Sacrifice

Chapter Eight

“John, I received a communiqué stating that the Vandir-ent have contracted with the Blandorians to build a fleet of hyperdrive capable ships.  I need your help in stopping them,” Dreel said.

The professor thought furiously, trying to make sense of Dreel’s statement.  It startled him to think that the normally composed nur-Vandir was so upset that he would leave out huge chunks of information.  Who in the world were the Vandir-ent?  He had noticed Dreel and Arist both referring to themselves not only as nur-Vandir, but also as Vandir.  At the time he thought they were just abbreviating their race name.  Now he wondered.  Was Vandir the name of Dreel’s race and nur-Vandir the immortal Vandir?   “Dreel, you started at point ‘a’ and ended up at point ‘z,’ but I’m missing half the alphabet here.  Would you please give me a little background?”

Dreel looked blank for a moment.  “There are two groups of us, John, the nur-Vandir and the Vandir-ent,” Arist said, breaking into the conversation. 

Seeing a look of confusion on the faces of the humans, Dreel continued, realizing that he had really given John and his family very little Vandir history.  He recognized that it was entirely possible that if John had known all of his background, he might have opted to not become nur-Vandir.   That thought weighed on him, as he had come to respect and like the human and his family in the short time he had known them. 

“Our history is rife with conflict, John.  So I think I need to take a bit of time to explain.  I, at least owe you that.  Then my concerns will have more meaning,” Dreel said. At John’s nod he continued. 

“If you remember, I told you that a long time ago, a scientist found a way to make our people immortal.  It was not a discovery that was popular with the entire Vandir race.  In fact it was denounced by most as immoral and degrading, a travesty.  But the scientist, Kril-Drilin, continued with his research, improving the mutation process, the hemoglobin assimilation processes, everything he could to make this breakthrough more, shall we say, palatable to the scientific community, as well as to the general public.  Finally, he made himself a nur-Vandir.

“By the way, Vandir is the designation of my planetary racial group.   Everyone from my world is a Vandir.  The nur in front of the name Vandir simply means ‘immortal.’  At first all of the Vandir who acknowledged Kril-Drilin’s technology and accepted the mutation were called nur-Vandir,” Arist explained before continuing with her narrative. 

“And the Vandir-ent?  I get the impression from your first statement that they are less than savory Vandir,” John ventured.

“You are very astute, John.”

“I live with a less than savory human.  And it wasn’t hard to figure from what you’ve told me so far.  That and a bit of guessing based on Earth folklore.  What is the difference?”

“Mostly greed, lust and lack of self-control,” Dreel said.  “When the first Vandir went to Dr. Kril-Drilin for the transformation, he was not selective.  He permitted anyone to make the change to immortal status.  Unfortunately, there were many who had character traits that were less than desirable.  The change seemed to emphasize such qualities in those individuals.  They took whomever they chose for nourishment, and seemed to take great pleasure in doing so.  Our prisons soon began filling with those nur-Vandir who felt it their privilege to rape, abuse and even murder others.”  Dreel paused a moment.

“And my fellow humans think the prison situation on Earth is bad.  These Vandir-ent characters get a life sentence and they are in jail forever,” Don quipped. 

“Yes, Major West, despite the facetious nature of your answer, you are entirely correct.  That was very much on the mind of the politicians and normal Vandir.  They finally brought Dr. Kril-Drilin to trial for crimes against the Vandir race.  He was found guilty and executed.  That was when the discovery was made that a stake through the heart of an immortal Vandir would permanently destroy him or her.  At that point all of the Vandir-ent who had been sent to prison were also executed.  But that didn’t solve the problem. Many of the free Vandir-ent formed secret organizations that began executing those who killed Kril-Drilin and their fellow Vandir-ent.  By the way, ‘ent’ is simply the Vandir word for monster.

“A vampire Mafia.  I hate to admit this, Dreel, but there are some interesting, if not distressing similarities between Vandir and Earth cultures,” Maureen interjected.  “Then, if I understand you correctly, the difference between the nur-Vandir and Vandir-ent, is personality and character before the change is made?”

“Yes, for the most part.  Sometimes a nur-Vandir will be tempted by the power that immortality grants an individual.  And then there are some for whom the mutation is too hard, those are driven insane….” Dreel paused briefly, as though pondering what he had just said.  He glanced at Arist, whose eyes held in them the same fear that his must contain.  He had seen signs that this transition had been harder on John Robinson than it had been on others he had helped in the past.   He began wondering if he would be one of the immortals for whom insanity would become an escape?  He prayed that it wouldn’t, because he felt that John Robinson deserved better. 

“Many thousands of people were destroyed during that time, Vandir, nur-Vandir and Vandir-ent alike.”  Arist quickly took up the narrative.  “Many of the nur-Vandir destroyed were neutral to the battles or actively fighting against the Vandir-ent.  They were destroyed simply because they were immortal; because the normal Vandir were afraid of them.”  Arist paused, allowing the somberness of her words to be absorbed by her listeners.  “Space technology was introduced to our world, a combination of trade with other races and the developments of our own scientists.  The Vandir-ent took advantage of that technology and secretly bought several ships and fled the planet.  At first the remaining populace was elated.  The extermination wars slowed down, the nur-Vandir were able to gain a bit of respite from the hatred that was focussed on them.  Finally, after many years, the normal Vandir populace saw that the nur-Vandir could be a part of society, a productive part.  The laws and restrictions that had been handed down during the extermination wars were lifted.  The only laws governing nur-Vandir that remained were the screening laws.”

“Screening laws?” John asked.  For the most part, he had sat quietly, pondering the sad history of Vandir, understanding a bit better where the natural melancholy of his two Vandir friends came from.

“Yes, a Vandir, or any other humanoid, for that matter, who wished to become ‘nur’ had to undergo strict and rigorous examinations to determine their adaptability to the change.  There was, and still is, a very real fear of creating more Vandir-ent individuals,” Dreel explained. 

John looked at Dreel in bemusement.  “I don’t recall you giving me an examination before offering me the opportunity to become a nur-Vandir,” he said wryly.

“But I was, John.  I was judging your reactions, your responses to what I was telling you.  You passed with flying colors.  I didn’t have to give you anything else.”

“Thanks, I think, although this is one test that I sometimes wished I had flunked.”

“And technically you are not a nur-Vandir, John.  You are a nur-homo sapiens,” Dreel corrected with a smile.  “But the distinction, I suppose, is very small.” 

“A vampire by any other name?” John said, immediately regretting his attempt at levity.  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been so flippant,” he added almost immediately. 

“John, I am giving you the barest minimum of history.  It was a sordid and sad history, but it wasn’t all so solemn and depressing.  There were moments of great triumph; moments when Vandir, nur-Vandir and other humanoid immortals were able to work together,” Dreel said, smiling at the levity which broke the somberness of the narrative.  “We are, for the most part, into one of those phases of cooperation right now.”

Arist again took up the narrative. “But the history is not finished.  About four hundred years ago, we began hearing of Vandir-ent atrocities on other worlds.   With space technology, our evil cousins were able to pick and choose worlds where they could enjoy their blood-lusts or create new Vandir-ent followers.”

 “And can I assume that some of the Vandir-ent made it to Earth about two or three hundred years ago?” Don asked.  “That’s about the time of the beginning of the vampire folklore, although some would like to claim that it was longer ago than that.”  

“Yes,” Arist continued,  “It was a bit further back in your history than that.  It is believed that the first of our people visited Earth around five hundred years ago.  But it seems that your people found out the way to destroy the Vandir-ent a bit quicker than ours did.  While the immortals were able to establish a small foothold, which grew or shrank at various times in your history, they weren’t able to destroy your civilization.  The history of Vandir-ent invasion of your world is sketchy, but the best we can figure out, the Vandir-ent left your world around three hundred years ago, about the time of the Galactic Sweep.  Those immortals who are left on your world are most likely human-ent, if I may so loosely use the term.

“The Galactic Sweep occurred when a group of civilizations banded together determined to end the Vandir-ent atrocities.  The coalition formed when Vandir-ent excesses grew so widespread that they could no longer be ignored.  The determining act occurred when they visited a peaceful planet and forcefully made the inhabitants ent or fed on them until they were almost extinct.”

“Like the griforis?” John asked softly, interrupting the nur-Vandir woman.  “I had meant to check that out with both of you, but this came up rather suddenly.  It seemed rather apparent that the griforis were familiar with your people.”

“Yes, I have a feeling that it is the fate of the griforis that determined the formation of the Coalition.  I wanted to look into that as well.  They may well be the only remnant of a once flourishing race,” Dreel said sadly.

Arist echoed her companion’s sentiments.  “Anyway, to continue, all who could be found of the Vandir-ent and their humanoid allies, were captured and brought to a desolate and remote world in a remote solar system.  There they were forced into exile.  Their space ships and scientific equipment were taken away from them.  A blockade was put around the world.”

“How did they survive?” Maureen asked.  “I mean, you said it was a very desolate world.”  

“The coalition was not cruel.  Many species of animals were introduced to the planet.  Animals that were known to proliferate quickly and would adapt to the planet’s conditions were imported for the exiles’ nourishment.  Materials were left so that the Vandir-ent would be able to build shelters.  We did not coddle them with many comforts, but we made it possible for them to survive.”  

“Why?” Don asked.

“Why let them survive at all?” Arist asked.  Don nodded.  “A good question Major West, one that many in the Coalition asked each other.  But in the end, we decided that the cruelty of the Vandir-ent had to stop.  We couldn’t exterminate them without taking on some of their qualities in the process.  It was also determined that exile would be a worst punishment than destruction.”

“Good point,” Don conceded. “And I’m Don, by the way.”

The Vandir-ent are the ones who have given all vampires, as you call them, a bad reputation.  They have taken the immortality and used it for their own pleasure or for the gaining of power,” Arist said fervently. 

“And so these Vandir-ent are trying to break their exile with the help of a race called Blandorians, right?” John asked. 

“Yes, John, along with Vandir-ent who were not found during the Sweep.”  Dreel replied.

“I may be way off base, Dreel, but I’m getting the feeling that you don’t just wander the galaxy recruiting nur-humanoids or doing good deeds for families in trouble,” John ventured with a slight smile. 

“Again, you are correct, John.  We are agents of the Coalition.  Our main purpose is to try to find pockets of Vandir-ent.  Also we check out rumors of Vandir-ent atrocities.”

Aren’t the Blandorians aware of the embargo?” Maureen asked suddenly, getting back to the problem at hand.

“Yes, but many Blandorians are more interested in the state of their finances than in keeping order in the galaxy,” Dreel said caustically.

“So why do you feel that I, a reluctant novice, can help you, an experienced Vandir-ent hunter?” John asked.

“That is exactly why.  You are an unknown.  A new nur-Vandir, so to speak.  You could land on Blandor, expressing interest in upgrading your ship, for instance, and they wouldn’t be suspicious.  Arist and I would stand out as Vandir immediately.”

“Why don’t you just contact the powers that put the Vandir-ent in exile?” Don asked. 

“We have, Don, but when the Vandir-ent leaders were contacted, they asserted their innocence and when the government of Blandor was contacted, the contractors had everything in order.  It’s a powerful company and the government didn’t want to make a fuss. ”

“Squeaky clean with doctored books,” John said wryly. 

“Now wait a minute,” Don interrupted.  “I guess I may be speaking out of turn here, but John has gone through seven kinds of hell with this vampire thing.  You want him to go into a situation that I see as very dangerous?  I don’t like it.”

John pondered Dreel’s request.  His feelings for his family were strong, his determination to keep them safe overpowering.  But the idea of a group of individuals determined to bring others to their ranks by force appalled him.  And the idea of the Vandir-ent taking innocent humanoids for their nourishment and pleasure almost caused him to gag.  If he could, in some small way, prevent that from happening, while at the same time keeping his family safe, he would do it.  Laying his hand on his friend’s arm, John said, “Don, I appreciate your sentiments, but I do see the far flung implications in this situation.”  He turned to Dreel.  “I’m willing to help you, Dreel, but precautions will have to be made to keep my family from harm.  Otherwise, I will have to say no.”

“Your family will be safe if they stay in the spaceport.  It will be very natural for them to shop and sightsee in the Blandorian regional capital while you negotiate at the shipyards,” Arist said. 

End Chapter 8