"Quite efficiently, or so I'm told," Dradix interjected as he approached them. Like most of the Pure Bloods and many of the Overseers, Dradix wore extra-dark sunglasses, a large-brimmed hat and gloves to protect his fair skin and sensitive eyes from the dusky sunlight of the penumbra zone. "I understand you are familiar with this form of transportation, Olivia of the Clan Brown."
Olivia nodded to the Pure Blood technician. "I am. I'm just surprised to see not one, but dozens of these airships on BloodDark. Why didn't you all know about airships in BloodDark City before now?"
Dradix scratched his narrowed chin in thought. "As a child, my father told me fanciful bedtime stories about evil human pirates who flew through the air and terrorized our peaceful dwellings, but I always thought these tales were flights of fantasy, fictional constructs to lure us off to dreamland." He chuckled. "I mean, really. How could mere humans, without the help of their Pure Blood masters, accomplish such feats of technology?"
Annara rolled her eyes. "How indeed."
Olivia bit her tongue, keeping her comment to herself. Annara's disgruntled tone didn't bode well for the several hours they'd be traveling to the site of the unimaginatively-named protective device. Before they’d arrived at Penumbra City, Hernando had emphasized the need of cooperation and respect. No arguing or name calling, no matter what. Olivia knew it didn't take much to provoke Annara to anger, so she took her friend by the arm and steered her away.
"We'll see you when we land, Dradix," Olivia called out over her shoulder to the Pure Blood Portal technician. They strolled toward the ruling council's designated airship.
"I could snap the skinny bloodsucker in half with one flick of my wrist," Annara muttered before turning to her friend and smiling. "Notice how I'm acting like a civilized person today. Aren't you pleased with me?"
"You're handling yourself very well." Olivia winked and suppressed a giggle. "Would you like me to ask Caveman if you could travel with our group?"
Annara sighed. "No, thank you. I already have an assigned group. It doesn't include Dradix, so rest assured I'll behave myself. I'm sorry I can't travel with you and Hernando, but our security team is stretched thin as it is." She scanned the crowds and made a quick head count. "It looks like a large portion of our 'casual tourists' chose to go by land transport. Afraid of dropping out of the skies, I suppose."
"You're not afraid." Olivia squeezed her friend's hand. "You've flown in aircraft on Earth, so you're a professional air traveler now."
"True, and the upside of airship travel is we'll get there faster and have more time to investigate the device and determine if Clan Alpha is telling us the truth."
Olivia nodded. "You doubt it's a weapon to protect BloodDark from an attack from space like I do."
"I think it does protect something," Annara said, narrowing her eyes in the unaccustomed light, "but who or what it protects is the question. The most likely answer is it's another full-sized Portal device. The energy signatures did resemble one. Perhaps Clan Alpha wants to transport their whole house at once to another world to begin again without us pesky humans in the mix."
"Pesky humans." Olivia sighed. "Pesky describes us well, I'm afraid. We can't quite leave well enough alone."
They halted in front of the lead airship, the largest of the fleet. Its gondola could carry one hundred passengers, and so the ruling council and their closest advisors were assigned to it. The sheer breadth and length of its blimp amazed Olivia. It was filled with hydrogen they had been told—not hot air—and so it was highly flammable. A spark of electricity or an ember from a cigarette could set it alight like the infamous Hindenburg crash of the 1930s. She was glad smoking wasn't a vice on BloodDark, eliminating that particular risk, as well as preventing her from becoming airsick from the acrid smell of tobacco smoke.
Why they didn't outlaw smoking altogether on Earth after the Hindenburg explosion, Olivia hadn't a clue. One unfortunate accident couldn't have killed off an entire industry, could it? Helium made for safer airships and didn't go up in flames as easily as hydrogen. It wasn't like cars, trains and planes didn't crash and burn on a daily basis.
"It's quite a magnificent aircraft, isn't it?" Moreau's voice interrupted Olivia's musing. "I'm told my great-great-great-great-grandfather once flew in one across the whole of BloodDark in several days, setting a record for travel."
"Yet another feat of Pure Blood daring we've never heard about until now, huh?" Annara quipped. She turned to Olivia and whispered, "I'd better get to my assigned station. You're going to be okay with your bloodsucking ex-boyfriend on your airship?"
"I'll be fine. Hernando and Caveman will be with me. I thought Valori would be here by now, too."
"I did ask around this morning, but her whereabouts are still a mystery. Drucinda was supposed to have arrived as well. Perhaps they're already on their way to the site in one of the land transports. We'll know when we get there. Good luck."
"Good luck to you too—and Annara—" Olivia winked as her fellow Resistance fighter turned to go. "If you feel a bit queasy, don't look down. Think how much you'd rather deck Moreau or Dradix instead. It'll keep you focused."
Annara laughed. "You do the same."
Annara assumed a military posture and strode toward the crowd milling about one of the smaller airships. Olivia recalled how brave her friend acted when they followed their Resistance cell into the winding catacombs of BloodDark city after admitting her fear. She had been a true role model for all of them. If anyone could convince others she wasn't deathly afraid of heights, it was Annara.
"Shall we proceed to our embarkation point?" Moreau asked.
Olivia startled back to the present. "Oh, yes, yes we should. I don't want to hold up our progress today." They strolled side by side toward the
