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THE SKY FOX
by
Jaide Fox
(c) copyright April 2003, Jaide Fox
Cover art (c) copyright April 2003, Eliza Black
New Concepts Publishing
4729 Humphreys Rd.
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com
Other Titles by Jaide Fox:
UNTAMED, a Shadowmere tale (Erotic Fantasy Romance)
WINTER THAW (Erotic Historical Romance)
For my mom, who squirms at every naughty word I write, and is shocked at her daughter's vivid imaginings. I love you, mom.
Chapter One
Windaria - world of the eternal sky
"Pirates!"
Shouts calling men to arms on the fat merchant ship were snatched away by the wind raging around them. Belatedly, skylors scrambled to protect their vessel and cargo as the pirate ship bore down on them, the shadow of its hull blocking the blinding rays of the sun leaking through the clouds.
Lexi Foxfire laughed derisively from her perch on the prow of The Vixen, her hands on her hips, her hair whipping wildly around her shoulders as she watched the skylors try desperately to trim their sales vertical to escape her encroaching ship. Their watch had been lax, and they'd been unable to see her ship advancing on them--their sails having blocked the view up above. Now it was too late to flee. The fat lady would never be able to out fly her sleek ship.
"Take The Vixen down, Argus," Lexi shouted over her shoulder at her windmaster where he stood at the helm. The ship leaned forward at her command, it's sharp nose slicing through the sails like paper, shredding, until the hull of The Vixen rested on the merchant's main mast. The ship shuddered beneath them, her momentum stilled without the guidance of the wind caught in her sails. Tatters of cloth and rope hung from the masts, fluttering in the gusts created by The Vixen's immense wings. Wood groaned with pressure under the impact, threatening to snap. The Vixen's wings hummed above the keening wind, keeping them balanced as they hovered over the doomed lady.
Her men, waiting at the ready, scaled the ropes they threw over the sides, descending with practiced speed into the chaos below, brandishing their clubs as they met the skylors defending the merchant ship. Lexi never allowed bloodshed, but bruised heads and empty pockets had never hurt anyone as far as she was concerned.
Meaty thuds and shouts rose from the melee below. It was music to her ears. Her blood thrilled, surging through her veins in anticipation. As many years as she'd been pirating, there was no greater thrill in the world than taking down a ship as far as Lexi was concerned. The chase, or merely outwitting her prey by subterfuge, the danger that always lay in wait for the unskilled, or unwary, made her feel alive as nothing else. To her mind, whatever booty they gained in the process was their reward for their prowess as thieves, not the goal. "If there's trouble, you know what to do," she shouted at Argus, who nodded in understanding and held the wheel locked in place.
Lexi swung her leg over the railing, but stopped as a falcon flitted between the mess of sails and rigging before disappearing into the clouds beyond. She contemplated sending Sparky after the bird but quickly disregarded it. Even if it was going for help, she and her crew would be long gone before anyone could arrive.
Gripping her knife between her teeth, Lexi slid down the rope with ease, the calluses on her palms proof against the harsh, tearing fibers. Quick as her namesake, she landed light-footed on the wooden decking, surveying her surroundings. The fighting had moved toward the stern, away from her position, and skylors lay in heaps, some groaning, some unconscious as her men moved among them, binding them.
Lexi sauntered toward the ongoing battle and, in a clear voice, yelled, "Lay down your arms, or we will crush your ship." Instantly the men stopped and looked at her as a crack like thunder snapped through the main mast, impacting her words as the ship groaned in pain. Slowly, reluctantly, they dropped their weapons and surrendered. At once, her men rounded them up in a tight circle and began tying them together with heavy rope.
Satisfied with the ease of her victory, Lexi nodded and turned to the stairwell that descended into the belly of the ship. "Bailey, you and Kilor grab some men. It's time to collect our reward." The grizzled men grinned and followed her down with six others, all eager to collect their prize and be on their way before their luck had a chance to run out.
Light protruded only a short distance into the passageway. Beyond was darkness, interrupted by small patches of light cast by lonely, glowing sconces. Treading cautiously, expecting attack, Lexi moved inside, Bailey and Kilor at her back. She held her knife at the ready should anyone rush her. Doors and passages branched off, and she gestured men to explore in groups of two while she continued on with Bailey and Kilor down the central corridor. A heavy door stood at the end, a solitary light revealing intricate carving--expensive. Obviously, it was the captain's quarters. She tried the handle but found that the door was locked.
"Break it open," she said and moved out of the way while Kilor picked the lock. Someone was probably inside, waiting to ambush them--there were limited reasons why the captain's door would be locked. They'd found only low ranking officers up above, which meant the captain had to be in his cabin---fearful and cowering---or ready to defend to the death his greatest prize.
Lexi shifted impatiently, eager to be done with this.
Kilor sensed her unease. "It would help if I had more light," he whispered, then grunted in satisfaction as the lock clicked open.
Clubs held at the ready, Lexi and her men rushed inside, ready to smash anyone in their path. The room was empty, Lexi saw on quick examination. Satisfied the room held no threat, Lexi's gaze was immediately drawn to an onyx stone that sat atop the great table that encompassed a good portion of the room. Maps and charts littered the table beneath the stone, but the stone was of a certainty not there merely as a paper weight. A rare find, the stone was huge, its sides perfectly round as though it were an overturned bowl. It appeared larger than the span of her hands forming a circle.
Lexi frowned. Enormous as the stone was, it was nothing more than onyx, certainly not a precious stone of great value-of worth, yes, but nothing extraordinary. Surely this could not be the great prize the skylors had been defending? Why the locked door? Surely, if it had been worth defending, and being locked away, it would also have warranted hiding? And why had no one been left to guard the locked door?
It was a puzzle.
Lexi didn't like puzzles-not when it came to booty. In her experience, anything curious or out of place was usually dangerous.
She was tempted to ignore the stone and trust her instincts-that this was something she wanted no part of. On the other hand, she had no desire to try to explain her 'bad vibes' to crewmen who might wonder why she'd simply decided to leave a stone that was certainly worth taking.
"Take that," she said, nodding at Bailey. Before he could reach it, he was pushed back violently, as if he'd struck a field of energy.
"We're under attack!" Kilor yelled as he was picked up and thrown across the room. Lexi screamed for more men. Dashing toward Bailey and Kilor, intending to help, she ran up against a solid, invisible wall-that had the distinct feeling of human flesh.
Relief flooded her. Magic it might be, but a man wielded it, and a man could be taken.
"It's a man," she shouted and was pushed back as the man turned. Lexi slashed at the invisible force that shoved her. Something ripped away, sliced by the blade of her knife, and a man's arm came into view, seemingly suspended in the air. Certain now she faced a man of flesh and blood--one that could be beaten--she growled and ducked, grabbing at the force until she had two handfuls of the cloak of invisibility and flung it aside to reveal more of the man beneath.
Bailey ran from behind and wrapped his arms seemingly around air, pulling the man back. The sound of ripping cloth rent the air, and Bailey fell. A man appeared before them, kneeling on the floor, chest heaving, black hair falling wildly around his shoulders. He looked like a caged beast, ready to strike at any moment should they provoke him.
Three more men rushed inside the cramped quarters, surrounding the man. The fight had lasted mere seconds, but it had felt like much longer when she'd thought they would be beaten. "We heard your shouts," one of the men said behind her. Breathing harshly, Lexi ignored them, her focus on the man as he slowly drew himself to standing. He towered above her, above them all, huge--muscles evident by the breadth of his chest, and the thickness of his arms. Very obviously, he was a warrior of some kind.
What the hell was a man like that doing on a merchant ship? And why had he attacked them this way? When she'd boarded the merchant vessel, she'd expected something direct, not subterfuge.
Everyone was calming down now, their breathing returning to normal in the aftermath. When the warrior made no move to strike, Lexi gained confidence. He'd be a fool to take them all on now. The cloak couldn't protect him anymore, and she wondered why he'd struck at all. The man watched her steadily, glaring as she walked around him toward the desk. He'd been protecting something. It occurred to her that he hadn't attacked until they'd tried to take the onyx stone. There was no place inside the quarters to hide something of its size, and the captain's cabin was usually the only one to have a lock.
It explained his presence here, confirmed the value of the stone---It did not explain his presence on the ship or the absence of a captain.
"I'll die before that stone leaves my possession," he said as she reached to take it.
Her hand stopped before touching it, and she regarded him with a cool expression. "Everything on this ship is now mine for the taking." How could he be so defiant, when he was clearly out-manned? Pig-headed warrior, she thought with disgust. They were all the same.
Lexi rubbed her jaw thoughtfully, eyeing him like a prized stud at a fair. "You have a vanishing cloak. Only royals and their ... pets are allowed to wear them." His hands clenched into tight fists, and she laughed with sudden dawning. "I think we may have landed a far greater prize than any of us could have realized. Take him down, men."
"Five against one? That's hardly fair odds," he said coolly, his voice a deep rumble in his chest. Her men closed around him, clubs held threateningly.
"And it was fair when you used your cloak against us?"
He shrugged, remaining watchful. "I did what I had to."
"As do I. I'm a pirate, what can I say?" Lexi watched as he tensed, ready to spring into action. She hefted the stone, barely. No wonder he hadn't hidden it beneath his cloak. He couldn't have fought them off and carried it too. Looking it over, she saw the mark of a hand was carved into the top of the globe, almost as if its impression had been seared into it. How strange. Lexi approached the open porthole, rubbing the onyx's glassy surface lovingly, effectively capturing the man's attention and halting his advance. "You come peacefully, and I won't pitch this over the side."
"I'd flail you if you did," he growled. Despite his threat however, he was outnumbered and his prize held hostage. Grudgingly, he ceded to her men, given no choice but to surrender.
"Promise?" Lexi said with an arch look and a short, barking laugh. She grinned at the dark, thunderous look he gifted her. "How does it feel to be captured by a woman, I wonder?" She paused a moment, eyeing him thoughtfully. "And I know just where to put you."
ETERNAL DAMNATION
By
Ashley Ladd
© copyright December 2004, Ashley Ladd
Cover Art by Amber Moon, © copyright December 2004
ISBN 1-58608-313-9
New Concepts Publishing
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com
This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author's imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.
Chapter One
Blood.
Not just any blood but gloriously delectable, verdant blood. Billions of strongly pumping vessels lured 'The Lion', vampire king Dmitri Leonid. No planet in the galaxy manufactured pure, undiluted blood like the inhabitants of Earth. How he had ached for her bounty.
Sensing the harvest even across space, his gums prickled.
"Blessed be. Our 300-year fast is almost at an end," Sacha, the ship's second-in-command said, renewed energy resonating in his voice.
Dmitri ran the tip of his tongue over his tingling gums, tracing the edges of the fangs that just broke through the surface. "It's been an eternity, for sure." And not just to taste the luscious nourishment again, but for a much more important kind of nourishment….
Laser fire slashed through the sky rocking the ancient, barely space worthy ship, knocking him sideways into the control panel. Dmitri cursed the Goddess who was supposed to be their protectress but who hadn't favored them for the past three centuries. He caught and righted himself and then shook his fist high in the air at his arch enemy's star ship which closed in on them with preternatural speed.
"Shields! Weapons report." Dmitri whirled around to ensure his head security officer heard him and launched an effective counter attack. How he ached to call for reinforcements. Back in the Carpathian Wars more than four hundred years prior, they had numbered in the legions. Now their entire clan consisted of less than three-hundred vampires that manned two rag-tag star ships. Their enemies piloted at least fifty A-class ships, their soul chilling purpose, to conquer the galaxy. Their numbers grew by the day as they assimilated the humanoid races with whom they came into contact. But their main objective remained Earth, their home planet who had kicked them off world almost five centuries before. Now all-powerful, the Carpathians were ready to return and conquer the gem of the universe.
Although raw that his home world had exiled him, Dmitri preferred to quietly slip back and mingle among the unsuspecting humans, not blaze in and destroy the lush planet unlike any other they had encountered in their centuries-long pilgrimage. Lushly green Earth was a treasure to be cosseted and cherished, not ravaged. Not to mention a much more personal agenda….
When a plasma ball hurled at them, Dmitri gritted his teeth as he clutched the captain's helm. "Hard astern!" His forehead creased and his gums tingled heralding the protrusion of his fangs. Adrenaline pumped fast and furious through his veins and his fingers itched to strangle the captain of the malevolent ship with his bare hands.
Mere seconds later, Dmitri was flung to the floor. When Sacha maneuvered the bulky ship hard astern, his head crashed against a bulkhead.
When he regained his senses, something wet and sticky flowed down his cheek. He touched his undead flesh gingerly, and lifted back bloody fingers. He licked them and closed his eyes in ecstasy. Excruciating torture.
His crew also wrinkled their noses and sniffed. Those whose fangs hadn't already protruded as they neared Earth, erupted now.
Cursing his stupidity, knowing they couldn't rein in their blood lust any more than he could stop his own. Fresh blood drew out their predatory instinct and it would be suicide to remain in their midst with a raw seeping wound. Quickly he swiped at the blood and gauged its flow as he rose to his full height, and hissed, "Number One take command and take us to safety. I'll be in hospital chambers." He blinked to the sanctity of his quarters and raised the shields.
Blood was in desperately short supply and had been since leaving their true donors on Earth. Diluted humanoid blood from their adoptive planets had drained their former virility. Hopefully coming home to Earth would return them to their former health and strength. They had to be careful not to damage the populace and make it necessary for the humans to drive them away again or all hope would be lost.
If their rival clan didn't annihilate them--or Earth--first. Damn!
When his flesh had healed itself, he lowered the shield and marched to the elevator. Precious little exercise was to be had out in space and thus he shunned astral projecting and shape-shifting into winged creatures to walk whenever he could so his muscles wouldn't atrophy.
Red alert sirens split the air a second before blaring lights strafed across the dimly lit corridor and Sacha's voice blared overhead, "Red alert. Enemy intruders have boarded the vessel. The humans are armed and dangerous."
He froze in place.
Humans? Not the Carpathians?
Having only just arrived in orbit around the planet they hadn't had time to perform reconnaissance. After so many centuries, the humans could have created weapons deadly to vampires. The Carpathians had grown complacent after conquering so many worlds, but their arrogance could be their doom. Humans had always been the most resilient, most creative foe. Perhaps Nikolai's memory had grown rusty. Dmitri snarled. It was more likely that Nikolai felt himself invincible. Having life after death often did that to a being.
A platoon of human warriors materialized before Dmitri, blocking his path. Before he could blink away, the warrior woman who led the band of soldiers raised her weapon at his heart.
Shockwaves hit him full force making him freeze. Dumbfounded, he was unable to stop staring.
Tanya….
Pulling himself up short, he stared at his reincarnated lifemate. "Tanya," he whispered on a wisp of air that tickled his lips. Although he had longed for this moment, he hadn't envisioned their reunion to be so quick upon his return--or so deadly.
Tanya's warlike stare didn't waver, just sliced through him. No flash of recognition flickered across their golden honeyed depths.
He drank in the vision he had feared never to gaze upon again. Although his great height eclipsed most females of his species, this statuesque beauty nearly stared him in the eye. Spiky, silvery hair was shorn short in a militaristic fashion, totally opposite her long-flowing feminine style that she had preferred in her last lifetime.
Brave but not stupid, he tried to diffuse the hostility brimming in the air. The weapon in her hand was unlike any he'd seen on other worlds and unlike the Earth guns of old. Even vampires could die if disintegrated by laser blasts and this could be some form of laser gun or other equally lethal weapon. Or at least their atoms would float disconnected in space through eternity so they may as well be dead.
Nor could he lose her again, not after traveling across oceans of time and space to find her. He would not risk her trust--her love--by harming her people.
Speaking slowly and carefully, he hoped the humans of this century still spoke one of the ancient languages with which he was acquainted. Absent were the accouterments of twenty-first century Earth, the last century he had inhabited this world. Nothing labeled this band of soldiers as European, American, or Asiatic. He would be amazed if the same governments and boundaries existed, if any of his contemporaries' ways were still practiced. "We come in peace. We're friends." He held up his empty hands slowly so as not to provoke the soldiers. "We mean you no harm. We pose no threat."
More beast than soldier, the feral beauty snarled at him. She narrowed her darkening eyes at his mouth so that he could smell her menace. "Then what are those?" Venom dripped from her final word.
Too late he remembered his protruding fangs. Glancing down cross-eyed at himself, he retracted them.
"You're a vampire," she hissed recoiling. "Our ancestors banished your kind centuries ago. They permitted you to live with the proviso that you never return. Now you bring your wars and bloodlust back into our space. That does not constitute an act of friendship."
He bowed regally with a sweeping gesture. Yearning for his succubus assailed him and it took every ounce of his willpower not to take her in his arms and taste of her again. Her lethal blade and loyal troops told him he dare not. Yet. She would have to be wooed carefully and turned if they were to stop this painful cycle of reunion, re-acquaintance, and separation. "Do you not remember me, my love? I have never forgotten you."
She stared at him as if he had lost his mind and he wondered if perhaps he had. But no, he was not mistaken about her true identity. He would know his life mate--his soul mate--even if she had been reincarnated in a male frame. "I know no vampires. None of your kind has been on my world since long before my birth."
He would not press the issue at the point of her blade. Later, when she could not impale, disintegrate him, or slice off his head, he would get his opportunity to awaken their eternal love.
"Our clan is neutral in the war. Nikolai's clan launched a surprise attack."
Tanya's eyes narrowed more, barely slits above her high cheek bones. "We know no Nikolai. State your purpose here, vampire." Her finger twitched on her lethal weapon. Obviously humans had reverted to their warlike natures. No one in the band confronting him looked like a computer geek. Any one of them would make a formidable foe. The soldiers resembled Valkyries, not the soldiers and mercenaries of the twenty-first century. Perhaps humans had evolved--or devolved. It was too early to tell.
He didn't feel it wise to admit to sneaking back like a thief to a world that feared and despised his kind. "We were sucked into a vortex and transported from the far side of the galaxy. We were trying to return to our space when our enemy's ship engaged us in combat."
"Try again and this time, no more lies." The ice that seemed to frost Tanya's heart misted her breath. It formed ice crystals on his own as well. It would take much to melt the ice around her heart and find the woman beneath the soldier, but he resolved to do so.
He would bet that the truth would earn him a blade to a vital organ. Death came on swift wings to those who underestimated their enemies. His mind raced for a plausible rationale. "Nikolai's ships have convened on Earth. They are the enemy, not us. We could not leave you defenseless."
Tanya quirked her brow. Gripping her weapon tighter, she jerked it toward his face. "I see no difference. Both fleets are attempting to invade Earth. None of you are welcome."
The humans had not forgotten their grudge. Nothing had changed for the better.
Fall back. Regroup.
Protective instincts kicked in and his muscles corded. With a growl, he thinned himself on the air, sprouting the wings of a raven, and soared toward safety.
Laser blasts nearly missed him, but fractured his ship.
"Project out, Sire!" Sacha's voice reverberated in his head.
A small security squad materialized behind the human leader, ready to grab her. As they were about to crush the silvery leader, she and her warriors disintegrated into a sparkling mist.
Dmitri did a double-take. Interesting.
So now the humans could project and they had vastly improved weaponry. He suspected they would prove most formidable adversaries.
He cursed Nikolai's band of blundering pirates. It would have been much easier to slip back unannounced.
* * * *
Commander Zanna Edwards advanced on her mother and Commander in Chief of Unified Earth's Defenses, Admiral Nova Edwards. "Why didn't you let me finish him off?" Steamed that her mother dare pull her out of the conflict without warning, she bit back frustrated screams not befitting her rank.
"Live today, fight tomorrow." Her mother eyed her closely. "My sources told me they had the upper hand, that you were in grave danger."
"You have a mole in my crew?" Hurt that she didn't have complete faith in her abilities, she inhaled sharply but kept her ground. She thrust out her chin defiantly, "I've fought many enemies. Why is this one so different?"
"Have you not committed the Vampire Wars to memory as all cadets are sworn to do? We have been warned to be ready should they ever return. Perhaps you didn't believe the legend to be true?"
Her forehead pounded from the training deeply ingrained in her. "How could I forget? Or take this threat lightly? It's been instilled in me since the cradle. I've lived for this day, to be able to defend our people.
"We detected at least five invading ships in our territory and each ship could hold hundreds of these-beings." She couldn't quite bring herself to call them monsters, especially not the very virile, velvet-tongued leader his people had referred to as Sire, despite his terrifying fangs and deeply ridged forehead.
"You must slay the leaders, especially the king. Destroy the commanders, and there will be mass chaos in their ranks. The disoriented masses will flee."
Would heavily armed vampires scare so easily? Her gut told her 'no'.
They probably wanted revenge, not to mention a fresh donor base. Chills skipped down her spine. She couldn't allow them to step foot on Earth again.
"I need all Earth's space defenses at my disposal. Immediately. We're going to drive them so deep into space they won't be able to find their way back."
RAIDERS OF VAMPYRA
By
Shizuko Lee
© copyright August 2005 by Shizuko Lee
Cover art by Jenny Dixon, © copyright August 2005
ISBN 1-58608-635-9
New Concepts Publishing
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com
This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author's imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.
Dedication:
To Mrs. Hale, the best English teacher I ever had. Do not read this story.
Chapter One
A territorial fight broke out between the Trekies, the Doomsdayers, and the Christian Soldiers. Battle cries rang out from the opposing groups, fists flying--wildly for the most part since they weren't ordinarily violent people and had had little practice in hand-to-hand combat.
Despite the excitement, it seemed unlikely anyone was going to get hurt badly. The Doomsdayers were battering the Christians with 'The end is here' signs while the Trekies pelted them with their rubber weapons.
The police had their hands full trying to control an escalating fight between warring factions of Elvis fanatics and could not come to the aid of the Christians, who were finally driven off by the ferocity of the Trekie/Doomsdayer force. The alliance, of course, collapsed with no common enemy to unite them and battle once again ensued, this time between the Trekies and the Doomsdayers. Except for keeping a wary eye on them, the military, safely behind the concrete barricades set up to protect the scientists and politicians from the general riffraff, ignored the battles for the most part, standing with guns at the ready in case another group tried to storm their position. Some of the pacifists who'd tried to do so ten minutes earlier were still on the ground clutching the bruises inflicted by the rubber bullets they'd fired on them.
I have never in my life seen so many lunatics gathered together in one place, Mai thought in disgust as she watched the shifting masses at the forefront fighting for a better position on the tarp. Glancing toward the group of 'aliens' she had come with to see what they thought of the ruckus, she wondered if she should include herself in that assessment.
The media were interspersed in the crowd since no one was willing to give up their spot near the front just so some reporter and camera crew could stand there and block everyone else's view. The throng of people closest to the front was shoulder to shoulder--and getting chummier every minute--but there was still breathing room where Mai stood. She could just make out the president in his seat on the dais twiddling his thumbs. Politicians from around the world were seated behind and to either side of him. A group of scientists were squeezed together in the very back, looking around nervously.
All in all, Mai considered hers a good spot for the night of a life time. She couldn't see as well as she would've liked, but she could still see everything going on and she felt a lot safer getting a distant view than trying to work her way into the crazy crowd.
Not far from where she was standing, an anchor woman shouted into a microphone over the dull roar of the crowd. "We're here live in Atlanta Georgia, where NASA projects the spacecraft will land. As you can see behind me, there's quite a group gathered here for this historic event--"
The loonies have gathered from the four corners of the Earth.
It was no surprise things had gotten a little out of hand. When NASA had announced the discovery of a space craft that had entered Earth's solar system, it was the biggest thing to happen--ever. As soon as it was made public where the predicted landing site might be, people had started pouring into the city from around the world. Mai had hopped a ride with a girl she worked with and her friends and had only had to endure three hours of rabid Star Trek talk to get to the city.
What if they were wrong? What if the aliens decide to land somewhere else? She could well imagine the crazed people around her fighting for a piece of the scientists. I wonder if that thought's crossed their minds?
But maybe it had. Maybe that was the real agenda of the military presence. She couldn't see that they were going to prove to be much of a deterrent to the aliens, not shooting rubber bullets.
Or maybe they were planning on switching to live ammo when they saw the ship?
NASA may or may not have tried to hide the discovery, based on the length of time the craft had actually been coming toward the planet. The conspiracy theorists had had a field-day with that one. NASA, of course, claimed that they just didn't see it coming until last week and blamed it on the budget. The president pledged many billions of tax-payer dollars for their program to avoid anything like this ever happening again, despite NASA's assurances that the odds were astronomical--and also despite the fact that the sod had already spent more 'tax' money than the ten presidents before him. The aliens, meanwhile, had yet to respond to repeated attempts at communication and NASA had issued a warning that they could be hostile.
Naturally, no one paid that any attention. If they were hostile, why bring only one ship? Why move so openly without any attempt to hide the fact that they were heading straight for Earth?
Despite the doomsdayers, and the Christian soldiers who seemed to think the aliens had come with the sole purpose of fucking up their religious beliefs in the 'creation', the majority of the people gathered had come just to watch the show of a life time.
Real, live, aliens!
Mai could hardly believe it herself. She didn't think she'd ever been so excited in her life. This was the sort of story everybody dreamed of being able to tell their grandkids.
Not that she had any--or any kids for that matter--or even a frigging boyfriend if it came to that.
She did hope they were cute and not something butt ugly and completely undesirable because the pickings on Earth sure as hell were getting slim.
As she watched, the people at the far edge turned, falling silent, their faces tipped toward the sky. Their actions created a domino effect until at last everyone was looking. In the sky, a large, oblong ship floated lazily, silently, into view. Its surface was dull and metallic, covered in pockmarks as if it had seen a lot of wear and tear. On the nose of the ship were strange, blue runes, lit from within.
Mai watched as the ship floated over her head, toward the center of the throng where a wide open space had been carefully set aside for their landing and maintained with grim determination by the military. Feeling the briefest sense of displacement at the dreamlike quality of the scene as a whole, Mai startled at the sudden shouting that originated in the ranks of the Doomsdayers. The mood of the throng shifted palpably from awe and she was buffeted with a cacophony of sounds.
The ship, now centered over the clearing, set down with slow dignity, settling in a small cloud of dust kicked up by the engines. Jumping to his feet, the president shambled ape-like to the microphone at the center of the stage. Looking down carefully to ensure his feet were on the large X he'd been told to stand on, he fidgeted as he waited for the ship to open, making ineffectual hushing sounds at the crowd.
Apparently too impatient to deliver his 'historical welcome' to actually wait for the appearance of the aliens, the president leaned over the mike "Welcome friends." Minutes slipped by and he stood twitching nervously as he awaited their reply. After a moment, when nothing happened, he turned to the crowd and plastered a lopsided grin across his face. "Please, uh, everyone quiet down a lil' You're scarin' our space visitors, I, uh, think."
No one paid him any attention, continuing to murmur and gesture toward the craft. Abruptly, the door to the ship hissed open and a ramp extended to the ground like a great slivery tongue. From the dark, yawning hole emerged the sound of tramping feet. With bated breath, the crowd watched as a figure emerged from the dim interior and then another and another. Marching with almost military precision, the group made their way down the ramp.
As the closest of the throng finally caught sight of the aliens, who had come to Earth from outside the solar system, Mai heard shouts of disbelief and anger. She understood why as soon as the first came into her own view and she saw black, red-lined capes plucked by a slight breeze, gliding up the steps of the dais toward the politicians.
As the leader reached the top of the dais and stopped, she saw he was tall--easily a head taller than the 'great man' who'd come to greet the alien race. Long, dark hair flowed unfettered around his shoulders. His skin was pale--very pale--but the pigmentation was all too familiar--not blue or green or anything anyone on Earth had come to associate with aliens, but white people color--or maybe pale Asian. It was a little hard to be certain from such a distance.
"They're human!" Mai gasped in surprise, feeling an abrupt surge of euphoria as it occurred to her that her wish had been granted. Men!
"Humanoid," one of the Trekies said irritably over his shoulder.
Looks human to me, Mai thought, wondering as the others who'd first seen them apparently had if they'd all been the victims of some wild practical joke.
If they weren't human, they were sure as hell close enough to suit her! Two of everything they were supposed to have, from what she could see, gorgeous build, beautiful black hair--Hallelujah, thank you god! Men! If they're gay I'll kill myself!
She didn't see any women. Was that a bad sign or a good sign? She wondered.
As six others came into view, she saw that each of them wore their long black hair bound at the nape of the neck. They were dressed identically in fitted black pants with black jackets trimmed with gold and ruffled white shirts. Each seemed to have attained the flawlessly pale skin she, with her honeyed complexion, had never been able to achieve even with cosmetics. Although from what she could see they were all handsome, the leader was by far the most handsome of all, having a quality about him she could not put her finger on, but that set him apart from the rest. They carried themselves with a grace of movement, a smoothness Mai had only read about in books.
For all their beauty, though, something seemed a bit off--something about them made her uneasy. She couldn't decide if it was the fact that they were aliens, if something really was peculiar about them, or if it was all in her head.
It dawned on her as the president erupted into his carefully prepared speech.
Emotion. They were surrounded by a tremendous, noisy crowd of alien beings and they were completely cool, calm, collected--emotionless about the whole situation.
"I would like ta, uh, welcome you. On behalf of myself and, uh, the world, to the United States of Amer'ca, the greatest country in the world."
At that comment, Mai looked sharply at the other politicians, at the men who had traveled half the globe to represent their countries, not surprised to see they were rigid with anger. So much for diplomacy.
The man had no tact. There was just no getting around it.
"It's so great," he extended his hand woodenly to their leader, who stared at it blankly several moments before taking it, "to meet people with, uh, who share our, the Amer'can people's, love for freedom and liberty. People, we have no doubt, willing to fight for freedom anywhere in the universe. I bet you boys have done some fighting of your own, so you understand that the war for freedom has to be fought, uh, even in space. Like you, we will continue to fight for the, uh, freedom and the liberty of the Amer'can people."
Mai frowned. She couldn't tell if that was how the speech was written, or if he'd simply forgotten his lines, but with that, he shook the alien's hand harder, giving a signal to the other politicians who, up to that point, had been sitting quietly awaiting their turn to greet the visitors. They sprang toward the aliens, bumping each other out of the way, shaking hands and posing for the flashing cameras. Several of the scientists, obviously embarrassed, covered their faces with their hands. The others seemed to be ignoring the politicians, pointing and whispering excitedly to each other.
Disappointment settled in Mai's gut. After all she'd been through to get here to get the chance to see the aliens, and she could see that dumb bastard was going to turn it into a media event, featuring him, so he could politicize! Next he was going to start rhapsodizing about all of his accomplishments--which were mostly in his frigging mind.
Well, I guess this is a historic moment for them, anyway. Guess I may as well get out of here before the crowd. For all the excitement it offered, this could have easily been a typical, boring press conference. I should have stayed home and watched the damned thing on CSPAN. At least I would have been comfortable.
Even as she turned to go, a sudden movement on the dais caught her eye and Mai stopped, her gaze riveted on what was transpiring on the stage. As one, the aliens pulled their respective greeters toward themselves, as if to hug them. Instead, to Mai's stunned disbelief, they leaned down and nuzzled the politicians' necks.
Ew, gross!
Damn it to hell! Aren't there any damned men anywhere that still like girls!
As stunned as she was, the crowd fell deathly quiet and then erupted into screams of panic and horror. Gun shots rang out and several soldiers fell dead, struck down by friendly fire as their comrades, scrambling to load live ammo, shot at the aliens. Thoroughly confused, Mai finally realized why as the alien leader released the president and the president's body flopped lifeless to the floor.
He turned to face his attackers then, drawing a long sword he had had concealed beneath his cape. He held his sword high, uttering a battle cry before falling upon the soldiers. His men drew swords as well and charged after him.
In Mai's mind, time seemed to slow down as she watched, completely dumb-founded. She felt as though she were watching a movie, not standing in a crowd of stampeding people.
Vampires? Real vampires? She thought disbelievingly.
Caught between horror and an odd fascination, she fought against a human tide, craning her neck to see what was happening.
Who stands a better chance at a time like this? She wondered. The men with their machine guns, or the seven vampires?
People nearest the barricade pressed back, trying to flee, while those behind either stood still or tried to press forward for a better look. The soldiers, apparently thrown into total panic by the abrupt attack fired at several people in the crowd who made it over the blockade.
Mai was finally swept away, shoved on all sides, knowing that to lose her balance was to die. Brought back to reality by her own danger, she looked around for something to climb on, some way to escape the crush of the crowd. Spotting a traffic pole, she worked furiously toward it, gaining precious little ground, but at last reached her goal. It still took an effort to climb, but she had incentive. Do or die. Shimmying up the pole, Mai sat on its outstretched arm.
Well, this is fucking great, she thought shakily when she'd managed to balance herself above the stampeding herd. Somehow this was not what she'd pictured in her mind as happening when aliens finally chose to visit Earth.
I don't know why. I mean, what the hell did I expect? 'We come in peace?' I should have stayed home. What am I supposed to do now?
Getting down was hardly an option. Although within a few minutes most of the people had passed her, she realized there was no way she could get through the swarm farther down the street and she didn't really feel up to trying.
Vampires. Irrationally, the word sent a thrill up her spine. As a die hard Goth, she'd always fantasized about meeting one. I just never thought about it turning out like this.
Somehow the reality seemed less real than the movies she'd seen, which was really bizarre when one thought about it.
Dismissing her thoughts, she looked around the landing site. The space between her perch and the barricades was almost devoid of humans now, except for a few left lying on the ground who hadn't managed to avoid the stampede she supposed, still alive, strangely enough, but barely, a fact she could tell by their slight movement.
It was actually quite surprising how quickly people could clear an area when the need arose.
It struck her suddenly that the soldiers were no longer shooting. She squinted, looking hard in their direction, but the only movement she saw came from the vampires themselves. All dead? That didn't seem possible. She decided they must have grabbed the scientists and politicians that had survived the attack and retreated.
A vampire stood as she watched, turning toward her--looking directly at her it seemed, though Mai thought it might have been her imagination. It was dark after all. Still, Mai's breath caught. A thrill that was part fear and part expectation ran through her as he sauntered toward her, passing through a newly made gap in the blockade and down the deserted street. He came to a halt underneath her, his golden eyes still intent on her own. Drawn to him like a moth to flame, Mai slid down the pole, tilting her face up to look at him.
She'd been right. He was handsome. He was unbelievably handsome, so gorgeous her mind went perfectly blank.
"Hi." Hi? Can't you do better than that? Her mind screamed. Something intelligent? Something poetic? Sexy? Anything at all! This is what you've dreamt of your whole life and all you can say to the first actual vampire you've ever even heard of is 'hi?'
The vampire lifted a hand as though to touch her, and she closed her eyes, tilting her head to the side to reveal her artery. This is it. It's finally happening. She shivered in anticipation. Will it hurt? Or will it be like pure ecstasy, the way they always describe it in books? She felt his gaze as he stood silently, studying her.
To her surprised dismay, he grabbed her breast and squeezed it experimentally, for all the world like he was testing a fruit for ripeness.
"You'll do." With that, he grabbed her, slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and headed back toward his ship.
Taking me some place private to ravish me? It was too much to hope that he'd fallen instantly in love with her on sight and realized the rest of eternity would be worse than hell without her. Still, could it possibly be a completely bad thing that he had swept her off her feet and was carrying her away like a heroine in a vampire novel? Her heart beat rapidly in her chest and heat crawled slowly through her body at the thought of what he might do.
This is it! She thought as he carried her up the ramp, as they entered the dark cavern of the ship. He shouted something over his shoulder to his men, who were quick to run in after him, carrying their own burdens. The ramp slid up and the door hissed closed, plunging them in darkness. All told, by Mai's mental calculations, the vampires had only been on Earth for ten minutes before picking up and leaving.
It would have been a great time to look around at the ship's interior. If she'd been able to see in pitch blackness.
"Where are we going?" She heard a grunt, but could not tell if it had come from the vampire that held her, or one of the others. Mai had just decided to try again when one of her fellow captors, to her right, started screaming shrilly. This went on several minutes, the woman's captor laughing, with no one else seeming to care.
"Shut up already! If he was going to eat you, he'd have done it already." I think. It made sense, didn't it?
"Who's there?" the woman's voice bordered on hysteria. Mai contemplated being silent, but decided that would probably set the fool off again and she had no interest in listening to that.
"My name's Mai."
"Mai? I'm scared! I don't belong here. I don't deserve this! It's not fair! Let me go! Let go of me you monster--" Mai heard a thud and the woman become suddenly quiet. She was actually a little glad. As though she's the most important person here or something! I have friends who would gladly take her place. They would have likely fought tooth and nail to take her place. And mine. Were they watching everything on TV? Did they see the vampires? She felt more than a little smug, having done everything she could to convince them to come with her. I bet there're kicking themselves now. She knew deep down that she should feel sorry for the woman, but it was hard to care about an insane voice in the darkness, and she could tell that fear had driven the woman mad. Or maybe I'm the mad one for not being scared? It was not something she wanted to think about.
Mai was startled out of her thoughts by a sudden hiss. Before she could even wonder at its meaning, she was thrown through the air. She had time for one tiny squeak of dismay before she landed with a bounce in a heap on a bed.
"Ow! Damn it! You made me bite my tongue!"
Mai gingerly sat up, unable to keep her balance in the dark.
"Stay where you are." The voice was deep and masculine, sending a shiver through her spine.
"Can't you--"
A hiss told her it was already too late to ask for a light. What now? It did not seem to fit that prisoners on vampire ships would get their own bed room, so this had to be his bed, right? Assuming that they were wrong about vampires sleeping in coffins? Were they really coffins, or space pods? That would make a lot of sense.... More importantly, he wouldn't bring her into his own room unless he had ... plans ... would he?
So, he had to go do some captain stuff. When he gets back, he'll seduce me. He's just the type that hates to be interrupted, that's all. It made sense of a kind. Satisfied she had solved the mystery of his disappearance, Mai made up her mind to beat him to the punch. She carefully pulled off her clothes, folding them and dropping them over the side of the bed. That done, she crawled around until she found what she assumed to be a pillow, and lay down. Carefully draping her hair around herself and splaying it across the pillow for a nice effect, she posed and awaited his return. She lay in that same awkward position for what seemed to be hours, knowing that if she moved, he would choose that exact moment to come back in. It was little wonder she dozed off.
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