The Tiny Vampire From Outer Space That’s Bitey XIII: The Uprising (Shadow Conn Tiny Vampire Book 13)

Earth's sky is now purple, and the humans have noticed. It's not a rare sun effect or a trick on the eyes, and rioters demanding answers have appeared on the streets of Beach City. Marcus is less than thrilled and has vowed not to put up with that behavior on another planet.

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Chapter 1

The Sky Is Still Purple

 

Marcus walked downstairs in a pair of sweatpants. He turned on the TV in the back parlor to listen to it while he tried to figure out what he wanted to eat and what he wanted to feed Shadow.

Nothing looked good. Marcus would have preferred to hunt tonight.

“Sire!”

Marcus closed the refrigerator and turned his head toward the doorway. “Shari, did you bring food?”

“I have two Umbra Ones,” Shari said as she held the containers up. “Is little sire up?”

“She is not,” Marcus said. He took the Umbra One from Shari when she handed it to him. “Is this a special Umbra One?”

“It’s cherry,” Shari said.

Marcus tasted it. “It’s pretty good. Is that what Shadow’s is?”

“It is,” Shari said.

“You can take that to Shadow,” Marcus said.

“Does she need help?” Shari asked.

Marcus looked at her. “Who told you she needs help?”

“Um, no one,” Shari said.

“You’re observant. I guess that’s a good thing,” Marcus said. “I think she needs a shower. If you want to start the water for her.” He started to drain his Umbra One. “Just the water, please. Don’t embarrass her.”

“I won’t.” Shari hopped out of the kitchen.

Marcus drained his Umbra One on the way into the back parlor. He wanted to watch the news for a minute.

He frowned when he saw the images and immediately called Lucia.

“Marcus. I guess you’ve heard,” Lucia said.

“Come here,” Marcus said. “Those protests look serious.”

“They’re all up in arms over the purple sky, demanding the government give them answers and stop trying to tell them it’s an effect of the sun,” Lucia said.

“Are they out front of the apartment building?” Marcus asked.

“No, but the images on the TV make it look that way. They’re closer to the beach than they are here,” Lucia said.

“Is it continent wide?” Marcus asked.

“It’s all over this planet,” Lucia said. “Cities and towns mostly.”

“Well, come out here. It’ll be safer,” Marcus said.

“I’ll pack some bags and get the childer ready. We’ll be out there in a couple hours,” Lucia said. “What do you want to do about the shelter?”

“Are they burning and looting?” Marcus asked.

“Doesn’t seem like it,” Lucia said.

“I may head over there as soon as I get dressed,” Marcus said.

“You’re not dressed yet?”

“I came downstairs to get Shadow some food and watch the news. Shari beat me to the food, so she’s feeding Shadow and helping her. I’m making phone calls.”

“Shari’s a good little helper,” Lucia said. “But what does Shadow need help with?”

“The question is more like what she doesn’t need help with,” Marcus said. “You know how Umbra had everything automated?”

“I do,” Lucia said. “I didn’t have any of that stuff though.”

“Well, Shadow had all of it,” Marcus said.

“Oh crap,” Lucia said. “So, she can’t wash.”

“Can’t wash. She can barely choose her clothes,” Marcus said. “And if it’s got a zipper or hooks or anything like that, she can’t fasten it. Once she’s dressed, she’s good.”

Lucia laughed. “Marcus, it would take you half a night to teach her all that.”

“If I had half a night,” Marcus said.

“Well, maybe I’ll do it,” Lucia said. “Depending on how long I’m there.”

“Usually, I do it,” Marcus said. “We’ve had some conversations about it.”

“And you told her it doesn't matter,” Lucia said.

“I like doing it,” Marcus said.

“There’s no way you have time to wash her and dress her every night,” Lucia said. “You need to teach her or you need to let me teach her. Hell, even Shari could teach her. It’s got to be fixed, Marcus.”

Marcus sighed. “I’ll think about it.”

“I’ll be there in a little more than an hour,” Lucia said.

“I’ll see you when you get here.” Marcus ended the call just as Shadow and Shari hopped into the back parlor. “You two look good… And smell good.”

“I found scented soap,” Shari said.

“Are you all zipped?” Marcus turned Shadow around. “Oh, this is the dress with hooks.”

“One of them. She has several, but I thought this would be nice because it’s thicker and longer,” Shari said. “We got the straps on too for the long socks.”

“Thank you, Shari. I appreciate it,” Marcus said. “Your grandsire will be here in about an hour.”

“Oh great. We can play cards. Is she bringing Octavious and Ortho?”

“She is,” Marcus said.

“Ok. I better hurry then. I still have to do my classes,” Shari said.

“You better hurry,” Marcus said then grinned. He looked at Shadow after Shari left. “Did she embarrass you?”

“No,” Shadow said. “She actually showed me how to wash, so I can do it next time.”

Marcus ran his hands down his face. “I’m sorry, Shadow. I guess I should have shown you. My sire was a little miffed I hadn’t shown you either.”

“I told you you should have taught me,” Shadow said.

“I guess she showed you the zippers and straps too.”

“She did, but she said I’ll never be able to do the hooks,” Shadow said.

“No one would be able to fasten the hooks by themselves,” Marcus said.

“You’re disappointed,” Shadow said.

“I’m disappointed that I didn’t do it when you asked the other night, and one of my childer beat me to it,” Marcus said.

“Well, you can still do it, but you’re getting busier,” Shadow said.

“I know,” Marcus said. “It’s fine.”

“You’re not dressed,” Shadow said. She slid her hands down his chest.

“I’m heading upstairs to shower and dress now.” Marcus leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll meet you over at the cabin. If they’re doing reading, I want you doing it.”

Shadow huffed.

“Huff all you want, but go do it,” Marcus said.

Shadow grumbled as she walked out of the parlor and out the front door of the stone house. Marcus was in a terrible mood tonight.

She spotted Jacob on her walk to the cabin. “Jacob.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He walked over.

“Can I have a bite?” Shadow asked.

“Big bite or little bite?”

“Little bite,” Shadow said. “It’s a horrible night, and I don’t even know why.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He held out his arm. “Right there.”

Shadow sank her fangs into his forearm and drank deeply for a few seconds.

“Better?” he asked.

“Yeah. Thanks,” Shadow said.

She continued on to the cabin and entered through the back door.

“Shadow, are you hungry?” Alera asked.

“I just ate,” Shadow said. “I found Jacob.”

“Jacob?”

“One of the jungle foods,” Shadow said.

“Oh, you named him,” Alera said.

“I thought it’d be easier than yelling, hey, food,” Shadow said.

Alera laughed. “Where’s Marcus?”

“Showering and dressing. He wants me to read,” Shadow said.

“Ok, I think Shari and Marc are working with Sabina on reading. Let me check.” Alera walked out of the kitchen and into the back parlor. “Are you guys reading?”

“We’re teaching Sabina,” Marc said.

“Can Shadow join?”

“Of course,” Marc and Shari both said.

“Shadow, you can come in,” Alera said.

Shadow walked into the room.

“Here.” Marc handed her a writing book and a pencil.

Shadow sat down on the floor and put her book and pencil on the coffee table.

“Is she a childe?” Sabina asked.

“No,” Shari said. “This is our female sire, but she’s older and only knows Latin.”

“Oh,” Sabina said. “I can’t write either one.”

“We’re going to fix that,” Shari said.

Shadow opened her book. “What’s mother?”

“Mater,” Marc said. “The words are ‘Mater accedit ad copia’, but the English is ‘The mother goes to the store’.”

“Oh, that is a lot of words,” Shadow said.

“English is long,” Marc said. “They spell out every single word.”

“But it’ll show you a picture, and you can write the words and sentences,” Shari said.

“Okay.” Shadow practiced writing the words. She laughed.

“What’s funny?” Sabina asked.

“Mater scribit,” Shadow said. “Or, I guess in English, the mother writes.”

“Looks accurate to me,” Marc said then laughed.

“Is every childe here yours?” Sabina asked.

“Yes,” Shadow said. “Why?”

“We showed her the other childer,” Shari said.

“And then said don’t bother them,” Sabina said.

“They’re still sleeping and growing,” Shadow said.

“Someone said he plans to number the rest,” Marc said.

“Um...” Shadow contemplated. “Well, I don’t know. I guess, to be more specific, we don’t know.”

“What don’t you know?” Marcus asked as he stepped into the doorway of the parlor dressed in a pair of black slacks and a black long-sleeved, button shirt.

“They asked how we were naming the rest of the childer,” Shadow said. “And why we might just give them numbers.”

“Oh. We don’t know,” Marcus said. “It’s an ongoing debate.”

“Why would they not be named?” Shari asked.

“Because these are childer ten through forty,” Marcus said. “They’re not firstborns.”

“Oh,” Shari said. “I didn’t know there was a difference.”

“Neither did Shadow. That’s why we’re still discussing it,” Marcus said.

“Shadow?” Sabina asked.

Marcus motioned. “My Bonded. Please, don’t confuse her for another of your siblings, even though, she needs to learn the same things you do.”

“Why doesn't she know?” Sabina asked.

“Because she was borne on Umbra and didn't have a need to learn new cultures or languages, like I did,” Marcus said.

“Wasn’t the trip here six months?” Sabina asked.

“Sabina,” Marc said. “It’s really not appropriate to keep questioning our sires like this.”

Sabina frowned and looked around.

“It’s fine. Sabina is extremely young. She didn’t hatch with half the knowledge you have, Marc, so we’ll show some leniency in this instance,” Marcus said. “Shadow was working on other skills during that time. Skills I will eventually teach you.”

“Oh, no. I’m behind too!” Sabina said.

“You won’t be for long,” Marcus said. “You’re new siblings will see to that.”

“Speaking of our new siblings,” Marc said. “We can help name them if that’s the problem.”

“It’s part of the problem,” Marcus said.

“Well, we can name them,” Shari said. “Or help you name them.”

Marcus contemplated. “What do you think, Shadow?”

“I think that’s fine,” Shadow said, even though the names were only part of the problem.

“All right. You can name the next one,” Marcus said. He grinned when all the childer ‘yay’d’. “Shadow, are you done with your lesson?”

“Uh, almost,” Shadow said. “I don’t know what this thing is.”

“Let me look.” Marcus walked around the table. He leaned down and looked at the image. “The word is bat, looks like a carved wooden stick to me.”

“Oh yeah,” Marc said. “That one is really hard. We had to look it up.” He picked up his tablet and typed words into the search bar. “Here. Sire. This explains that bat.”

Marcus took the tablet from Marc and read. “Oh. Shadow, it’s for a game. You hit a ball with that bat and then run around a square. The game is called baseball.” Marcus showed her the image of the field.

“Oh. Good grief. How is anyone supposed to know that?” Shadow wrote the word and then wrote a sentence.

Marcus read her sentence and laughed.

“What’d she write?” Marc asked.

“The bat is hitting a ball,” Marcus said. “And she drew a ball next to the bat.”

“That’s not bad,” Marc said. “How’s her spelling?”

“She spelled is with a Z, and there’s only one T and L,” Marcus said. “But this is better than it was.”

“What’s it supposed to be?” Shadow asked.

“Like this.” Marcus took her pencil and wrote the sentence above hers.

“Oh. This is so confusing,” Shadow said.

“You’ll get better at it,” Marcus said. “Let’s try this next one. What’s the picture?”

“Another ball,” Shadow said.

“Okay. Spell ball here.” He motioned then watched. “Now, write a sentence with ball.” Marcus watched and laughed.

“What’d she put?” Sabina asked.

“Ball is hard to spell,” Marcus said.

The childer laughed.

“All right. Shadow and I have things to do,” Marcus said.

“I’ll save the book,” Shari said.

“Thank you. She’ll be back to work some more in it later,” Marcus picked Shadow up and carried her out of the parlor. [That was a more intense conversation than I wanted this early in the evening.]

[They were pretty intense tonight,] Shadow said to Marcus.

Marcus carried her out the back door. “A little privacy might do us some good.”

“Treehouse?”

“Good idea.” Marcus carried her to the treehouse and up the stairs before setting her on her feet.

“What do we need to talk about?” Shadow sprawled across the bed.

“The riots,” Marcus said as he watched her. “Did Shari put boots on you?”

“She did,” Shadow said.

“Did she show you how to fasten them?” Marcus asked as he walked over to the fireplace and lit it.

“She did,” Shadow said.

Marcus turned around once the fireplace was flaming. “Do you know how to take them off?”

Shadow laughed. “Yes.” She sat up and pulled on her boots.

“Don’t get in a hurry. Those won’t slide off like your sandals.” Marcus walked over and unlaced them. “You’ll break your foot.” He tossed the boots on the floor.

Marcus sat on the edge of the bed. “I think half the time it’s not that you don’t know, it’s that you’re lazy. Watch.” He leaned down and unlaced his shoes before removing them. “If I toe these off like you do your sandals, I’d scuff them. Probably pull off the heels too.”

“I thought we were going to talk about the riots,” Shadow said as she slid into his lap.

“We are.” Marcus slid his hands up her sides before kissing her. “But I also have other things on my mind… Which you can’t hear because I dimmed everything the other night because you were getting stressed by it. Do you feel better now?”

“Yes,” Shadow said.

Marcus kissed her again as he opened the Bond to its previous level. He should have done that last night. Their hot tub adventure might have been more pleasurable, not that he could complain.

Shadow laughed at his thoughts. You didn’t like the hot tub?”

“It could have been better,” Marcus said between kisses.

“Marcus, do you have the news on up there?” Oliver yelled from the ground.

Marcus turned his head. “Not yet.”

“You may want to turn that on. Are you still decent?” Oliver asked.

“Unfortunately.” Marcus slid Shadow out of his lap before standing and grabbing the remote for the TV. He turned it on to the news.

Oliver walked through the door of the treehouse. “It’s not my goal to interrupt, but it’s getting worse in town.”

“I see that,” Marcus said. “Lucia and the childer should be here any time.”

“That’s probably a good thing because they’re burning buildings,” Oliver said.

Shadow rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah. Burning the buildings will get the sky to turn back to blue and the government to tell them why it turned purple.”

“Too bad we can’t drink them. It’d be a good opportunity to take the childer hunting. The older ones anyway,” Marcus said as he watched the screen. “That’s too close to the shelter and apartment building. I have to go into town.”

Shadow huffed.

“You could still do a culling,” Oliver said. “You don’t have to drain them to kill them.”

“That is true.” He looked at Shadow as he grabbed his shoes. “Put your shoes on.”

Shadow put her boots on.

Oliver leaned down to make sure they were tied. “Good job.”

“Shari showed her earlier,” Marcus said as he put his shoes on.

“Do you want the other childer?”

“Marc and Shari,” Marcus said as he picked Shadow up.

“I’ll tell Alera to get them ready,” Oliver said. “Are you driving?”

“No,” Marcus said. “We’ll portal in.”

Oliver held the back door open for Shadow and Marcus once they got to the cabin.

“Are they ready?” Marcus asked.

“Almost. I had them change into their jeans,” Alera said.

“Shadow, do you want to change?” Marcus asked.

Shadow looked down at her dress.

“You’ll stand out in that.” Alera walked over to the replicator and programmed a new set of clothes. She handed them to Shadow.

Shadow took the clothes and walked into the hall bath to change.

“You won’t stand out. You’re going to blend into every shadow on the street,” Alera said to Marcus.

“I didn’t plan it that way, but I like these clothes.” Marcus turned his head when Julian walked into the kitchen. “Julian.”

“Sire, I was wondering if I could go,” Julian said.

Marcus looked at Julian. He was wearing black jeans, a long-sleeved black turtleneck and his boots. “Did you change?”

“I did, sire. I was hoping,” Julian said.

“He was in the TV room when I told Shari and Marc,” Alera said.

“Okay. You can come. Was Arrian interested? Or Camille?” Marcus asked.

“I don’t think so,” Julian said. “They were watching bugs bunny.”

Marcus nodded. “You can join. I can handle one more.”

“One more what?” Lucia asked as she walked down the hall into the kitchen.

“Childe on a hunting trip,” Marcus said.

“Are you going into Beach City?” Lucia asked.

“They’re getting too close to the apartment building and shelters,” Marcus said.

“You can’t eat them,” Lucia said.

“That doesn’t stop us from killing them,” Marcus said.

“I guess I’ll go. Help you keep track of the kids,” Lucia said.

“Are you sure? Where’s Ortho and Octavious?” Marcus asked.

“Watching bugs bunny with the girls and enjoying some snacks.” Lucia motioned down the hall.

“All right,” Marcus said. He wasn’t going to argue with his sire. Plus, with three childer and Shadow, he was going to need another set of eyes.

“Sorry that took me so long,” Shari said. “I couldn’t find my black jeans.”

“It’s fine. Your grandsire and Julian are coming too,” Marcus said.

“Great. This’ll be fun!” Shari hopped.

“You can’t drain them, or you’ll get sick,” Lucia said.

“I know,” Shari said.

“The goal is to keep them away from the apartment building and the shelter,” Marcus said. “If they approach our block, they die. It is that simple. I am not going to tolerate this behavior on another planet.”

“Okay,” Marc said.

“I understand,” Shari said.

Marcus opened a portal. “To my office at the shelter. We’ll talk more there.”

 

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The Tiny Vampire From Outer Space That’s Bitey XXII: Deep Space Space Station (Shadow Conn Tiny Vampire Book 22)

Marcus has had it with the Space Agency and the flying chunk of experimental metal they said was a fully-functioning, state-of-the-art spaceship. The ship has had nothing but problems, and the Space Agency has done nothing but try to strand them out in deep space. Marcus is beyond angry, and he will do something about the Space Agency and Area 51 with Shadow, Alera, Oliver, Lucia and Captain George's help.

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Chapter 1 – Enroute to the Deep Space Station

 

 

Marcus looked at the viewscreen in front of him. He was on the bridge monibut there’s no rush,” Marcus said.

They annihilated the food.

Marcus looked at Shadow. “Did you not explode a bloodcake?”

“I ate them gently,” Shadow said.

“That’s not like you,” Marcus said. He started to ask if she was feeling alright when she stood.toring the ship because Mark wanted a night off. Marcus understood completely, and it was fair. Marcus got to spend a significant amount of time on Umbra. Mark had spent less than a night on their home planet, so Marcus decided to give him a night off. The first officer wasn’t off, but he wasn’t on the bridge either. Marcus had sent him downstairs to cover for security while those officers had dinner and most of the crew switched to the overnight shift. Jake wouldn’t have to stay on the security level for long. Just a couple hours. Marcus, on the other hand, was trapped on the bridge all night.

It really wasn’t that bad. Marcus liked watching the stars and suns and planets as they zoomed by, and they’d gotten the viewscreen to slow down so that you could actually view everything. It simply jumped ahead every couple of minutes. The scanners on the ship were more efficient in that regard. They could scan and analyze at the speed the ship was traveling. The viewscreen, however, was delayed, and if they hadn’t delayed it, they’d be watching a blur. Marcus was certain it’d be headache-inducing.

Shadow was shopping with Lucia and Alera. Marcus figured she’d make her way up to the bridge later in the evening, once she’d bought out most of the stores.

Their estimated time en route to the space station was four months, but the engines weren’t yet spooled to full speed. Marcus expected that time to decrease, but there was no way of knowing by how much.

So far, everything seemed to be functioning properly. Mark had said that there were no problems while they were at Umbra. That was a relief. Even after personally overseeing the deletion of that hostile program, Marcus hadn’t been convinced that it’d been fully deleted.

Right now, everything appeared to be fine.

“Any anomalies?” Marcus asked.

“None so far,” the helmsman said. “It's been pretty smooth. It was smooth at the planet too.”

“You had no problems while we were down on the surface?” Marcus asked.

“None with the instruments. Those crewmen that we stuck in the brig were another story,” the helmsman said.

“I haven’t read that report yet,” Marcus said.

“They used a dinner break to take off a panel. Well, one of them did. He made it into the hall before he was caught,” the helmsman said. “I’m not sure where he thought he was going.”

Marcus contemplated. “Neither am I. I suppose he could have stolen a shuttle, but there’s nothing out here except vampire planets that are running out of food.”

“I didn’t think it was too terribly safe out here in this galaxy,” the helmsman said.

“Not for living creatures,” Marcus said. “If they catch one of you, you’ll just become food. If they catch two of you, you’ll be put into a food breeding program.”

“None of that sounds pleasant, but he earned himself a place in a stasis chamber,” the helmsman said.

“So, he’ll be asleep for the duration of the trip,” Marcus said.

“It’s worse than that. Our stasis chambers are cold-storage technology,” the helmsman said. “When he’s woken up, he’ll be miserably cold, and it takes about three days to warm up.”

“Serves him right for trying to escape,” Marcus said.

The helmsman nodded. “We’ve got three months to the space station now.”

“Those engines seem to be getting faster,” Marcus said.

“I don’t know what it is. When we first took off, they were at 80 percent efficiency, according to the computer. Now, it’s 90 percent,” he said.

“When did that start?” Marcus asked.

“After you had that new code installed,” the helmsman said.

“How are the rest of the gauges?” Marcus asked as he sat down in the captain’s chair.

“All green,” he said.

“That makes no sense.”

“No, sir,” the helmsman said.

“Are the engineers compiling data on that?” Marcus asked.

“I believe so,” he said.

Marcus called down to engineering.

“What can we do for you, captain?”

“Are you collecting data on the engine operations?” Marcus asked.

“We are. I guess you saw that 90 percent efficiency.”

“I did,” Marcus said.

“We are looking into it. We’re flying faster, but the ship appears to be handling it,” the chief engineer said.

“Keep looking into it. This ship was built on government contracts,” Marcus said. He could just see the steel in the hull not rated for the engines at 100 percent.

“We know. We’re on it.”

Marcus ended the communication. “When do they send lunch up here?”

The helmsman looked at the clock. “It should be on its way up.”

Marcus turned his head when the elevator door opened.

Shadow hopped onto the bridge and over to Marcus. She handed him a box.

Marcus chuckled. “You gift-wrapped it?” He pulled off the bow and unwrapped the box before opening it. “Fancy bloodchocolates.” He held one up.

“She knows what you like,” the helmsman said.

“She does.” Marcus ate it. Then, he kissed Shadow.

“Here’s the rest of it,” Alera said as she rolled a cart into the room.

She was followed by a human crewmember.

“And I have the food for everyone else,” the crewmember said.

“Fantastic,” the helmsman said.

“This is for everyone and Shadow,” Alera said. “She wanted to have lunch with you.”

“We’ll have ours in the briefing room,” Marcus said.

“We can handle it out here,” the helmsman said.

“Thank you,” Marcus said.

“Will we see you for dinner?” Alera asked.

“Yes. I have first shift starting a little early tonight,” Marcus said. He filled a tray and walked into the briefing room with Shadow.

Shadow sat down at the long table.

Marcus set a blood and a plate of bloodcakes in front of her. He set a blood, the bloodchocolates and a few bloodcakes at his spot and sat down.

“How’s the ship?” Shadow asked as she picked up her blood.

“Fine so far,” Marcus said. “I’m concerned about the engines continuously spooling faster, but nothing seems to be wrong.”

Shadow drained her blood. “How long to the space station?”

“Three months,” Marcus said.

“Wasn’t it four months?” Shadow asked.

“Yes, and actually, we’ve only been out about five months. If this keeps up, we’ll be two months or more ahead of schedule,” Marcus said.

“The Space Agency won’t be expecting us,” Shadow said.

“N0, they won’t be. And that’s a good thing.” Marcus said then looked at Shadow. “We could have spent that week on Umbra like you wanted.”

“I think it would have been more than a week, but it’s fine,” Shadow said. “I liked being back, but that’s not home anymore.”

“It didn’t feel much like home to me either,” Marcus said as he grabbed a couple bloodchocolates and ate them. “These are really good.”

“It was a new product at the snack shop,” Shadow said.

“That was really thoughtful of you,” Marcus said.

“I know you had other plans tonight,” Shadow said as she grabbed a bloodcake.

“I did, but there’s no rush,” Marcus said.

They annihilated the food.

Marcus looked at Shadow. “Did you not explode a bloodcake?”

“I ate them gently,” Shadow said.

“That’s not like you,” Marcus said. He started to ask if she was feeling alright when she stood.

 

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The Tiny Vampire From Outer Space That’s Bitey XXI: Umbra Adventure (Shadow Conn Tiny Vampire Book 21)

Shadow and Marcus are well on their way to taking over Earth. The humans are mostly oblivious. However, Marcus believes they need to start preparing to go back to Umbra in order to grab the technology on their old planet. In order to do that, they need to secure Earth. This means opening a vampire school and formally announcing the new vampire council.

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Chapter 1 – Orbiting Umbra

 

 

Marcus looked at the viewscreen. They were approaching Umbra. The last five days had passed relatively uneventfully. There were five crewman with illegal substances in their systems. Marcus was brought down to the conference room to review them. They were non-essential as far as Marcus was concerned, and he simply ordered the five humans to be dealt with according to the space agency regulations.

That had resulted in all five crewmembers being put in the brig, which excited Shadow, especially when Marcus had told her to help the security officers transport them to the brig. He knew she wanted to explore the security area further and learn how the holding cells worked.

The crewmembers’ trial dates were scheduled for the next week, but Marcus and a good portion of the Umbrian crew would be on Umbra while that occurred. Marcus decided to let the Chivitas crewmembers handle it along with the human security officers. It was a non-event in the great big grand scheme of things, but still had to be handled.

“We’re orbiting Umbra,” Mark said.

Marcus watched as Umbra came into view. It was still as purple as ever. “Let’s find out what’s down there.”

“Scanners activated,” the helmsman said.

“Zoom in,” Marcus said.

The helmsman zoomed the cameras.

“Not much, Captain,” the helmsman said.

Shadow turned her head. She stopped chewing her cookie and swallowed. “That’s a road, and there’s nothing on it.”

“There are plants growing in the ruts,” Marcus said. “That hasn’t been used in a while. Zoom out.”

The helmsman zoomed out slightly.

“Rural area,” Shadow said.

“We’re coming up on a town,” the helmsman said.

“That’s a living creature village. We’re on the wrong side of the planet,” Marcus said.

“It’s all forest. It’s like that resort area we own,” Shadow said as she watched. “Or mostly forest. Are there supposed to be fields over there?”

“This is where we pushed all the living creatures,” Marcus said. “They have bigger cities with stone-covered roads, but this isn’t one of them. And that was probably for livestock. Although, I don’t see any currently.”

The helmsman looked at the readout. “There are warm bodies down there.”

“How many?” Marcus asked.

“About forty,” the helmsman said.

“That might be a good sign,” Marcus said. “Zoom out further.”

“Good grief. That’s in the middle of nowhere,” Shadow said.

“It’s there because no one was able to get to it,” Marcus said. “Maybe, not as good a sign as it could be.” He turned his head to look at Shadow. “You can finish your cookie.”

Shadow ate the other half of her cookie and hopped over to Marcus.

Marcus pulled her into his lap and kissed the side of her face.

“We’re moving over to the other side,” the helmsman said.

Marcus looked. “This is the vampire side.”

“The roads and buildings look to all be intact,” Mark said.

“I see that, but I also don’t see anyone out,” Marcus said. “Zoom in.”

The helmsman zoomed the cameras in for a closer look.

Shadow shook her head. “That road is empty.”

“We’re coming up on the main street in this town,” Marcus said.

“There’s one.” Shadow pointed.

“That sure is a vampire,” Marcus said as he watched.

“I wonder where they found food,” Shadow said.

“No idea, but the lights are on, so if he or she had a few freezers full, it’s possible they’re eating their own supply,” Marcus said.

“They walked into a house,” Shadow said.

“That’s an apartment building,” Marcus said. “With a storefront on the bottom level. I know that building. The roof is pitched, so it looks like a house from above.”

“I recognize that road.” Shadow motioned.

“That’s our road,” Marcus said. “Or at least, the main road into our town.” He watched the screen. “There’s my house.”

“It’s right on the edge of town,” Shadow said.

“Three thousand years ago, it wasn’t even in town,” Marcus said.

“My house is coming up. Sorta. It’s three streets back.” She pointed. “Purple roof.”

“That’s those purple rocks that they slice into shingles,” Marcus said.

“They help keep the house warm,” Shadow said.

“That’s a little ways away from my house,” Marcus said.

“About a mile,” Shadow said.

“I think I made the right call,” Marcus said.

“About going to my house?” Shadow asked.

“Yes, because the shuttle was closer to my house,” Marcus said. “I always wondered if we could have made it to your house then to the shuttle before they departed. I don’t think so.”

“I don’t think so either,” Shadow said. “Not since I just saw the whole area.”

“We’ll get your stuff now,” Marcus said.

“You left everything?” Mark asked.

“I did,” Shadow said. “The bloodbank was between my house and Marcus’, and I didn’t have anything with me when I met Marcus.”

Marcus laughed suddenly and shook his head.

“What was that?” Mark asked.

“Something Shadow was thinking,” Marcus said.

“When I went to the bloodbank, I almost forgot clothes,” Shadow said.

Mark chuckled. “Let me guess, you just sleep with your blankets.”

“I do,” Shadow said. “And I had gone downstairs to get some food, but the fridge was empty, so I walked outside to go to the bloodbank. Then, I realized I was still naked.”

“I suppose I could have put my cloak on you,” Marcus said as he contemplated. “But I’m glad you decided to dress first. That might have changed the outcome.”

Mark shook his head.

Shadow laughed.

“I guess we need to get back to the task at hand,” Marcus said. “Did you want to circle the planet, looking for that potential space dock?”

“I think we should,” Mark said. “We can maintain orbit indefinitely, but it’d be easier for all the shuttles if we were at a stationary point.”

“All right. We’re not in a hurry. We can look and see if they built that space dock,” Marcus said.

“The estimated time to circle the planet and scan areas for the space dock is two hours,” the helmsman said.

“That’s fine,” Marcus said as he stood with Shadow in his arms. “We’ll go get a snack.”

“Marcus, how long are you going to be on the planet?” Mark asked.

“Several nights,” Marcus said. He set Shadow on her feet. “How long did you want to be down?”

“A night or two,” Mark said. “And one of us needs to be on the ship.”

“That is a good point. Why don’t you go down first and get what you want? We can go down once you get back,” Marcus said.

Shadow huffed.

“That’s the fair way to do it, huffy,” Marcus said. “And he’s right. We have to have a captain on the ship at all times.”

“What about the first officer?” Shadow asked.

Mark and Marcus both shook their heads.

“Oh,” Shadow said.

“Do you want the rest of these cookies?” the helmsman asked as he held out the bowl.

“Yes.” Shadow took the bowl.

“You’re going to become her best friend,” Marcus said.

Shadow hopped behind Marcus into the elevator. She ate the cookies on the way to the recreation level.

Marcus led her to the restaurant. The hostess seated them.

Shadow held up her empty bowl.

“Could you recycle that? That’s from the bridge,” Marcus asked.

“I can,” the hostess said as she took the bowl. “Was this a cookie bowl?”

“It was,” Marcus said.

“I like the leftovers,” Shadow said.

“Nothing wrong with that. Your waitress will be right over.”

Marcus looked at the menu. “There’s nothing new on the menu.”

“Let’s just get what we always get,” Shadow said.

Marcus looked up when he heard the waitress walking toward them.

“Can I get you the hungry hungry vampire for two?” she asked.

Marcus chuckled. “You can. Thank you.”

“I’ll be right back,” the waitress said.

Shadow glanced around the table.

“There aren’t any snacks yet,” Marcus said.

“Did you ever go to that restaurant that had the snacks in the middle of the table?” Shadow asked.

“That was Chompy V’s. I went there once,” Marcus said.

“I liked to get a fresh blood and eat the table snacks,” Shadow said.

Marcus chuckled. “I would have loved to have joined you.”

“Here’s your sampler platter.” The waitress walked up to the table and set the platter in the middle. “I’ll have your bloods right out.”

Shadow grabbed a bloodcake and ate it.

Marcus ate a couple bloodchocolates while the waitress brought their bloods.

The waitress set four bloods on the table.

Shadow grabbed one and opened it. “Do we need four?”

“Not really,” Marcus said.

“You’re family is here.” the waitress motioned.

Marcus looked. Oliver and Alera had just walked in. “Oh, yes. Bring us another sampler and a few more bloods.”

“I’ll bring it right now,” the waitress said.

“Marcus, we found you,” Alera said.

“Shadow wanted snacks,” Marcus said. “Have a seat. The waitress already brought your bloods, and I have more sampler platters on the way.

Oliver and Alera sat down.

“Where’s my sire?” Marcus asked as he picked up a bloodcake.

“On a date with Victor,” Alera said.

“I should have known,” Marcus said before taking a drink of his blood.

“I bet they bond within a week of returning to Earth,” Shadow said.

“Maybe,” Alera said. “Lucia is pretty level-headed.”

“I don’t know about that,” Oliver said. “They got a little carried away on our couch last night.”

“We were watching movies,” Alera said. “They excused themselves about halfway through.”

“That doesn’t seem like her,” Marcus said.

“Seems more like you,” Oliver said.

Shadow grinned. “Not us last night. We took a hot bath.”

“She’s not exaggerating. The water was steaming. I had to look at it to make sure it wasn’t boiling,” Marcus said.

“That’s a little hot even for me,” Alera said.

“It was great,” Shadow said.

They finished all the food on the table.

“When are we going down?” Alera asked.

“In a couple nights,” Marcus said. “Mark wants to go down, and he’ll only be down a night or two. We’ll be down at least a week, so I let him go first.”

“Well, that’s give us time to pack,” Alera said.

“It does, and I think it’s fair. We’ll be down longer, so he should go first,” Marcus said.

“It is fair,” Oliver said. “Plus, we won’t feel like we need to hurry.”

“Exactly,” Marcus said as he glanced across the table. “Are we finished?”

“I’m done,” Shadow said.

Marcus stood. He motioned to the waitress before picking Shadow up.

“Did you want this as separate charges?” the waitress asked.

“No, I’ll just pay for it all,” Marcus said.

“All right. Have a good rest of the night,” the waitress said.

Marcus led everyone out of the restaurant. “What were your plans the rest of the night?”

“Movies,” Oliver said. “You’re welcome to join us.”

“You can have the couch, and I have an extra-fluffy blanket,” Alera said.

“Movies!” Shadow said.

“Is the couch clean?” Marcus asked.

Alera laughed. “It is clean. I had the room cleaning system clean the entire room.”

“We’ll do movies,” Marcus said as they walked to the elevator.

Oliver told the computer to go to the officer level.

They walked off of the elevator when the doors opened and into Oliver and Alera’s suite.

“Do you expect Lucia to stop by here?” Marcus asked as he sat down with Shadow in his lap.

“I do,” Alera said. “And I thought you might like to hear some of her stories.”

“I would,” Marcus said as he set Shadow in her own seat while he took off his shoes.

Shadow took off her sandals.

“Here’s the blanket,” Alera said as she walked over.

Marcus sat with his back against the thickly padded arm of the couch.

Shadow climbed into Marcus’ lap.

Alera put the blanket over Shadow while Oliver found a movie.

“What are these stories?” Marcus asked.

“I’ll let her tell them when she gets here,” Alera said.

“Oh, I see,” Marcus said.

“We’ve watched all the jungle movies,” Oliver said. “I found a racing movie.”

“What are they racing?” Marcus asked.

“Spaceships,” Oliver said.

“That sounds fine to me,” Marcus said.

Oliver pressed play.

Shadow stretched out on Marcus and turned her head to watch the movie.

About an hour into the film, the suite door opened.

Shadow turned her head. It was Lucia.

Marcus sat up. “You look less than thrilled.”

“It’s been an interesting night,” Lucia said.

Oliver paused the movie. “How interesting?”

“He asked me how I would feel about staying on Umbra,” Lucia said.

“I don’t think that’s wise,” Marcus said. “We don’t know if the food situation is any better. We saw one human village, and it’s in the middle of the other side of the planet.”

“Were there living creatures there?” Lucia asked.

“There were,” Marcus said. “But it had forty living creatures in it.”

“That’s not enough,” Lucia said.

“No, it isn’t,” Marcus said. “How does he plan to eat?”

“He said he’ll take a replicator down,” Lucia said.

Marcus sighed. “I understand the desire. It’s home, but still.”

“I understand it. I don’t think it’s feasible,” Lucia said. “I said that. He wasn’t happy.”

“We’re not on a mission to recolonize Umbra,” Marcus said. “We didn't bring anything for that purpose. It’s simply a retrieval mission.”

“I said that,” Lucia said. “Plus, our families are on Earth.”

“Well, I tell you this, I won’t stop anyone from staying,” Marcus said. “But we’re not. Our childer are on Earth.”

“I’m not staying, Marcus,” Lucia said. “I didn’t tell him that, but I didn’t have to. He knows I won’t stay.”

Shadow stood and stretched.

“It was tempting to stay on Chivitas,” Oliver said. “Our house was still there. We found a food shop, but that’s not our home anymore.”

“I agreed with Oliver’s assessment. Chivitas isn’t our home anymore. We don’t have a future there,” Alera said.

“I don’t know what future Victor thinks he can have on a planet where he could be in torpor a few nights after we depart the space,” Lucia said.

“There is something to be said for hope,” Marcus said. “But I think it’s misplaced in this case.”

“Is his decision final?” Shadow asked.

“No, he wants to go down and explore. See how it is now,” Lucia said. “But he expressed a desire to stay if it’s better than it was.”

“I wonder what his metric for ‘better’ is,” Marcus said.

“I don’t know,” Lucia said.

“I wouldn’t write him off just yet,” Alera said. “He may be hopeful he can stay on Umbra, but he also loves you.”

“He hasn’t even said that,” Lucia said.

“Blame the male vampire,” Alera said. “How many times have you told Shadow that you love her, Marcus?”

“An embarrassingly few times,” Marcus said. “I can probably count it on one hand.”

“And never before we Bonded,” Shadow said.

“I think I did once,” Marcus said.

“Maybe one time,” Shadow said.

“So, it’s not uncommon,” Lucia said.

“It’s not,” Marcus said. “In fact, Alera may have picked up on the emotion, and he has not even realized it.”

“It’s been so long since I’ve been in a relationship,” Lucia said.

“A serious relationship,” Shadow said.

“I suppose she’s right. We were making plans for a life on Earth,” Lucia said.

“Where is he now?” Marcus asked.

“He said he was going to work,” Lucia said.

“Shadow, go downstairs to the science lab and be yourself,” Marcus said.

Shadow grinned. “I’ll find out what’s going on.” She hopped out of the suite.

 

 

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The Tiny Vampire From Outer Space That’s Bitey XX: Pitstop at Chivitas (Shadow Conn Tiny Vampire Book 20)

Marcus, Shadow, Oliver, Alera and Lucia are on their way to Chivitas then Umbra after a stop at the Deep Space Space Station. Unfortunately, hostile code has been detected in the computer systems. Can Marcus and his family stop the code and delete it before they get to Umbra, or will they be forced to build another spaceship in an attempt to get back to their children on Earth?

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Chapter 1 – Enroute to Chivitas

 

 

The trip from Earth to Chivitas was two and a half months. They were making good time, and Victor was making progress on his experiment. It was a sunblock for vampires. The UV tests were progressing well. Marcus thought it would be good in an emergency, like if a vampire were caught out during the day close to their front door. Marcus supposed he’d trust it for shielding his face and hands. Victor had higher hopes for it. He wanted to go to the beach during the day. Marcus couldn’t see himself standing out in the sun in a pair of short shorts for any length of time. Though, he thought Shadow might appreciate the view.

“We’re approaching Chivitas,” the helmsman said.

“Slow down,” Marcus said. “We want to see what’s going on here.”

“Disengaging hyperdrive,” the helmsman said. “Engaging impulse engines.”

“Put us in orbit. High orbit,” Marcus said.

Two minutes until high orbit,” the helmsman said.

“As soon as we’re stable, scan the surface. You’re looking for signs of weapons. Fires. Anything that says they may still be in a civil war.”

“High orbit achieved. Scanners activated,” the helmsman said. “We have cameras.”

“Turn on the cameras. Let’s take a look,” Marcus said. He watched as the view changed from space to the surface of Chivitas.

“This is both exciting and disappointing,” Oliver said as he looked at the large screen at the front of the bridge. The buildings were absolutely decimated. Many were burned out, and the ones that weren’t completely toasted had large chunks missing from them.

“I don’t think there’s much left,” Mark said.

“This does not look good,” Marcus said as he viewed the demolished buildings. “Where is this?”

“Wait a minute,” Oliver said as he saw a large sign he recognized. “This is the capital city. We didn’t live anywhere near this.”

“We need to look at some of the smaller towns,” Marcus said. “I don’t think we expected the capital city to be intact.”

“We’ll be in range of the next one in a few minutes,” the helmsman said. “What happened to the capital city?”

“Marcus,” Oliver said.

“Marcus?” the helmsman asked.

“I burned it to the ground,” Marcus said. “Or started the process. I can’t take all the credit. The citizens were already irritated.”

“Marcus got a little angry,” Shadow said.

“That’s a little angry?” the helmsman asked. “What was the other night?”

“Slightly miffed,” Marcus said.

“Good to know,” the helmsman said. “Here’s the next city. It’s a suburb.”

“That’s not us, and wow, is that burned,” Oliver said.

“I wonder which of the elders lived there,” Marcus said.

“I have no idea,” Oliver said. “But I would venture to guess, they got him.”

“They blew up a bridge,” Marcus said.

“That’s over the Chivitas River,” Oliver said. “It’s not the only way to get into the capital city area, but it’s one of the few.”

“What’s that big thing?” Shadow asked.

Alera gasped. “That’s one of the big schools.”

“I hope the childer weren’t in it,” Marcus said.

“I hope not either,” Alera said.

“That’s us.” Shadow pointed.

“There’s our house,” Marcus said. “It’s still standing. I’m impressed.”

“So’s ours,” Oliver said.

“This is about a hundred miles from the capital city. This area looks less damaged,” the helmsman said. “In fact…” He zoomed around to view the nearest major road. “It really looks like they took that road and bypassed your town completely.”

Marcus looked then laughed. “It sure does.”

“It’s not a well-known town to spite having a space agency location there,” Oliver said. “And compared to the other cities and towns, there’s nothing to do.”

“It was perfect for me and Shadow,” Marcus said. “We weren’t looking for excitement.”

“Is it daylight down there?” Shadow asked.

“It is,” Marcus said. “That’s why we’re not seeing anyone.”

“Do a thermal sweep,” Oliver said.

“Thermal sweep activated,” the helmsman said.

“It’s not hot,” Shadow said.

“There’s no fires,” Marcus said.

“Three in that building,” Oliver said.

“I’ve counted about ten,” Alera said.

“In how many blocks?” Marcus asked.

“Four,” Oliver said. “That’s nowhere near what it was. That neighborhood had a few hundred families. Your house and mine were one of the few without childer in it.”

“That wasn’t for a lack of effort,” Marcus said. “Or obliviousness on my part.”

Shadow grinned.

“Did you end up with some surprises, Marcus?” Mark asked.

“I did,” Marcus said. “I wasn’t thinking about that at all. It wasn’t mutto season on Umbra.”

“It was on Chivitas,” Shadow said.

“What happened to that one?” Mark asked.

“Badly formed,” Marcus said. “Which isn’t uncommon with first sacs.”

“Do you want to stop on Chivitas now or after we go to Umbra?” Alera asked.

“Let’s stop and go down,” Marcus said. “There’s no reason to make everyone from Chivitas wait until after we get to Umbra.”

“The sun sets in three hours,” the helmsman said.

“Tell those who want to go down to Chivitas to get ready,” Marcus said. “They can stay down for no longer than three hours, since there was a war on this planet, and we don’t know for sure if it’s entirely over.”

“We can transport up any stuff they want,” Mark said.

“Good,” Marcus said. “And make sure we have a shuttle ready.”

“Will do,” Mark said.

Marcus turned to Shadow. “Did you put shoes on?”

“Shoes and pants,” Shadow said.

Marcus looked her over. She did put on stretchy pants under her dress, and she was wearing her boots.

“I double-checked those knots,” Alera said.

“Am I going to have to cut those off later?” Marcus asked.

“I can get them off,” Alera said.

“Does she not dress herself?” Mark asked.

“You know all those things that made it so that all you had to do was get out of bed?” Marcus asked.

“Yeah,” Mark said. “But I didn’t have any of that.”

“I didn’t either, but she had all of it,” Marcus said.

“I heard you don’t even have to dress yourself or do laundry if you have some sort of automatic closet.”

“She had it,” Marcus said.

“I still have it. It’s just on Umbra,” Shadow said. “And that’s true. It’ll wash your clothes and put them on you.”

“That’s one of the things I want to look at when we get to Umbra,” Marcus said.

“What should we take down?” Oliver asked.

“Whatever you’ll need for a few hours,” Marcus said. “I’d take down some food just in case.”

“Do you think there’s snacks down there?” Shadow asked.

“I don’t know,” Marcus said. “I think I have some Chivitas money.”

“I know I do,” Oliver said. “I found my wallet.”

“Authentic food,” Mark said. “That sounds good.”

“If we find some, we’ll buy a lot of it,” Marcus said. “If I can find a bank open, I know I have money.”

“Are you rich everywhere?” Shadow asked.

Marcus laughed. “Not on Chivitas. We weren’t there long enough, but assuming there are still banks, I do have enough money for some food, assuming all goes well.”

“I need a blood pie with extra cream,” Shadow said.

Alera grinned. “We’re going to be rolling her back onto the ship.”

“Before we all decide we need a second breakfast, is there anything else everyone should be aware of?” Mark asked.

“We want to try and blend in,” Marcus said. “Which reminds me. If anyone recognizes us and asks us where we’ve been, we’ve been in Torpor for the last several years.”

“Is that the excuse for everyone?” Mark asked.

“It is,” Marcus said.

“I’ll let everyone know who’s going down,” Mark said.

“Great. Let’s go make sure we have everything we need,” Marcus said. He picked Shadow up and walked toward the elevator.

“Should we check the other side of the planet?” Mark asked.

“I suppose we should,” Marcus said.

“I’ll let you know when that’s done and what we found,” Mark said.

“Thank you,” Marcus said.

Alera and Oliver followed Marcus into the elevator.

“Do you think this will go smoothly?” Alera asked.

“I have no idea,” Marcus said. “You know what, if we want this to go smoothly, I should probably stay up here. I recall someone saying that my name was famous here.”

“It may be, but how many of them have actually seen you?” Oliver asked. “I think it’s fine for you to go down.”

Marcus told the computer to take them to their suites. “That’s a good point. I really didn’t interact with many of the inhabitants.”

“Not to mention, I doubt there’s an Elder Guard down there to harass you,” Oliver said. “You finaled most of them personally, and if anyone did realize it was you, they’d probably throw you a parade.”

“I doubt they’d throw me a parade,” Marcus said.

“I bet they would,” Oliver said.

Marcus chuckled.

Once they got to their suite, Marcus packed a large satchel that he could put over his shoulder. He made sure they each had an extra set of clothes. Then, he packed his equipment and enough bloodbottles to last the rest of the night. He knew Shadow wanted snacks, but Chivitas was low on food when it entered the civil war. He didn't expect the food supply to be any better. In fact, he expected it to be worse.

“Do you have what you want?” Marcus asked.

“Yes.” Shadow held up her bag.

“Is that a bag with a blanket in it?” Marcus asked.

“And a pillow,” Shadow said.

“How did you survive on your own?” Marcus asked as they walked out of the suite.

Shadow hopped into the hall behind Marcus. “I was well rested.”

“I can’t disagree with that,” Marcus said.

“We’re ready,” Oliver said as he walked into the hall with Alera.

“I’m here,” Lucia said.

“Did you find your coins?” Marcus asked.

“I did,” Oliver said. “Could you not find yours?”

“I have Umbra money. It doesn’t look like I brought any Chivitas coins,” Marcus said.

“I bet they’re still in your house,” Alera said.

“They might be,” Marcus said. “If it wasn’t ransacked.”

They walked into the elevator. Marcus told it to go to the shuttle level.

“When does the sun set?” Shadow asked.

“By the time we have the shuttle ready, it’ll be set,” Marcus said as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

“What about the other side of the planet?” Oliver asked.

“I bet they’re nearly done scanning it,” Marcus said. He set Shadow on her feet and walked over to a comm panel. “How’s the scan of the other side of the planet?”

“No weapons. Lots of warm bodies, but they seem to be in the middle of that continent,” Mark said.

Marcus looked at Oliver. “Was your planet divided?”

“Not exactly.” Oliver walked over. “What did you find?”

“Lots of living creatures in the middle of the continent on the other side,” Mark said.

“Oh, that’s normal,” Oliver said.

“In that case, it doesn't look like there’s any active war,” Mark said. “We did find an active volcano, but it’s nowhere near where you’re going.”

“What about the ash cloud?” Marcus asked.

“Being blown in the other direction,” Mark said.

“All right. We’re going down.” Marcus ended the communication.

“Do we have that stuff that Victor made?” Shadow asked.

“I have a bottle,” Marcus said. “But it doesn’t quite work as well as we’d like.”

“How does it not work?” Alera asked.

“You get about five minutes from the time the sun hits it,” Marcus said. “That’s about enough time to find a building and break into it, if you weren’t next to your front door.”

“Why does it only last five minutes?” Shadow asked.

“It breaks down,” Marcus said. “And as it heats up, it melts. He needs to refine it.”

“But we’re cold,” Shadow said.

“The sun’s light is fairly warm,” Marcus said.

“Wouldn’t it be more advantageous to figure out why we can’t be out in the sun?” Shadow asked.

“We know why,” Marcus said. “Our skin breaks down rapidly when exposed to certain types of UV light. It’s so rapid, it often results in combustion.”

“Why don’t we fix that?” Shadow asked.

“That would take a longer explanation than we have time for,” Marcus said. “Ask me when we get back from Chivitas. I should have it explained by the time we get to Umbra.” He turned to Oliver. “Let’s load this shuttle.”

Shadow huffed. “Is there a short explanation?”

“There isn’t,” Marcus said. “Oversimplifying it leads to disastrous results.”

Oliver and Marcus loaded the cargo area of the shuttle with their items.

“Good evening,” a male crewman said as he walked into the room.

“Good evening,” Marcus said. “Are you the pilot?”

“I am,” he said. “It shouldn’t take me long to do the preflight if you want to make yourselves comfortable inside.”

Shadow hopped inside the shuttle behind Alera.

“Do you want a window seat?” Alera asked.

“Do I have to have my own seat?” Shadow asked.

“You have to sit in your own seat,” the pilot said. “You can’t stand or sit on the floor.”

“Or on Marcus,” Alera said.

Shadow sighed. She sat in a seat near the window.

“How long is the flight down?” Alera asked.

“Fifteen minutes. If that,” the pilot said as he continued his preflight.

“You’ll survive fifteen minutes in your own seat,” Alera said to Shadow.

Marcus and Oliver stepped onto the shuttle.

“That’s everything.” Marcus sat down next to Shadow.

The pilot stood and closed and sealed the door. “We’ll be ready to leave in three minutes.”

Marcus fastened his and Shadow seatbelts. Then, he took a hold of her hand.

Shadow grinned.

“We’re taking off now,” the pilot said. “Should be a quick flight down.”

The shuttle shook slightly as they flew out of the hangar.

“Is this the good shuttle?” Shadow asked.

“This is the one with the shutters,” Marcus said.

“It’s also stocked with food. For you and me,” the pilot said.

“Are you human?” Marcus asked.

“I am.”

“Do not leave this shuttle, and once we leave, close the doors,” Marcus said.

“Is it dangerous?” the pilot asked as he guided them through the upper atmosphere of Chivitas.

“You’re a living creature here,” Marcus said. “And the info we have for this planet says they’re running out of food. If they can’t get food, they will hunt for food.”

“Oh, great. And I guess I’m a food,” the pilot said.

“You are,” Marcus said. “I mean, you’re not. Humans taste terrible, but they don’t know that, and you’ll get seriously injured before they figure it out.”

“Oh, I see,” he said. “Do they eat the whole living creature, like we eat cows?”

“That’s gross,” Shadow said.

“No,” Marcus said. “They eat a liquid diet.”

“I think I have to agree with your little redhead,” the pilot said.

Shadow laughed.

“Do you want to land near the town? The smaller one?” the pilot asked as he steered the shuttle.

“We do,” Oliver said. “There’s a forest that’s relatively close.”

“I see it, and a clearing. I’m guessing someone else has landed here,” the pilot said.

“It’s possible,” Oliver said. “We’ve had a few spacecraft land over the years.”

“Make sure your seatbelts are tightened,” the pilot said. “We’ll be landing in thirty seconds.”

Marcus checked Shadow’s seatbelt. Then, he tightened his. “We’re ready.”

“Our seatbelts are tight,” Oliver said.

The shuttle touched down in the forest outside of the town where Oliver, Alera, Marcus and Shadow used to live.

The pilot shut down the engines and opened the exterior door.

 

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