"Truth is stranger than fiction," Olivia murmured. Before them stood a lighted conference table, situated in the middle of a cavernous space. It looked like a scene from Dr Strangelove.
And it wasn’t empty.
"You've found us," Colonel North said as they approached the large oval table. "Here I thought our guests wouldn't be able to reach anyone telepathically down here, shielded by the rocks as we are. Particularly with the lead vein running beneath these hills." He smiled. "The first Pure Bloods knew what they were doing when they built their weapon in this region. It's the perfect place to weather a nuclear holocaust."
"And do you plan on starting a nuclear war, Colonel?" Olivia looked past the infuriating man and two of his aides to make eye contact with Hernando. He sat slumped in his chair, his crossed arms propping him up on the conference table. She did her best to hide her worry and keep a calm expression. Are you okay?
Can't think well. Drugged. He gave a weak smile. Find Valori. Missing.
"Where are the others?" Annara demanded. "We left more behind than just the ambassador and a few technicians." She approached Dradix sitting to left of Hernando. "Has anyone been harmed?"
"We are well enough, but our hosts have tried to dampen our telepathic communications. They seek information and don't want us to escape." Dradix averted his gaze as one of the soldiers stood behind his chair. "They're holding Drucinda and the others hostage until they can locate the new Alphan high priestess," he said under his breath.
Annara moved behind the soldier and brought her knife to his neck. He gasped. She growled. "I will cut this one unless you tell us where you have Drucinda and the others."
North gestured for his people to disarm Annara, but Olivia knew the former Resistance fighter would have none of it. Before the closest soldier could reach her friend, Olivia grabbed the woman from behind and pulled her knife out and held the point just above the kidneys. The young soldier began to shiver with fear. Olivia knew this wasn't what they expected.
"Look, we don't want to hurt any of you, but we want our people released so we can leave in peace," she explained. "It's that simple."
Colonel North crossed his arms and sighed. When at last he spoke, his tone sounded calm and detached. "You have an unusual way of showing you want peace, Miss Brown. I guess exposure to this violent culture has turned you into the hardened criminal your colleague apparently is."
Annara twisted the soldier's arm again. He cried out in pain. She moved her knife closer to his jugular. "I'm no criminal. I am a fighter of the Resistance. We liberated our people from the bondage of the Pure Bloods, and now we will liberate all our people from the tyranny of the Earthers."
"You would sacrifice your life for such as these?" North gestured toward Dradix and another Pure Blood scientist. He lowered his voice and leveled his stare at Annara, his blue-gray eyes locked onto her dark brown ones. "These are your former oppressors. You have much more in common with your fellow human beings from Earth than you do with these... aliens... who kidnapped you and your mother. They took you away from your family and your village. Your mother didn't survive here long, did she?"
Olivia watched the conflicting emotions play across Annara's face. The colonel’s verbal dagger had hit home, and he knew it. He appeared to know a lot about Annara—about all of them. Olivia wondered how much spying had been going on in the past year since official contact between Earth and BloodDark was made—it appeared a lot more than she or anyone on BloodDark had assumed.
What should she do? Olivia glanced at Hernando. It was becoming more and more difficult for him to keep his eyes open. He nodded at her, but he was tiring. The drug they had given him made him groggy, but it didn't appear to have had the same effect on the Pure Bloods. Perhaps their physiology shielded them from the sedative effect? Dradix and the others looked alert enough to help if they could disarm the soldiers. Still, Olivia thought, it would be better to avoid bloodshed....
Her mind made up, she lowered her knife and pushed the young solider away.
"All right, you have our people hostage, but we will keep this one." She gestured to Annara to pull the soldier away from the table toward the ladder. "We will keep him until you provide us with the whereabouts of our people. If you don't..." Olivia exhaled a long held breath. "If you don't, you might not enjoy what will happen next."
"Corporal Tennant knows the risks involved in covert operations and accepts that he is expendable." North kept his outward cool, but Olivia sensed he wanted to be done with this operation. He wanted to return to Earth a hero, but it would be next to impossible to claim hero status if any of his soldiers came home in a body bag.
"Oh, I didn't make myself clear." Olivia raised her knife before anyone else got the idea she was easy pickings. The aides gave her a wide space as she, Annara and their hostage made their way to the ladder. "Corporal Tennant won't be harmed... at least, not in the way you think. I know, Colonel, you understand some of the psychic abilities of the Pure Bloods and others from this world, but you don't realize their full potential. It's why you're still searching for High Priestess Valori."
A small tic developed along the left side of Colonel North's mouth. "What about Valori?"
Olivia cackled, hoping she sounded like one of the maniacal villains in the James Bond movies her dad loved to watch. "Valori did more than just read your intentions earlier. She implanted a suggestion into your deep subconscious, one you will act out when I give her the word."
"Impossible. You're not leaving here." North nodded toward a corner.
