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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