annara nodded. "They have several for various bio-functions, it is said. Did you not know?"
"No, but I guess it explains their need for an added liquid diet." She put down the paper. "It's still not going to work."
"Why not?" Annara sat up straighter and folded her arms across her chest in a defensive fashion. "I thought I'd mimicked their mindset perfectly. It's how these silly Earth women sound to me—all wide-eyed and poetic. They think they'll find a handsome vampire to fall in love with them like in the novel you sent me. It's all a fantasy—a dream to them. They have no idea of the reality of living with aliens."
"True, they have no idea what they're getting into, but the Pure Bloods know exactly the type of person they want. They want someone who will go along with their every whim without question. Someone easily brainwashed into thinking they're offering her a better life. Someone without the least bit of initiative or in possession of an original idea. A first class moron."
"Isn't that what I wrote?" Annara furrowed her brow and took the paper back to re-read it. "It's all flattering compliments and desire for a better life. None of it demonstrates any intelligence or independence of will whatsoever."
"Yes, it's too good to be true. That's what will give this person away as a fraud." Olivia sighed. "An okay idea, but what we really need is a successful applicant's essay. Something written from the...heart of a committed vampire-lover...something like what my friend Jace's sister wrote probably."
Annara looked askance at her. "Your friend's sister was accepted as one of the mail-order brides?"
Olivia nodded. "I'm not positive, but I think she was. Lauren's pretty desperate for love and attention. She's already been married and divorced and is feeling like life has passed her by. She's not even thirty yet."
"I see. It gives me an idea." Annara grinned. "Do you think she'd be willing to work for the ruling council?"
"Lauren? Nah, she'd be on the bloodsuckers' side. We'd never get her to cooperate with us." Olivia sighed. "To be honest, I don't think any of them would. They wouldn't be so eager to leave Earth if they were happy about the way things were going at home."
Annara stood and began pacing. "I had thought we could recruit a BloodDark-born human whose loyalty to the new government
