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?
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.