Ninovan (Hypernaturals 10)

Splinters

In the Community Center of doomed Ninovan, we laid it all out for the residents of this ancient place. Word spread quickly, and it was standing room only in the building. We made tables into a stage at one end, and Jessica, our elected spokesmodel, stood on the stage and explained it all. She made no introduction. She stood up there and waited, and the room subsided in noise volume when it slowly became clear she would not shush them.

When she spoke Jessica was loud enough to be heard in every corner of the community center with no amplification, and she spoke sternly and with authority. Kind of like her Doctor's voice. She stood on the table, holding a paper.

"Hi. I am sure most of you know me from my family's last visit. For those of you who do not know me, I am Jessica Sagan, and I am a Vampire." She showed her fangs to underline that point. Even in Ninovan, full Vampires are rare. Simi and Alexander's two girls are out in the Vampire larger world at the moment. One has to maintain their Vampire bona fides. Simi and Alexander are known 'out there' too. Just not their full story. At least, not until now. I am not the only one in the Victoria dog house. 

Alexander is up in the front row, looking up at Jessica with a serious and concentrated look. If I did not know better, I would think he is concerned about her tone of voice and what she was about to say. Instead, I know he is concerned by her lack of ability to perceive him.

Jessica continued after the rumble subsided. "I am back here tonight to tell you that Ninovan has been discovered by two different federal agencies, and both are independently and unaware of each other planning to stage raids on Ninovan."

She waited again for the rumble to subside; the paper held at her leg.

The talk died down again, although it took longer this time.

Jessica started again. "Ninovan is a victim of human technological progress and the usual fears humans have. They have the ability, from the sky, to see this village in infrared. It does not appear on any map, it is not registered in any way. The first agency that became concerned is the FBI. A check showed many children of different ages. They are worried that Ninovan is a sex cult. By human standards, it may even be, given the relaxed nature of relationships here."

That got a few laughs. Nervous ones, to be sure.

"Humans are myopic and that is both a good and bad thing. They do not take long-term points of view on anything. When the FBI comes, and they see this place and they will ask a lot of questions. They will not like the answers, and they will dig, looking. Ultimately, the genuine problem is not that this is a sex cult, but that you are all Hypernaturals. If the Feds are here, and they are looking, they might see it. The most easily discovered are Vampires, however as there are only two here at the moment, Simi and the other one can leave."

Ouch.

Alexander did not even flinch. The ego of steel.

"Astrals can read the FBI and answer their questions in ways that perhaps will not be completely satisfying, will at least not open themselves up for scrutiny. Tobey and the rest of the Sirens are not obviously anything but human. The FBI may not find anything other than a group of people that have built a town in the middle of a National Forest, and maybe, if you are lucky, they will just kick you out. Maybe. That is the best-case scenario for them. The worse one is ICE. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They will ask for you to prove you are US Citizens. They are professional bigots, who will see the average skin color here and question all of you. Where were you born? Who are your parents? You answer truthfully, and they will not believe you. They will think that this is what they call an "Anchor baby" scam. Never mind that you all are mostly descended from people that have been here for fifteen or twenty-thousand years and that YOU are the true natives. That does not matter. They could compel genetic testing. They would get ancestry from all over. Vampires and Sirens have mixed in here for so long. Amerind DNA is the least studied, least well known as well, so all they would end up with is questions. Think about that. Being under that microscope. What could they find? They will lock you up until they have the answers. They will take your children from you, lock them up separately and your chances of EVER seeing them again are minimal. That is how they work. With ICE you are guilty until proven innocent, and when proven innocent if you are not the right color, you are still guilty."