As he looked across the river, he could see his transport factory that now operated two shift per day, the John Deere plant that had just begun to produce the much needed farm equipment, the Peterbilt plant now beginning to meet the needs for hauling and trucking, and the weapons facility run by his brother Kary. He knew Kary had to be proud to have two sons, Marcus and Michael being in such important roles and his grandchildren as part of the Dragon Guard. Paul wished he had that kind of relationship with his daughters, but was content just to know that they were doing extremely well in their positions on Verron. There were now officially 1,010,345 residents on the planet. Housing was a booming industry and with more and more families beginning to buy houses produced at KV Homebuilders, Kenneth Verron Homebuilders, they were beginning to free up space in the existing Xhondar built housing units. He had discussed it with the Elders of Verron and they were now going to recruit more people from other places besides the U.S. There were a lot of Europeans on Verron, but they were mostly family and friends of the Americans who had chosen to settle there. There was actually now a warrant for the arrest of Paul Verron and $5,000,000 offered for information leading to his capture and arrest. Evidently there was now a lot of pressure on the FBI and Homeland Security to find out just what was going on with the thousands of missing people. So Paul had now decided to get the additional people he needed from other countries; for now.
One of Paul’s proudest accomplishments had to be the formation of the Dragon Guard. They trained together regularly six days a week and at least twice a week with Paul. They were growing into outstanding young people. Hunter was now 20 years-old, Amber 17, Katelyn 16, Chase, Daniel and Hon were 14, Tala and Cali, as everyone now called Calanyo, were 12, and of course 99 was older by far at somewhere around 300+, give or take a few hundred years, but still seemed like a teenager. Each had developed his or her own unique personality and interests and each possessed varying abilities with The Power. Hunter was by far the most advanced in using his abilities, but the others were close behind in varying degrees. None were quite where Paul was and often told him that he was scary. He would just smile and say, “Seems like I’ve been hearing that for quite some time now.” In addition to their training and schooling the Guard had been given additional duties to fit their particular interests and talents. Hunter was working closely with General Zarman and his father Colonel Hall, training and leading Marines in training exercises both on Verron and the surrounding moons and larger asteroids. Amber was now working almost exclusively will Dalhia as her protégé and preparing to command the Verron Air Force. Katelyn and Tala were working closely with Marcus and Dalhia as test pilots for new aircraft and testing new weapons systems. Chase and Daniel were working with Kary in developing and designing weapons and improving existing models. Ninety-nine was a flight instructor for new pilots at the recently established training center. Cali was responsible for training a group of 50 Tecalna who had come to Verron to learn more advanced fighting, flying and weapons techniques. She had also made several trips to Tecalna to speak with the orphans. Her desire was to encourage these children, and help them realize that even an orphan can become something with men like King Verron ruling. Every one of the 50 she was training on Verron was from the orphan city on Tecalna. Hon was of course doing the same thing with a group from Klelta and was also maintaining his responsibilities to look after the needs of his people on Verron. He was also involved in the ship and weapons designs for Klelta use. Paul planned to use the Dragon Guard soon to begin reaching out and making contact with other planets that had been charted over the centuries by the Xhondarians. He had already established a program of exploration, soon to be implemented, using two of his Dragon Guard escorted by 24 Marines; they would fly a Light Destroyer for protection and attempt to scout out the potential of each planet.
But not everything was work and no play. It seemed like everyone but Paul had time to enjoy camping, skiing, fishing, hunting and a wide variety of outdoor sports. His friend Bill had proudly completed the first of many 350-foot long-line fishing boats. He took Paul out on one and was using a long-line method of fishing. Paul was impressed, but was far too impatient to spend the day waiting for fish to bite. He managed to stick around long enough to see the first of the catch being hauled in. Two hundred to six hundred pound fish were being pulled in for miles behind the vessel. Bill had done well and soon there would be a small fleet providing seafood to the population of Verron. He was about to excuse himself and make a jump back to Mountain City, when Zeus flew overhead and snatched up a fish that had to weigh at least 800 pounds. Somehow he managed to toss the big fish in the air, dive under it and catch it in his huge jaws. It was gone in two gigantic chomps. Paul signaled his friend and too everyone’s amazement, hitched a ride back to the Mansion with his Zeus. Bill shook his head and said, “You always did have a flare for the dramatic.” Before he took off, Paul commented, “Whatever you need to complete the others ships, do it. The fleet is yours, live well, but keep the prices reasonable for the people.” And he was gone with a burst of wind from the huge wings that blew Bill’s Panama hat off his head.
The Guard still was a constant source of amusement. Chase and Daniel had continued to go feed the Tree Bears and spent hours playing with and feeding their favorite; Ben. One day they walked out of the house and there was Ben on their front lawn, over 600 miles from where he was born. Evidently Tree Bears are very territorial and have large territories. Ben chose to be close to his favorite humans. When Rachael and Danyel told them to get rid of it, she was informed that if Uncle Paul can have a Dragon, they should be allowed to have a Tree Bear. The dogs didn’t much like Ben, but he pretty much ignored them. But Ben was not the most unique pet at the Verron compound. Tala and Cali had one of their own. One spring day the two of them were out riding four-wheelers in the surrounding foothills. Someone in the family was always out on a dirt-bike or four-wheeler in the warm weather or a snowmobile in the winter. They were racing along the edge of a winding creek bank and just headed up a path through the woods when they almost ran over a large dead animal in the middle of the path. Tala was in front and braked so hard Cali almost rear-ended her. “What is it?” Cali was asking as she climbed off the four-wheeler. Tala walked closer and soon answered, “I can’t believe it. This is a Mountain Tiger and it looks like it’s been killed by something.”
Just as Cali was saying, “I sure wouldn’t want to meet the thing that could kill one of those,” they heard the loud growl from the woods in front of them and to the side. Coming slowly out of the surrounding trees were four Highland Wolves. Tala had only seen the things from the air; standing as tall as a horse and weighing at least 1500 pounds each, they were a terrifying sight to see face to face. One of them appeared to be badly injured, probably from the fight with the Mountain Tiger. The other three were ready to eat these two little creatures for an appetizer before they finished the 2000 pound Tiger. Tala was quick to react; she didn’t hesitate to hurl a plasma ball through one of the Wolves that actually went all the way through the head of the wounded wolf behind it. The second wolf was leaping through the air and was hit midair with a fireball and a burst of kinetic force that hurled it into the nearby trees; dead on impact. Cali was not so fortunate. The last wolf was fast and Cali’s fireball was no more than a nuisance as it singed its fur on impact, not even slowing it down. Cali had to leap out of the way to avoid the 12 inch fangs as they snapped at her on the way by. She rolled back to feet only to trip over a small dead Tiger cub that had been torn in half. When the wolf leaped a second time Cali let out the loudest blood-curdling scream Tala had ever heard, and let loose a ball of plasma so big and so hot the wolf literally disintegrated in midair. Nothing but dust hit the ground. As Tala was walking to her sister, she asked, jokingly, “You think it’s dead yet?”
As she made certain Cali was alright, they both heard a low growl behind them. Ready to blast anything that came out of the woods, they quickly turned to be faced with the cutest
20 pound Mountain Tiger cub they had ever seen. It ran directly to Cali, no doubt feeling safer with someone more feline than human. The maternal instinct kicked in for both and before long they were feeding the little fella their meatloaf sandwiches they had packed for lunch. They decided that it would never survive in the woods alone, so they wrapped it in their two jackets and took it home. They hesitantly entered the kitchen trying to hide the bundle, but MJ got a glimpse of it and shouted, “Kitty!” To use the term loosely, “the cat was out of the bag.” “What have you two got that you’re trying so hard to sneak by me?” asked Danyel. Cali was quicker than Tala with an explanation, “I have to keep it. He thinks I’m his mother. The wolves killed the Momma and we killed the wolves and saved this one, we didn’t save the other baby, but there’s no way we could leave this fellow to be some ones meal. I named him Tigger like the Pooh character. You have to let him stay; he’s an orphan like me. He even looks like me; see.” She held the lump of fur up by her face. By then Danyel was unwrapping the bundle and staring at the adorable Tiger Cub that did in fact look a good bit like Cali. She knew there was no possible way she could let this orphan live anywhere but here. She said, “I can see the family resemblance. It has to live in the Sports Barn. This thing would tear a house to shreds as he gets older. I wonder if he is ready for solid food.” Danyel took some leftover meatloaf from the fridge and put the plate in the floor in front of the cub. It was gulped down without even the usual cat finicky smell. Tala laughed, “Hey, Mom, he’ll actually eat your meatloaf. He loved our sandwiches. No more leftovers!” Little did anyone stop to think that a mature male Mountain Tiger can grow to be heavier than 2000 pounds; for now it was homeless and cute and thought Cali was his Mother; the little and cute part would soon change.
One skill that had to be mastered by every member of the Dragon Guard was the ability to kill someone or something by stopping or exploding their heart. Since there were not too many human volunteers and no one really cared to kill the Verron wildlife, they had to find another way to practice. The guys would sometimes go hunting and carry no weapon. They would kill a Kzki or a T-Hog, Verron’s version of a wild pig that weighed 700-4000 pounds and looked like a T-Rex in the face, and bring it home to eat, or at least feed to Tigger or Zeus. Paul had to come-up with another alternative for his non-hunting nieces. Amber wasn’t a problem; she would go hunting with her Dad armed with a bow, rifle or The Power. The solution was to kill an animal that was already destined to die anyway. Paul made arrangements with the manager of the packing house to use cows that were going to be dead one way or another. He showed the girls how they were put to death in the killing floor. He then challenged them to do it faster and cleaner so the cows do not suffer. He began with Katelyn first; taking her to the slaughter house very early in the morning so there was no one there except him, the manager and Katelyn. She quickly killed in an instant over 250 cows in the pen just in front of her. They died so fast they didn’t even moo. About a week later he took Tala who was challenged to outdo her sister. Sibling rivalries seem to motivate most kids to perform well. There were four pens with 250 cows each. As they stood in front of the same pen Katelyn had stood in front of, Tala paused a moment and then focused her mind on the task at hand. All one thousand cows dropped where they stood, instantly dead from a heart that suddenly stopped beating. The plant manager looked on in awe, saying, “I sure hope I can process them quickly enough, that’s a lot of meat.” Paul felt like he had harmed the man’s production schedule and assured him, “If you have any problems I can collect them and feed the dragons, but I really don’t want them to get used to the taste of beef. Bring in extra men if you need to.” Tala told Paul, “I think from now own I’ll only eat fish.” Paul smiled at her statement, “You say that now, but I know your Nana Theresa is making veal parmesan tonight and we’re invited over, can I have your portion? I’ll let you have my salad.” She promptly stuck out her tongue. Paul did not get her veal parmesan. Nobody made better veal parmesan than Nana. However, she did continue to feed her Mom’s meatloaf to Tigger.
Paul rose from his vantage point and took a short stroll around the 600 room Klelta Palace, taking the time to admire the view of Alicia Falls and the Sabrina Bay. There was three of Bill’s new fishing boats headed out for the day, crossing the bay in the distance, headed for the open ocean. He looked toward the Mansion and could just make out activity on the west terrace. He knew it was time for him to get going, so he made a jump to the terrace to say his goodbye’s before he took off on his next adventure. As he appeared on the terrace he immediately noticed that almost his entire family and his nieces and nephews where assembling camping and climbing gear for a weekend outing. He approached the low steel railing and looked over the cliff at a half dozen people practicing their repelling skills off his balcony. Kary was teaching Michael and Marcus how to do Australian repelling, while Tala and Cali were racing each other down the side of the 6000 foot rock face. The man he needed to see was at the bottom, guiding the ropes and keeping them from getting tangled. He couldn’t resist. He jumped over the edge and slowly floated down to the landing below, speaking words of encouragement to his two nephews as he passed and daring Tala and Cali to try and beat him down. He gently landed beside Roddy and his wife.
The entire Verron clan loved the outdoors. In fact Roddy, Joe and Michael were starting a sporting goods and adventure business. They were already doing whitewater rafting trips and glacier ski trips. They had built a small cabin for the less hardy and had a camp site for everyone else. There was fishing for a mountain trout like fish and plenty of trails and cliffs to keep everyone busy for the weekend. Paul approached Roddy, “Is everything ready? I don’t want to end up with more people than I have room for.” Roddy replied, “We’ve prepared 36,000 rooms, and with those buying houses, that number should increase to 50,000 in a few months as people move into their new homes.” Paul then turned to his brother Joe, ring leader of the camping Verron’s, asking, “You all set with medical. We learned a lot with the people from Klelta. I don’t want another mess like that.” Joe answered, “The Medical Center wasn’t open then. We could easily process a Klelta sized group now with little problem.” Paul turned to leave, but remembered, as he turned and asked, “Has everyone been studying their Russian, Polish and German?” Joe replied in very good Russian, “Go away little brother unless you plan to join us on a camping trip.” Roddy added in German, “You worry too much. You were the same way in college. While everyone else was partying, you were studying. There’s no fun in that.” Tala and Cali joined the harassment, “Do you ever have any fun, or do you consider those hostage rescue things your recreation?” Paul smiled and answered, “Com’ on now. You enjoy blowing stuff up as much as I do.” Cali gave him a look only a cat could give and replied, “Yea, but when we do it there are not usually any people involved.” Paul shook his head at her honesty and responded, “That’s why they pay me the big bucks. It’s a tuff job, but somebody’s gotta do it. Speaking of tuff jobs, I’ll see you guys in a few days, have fun.” Then he was gone.
Paul made certain he had plenty of warm clothes. It was late fall in Nizhny Novgorod and temperatures were already in the freezing range. He thought it would be best to begin in a larger city that is used to seeing Westerners and would pay little attention to a stranger walking down the street or asking questions around the city of over a million people. Although his main goal was to recruit farmers, he could use anyone that decided to come to Verron. The former Gorky, as it was once known, had plenty of unemployed citizens with experience in automotive, ship building and airplane manufacturing. His goal was not to attempt recruiting all the people he needed in one trip, but to recruit enough people to go back and influence others after a visit to Verron. It was best for Russians to recruit local Russians. They were not the most trusting people and had been exploited and taken advantage of by their own government, organized crime and anybody who thought they could get by with it. Paul had borrowed Zirtouni’s p
assport and visa, then had an extremely good forgery done for himself as a German citizen. His German was almost perfect Bavarian. He knew better than to pretend to be Russian, he spoke the language very well, but did not have the mannerisms or personality typical of a Russian. He knew that a very large percentage of the people here were Russian Orthodox, so he decided to search out a possible church leader who may have a strong influence with the locals. He spent a couple of days doing nothing more than roaming the streets trying to get a feel for the place. The downtown area was simply too cosmopolitan to just approach people on the street. It would be like trying to start a friendly conversation in Manhattan, the people would immediately wonder what you were up to.
After a couple of days he crossed the Oka River to check out the smaller towns on the east side. In Afonino he walked by the Lady of Nativity Orthodox Church on the outer edge of town and saw a large man in his late 60s doing stone repairs to the outer wall. Paul approached to admire the church built in the 1700s and struck-up a conversation with the man who was obviously a skilled stone mason. While they were speaking, the Priest came out with a glass of water for the mason and to check on the progress. Paul couldn’t help but notice the absence of a leg on the priest who appeared to be about the same age as the mason. The priest was a friendly man who immediately recognized Paul as a foreigner but did compliment him on his excellent Russian. Vladimir was the mason and the Priest simply called himself Father John. Paul decided this isolated spot would offer as good an opportunity as any to speak with a couple of locals in a fairly private setting. Knowing that the international language of laborers and priests alike was money, he removed two 100 Euro bills from his pocket and said, “One for each of you if you’ll allow me to speak to you in private for a short while and offer you a deal that will be hard for you to refuse. But if you do refuse, it’s your money anyway.” Looking at Vladimir he said, “I don’t want to keep you from your labor and not pay you for your time.” Father John escorted Paul into a small rectory and they were soon seated around a table with straight-back wooden chairs. He thought a moment and decided to just tell the truth. If they thought he was too insane to pay him any attention, he would move on.
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