Dragon Space

by Jeffrey A. Carver

  She reviewed her finances. She was no longer poor, by the standards of her profession. Flying with Ar, she had saved most of her earnings, and she could add to that the settlement she had received from the estate of her late former captain, Mogurn—not just flight pay, but damages for Mogurn's coercive abuse. Still, that hardly put her in the category of being able to acquire a ship. She thought of appealing directly to Mariella Flaire. But it seemed absurd to think that Flaire would divert a starship for Jael's personal needs.

  That only seemed to leave . . . stealing Flaire's ship the next time she and Ar were sent out together. And that was almost unthinkable.

  And yet . . .

  What was she willing to do to help her friend? She had already once risked Flaire's ship, and her own life and her shipmates' lives, to help Highwing when he was in need. She had no regrets about that. But that had not been a premeditated theft.

  She rubbed her eyes, staring hopelessly. The lake seemed almost incongruously peaceful as she gazed out over its waters, thinking.

  "Miss—"

  She started, and looked up into the craggy face of Kan-Kon.

  "I've—I've forgotten your name," the man stammered. "But you know—I have this feeling we talked some, a day or two ago." He scratched his stubbly chin.

  Jael gulped and nodded, and gestured to the grass beside her. The retired rigger eyed her for a moment, then carefully lowered himself to the ground, like some ungainly, spindly bird.

  "I've been looking for you," she said. "Where have you been?"

  Kan-Kon shrugged. "Here—there—no place special." He was silent for a moment, then grunted. "You were looking for me?"

  Jael frowned. She was sure that he remembered perfectly well what they had talked about the other night. Why else would he be here? "I wanted to talk to you about the . . . dragons. I thought maybe—"

  His voice shook as he interrupted her. "About—?"

  "Dragons," Jael snapped. "Remember them?"

  "Well—" He swallowed and glanced away. "No, I—don't think I really know anything about that, miss—"

  "Jael. My name is Jael. And yes you do." She took a sharp breath. "Are you telling me you don't remember losing your shipmate there? And you don't remember the ifflings? And their prophecy? You don't remember—?"

  "Okay!" he hissed. "Okay, miss—Jael. You don't have to be—" And he suddenly turned his back to her, and trembled as though crying.

  Jael felt sorry for him, but not sorry enough to let go. "Kan-Kon," she said, hardening her voice. Damn you, she thought, what are you afraid of? "Kan-Kon, listen to me! We may be the only two people on this planet who know the dragons are real. And the ifflings." And it suddenly hit her, like a bolt—how could she not have seen it before? The creatures who had spoken to her in the middle of the night—were they ifflings?

  "Ifflin's," Kan-Kon whispered. "Saved my life." He slowly turned back to face her.

  "I think—I saw some ifflings—a few nights ago," she said. "They spoke to me."

  "It scared me," he said, seeming not to hear her words— "talkin' to you and knowin' that you been there, too. I been—tryin' to forget, ever since."

  "Why? Because you lost your friend there?"

  For a moment, she thought he was going to cry again. His face tightened up, and twisted, and he nodded. "I'm just—always wonderin'—if he might be—" He looked away, suddenly, and stared out over the water. Then his chin jerked, and he gazed back at her. "Did you jus' say you saw ifflings—here?"

  Jael nodded.

  "Damn," he whispered. "Damn. I've been feelin' like I've been hearin' voices lately. That same night we talked was the worst—didn't sleep a wink, not a damn wink. I—I just figgered it was the booze, the damn booze makin' me hear things."

  Jael strained toward him. "You've heard them, too? What did they say to you?"

  Kan-Kon snorted. "To me? Nothing. It was more like I dreamed they was there, hoverin' around, watchin' something that had nothing to do with me, and talkin' to each other." He hesitated, stroking his chin. "Mebbe I 'magined the whole thing. I dunno."

  Electrified, Jael stared at Kan-Kon. But when she spoke, it was as much to herself as to him. "I have to go back there," she said. "They need me."

  "Shuuuuu—WHAT?"

  "I have to go back. To help my friends."

  Kan-Kon's eyebrows quivered in disbelief, or horror.

  Jael looked away, remembering the iffling's words . . . remembering how much had gone before, to draw her and the dragons together in friendship. It had not merely been her rescue of Highwing from a fiery exile, or even Highwing's help in freeing her from the bondage of the shipowner Mogurn. Those acts had grown out of another—Highwing's freeing her from the bondage of her own past, from the bondage of a lifetime of bitterness against her father. That was what the dragon had done for her, which no human had been able to do—and it was not only because he had recognized in her the embodiment of an ancient dragon prophecy. It was done, she believed, out of genuine friendship. And that was why she would never abandon Highwing's son, any more than she would have abandoned Highwing himself. She nodded, looking back at Kan-Kon. "I don't have a ship yet. But I'll find a way. Somehow."

  Kan-Kon looked as though he would pop a vein in his forehead. "You're going back," he whispered.

  She nodded again.

  "Ship. You need a ship." He was squinting now, as though every fiber of his body were concentrated in thought.

  "Do you know where I can get one?" She didn't really expect an answer.

  Kan-Kon angled his face up into the sun as though contemplating her question. But when he looked down again, he merely shook his head. "Mighty tough to get a ship, if you're aimin' to go that route."

  She sighed and tugged at the tough, pliant grass between her knees. "Would you want to come with us?" Only after the words were out did she realize what she had just said.

  Kan-Kon's face went pale. His eyes seemed to focus very far away, his lips trembled, and he began coughing.

  "That's okay. I didn't think you would," Jael said hastily. She waited until his coughing subsided. "Anyway, I'm hoping my partner, Ar, can help me come up with a way when he gets back." She shrugged. "If there's anything you remember that might help . . . I mean, you never know what might be useful."

  Kan-Kon's eyes were still focused elsewhere. He seemed to be in shock over the very idea of going back to that place. He sat still for what seemed a very long time; then, without warning, he stood up and brushed off his pants. "I must be going," he said softly. He began to stride away.

  "Wait!"

  Kan-Kon looked back.

  "I'm staying at the rigger dorm!" she yelled. "Jael LeBrae. Call if you think of anything, all right?"

  Kan-Kon might have nodded, or it might just have been her imagination. Then he walked off along the waters that lapped at the grassy shore.

  * * *

  Jarvorus saw his opportunity and took it. One of the ifflings was venturing closer to the human presence, a little apart from the others. It was whispering, trying to send words of encouragement.

  Jarvorus flashed across the gap and caught the iffling in his burning flame. It took only a moment to focus his energies on the startled being; it took only a moment to send the thing on to oblivion. Its fellows, reacting at once, dove toward him—but by then, he was already flying back to the company of his remaining fellow warrior. The ifflings retreated, wailing.

  Just two of them left, Jarvorus said to his companion.

  Shall we strike now?

  Wait. The time will come.

  The other warrior was eager, restless, sorry to have been so slow as to have missed out on the kill. But Jarvorus, while rejoicing, was thoughtful. He had caught a glimpse of the iffling-creature's thought as he had destroyed it. And what he had seen puzzled him.

  It was not the iffling's intelligence or knowledge or purpose that disturbed him; it was something else. He had sensed in it . . . a willingness to sacrifice its life. Not a lack o
f love for its life, but a willingness to give it up if required to. He thought he sensed echoes of that same willingness in the human, as well—and he didn't understand it.

  Who were these enemies, these strange beings, the ifflings? The question troubled him. He thought he might like to know more about them before he killed them all.

  * * *

  The days passed with excruciating slowness. The voices never quite seemed to go away, but neither did their owners become visible again. Jael's dreams were like turbulent waters—troubled and restless, but never taking a clear course. The next time she saw Kan-Kon, he was drunk; but he looked at her with frightened eyes that said he hadn't forgotten. Mostly, she spent the time alone, hoping for word from Ar.

  When he finally did arrive, she almost missed him. She'd checked with the registry early in the morning; and unable to stand the thought of waiting around, had bought a ticket for a day trip out of town. Her train was late, and tiring of the wait, she went to a com booth in the depot and called the dispatch office one more time.

  There was no word on the arrival of Corona, the ship Ar was supposed to be flying for Mariella Flaire. But there was a node message from Ar: "Arriving 1130 today on train from New Tilly. Meet me?"

  Jael's breath went out in a rush. Arriving on the train from New Tilly? That was a port halfway across the continent. Had he been diverted? Eleven-thirty: that was fifteen minutes ago! She bolted out to see if the hi-speeder from New Tilly had come in. It had—just—and was beginning to pull out again. She watched the silver cars glide past on their magnetic cushion, accelerating, as she looked frantically up and down the platform. "Ar!" she shouted. Most of the passengers were already on their way out of the depot. She rushed back to the lobby.

  "Jael!"

  Ar was standing out front, waving. His tall Clendornan form was impossible to miss: the nearly wedge-shaped head, flat on top with grey hair, the triangular face with silver-blue skin, the zigzag smile. As she ran toward him, his crystal-orb eyes glowed, and he strode forward to meet her. She threw her arms around him and hugged him ferociously. Ar laughed with a hiccuping sound. They broke their embrace and held each other at arm's length. Ar's face was cracked by his zigzag smile. "It is good to see you, my partner," he said as he studied her.

  Jael, ready to explode with words, could only grin. She broke away from him and spun around in joyous relief.

  "You received my message?" Ar asked.

  Jael shook her head helplessly. "What happened? Why did you come in on a train?"

  "Well, I had to take a different ship back, with another crew." And the way Ar said it, she knew that he had a story to tell.

  She interrupted him. "Did Mariella change your assignment? Did you see her? Oh, Ar, we have to talk! We might have to ask Mariella to do us a huge favor. Do you think she'd be willing?"

  His eyes flickered with puzzlement, then dimmed. His expression brought her words to a halt. This time, Ar's tone was subdued. "I doubt she'll be able to. That's why I had to come back on another ship, Jael. Mariella's company has gone bankrupt."

  Chapter 12

  Riggers Without a Ship

  IT TOOK Jael several heartbeats to regain her breath. Mariella's company, out of business? "Ar—that can't be!" she gasped.

  Ar cocked his head sympathetically. "I'm sorry to drop it just like that. I'd wanted to celebrate our reunion first."

  Celebrate? Jael could hardly find her voice. "What are we going to do?" she whispered.

  The Clendornan made a purring sound. "Don't worry, we'll find other people to fly for. We have a good record, so it shouldn't be too hard." He gave a rippling shrug and hefted his duffel. They began walking toward the glideway that would take them to the rigger quarters. "I feel worse for Mariella than I do for us. She hit some tough economic conditions, and I think her partners made some bad decisions while she was traveling and out of contact." Ar sighed. "I guess we knew it couldn't last forever."

  Jael's heart pounded in misery as they walked. Everything she'd been bursting to tell Ar was now sunk in a swamp of hopelessness. What Ar was saying was true, of course. Two years ago, Flaire had endured some hard times with her company. But she had recovered, and continued employing them on a regular basis ever since. But Jael, who as an adolescent had watched her father's business fail, should have known that no business was immune to bad luck—or bad judgment.

  "That's my only news," Ar said, trying to sound a cheerful note. "It is very good to see you again, Jael."

  She nodded, not looking at him. All of the joy of their reunion had been robbed from her. She didn't know what to say. They rode the glideway to the rigger dorm, and walked to Ar's quarters. She perched on the end of his rigid, almost unpadded bunk while he unpacked some of his things. "Do you want a little time alone?" she murmured.

  Ar's mouth crinkled in a smile. "Perhaps ten minutes for a mist and a change? Then would you like to go for a walk? I haven't been outside much in a long time."

  Jael's heart was heavy as she rose. "Meet you downstairs."

  * * *

  By the time Ar rejoined her, she'd managed to get her thoughts in order. As they walked toward the lake, she told him her news—first, about Kan-Kon and her decision to break their long silence about the dragons. Ar listened thoughtfully. "I hope this fellow isn't adding our story to his public exhibition," he remarked. They sat down near the lake's rippling surface. Ar began humming a dissonant tune, and Jael trembled at the sound. Ar's predilection for off-key tunes had once nearly driven her to distraction; now it was comforting.

  "I don't think so. Ar—"

  "You have more to tell me?"

  "Yes—" And she related, in stumbling words, what had happened one midnight, such a seemingly long time ago. She told him what the ifflings—or voices, at any rate—had said to her. Windrush needs you. Go to him. The words resonated out of her memory of that dark night, and when she actually spoke them aloud, she felt as though she were giving freedom to something that was alive. Giving freedom so that the pain of keeping it in could stop.

  Only the pain didn't stop. Windrush was in trouble, and there seemed nothing she could do. By the time she finished she was crying, rocking backward and forward, her eyes squeezed shut against the noonday sun. She could not stop shaking.

  Ar laid a hand on her shoulder and made muttering sounds that she knew were supposed to soothe. But really, nothing could soothe her except finding a way to go, a way to answer the ifflings' plea. And she knew that Ar had no way to give her what she needed.

  * * *

  Back in her room, Jael nicked on the holo projector. "Ed!" Ar boomed. "How are you, my feathery friend?"

  "Scrawwwww!" The bird flashed his colors and took to wing from the stondai tree. He batted about the room in jubilation before circling to land on Ar's shoulder. "Back! Rawk! Back—you're back! Scrawww!"

  "I am indeed back, and I missed you. I trust you've been keeping Jael good company," Ar said, making a tickling gesture under the parrot's holographic chin.

  "Yep, yep. Good company." Ed sat back and cocked his head about the room. He gazed at Jael and then at Ar. "She tell you? Awk! She tell you? Graggon-things here! Haww!"

  Ar gave him a crinkly smile, his eyes glowing purple at the parrot. "You mean the ifflings?"

  "Ifftings, ifftings—haww! That what they were?"

  "Apparently so. I guess she told you about them?"

  "Rawwk! Ed saw. Ed saw! Strange things, awk—talking. Woke Ed up! Scary—hraww! Scared Jayl, scared Ed!" The bird fluttered his wings.

  Ar cocked his head to peer at the bird. "You saw it, too, Ed? Are you sure?"

  "Hawwwwk! Ed sure, all right! Scared Ed!" The parrot launched himself from Ar's shoulder and whirred about the room before landing on Ar's knee.

  Jael looked at Ar with a wry smile. She remembered a time, a couple of years ago, when Ar had doubted her story of dragons in the Flux. "Did you think maybe this was another figment of my imagination? Like Highwing?"

  His
silver-blue face darkened slightly. "I did not doubt you, Jael. But it is helpful to have confirmation. It could make our needs more . . . credible . . . if we seek . . ." He paused to grope for words. "Well. It will not be easy for us to get back there, will it? But it seems we must try."

  Jael drew a sharp breath. Until now, Ar hadn't come right out and said that he wanted to return with her. Her pulse raced, and she gazed at him with gratitude. They were no closer to having a ship, perhaps, but it felt to her as if the gulf between her and the dragon realm had just closed a little. Maybe, just maybe she would sleep tonight without her dreams of anxiety, and with hope in her heart.

  * * *

  This fight Jarvorus did not start. He was content to watch and wait as the two ifflings bobbed in the distance, whispering their irritating encouragements to the human. It was his fellow warrior who took the initiative—stupidly, blindly hoping to destroy the ifflings in a display of boldness and strength.

  Erupting with anger, the ifflings pounced back upon Jarvorus's companion. Jarvorus watched in dismay, holding back for the sake of the mission, as the warrior was annihilated. He regretted losing his companion. But the important thing, more important than aiding his fellow, was to remain vigilant for a chance to lead the human astray. It did not matter if the ifflings lived or died, only that their purpose be thwarted.

  His fellow had destroyed one of the ifflings before being consumed in the fire himself. Jarvorus briefly considered striking now, while the last iffling was weakened. But what he saw emerging from the fire was not a weakened foe, but a blazing and indignant foe.

  Jarvorus silently thanked his late fellow for his foolishness and bravery; but he, Jarvorus, would wait. Only he, now, could see to it that his mission was fulfilled.

  * * *

  By the next afternoon, they had been over every avenue they could think of to acquire a ship—from applying for grants from the rigger-space research institutes on various worlds, to buying a ship or stealing one. The first seemed unlikely, and would certainly take far too long, and the last was hardly a serious consideration. That left trying to buy one.