Tala was upset. All she really wanted to do was make this girl feel better and apologize to her about what she had done. Instead she was determined to prove to this little girl that she was not a liar. She immediately went to find her Uncle Paul as she drug Calanyo with her, determined to prove her honesty. She finally found him in a conversation with Tlase and Desiree about taking the samples back to Verron as quickly as possible to get them analyzed. As Tala walked up she began to cry, “Uncle Paul, I’ve been trying to make Calanyo feel better but she called me a liar, ‘cause she don’t believe I have my own space ship.” Paul looked at his daughter and his friend who were watching to see how he handled this delicate situation. He paused a moment and asked, “Calanyo, when do you have to be home?” Now it was Calanyo’s turn to tear-up, as she answered, “I don’t have a home sir. Everyone’s dead and the orphanage don’t care if I ever come back.” Well, Paul made it unanimous as his eyes began to water thinking about this little girl and millions like her with no home or family. He looked at these two skinny little girls; one with every opportunity in the world and one with an orphanage or the streets to go back to. He replied, “Sweetheart, would you like for Tala to take you for a ride in a spaceship and introduce you to a dragon?” She began to smile just a little as her sharp little teeth began to show and nodded a yes; then added, “What’s a dragon?” Paul looked at Tlase and said, “Take these two with you and let Dalhia know that she can take the two seat fighter. She’s flown it a few times and should be fine with it. Check with Marcus and Kary, they both really do need to get back and I may be here another day or two, then I’ll need for Marcus to prepare some freighters from the yard large enough to bring people back from Klelta. I’ll probably leave from here. Take Colonel Hall back with you so he can get some of his pilots to fly the transports we’ll need.” Tlase and Desiree rounded up those who needed to get back to Verron, along with four scientists from Tecalna and had them follow her through a gateway back home.
This was becoming normal for everyone but Desiree, the scientists and of course little Calanyo. Her eyes were shocked with surprise as they stepped out into the hanger bay in Verron. Tala pointed to the right at a row of seven Speeders and said, “The pink ones mine. Now I can show you my real room, not some box on a transport. As Marcus headed for the small shuttle he had been given to travel around Verron, Tala told him, “I’ll see you at home Dad, I’m going to show Calanyo around and then take her to see my room at home.” The two little girls explored the ships in the hanger bay and Tala let Calanyo sit in her Speeder. She then took her upstairs to meet Zeus and her Grand-mama. She couldn’t believe the Mansion and when they went on the terrace to see Zeus she didn’t believe he was real. After a little coaxing, she finally touched the dragon and almost fell over when she realized he could communicate through her thoughts. They went down to the kitchen to get a snack and the Queen Mother was there drinking coffee with her Grandma Theresa. She introduced Calanyo as her friend from Tecalna and told them that she was an orphan. Grand-mama, being the softy that she was, told Calanyo, “You could come live with me. There is plenty of room for one more.” Calanyo didn’t know just what to say, and replied, “Thank you mam.” The girls found the last box of Uncle Paul’s Famous Amos Cookies and took the whole box and two Mountain Dews as they headed down to the hanger and the Fighter. Tala grabbed her pink helmet out of her Speeder and found her old helmet she had for a spare in the storage hold. They boarded the Fighter and headed out to see Verron. As they exited the hanger door, she asked, “Do you still think I’m a liar?”
Tala took Calanyo out across the bay by Alicia Falls and flew over the construction site of the Capital City, then head north towards the Robert’s Range. She could have taken a much more direct route home, but decided to give her new friend a short tour of Verron; as seen through the eyes of Tala. She headed directly for Mt. Alene and the passage through the cave to the other side. She had been through there numerous times, but never flying Dalhia’s Two-Seat Fighter. She decided that if Uncle Paul and Dalhia can fly it through, so could she. She could hear shrieks of joy from her passenger as they twisted and turned through the dark cavern. After exiting the other side she headed northeast toward home by way of The Needle. She almost decided not to go that way, but was feeling pretty confident from her success negotiating the mountain cave. She did slow her speed to just under Mach 1 as she blasted through the narrow needles eye turned perpendicular to the mountains walls, increasing her speed through the remaining miles to the plateau beyond. That plateau stayed fairly level except for one last cluster of peaks between the plateau and the valley she called home. She headed for the narrow river gorge that ran through the mountains and drained into the valley on the other side. Tala did a quick circle of the valley to show Calanyo where her Daddy worked, then headed home.
Landing in a clearing beside her home, she was greeted by her very pregnant mother, watching from the back porch. When Calanyo climbed out of the Fighter with Tala, her mother showed no surprise about the appearance of her new friend. She had been forewarned by Marcus about what to expect, and she had grown accustomed to Tala being full of surprises. Tala gave Calanyo a brief tour of what Marcus called the Sport’s Barn, named after a club back home, except this was actually a large barn and was filled with an accumulation of toys: four-wheelers, dirt bikes, two jet-skies, snowboards, snow-skis, a Correct Craft Ski Boat, water skis and every kind of ball equipment imaginable. The barn was shared by Marcus and her Uncle Michael who lived next door and was an avid camper; so there was also camping gear, kayaks, climbing equipment, repelling gear, backpacks, and tents. They were headed for the house that they had only recently moved into when Calanyo asked, “Are you rich?” Tala had never given it much thought and answered, “No, we just have lots of stuff.” Danyel had prepared a snack for the two girls. She knew that all kids their age were perpetually hungry. She wasn’t certain if it was a Freudian thing or not, but she had prepared tuna salad sandwiches. Trying to pretend she wasn’t stereotyping a child who looked like a cat. Either way, they both gulped down the sandwiches and chips then headed for Tala’s room. Tala had always had to share a room with her big sister back on Earth and with an 8000 square foot house she now had a nice big room of her own. Calanyo was blown away by the things in this room; a computer with two monitors, a huge shelf full of videos and CDs, a gun rack with her pink .22 Rifle and her Stun-gun. Hanging on the wall was her two daggers given to her by Mahala. There were hundreds of stuffed animals and a virtual reality game with just about every imaginable sport, or dance move. By her bed were her mandolin and girl sized guitar.
Like any normal 10 year-old girls, they headed for Tala’s closet. Calanyo had never worn clothes before and was amazed that anyone could have so many. A lot of the hand-me-downs from Katelyn fit Calanyo perfectly and were still just a little too large for Tala. They must have spent a couple of hours trying on almost everything in the closet and of course not hanging any of it back on the hangers. When they finally exited the room to go downstairs to play ping pong, they were dressed in almost identical pink outfits. They had been invited to eat supper with Grandma-ma since the rest of the Dragon Guard was away. Marcus picked them up and headed for a much more direct route back to Mountain City. They ate on the terrace to keep Zeus company, accompanied by Michael, Rachel, who was also pregnant, Dalhia, Gljarne, Bhlani, Xhing Li and Zimuel. Only the Xhondarians and Tala spoke Tecalna, but there was plenty of food and conversation. Tala introduced Dalhia as her flight instructor and Xhing Li and Gljarne as her teachers of Jxansa Gha. By the time they had explained just what Jxansa Gha was, Calanyo wanted to learn how to fight like Tala. Of course with the patience of a 10 year-old, the two of them headed for the training room as soon as dinner was over; to play with the swords. They had been at it for about a half an hour when Dalhia and Xhing Li decided to stop by and see how the two were getting along. They were pleasantly surprised by what they saw. Calanyo was holding her own with Tala, even though they
knew Tala was deliberately holding back. The little girl did in fact have the speed, reflexes and grace of a cat, and pound for pound, was much stronger than an unenhanced Tala would have been. Much like 99, she had no skill, but was blessed with natural athletic abilities.
The two ladies began to work with them for a while and soon had the little cat-girl doing a far better than average job. When they finished and Xhing Li offered everyone a drink of water, poor Calanyo looked at a bottle with confusion, she had no lips to wrap around the opening. Xhing Li quickly saw the situation and got a glass and poured the water into it; she was then able to lap the water in petite little slurps with her pink tongue. Tala, always one looking for an opportune moment to get what she wants, asked Dalhia, “Ms. Dalhia what are you doing tomorrow?” Dalhia, now aware of Tala’s mastery at the art of manipulation asked, “And what exactly is it you want me to be doing tomorrow?” Tala knew she had been figured out and just got to the point, “Well, Calanyo has never been in outer space and she wants to be like her Daddy and fly spaceships.” Looking at Calanyo’s innocent and curious face, Dalhia could not bring herself to deny the little orphan, she asked, “And what is it exactly that you want to do about it?” Tala was quick to strike, “Well, I’ve flown to the red moon a few times with the Guard and with you. Can I take Calanyo just for a ride there and back?” Dalhia thought a moment and responded, “Your mother and King Verron would be upset if I just let you two take off by yourself. So I tell you what I will do. You and Calanyo can fly the Fighter and I will follow you in one of the other Fighters. We’ll consider it a training flight.” Then Dalhia thought of how to make the trip even more special for both of the girls and added. “I suppose you would like to blow something up, since it’s a Fighter Training Exercise; am I right?” Both girls smiled and hugged Dalhia so hard she felt smothered.
When they arrived back at Tala’s home the two girls headed for the kitchen to eat, again. Marcus and Danyel followed them in and Marcus asked the two girls to sit down. Tala knew that when he did this it was usually because she was in trouble, but he began by, “We sure are enjoying having you here Calanyo and if the government of Tecalna and King Verron can work it out, what would you think of staying here?” He looked at Danyel and added, “It was your mother’s idea. When she was young her family would bring children to visit from a nearby orphanage during the Christmas Holidays. About the time they were getting to know the family and getting comfortable, they were sent back to the orphanage. The look of despair on their faces still is vivid in your mom’s mind. She doesn’t want to send Calanyo away, now that she knows what it’s like be around family.” Calanyo began to cry and said, “No one on Tecalna will even notice I’m gone. I’m just one less mouth to feed; nobody cares about me back there.” A comforting Danyel held the little girl and was not about to let her go back to Tecalna. She knew she was a softy, but Verron was all about everyone being given a chance to live up to their potential and giving a chance to this skinny little girl is what she was going to do.
Since they were not supposed to meet Dalhia at the ship yard until after lunch, Tala decided to take Calanyo for a freestyle run on one of the easier courses along the bay to Alicia Falls. She took her friends hand and did a jump with Calanyo by her side. She had only done it once before with 99, so they could trick the rest of the Guard into thinking they had passed them while running. It didn’t take the older Guard long to figure out she had made a short jump just to get in front of them. Calanyo couldn’t imagine being in Tala’s back yard and then in a flash, being over 1500 miles away on a terrace overlooking a bay, with a dragon staring at her. Like any child and especially any cat, she was right at home leaping and jumping from one obstacle to another. She was obviously capable of what a real cat her size could do, impressing Tala as she leaped and ran like a Mountain Lion, easily clearing spans of 20 to 30 feet and never breaking stride. Tala tried to imagine what her new friend could do if she were enhanced.
The two of them returned to Mountain City and headed to the food court, as everyone had begun to call it, where a lot of the other kids on Verron hung out. As they walked to the order console to place their food order for the drones to make, they heard some laughing from behind them. They both turned to be faced with two older boys who were making snide remarks about Calanyo. They asked if Tala was trying to look like Calanyo or if Calanyo was trying to look like Tala, since they were both redheads and dressed in identical pink outfits. The girls order came up and they grabbed their hamburgers and sodas and attempted to get past the annoying boys. Up to now, that is all they had been, but Tala was not going to let these boys pick on her new best friend. As they tried to move past the boys, one of them reached out to mockingly scratch Calanyo on her thick head of hair. In a blur of fur and claws, Calanyo slashed across the boy’s chest, leaving his coat in shreds. If he had not had the thick jacket on, his skin would have been laid open to the bone; as it was, he had very light scratches that were bleeding through his shirt. The two boys dropped their food and quickly retreated. Tala stared in amazement as she looked at a totally unruffled Calanyo, who held the tray of food steadily in her opposite hand. Neither said a word about it, and Calanyo looked as if it were an everyday occurrence. After a while Calanyo said, “I wasn’t about to let him have my food. If you let someone take your food once, they will keep doing it.” This was the first time it had occurred to Tala just what her friend would have to return to if she went home. She decided to wait until later and have her Dad explain that she doesn’t have to fight for her food anymore.
The two seat fighter was parked at Tala’s home, so after they ate, getting more than a few stares from boys who probably were friends of the bully, they found a good quiet spot and Tala made the jump back to her house. They headed inside to suit up for their trip. Since her sister was gone, Tala took the liberty to let Calanyo use Katelyn’s flight suit. Flying around Verron didn’t require a flight suit, unless you were hitting heavy G’s or high altitudes, but going into space definitely required wearing the proper protective gear. Her Fighter was pressurized, but did not have artificial gravity like the bigger ships. Also, the acceleration of a Fighter, if you wanted to make a quick trip, was substantial, the suits compensated for the excess G’s and made even 200g acceleration possible. Tala told her mother briefly what had happened and that she will most likely have a complaint from the boy’s parents. Her mother told Tala she would handle it and to not worry about it.
It was a short hop across the lake to where she was to meet Dalhia. When they landed in front of the Ship Factory, Dalhia was already standing by another Two Seat Trainer with a young man about 27 years old. He was introduced as Captain Lewis, formerly of the USAF. He looked at the two occupants of the other fighter and kept his mouth shut about what he was actually thinking. Dalhia asked if the girls minded if Captain Lewis joined them for his checkout ride and that he would be joining the other Fighter pilots if all went well today. Tala, knowing full well that the man was looking down on her couldn’t resist saying something. She had already grown tired of the older men underestimating her ability just because she was small, even for her age. She smiled and told Dalhia, “I don’t mind at all, as long as he doesn’t slow me down.” Dalhia knew a challenge had just been issued and that no 27 year-old ex-USAF Pilot was going to let a little girl put him down.
As Tala and Calanyo walked to their Fighter, Tala asked, “Are we going directly to Big Red,” as most people had grown to call Verron’s red moon, “Or do you want to check out our flying skills inside the atmosphere for a while first.” Dalhia knew exactly what the little Princess was doing and as a woman, didn’t like the condescending attitude of the young male officer. She ordered, “Let’s make a mountain run from here to the other side of Mt. Alene, then we will set trajectory for Big Red” Tala quickly asked, “Since this is going to be a live fire training flight, don’t you need to input the access codes for my Fighter?” Dalhia smiled and said, “Did it before you landed. Lucy can shut them
off any time I ask. In fact she can completely take over any ship we have if necessary.” Tala grinned, as she asked, “All of them?” Dalhia nodded her yes, and looked at her young Captain saying, “Only way to know if you can use the weapons is to let you use them.” She looked at Tala just before she secured her canopy and told her over the communication unit, “You lead.” The challenge was on and Tala was ready to show just what she could do. She knew these mountains and passes like the back of her hand and she and the Dragon Guard had been flying them almost every day. She decided to reverse the course she had taken to the valley yesterday. Back through the river gorge, reverse path through the needle and the cave through Mt. Alene and then off to Big Red to blow stuff up.
The two fighters lifted off together and Tala moved cautiously away from the Spaceship Factory. When she pointed out the miles of stored spaceships to Calanyo, she stared until she got a crick in her neck looking back over her shoulder trying to count them all. Once clear of the shipyard, Tala picked up speed and did a few acrobatic maneuvers followed closely by the Captain. He was smooth and precise as they did rolls and flew upside down. He even managed to do inside rolls, outside rolls, and a stall run. Then Tala did her horizontal 180; where she slides the ship in a horizontal plane and is facing the opposite direction, flying facing toward the Fighter behind her. Captain Lewis’ first instinct was to pull up to avoid a head on collision but Dalhia told him to stay straight ahead. Tala did an inside role over the top of his ship and twisted just enough to end up beside his. She then maneuvered her Fighter sideways and flew at a 90 degree angle to his Fighter, then quickly rotating the remainder of the way and moving in front of him again, as she began to do corkscrew maneuvers. She next did four 360 horizontal spins in a row. By this point, the Captain had stopped trying to imitate her moves and just watched in amazement. Then his heart sank as the little stunt pilot seemed to lose control of her ship and began spinning down towards the lake below. Dalhia kept her cool; she had seen her do it before. It always freaked her out, but she was not going to let it show this time. The Fighter hit the water with a tremendous splash and disappeared beneath the rippled surface. Just as Captain Lewis was about to turn around and go back to find her, Tala comes shooting up out of the water and in moments is mere feet from his tail. She waves as she passes and Dalhia could see Calanyo laughing with delight.
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