by Drew Seren
“Okay, here we go.” Solaria appeared with a cup that Skylar knew would have raw meat for the hatchling in it. “Where is he?”
Skylar pointed up to the low branch in the tree. “He ran up there as soon as I opened the pack. He’s getting a lot more active.”
Solaria nodded as she pulled out a little piece of meat. “Yeah, little ones don’t stay little long. But I’d hoped he’d be small for more than a week or so. His wings are definitely getting bigger. Are those horns growing on his head?” She held up the piece of meat. The hatchling launched himself off the branch and glided down to her for it. She smiled. Her whiskers rose and her blue eyes sparkled. “That’s it, little one. Did you trash the guys’ room ‘cause you’re learning how to fly, or did you get scared?”
The Solar Drake gulped the meat down and looked at her with an expression that Skylar now recognized as “More!”
“Let’s see if we can get him to fly between us.” Solaria thrust the cup of meat to Skylar. He grabbed a piece and held it out in his palm, his hand just far enough away from Solaria that the little drake would have to jump or fly to get it.
For a moment, the drake’s serpentine gaze shifted between the cup of meat in her hand and the meat lying in Skylar’s open palm. Then he flapped his growing wings and flew to Skylar. A giddy feeling of joy spread through him. Having the tiny feet land on his hand when he was expecting it made him happy, not like the bolt of fear and surprise when it had come out of his clothes at him in his room. “Great!”
“Let’s do that again.” Solaria pulled out another piece of meat and stepped back from Skylar. “Maybe we can help him build up his wing muscles. That would be good. We want him to grow up big and strong for when we get him home.”
She held out her hand with the meat visible. The drake flew easily between them. It was something very simple, but it still made Skylar feel great. Their little hatchling was now a fledgling. On the third flight to Solaria, it dove under her hand and grabbed the cup with the food.
“Hey!” she fussed. “That’s not how we play this game.”
The little drake finished off the meat in the cup in three big gulps, then hopped up to her hand and scarfed down the piece there. Solaria laughed as Del arrived with their food.
“What did I miss?” Del asked as he set three small, clear boxes on the ground before sitting down between them.
Skylar sat next to Del as Solaria settled across from him. “We had the little guy fly between us to feed him. He liked it, until he figured out he could eat all the meat out of the cup at one time instead of waiting for us to offer it to him.”
“He’s really cute with his flying.” Solaria stroked the little drake, running her finger from his head all the way down to his tail.
“I hate to keep harping on this but we really need to figure out what we’re going to do with him.” Del handed a box to Skylar. “If he’s going to be more mobile, he’s going to get noticed a lot more easily. I also don’t know if Connor and Fin are going to help us hide him if he keeps trashing the room.”
Solaria opened her box with a frown. “Yeah, I guess you’re right, but he’s such a great little guy. I wish we could keep him.”
Del started eating his dinner. “I don’t see how. Solar Drakes are a restricted species. We’ll probably get into a lot of trouble if we get caught with him, and not just from the school. Even if you did rescue his egg from Pathal, we should’ve turned it over to the staff then. And if Pathal tries to get into the room again, we might have a bigger problem. If he triggers more than my alarm, school security could show up and find him.” Del sighed. “But, yeah, the drake is such a cute little guy.”
Skylar picked up his sandwich. “So what kind of trouble are we talking here? Suspension, a firm talking-to, jail time? I know you’ve been doing some research on this.”
“Unfortunately, it’s kinda tricky since so much of the data on Solar Drakes is restricted.” Del paused to slurp up a small raw squid. “One thing in our favor is there’s no evidence of us ever being in the Armstrong system, so we can’t be accused of stealing the egg. If that were the case, we’d be looking at a long-term stay in a prison colony. Beyond that, I can’t really tell you what would happen because I can’t find evidence of people doing anything more than being arrested for smuggling eggs out of the system. Something about the adults being extremely aggressive in their native habitat. That’s one of the reasons Armstrong’s Ring is off limits to travelers. There’s a small research station there, but that’s it.”
“Is this that system you had pulled up on your holodisplay the other night?” Skylar set his sandwich back in the box and pulled out some of the fresh carrots. He knew they should be talking about Pathal too, but getting the Solar Drake home would solve all their problems in one fell swoop, if it didn’t get them all thrown into a prison colony somewhere.
Del nodded. “That would be it. It’s a fairly unique system. The planets that the Solar Drakes come from are actually binary planets in the same orbit around Armstrong. They share an atmosphere, which is really odd, but they’re two separate masses. From the little I could find out, the Solar Drakes actually fly in-between the two bodies. What they don’t say is how the two parts of the planet share an atmosphere. It shouldn’t be possible, but it is and there are some very unique species living there.”
“I’ve heard something about those binary planets.” Putting her hands over her plate, Solaria defended her meat from the drake as it tried to snatch a piece. “You’ve already had yours. This is cooked, not raw.” She flashed Del a glare at his mistake on her dinner, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“This is interesting and all, but it still doesn’t help us decide how to handle our problem.” Skylar picked up the remainder of his sandwich. “How do we do the right thing by the little guy and not end up getting kicked out of school or worse?”
Solaria sighed. “I’ve been giving this a bit of thought. Del, is there a stargate at the Armstrong system or close by?”
Del nodded. “There is a gate. If memory serves, it’s about eight hours from the Ring.”
“Okay.” She chewed thoughtfully for a moment. “This might work. I overheard some of the girls saying that there’s going to be a trip to the Galaxeria this weekend. There’s a lot of traffic in and out of there. The way these trips work is the school ship takes anyone who wants to go, then it’s parked there overnight and leaves the next afternoon to come back here.” A strange, almost dangerous look crossed her face as she dropped her voice. “If we go on the trip, we could borrow the school ship, get the little guy back to Armstrong’s Ring, and then get back to the Galaxeria before anyone knows we aren’t there.”
Del shook his head emphatically. “You’re talking about stealing a space ship. Do you know how much trouble that alone would get us in? Plus, there would be fines for landing on Armstrong’s Ring without proper permits.”
“And who says we’re not going to have the proper permits?” Solaria purred.
A shiver went through Skylar. What she was talking about was dangerous and risky, but they would get the Solar Drake back where it belonged. Wasn’t that what was best for the drake? “How do we get the proper permits?”
“Del’s the smart one. I’m sure he can think of something.” She popped another piece of meat into her mouth. “It shouldn’t be too hard to get some permits with all the right information on them to get us in and out of there safely. You’ve been getting information off the dark web—get this too.” Then her eyes sparkled. “We’re students. We’ll be in a school ship. Couldn’t we get some kind of research permit, or a tour of their research facility? You know, the more I think about this, the more I like it.”
Skylar nodded. “That sounds a lot more feasible.” He glanced at the little drake, still trying to talk Solaria out of more meat. “I just want him somewhere safe, where he can be happy and grow into a proper Solar Drake. Somewhere away from Pathal and the corp-brats.”
Del frowned before dow
ning his last squid. “I’m not thrilled with the idea, but you both have valid points. I’ll see what I can do about getting something worked out. I’ve never forged credentials before. I’ll have to be careful to make sure they pass security. We’ll also need to get our names on the list of kids going to the Galaxeria. If the trip fills up, then we’ll have to wait a couple of weeks until the next one. I’m not sure our roommates can be patient that long before they can get peace and quiet again.”
Solaria gave in and split the last piece of meat with the little drake. “So, what do you think, little guy? Do you want to go home?”
His big sparkling eyes fixed on Skylar for a moment. A strange feeling passed through him. Then he flew over and landed on Skylar’s shoulder and wrapped his tail around Skylar’s neck. A soft voice, little more than a whisper of wind, danced in Skylar’s mind. “Home?”
He stretched himself down Skylar’s arm and pulled at the dampening bracelet. It wasn’t the first time he’d done that. “Hey, leave that alone.” Skylar picked him off his arm and put him on his shoulder. The little guy wrapped his tail back around Skylar’s neck and pushed his head against Skylar’s ear. The warm happiness that welled up in Skylar told him it was going to be hard to give him up, but it was for the best. He was going to keep telling himself that.
19
Shopping Chaos
SKYLAR MOVED through his exercises, letting his mind be at peace under Professor Aduncus’ watchful eye. He was growing accustomed to the professor’s mental touch as he monitored Skylar’s progress. Although he never told his mentor, he spent at least an hour doing his exercises before each training class so his mind was peaceful and he could hopefully shield any thought of the little drake from Professor Aduncus. The movements were both relaxing and stimulating, and Skylar thoroughly enjoyed them and the opportunity to get the dampening bracelet off. Although he knew that the bracelet was necessary for his own mental health, as well as the safety of those around him, his mind was a lot clearer without the dampener even before he did the exercises.
“You’re making a lot of progress, Mr. Mars,” Professor Aduncus said from where he sat on the training room floor in a comfortable meditative posture.
“Thank you, sir. You’re being most understanding and patient with me.”
The professor bowed his bald gray head slowly. “Once we found a way for you to relax, you’ve done all the work. You’ve made all the progressive steps. I’m just a humble guide. I saw your name on the list of the students going to the Galaxeria this weekend.”
Skylar moved to his next stance with a grace he wouldn’t have had two weeks earlier. “That’s correct. Del and Solaria think it will be good for me to go and do a bit of shopping.”
“You’ll be faced with an almost surely overwhelming experience. There’ll be so many people, so many minds all pushing at you. Not to mention the physical stimulation of the lights, sounds, and people that’ll make it hard for you to block things out. It’s definitely a good thing that you continue to wear the bracelet. Make sure that nothing happens to it while you’re gone. I don’t think you’re ready to handle an assault on all of your senses. There is no doubt that you will soon, but not just yet.”
“I promise that the bracelet won’t leave my wrist while I’m gone.”
“Very good.” Professor Aduncus stood and stretched. “Now, go and have a good weekend. I’ll see you here next week at our regular time. Don’t be late.”
Skylar completed the complex movement and then bowed to his mentor. “Thank you, sir.” He held out his wrist so Aduncus could return the dampening bracelet to its customary place. As the bracelet closed around his arm, the clarity he felt when it was gone vanished in a strange mental haze. Skylar smiled at the professor. “See you next week.”
THE TRIP from Stars’ End to the Galaxeria was vastly different from the field trip to the museum when they’d saved the egg. On the trip to the museum, most of his fellow students had been fairly restrained, staying in their quiet school personas. Going to the Galaxeria, they were anything but quiet. Skylar was thankful that, for some reason, Pathal and most of his friends didn’t appear to be on the ship. It gave him hope they’d be able to get the little drake home without problems. They also got lucky and the bioscanners in the airlock were down, so they didn’t detect them taking the drake through.
Del frowned and generally looked unhappy. “I can’t believe you guys are dealing so well with everyone being so excited about getting out. I can’t hear myself think and I’m just a low-level feeler.”
Skylar held up his wrist with the dampening bracelet on it. “I can’t feel or read anything right now.”
Solaria pulled off her headphones. “What did you just say, Del? I’m trying to block out everything.” Like a lot of readers, she used headphones as a way to put some distance between herself and the external stimulus that pounded against her.
“Exactly.” Del sighed. “I wish I’d thought to bring my headphones.”
“Maybe you can find some at the Galaxeria before we take off,” Skylar suggested. He opened his pack but kept it in his lap, below the level of the desk, so he could reach in and pet the fledgling that playfully licked and nipped at his fingers. The movement helped him relax. He’d caught himself stroking and touching the little Solar Drake a lot since they’d made the decision to return it to Armstrong’s Ring. A huge part of him didn’t want to let the little guy go, even though he knew it was for the best. Since he’d lost his mother, the little drake was the closest thing he had to family. He wondered, more than once, if he might be able to arrange some way to come back and visit, but with the security around the Armstrong system being so tight, that probably wasn’t going to happen easily.
Del huffed. “Like I could afford much at the Galaxeria. It may be the biggest shopping station in the galaxy, but it’s also one of the most expensive. I heard there are jewelry stores there that have things that cost more than the whole worth of some backwater planets.” He glanced at Skylar. “No offense to those that come from backwater worlds.”
“None taken.” Skylar kept petting the drake. “So, we all remember the plan?”
Both Solaria and Del nodded. “How could we forget the plan?” Solaria asked. “As long as Del remembered all his files and documents”—she air-quoted—“everything should go just fine. The only difficulty I see is trying to find out where to leave the fledgling. I want to make sure the little guy has the best possible chance of survival.”
Skylar frowned as something that they hadn’t thought of crossed his mind. “We’re not going to have time to teach him to hunt. He likes meat. If he doesn’t know how to hunt, won’t he starve?”
Solaria stopped fidgeting with her headphones for a moment and looked thoughtful. “He’s a predator, a very intelligent predator. I bet he can figure it out. Maybe we can leave some meat with him so he’s got something to keep him going. We can pick up just about anything at the Galaxeria.”
“You know, it might be better if we left him with the researchers,” Del suggested. “I figure they can train him to hunt and make sure he survives. He might not even be the first stolen egg to be returned to them. It might happen all the time. They might even have a class set up for little Solar Drakes to learn the skills it takes to survive in their native habitat.”
“But then we’ll be right back where we are now if we get discovered with him,” Skylar added. “We’ll get in trouble for having him. The whole reason we came up with this elaborate plan to return him was so we didn’t get into trouble.” He didn’t add that the idea of leaving the fledgling with someone else just didn’t sit well. He knew that once the little guy was out of their care, there wasn’t much he could do to make sure he had a good life, but he wanted to give it his best shot. Anything else felt like a betrayal of hatching him in the first place.
“Why don’t we see how the researchers react when we arrive?” Del said. “We’ll take the tour of their facility as students and prospective researcher
s like we planned. If they seem nice enough, then we’ll see about leaving his training to them. The tour is how I planned on getting us legally on-world anyway. It was the easiest option to acquire landing clearance.”
The Solar Drake nipped at Skylar’s fingers. It was a soft, gentle nip and sent a comforting feeling through him. “We’ll see. But if it looks like we’ll get in more trouble doing that, we’ll just fly off to another part of the planet and find a spot with lots of bugs and small creatures for him to eat. Solaria’s right. He’s a predator; he’ll figure out hunting fairly quickly.” If he’s even old enough to hunt on his own, Skylar thought. There was so much about drakes they hadn’t been able to find out.
Solaria settled her headphones back on her ears. “Exactly.”
Del shook his head as she closed her eyes before turning to address Skylar. “I thought you might like to know, in the middle of planning for this, that I couldn’t find anything on the com you got. Whoever sent it to you made sure that it was scrubbed before it was shipped. Sorry.”
Skylar shrugged. “Hey, you tried. I’d love to know who sent it and why, but I guess that’s something that’ll keep for now.” With everything going on, he wasn’t really worried about who had sent the box or the money. Making sure the Solar Drake was safe was Skylar’s primary goal. He’d think about other things later when everything calmed down.
“There’s just too much we don’t know. I hate not knowing things.”
“I’m with you.” Skylar smiled at Del. “Tell you what. We’ve got to promise that when we have kids of our own, we’re not going to keep things from them.”