Valori smiled. "Very good idea. You can start with Colonel North. I can travel to Earth and meet the gentleman who kidnapped me and my friends once before and begin his re-education. From there we can proceed on a case by case basis until this threat is contained?"
Drucinda nodded. "I agree. Your wisdom and compassion knows no bounds, High Priestess Valori."
"As does yours, High Priestess Drucinda."
Two high priestesses? Olivia raised an eyebrow. Clan Alpha had changed with the times. Cooperation had become the name of the game.
"Sounds like we'll be taking Valori back to Earth with us," Olivia whispered to Hernando. "Not unless she can re-educate Grundfest remotely."
Hernando laughed. "I wouldn't put it past her, but I think they mean the old-fashioned way of sitting down and conversing with their students. Although, I could be wrong..." He pointed to Colonel North. "Look."
Drucinda stood behind North and placed her hands to either side of his temples. She sniffed about him and then closed her eyes to concentrate.
"What's with all the sniffing?" Olivia asked. "Can Pure Bloods really tell what's going on with humans through their sense of smell?"
Hernando nodded. "It does provide a good ground state at which to begin relationships, you could say. They can tell how honest or how self-aware a person is by their scent."
"Oh, really?" She raised an eyebrow and looked askance at her boyfriend. "You're part Pure Blood. What could you tell about me from the first time you sniffed me?"
"I could tell you were honest, kind, true and brave. The scents don't lie." He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, then sniffed. "You still give off the same scents today."
"Hmm, must be my favorite cologne." Olivia laughed.
A scream from the edge of the crowd interrupted their pleasant moment. They separated to search for the cause of the outcry.
"What are those things?" shouted a terrified sounding man from the opposite side of the gathering. "Look! They're coming closer."
Olivia turned to Hernando and noticed his frown before she felt the vibrations and heard the low rumbling of billions of nanobots on the loose heading their way.
Chapter Thirteen
"Oh, no... I thought the locusts were deactivated before we shut down the command center," Olivia moaned.
"So did everyone else." Hernando nodded at Colonel North and Drucinda still in direct contact. The look of horror on the priestess's face indicated something wasn't right. "North has lied to us. He only temporarily halted them."
Olivia gulped. "There must be a failsafe switch somewhere."
Caveman motioned for his security detail to gather and confer. "We've got to get our people back inside the airships and transports they came in," he shouted over the growing din. "The scientists, technicians and I will stay here and attempt to find out how to shut down the blasted beasties from the bunker. Now, get going!"
Herding their group back to the aircraft they came in proved difficult. Panic and confusion reigned. Olivia noticed the various groups had divided into psychic and non-psychic circles, so they weren't standing with their fellow passengers when the call came to head back to the vehicle they'd traveled in. After much pointless shouting from the others, Hernando gestured to Olivia to direct all airship passengers toward the landing site and all the ground transport passengers toward the parked vehicles.
"We can do this...we can do this," she murmured as she guided the frightened people toward their transportation. The vibrations of the approaching nanobots reminded Olivia of a cattle stampede she'd watched in an old Western movie with her grandfather when she was very young. Being trampled upon wasn't her idea of a happy ending to their trip to the site of the protective device. It had proven anything but protective.
It wasn’t until the last of the travelers had divided and the remainder of her security detail arrived at the airship landing site, that Olivia realized Colonel North wasn't alone in failing to tell the whole truth.
"Where did the blimps go?" She doubled over, hands on knees, panting hard from running about like a madwoman. "Why aren't they here?"
Hernando shook his head. He took her by the shoulders and brought her closer so he wouldn't have to shout over the deafening noise. "They said they'd take us back within six hours, but I didn't think it meant they'd depart in between."
"If they're making money off of Colonel North and company, then they're probably transporting people and supplies on a consistent basis. No need to stay put." Olivia scanned the horizon for a way out of their situation. "There are some high hills over in that direction. Maybe the nanobots won't be able to reach us on the summit?"
"Let's hope you're right." He kissed her forehead. It's our sole option. You take the lead, my beloved. Get these people to those hills.
Olivia found it difficult to respond amidst all the noise and emotional turmoil. You'll be right behind me, won't you?
Yes, but first I need to check on the status of our land travelers. I'm sensing they've encountered a similar situation.
Colonel North has a lot to answer for. Olivia grimaced. Hernando, I can't leave you behind.
He squeezed her shoulders. You must. It's only for a little while. See you at the summit.
Hernando smiled, turned and raced back toward the land vehicles which had been parked in the opposite direction. Olivia took a deep breath and jogged to the head of the line.
"We need to head to the hills," she shouted above the metallic roar, pointing in the direction of the mountain range. "Run as fast as you can. Be like Rincewind in the Discworld books. Don't look back. Just run!"
Follow me and run. She sent out a psychic message to the Pure Bloods and other psychics just in case they didn't understand her verbal directions.
Olivia grabbed the hands of a young Quadsang girl and boy and tore across the sandy terrain. BloodDark's
