by T D Raufson
All of the lizard people, half-dragons, Naga, Melusines or whatever others wanted to call them—had escaped or died in the actions involving their appearance. Some had been more spectacular than the news services would ever know. Why? Because against all odds he had managed to keep most of the hard to explain events out of the news. His great-grandfather would be proud, but he was still worried. The more quiet things became the more likely they were to explode into an uncontrollable fire.
He focused on the second note as he held the knob and prepared to enter the conference room. It told him he was late for a meeting with a high ranking officer in the Navy who had come to NCIS to clear up a situation surrounding the disappearance of his aide. Apparently, the lieutenant had failed to report twelve days before but had suddenly reappeared, in uniform, with a tale to tell. Because of that tale, NCIS had flagged the report and loaded both of them into a car to get them to this conference room where they were waiting.
The lieutenant, a rather attractive Asian woman who did the uniform a favor, had turned herself in. She refused to say anything about where her family was. They, a son, daughter, and husband, had lived on the outskirts of Annapolis until their home had burned down the morning of June 21. Officials had initially thought they had all been killed in the fire.
Silas could not help but find it interesting that all of these odd events started on the night of the summer solstice. He was further intrigued by the fact that the moon had been full that night. Neither of these facts necessarily had anything to do with those events, but he never ignored any clue when solving a puzzle. It was often the most insignificant item that later proved to be the most informative.
These were just a few of the bits and pieces he had been filing away over the last handful of days. Alone, they meant nothing, but something about the way they could fit together had these seemingly meaningless bits of trivia circling around in his head. The puzzle was there; he just had yet to click it into place.
Silas opened the door and walked into the room. The rear admiral stood as he entered, and the woman snapped to attention to match his show of courtesy. Silas extended his hand to each of them. The admiral’s hand was sweaty; he was nervous because he knew, from any number of not so subtle clues, that the President was suddenly very interested in his otherwise unnoticed office. The lieutenant, on the other hand, had a firm, confident hand shake and showed no signs of fear at the meeting with the FBI. As a matter of fact, she seemed quite pleased to be exactly where she was, but Silas did sense an agitation just below the surface. He sat down opposite the pair with an internal grin and showed them a very serious frown.
“Good afternoon. Thanks for contacting us.” Silas nodded to the admiral to help him relax, but it did no good. “So, what could the Navy possibly have that could help me with my investigation?”
The admiral shifted his feet and turned to look at the lieutenant who was sitting next to him. “I believe Lieutenant White has information for you. She has already admitted that she was in dereliction of her duty. We will be pursuing administrative punishment, but the reason she has provided is hard for me to believe. She has personally requested that we escalate this for some reason, and now we find ourselves here.”
“Well, then. Let’s let her tell me.” Silas wanted to dismiss the political functionary completely, but he could not ignore the fact that the man felt inappropriately guilty about something. The evidence in the seat next to him told Silas it was not the traditional sex scandal in the office, so it had to be something else that was scaring the admiral. Silas flipped through his record mentally and found the notation that allowed him to discard the uptight man entirely and focus on the lieutenant. She was more radiant than the uniform should have allowed. She smelled of piquant Asian spices that reminded him of another woman who had recently been on his mind. He subdued a smile before it reached the surface and nodded for her to begin.
“Do you want the long version, or the short version? It will determine if I’m staying. I don’t have time for people who will not listen to me or don’t believe me. I knew this would take time, but I will not be patronized. I came back because of my sense of honor, and I feel what I have to say is important to our government and the world.”
The admiral harrumphed in his seat and started to say something. Silas held up a finger to stop his protest.
“Why don’t you tell me whatever it is you want me to know? Long, short, it doesn’t matter to me. I have all day.”
The lieutenant relaxed somewhat and placed her black clutch on the desk top, which indicated to Silas that he had at least convinced her to stay a little while longer.
“What do you know about dragons?”
To avoid giving away any information he didn’t want to share, Silas marshaled any reaction to her direct question. Instead, he looked at her delicately angled eyes and marveled at the absence of any accent. Her file said she was first generation American. Just at the moment when the attention might seem inappropriate, just at the edge of offending the woman, he finally answered her.
“More than I knew two weeks ago, for sure.”
“Do you know that they can take human form?”
“Rumors, legend mostly, I’ve not found any proof of it.”
“You won’t. What do you know about Partials?”
“Partials?”
“Part dragon, part human?”
“Wow, you’re stacking legend on legend. Again, I don’t have any proof that they exist.”
She started to collect her things, and the admiral began to panic.
“Don’t play games with me,” she said. “You have hundreds of accounts of their existence. You have numerous reports that you are ignoring. I have serious information, and no one will listen to me. I’m trying to help.”
“Okay, settle down.” Silas did exactly what she had asked him not to do. “So these lizard people, snake people, whatever you want to call them are partial dragons?”
“Yes.”
The admiral harrumphed again. Silas rounded on the mostly useless man. He vacillated between his two fears like the little white ball in a Pong game. Somewhere deep inside, Silas felt a little guilt for manipulating the man, but he could not stop now. He needed this win, and she needed to think he was on her side.
“Would you ignore her like this if she reported a cell of terrorists plotting to blow up a school in her neighborhood? You, sir, are letting personal fears color your perception. Either be quiet or get out.”
The admiral shut down and sat back in his seat.
Silas looked back at the lieutenant, careful to hide his expectation, and caught her smiling before she became serious again.
“It’s not his fault really. He is facing the impossible compared to just the difficult. Your example is something he can understand. He is trained to handle the difficult.”
“I hope you don’t say the same about me some day.”
“You have listened far longer than I expected.”
Silas had thrown out doubt about the strangeness of what was going on in the Texas dirt when a “Partial” had stopped a Humvee without a weapon of any kind, and independent of the evidence that was starting to dry up he believed there was more to come.
“Well, let’s go on then. How do you know all of this?”
“Are you willing to go on if I don’t answer that question?”
“I’m willing to listen. I may need to come back to that question, though. Tell me more about the partials.”
She nodded. “The partials that were appearing in the news are suffering from suddenly realizing they’re different. Many of them are so confused that they panic. They don’t know what it means to be a partial.”
“Why?”
“Because, they have no memory of ever being one.”
“Why?”
“Because dragons have spent centuries in human form, and over those centuries they have unintentionally spawned partials. The dragons had no idea they were not human. Many of the families hav
e maintained pure lines because they thought they were royalty and had to protect their bloodline. Others didn’t have those controls, so they bred with other humans. When the dragons emerged, these partials realized what they were, but not why. You see, partials of any kind had been eradicated before dragons hid in human form.”
Silas raised his hand to stop her, “Wait, what does any of this have to do with dragons? When did dragons show up? I’ve not seen any around.”
“They emerged at the same time the partials started appearing. You will not see them because they have control of their forms and understand how to transform. The partials don’t. Dragons are the root of this. Trust me, if you see a dragon, it’s because they want you to see them.”
Silas sat back in the chair. Her story was difficult to accept, but she really believed what she was saying. Nothing about her said she was crazy, no matter what the admiral’s face was saying.
“Okay, lieutenant. I’ve been pretty open to what you’re telling me here. I’ve been far more patient than anyone else you’ve told this to, I’m sure.”
“But, you still want to know how I know all of this.” She finished his thought for him.
“Well, honestly, yes. I’m a little afraid of what your answer will be, but yes.” Although everything she was telling him agreed with his investigation so far, no one else had even suggested what she was adding. More than how she knew what she was saying, he wanted to know why she was telling him.
She didn’t say anything else, but, as Silas looked at her, the skin on her face changed from almond to orange and then yellow. Her chin grew longer and yellow whiskers extended down to the top of the table. The transformation occurred in a flash and then she was back to her normal appearance. Silas questioned if he had actually seen it. The lieutenant had not moved. The admiral was not watching. She had been careful to only show Silas.
“Okay.” He knocked his knuckles on the table and stood up. The Admiral, who had been studying the end of his sleeve, looked up. The lieutenant smiled and looked at both men. “I’ve got what I need.” He tried to sound disinterested and failed. “Admiral, thank you for bringing this to me. You understand that everything we discussed is classified.”
The admiral looked at him and realized that he was being dismissed. He looked at his aide with a puzzled look, as she did not rise from her chair.
“Great, lieutenant. If you will come with me, then.”
She started to stand and collect her purse and folders.
“What’s going on here?” the admiral asked.
“I think you’re going to have to find a new aide.”
The admiral started to protest, but Silas turned his back on him while directing the lieutenant toward the door. He was not overplaying his hand. The President had given him a lot of authority, more than he believed existed in Washington, and he didn’t think this was going to hurt him. He had someone telling him things he had not heard anywhere else about what was going on. She had just proven to him, if she wasn’t a dragon, she was capable of using magic he had not seen before two weeks ago.
She exited in front of him looking back for him to indicate which way to walk. He pointed deeper into the building toward a row of private offices where he planned to continue this conversation. He had more control of those offices and the people around them. If he took this story up the chain he would need proof, and, so far, he wasn’t sure what he had. He didn’t even look back at the admiral.
“Right here,” he said as they reached his office. He opened the door for her and welcomed her in. The office had none of the character of his office at Langley, but he preferred to keep himself out of view when he was going to be meeting with people. He didn’t want his guests to have that advantage. There was an old government surplus metal desk in the middle of the room and a line of file cabinets along the back wall. In front of the desk was an old steel chair with a green vinyl cushion. He pointed at it and walked around the desk to sit in his chair. Out of the left drawer, he pulled a video camera on a tripod and sat it on the desk.
“I’m not here to be a video diary or a documentary.”
He looked up at her. She was not sitting down, so he released the camera haphazardly on the desk. It was a decoy to get the reaction out of the way. They were being videotaped from several directions since he had entered the room.
“Then why did you come here?” he asked, realizing she was ready to make her deal.
“I have children who are partials. I’m taking them to my parents’ home where I can help them. Dragons in China are part of the nation’s history. Other dragons, like my parents, are helping them learn how to fit in. What’s happening in this country is bad for my children.”
“Tell me, what is going on here?”
“You need to reach out to the dragons in this country. If you don’t, things will soon get very, very bad.”
“That sounds a lot like a threat.”
“Not a threat, a warning, I’m in no place to threaten you, anyway.”
“Okay, then what are you warning me about?”
“There’s too much confusion right now. I’m not concerned about Asians; no matter how confused they are, they’ll never disobey their leader. However, there is concern that other dragon families may remember their relationships with humans differently, particularly the European dragons.”
“So you think they may be violent toward us?”
“It’s hard not to find your arrogance offensive.” The Lieutenant grinned at him sardonically. “The European breeds are not known for patience, and our memories are a little confused. It’s possible that they may think you’re a threat. The way you’re reacting to the partials is not helping you.”
“Why? Do they protect them? What are they, pets?”
“No. They usually kill them, but they may be watching how you react. It is rather revealing. It could be used against you.”
Silas thought about that before responding.
“I see. So, if what you’re saying is true, then these encounters and tales streaming in from all corners of the world can be attributed to what you call a partial. These partials, again according to you, are not the real threat. Dragons are the threat we have not yet seen. Your stance is that dragons are very much among us, and we must attempt to reach out to them, or the world as we know it could be in very real danger. Did I miss anything?”
“A great deal, but, as I expected, this is a waste of time. You should not assume partials are not dangerous. A leader will emerge among them. Who that leader is will be very important to you. The madness that overcame them when they emerged will make them controllable. Some can survive without help, but for the others, it will be most important who ends up leading them because they will have substantial power over them. The very fact that the partials are calming down indicates someone has already started organizing them.”
“Are you saying—I want to get this completely clear—there is a group of dragons we should be monitoring, a group of them that are planning something?”
“I can’t answer that question. I don’t know.”
“You mean you’re not sure.” Silas leaned back in his chair. “Why else would you be here? You feel a responsibility to us. This is how you clear your conscience before you disappear like others have.”
Something happened on her face that told Silas he was right. He paused for a moment to think and looked up at the dragon standing in front of him. It was apparent he needed to know as much about dragons as he could, and he needed to learn it as quickly as he could. The lieutenant was planning to leave and take her partial children to China with her. He couldn’t allow that. He needed her to stay.
He sat up again and placed his elbows on the desk.
“I’m going to need your help. I need to learn what I can about dragons and you’re the only resource I have. If you can just give me a few more minutes…” He pressed a button on the old intercom system and a buzz emanated from it.
“Yes, sir.” A female voice ca
me through the speaker on his desk.
“Lieutenant Simmons, come in here and bring your pad.” He looked up at her again and showed her an innocent grin of apology for the delay. “What do I call you besides lieutenant. It might get confusing here in a minute, and I’m much more comfortable using first names. I could call you Miss White, but that seems a touch formal and more than a little weird.”
“You can call me Xue, if you must be informal, but I’m not comfortable with it.” She turned to face the door as it opened. Silas watched as her grip on the clutch tightened until her knuckles whitened. She glanced around the room rapidly, obviously looking for a way out other than the door Simmons was coming in through. Silas expected he had only seconds before the real dragon emerged from the woman in front of him.
A blond in the gray mottled utility uniform of the National Guard tripped into the room carrying a yellow legal pad. As she kept herself from falling into the desk, she clutched her pad to her chest. With murmurs of apology the lieutenant turned to close the door, and Xue White exhaled a trapped breath and relaxed her shoulders.
“April is going to take notes as we discuss what you can tell me about dragons since you don’t like the video. I want to get as much down as I can, and I can’t take notes and ask questions.”
Xue creased her eyebrows and began to protest when the bumbling lieutenant spun effortlessly around in place. The pad had dropped away in her left hand, and the barrel of a tranquilizer pistol was reaching out from her right hand. The soft wifft of the dart pistol made Xue White jump, but the dart was in and working before her mind could process that she had been shot. She collapsed onto the floor in front of April Simmons, who smiled at him for a show of approval.
“Good.” Silas nodded, feeding her need. “Have them take her to the new base. I’ll be there in a few days. Keep her sedated until we can find out how to keep her under control. Collect whatever samples can be collected without waking her. She’ll not wake up in a good mood. See if we can find her family. We’ll need them as leverage.”