Read Conceived in Blood, A Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian Novel Online
Authors: Linda Andrews
Conceived in Blood, A Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian Novel (38 page)
That hadn't worked out too badly in the end.
"You mean she's a prisoner?"
"It's okay. I'm used to it." She studied her fingernails.
The hell it was.
"The way I see it, you're gonna need someone the locals trust to get answers. Find out who poisoned the 'Viders." Like he cared. As far as Harlan was concerned, they deserved a medal. "Did they order the stun-guns and who was their contact? That's us." He pointed to himself and Sera. "We were there with them for a while. They'll trust us."
Dawson shrugged. "I agree that we're left with a few more questions than I would like, but Sera's staying in Dark Hope. Nothing
I
can say will change that."
Harlan's grip tightened on the cup. "How can you let them do that? Dark Hope can't be a symbol of freedom if they house arrest its people because of who their parents are."
Dawson's grip eased. "Sometimes it takes an outsider to point out things we should have seen all along. What you say at the press conference... Well, that's something different."
Sera leaned forward in her chair. "Uncle?"
Harlan took a sip of his drink, allowing the bitter brew to wash over his tongue. Then he caught the subtext. Dawson might not be so bad after all. "What do you want me to say?"
***
Harlan tugged at the noose around his neck. These Dark Hopians might call it a tie, but there must be a reason that word sounded like die. He smoothed his short hair and tugged on his jacket. Formal wear for the press conference.
Sera turned, caught sight of him then stepped back. "Harlan?"
He ran his hands over his clothes. God, had he forgotten a layer or three? Or maybe he just looked as stupid as he felt.
She blinked rapidly then met him halfway across the airship’s lounge. "You look uncomfortable."
He felt a tug at his throat then she wadded up his tie and stuffed it into her backpack.
"It took me a long time to get that just right."
"It's not you." She peeled off his jacket, spinning him around in the process.
"Is this your idea of negotiations?" Not that he was complaining. But they did have an audience nearby and her Uncle Dawson was always lurking about, waiting for a reason to shoot Harlan with a stun-gun.
She clucked her tongue before popping open two buttons at his throat. "They should at least get a glimpse of the real Raider hero."
"Couldn't have done it without you, Peaches." Harlan rolled up his sleeves to his elbows.
She smiled at him.
He leaned a little closer.
“Dammit, Sera. What have you done?”
Harlan leapt back at Dawson’s voice. Figured the man was sneaking about.
“Giving the audience what they want.” Sera tossed him a half smile then headed for an exit. "See you on the other side."
Harlan followed Dawson and Nattie down the gangway. Across the blacktop, a crowd gathered around a podium. He searched for Sera, his sister and her family. There, in the back. Security guards bracketed them. Two men moved in close before the guards shoved them back.
Dawson clamped a hand on Harlan's shoulder. "Ready?"
Hell no.
Sera tossed him a half smile.
Harlan nodded.
Dawson strode up to the podium and adjusted the microphone. "As the Minister of Information has already explained, this will not be a press conference about the liberation of Sanctuary by our Security Forces. Instead, I wanted to introduce you to a man who has saved thousands of Dark Hope citizens from a horrible fate. Ladies and gentleman, I give you the Raider, Harlan Westminster."
Harlan cleared his throat. Everyone in Dark Hope would see this, Dawson had said, and the cabinet ministers were accountable to everyone. He just hoped it worked. For Sera's sake.
He crossed to the podium. His heartbeat drummed over the applause. And the carefully crafted speech left his brain. Shit. He was gonna blow it and Sera would be stuck here forever.
Nodding encouragingly, Sera rocked baby John on her hip.
Someone cleared his throat.
A twitter followed.
Harlan gazed across the crowd. The air hummed with power, a power the citizens of Dark Hope refused to use for the good of everyone, including their own. "Someone once told me that it takes an outsider to show us what is wrong with our societies."
Dawson's eyes narrowed.
Yeah, Harlan was winging it. "Before the 'Viders came, I thought life in my small town was boring, and I took my loved ones for granted." He set his hands on the podium. "When the 'Viders left, my village and everyone in it was gone, taken away." He swallowed the word, eaten.
Some were still in denial about the cannibalism.
And this was about freeing Sera, not hammering the truth into them.
"I spent the next ten years hunting down the 'Viders, looking for my family, and saving a few folks along the way." His parents and brother he'd found all too soon. At least, what was left of them. He took a sip of water, washing down the wad in his throat.
Applause broke out and people stood.
Sera raised the baby's hand. "Yay, Uncle Harry."
He waited for everyone to stop before continuing. "Then the worst happened. I was betrayed by one of my own and my men died because of it."
Died horribly and he'd been left to bury them. Alone. He gripped the edges of the podium to still the trembling. He'd never found their kin. Between Nattie and Belle, they'd identified them as people who'd been a long time gone.
Maybe his men and their families were together now and at peace.
"Left on my own, I was ready to give up, but then an amazing thing happened. I met another outsider. One who gave me something that may overflow the streets of this city, but in the Outlands is as rare as gold and infinitely more valuable: Hope."
Dawson returned to grinning and leaned toward the woman at his side.
Yeah, go ahead and smile. As planned, Harlan was about to shine a mirror on Dark Hope's hypocrisy. "Without her, the 'Viders would be eating their way through town after town, village after village, until they reached your city."
A man in front sank to the ground. Others propped him up, fanned him or patted his hand.
"This woman braved a gauntlet of bloodthirsty 'Viders, the treacherous underbelly of Abaddon, and a deadly family feud to rescue a bunch of strangers and shine a little hope into a dark world. Folks, I give you the finest Security Officer your city has to offer, and the true liberator of Sanctuary, Sera Tahoma."
Harlan stepped away from the podium and clapped.
Alone.
The silence was deafening. Then his sister put her hands together. His nieces followed suit. Then Nattie and Dawson did. A moment later, the crowd broke into applause.
Nattie lifted the baby from Sera's arms and shoved her toward the podium.
Holding her skirt, she climbed the steps and walked toward him. "Forgot your lines?"
Harlan shrugged and held out his hand. "If it doesn't work... I broke you out of your embassy in Abaddon, how hard could it be to escape Dark Hope?"
She smiled. This time it even reached her eyes. “We’ll probably get caught.”
"Best two outta three?"
"Whatever it takes.” She slipped her hand into his, laced her fingers between his then raised them in the air.
A cheer rose from the back, traveled in waves around the crowd.
When they stopped, Sera spoke. "No matter how great or noble Dark Hope's intentions are, they cannot be achieved without the support and dreams of those in the Outlands. United we must stand to save our planet and ourselves from extinction."
Harlan debated releasing her hand to join in the applause but decided against it. It was good to have friends. Life didn't suck quite as much.
Other Books available:
Redaction: Extinction Level Event
Redaction: The Meltdown
Redaction: Dark Hope
Science Fiction:
The Syn-En Solution
Syn-En: Culture Clash
Syn-En: Registration coming July 2013
Hiding Space
Animosity
For a complete list of works, please visit my website at:
I’m also on twitter
@LindaAndrews
And facebook:
www.facebook.com/LindaAndrews
And have a blog where I post free chapters and updates about the sequels:
LindaAndrews.wordpress.com
Thank you for purchasing a copy of
Conceived in Blood
, the first novel in a new series. The second book,
Born in Blood
should be available September 2013. If you enjoyed the book, please write a review or contact me via twitter, facebook or email. I'd love to hear from you.
Author's Note:
The quote from Einstein is one of my favorites, and it was always in the back of my mind while growing up. Yes, I was a weird child, but it did start me to wondering--what would the next war be like. The answer came to me in pieces from war documentaries, classes and human behavior during/after really, really bad times whether natural or man-made. See you can use what you learned in history class:-)
Now, the big question: Since I left so many questions unanswered will there be a sequel? Yes. There will be one more this year, then more next year. The vision I had for this story won't be completed until book four, so I hope many of you can stomach the journey. Sorry, couldn't resist the pun.
About the Author:
Linda Andrews lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband, three children and a menagerie of domesticated animals. While she started writing a decade ago, she always used her stories to escape the redundancy of her day job as a scientist and never thought to actually combine her love of fiction and science. DOH! After that Homer Simpson moment, she allowed the two halves of her brain to talk to each other. The journeys she’s embarked on since then are dark, twisted and occasionally violent, but never predictable. If you’ve loved one of her most demented creations so far, she’d love to hear from you at linda dot lindaandrews at gmail dot com.
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