by Grover
Let not the dreams die
For true freedom is lost
when they can not soar.
Not one step has been made
Not one goal achieved
Not one life fulfilled
Without dreams to reveal the path.
Grover
inspired by
Langston Hughes
Disclaimer: This is fiction. All the characters and events portrayed here are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely accidental and unintentional A big thanks goes out to Paula for helping proof and generally make this readable. Another big thanks goes to Cathy who pre-read this. Any remaining errors, or mistakes are mine! Enjoy!
Part 1 of 3
by
grover
Pensacola Fl. May 1990
“Where am I?” Jake had just gotten to sleep, when he found himself standing alone on the side of a mountain. He’d had strange dreams before, so real that waking was disorienting and confusing. Those dreams paled beside this and made him wonder if this was real.
He could scent the sea nearby and feel the cool breeze ruffling his hair. With an eerie calm, he looked about. The mountain was odd appearing, because it looked like nothing else but a huge dragon in slumber.
Jake studied the rocky formation, from the dragon-skull shaped peak to the huge jagged boulders that his imagination said were claws. The whole mountain looked so like a dragon. However, he was certain no living creature had ever been this tremendously large. It was in a Godzilla scale of huge. Just the dragon claws shaped boulders dwarfed the tall trees growing on its flanks.
With a detached sense of curiosity, he saw that he was dressed in his usual jeans and T-shirt. This shirt was one of his favorites because it let him express his fascination with transformations without anyone being the wiser. It boldly bore, 'Ninja Teenage Mutant Elephants' as a pun on the popular comic series.
It was worth noting that he was male for this dream because sometimes in other dreams he was a she. He had come to grips that sad truth that he was, at least in some fashion, gender bent. Jake sighed, for he knew that his fascination with all things feminine wasn‘t the usual male preoccupation with sex. Their clothes, the way they move, and even the way women carried themselves fascinated him.
He had cross-dressed before and it had left him with conflicting feelings; on the one hand, feeling ‘so right’ and on the other, guilt because he was a guy and it just wasn’t the kind of thing a male was suppose to do. Jake wasn’t sure if he was transsexual, that is, a woman in a man’s body or just some variant of cross dresser.
It was grim knowing that those in the transgender community actually had a name for all the times that he’s thrown all of “her” stuff away only to re-buy it a few months later. Purging, they called the process of repeatedly getting rid of your “forbidden stuff” only gather it all together again to repeat the process all over again.
These last few weeks had been a little easier, since he mustered out of the Service. He’d worked in the Air Force intelligence community where any “irregularities” could cost you your security clearance, and privacy was an illusion. The sense of freedom, of being released from those pressures, was as real as that proverbial weight being removed from Atlas’s mythical shoulders.
Jake had a role-playing, gamer buddy from the service, who had mustered out of the Service a few months before him. John lived in Florida, not far from the beach. He had offered to put Jake up until he could find his own place. He had taken John up on his offer and had found that he enjoyed walks on the beach. He'd felt a sense of peace listening to the surf.
A few days ago, while just letting his thoughts drift one morning, he’d discovered an odd blue stone on the beach, which at first he thought was a sapphire. Curious and excited he'd shown a jeweler the stone who told him it was only some sort of sea glass.
Sea glass was glass that had been smoothed and polished by the sea, but had become somewhat rare since dumping into the sea had became illegal. His blue stone while unusual had no real value, but the jeweler had offered him five bucks for it anyways. Jake had decided to keep it and use it as a good luck charm. He used some copper wire to form a primitive setting for it and wore it as a necklace.
Part of the strangeness of this dream was that while he didn’t have his wallet or watch with him, he did have the stone. Jake rubbed the stone’s coolness thoughtfully wondering at this most peculiar dream he was having. He never knew you could day-dream in a dream.
Jake was thrown abruptly from his feet, but was able to land without harm. “Great,” he thought to himself, “it’s a dream about an earthquake.” Moving quickly, he avoided getting brained by the shower of fist and head sized rocks rolling down the mountain side.
Dancing manically about, trying to dodge all of the debris coming at him, Jake glanced up searching for some sort of cover. He ran for the Dragon’s claws as he had come to call them, at least their overhang would give some protection.
Cursing all the way, Jake couldn’t remember when he’d every experienced pain in a dream before. The collection of bruises from the rocks he couldn’t avoid stung with a vengeance.
Jake thought that pain was supposed to wake you up, and he was beginning to have the unpleasant inkling that this wasn’t a dream at all. He’d nearly reached the Dragon’s Claws when damn it, they began to shift too!
Jake tried to a stop, but he already had that icy shock of looking at his death crushed by the rocks of the dragon’s claw as he continued to slide forward. Desperately, Jake rolled to his right fighting to survive.
A booming laughter began, “Ha ho ho, it’s been so long since I’ve seen anyone move so quickly!” Impossibly the dragon-skull, mountain peak moved! A cavern-sized mouth spoke with an amazingly loud voice, but left no doubt in his mind this was a female dragon.
Although most of the dragon looked to be made of rock, Jake could see about a third of the face was scaled as well as parts of one leg. The scales were rainbow hued and shimmered as they moved.
The odd mix of rock and flesh gave it the appearance of the ravages of some terrible disease. The one remaining, golden, slitted eye, the size of a small car, gazed at him and despite the grim thought that this wasn’t a dream and he was indeed in harm’s way, Jake couldn’t find fear in himself.
Ever since he began reading science-fiction and fantasy as a lonely youngster, he’d loved the strange and wonderful creatures in them. Unicorns, griffins, and dragons, Oh My! One of his favorite authors had a great series about Dragon Riders, and now here was a dragon right in front of him!
Speechless, he tried to absorb every feature and impression so he wouldn’t forget. The dragon towered over him and the pure vertigo of watching something so gigantic move wasn’t too unlike the first time he looked up at a skyscraper. The feeling was completely overwhelming, Jake found himself leaning further and further backwards until he fell. Great, another pain for the collection, groused Jake.
Another snort of laughter escaped it causing another shower of dislodged stones, “I must apologize for my behavior Little One,” rumbled the dragon, “But I couldn’t resist. Well, I am a dragon after all.” As if that excused everything. The dragon continued, “It’s been many millennia since I last spoke with a human.”
She paused for a moment, with that one great eye looking at him while the garage door sized nictitating membrane blinked and the mountain peak of teeth and rocks moved closer. “No, it’s been millennia since I’ve spoken to anyone at all because of my affliction.”
The dragon gestured with a tremendous pillar of rock that was her leg. The mountainous craggy face of stone with its one good eye had the hideous effect of an eye-patch in reverse. The orb was the last sign of life among the pitted lifeless stones.
That reptilian eye peered into Jake's soul as she spoke, “I am old beyond belief and cursed with a malady that torments me into near madness. Death is my only escape, but before I succumb, I want to truly live one last time.” That terrible eye burned as she continued, “To do so, I need your help Jacob son of Michael of the house of Morgan.”
Jake licked dry lips and did his best to keep his voice from wavering, “I am honored that you would ask me, but I don’t see how I can help. I am not a doctor or wizard, and I don’t have any special skills that could help you.”
“Silence!” she roared. Only part of my brain has turned to stone, not all. I am the last of the first and have outlived all of my peers. I know who can help and who can not.”
“You stand in front of me with full knowledge I could squash you flat, but you control your fear well. Many of my enemies have perished, because they either feared too much or not at all. The most dangerous of all acknowledged that fear and used it as a tool.”
“I have learned being fearless is not an advantage but a weakness. Fear like pain is a message to us we have the choice to ignore or follow. Like pain, fear can not be allowed to rule one’s self, but instead ask why you are feeling it and then decide your course of action.
Your control of your fear is one of the reasons why you were chosen, but another and the more important reason is because you are a Dreamer. Imprisoned beneath my mountain of fire, I sent out thousands of Dream-Stones like your blue one searching for the right person to aid me.”
Pointing at his lucky charm, she said, “The jeweler was correct it is a piece of glass sanded smooth by the sea. Volcanic glass, I had mystically spelled to seek out the dreamer I needed, and thousands of dreamers I have visited in my quest.
“You are the best choice.” The dragon settled herself somewhat, if it was possible for a mountain to relax. “I remember when humans first began, and I thought nothing of them. Many species I have seen come and go extinct. You humans were different I thought because you thrived in places where most perished. In just a few thousand years I found myself competing against them and their gods.”
She laughed harshly, “Some even thought I was a goddess. I fought the humans and many died beneath my claws, but still you increased your numbers. The few children I bore couldn’t compete with your thousands.”
The dragon looked at him with pain from long ago in her single living eye, “If I killed many of your kind, you humans killed my children.” she said sadly. “Dragons are made of magic, our very fiber is filled with it, and you humans hunted us for it as you would the hart or the rabbit for its fur and meat.
Hide, teeth, claw, they could all be used to create magic weapons or used as parts of spells. They called my children monsters, and used that as an excuse in their harvesting. Despite all I could do, one by one they died. Many dragons retreated from human lands altogether and some even left this some-when for some other-when.”
“I was too proud! I stayed, but grew weary of the struggle. Finally one of your ancient kings made me an offer. If I would help protect his realm, he would keep the hunters from my children. My merely being in his lands would be enough to keep any ambitious neighbor away.”
“He knew I was using him, and would turn on him given the chance once my children were weaned, and of course, he was using me. What I didn’t know, was that he had tunnels dug into my chambers, and was harvesting our castoff scales and claws as if Dragons were nothing more than sheep to be sheared.”
“I was furious when I found this monkey with delusions of grandeur treating ME and my hatchings like we were nothing more than livestock. In my anger and arrogance, I crafted a spell that would use the magic remaining in such castoffs and change it to stone.”
“It would use up the magic in the scale and claw to effect the change rending useless. I thought myself clever and laughed when I imagined the look on his face when he found his “rocks”.
She paused remembering that long ago time, “He was vain man who sought immortality though whatever magic he could find, and I was full of pride and vowed that nothing of mine would profit him.”
The dragon looked at Jake and sadly shook her mammoth head, “I was a fool. The human king had taught himself magic seeking to prolong his life, and he saw the great flaw in my spell casting. He too was angered for he was depending on that magic to give him his greatest wish, immortality. In his fury, he found inspiration and found a way to turn my magic against me. Today you would call it a virus, for his spell merged and altered just a few critical parts of my own magical working.”
A single enormous tear flowed like rapids down her craggy face from her one living eye, “Rather than wait for a scale or claw to be discarded and then activate, the spell became active while the scales and claws were still upon the body.”
“Since it was feeding off the magic of the very essence of draconic being, rather than just the remnants in the scale or claw, it happened much faster and worse I couldn’t stop it. I first knew that it had gone horribly wrong when my precious little ones started to turn to unfeeling rock. Since they were smaller, my children felt its murderous effects first and they were quickly overcome by it and became nothing but stone.”
“Only one survived the spell, only to be called a monster herself and finally slain. I went insane and vowed vengeance on my betrayer, but he had called on his gods to save him and his pitiful city. Seeing an advantage, rival gods convinced me to ally with them, and I went so far as marriage to seal an alliance with them. With hate in my breast we threw ourselves with ferocious abandon against our enemies and the battle we fought shook the very pillars of the sky.”
“Powerful was I then, but not a god. I was defeated along with my allies. With my children slain, I retreated to heal my wounds while seeking a way to defeat this hideous affliction.”
“It used my own vast strength against me. I could only slow it, but not stop its deadly progress. I increased my size to slow the spell and went to others of my kind for help.”
“They refused and called me a fool. In truth I think they knew they couldn’t help and refused because they couldn't admit their own weakness. When the pain of my affliction became too great, I found that heating my rocky skin eased the pain and restored some measure of movement.”
“Casting a spell to give greater protection from the fires of the earth, I burrowed deep down into the Earth Mother. For thousands of years did I nest there, secure in my hate and unable to even walk the earth again because of my great size and affliction.”
“Then seeking any distraction from my endless torment, I started listening to your human dreams. Dragon’s dreams are full of might and fire because that is what we’re made of. Your dreams were different for they were of love, conquest, marvelous places, and terrifying truths. You see I was wrong. It wasn't your breeding like rats that make you human special, it was your dreams.”
“I found all human successes began in their dreams and found myself increasingly captivated by them. For every wonderful dream that a human forges into reality, a hundred more glorious ones simply fade with the dawn.”
“I have experienced many wonderful stories of love as well as tragic ones which mirror humans’ waking hours. In time I lost my hate of you and came to cherish the dreamers for all the things that dragons lack.”
“I had thought myself wise and knowledgeable, but what humankind had taught itself exceeded anything I‘ve could have ever imagined. Putting my pride aside, I took up the challenge of learning from the dreamers. Many years have passed since then, and I have come to terms with my ending. But one last time I want to give the gift of life. I want to create something new and wonderful to walk underneath the sun and for that I need your help.” She gently stated while streams from her tears splashed to the cooling earth.
Jake with tears welling up in his own eyes, gently rubbed the dream-stone, seeking comfort in the smooth blue. He asked softly, “Are you asking me to help you die?”
The massive head shook, “I am not asking for your hand to wield the blade but for you to grant me one last taste of freedom before my ending. As you can see, even in my dreams, I am trapped in stone. What you can do with the help of the dream-stone is to free me for one last night.”
“You are a lucid dreamer and can harness your dreams to your will. That can break me free and with that freedom I mean to once more be the maiden, the mother and the bringer of life,” she told him.
Jake was a little confused but thought he understood where she was going, “I know that you are a dragon but don't you need a mate to do something like that?”
It was hard to believe that such a huge creature could speak so gently, “I do and I have found him.” she said grazing at him with one moon bright eye.
Feeling his legs starting to turn to jelly Jake fought to not look for some place to hide, “Hmmm. I honored that you would ask me but...” he stammered nervously out.
Half expecting another roar he almost flinched, but the mountain peak skull simply pleaded, “Please don't refuse. All I ask for is to share a dream and if you find pleasure that I be allowed to enjoy it with you. You are the dreamer. You alone control what happens within your realm. Please Jacob son of Michael, House of Morgan?”
Jake taking a breath to calm himself before baring his soul, “I, I, have a problem you see I'm....”
“Shh, I know of your conflicts within yourself. Your clay is of a son of Adam but your heart and soul are of a daughter of Eve. There are other dreamers but only you have a body that will rise to my fires and the soul our daughter will need.” she consoled.
He was taken a little aback that this dragon knew his inner most secrets, but she had said after all, she had been listening to his dreams and based on those he was her choice. Of his life he couldn't say that it had been bad, but couldn't claim that he was happy either.
Jake's parents although they loved him didn't know what to make of him because he fell so far from anything they knew. The trouble was, he knew that he was different and everyday was challenge that had become, over time, a battle he was weary of fighting.
He’d known for quite sometime that he was only partially functional in his own way. It was only while in the dreams of others though his cherished sci-fi fantasy books or the shared one when engaging in role-playing games with his few friends that Jake had found he could be himself, whoever that was.
Jake's dreams were his escape from his intolerable everyday life. They were the flights of fancy that took him far from his mundane pains, and were his release that enable him to survive. Now here was a fellow traveler, who although monstrous beyond all comparison, by her own admission, was also filled with pain and hurt that she too could only escape through dreams.
The compassion and empathy that was so much Jake's inner heart and soul couldn't, wouldn't let him turn away from her distress.
“If I agree to this, what do I need to do?” He asked the mountain in front of him, feeling apprehension, but determined to ease her unhappiness if only for a single night in a dream.
“Just close your eyes and dream, Jake. Imagine me not as a diseased mountain of stone, but alive and well,” she guided him.
Doing as she asked, Jake let his emotions and imagination loose to give form to his feelings. The wistful scent of the sea and the lonely rocky coast remained but her sad voice conjured a different vision.
Without being told Jake opened his eyes to find silhouetted against the ocean sky a woman wrapping her arms about herself. Her mid-back length, red hair was flowing with the gentle sea breeze. Her body was slim and full of grace that her womanly curvatures transformed into a work of elegant art.
Not knowing if he had done rightly or not Jake was still enchanted by what his dream had wrought. Her face, fair complexion, expressive green eyes and her lips finished a painting of all that he had ever desired. Not to just love but to dare to want to become. An illusion shattered when he saw her tears.
“I'm sorry” Jake said fearing that he had done wrong, “What did I do wrong? I didn't mean to make you human. It just sorta happened.”
Her green eyes looked into his, “Do you have any idea how wonderful it is to feel the wind? How to have two eyes to see the sky? To smell the sea? These are not tears of hurt Jacob, but of joy that my terrible pain is at last banished!”
Taking his hands in her so feminine ones, she smiled. “Eons past I would have cursed you for envisioning me as such a fragile creature but I have learned to appreciate the dreams of the dreamers.”
Releasing his hand she flung herself into a spin reveling in her freedom, “You are human and you have dreamed me beautiful. How could I fault such a gift from the heart?”
Speechless, Jake could only watch her dance, lamenting that no reality could match the vision before him. Her joy shone from her, as the rising sun in the dawn. As she grew aware of him raptly watching, her dance grew from one of joy to an older one of promises made by a woman to her mate.
The dragon-maid waltzed to him and took his hand, “I can't dance” Jake blushed and protested.
She laughed smiling at him, “But of course you can. This is a dream!” as she moved close to her chosen one.
Enthralled, Jake never noticed when he began to lead as they swirled together in dance on the high cliff above the crystal sea. Many such dances had ended in the soft green clover and this one was no different. Their dance was transmuted by passion into kisses and caresses and as he entered her, she greeted him with a song of her passion and desires.
Dimitri Mitsopoulos jerked himself rudely awake as alarms blared. He was a grad student at the University of Athens working as a technician during the summer. Dropping the book he had been reading to help keep himself awake on his shift at the small Seismography Research Station on the small Greek Mediterranean island of Angelo Echidna. It was just one of the over fourteen hundred Greek islands but was noteworthy only for its ancient semi-active volcano.
Modern science said it shouldn't be still active at all. So the mystery rated a small, one man, research station mostly just to look after the equipment and it gave Dimitri a summer job. He didn't need the seismograph to tell him that a major eruption was, astonishingly, happening without any warning at all as the floor rumbled underneath his feet.
Quickly he double-checked to make sure the data was feeding to the mainland before running outside to try and determine just how much danger he might be in. Dawn was just breaking, but the fires within the mountain illuminated the sky in fiery red.
The thunder grew till Dimitri was thrown from his feet. In awe he watched, as the ancient mountain fired a concentrated bolt of superheated gases and ejecta miles high into the morning sky unlike anything he had every seen or heard of before.
Inside, the banks of computers and recording equipment faithfully relayed the information to scientists across the world. Unknown to the young technician, it was also sent to someone else who wasn't the least bit interested in advancing the study of Mother Earth but in the monster that poisonously laired within her breast. Just as it had years ago, when a shower of volcanic glass had flown from the mountain's maw, the spoor of the prey was sent to the hunter.
Within the bolt of fiery gases, a moving-van-sized chunk of ejecta flew to near orbit along with its sisters. Cunning pockets of gas within the vaguely organic-shape rock vented to help guide and stabilize its flight as while its sisters protectively shepherded it behind vented gases of their own to safeguard their sister.
Reentering the atmosphere, ablative sheets burned off not only protecting it from the fires but for concealment. More gases vented slowing and continuing to guide as it passed over the Atlantic Ocean. Its sisters flew a madly divergent course all over the planet, but not a one would find the Earth Mother again as they would completely burn up to create brilliant displays to distract the hunters from their stealthy sister.
Inside the United States Air Force tracking facility at NORAD a state of controlled pandemonium reigned as ground and space based tracking sites followed the unidentified swarm of objects that fit the profile of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) too damn closely.
The Officer in Charge (OIC) General “Rich” Ironhorse knew that he had to set an example of calmness to keep that pandemonium from turning into panic. When he had what looked to be over forty unknowns maneuvering under-power after a mass launch that was little short of impossible as he wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.
Confidence even in those numbers were low as some of the damn things were acting like decoys while others looked to have deployed some sort of radar jamming material like chaff.
The OIC knew that of nothing could intercept all of these contacts that were closing in not just on the US but other locations though out the world. The Star Wars Defense System was still officially years from being ready, but they could attempt to engage. The problem was which ones? With all the decoys they had just as much chance of hitting one of them as they did what ever the decoys was protecting. As for retaliation this didn't look like an attack by a hostile nation. Greece didn't even have ICBMs for God's sake.
Quickly reading a report an airman passed to him, the OIC picked up the RED phone and made his report. “Sir, it is our opinion that this is not an attack by a hostile nation. Based on the available information at this time, it is most likely a supranormal action Mr. President.”
Jake turned to his lover as she rested in the crook of his arm amid the cool soft clover. He had trouble believing what had happened between them but sorrow darkened his joy. “What happens now my dragon-maiden?”
Her green eyes looked up into his, “Life goes on as it always has. Without endings there are no beginnings. I am so old my dear one despite this wonderful form you have dreamed for me. I have seen such sights that none would believe and have had great happiness as well as pain no being should have to bear” she told him softy.
“Soon the last Thunderwalker will be no more. All but one of the Firsts have fallen and my time is past. Grieve not my dear one for you have given me a gift not even the gods could bequest,” She said with calm serenity while touching his lips with her finger tips to quiet his protests.
“I was trapped unable to die but living only in agony. My very essence and strength kept me alive only to suffer. By surrendering all that I am to our offspring to be, that terrible spell that I cast upon myself will finally be complete and I will end.”
“Yes I'm going to die but my death is a blessing not because of the ending of my pain but because by giving all I am, to our child she will be the start of something new and wondrous.”
Smiling mischievously she said, “You're going to be a father and its a girl! Don't worry my dear one, she will be taken care of my dear one, but it is time.”
Shocked, Jake stuttered, “W-w-who going to look after the b-baby?”
“Shh, she'll be protected as no child has ever been before and you'll always be with her as will I.”
With his heart weeping, Jake was furiously determined that her last moments would be unforgettable. Smiling into her eyes, he stepped backwards over the high cliff.
Dragon though she may be, still fear stole her breath as he fell from sight, for she knew for a dreamer, the old wife’s tale told true. To die in this dream world would mean his death.
Rushing forward her fear for him vanished, as the male dragon nearly bowled her over as he raced skyward! Her old temper flared, but vanished as the male dragon made a clear invitation for her to join him.
Joy filled her as the rightness of her choice of the dreamer filled her and she trusted him more than she had any mortal, god, or dragon flung herself off the cliff. She felt herself transform and a roar of delight rushed from her as her strong wings carried her into her rightful element.
Together they raced the clouds drifting over the sea as she showed him a different dance among the clouds. As the final moment got closer and closer she somehow knew it had been his intention. With her last breath she showed him passion could be embraced among the clouds as well as clover.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes the Dimitri would never have believed that incredible sight. Geothermal events just don't act this way! It was if the entire Volcano had become a monstrous gun firing freight train sized rocks into the sky.
According to his instruments, after the first sudden unexplained eruption, the pressures that had begun to ease, just as inexplicably began building again. This time it was as if a somehow a huge inert mass had blocked the primary vents.
The pressure was building very quickly and the hurried evacuation had him scrambling to ensure that his instruments would continue sending until the last moment.
The tremors were getting worse and worse and he rushed, gathering precious records to flee from the coming catastrophe. The few island fishermen were already gone and the crew of the Greek Navy boat were gesturing frantically for him to hurry as he raced down the dock. The sailors caught him as he leapt aboard as more tremors shook the small island.
They rushed out to sea with the helmsman recklessly pushing his craft pass any reasonable limits. Spray flew and foamed behind them in their mad flight as each man looked fearfully over his shoulder at the monster waiting behind them. Just over the horizon, just over an hour from the first eruption, Angelo Echidna Island blew itself up.
Hanging on for dear life, Dimitri saw the pillar of fire arch towards the heavens. Shouts from the Greek sailors warned him to hold on as the grizzled helmsman twisted his craft about to ride bow first into the oncoming shock-wave.
With a deceptive slowness the white wall of the wave rose up to meet them. The power of the explosion shook their small craft, but was much milder than Dimitri had feared. 'This wasn't right' he thought. While the Greek Navy sailors celebrated their survival, he wondered just what had really happened to Angelo Echidna.
In the coming years scientists would debate why the explosion that had been powerful enough to completely destroy the island, had been so mild that it had done little other damage.
In fact the most telling effect from the eruption had been the incredible brilliant rainbow hued sunsets instead of the usual red expected from debris in the atmosphere Why the explosion hadn't been on the scale of a Krakatoa, because of that mysterious blockage, was a subject for debate.
A learned panel of geologists ruled that the ancient volcano must have had a honeycombed structure that simply collapsed like an imploding building when the magma chamber blew.
Dimitri knew that was complete rubbish. He had been there and the instruments clearly revealed that no such “honeycomb” was present. Gathering his papers he left the meeting knowing that the answer to why was contained in the materials from that impossible first eruption. All he had to do was find a sample.
The OIC rubbed his eyes as the first eyewitness reports came in. A Volcano? He didn't believe that for a moment. Volcanoes don't launch devices that maneuvered for re-entry much less spit out chaff and decoys.
If that wasn't enough reason the two civilians who had presidential authority to enter NORAD while in lock-down was more proof. When the President says open the doors and let them in, doors got opened.
They had the look of spooks to them and if the United Law-enforcement Tribunal for Metahuman Affairs, Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial called ULTIMATE by the press, was the world's answer to the meta-human question the OIC knew the USA had its own solutions to that problem.
The good news was so far the bogies hadn't caused any damage. Reports were still coming in but no poisonous gases, virus, explosions, or other ill effects aside from one hell of a light show.
The larger of the two men was extremely imposing, broad of shoulder, bald, and dark complexioned perhaps of Arabic origin. He moved with the pent violence of a large predator, but it was the smaller swarthy man who seemed to radiate presence and confidence. A little more than 5' 5” guessed the OIC with the experience eye of a trained observer.
It was his eyes that convinced the OIC it was indeed the smaller man, who was known only as Hunter like out of some bad spy novel, who was truly the more dangerous of the two.
“Relax.” Hunter assured the OIC, “We're not here to undermine your authority but instead to find clues as to where to begin our search. We agree,” he nodded to his bald associate “that it appears that this was just an elaborate diversion and not an attempt to deliver a weapon but perhaps for an escape.”
The OIC's eye bugged, “From a Volcano?” he choked in disbelief!
The bald, suited companion in a surprisingly soft voice for such large man, quoted “There were Giants, in the earth in those days. (Genesis 6:4)”
Hunter solemnly exchanged a look that acknowledged something that passed between the two of them. The OIC firmly decided that he didn't want to know more. After all being a guardian of the United State's nuclear might was more than enough to disturb his peace of mind without adding threats of biblical proportions.
Across the Caribbean it streaked, visibly, but not brilliantly, across the tropical skies. Very much like an ICBM it zoomed down upon its target in Pensacola Florida. Final course corrections were made and the remaining gas pockets fired like the retrorockets they were patterned on.
John Jefferson Jones worked at the local Navy base repairing helicopter jet engines at the depot. He'd been able to snag such a primo position because of his disability retirement from the Air Force. He should have crashed already because his job required him to rise early, but he was concerned about his friend Jake.
He knew that there was quite a bit of culture shock to get use to after leaving military service. The lifestyle was completely different and John wondered if that was why the quiet Jake had been even more moody than normal.
John had just set his three alarm clocks. He was such a heavy sleeper that he needed all the help he could get to wake up in the morning. Sliding underneath the covers he heard the roar and at first thought it was Navy flight trainees flying night qualifications.
The roar got louder and his trained ear warned him that wasn't a jet motor instants before he was thrown from his bed by the explosion!
With his ears ringing, John pulled himself up shaking his head. He grabbed at the flashlight, a habit from the Air Force made him keep it near at night. John could smell smoke and the smoky beam revealed a buckled wall that was blacking as he watched from the heat.
Snatching his blanket from his bed he quickly tested the door for fire on the other side and went to find Jake. The first thing he saw was the other bedroom door had been blown clean off its hinges.
Using the blanket to help shield himself from the heat radiating like a furnace from Jake's room, he feared the worse. Braving the inferno to peek a little further inside all John could see was the burning ruin of Jake's bed. What freaked him out was the huge rocky white hot egg sitting in the middle of it and the flames licking at the edges of the gapping hole in the ceiling above it.
Bernard Johnson suppressed a yawn. He had just gotten to sleep a scant few hours ago after dealing with a young mutant who was having problems with his passive telepathy. He'd had problems himself before he had learned to shield, and dealing with a hysterical teenager who suddenly had it thrust upon him all at once was no picnic.
He had just gotten home when he found a pair state cops on his Tallahassee doorstep set and determined he was going to investigate some strangeness in Pensacola. They had hustled him into a plane and the few winks he caught on the flight didn't do much to help him feel better. As soon as they had landed he was rushed to a waiting car and escort, and they hurried off with a scream of sirens
The clutter of fire-trucks, emergency vehicles, and police cars clued him in that he had arrived. One side of the apartment was threatening to collapse and the obvious fire damage made Bernard fear that a mutant may have gone into spontaneous combustion precipitated by mutation syndrome or ‘spontaneous mutant combustion’ by the popular media (SMC).
Mutants that manifested during puberty had their share of problems but the worse ones were those that missed puberty. The unexpressed mutation could just suddenly be triggered and the host unable to contain all the energy just went up in flames. Depending on the mutation it was very possible for SMC to cause fires and in some limited cases explosions.
True to form the people who was chaperoning him had no clue about what had happened so he was operating in the dark. Because of his gifts of ESP and PSI powers it wasn't the first time he'd been to a scene like this one, but it never gave him any pleasure for the news was usually bad.
Carefully lowering his shields he received some impressions of despair and others of helplessness. More prevalent was the generally feeling “of what do we do now?”
Bernard felt feelings of guilt coming from a young man who, it seemed, was the roommate to whoever had been in that burned out room. The young man had been burned and pushed himself beyond his limits to try to go to his friend.
Reaching gently with his powers Bernard left a “suggestion” he had done all he could and that there shouldn't be any reason for guilt because he had done his best. It would've been immoral to do more than suggest, but it might save the loyal John from more anguish.
Entering the apartment he saw the fire damage was consistent with other cases he'd seen of “SMC” until he reached the bedroom. The firemen had soaked the entire area with water and fire retardant foam but he could still feel the heat radiating from the rocky object sitting in the charred remains of the room.
Bernard didn't want to call it an egg because if you give something a name you tend to focus on that possibility, while it very well might be something else all together. The problem was it looked so much like one of those eggs from that movie “Aliens” he could understand everyone’s uneasiness.
There wasn't any sign of a body but he had gathered that indeed a young man had been present when this “meteor”(?), thought Bernard as he looked up at the hole in the ceiling, had crashed into this room.
Leery of “reading” a death with his powers which always was most unpleasant he reached out to try and find what had happened here. Strangely he was getting a feminine impression, maybe a previous occupant?
Some Navy guys had shown up with arm loads of equipment that from what Bernard could overhear indicated no radiation or toxic fumes. It was ‘just one very big piece of charcoal’ as one in Navy uniform, joked morbidly.
He could get just so close as he worked his way pass the burned, water soaked debris of a person's life. Bernard used his power to 'touch' the egg but to his surprise he got nothing at back all. He should have gotten something if it had killed that man, but he didn't even get a background feeling from the bed.
Shocked Bernard realized that it was if the egg was shielded! Working his way around it he found that there was a circle around the Egg that indeed seemed was shielded but he didn't get an impression of a person.
Realizing there was another explanation, he reached into his pocket for the small packet of useful tools he kept with him. An old friend had given him this years ago while at school and the tools had proved useful from time to time.
Unwrapping the silk covered crystal, Bernard daring the heat held it as close to the egg as he dared. A small flash of light from it was his reward and he quickly left the room. It took him a few minutes to consider a course of action, but he had gotten the idea that the military was planning on moving it and if he was right that really would not be a good idea.
Hitting the speed dial on his cell phone, “Yes, connect me with Dr. Herman Ross. This is Bernard Johnson. I think I have a “situation” here.
Jake stirred a bit but it was so warm and cozy he didn't want to get up. “Shh” a gentle muse whispered to him. “Go back to sleep.”
Sinking back to sleep, “Yes Mama” Jake muttered.
The Ottoman Paranormal Studies Institute (OPSI) recovery crew all relaxed somewhat now that they had moved the “egg” safely from the soon to be demolished apartment and into the secure room that was second only to the Vault for protection.
The damn thing just looked too much like something might hatch from it and start looking for lunch. The trip by train had been uneventful and the most stressful part of the whole trip was convincing the Navy that OPSI did indeed have authority in this case.
Dr. Ross rubbed his tired eyes again as he read the report on their mysterious “egg.” Its official name was Anomaly #1703, but everyone just called it the egg. The staff psychics were unable to get anything from it at all because of some sort of shielding and Bernard Johnson had been correct when he suspected magic. The Mages had done their best but hadn't any more success than the psychics to their disgust.
Their best guess was it was the product of a very powerful neutral mage which was an oxymoron. One way to achieve great power as a mage was to strike deals with the greater powers. To have something this powerful but neutral, while not as troubling as something evil might be, was still puzzling. Even more so when you add in the possible death of that young man Jacob Morgan.
The technicians had been unable to get any readings from x-rays, ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It just soaked up the energy like a sponge. Attempts to take samples failed to even scratch the surface.
When asked if a person could be trapped inside, all the techs could do was weigh it and make some guesses, and say maybe, which helped him not at all. Dr. Ross, weighing the possibility that Mr. Morgan's remains might be within, decided to approve more rigorous testing.
The three scientists stood around the “egg” surrounded by everything from mega-watt lasers, power tools and jackhammers. The two men and one woman had tried everything they could think of to get inside the damn thing and now was down to 'Well, what do you want to try next?' stage.
The ventilators were still working at removing the smell of burnt metal after ruining a set of diamond tipped drill bits and the aftereffects of the plasma torch. Pushing up his safety goggles “Well, I say we get permission to go for broke. Let's submerse the thing in liquid nitrogen then blast the top with the plasma torch again. If that doesn't work I'm out of ideas.”
The other two nodded their assent and began setting up for their 'Hail Mary' try as they nicknamed it. They were going to run the whole thing remotely because there was a chance the entire thing could spectacularly and explosively shatter.
If someone's life was at risk Dr. Ross wanted to be present because it was his decision and responsibility. The Rube-Goldberg contraption his technicians had set had a fog of liquid nitrogen coming off of it underneath the plasma torch cutting head.
The senior tech looked over at the Doc, “We are ready Sir.”
Dr. Ross was praying this was the right action, “Begin!”
The plasma torch flashed to life and began its preprogrammed cutting routine. One the techs let out a breath, “Nothing, not even a scorch mark.”
The senior tech ordered, “Alright going to procedure two.”
The egg began to slowly rotate in its frozen bath and the torch's cutting path altered to just a straight cut. Fog rolled only a short distance up the egg, as the once immersed portion came under the torch and everyone waited for something, anything to happen.
Anticlimactically nothing at all happened to the slowly rotating egg under the torch. Dr. Ross could see the frustration in his techs faces and he was guessing that this not what they were expecting.
“Is there anything else you can try?” He asked the frazzled men and one woman.
The young man shook his head in disgust, “Well you can drop it into the sun or maybe Nuke it but I wouldn't take any bets against it.” He said taking his goggles off.
Dr. Otto remembered Bernard Johnson had suggested the strange shielding from the anomaly could have been erasing any of Mr. Morgan’s PSI signature as well as for protection.
The tests here proved that there might be something to that, if the initial heat from the anomaly was to keep people away until it had done its work. Certainly nothing they had found here gave a reason why it stayed so hot at its landing point.
He supposed he could always ask the Academy for advise but seeing as one life had already been lost he wasn't willing to risk another to the anomaly. If it couldn't be cracked then he would have to settle for containment as he signed the order to seal it into a cryogenic capsule in OPSI’s high security vault.
A dreaming Jake, child-like asked his story teller, “And what happened next?”
The serene voice sang, “The great ball of fire fell from the sky. Thunder shook the heavens and a terrible wind blew over the great forest. Many Thunder-walkers fell and couldn't go on, but as a long cold rain, rained and rained, many changed.
From the great to the small many began to learn how to talk. It was the time of the Great Fall. Times were very hard and food was scarce but those who lived learned much and those lessons helped bring on the new beginning and the re-birthing.”
A sleepy Jake asked, “What was the name of this story again?”
The gentle voice answered, “Where dragons come from.”
Octavia Washington grew excited as she read the twelve year old report. It looked like they had tried everything to just get a sample but the anomaly had resisted all of them. It had a great potential and now all she had to do was write up the funding request and deal with the bureaucracy.
It should help that she'd had a great deal of success translating mutant and paranormal effects into workable everyday solutions. Of course, she wasn't the only scientist who was researching how these amazing people and artifacts managed to do what they do.
After all, knowing it was possible was always half the battle and her patents from her work had enriched not just herself but her employers as well. Her latest work on Aero-Gels would help reduce weight for the automotive and the aerospace industry. Octavia couldn't wait to get started!
Hunter slammed the funding request down on the Director's desk “Save us all from inter-service rivalries! The Air Force is looking for UFOs and one falls into the Navy's backyard. Do they tell anyone, no! Then what did they do? They give it away! For thirteen years I've hunted this monster and where is it but in someone's downstairs freezer!”
The director smiled, “I would hardly call OPSI's cryogenic vault a downstairs freezer Mr. Hunter. We are fortunate the request for the release of anomaly #1703 passed though our department and got flagged.”
Mr. Hunter and his team were a very special resource that he had inherited along with his position. They were very good at taking care of problems that eluded the ULTIMATE and he was well pleased with their successes even though sometimes like now “special” handling was required.
Hunter's eyes almost glowed with anticipation at the hunt coming to its climax and the director was well aware of how persuasive the smaller man could be. He however hadn't achieved this position by being intimidated by anyone and if his department had a rather vague name The Office of Research and Archives with a modest budget, his black project budget was more than many other countries Gross National Product.
“According to OPSI's report they tried just about everything to crack the anomaly,” said the director holding up a hand to forestall Hunter's objections.
“Yes, I know you have your own methods, but the oversight committee has taken an interest in Miss. Washington's project. They have visions of impenetrable body armor and tanks, and have directed me to “guide” her project to a favorable outcome for the department.
Hunter's displeased expression spoke volumes, “The fools know not what they meddle in. I have fought this monster's brood before and it is best caught and killed in the egg.”
The director's smile broadened “Of course not! That's why I have arranged for you and your team to be the security for Miss Washington's project. If anything say was to happen, you would be there to “take care” of matters. At your usual rate of compensation naturally. Is that a good enough solution for you Mr. Hunter? ”
“I would have full authority over security matters?” Hunter looked sharply at him.
“Thinking of a “stalking horse” Mr. Hunter?” The director prided himself on effective management of his “special resources.”
“Indeed, the monster was always protective of its spawn. If it is still alive we might very well lure the beast out. If not, well like you Americans say, ‘Shit happens.’” Hunter smiled back at the Director. “As you said, a good enough solution.”
A Dream of Dragons continues in Part 2!
Disclaimer: This is fiction. All the characters and events portrayed here are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely accidental and unintentional A big thanks goes out to Paula for helping proof and generally make this readable. Another big thanks goes to Cathy who pre-read this. Any remaining errors, or mistakes are mine! Enjoy!
PS: It's been brought to my attention that others have helped with this one too. Please accept my apologies for forgetting to credit the wonderful help you've given me, Hope, Janice and others! Thank you!
Dimitri Mitsopoulos eyed the wondrous object in front of him. It had taken him fourteen years to find it but there it was. The journey to reach this point was one that even the legendary Odysseus might envy. He had begun with gathering the minute traces that had caused those rainbow tinted sunsets, so long ago, after Angelo Echidna had erupted.
That task alone had been difficult, but then no one had the slightest clue of how to make sense of what the analysis had found. Dimitri had to go back to school and almost founded a new area of research just in that endeavor.
The amazing surprise was, the particles had indications that they were from a single organic source, which of course was impossible. Nothing organic could be big enough to, even if vaporized, to cover the entire planet in particles thickly enough to cause those rainbow sunsets.
What he had found had led to advances in refractive materials and though that distracted from his real search it did pay the bills. Dimitri wondered sometimes at fate's hand, because if he hadn't developed those advances, it was likely that he would never had gotten this position.
He had gone back to basics and started pouring over every report of falling objects of unknown origin after the eruption. There had been many ‘false alarms’ but coming across that article about that poor man in the United States who had gotten killed by a meteorite had led him here.
A cross search had taken him to Octavia Washington and her project. His credentials from his research had convinced her to have him as part of her team. Dimitri's status as a foreign national made him unpopular with the project's security although Mr. Hunter, the head of security, looked to be an emigrant himself.
Not to say that was the only mystery concerning Mr. Hunter and his close associates. In theory security was so tight because of the anomaly, but Dimitri suspected that the United States government was involved. Why was a mystery to him. After all, it had shown no signs of life for over fourteen years!
The question was why did Orion Research hire, to all practical purposes, a group of mercenaries for their security? He might have spent his entire life in academics but that didn't mean Dimitri couldn't recognize dangerous people when he saw them.
His field work had taken him all over the world and he was no stranger to certain brutal realities of the world. Every one of Mr. Hunter's six close associates were as scary as any he had ever met.
All of them had that rather formal politeness that truly dangerous individuals processed. Saladin, the large bald dark man whose sharp eyes missed nothing, was Mr. Hunters second-in-command. Mr. Sato was an enormous, sumo wrestler-like, man who moved entirely too quietly for someone of his size. Mr. Akna was a small, dark, Iniut man whose hands were always busy, usually with a knife.
Just as unnerving were the twins who were called Richard and Jane Smith. They spoke with a soft southern United States accent, but no one who knew them for long mistook them for fools. They used their natural good looks and people-skills to ruthlessly get what they wanted.
However in just pure creepiness Mr. Whyte out did them all. His aristocratic English accent and arrogant manner was enough to drive anyone to distraction, but he made no secret of the fact that he was a mage. It didn't take long in his company to convince one that whatever magic he dealt with it wasn't of the gentle variety.
Dimitri thought that all of their names were aliases and that, along with everything else made him very uneasy. That being said, working with Octavia Washington was a real pleasure. Their end goals might be different since she wanted to know how the anomaly worked and he wanted to know its origins.
The path to their goals was the same. The first week of work had mostly been just measuring, photographing and working out a testing procedure. During one such meeting, Gregory, a young testing tech had asked what if it really was an “egg.”
Dimitri had suggested that they go and find out. Everyone had followed him out curious just what he was going to do. The anomaly was on a turntable so it could be moved without being touched.
He had simply turned the controls to rotate it at its fastest speed which wasn't that fast but it didn't need to be. A few guffaws had broken out as they figured out what he was doing as soon as he started.
Dimitri admitted to himself he had been showing off for Octavia, as he hammed it up while waiting for 5 minutes to pass and then stopped the turntable. When the Egg was not being studied there was a system of lasers to measure the slightest movement, so Dimitri had armed the system to check for movement. The set up had been insisted upon by Mr. Hunter.
Everyone held their breath, but even he was surprised when the egg slowly began moving. The only sound was the motion alarms from the lasers as they all just watched until Mr. Hunter and his associates came tearing in armed to the teeth.
The head of security was very upset that a test had been run without his knowledge and it took Octavia some time to mollify him that it had been a joke and not a serious test at all.
All the while the rest of the scientists had stood there watching the egg as it wobbled to a stop. Gregory the young man who had asked the question to start with, commented, “That answers that.”
“Whee!, giggled Jake as he spun around and around. Dizzily he went round and round on the giant lily pad floating on the fern forest surrounded pond while bird sized dragonflies flitted hither and yon. His pad gradually slowed and began spinning the other way as Jake rocked back and forth joyfully.
Feeling something wrong, he looked up to find Mama looking down disapprovingly at him. “Why did you leave when I was showing you how to 'see' magic young lady?” She asked.
“Everything started spinning Mama!” Jake giggled excitedly.
Upon seeing the stern look in her eyes, “I just wanted to have a little fun. I didn't mean to do anything bad Mama”
Lovingly she gather him up in her fore-claws, “I know dear one. You just have so much to learn and time is growing short. Shall we begin?” as the dragon restarted her lesson.
Dimitri and Octavia poured over three years of reports from their testing. Sipping at his mostly cold coffee, Dimitri considered what they had learned. That first test from that long ago first week had demonstrated the anomaly wasn't solid but had a fluid center.
Despite appearances the outer shell wasn't solid either but an intricate structure at the ‘nano’ scale. He remembered trying to explain their findings to their dear head of security.
“Imagine an ancient army armed with shields and spears. Depending on the threat, their formation would change to best thwart an attack. They could close ranks and become denser or open ranks to let them let it pass though harmlessly or change the angle of attack to best redirect their enemy’s blow,” Dimitri illustrated with his hands.
“The anomaly does much the same but it does it at such a small scale and so quickly it appears that whatever damage we attempt has no effect at all. In truth in every test the entire structure is actively working at protecting itself” Octavia concluded.
“What we have found so far is that the anomaly is a very advanced nano-scale structure. Dr. Mitsopoulos has identified traces that indicate of a possible organic origin, but the mechanism is such that we are only now beginning to analyze it.” Octavia lectured with passion.
“We are in the position of trying to reverse engineer something that we barely have the knowledge to understand. The complex nature of using memory retentive materials, heat expansion, and other tools for it to achieve its function is ten to fifteen years beyond what we can do now.” Octavia pointed out.
Dimitri grunted, “More like twenty. The processes although complex are also quiet elegant.”
As always Mr. Hunter wanted to know, “So how do you destroy it?”
Miffed Octavia replied, “I wasn't aware that we were here to destroy anything Mr. Hunter?”
“Miss Washington if what you discover from it is to be used for protection then we must know just how much we can depend upon it.” The head of security riposted.
Seeking to defuse the looming fight, Dimitri pointed out, “The best chance to overwhelm the anomaly would likely be to cover the entire structure with many different kinds of stress. You are not trying to destroy a ‘thing’ but in this case a set of ‘processes’. If you can interrupt the processes enough the protection should break down.”
“Once we know more we should be able to target specific areas to disable the processes but right now we are learning more about advanced nano-scale engineering with every passing day. Some of these processes are still just ideas we have seen written in some journals, here they are real!” Octavia said still upset with their annoying security chief.
Dimtiri mused that Mr. Hunter hadn't improved at all in the intervening years. In fact he had grown certain that most of if not all of Mr. Hunter’s associates were supra or para human. The difference being supra was from mutation, while paranormal was linked with the supernatural or magic.
That last was very troubling, for if having a team of mercenaries as guards was unsettling, having a group of capes, in costume or not, present was nerve racking. Part of ULTIMATE provisions had stated that no national government could directly control a supernal human. They could regulate and sponsor but not give orders too.
At the time it was signed in 1961 the presence of Soviet supranormals and missiles in Cube had almost ignited a world war. The skirmish between the Soviet and American capes had almost pushed the Doomsday Clock past the point of no return.
With the increasingly active affairs, super-villains were playing in world events, the need for a united organization to combat these threats was ever present. The ULTIMATE had addressed this with member sponsored ‘super reaction teams’.(SRT)
The SRT was the only instance when a government could order a super under the treaty, even if it was tantamount to a 'draft'. The term was usually two years with generous benefits and many volunteered for service. Unfortunately just as many went rogue to avoid that service.
Most considered the so-called ‘citizen of the world’ non-national supranormal policy a complete fiction. Even if the employment of supers as 'consultants' was illegal, every nation thought of it as a 'if you don't get caught it's not wrong.'
In the three years they'd been studying the anomaly they had found only mysteries and not threats to any one. There was always the fear of the unknown and what secrets lay within their mysterious guest could certainly qualify for that. Was there fear enough for ‘someone’ to fund a very dangerous team of mercenary capes for three years, working a desk?
“Is it time Mama?” Jake sleepily asked becoming cramped in the small space.
“Hush, back to sleep little one. Not yet, but soon.” she gently eased him back to sleep.
Octavia was displeased with the current restrictions which were limiting her research. The anomaly was now in a very secure enclosure that she was sure was a shocking case of overkill. The damn enclosure made access to the anomaly much more difficult and therefore slowed her research.
If that wasn't enough the outside of the Lab was more like a fortress now that the despised Mr. Hunter had increased security. She sarcastically wondered, which army was going to attack them.
Dimitri Mitsopoulos, her trusted second-in-command of the research team, had been under even more harassment by Mr. Whyte, the wizard in security. Dimitri's multi disciplined background had been enormously useful, but the stress from this stupidity was beginning to tell on him.
All this scrutiny was just because, in the last three months, movement had begun in the anomaly. Movement so slight, if not for the lasers, they never would have detected it. Caution was admirable, but Mr. Hunter's reaction was extremely over the top, there hadn't been any other changes.
Octavia double-checked the calibrations on the sensors festooning the anomaly herself, unwilling to force a lab tech to go through the gauntlet of actually entering that damn enclosure.
“Little one, it's time,” the gentle voice roused Jake from his slumber.
Trying to stretch he found that he couldn't. Why was it so tight in here he wondered?
“Precious one I have done all I could to prepare you for this moment, but I still fear it will be most unpleasant for you. You'll have the right to hate me for what I've done, but I hope the future will allow you time to forgive me.”
Still dreaming Jake muttered, “I don't hate you Mama. I love you.”
“I know my little one,” she said softy, “but it is time for you wake. I died many years ago now and now it is time for you to live.
Jake although cramped and half-awake resisted and stubbornly clung to his dream.
“WAKE” roared the Dragon!
Octavia frowned, “That isn't right.” She rechecked the setting, just as the alarms went off. Holding her ears she looked at the control booth above shouting, “Turn it off already!” She saw Mr. Hunter rush into the booth.
He grabbed the mic, “Doctor you should leave the enclosure NOW.”
Biting back an angry retort, Octavia caught some movement in the corner of her eye. Turning, she the anomaly move! At first just a wobble, then one side collided with the ranks of sensors and cameras.
She backed away disbelievingly as the clear sound of an impact from inside the Anomaly echoed in the now far too small enclosure. The lasers detected movement but if certain thresholds were passed it would also trigger a security lock-down.
Octavia ran for the door, but another crack echoed from behind her. She reached the door just as the automatic safeties slammed into place sealing the door into place and the lock-down alarm added its blare to the cacophony.
Dimitri sprinted to the control booth realizing that Octavia was inside the enclosure. He had been overseeing the assembly of some new equipment when the lock-down alarm sounded. With no tests scheduled for today no one had been in the booth but for one security guard.
Mr. Hunter stood calmly in the center of chaos as his associates rallied their troops. Dimitri could see some tracked robots as well as other heavily armed guards quickly scrambled outside the tripled-wall enclosure.
“Open the Locks! Let her out!” Dimitri yelled as he slid to stop.
Mr. Hunter calmly replied, “We can't do that Dr. Mitsopoulos. That would compromise the enclosure. Dr. Washington knew the risks when she began this project. I must admit a certain amount of satisfaction after spending four years being ridiculed by you scientists as a paranoid control freak.”
“Sometimes Doctor there really are monsters in the closet,” Mr. Hunter told him.
The large dark man Saladin quietly came in carrying a very long wooden case and stood at Mr. Hunters side as they watched the enclosure.
Jake woke unable to move. Panicked he didn't know what was going on. He was packed into some kind of box or something!
The last thing he remembered was endless dreams of the Dragon with her smoothing voice. Having problems breathing he smashed at the wall with his hand. Hearing something crack, heartened Jake struck it again.
Once more and a piece fell away and he could see light! Something on his back felt weird but almost from instinct he threw his shoulders at the promise of more light.
Octavia with her back against the locked-down door turned to see the impossible! For fifteen years the anomaly had resisted all of man's attempts to harm it and now she saw a fragment fall from it as something from inside struggled to get out!
Her mind refused to calculate the force that in theory would be required to breach that shell even though breaking out would be easier than in. Yes, a shell. Octavia had denied the obvious for years that it could really be an egg. Now it was hatching and she was in here with it.
Octavia’s breath caught as a slender hand came into view. Someone was inside? The reports had said that a Jacob Morgan had disappeared the night the anomaly had landed, but it didn't look like the hand of an adult much less a man's.
A tremendous glass shattering crescendo caused her to cover her ears again. Swallowing hard she saw a long ivory claw the size of her hand crack open the side of the egg. Octavia half in fear and half in awe wondered just what was being born.
In the booth Dimitri watched fascinated at seeing what he had chased for fifteen years come out of the darkness. Mr. Hunter merely grunted and exchanged a look with dark Saladin, Monsters.
Jake half fell crawled into the light. His head was swimming with unfamiliar sensations. Bumbling into some of the many pieces of equipment around him, he blinked in surprise. Where in the world was he?
Looking around himself he was in some sort of Plexiglas box filled with stuff out of a bad sci-fi movie. Above the box was some kind a control booth with a brunch of people staring at him.
Confused Jake continued looking and saw a black woman in her early thirty's maybe, but the fear in her eyes didn't help. Looking behind him he saw a trail of goo leading from an honest-to-god egg just like out of “Aliens”!
Bewildered he turned back to the woman to ask for help, but only a hissing like croak escaped his lips. He was going to try again when her eyes got even larger but focused behind him.
Wondering how his dream had turned into this nightmare, Jake turned to see what was happening now. The egg and even the goo-trail behind him was glowing!
Octavia was afraid but she couldn't stop herself from looking at the strange creature that had hatched. The slim hands she had seen earlier were attached to a young girl maybe in her mid-teens. Her skin was very fair and smooth, but it was the hair that stood out. It had a feathery like quality to it and seemed to flash with all the colors of the rainbow like a hologram.
She seemed very human if you discounted the large bat-like wings on her back. Looking closer the rainbow-like effect from the hair seemed to carry over to the wings as well.
The six or eight inch long claw she had seen earlier had come the top of the wing's humerus limb and unlike a bat's developed thumb was sheathed within the root somehow.
Octavia's inspection was interrupted when it tried to speak. The creature seemed confused and lost. Well even if they couldn't learn anything from her at least they had fragments of the egg now for testing. Then the egg shell started glowing.
Dimitri watched everything in complete fascination. He had never seen or heard of anything like this winged girl before except, maybe, a demoness from myth. The array of sensors was out but he could see her feet were abnormal but aside from that she looked quiet human.
Mr. Hunter was ordering the enclosures gas containers released but somehow when the egg hatched an EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) had knocked out all of the close electronics. Taking the news in stride he ordered the now inactive remote tranquilizer guns to be fired manually.
Richard Smith inhumanly leaped ten feet to one of the remote guns while his sister did the same confirming for Dimitri that they were indeed Supra's.
Men with ‘tranq’ guns were trying to position themselves while a robot armed with one trundled into the enclosure.
Dimitri could hear Mr. Hunter whispering in an unknown language but his tone made it clear it was urging them to move faster. He could see Octavia raptly studying the young woman, ever the scientist. With everyone’s attention focused on their strange guest almost no one saw the shell begin to glow!
With his observer's eye and years of studying the anomaly he recognized he was really seeing it disassemble itself. Each glowing spark was like that analogy he had made about it being phalanx like and it looked like they had new marching orders.
Now others were aware and Dimitri could hear their exclamations of awe, for it was something seen only in special effects for movies. Mr. Hunter was instead looking with an analytical eye as if unsurprised at his prey's latest move.
Dimitri was starting to wonder just who in Hades, Mr. Hunter really was and just how much he knew that he never told them. He could see the sparks start to swirl and in a tornado like spiral move towards the young woman.
She looked just as amazed by it as everyone else. It settled around her like a swarm of fairy's about their queen. In a brilliant flash of rainbow colored light the sparks turned her into a shiny mirrored sculpture that faded as it settled into place.
Jake blinked his eyes as the incredibly beautiful light show drifted over him and gently covered him like a fine blanket of silk. It was then he noticed his changes. What had happened to his arms and hands?
His heart began beating faster when he looked down and saw his new additions. Breasts? I have breasts. Trembling fingers touched his groin and found only a smooth flatness.
Afraid that he might be sexless his fingers probed and felt the seam of his or is that her sex? What had the dragon done to him? Growing aware that she was naked and on display in this glass box Jake covered herself and jerked in surprise when her wings unfurled and covered her like a cloak made from fine mail.
Entranced Octavia watched as the flock of sparks had become like a smooth coat covering her from head to toe, which you couldn't see except for the rainbow hologram like shimmers. The girl was plainly in shock and examining herself as if surprised at what she found.
The Scientist in her was wondering just what was happening here. Was this some creature from somewhere else or just the transformed Mr. Morgan?
With a cough of compressed air the first dart struck the girl. With a dimpled ripple of rainbows running across her skin or was it hide(?), it bounced off.
Jake was trying to understand what was happening when something struck her. It stung and she looked to see what had hit her. Laying nearby was a damaged dart like she had seen on TV for tranquilizing zoo animals.
Another sting hit her and she spun around to find yet another one had hit her. She saw someone on top of the cube that was aiming a gun like tube at her. Jake was afraid and yet angry at the same time.
Remembering the woman who was inside with her, Jake turned towards the airlock style door. The person she was looking for scooted out as the door opened and a thing kinda like a little tank rolled in. It was about the size of a riding lawnmower, but the gun and camera on top wasn't for yard work.
She grabbed the gun on top and was surprised when it came off in her hand. What was this thing made of, Styrofoam or something? Jake got stung in her shoulder and threw the torn gun at it.
Blinking her eyes she was shocked when her target shattered! The man on top flew off from the impact. Slapping at the sharp impact to her throat, she dropped to her knees more from shock than harm. Pulling her hand away, there were the parts of yet another dart.
Jake stood holding out her hands hoping to stop this. Her eyes locked with the woman on top of the cube with the gun, and without batting an eye she fired.
What was with these damn people couldn't they see she wanted to give up? The dart struck her in the breast and damn it, that hurt! Well if they wanted a fight, Jake thought as she grabbed the lawn tractor thing hoping to find something on it to throw but instead picked up the entire thing!
Flabbergasted she froze for a moment and then as her father used to say “Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.” she threw the whole thing at the bitch that had been shooting at her.
With a satisfying crash it demolished the gun, but the bitch on top had leaped away. There was a small opening now to the outside but she might be able to get out now. Leaping she had no trouble getting to the opening. It was a little small but as she pulled on it, the Plexiglas like stuff bent like it was metal.
Just where the hell was she? This was like Star Trek's ‘transparent aluminum’ or something! Damn it! Another sting hit her in the side. She pulled herself up onto the top of the cube. Shielding her eyes, she surveyed the room about her.
There were about ten guys in here with two large doors at each end with the cube sitting in the middle. Most of them looked armed with those tranquilizer rifles, but two had something that reminded her of flamethrowers because of the large tanks on their backs.
They all had gas masks and were dressed like SWAT guys. Sniffing, she indeed did pick up something in the air and saw vapor coming in from vents in the roof. The booth was midway between the doors and that was where whoever was giving the orders was.
Jake hesitated for a breath fearing the gas might knock her out soon. Looking into the booth she had no problem picking out the ones who were in charge. The taller man had a scholar look about him, but the one that drew her eyes was the small dark man.
She saw hate in them. Jake didn't know what was going on, but this man would kill her if he could, of that she had no doubts. That hate made up her mind. Leaping off the top, she charged for the farthest door for it had fewest defenders.
Whoa, what a rush! Jake exulted at the speed she was moving. More darts were fired but now she was moving not many hit besides they didn't do much but sting a bit. Rushing up to the door she flung one of the guys from her way. Awed, she watch him fly across the room!
Hey, that lawnmower thing hadn’t been fragile, she was just one helluva' lot stronger now! Wham! A large arm threw itself around her and grabbed her arm trying to force her into a submission hold. Twisting around she saw it was that Sonuvabitch that had started the shooting at her!
Almost in instinct she flung her wings opened and he spun away. Damn she must have a wingspan of nearly twelve feet!
Seeing movement in the corner of her vision, the bitch that had to be his twin slid to stop next to one of the tank armed men and grabbed the nozzle.
Jake had just about had it with these flackers, she put her head down and charged!
Calmly the blond witch waited until the last second and then fired! A steam of foam jetted out!
Jake felt the foam hit and was determined to get out no matter what, but the blasted stuff was still expanding and soon she lost traction with the floor. She could and did tear the stuff but the slippery inflating goo lifted her off the floor.
It was like being covered in marshmallows! Jake was having some trouble breathing though the stuff and a sense of claustrophobia grabbed her along with the fear of suffocating. Soon she couldn't see or hear anything as the foam swallowed all sensations.
Dimitri forced his hands to relax as the restraining foam captured the girl-creature. She would still be able to breath but it wouldn't be easy. He wondered what he had just seen because he knew he saw her try to surrender. That wasn't a response of a newborn but something that had past experiences. In his own mind he didn't know if she was a person or a creature although it was clear what Security thought.
Mr. Hunter had disregarded the surrender attempts. He had given orders the creature be subdued no matter what she did. It didn't get past him that the head of security had let out a long slow breath when she fallen to the foam for all of his projected confidence.
She had been immune to the darts and to the gas as well since the foam's movement gave evidence to her continued consciousness. Richard Smith who was undoubtedly was a supranormal was thrown almost causally from her.
Dimitri had some ideas but he needed to talk to Octavia to try to sort out and focus his thoughts. He had been grateful that she gotten out without any harm.
A disheveled and breathless Octavia came in and silently their eyes met knowing that they had much to discuss.
Mr. Hunter said to them, “Doctors, if you please, report to the conference room for a debriefing and prepare a report for me by tomorrow.” Finished he turned and left the booth along with his silent shadow.
Jake felt herself being lowered to the floor but still couldn't see or hear anything because of the bloody Styrofoam. She tensed waiting for a chance to escape when her soft prison started dissolving in a sticky nasty mess!
She tried to fight to her feet but it was as slick as wet ice. Jake was pawing at her mouth and eyes trying to keep the gooey junk out when a jet of water slammed her into the wall!
Overcoming her panic at being pinned by the powerful river of water washing over her she discovered again that being stronger meant nothing when you didn't have anything to push against.
Abruptly it cut off dropping her coughing to the cold hard floor. Jake brought her hands to her groin and breasts that were still throbbing painfully from the jet of water. From her eye level with the floor she could see the water and goo draining away into a grate in the center of the concrete floor.
Craning her head about she saw she was in a box about thirty foot by thirty foot, with a large mirror on one wall about twenty feet off the floor. The rest of the room was featureless except for some slits in the ceiling where the lights were and water dripping from one of them suggested that was where her unwelcome bath had come from as well.
Undoubtedly the mirror was two way, but there was no sign of a door. Thinking of something she read of an really nasty jail cell in ancient Rome that was just a carven pit of solid rock that the only way in or out was though a hole in the ceiling, she carefully examined the slits up there.
Jake could see where they helped concealed a ten foot section of roof that looked if it could be moved. Even if she could learn to fly up there she didn't see how she could lift such a huge block. With no leverage it was just impossible but what about this wasn't.
Wrapping her arms about herself she felt her breasts. Trying to keep from crying and feeling sorry for herself she examined herself. If someone were watching, let the damn flackers get an eyeful as she shot them the finger!
Standing far enough back so she could see all of her new self in the mirror, Jake recognized her face. It was the same the dragon had worn in their shared dream! She was girlishly slim with breasts and hips that left no uncertainty she was female. With a little shock, she noticed the flash of blue in her belly button. Touching the smooth stone she found there, Jake realized she had still had the dream-stone that first started this adventure.
Her skin was still fair but the addition of that glowing stuff from the shell gave it a rainbow shimmer. Jake ran her fingers though her glittering hair that had even more of a multicolor thing going with holographic like shifting. It was very soft and had a feathery like texture and came down to her shoulders.
Twisting her head, Jake saw she could turn her head a lot further than anyone she had ever seen before. She could see what was almost a horse-like mane, running down her back and covering the area where her wings joined her back and shoulders.
She had six limbs now with the addition of the wings. They were very muscular and more like legs than arms. The soft skin covered wings reassembled bat-like wings more than birds, but while a bat's wing claw was its thumb hers was different.
The tallest arm of the wing had a lot of flexibility and movement and she could move it forward until it overreached her own hands. With that grim claw hidden in it, the wing was like a spear or sword.
It was hard trying to extend the claw but when she did, the thing was razor sharp with a serrated edge ginzu chefs would envy.
If that wasn't enough she almost freaked when she checked out her feet. She hadn't been walking on her ball and heel at all but on the knuckles of her toes! Stretched out her toes were webbed like the wings and were almost a foot long.
Rather than have a tail, she had this webbed foot design. Fighting the feelings of being very alone and one of a kind she saw each toe was very limber and folded under her foot so like she first thought walking on the knuckles of her toes.
Now she knew she was doing it, it was a bit strange but she could see it was done to help her fly. With her toes extended she could she how it could be like a bird's tail. She did still have toe nails but they weren't claw like or anything.
Thinking about claws and nails she looked at her hands. They were long and slender and everything she had desired. They were the hands of a beautiful feminine woman. Testing the edges her nails didn't seem unusually sharp, but they were a about a quarter inch long.
The nails also had a shiny rainbow sheen on them and appeared very hard. Thinking that the nails looked really thick she got another surprise as like with the wing claws she had another half inch of nail sheathed underneath the normal looking ones.
The odd part, wasn't that a laugh, was the clawed extensions weren't symmetrical, but shaped so that when she held her fingers together her they formed a rounded blade-like edge an inch or so from her hand.
Jake had played at the Society of Creative Anachronisms and a similar group named the Marklanders to know a little about blade work. An expert no, but enough to get himself hurt he used to joke, but now it was herself she supposed.
In moving her weapon-hand about, she noted this was meant for slashing while the wing claws were designed for punching though stuff. Well, the hand thing didn't seem to include the thumbs.
Since everything else had a purpose she looked at them. The thumbnail was broader across and when Jake got the claw out the damn thing was almost two inches long!
She hugged her knees to herself again dismayed at being a walking cutlery shop. It had to have been the dragon who did this her, Why? Despite trying not to, the tears began to fall and soon into a uneasy slumber.
Dimitri and Octavia glared at Mr. Hunter. “We need access to the girl if you expect us to have any thing other than a Scientific Wild Ass Guess (SWAG).” Octavia said angrily.
“Doctor to start with the anomaly was classified as a Class 6 artifact. Unknown origin with confirmed magical and or psionic potential involved in the death of a person.”
“You got permission to study it with the understanding that securing the anomaly would come first. We already know that Mr. Morgan was killed fourteen years ago by this thing and today it ripped opened eight inches of Glas-steel as well as destroying a mobile gun robot.”
Mr. Hunter took a breath, “Two of my people were injured, one with a broken leg and Mr. Smith with broken collar bone. We hit it with a total of nine harden tranq darts that can pierce a rhino's hide and they just shattered on impact with it.”
“The lab was flooded with enough gas to knock out an elephant but it ignored it. We were very lucky today, Doctors, that we have the latest generation of restraining foam. Even still it tore itself free of the foam but couldn't escape the self-sealing cocoon effect.”
Mr. Hunter placed both hands on the table and stood. “This generation of foam is rated for Epsilon class Supra's and it exceeded that considerably judging by the ease it escaped the enclosure.”
“I'm not going to endanger you or this project by allowing anyone close to this thing. You will have access to the recordings and remote sensors, but that is all.”
Octavia, upset, stood, “How can we determine anything with conditions like that? We need to have detailed electron scans and thorough examinations. Not to mention samples.”
Mr. Hunter grimaced, “Did you find any remains of the shell Doctor? Any type of remains at all?”
Octavia shook her head, “No, but we…”
“And you won't either Doctor,” the head of Security cut her off. “This thing is making certain that it leaves nothing behind. I don't think even if I let you make the attempt that you would have any success.”
Dimitri spoke softly, “Have you asked her?”
Octavia and Hunter turned to him as if they hadn't understood him.
He repeated himself, “Have you asked her? After all twice she tried to surrender but your men continued shooting. That argues that she has some ability to communicate, so have anyone even tried talking to her?”
Hunter looked at him as if he'd lost his mind, “Dr. Mitsopoulos I can appreciate thinking outside the box but in this instant let make no mistake. This thing is a monster. You can't reason or make friends with it. You study it and learn its weaknesses so the next time one like it comes around you know how to best kill it, nothing more.”
He stood angrily. “This brief is over. I need to know how to kill this thing. Anything else is irrelevant.” Hunter left the room leaving Octavia and Dimitri looking at each other wondering what really was going on.
Jake awoke on the concrete floor. She half wondered why she wasn't stiff or sore but the pressure in her bladder let her know business comes first. Annoyed she looked at the drain the center of the sloping floor and then at the damn window where her peeking Toms were no doubt getting an eyeful.
While Jake was asleep two buckets had appeared. They were made of simple white plastic and held water and something that had the look of mush to it. Of course nothing to eat with but fingers.
With as much aplomb as she could muster, Jake walked to the drain. Looking pointedly at the drain and back at the window, she shot them the finger. All of her life she had dreamed of being a real girl and now when it would have been nice to have something to aim with she had to squat with an audience no less.
It wasn't like when she had been male but a certain relaxing let the stream begin. She had a small amount of that multicolor hair kinda like a bikini cut right above her sex, but she didn't know what else to call it but a seal or seam?
Her groin had some sort of muscled fold that kept it sealed. At least a rapist would have one helluva time trying to force that open. Not that with all the claws and sharp edges she had would make that a concern.
Next problem was what was she going to wipe with? Carefully she tipped the water bucket just enough to splash some out. Wetting one hand she did her best to clean herself and then cleaned the soiled hand as best she could.
Well at least that tour of duty in Korea had been good for something. In Korea it was considered bad manners to eat with the left hand because that was the one reserved for 'cleaning.'
Using the same concept, she used her other hand to dip into the soggy mush that was something like oatmeal. After tasting it she nearly spit it out. Those Flackers were treating her like she was an animal or something!
That mush really was oats, like you would feed a horse! The buckets should've been a big clue, but even in survival, escape, resistance and evasion (SERE) training in the Air Force they had never fed them livestock feed!
Alright at first she was thinking she was being treated like some sort of rogue supranormal or something, but this was ridicules! Marching up to her damn peeking Toms she was going give them a piece of her mind!
Yesterday her attempts at speaking hadn't gone too well, but this was above and beyond cruel. In the beginning she could only kinda croak, but then Jake guessed she was having to learn how to speak all over again in a way.
Her entire jaw, lips, tongue, and even her vocal range had changed, but even so it didn't take too long before she could manage to get out, “Hey YOU!”
Jake winced at the volume, well she had a healthy set of lungs anyways, and almost made herself smile thinking of her breasts. Get your mind out of the gutter sweetie she told herself.
Addressing her peeking Toms, “Why am I here? What have I done to deserve this?” She said with her hands on her hips.
Not getting an answer, she had the sinking feeling that the nasty little guy with hate in his eyes was responsible for this humiliation. If that was so she had nothing to gain by trying to talk with these people.
Emotion always overcomes reason Jake had learned the hard way. Right now she just didn't know enough to try and escape. Trying to claw her way though that mirror was tempting but she was thinking seeing just how that damn section of roof opened might be more useful.
Jake mused well I might as well get used to eating horse food. Someone is going to catch just a little payback because of this she promised, but for now do nothing.
After she had finished eating her rather unappetizing meal it was tempting to see just what she could do physically now, but that would mean showing her captors as well.
Well, Jake was used to living mostly inside her head anyways, telling herself stories and dreaming of somehow becoming the woman she had always felt she should've been. She settled down in the center of the floor cross legged and daydreamed.
The next couple of days passed like the first. She would get up and demand answers from the peeping Toms. Eat that damn horse feed, and sit and meditate.
Jake did learn that the door indeed was in the ceiling but it lowered instead of lifted. That probably meant the way out was blocked above it, like an airlock arrangement.
It also got her thinking that this damn place was built like it had to house a major class villain like Doctor Mortis. That sneaky little trick with the door made her think that just breaking a hole in that glass wouldn't work. It was too obvious.
The simple thing would be if it was just that a mirror. The real observation area would be concealed elsewhere. Seeing how whoever had her had some damn strange materials available to them as proved by that transparent metal stuff it could be anywhere. If only she had Scotty to beam her up right now, but it looked if she would have to do this the hard way.
Jake had added a routine of stretching and isometric exercises to her day. Even with the lousy diet she still had too much energy to sit all day long. She had always envied those girl gymnasts on TV with the floor and parallel bar events, but being male at the time she had no way to live out that fantasy.
Now she had to be careful how much she gave away to the peeking Toms. Sure when she did make her escape attempt it would be pleasant to have some idea of what she could do, but she rather thought the surprises might work in her favor.
She concentrated on doing letter perfect men's pushup's not to build strength but for coordination. When she did break out of this joint, these ass-holes were going to remember it for a long, long time.
Welcome to the Third and Final Part of A Dream of Dragons! Sorry for the slight delay due to re-editing and being ill. I hate being sick!
Disclaimer: This is fiction. All the characters and events portrayed here are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely accidental and unintentional A big thanks goes out to Paula and Cathy for helping proof and generally make this readable. Another big thanks goes to Ariel who pre-read this. Any remaining errors, or mistakes are mine! Enjoy!
By
grover
Dimitri and Octavia waited impatiently, as Gregory watched the recordings of their unhappy guest. His sister had been born deaf, and Gregory could not only sign, but read lips.
Mr. Hunter lived up to his promise of providing them with the recordings, but it was easy to determine that they had been edited. More to the point, all the sound was missing. Mr. Hunter seemed to forget that scientists are, by their very nature, puzzle solvers.
Gregory rewound a tad and watched a section over again. Finally he slid the translations to them. Reading over each other's shoulders, they quickly read the transcripts.
Young Gregory rubbing his tired eyes, “That is one pissed off girl.”
The two researchers looked up at him, questioning.
Picking up on that they didn't see it, Gregory explained, “Reading lips and sign rarely conveys emotional content. My sister taught me to look at body language and word choice, so you see it's not just the profanity, although she does use a few mild ones.”
“Look at how she stalks up to the camera, how stiff and focused she is. I'll bet a week's pay that she knows a lot more colorful metaphors than what she's using. She isn't just asking why she's being held here, she's spitting it out like venom,” the technician pointed out.
Octavia sighed, “Thank you Gregory, for your help. You know, of course, not to talk about this.”
Leaving the room, the young technician replied, “No problem Doc. I hope you two can work out a way for us to get back to our real work, and not this playing jail crap.”
Octavia looked at Dimitri, “This is insane. We know she is a sentient creature, and that idiot is treating her worse than I would a dog. The report I sent, was returned with a note, “They had confidence in how that damn fool was handling this 'situation.'”
Dimitri noted, when angry, her southern accent came to the fore. “I know. When I researched the security act, I found, that, since the anomaly was held responsible for Mr. Morgan's death, after he failed to appear after ten years, the ruling is; “Guilty, without a requirement for any type of trial”.
Octavia shook her head, “I knew my country had some twisted laws, but kill someone with an egg, and the chicken is guilty of murder?”
“It's not that simple. Since there wasn't any physical proof or evidence that she was hatched, Hunter is taking the stance that the anomaly simply altered forms, and that is covered under this law.” He explained.
“What brothers me the worst is the security on the outside. You would think they were getting ready to be invaded from some of the stuff I've seen. Look how little cooperation we're getting now. I believe that, as far as they are concerned, this project is over and they seem to be waiting for something, or someone, to happen to terminate the remains” He spoke sadly, gesturing at the winged girl on the monitor.
Octavia almost screamed, “This isn't right! She spent fourteen years inside the anomaly. Where did it come from? Was it really an egg? If so, what laid it? What could possibly come have came up those wonderful, complex designs we’ve seen? Moreover what other incredible secrets might be hidden within her?”
Dimitri said nothing, thought for a moment, and took a disk from his pocket, “Look at this and tell me what you think. I'll be back later.” He left her staring at the defiant girl demon, digitally frozen on the screen.
It took him several hours to get back to her, but even with testing interrupted, and perhaps even canceled, there was still past test information to be gone over in detail.
His reception was chilly upon returning to her office, “Why didn't you tell me?”
Dimitri tired and worn from stress, “Tell you what? Fifteen years ago a volcano in the Mediterranean blew up very mysteriously, leaving strange rainbows for sunsets for weeks afterward?”
“Or maybe, when those particles were analyzed, that impossibly, they suggested an organic origin, never mind that for it to be large enough to provide enough particles to cause said rainbows it would have to be so large it would make Godzilla look small?”
“How about, the anomaly landed within six hours of the eruption, but all of the other debris from the eruption didn't re-enter anywhere near where it did. Let's not forget our oh so considerate chief of security, who says that our demon girl is a monster and that the vanished island was named for a figure in Greek myth, said to be the Mother of all Monsters.” He finished. “We are scientists Octavia, but all I have are guesses. I'm sure Mr. Hunter knows how all of this ties together, but I have spent my life looking for answers for why a volcano didn't act like a volcano. I still don't know why.” Dimitri sighed.
“Not a Demon,” Octavia slid an opened book towards him.
With a puzzled look he sat upright and examined her offering, which showed a comparison of some sort between claws.
“A paleontologist was ridiculed, a couple of decades ago, when he suggested that dinosaurs had descendants among what most thought were creatures of myth, dragons. That is a close up picture of the Mighty Dragon, as he calls himself, a superhero in the Dallas Lone Stars Team.”
“Next to it is a velociraptor's sickle claw. As you can see, there are clear similarities between the two, but this is even more interesting.” She turned her monitor around for him to see.
There were two claws side by side again. While the comparison between the first picture was close, this one was nearly identical. After a moments study he recognized one of them as belonging to their guest. Dimitri raised a questioning eyebrow, “You're suggesting that our friend is a dragon?”
She nodded, “Gregory again,” she said fondly, “He had gotten this book as a present, as a child, and has lugged it around with him ever since. After translating for us this morning, he thought the wing structure looked similar, and found this to show me.”
Octavia put up the next picture, showing the wing of their guest. “Here is the picture he showed me, and it is close. Her wings are a bit different, but are clearly similar. According to the book's author, it is very like a pterodactyl's wing, and he might well have a point.”
“The difficulty lies in that there are so few pictures of them, that most people regard them as a hoax, or just some kind of a mutation. Add to the myth of Echidna, who was said to be winged and half snake, I think we have definitely linked our anomaly with some sort of very old creature, which is remembered mostly in myth.” Octavia rather proudly lectured.
Dimitri ran his hands though his thinning hair, examining her evidence and theories. None of these materials were in their data base, and no one had compared their guest's features with dinosaurs, although in afterthought, it should have been done. They had, instead, been barking up the wrong tree, as Americans say, by looking at demons and others with bat-like wings, not pterosaurs.
When one thinks of supernatural creatures, leather winged humanoids using magic, demons come mind before dragons. He seemed to recall stories where dragons could appear as humans, never one that was part way like their guest. A were-dragon he wondered half in jest?
“Alright, this does suggest at a mythical origin for the anomaly, and might explain why Mr. Hunter is so hostile to it if it is part of an old grudge. But if it is, that might also mean our security chief is a LOT more than he appears to be.” Dimitri relented.
“I tried getting in touch with this Mighty Dragon, but he dropped out of sight some years ago. An Internet search revealed he was seen a few months ago, helping someone in Mexico, but no one knows how to contact him, it seems.” she said wearily.
“For all we know that's what Hunter is waiting for, a relative to show up so the mighty hunter can bag a dragon. I wonder what the limit is?” her weariness turning to sarcasm.
Dimitri gave her a measuring glance, “I think there is more than a little truth in your statement, but that doesn't help us keep her alive. Our best strategy may be making the most optimistic projections we can, based on the potential gains from studying her.”
Octavia nodded, “We need to use our strength against his weakness. He just wants to destroy, but we're going to create. Perhaps we should be suggesting trying to gain her cooperation, after a few reports?”
She gave a tired snort, “We don't even have to fake anything. Whatever the anomaly transformed itself into, when it merged with her it was flexible enough to let her move freely, and hardy enough to resist those darts, as well as being light weight. Who ever designed, or birthed her, certainly has one hell of a research department!”
Jake wakened, crying. All of those endless dreams weren't just dreams, she knew now. She had thought that when the dragon had said their daughter needed his soul, that it was a figure of speech, but now she knew better.
She had become the daughter of which the dragon had spoken. Those memories of being taught about dragons and magic were real, at least in some way. There was just too much information for her to sort out.
Jake pulled her poncho tightly around herself. Her captors had left a blanket, so using one of her so sharp claws, she had cut it into a rough poncho like out of the Clint Eastwood westerns of her childhood.
Using one corner to wipe her tears, she took a deep breath and got up, to once more demand answers from her silent peeping Toms.
Mr. Hunter and Mr. Whyte carefully watched the recording of the monster crying. “So you believe this is the first sign that it is starting to break down?” Asked the one man Mr. Whyte would never dream of offending.
“Yes, indeed I do. I know that I've been champing at the bit wanting to proceed with my experiment, but this does look promising.” the mage explained. “It’s shields are amazing, but my combination of spells, and the robot's pincer, should enable us to secure one of the most dragon-like claws.”
“That alone would be priceless, but with the blanket gambit to gather any loose skin and other samples, that should keep our two scientists satisfied for the time being. There of course is risk, but the vault seems to be able to contain it,” the mage continued, confidently.
With his fingers steepled, his dark eyes burned, “As you say Mr. Whyte, the gains are tempting, but to date, the urine and fecal samples have yielded nothing useful. With that in mind I am not hopeful that the blanket ploy will be successful.”
“Particularly since the sensors hidden with the blanket stopped working, almost from the moment she handled it. The beast has grown very cagey, but the prize of a dragon's claw is such a temptation,” he mused.
The focus and the strength the small dark man possessed frightened the mage as few things ever did. Just once he tried to cast a spell upon Mr. Hunter, only to have his magic unravel like rotten string, and he awoke to a knife at his throat, with a promise of death if he attempted it again, along with a job offer. How could he refuse?
Coming to a decision, he continued. “We will wait two weeks, and if nothing invalidates your theories, then you may proceed. You may go Mr. Whyte.”
Jake had learned much in the last few days. She was beginning to make sense of that huge repository of information that was now in her head. As best as she could make out she had all this information, but it wasn't 'filed' in a fashion that let her use it easily.
The best way seemed to be doing something related, and the needed information would 'pop up.' Practical maybe, but it sucked for trying to plan an escape. It seemed that “MOM,” the dragon, was fond of 'on the job training' (OJT). Learning while doing was just fine, but Jake's natural inclinations were as a planner and thinker, and she was not the sort to just jump in and start 'doing.'
She still wasn't sure how she felt about what 'Mom the dragon' had done to her, but Jake was saving most of her displeasure for her captors. She didn't have a clue about what events led from 'his' dreaming trust with the dragon, to waking wherever 'here' was, as a ‘her’ in an egg, but was certain that being treated like an animal, or mega-super-villain, was unjustified.
Jake had learned where the actual control booth really was by faking a temper tantrum. During her morning 'bitch-out' session in front of the mirror, she had taken that nasty bucket of oatmeal and slung it across the room.
With her sharper eyes, and much better memory, she had marked where in the room the 'drips' had run at different rates. Unsurprisingly, evidence pointed to the area directly across from the mirror, which made sense, because using the mirror would give an unobstructed view of the entire room.
She had paid for her information, as her 'peeping Toms' had used the water-jets to clean her cell and, of course, on her as well. Jake had never done any acting, but had many a role-playing-game under her belt, that encouraged getting into a role.
She had done so with relish, cussing and making obscene gestures, until settling down wrapping her wings about herself.
Mr. Hunter sat in his office, quietly smoking a pipe, while the flickering of the TV provided the only light. Tobacco was a pleasure he seldom engaged in, with all the modern taboos against the habit.
He considered the evidence supporting the current theory that the monster was beginning to break, and become mentally unstable. Additionally, although he had boosted external security, the monstrosity that had begot the beast he held imprisoned, hadn't given any indications that it was still alive. For that matter, none but those two armchair scientists had any interest in saving its life.
Still you had to give it to them. They knew how to play the bureaucratic game. Their efforts had pressured him to make the creature available to them for study. Mr. Hunter could understand their drive to study, but his own philosophy had something in common with certain, so-called, Christians, “Kill them all and let God sort them out.” The thought of HIM having anything in common with Christians was humorous, but that didn't solve the current problem.
This wasn't the first time in his long life he had worked as an administrator, but it was not a role he enjoyed. He far preferred the part of for which he had named himself, “The Hunter.” It was only for a chance, not at just any monster, but the greatest one of all, had he even considered it.
He had used his contacts with the director's people to bug the geological research station on Angelo Echidna, so many years ago. The Dream-stones the great beast had sowed the planet with had mostly been dealt with by the bounty he'd put upon them, by placing an ad in several jeweler's trade magazines. It had been expensive, but he had little need for wealth after all.
Mr. Hunter had recognized the stone in the monster child’s navel of course, but it had held little interest for him. The Dragon's claw was another matter altogether.
Permitting Mr. Whyte's experiment to proceed would serve several goals. They could test the monster's arcane defenses and, if successful, gather physical samples, as well as secure the mystically valuable Dragon's claw.
Reaching forward, he signed the documents allowing the experiment to proceed, as the program he was watching reached his favorite part. The 20th century had brought many marvels, but cartoons were his favorites, as he watched Elmer Fudd caution the audience to be vewy, vewy quiet, he was hunting wabbits.
Mr. Hunter chuckled indeed, for he was hunting far larger game. When hunting dragons you had to be not only vewy, vewy quiet, but vewy, vewy careful.
Octavia had objected when she learned of the plan to de-claw the dragon-girl, as she thought of the girl. In her dealings with everyone else it was always the 'subject.' Honestly, she wasn't sure what upset her the most. The increasingly more emotional state of the subject, and the plan to cut off parts of her, or just plain old dislike for anything the so-called Mr. Whyte was a part of.
Dimitri had been uncharacteristically silent when they had read that so-called testing schedule. She knew he believed the dragon-girl's 'instability' was nothing more than an act, and Gregory thought so as well.
She wasn't sure, because the dragon-girl had been locked up and treated as an animal for almost six weeks, and for humans that would be enough to cause them to start to 'break.'
What she and Dimitri both agreed on was that it shameful that the 'subject' was being treated like an animal at all. The girl wasn't an animal, to have her will broken like an animal!
Octavia had managed to get permission for them to be in the viewing booth during the extraction. It seemed that Mr. Hunter and his cut-throats were to be at the airlock, where they expected any escape attempt to be made.
The booth even, if the Dragon-girl knew where it was at, had six inches of Glas-steel set inside a foot and a half of ferro-crete. It rivaled the defenses of World War Two battleships. Inside, the full time operator had the water jets, various lethal and non-lethal gases, and could electrify the chamber, for ferro-crete was conductive.
Jake woke. She couldn't honestly tell what alerted her, but after being in this pit for so long, every sound and tremor was known to her. The 'stopper' of her jail cell 'bottle' was carefully being lowered.
In the past weeks, a boom had swung out, dropping her food and water buckets, but this time she could tell it was taking longer. Without moving a muscle, she felt the excitement go though her that her chance to escape might finally be here.
She didn't think any Las Vegas bookie would take the odds against her. An escape attempt from what was almost certainly an ultra security facility, in an unknown location, with absolutely no resources, was NOT likely.
Part of the reason she was still sane was her improved memory. She could remember, word for word, anything she'd read, even before her change, and Jake had read a lot! She re-read many of her favorites in the peace of her own mind, and one of those had struck a chord.
Gordon Dickinson had a short story, “Danger Human,”
which was about a human, unjustifiably imprisoned by some aliens, as part of an experiment. The prisoner had waited for years until just the right chance had come about, and had escaped the inescapable.
Well, if humans were dangerous, just wait till they get a load of Homo-Draconis and, as for the odds, well as another storyteller had said, “Never tell me the odds!”
Jake felt a slight 'ripple' that she now knew was magic. It had a nasty little odor about it, as it tried to latch onto her and wiggle its way into one of her claws. Resisting an urge to twitch, she remembered one of the many lessons Mama Dragon had drilled her in, during the long dreaming.
It was still annoying to only have the knowledge in times of abject need, but she skillfully worked the spell to effectively contain the other's efforts. The more power the other mage pushed into it, the more the pressure would build, until it rebounded onto the caster. Well, in theory anyways, because Jake had never cast any type of spell before, except in 'simulations.'
Damn! it was hard to keep from giggling at that last thought, as she watched her 'bottle's' breaking point rise. It canna' hold captain, it's gonna' blow! Jake was watching so intensely, she jumped when something grabbed her only clothes!
Her eyes flew open, and her hand grabbed the offending paw that dared touch her sole garment. Jake wasn't surprised to find another of those damn robot things. She could see the trail of magic that led to the robot, like a cutoff that let the caster stay safe while casting his magic. Unbidden, another cantrip came to her, that would take care of that and she grinned like a wolf. ‘Oh, he isn't going to like this!’
With a blast of mystic power, the bottle 'broke,' and with a rush of mystical lights, it was returned to its sender. Jake leaped up upon Robbie Robot, to sever the cables leading to the 'stopper' above her.
With a metallic squeal, her wing claws parted the metal cable and, with a lithe swing, she landed beside Robbie. She'd hoped her 'peeping Toms' would provide something for her to throw, and it was time to give it back.
Picking up Robbie, Jake gave a leap, along with a mighty assisted flap of her wings and, like Michael Jordan dunking a goal, stuffed the robot into the 'stopper!' Landing lightly, she turned and ran at the mirror.
Somersaulting into the air to slam feet first into it with bone jarring force, Jake did a swimmer's kick off, sending her flying back across the room, where her best guess had placed the real window, with her wing claws fully extended.
She rammed into it with an echoing boom, as the six inch claws punched though whatever the hell this stuff was made of. With a muscle straining heave she carved a huge 'V' shape into it.
Repositioning her claws piton-like into the wall as anchors, Jake grasped the bottom of the torn 'V' with her hands and, using her legs, pulled upwards. A torrent from the 'peeping Tom's' water jets caught her, but anchored as she was, it was useless.
A gust of in rushing air let her know she was on the right track. The cell was kept at a lower air pressure than the outside, to ensure that if any gases were used on her, they wouldn't escape to the outside.
She was almost inside when the first electric shock hit her. Jake ignored it, and another, much larger one, zapped her. Half-surprised her heart hadn't stopped; she slipped outside her prison cell.
Dimitri’s disgust at the proceedings had grown geometrically. His and Octavia's efforts to locate another dragon-like creature had, so far, failed. They had made some headway in getting access to the subject, but not much.
Mr. Hunter had proven himself well able to fight on a bureaucratic level, for he had managed to make this amputation of the girl's claw, sound like he was acceding to their requests.
His first time in the observation booth made him wonder again who he was really working for. It was almost certainly funded by some branch of the US government as part of some 'black' program. Bank vaults were easier to get into than this place!
His sharp eyes, after taking in the spaceship like controls, looked out the window to the girl. Was she really a dragon-girl, like Octavia believed? What did dragons have to do with his old quest about what had happened at Echidna Angelo?
She was curled up into a ball, with her face hidden under her wings. Certain that she was deeply asleep; the technicians began lowering the 'air-lock.' Dimitri was less certain about anything concerning her.
From the very beginning, when studying the egg, they had been amazed at the nano-scale engineering. Once the egg had hatched, and presented them with something more familiar, everyone seemed to have forgotten just how advanced that structure had been.
He had reviewed the tapes of the hatching, and the egg wall had been less than a half centimeter thick. That thin shell had resisted every test they could throw at it. What more remarkable designs were reserved for the treasure that lay inside?
All they knew so far was that she was strong, fast, difficult to harm and immune to some types of gases. Of course, you had to add in that they knew for certain that magic was involved, and that her creators/parents might well be creatures from myth.
Chuckling at his own musings, Dimitri schooled himself to pay attention to the proceedings, as the sampling robot was lowered into the enclosure. Glancing at Octavia, he saw her focus was firmly riveted on the subject.
It was one of the qualities he loved in her. He had admitted that he’d had fallen for her quite some time ago, but only to himself. Realistically, he knew any romance was doomed to failure, for they were both committed to their careers, aside from her officially being his supervisor.
The robot was finally on the enclosure floor, and it began moving up to the sleeping girl. The busy chatter from the headsets they wore alerted them. Mr. Whyte was ready to proceed, and Dimitri could feel the tension increase as everyone tensed up.
He wasn't an expert on magic, but had read what was available, since the anomaly was suspected to be of a magical origin. This ritual by Mr. Whyte was to cause her to stay asleep, and separate painlessly one of the wing root claws.
They were told that the claw was selected because it would hold portions of bone marrow, but neither he nor Octavia believed that, since their researches had revealed that, among wizards, dragon claws were very valuable.
The stress eased when nothing happened, and Mr. Hunter ordered the robot operator to retrieve the sampling blanket. Dimitri thought it was just another example of Mr. Hunter's blindness that he never thought the girl’s first reaction to getting a blanket, was to make clothing out of it.
Her tailoring would make getting the blanket, which was designed to pick up any loose skin cells or hair, a little harder to retrieve. Dimitri wondered if Mr. Hunter's prejudice would be his undoing, but not today, it seemed.
The robot arm reached out to grab the blanket, and then the carefully planned session came apart, as the girl seemingly levitated straight up, and landed on top of the machine!
The umbilical cable that had lowered it into the cell whip-lashed wildly, as her claws slashed though it. Blindingly fast, she slipped off of the robot, and picked up the entire machine, just like she had that other robot, back when she first hatched.
In slow motion, Dimitri watched the security tech hand slap the water jet controls, but he was far too slow, as she flew/leaped astoundingly, the thirty feet straight up to the airlock and slammed the now mangled machine into it, jamming it open!
Letting herself fall, she landed, incongruously lightly, and turned sprinting for the mirrored wall. With an incredibly agile twist, she collided, feet first, with the mirror, and launched herself right at them!
Instinctively, he and Octavia ducked behind the control panel as, with a deafening boom, the girl rammed the glas-steel window! The entire panel rippled like a sheet in the wind, as two claws punched though the, six inch thick, armored window.
In shock, they watched the claws slam themselves down, meeting together, creating a 'V' like slash in the tough, transparent metal. Dimitri knew the pressure in the cell was kept lower, to make the use of gases easier, but the girl effortlessly pulled the gashed metal inward, overcoming the pressure difference, while tearing open the window, like a can opener.
Water was running in from the water jets, trying to dislodge the girl, and he heard Octavia yell, “NO!”
She grabbed the tech's hand, as he reached for the lethal gas. “You'll kill us too! The cell is breached. Use the electricity.”
Dimitri jumped backwards, away from the water pooling on the panel and floor as the first jolt hit, but the second jolt, conducted by the water to the main panel, shorted it out with a shower of sparks and burning wiring, as the lights went dark.
Blinking his eyes, as the emergency lights cut in, he jumped at the soft, southern accented voice, “I really do hate to interrupt you two love birds, but I'm in the middle of an escape, so would you mind, very much, pointing the way out please?”
Security techs were still steaming from their near electrocution, but one still reached for his sidearm, when the girl stopped him cold, with a growl, “Don't! I've already proved I can rip transparent aluminum apart with these,” she said, flexing her claws, “Do you really want to see what they can do to flesh and blood? Well, DO you?”
Slowly, the two techs tossed their weapons towards the girl where she caught and tossed them back into her vacated cell. She took a quick step over to where they cringed, and took their headsets and badges. The girl causally slipped on one, and crushed the other in her hand, like paper.
Confused by the lovebird comment, both he and Octavia blushed when they realized they were holding hands. Quickly they took their hands back, embarrassed, as the girl laughed softly.
Dimitri, still blushing, had many months of getting accustomed to Octavia's accent, but the girl's was different. What really got his attention though, was her color shifting hair. Well, it was optical properties from the volcano remains that got him involved in all this, to start with.
The hair didn't seem so much like hair, as very fine optical fibers, and he wondered, ‘why use such fibers for hair?’
Octavia numbly pointed at the fire evacuation placard by the door and, at the Dragon girl's direction, tossed her and Dimitri's radios into the gashed open cell.
“Hmm, I would love to stay chat with you, Doctors Washington and Mitsopoulos,” glancing down at their badges, “Because I remember you from when I woke up, but maybe some other time,” she said as she added their badges to her collection, and turned to the heavy sliding doors.
Before Octavia could say the doors were locked down, the Dragon-girl forced her wing claws into the seams. With a scream of tearing metal, the doors were ripped open. Octavia was astounded, for the girl was orders of magnitude times stronger than her size suggested she should be.
As the girl rushed out, she swore the girl yelled, “Elvis has left the building!”
Dimitri seemed dazed, and she was still in shock as well. She hadn't been sure the surge would knock out the control room, but she had hoped. The odds were still against the dragon-girl making it out, but now she had a chance, no matter how slim.
Cursing in a language four thousand years dead, Hunter hurried down the hallway. His uniform was splattered with blood from Mr. Whyte's spectacularly failed magics, as all four of his limbs had spontaneously disconnected themselves from his body.
Rather fortunately for Mr. Whyte, trouble had been anticipated, and a medic was nearby, although just how much he would be able to do in such an extreme situation, was in doubt.
Saladin and Mr. Akna were close behind him, and the busy headset told him the Smith twins and Mr. Sato were at the only exit. Once again, the monster had reached out to strike one of his, and he darkly swore that it would be the last.
Jake ran down the hallway to the stairway revealed by the quickly memorized exit placard, while the flashes of yellow and red alarm lights kept time with the klaxon. She really did wish she'd had time to discuss a few things with Doctor Octavia Washington.
At least she knew a little more about where she was, Orion Research Labs. She had read that off their badges, for all the good that did her. She had gotten the idea of taking their headsets from that Bruce Willis movie, but the keycards were familiar from her military intelligence days.
As far as she could tell from her borrowed radio, the bad guys still didn't know the details of her escape, but were taking precautions of securing the facility, before moving to her cell. The stairway was guarded, and the elevators locked down.
With haste Jake jumped up, with her feet acting like springs, slapping down every camera she could find, but taking childish pleasure in how they shattered. Repeating her 'Jaws of Life' imitation, she used her claws to not only force the elevator doors open, but to rip it ‘just so’, so that last camera got trashed.
Turning, she used the Doc's keycard to open the stairway. With half-flight assisted leaps, she skipped the steps going from landing to landing. Just six giant leaps carried her three stories up to the first doorway.
“Damn!” she swore, seeing the face looking at her though the small window of mesh reinforced glass. Knowing she had a fight coming, a thought came to her. 'Who says you can't learn anything from popular media? Clint Eastwood in “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” said the doors were always tough, but not so the walls.'
Mr. Sato narrowed his eyes focused on the stairway door, when the wall exploded! One of his security detachment was already down, having the ill luck of standing next to the wall. The Smiths were out of position, drawn off by the cameras monitoring the elevators, so it was just him.
His other four men cut loose with a hail of 9mm from their MP5's, which the monster completely ignored, as IT flew up and kicked two of them in the chests, slamming them backwards, down the hallway, while grabbing the other two and effortlessly tossing them down the stairs though the hole in the wall.
He charged, crushing IT against a heavy concrete pillar. Smiling grimly, he threw his not inconsiderable weight against her again, causing plaster to rain down upon them.
Where the hell had Odd-Job here come from? Jake had pretty well figured she was mostly bulletproof, but getting shot at was not fun at all. Then Wham! she got thrown into that pillar, but damn didn't he move fast!
So here she was again, trapped against another wall. A silly thought made her laugh, and Jake took pleasure from the look on Odd-Job's face. ‘How I escaped from an ultra security prison by watching TV!’
Taking her inspiration from professional wrestling, she reared her head back and head butted him! Seeing no reaction, she slammed her head into his again and again. After the fourth time, she stopped, watching his eyes cross themselves. Pushing him off of her, 'Damn he was a big'un!'
Squirming out between the unconscious Odd-Job and the pillar she cursed, 'Why couldn't mama have mademe taller? But nooo!' Jake moaned, as she mentally consulted her map and ran for freedom. No Flacking way was she going back into that hole!
She was running past offices, and some sort of laboratory doors now and, just maybe, she had chance to get free! Up ahead was another set of those Star Wars Blast doors. Skidding to a stop, Jake could see going though the wall on this one was out of the question, because the sliding doors extended past the door frame into the concrete wall.
Her purloined radio told her they had found out her trick with the elevator, and her time was ticking away. She couldn't see a way around it, so it was going to have to be the old fashioned way, though it.
Slamming her claws into the door seals, Jake exerted her strength, but was dismayed to see the metal start to give before the damn door. Alright, damn it if was going to be that way!
Bracing herself she started carving a hole though the door. Pounding footsteps behind her forced the issue! Grabbing the ragged edges of her hole with hands and wing claws, Jake slammed her feet into what she hoped was the last few inches of the door.
The resounding echo shook her teeth, but felt a satisfying give in the door. She was NOT! going BACK! in that HOLE! Punctuating with every word with a kick, and thankfully, it gave!
Fearing a welcoming committee on the other side, Jake used her arms to throw herself feet first into the room, rolling. Greeting her was the roar of gunfire! She dodged madly, hell these guys weren't using 9mm, she realized, as the thunder of massed 12 gauge shotguns, throwing thumb sized deer slugs, ripped the foyer apart!
Jake ran into the mass of guards and explosively spread her twelve feet wings. Knocked sprawling, they stopped shooting, buying her some time. Using every once of speed she had, she took off running for the promised sunlight, coming from the far end of the large entranceway.
Almost there, she silently repeated her mantra, almost there. Jake felt like screaming her frustration as two guys stepped from behind columns, wearing those foam gun things!
Throwing herself to the floor, she skidded underneath one squirt of that stuff, but the other man was made of sterner steel as he adjusted and began to cover her with it. She threw out her wings to shield herself, as the gunk began to expand.
She wasn't going back into that HOLE! Extending her finger claws, she dug into the polished floor. Her radio had been torn away, and with the dampening effect of the slimy foam, she didn't have a clue what was happening around her.
Jake despaired at first at the small chips she was making, but soon had a hand sized hole where she started ripping chunks of the floor up. Thankfully her wings had kept the foam from getting between her and the floor.
Finally her hand found what she'd been looking for, rebar! Grasping the reinforcing metal, and sliding her legs under her, she heaved! With a loud crack, the section of floor gave and she 'pushed' it towards where her photographic memory told her attackers were.
Shaking her hair free of odd blobs of foam, Jake stood. She'd gotten one of the Scrubbing Bubble guys, but the other hesitated a hair too long, as she bounced a fist sized fragment of floor off his helmet. Half-running, half-sliding on the foam slick floor, she punched in the side of his tank with one of her thumb claws.
He jetted away from her, as the escaping pressurized contents shot out. Whirling about, he left a trail of foam behind him. Checking on her other Bubble guy, she found that he wasn't moving, trapped under that piece of floor. She used a pillar to scrap off some of the foam, but got a face full of plaster as one of her shotgun armed pursuers missed.
'Shit!' Ducking, Jake turned and ran again for the way out, as the guards’ gunfire kept her dancing nimbly, decorative planters and light fixtures exploding all about her. She'd been hoping there would be just simple glass doors for her to crash though, but no, that would be too easy.
The ceiling of this damn place must be near sixty feet with a glassed in front. The lower ten feet had some sort of shutters that were now closed. Jake had no doubt that, after ripping though that blast door, she could make short work of that glass and metal, but it would take time that would let everyone catch up to her, wincing as another near miss showered her with debris.
That wasn't a good idea though, for while she seemed mostly bulletproof, Jake was in no hurry to find out just how bulletproof. If that wasn't enough, they might have something else like those foam guns, that could imprison her again.
Well the upper glassed in area above the doors wasn't shuttered, so it still looked like plan “A”, with a few changes. Charge through the glass, she decided, leaping high above the reinforced doors.
Mr. Hunter and his chosen huntsmen rushed to the sound of the guns. Covering the distance in the lope he had learned from Nubian archers an eon ago, Mr. Hunter surveyed the damage of the beast's rampage. Several of his men were hurt, but none mortally.
The once regal lobby, designed to impress visitors and guests, lay in ruins from the gunfire and the mounds of restraining foam. The stench and smoke from the battle lay heavy, as the ventilators were overloaded or jammed by the foam.
Assessing the damage in a glance, Mr. Hunter rushed past the glaring gash where the monster had torn up the floor. The ease with which it had broached the security lockout proved that he was correct to order lethal force to stop it. It mustn't be allowed to escape!
At the charge, his party reached the entrance, just as IT slammed into the armored glass panes. Seeing the dazed beast grab a support for balance, a grim line appeared on his face that could only be called a smile by another predator.
“Mr. Akna, if you please. Saladin, gun,” Hunter’s clipped voice ordered.
Nodding, the trim Inuit hunter, with an economy of motion, skipped forward, gathering energy and then, with precise timing, released it, sending his harpoon, which had felled the mightiest beasts of his home, out with its message of death.
Standing at his side, Saladin opened his burden, removing the long double barreled weapon from its silk and rosewood case and snapping the action open. Hunter reached for his customized weapon, even as his right hand slipped a pair of salt shaker sized shells into its breach. Long practice shut it, as he smoothly brought the custom, twenty pound rifle to his shoulder.
Jake screamed as something ripped into her wing! She slipped from her precarious perch and bit back another scream, as her weight dragged at her wound. Like a butterfly pinned by one wing, she fluttered helplessly, trying to find some way to free herself.
Pieces of exploding glass smashed into her face and chest, followed by a deafening boom! Twisting to find the cause, “Oh give me a flacking break!”
Jake recognized the man that fired at her, as the one with the hate filled eyes, but armed with what could only be a 600 Nitro Express Elephant gun. There were bigger rifles on the market, but she didn't think they would have the swirl of enchantments and magics this one had about it. “A Magical Elephant Gun!!??”
That last shot had almost hit her, dead center in the chest and she knew he had another shot remaining, with the doubled barreled weapon. Ignoring the pain, Jake pulled herself up as Mr. Angry Eyes fired again. Time slowed as 900 grains of lovingly crafted, enchanted metal thundered towards her.
Jake's mage sight could see the deadly enchantments that were cast upon it, and wondered how the first had missed. A cold shiver washed over her as she awkwardly grasped the spear that pinned her wing, and tossed it away.
Desperately moving aside, time suddenly sped back up and the window support frame shattered as the heavy bullet, meant to stop the world's deadliest charging beasts, crushed it. The armored window pane, weakened by not one, but two Titanic blows, shattered.
Jake slammed her shoulder against the last obstacle keeping her from freedom. Scent laden, fresh air struck her face and, with a smile she threw herself skyward, and spread her wings.
Without expression, Mr. Hunter passed his weapon back to Saladin, “Activate the air defenses and patch me through to NORAD.” He ordered. Crunching debris under his boots he turned and departed for the security control office.
Unsteadily, Jake flew, trying to gain altitude as fast as she could. Her wing still throbbed from that damn spear, but she was flying!
There were some guys shooting at her from the ground, but no one had come close yet. It did worry her that there were a lot of them, as well as Hummers with pintle weapon mounts, as streams of tracer rounds searched for her.
Looking back at the three-story building that had been her prison, it was like any other office building. To the south was a city or town, but the north seemed undeveloped, and was her best bet, for she needed some time to examine herself.
She didn't seem to be bleeding, but it sure as hell did hurt, and her make-shift poncho was in tatters. An urge to fly higher was nearly overwhelming, despite her common sense that said all she was doing was exposing herself to more gunfire.
Unseen below her, a metal shed on a nearby roof collapsed. Swiveling smoothly, the hidden gun locked on its contact. The Land Based Phalanx System (LBPS) was meant to be used for defense against mortars and other artillery, but its targeting system had no trouble tracking the evasive flight of the escapee.
Jane Smith hit the door to the control room at a full run. Startled, the technicians looked up, as she barked, “Do you have a target lock on it?”
Intimidated, the young sergeant replied, “Yes Ma'am, we have a solid Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) lock.
With a cold smile, “Engage the target.” Jane Smith ordered. 'No one hurts my brother, and I owe that little freak some payback.'
With a gulp he replied, “Yes Ma'am, engaging target now,” as he lifted the red cover and keyed the switch.
The six barreled gatling gun fired a burst of its 20mm, high explosive, incendiary tracers at 5000 rounds a minute. Like swatting flies with a flamethrower, the contact was smashed by stream of metal fire.
The burst lasted just a few seconds but that was enough to send hundreds of deadly shells skyward. Looking like a science fiction laser beam, the stream of 20mm shells exploded, enveloping the contact in a bee hive of high velocity, exploding shell fragments and incendiaries, burning at thousands of degrees F.
Jake's world turned red with pain, and she fell to the ground, paralyzed by more pain than she had ever felt before in either of her lives. It was like a pit of fire that consumed her and, half insane with it, she staggered back to her feet.
It was as if her anger and pain had gathered, burning in her gut and now demanded release. She could feel it rising from within herself, and half choking and gagging, it escaped her in a fiery, vomited ball of primal fire.
The eye-searing ball of cascading light erupted from her and flashed to the gun that had shot her. It enveloped the LBPS with a brilliant explosion that shook the ground and was followed by other smaller ones, as its ammunition cooked off.
Shocked everyone snatched at their consoles as the building rocked! Staring at the ball of fire rising from where the LBPS used to be, the sergeant spoke in the silent room, “I think we made her mad.”
Just as stunned as everyone else, Jane Smith fought to overcome her shock. “Get the RPVs (Remote Pilot Vehicles) launched now!” Repeating herself to the motionless room, she screamed, “Launch the RPVs! Damn you!”
Shaken into action, the civilian and military technicians got to work, while wondering just what they had gotten themselves into working for Orion Labs, as the remaining cameras followed the rapidly ascending creature.
Jake flew, climbing higher and higher, as her very skin seemed to burn from her injuries. Large areas of her wings and body were a shiny, scintillating rainbow, as if made of molten silver. Overwhelmed by the agony, she lost herself to the instinct that drove her to climb higher.
There was nothing left of her roughly tailored poncho, and it was very hard to think past the burning sensations from the silvery spots where she had been hurt the worst. Cyber-punk authors William Gibson and Walter Jon Williams had written about sub-dermal armor, which was implanted either into, or underneath, the skin. That is what the silver places seemed to be, but if so, just what in the hell was she; dragon, human, cyborg or something else?
Behind and beneath her, two small RPV's flew where their cameras could keep her in sight. Looking like radio controlled airplanes used by hobbyists for decades, these were a different breed altogether, built to be hard to see and hear.
Equipped with an assortment of sensors and cameras, they were meant to be the eyes of the military and police. Mr. Hunter’s own hard eyes watched the monster's flight with its long webbed toes extended to provide a tail-like control surface.
Aircraft were on the way to intercept, but were still minutes away, but it was only moving about 90 mph, which was rather fast for a flying creature in level flight with muscles. Even at the rate it was climbing it would still be only about 20,000 feet if it continued. With the GPS (Global Positioning System) on the RPV, the beast couldn't outrun them and they would be able to guide the interceptors right to it.
That was really brothering Mr. Hunter, for the monster had done very few stupid things, so far, so what was its purpose? He admitted to himself that he had grossly underestimated the monster. It had never occurred to him that the beast's magical shields would have prevented his magicked bullets from seeking the monster, like the Americans boasted 'smart' missiles.
Despite knowing how dangerous the fiend was, the difficulty of this hunt thrilled him. For many long years it seemed that he was only half alive, except when his own life was endangered. He had spent decades in the Earth's remotest regions, risking all, until the advent of the 20th century, when many of mankind's most dangerous foes had surfaced; Vampires, demons, godlings and others, that either had been long asleep, or hiding amongst their prey.
The director’s predecessors had found him, and the challenge of the hunt was too much for him to resist. For the first time in centuries he faced foes worthy of his salt, and he felt truly alive. Years had passed, but he had never forgotten the greatest monster of them all. Hidden within the bowels of the earth itself, like the poisonous worm within an apple, he knew she was bidding her time to strike at the sons of men again.
He watched the colored lights indicating the Air Forces interceptors inching toward his prey. Clenching his fists, a petty part of him wanted to be in on the kill, but he knew too well that all that mattered was killing the beast, for he was well aware of just how much devastation one of ITS brood could harvest.
The interceptors carried the latest Air to Air Missiles (AAM), and getting NORAD to respond so promptly had cost Mr. Hunter more favors than he wanted to count. It was his responsibility to prevent the disaster the monster would unleash. He had failed before out of pride, but not this time.
“Sir we're having a problem,” the sergeant at the RPV controls reported.
Hunter, fighting the temptation to wince, closed his eyes, “Tell me.”
“There is some sort of transmission interference. It started about a minute ago but it is getting worse” the sergeant reported.
“Could the contact be jamming your transmission?” Mr. Hunter asked.
The sergeant paused trying to wrap his mind around the idea, that the winged girl he'd been following with his RPVs was carrying jamming equipment. “No sir. Jamming is usually a very strong signal. This is more like background interference, but stronger.”
Hunter snapped out, “Any changes to the target's course and speed, and how soon till intercept?”
“Target speed and course remains constant. Approximately five minutes till extreme range for weapons free,” the sergeant relayed.
Making up his mind, Mr. Hunter ordered, “Pull the RPV with the most fuel remaining back to just within visual range, but maintain close contact with the other.”
Jake, driven by the urge to fly ever higher, was struggling with the unfamiliar sensations of muscles she had never used before, as well as the renewed feelings from her new body. The blinding pain had begun to fade, but she was in near overload from all that had happened to her.
The play of skin and exertion, turned extraordinarily sensitive from her injuries and ordeal were fatiguing. The memories of Physical Training (PT) in the service returned, of dragging himself back after a long run, more on momentum than anything else.
She didn't know why she was driven to seek the heavens, but knew somehow that she had almost made it to her goal. It was if she could just about touch something that couldn't be touched, like the wind. A whisper of touch that was smooth as the finest silk, but powerful as a rushing river in flood.
Then suddenly, like dunking her head in icy water, she grasped the untouchable. Everything turned white and she was being burned and frozen alive, impossibly at the same time. Unable to breathe, she held out for as long as she could, before releasing the, oh-so-cold, icy phantom.
Exhausted, it slipped from her tenuous grasp and suddenly, she was back in the real world. It was all she could do to hold her wings out to glide. Even with her fatigue dulled senses, she saw mountains where just a breath before there had been none! Too weary to wonder how she had ended up wherever here was, Jake had to rest. Letting her wings carry her in a glide, she gently made for a river she saw below her. Tired, and hurt, she let the winds bear her to the wilderness and river below.
The room went silent as, in a flash of light, the nearer RPV signal died and began to flutter to the ground, watched by its sister.
Mr. Hunter's presence and displeasure was a near psychical thing as he snapped, “What happened?”
Swallowing the past the lump in his throat, the sergeant reported, “She’s gone! Just before we lost the RPV, I got a burst of interference, somewhat like from sunspots, and then she just vanished.
Turning his basilisk gaze upon the young man, Mr. Hunter asked “Could the monster have gone invisible?”
Thinking, 'How in the hell would I know? I'm a technician, not a magician,' a thought came to him. “I don't think so Sir.” rewinding the footage from the remaining RPV he cued up what he was looking at, as Mr. Hunter hovered over his shoulder.
“See here Sir, as RPV One lost its data-link. Look at how it pitches up here and began to flutter. That's a sign of turbulence. I don't know how, but I'm guessing she somehow accelerated very fast. Recovering the downed RPV should give some idea as to what caused it to fail.”
“Signal the interceptors to return to base, and use the remaining RPV to ensure the recovery of the damaged one. Run a copy of your tapes and pass them to the researchers. Maybe they can tell us what just happened,” Mr. Hunter ordered. “I'll be in my office” and he turned and left.
The young sergeant released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, along the rest of the room. He began to gather his share of the recordings of what just happened, but the entire thing made him uneasy.
His own little brother was a mutant, and to see one who was being treated like a hardened criminal made him ill. He'd even done a search to see if she was wanted for anything, but no one matching her description was in the data-base. Not certain of what he could do, if anything, he did keep a copy of the security footage.
Jake stumbled to a landing on the sandy bank of the river. She fell to her knees, weak with exhaustion. From what she could see from the air, this was a very remote area, but she did see a road a couple of miles away, near what she thought might be a fire tower.
Crawling to the edge of the bank, even the ice cold water didn't keep her from splashing it into her face. Taking a chance on the water, Jake cupped her hands and drank deeply. That swill from that damn pit hadn't made her ill, so she seemed to have a healthy constitution.
She wasn’t sure how long she lay there, but the water revitalized her. Feeling a little more human, Jake took in her surroundings. It seemed to be early spring, from the few new growth greens she saw. The question now was, where? This could be anywhere from Alaska, to China. She took in a deep breath, and reveled in the freedom that was so bone deep, it was as if her very pores were breathing in with her. Letting it out gave her a sense of a great burden being removed.
The problem now, however was, she was hungry, and from what she could see, it was too early for berries. Her childhood, spent in the rural south, had taught her much about living off the land, but this was a different kind of forest from the ones of her youth.
Her best bet seemed to be checking out that fire tower. She could still hunt for berries and, if worse came to worse, she was well equipped to hunt the old fashioned way, with tooth and claw. It would be nice to avoid eating raw meat though.
Jake was pretty sure that, somewhere in her vast inaccessible memory, there was a simple fire starting spell, but so far all the only fire she'd made was when she had spit up that flaming hairball, whatever-it-was, that had blown that phalanx gun to hell. That was ‘Nice for fireworks but not so much for cooking.’
Besides, she'd lost what little clothing she had in her escape and her bare nipples were making themselves uncomfortably known in the cool air. Tired, hungry, and naked as the day she was hatched, she began walking. She was free, and for now that was more than enough.
Together Dimitri and Octavia, with his arm around her shoulders, slowly walked out through the devastated lobby. Always the scientist, he took in every detail of the battle’s ruins. The two of them had deliberately taken the same route the Dragon-girl had taken during her escape. They had taken note of the shattered cameras, sundered doors, and the wall and blast door that had, very literally, been clawed though.
Hunter’s security people had obviously put up a fight, as the strong smell of gunfire still lingering in the air attested to, but the girl had not been stopped. The entranceway’s armored glass panels lay upon the ground where she had broken free, and taken flight for the first time.
A part of him really wished he could have been there to see her fly free, he thought, as he looked up at the brightening morning sky. Dimitri sighed to himself. For 15 years he had been chasing the mystery of Angelo Echidna’s eruption. Now it seemed the answer had grown wings and flown away.
Looking down at the woman at his side, he realized that as consuming as his quest had been, perhaps there were answers to other questions yet to be asked, that were more important. Her eyes met his and he knew that this was just like 15 years before, when his life had forever changed. His desire to know then had altered the path of his fate. Dimitri Mitsopoulos recognized that, once again his destiny had hung a left turn.
Taking his arm from her shoulder, he silently offered her his hand. With a smile she took it, as they both turned their wondering eyes skyward, as the sun rose on new day.