Verron_Birth of a Nation

by Douglas Varnell

  They were about halfway across the forested terrain when the dragon spotted a large lake, probably as big as Lake Okeechobee, and even from close to 8000 feet he had spotted a large fish he obviously could not resist. He swooped down like an eagle diving for salmon and plucked the 20 foot fish from the lake. He landed on the water’s edge and made quick work of his meal. They were back in the sky without Paul even unloading. Paul directed the dragon to land on the large patio area that ran from cliff to cliff on the east side of the Mansion. As he approached, he asked Lucy to have his friends meet him on the patio. They were all three anxiously awaiting his return and wondered what he was up to. It didn’t take long to find out. As a 100 foot long creature with a 200 foot wingspan approached their position, Ninety-nine was hiding behind Zimuel and Tlase, as if they could protect him from a 100 ton dragon. Paul was grinning from ear to ear as the behemoth landed with a gigantic flap of his wings right in the middle of the large terrace. It stooped low so Paul could climb down. He was greeted by Zimuel with, “All hale, the Dragon King has returned” along with a slight bow from the waist. Tlase followed suit with his joke and curtsied. Paul was embarrassed, but had to admit, Dragon King, had a good sound to it. They both chastised him for disappearing and then continued to tell him that it didn’t surprise them in the least that he would come home with some excuse for rudely disappearing.

  Paul soon had Zimuel and Tlase convinced that it was alright to touch the dragon. They walked up simultaneously and touched him and slowly caressed his scale covered body. They pulled back abruptly when they heard him say in their heads, “Pleased to meet the friends of the Dragon King” Paul paused to correct his new friend and realized he had not been told Paul’s name and his friends had just called him “Dragon King,” what else would he think his name was. They eventually convinced 99 to come out of hiding and meet the dragon. He had to convince him that the dragon would not eat him. He evidently had almost been lunch for one before, however, when he realized he could now communicate with the dragon and not have to clumsily speak, he quickly warmed up to the his new acquaintance.

  While 99 obviously enjoyed conversing with his new friend, Paul interrupted long enough to asked, “Do you have a name? It seems rude to just call you dragon.” In a deep rumble he replied, “My last master called me Zeus.” Paul thought a moment and questioned, “I like the name, but how does someone like you have a master?” Zeus proceeded to relate a short history lesson to his three new companions, telling them, “When I was 500 years old I was removed from my home planet along with five others and taken to Earth. Our masters threatened us with our death and the death of our families if we did not obey them. So for almost two thousand years we inhabited different parts of that planet. Two of us were in CHIN, (Paul realized that was an old name for China), one in Albion (England), one in Sindhu (India) and two in Korchak (what is now Central Russia). There were a few of us born while on Earth but not many. Then around 1000 A.D. these men came and got rid of the masters and removed us from Earth.” Paul recalled the history lesson he had received from Zimuel. “They didn’t know where we were from so they put us here. There are five of us left, my female offspring and her life-mate, Gorj and his life-mate Jha, and of course me. My life-mate died 600 years ago.” Paul gently touched Zeus on his snout and said, “I’m sorry you were treated so badly by humans. I promise if you don’t eat people here on Verron we will get along just fine.” He paused as he looked at 99s questioning look, then added, “I think 99 would appreciate it if you didn’t eat goat/monkeys either.” Ninety-nine grinned with his approval.

  Paul was preparing to say his good-byes to Zeus when he spoke out, informing him, “I’m not sure what it was you did, but when you healed me your life-force became part of my life-force. This will sound strange, but you are now part of me. I have decided to be your friend and protector. I have no reason to return to my fellow dragons in the northern range. If it meets your approval, I will stay here.” Paul thought a moment and decided that if they could adopt 99, well, why not a dragon. He smiled and said, “Your more than welcome to be a part of our little band, 99 smiled his approval, for now you can stay in the hanger bay, at least until we figure something else out, but I don’t know if I can afford to feed you.” If a dragon can smile, Zeus just did. “You have and ocean on one side and a forest on the other. No need to feed me.” “Since you’re going to be staying a while, why don’t you call me Paul instead of Dragon King” Paul interjected. Zeus answered, “Yes, Dragon King, Paul it will be.” Paul shook his head thinking, “What has Zimuel started. But if I have to be honest, I like it.” Paul excused himself to go clean-up and eat. He left 99 to show Zeus where the hanger bay door was then as he walked away with Tlase and Zimuel, began to recount the entire story of his encounter with Zeus. As he shared the part about doing telekinetic regeneration on Zeus’ broken leg and wing, Tlase stared in questioning wonder and Zimuel’s only reply was, “Perhaps you have learned everything you need to know about The Power. Rest-up, we’ll make a trip to the Hojsan star system tomorrow.”

  Tlase and Zimuel were already in the kitchen fixing breakfast when Paul arrived. Evidently 99 had spent the night in the hanger bay chatting with Zeus. He as yet, had not arrived. The night before Paul was exhausted from his valley trip and the healing of Zeus. He ate a large supper composed entirely of foods native to Verron, consisting of some kind of Grouper tasting fish, a native grown root Tlase had discovered, that when covered with butter, tasted a lot like asparagus, a large bowl of native fruits and of course 99 made sweet tea. When finished he went straight to bed without even watching Robin Meade, or any other news that evening. As he sat at the kitchen table he felt like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. He managed to eat an entire Kinfu egg by himself; usually they were divided 3 or 4 ways. In addition he consumed a side order of link sausage, potato cakes, and the fruit left over from the night before. He washed it down with his one major vise, Diet Coke. Paul knew that if he had a normal metabolism he would be 300 pounds of solid flab. However, his enhanced body and increased muscle mass burned fat like a grease fire, he looked to be the size and proportions of a lean 5foot 9inch, 175 pound man. But only Paul and Tlase, who was responsible for monitoring his physical development, knew that due to his increased bone and muscle density, he was closer to 210 pounds, with body fat maintaining in the 3% range. His rested heart rate was 40 beats per minute and his blood pressure was 110/60. When checked on his return from a 3 hour freestyle run through the mountains, his heart rate would be 80-90 and his blood pressure would climb all the way 125/80. He thought to himself how much he enjoyed eating and how, that when he was back on Earth he was on a fairly restricted diet due to his slow metabolism and high blood pressure. When he polished off his last bite he stepped to a nearby bathroom and brushed his teeth. When he exited Zimuel was kissing Tlase goodbye and 99 had just shown up for breakfast. It was time to go.

  They decided to take the Light Destroyer on their trip to the Hojsan star system. Zimuel informed Paul that he was not familiar enough with the exact planet they were seeking to make a gateway directly to it. They would make a gateway from Verron’s orbit to the Hojsan system. Once there Zimuel was certain the correct planet would be easy enough to find; there were only four planets orbiting this rather small star. Paul wasted no time in reaching the outer reaches of Verron gravity and with Zimuel giving Lucy the astronautical coordinates, they were off. Zimuel was amused at the fact that Lucy would always override a ships computer anytime Paul was flying it. The two of them definitely spent a lot of time together. When they exited the gateway approximately 100,000,000 mile from the systems sun, it did not take them long to identify the planet they were looking for. It possessed a thin oxygen rich atmosphere and didn’t appear to have any kind of vegetation, water or life-form. It was just far enough away from the sun to not get overly hot, like many desert planets have a tendency to do. Its physical size and mountain covered terrain reminded Paul of pictures he had seen of Mars, except this pla
net was the color of the white sand along the beach in Destin, Florida, often called the Redneck Riviera. He didn’t normally wear them, but did put on his sunglasses as he came in for an approach to offset the glare. They were a pair of 30 year-old Oakley cycling glasses made popular by Greg LeMond from back when Paul raced bicycles. He couldn’t remember, but he thought he had bought them in 1985 with a life time warrantee, which they still honored. He was a little biased. They were also headquartered in Sevierville, TN, home of Dollywood.

  They stepped off the Destroyer in a wide valley surrounded by fault-block mountain formations 6000 feet high, as if the valley had sunk as the mountains rose. All along the edges of the valley on both sides where gigantic sections of mountain that over the years had fallen to the valley below during seismic activity. Through the middle of the valley floor were thousands of stalagmite looking formations that pushed up from the earth below, some as high as the valley walls on either side. There was not one single variation in color from the mountains, the stalagmite like columns or the sand beneath their feet. Paul and Zimuel stepped off the ship into a blast of 120 degree heat and a glare reflecting off the sand. Paul had taken to wearing his black commando outfit, less the mask, gloves and fanny pack full of grenades, most of the time now. This was not the place to be wearing black. At least he had on a short-sleeve black shirt instead of his usual long-sleeve. He looked over at Zimuel and said, “If I destroy it, I don’t think it will ever be missed.” Zimuel didn’t argue and simply replied, “Let’s see what you can do.”

  Paul paused a moment to collect his thoughts and then looked across the valley floor at the vast quantity of columns. Suddenly he released a psionic wave of psychic energy like none he had ever released before and like nothing Zimuel had ever seen. The ground erupted for the entire width of the valley and moved through the valley with whirlwind speed and explosive force. Zimuel could see giant columns of stone flying through the air. Everything in its path was laid to waste in a cloud of earth, wind and fire. When the dust settled there was not a single column left standing for at least three miles in front of them, they were piled into a jagged wall the entire width of the valley, three miles away. The area in between was pitted with huge holes where they had been ripped from the ground beneath. However, Paul was not finished. He threw out his hands and in the blink of an eye the entire wall of sand and stone burst into a light so bright that Zimuel had to turn away from the light and the heat. When he looked back, the wall was solid glass. The stone columns and the sand were all melted together in one continuous shining wall. Zimuel wasn’t absolutely certain what kind of heat it would take to do that, but believed it was over the million degree range. He thought he would later ask Paul how he did what he did without the two of them burning up. Zimuel had seen enough already. After the other things he had seen Paul do on Verron, he knew this man had a unique ability, like none other he had ever seen.

  Paul decided to try one more thing that he had been imagining and playing over in his mind for some time and that he would never attempt in any environment where there was life. As Zimuel looked on a small blue ball began to form in the air just a few feet from Paul’s face. It grew brighter even after it reached its maximum size of about six inches in diameter. It slowly floated to a distance of about 10 miles away. While it hovered in the air Paul asked, “Lucy if we’re standing this close to the ship can we be covered by the force-field if you activate it?” Her answer was “Yes, I’m activating forcefields now.” Suddenly there was an enormous explosion. In total shock Zimuel witnessed the bright light and then the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion. As the mushroom cloud began to spread, it was somehow suddenly inside the center of a five mile wide tornado strength whirlwind that acted as a containment area. Zimuel nearly died of a heart attack when a whirling black sky above the cloud opened up and began to pull the mushroom cloud, the remaining stone columns, chunks of debris created in the area from the explosion, even the sand and glass mix on the planet’s surface and finally the tornado as well, into the black-hole Paul had created. Soon the rock faces of the surrounding mountains began to crumble and fly into the whirling black-hole as it grew bigger. Zimuel screamed at Paul, “Close the damned thing before it sucks us in too!” As quickly as it appeared, it was gone. Zimuel leaned against the side of the Destroyer, pale and out of breath. He looked at Paul and said, “Paul, you really are the scariest person I know. I’m glad you’re the good-guy. Promise me you will never do that again.” Paul nodded and helped his friend back onboard the ship to depart.

  It was only the middle of the afternoon when Paul and Zimuel arrived back on Verron. Paul decided to reenter Verron’s atmosphere near the south axis point of the planet. It was one of the places he had never been. After reducing his altitude to 20,000 he Paul could see why. From horizon to horizon, every direction was nothing but white. There were numerous mountain peaks, deep ravines and glaciers, but what were really remarkable were the miles and miles of ice. Paul wasn’t certain just what the land mass was at this pole, it had never been explored to know just what was here, but he was certain he had flown nearly 8000 miles and had not reached the end of the ice shelf. When he finally reached an area mixed with icebergs as large as a small country he reduced his speed to a hover and his altitude to 100 feet above sea level. He rotated 180 degrees and was facing a wall of ice over 4000 feet high. He had seen videos of tourist ships that took tourists to look at glaciers in Alaska and could not recall ever seeing anything like this. He headed back north on a heading to Mountain City and flew over several large land masses, a couple large enough to be continents. He could tell there was definitely a change of season on Verron and it was wintertime down here. The mountain ranges to the south were nowhere near as high as the ones to the north, but were still quite substantial. He had to go to 30,000 feet to clear a few of them.

  He then came to the open ocean and reduced his altitude to 2000 feet. As he flew over the crystal clear fresh water ocean he could see all the way to the bottom in some of the shallower areas and for hundreds of feet everywhere else. There were literally billions of fish of every kind, some swimming in huge schools, others swimming in small groups or alone. The most notable of course were the really large ones. They flew over one group of creatures that were as long as, or possibly longer than, a whale, except they looked like and swam like a moray eel. There was some kind of flying fish. It resembled a stingray, except thicker and larger; when it leaped out of the water it would sail for 100 yards before splashing down. They also spotted several Sea Eagles, miles from home. Paul knew there needed to be years of research done by marine biologists to determine just what is out there, what’s readily available to eat, migration patterns and he had no idea what else, but realized it had to be done. Approximately a thousand miles southwest of home he and Zimuel noticed an unbelievably bright red glare under the sea. As he slowed and tilted his ship for a better view he could tell that for a few hundred square miles the bottom of the ocean was a brilliant red and the sun was reflecting off it at this time of day. He asked Lucy if she knew what it was and she replied, “These red stones are very common on Verron. There are quite a few in the treasury under Mountain City. I believe you call them rubies. In several places on the ocean floors the rock and soil formations have eroded to expose veins of gold, silver, rubies and especially emeralds. We find so many in other easier to mine locations it is hardly worth the effort to go after these. Paul shook his head in disbelief; 100 square miles of rubies, not worth the trouble.

  When Mountain City finally came into view Paul couldn’t help but feel like it was home, not your conventional home by any means, but home none the less. When he got closer he couldn’t help but observe Zeus on the terrace at the east end of the Mansion. It was obvious that he had seen Paul. He entered the hanger to a pleasant surprise. There was an Xhondarian ship sitting on the hanger bay floor exactly like the one he had been flown here in a little over eight months ago. His pleasure turned to pain as the thought crossed hi
s mind that they were here to pick-up Zimuel and Tlase. He parked his Light Destroyer beside the visiting ship and slowly climbed out as he said to Zimuel, “I’m not ready for you guys to leave yet.” Zimuel shook his head and answered, “I don’t think that’s what this is, the Elders agreed on 12 Verron months, and they rarely change their minds.” There was no one with the ship, so they assumed whoever it was had already been invited upstairs by Tlase. As the two of them stepped off the elevator they could hear a conversation in the library. Paul headed there quickly expecting the worst. Instead he was greeted by the smiling familiar faces of Bhlani, Dalhia, Master Gljarne and Master Xhing Li. Then from the mezzanine above he was greeted by Elder Yadvega. Gljarne was the first to speak, “Xhing Li, Yadvega and I convinced the Elder committee that you needed additional training in both the art of Jxansa Gha and language skills. Dalhia volunteered to fly us here and Bhlani was not going to be left behind when his wife was going to visit his friends on Planet 1648.” In unison Paul, Tlase and Zimuel said, “Verron! It is now officially named Verron.” The others nodded their agreement and there were hugs all around.

  Paul couldn’t help but notice something different. Bhlani was dressed in denim jeans and jacket, complete with a plaid shirt and a nice big belt buckle. He looked down at his feet and saw matching cowboy boots. All he said was, “Kelly’s?” Bhlani smiled and answered, “Dalhia has one just like it, but had to be in uniform to fly.” Paul looked at Dalhia and asked, “Has he dropped the Bonneville yet?” She smiled and looked toward the floor, “No, but I did. He was teaching me to ride. Now we fight over who drives and who rides. By the way, where can we get a new mirror?” Paul laughed, “I’ll pick one up next I’m on Earth.” Bhlani commented, “It would be even better if we had our own dealership.” Paul couldn’t help but think he had created Xhondar I’s first official biker. “We’ll talk,” was all he said as he met Yadvega coming down the stairs with a book in her hand.