by Maia Starr
Still, I felt the bliss inside of me, and I was happy about it. I went back to the base camp to oversee the setup. And the next thing that I would have my soldiers tackle was a project to secure the fence. We could figure out a way to electrify it, but I would need to know what resources Providence had at its disposal. The skies looked gray and overcast the entire time I had been there, I wondered if this was a winter season symptom or if it was always like this in this area. It meant solar power could not be used to electrify the fence. I knew they had plenty of trees in the forest to cut down for firewood to keep these fragile humans warm in their snowy environment, but did they use the fire for energy as well? There were many things that we would need to know, and that my engineers would need to use in order to problem solve when it came to defending the fence and the gates.
“Have the scouts returned?” I asked Lieutenant Reqan. I had sent several weredragons out flying and all directions for one hundred miles to see if there were any cyborg armies in the area. It was best to know as much ahead of time as we could.
“Only one has returned from the north. Good news: he did not see anything that would indicate a base for a cyborg army. We are still waiting for the others to return, but it is early. The weather is strange here; storms could erupt and force them to seek shelter. We have no reason to be alarmed yet,” he said.
“Good, keep me posted. I am ready to meet with the engineers. Send them to the fourth floor,” I said walking into the office tower building that we had taken over.
“Right away, General,” he said.
I spent the next two days planning with the engineers. Sheila did not talk to me directly, only when I had specific questions for her. She was avoiding me the entire time. She preferred to talk to my engineers directly about matters of fortifying the fence. It was irritating. But since I kissed her, I had not had one symptom of the blackness plague. I was happy for that. But I thought it curious that she had two days with a virus so far and did not have any more questions for me. I assumed that she did not have computers in the village, just the way Haven Brook did not have them either, considering computers had been outlawed when the machines took over. It was only luck that Dr. Vanessa Lopez had found one and kept it secret while she invented the virus. Maybe Sheila was hiding a computer as well and did not want to tell me. Whatever the reason, she was up to something, or she would be asking me more questions about it.
“General, all the scouts have returned,” Lieutenant Reqan said as he entered the room I called my office on the fourth floor of the building.
"Give me the report,” I said.
“All scouts have reported that the area is clear for one hundred miles. There are no cyber encampments to report of,” he said.
“That is good. That is very good news. Make sure the scouts get adequate rest,” I said as I stood up from my chair. But as I did, I felt dizzy. I sat back down quickly.
“General? Are you all right?” Reqan said as he came to my side.
“Fine. I just stood up too fast,” I said.
“It is the blackness,” he whispered.
“I told you not to speak of that,” I said.
“It is getting worse, General. You must take care of this. Find a human female, mate with her, be cured. We need you to lead us, not to be sick,” he said.
“I will be fine. Now go see to the scouts, and tell no one about this,” I said.
Reqan gave me an angry look. Then he walked out. He was only being loyal.
I walked out of the building and decided to walk down Main Street to get some fresh air and to see what kind of resources these humans were living off of. I was not in dragon form, yet everyone stared at me as I walked; it was to be expected.
“Excuse me, General Bron, is it?” I heard a delicate female voice behind me.
I turned around to see a young woman with blond hair and blue eyes. She was about the same age as Sheila in human years. She was beautiful and had a big delightful smile for me. She had very large breasts in a tight sweater and tight pants.
“Yes, that is what I am called. And what is your name, human female?” I asked.
“Oh, human female… I guess you would call me that considering that you are an alien,” she said looking at me up and down. Was this human female looking at me with desire in her eyes? It was a look I had not seen before on a human female. It was interesting. Maybe I was reading too much into it.
"Yes, I am an alien and a weredragon. What is your name?” I asked again.
“My name is Crys; he Jones; it is a pleasure to meet you. I have wanted to speak to you since you arrived,” she said.
“You have?”
“Yes, I have. I wanted to see how things were going. I also wanted to lend you my services if they were ever needed,” she said looking down at my crotch and then back up at my eyes. Was she offering what I thought she was offering?
“And what kind of services are those?” I asked.
“Well, I can cook. I would love to show you the communal kitchens that we have here. I think I am the best cook here. I would love to make something hot for you,” she said with desire.
I raised an eyebrow at her. She was flirting. She was begging for me to take her.
“I might take you up on that. I have work to do at the moment. Perhaps another time?” I asked her.
“I look forward to it, General. I want to show you just what I can do for you,” she said with a big smile. Then she turned around with a bounce and walked off. I watched her walk away. It was a good sight to watch.
I could take her. I could have sex with this human female Chrissy Jones, and it would save my life, according to Karik. But I would be bonded with her. I would share her DNA. Something inside of me prevented me from doing it at that moment. As soon as she was inviting me, I thought about Sheila. I wanted Sheila. But how long could I wait for her? What if she never wanted me in return? I could die waiting for her. Here was a human female willing to take me today if I wished, and I would be rid of the blackness plague.
Was I being wise in the following my heart and wanting Sheila? Or was I being incredibly dumb in refusing Chrissy? I was being selfish. I wanted what I wanted, and in doing so, I was putting my life on the line. That wasn't fair to my soldiers that had followed me to Providence hundreds of miles away from our king. A part of me wanted to go after this human female named Chrissy in order to heal myself, but the other half of me wanted to wait for the challenge that was Sergeant Sheila Adams. It was a dangerous game to play with her, and yet I was willing to play.
I continued walking until I came across a mechanical shop. There was an older human male working on what looked to be a power generator and a couple of human vehicles.
“Hello, human; my name is General Azlo Bron,” I said.
“Hello. I know who you are, alien,” he said with a smile.
“Of course, I guess the entire village does,” I said.
“Yes, Sheila made sure to introduce you so that the town didn't freak out. You know, aliens and all…” he said playfully.
“To me, you are the aliens,” I said.
“That is true,” he said.
“So what do you have going on here, sir?” I asked looking at his work.
“My name is Richard; call me Richard,” he said.
“All right, Richard, what are you working on?” I asked.
“These are some generators that I am hoping to bring back to life,” he said.
You are an engineer?” I asked.
“No, not as educated as that. I was a mechanic of sorts back in the old days,” he said.
“You fix things? You make things?” I asked.
“Yes, exactly,” he said.
"Then you are an engineer,” I said.
“I will be sure to tell Sheila that,” he said.
“Tell me about Sheila. Is she always that… reserved?” I asked.
“You noticed?” he said.
“It's hard not to,” I said.
“It just t
akes her a while to warm up to people, or aliens in your case,” he laughed.
“What's her story?” I asked.
“She lost someone close to her when the wars broke out. It was her fiancé, a man that she was going to marry. I don't think that she has healed from that pain, if she ever will. Will any of us? I lost loved ones to win the war is broke out,” he said.
“I understand. That does make sense. I have lost loved ones in the past too; that happens when you live as long as we do,” I said.
He stopped working and looked at me. “How old are you?”
“One hundred,” I said.
“Dang!”
“Yes, our lifespan is different than human lifespans. One hundred years old is probably equivalent to twenty-eight or thirty years for humans,” I said.
“Yes, you look around that age, if you were human,” he said.
“I myself am sixty-five,” he said.
“Well, you look extraordinary as well, Richard. You seem to contribute to your village,” I said.
“Yes, it keeps my mind off of things. As far as Sheila, don't worry about her. She has her own demons to deal with; it is nothing to do with you. Just continue to be her friend, and eventually, she will be friendlier to you. You have come to help us fight the Clenok cyborgs; how can she not be friendly?” he said.
“My thoughts exactly. Will you allow my engineers to come and work with you? Perhaps you can help each other. I have been wondering what resources are available in the village to help make the fence stronger. Perhaps electrify it like the one that we saw in Haven Brook. You seem to be the man that knows what mechanical items are available in the village. They can show you what technologies we have with us on our ships; it will be a good exchange,” I said.
“That would be extraordinary. Send them over whenever I am almost always here except for at nightfall when the village shuts down,” he said.
“Excellent; I will have them come see you straight away. Keep up the good work here, Richard,” I said.
I walked back toward the camp. Now it all made sense; Sheila was hot and cold to me because she still had love for her fiancé. I could understand that. Anyone that had lost a loved one needed time to heal; she needed that time. I wouldn't try to rush her. I wanted her badly, but it was wrong to push myself on her when she was going through so much pain. I wanted her to be happy. I would have to pull back on my behavior toward her. I felt like a fool now that I knew her past and what she was going through in the present.
Chapter 6
Sergeant Sheila Adams
“No fucking way,” I said to myself as I walked on the other side of Main Street and saw Chrissy Jones talking to Azlo. She was obviously flirting. I could feel the chemistry and heat between them from where I stood. Did this weredragon have no shame? He kissed me a few days ago, and after I rejected him, he goes after the town slut. Of course he would do that, and of course she would. Shit, they could already be fucking as far as I knew. I had been avoiding him ever since he kissed me. I didn't want to be around him. I couldn't. Every time I saw him, I got aroused. It was frustrating. I had to stick to my work and not be distracted by him. It was just one kiss. It wasn't that good of a kisser anyway, was it?
I walked into the alley between two buildings and watched them from across the road. I was getting jealous. I had not felt this way in a very, very long time. I never expected to feel jealousy over an alien, that was for sure. But here I was having these feelings and not knowing what to do with them. I had closed to my heart off to everything for so long, ever since my fiancé passed, that this was new.
Then I watched as he left Chrissy's side. It surprised me. I thought he would join her for sure, the way she was looking at him and flirting. Maybe they were making plans to meet later? I turned and walked down the alley in the other direction. I didn't want him to know that I had watched him talk and flirt with her. It was best to keep avoiding him.
I had work to do anyway. I had a full day of checking on the infrastructure and making sure that everyone in the village was doing their part. If I didn't do daily checks, they wouldn't do the work, and the entire system would fail. It was like babysitting. I went to the fence to check on the guards and to see if there were any new reports. Then I went to the greenhouses to check on food production. It was very important that the greenhouses stayed in good shape considering there was too much snow on the ground to have our normal summer fields of crops. We had to rely on the production of the greenhouses during the snow season.
When I was done with the checks, I went to the bank to do my own work. I locked the front door and opened the bank vault. Inside was something that the previous population of Providence had left behind before they evacuated; it was something that would cause panic if the villagers knew that it was there. So when I found it when I was looking for a secure place to keep ammunition and weapons, I decided to keep it a secret as well.
It was a very large panel of computer components. It wasn't made by the hands of humans.; it was obvious to me that it was made by the machines. I thought that it was the section of a keddle, but I had never seen the inside of a keddle to know for sure. But this weredragon had seen it. I had been studying and since I first saw it. When he gave me the drive with the virus, I knew exactly where it would go on the panel. So I tested it. I slid the drive in, but nothing happened. It made sense; there was no power to the keddle. But the drive fit, and that was good enough evidence to me that maybe this was something.
So I tried everything I could to give power to the keddle. I hooked up extension cords and cut copper wire, twisting it to make power running into a generator. Nothing seemed to work, but this was not my expertise. I was better at taking charge and taking the lead. I wasn't someone that was good with mechanics. I wanted to get Richard in there, but I didn't want to put this on him. It was too much responsibility, and it might freak him out. It was a machine, after all, and they were trying to kill us. Even I had a hard time not taking a sledgehammer to the panel after the pain and had caused me, after all that had happened to humans by the machines. But there was someone that I knew could probably bring power to this panel. The Veruka were much more advanced than we were. I had to go find him and ask him.
I locked up the bank and went to the Veruka base camp.
“Lieutenant, have you seen General Bron?” I asked.
“I saw him about ten minutes ago walking into the village. I'm sure that you can catch up with him if you had in that direction,” the lieutenant said.
“Thank you,” I said. I turned and walked toward the village down Main Street. It shouldn't be too hard to find him. He was about nine feet tall and glistened when the sun hit him. He would be easy to spot.
Then I saw him. He was talking to Chrissy again. Dammit. I quickened my step and walked directly to them.
“You still have not come to visit me?” she said.
“I am sorry. I have been very busy securing the village. There is much to do,” he said.
“General,” I said.
He turned and looked at me. I heard a little huff from Chrissy in frustration.
“Sergeant, good to see you,” he said as he grinned a dazzling bright grin at me. My knees felt weak, and I had to hide the fact that I felt anything.
“May I have a word with you? It has to do with the security of the village,” I said.
“Of course, I am all yours,” he said as he came to my side. I heard Crissy give a sound of frustration as she turned on her heels and stomped away.
"Come with me; there is something I want to show you,” I said. “But you must promise that you will not tell anyone in the village.”
“A secret? I am intrigued, Sergeant,” he said.
It didn't escape my notice that he was calling me Sergeant instead of Sheila, just as I had requested. I sort of missed hearing him call me Sheila, for whatever reason.
I lead him to the bank. “In here.”
“Your secret vault,” he said.
“
Yes, something like that. But I wasn't the first one to use it as a secret vault. You see, I have been messing around with the virus that you gave me. Testing it, or at least trying to,” I said.
“Testing it? How is that possible? You need a machine to test it on,” he said.
I arched an eyebrow at him.
“Wait, you have a machine in here? Are you crazy?” he said as his face turned serious. He was no longer smiling. He even looked angry.