Dragon Wave

by Valerie Emerson

  “Sure, harmless until it’s time to tear ‘em off. Then it’s worse than removing a band-aid,” Jack groaned.

  “No, dear. It’s like yanking off twenty band-aids.” She patted his cheek. “Just kidding, it’s only four this time. Do you still want to back out?”

  Jack groaned, but he didn’t really mean it, and he was sure Izzy could tell. She was adjusting her glasses and looking away. If she looked his way, she’d laugh. Once she laughed, she lost the high ground. Not that it would get him out of guinea pig duty.

  “Fine. Do your worst,” he said. He sat back and let her attach wires to the electrodes. When she was done, he was connected to her computer. Its screen was covered in code he couldn’t read, nor did he want to. “What are we doing today, oh brilliant scientist?”

  “Today you’re going to use your abilities while I monitor activity in your hippocampus. I want to see what it does when you turn invisible.”

  “Okay, but it isn’t invisibility. I just make myself unnoticeable.”

  “Same difference. Let’s see you work your magic in the real world.”

  “The Astral Plane is an actual place. Here and there are both real worlds.”

  He’d told her that before, but either she didn’t believe him or he couldn’t make it stick. He narrowed his eyes as he considered the third option, that she could be playing him. But no, that was his job. He did the teasing, she played the straight man.

  She twirled her fingers in a hurry-up gesture. “I can still see you.”

  He huffed, then stared into her eyes as he focused. His dragon lurked under the surface, supporting him and feeding him power as he balanced on the edge between the physical and astral worlds.

  He visualized his power as a blanket falling over him. Isabel went cross-eyed for a second. She blinked, clearing them. He could see that she was trying to resist the compulsion to look away. She turned her head toward him, then looked away as if something had caught her eye. She tried again, and her eyes zoomed past him. She started to smile, and he grinned back at her, even though she couldn’t see it.

  “That’s really something.” She turned back to the instruments. “Huh. It isn’t picking up a thing.”

  “I think that’s because my power extends to the readings.” He dropped the ‘cloak,’ and she jumped. “Since I’m making you fail to notice me, it stands to reason you can’t look at live recordings of me either.”

  The machine lit up like a Christmas tree. She bent over a screen and nodded.

  “You’re right. Here it is, readings from thirty seconds ago. Very impressive, Gagnon.”

  He smiled. “I try.”

  “I’m changing a few settings. Can you do that again?”

  He groaned. “I suppose, but then you owe me lunch because I’ll be spent.”

  “No, the E.F. owes you lunch. But don’t worry, I’ve got their per diem card.” She patted his shoulder and turned to the instruments. “Let’s see what happens if I’m not looking when you vanish.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  ***

  Three hours later, Jack was tired and bored. Isabel had run him through multiple tests of his abilities, including jaunts into the Astral Plane while she poked at him with all manner of equipment.

  “I need a break, Iz. I couldn’t get into the Astral Plane if you clamped jumper cables on me.” He lay back, using his arm for a pillow. He’d moved to the examination table after the first hour. It was hard as a concrete floor yet inviting as a feather bed.

  “Funny you should say that.” She picked up her phone and fiddled with it.

  “Funny how?”

  “You did great today, you know. I’ve gotten a lot of good data.” She smiled at him in a way that made her whole face glow.

  He knew that smile. He liked it. He didn’t trust it. “But?”

  “Allen’s been pushing me to wear you down so he can try a new procedure. I wasn’t going to do it without asking unless it just happened organically.” She put her phone away and walked over to him. “And now…”

  “Is that who you were texting?” He frowned, torn between indulging this betrayed feeling and dealing with it. This was her job, just like following her requests was his. She wasn’t the only one working on Mystic-related tech. She was just his friend.

  “He’s my boss, Jack. Yes, I texted him, but I didn’t tell him to come over. I said we were almost done and asked if you were needed somewhere else.” She showed him her phone. Her last text said exactly that. Below, an ellipse blinked on the screen.

  The phone chimed, and the message came through while he watched:

  Is he ready this time?

  Isabel looked at the phone, then at Jack. She tilted her head to the side and shrugged.

  “What should I say? Is he ready this time?” she asked.

  “I’m ready,” he said, warming up again. “I might as well see what he wants.”

  What Allen wanted, it turned out, was for Jack to take a little blue pill. He showed up not thirty seconds after Isabel replied. He’d been lurking in his office just a few meters away, ready to pop over the moment he had the green light.

  Jack held the pill in his palm, looking at it skeptically. It was a flavor of blue sprinkled with white, only he could swear the white was moving around in there. It looked like a tiny speck of ocean.

  Allen held out a glass of water.

  “It’s a concentrated dose of potassium, glucose, and several compounds shown to heighten brain function.” Allen put the glass down within Jack’s reach. “I’ve been waiting for the chance to try it.”

  “It heightens brain function? Does that mean it makes people smarter?” Jack asked.

  “It isn’t that simple. You can’t think at higher levels, but you can do it faster. It’s not unlike overclocking a computer. The worst side effects reported were headaches and nausea, but I believe I’ve eliminated those.”

  “And now you want to know what it’ll do to a Mystic.” Jack looked at the pill, trying to get past his suspicion. It sounded like getting high on Earth Fleet’s dime.

  “Correct.”

  Jack leaned to the side, peering around Allen at Isabel. She was focused on her datapad, and her cheeks were very pink. There was no help to be had there. He had to decide on his own. His problem was that he’d already made his decision when he signed on as guinea pig.

  He didn’t have to do anything. He just felt obligated to.

  “Okay, I’ll do it. Izzy, are you recording this on your machines?”

  “Yep. You’re still linked up,” she said. “Fire at will.”

  Jack put the pill in his mouth and washed it down with the whole glassful of water. He waited for something to change. Maybe he’d feel smarter, or like he’d drank a gallon of Red Bull. Maybe a combination of both, or neither.

  The funny thing was, he didn’t feel like he needed a boost. He had his dragon, that was all he really needed. He’d traveled the stars and manipulated incredible power in the Astral Plane. He didn’t need a pill to make him a better Mystic.

  Isabel was trying to smother laughter behind her hands, and it only took a second to figure out why. He was speaking his every thought out loud, with no barrier between his brain and his tongue. This would not be the time to focus on how pretty Izzy was, or how he wished Allen had been friendlier before he asked something of Jack.

  “How do you feel, though? Is your power affected or just your racing thoughts?” Allen asked. He was trying not to smile, but Jack saw right through him.

  “I don’t know what you mean. My thoughts are clear as cellophane. Or air. They’re as easy to see through as air,” Jack declared, then paused. “I think I feel something, yeah.”

  “You think?” Isabel said. “I don’t think this is working the way you intended, Al.”

  “We don’t know that yet. It’s just getting started.”

  Jack flinched away from a bright light that suddenly bored into his left pupil, then his right. Allen drew back, stowing a penlight
in his pocket.

  “Are you still tired?” Allen asked.

  “No, you’re tired.”

  Isabel caught his eye. She was struggling to keep a straight face. He winked at her, and she looked away again, her shoulders shaking.

  “See if you can use your abilities. We are recording,” Allen reminded him.

  “Okay. Just give me some space here.”

  Jack lay back and closed his eyes, trying to find balance, but his balance was gone. His body was gone. He was buried in the void without so much as a star to keep him company. It was vast and old and so empty a better name for it was hunger.

  He knew this was the Astral Plane, the same way he knew his heart was beating, but this wasn’t the realm he knew. It had been devoured from the inside until it was a husk, mirroring the empty Universe beyond the veil.

  They’re coming.

  “Who’s coming?” An invisible frozen hand closed around his heart.

  They’re coming.

  “Tell me what’s going on. Who are you? What are you talking about?”

  He was trying to shout, but the words came out in a wheeze. Even the air was gone. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think. He spiraled, reaching for something solid, but he was alone. He didn’t even have the tug of his body to tell him where to go. The only sensation was the distant thud of his own heart.

  Then only darkness, followed by nothing at all.

  ***

  Jack opened his eyes. He clutched at his chest. His only thought was for sweet air as it rushed into his lungs. A few desperate breaths later, he registered he was lying on something soft. The air smelled of antiseptic. Four familiar faces appeared all around, peering over the rails of a hospital bed.

  “I know I’m late for D&D but watching me sleep is a little much,” he cracked.

  “Jack! How do you feel?” Isabel put her hand to his forehead. She smelled like peppermint.

  “Confused. What’s going on?”

  That question sent a jolt of déjà vu down his spine. He followed it to its source, but Julia squeezed his shoulder, her eyes shiny and damp.

  “Don’t ever do that again,” Julia demanded.

  “Uh…what did I do?”

  “You took an experimental drug created by my boss. It was supposed to make you more powerful, but you started babbling a mile a minute and passed out.” Izzy shook her head. “I’m sorry, Jack. He said he tested it.”

  It came back to him now. The blue pill. Assurances it had been harmless for the control cases. Between that moment and this, a vast gulf of nothing…

  “No, I think it worked. Somehow.”

  “It did something all right. It knocked you out of your body so hard your cord snapped,” Dante growled. He gave Izzy a dirty look. She pretended not to see it.

  “Don’t be hard on her. She’s a mechanic, not a doctor,” Jack said.

  “Mechanical engineer,” she corrected him.

  “That’s what I said.”

  She rolled her eyes. Good. That was back to normal, at least.

  “What do you remember?” Coraolis asked.

  “It was dark. Cold. I don’t know.” Jack shuddered. He didn’t want to push too hard. “Can I get out of here?”

  “I’ll get a doctor,” Izzy replied. She ducked out of the room.

  Jack sat up, shrugging off Julia’s hand when she tried to encourage him to stay down. Physically, he felt fine. Mentally, he felt like he needed a new set of bearings.

  “Glad to have you back, Jack.” Coraolis smiled.

  Jack smirked. “You guys just missed your Dungeon Master.”

  “Yeah, that’s it.”

  Their laughter let off pressure. He could get dressed, go home, and they could resume their normal lives. Except, it felt wrong. A force built in his head as he turned thoughts over in his mind. Normal. That wasn’t them. It never would be them. Something inside of him pushed against the notion as hard as anything he’d ever felt.

  “Listen, I have an idea. We can’t stay here,” he spouted off. “We’re going backward. We’ll be stagnant.” Jack checked the state of his gown, then threw off his blankets. “Where are my clothes?”

  “Sit still, we’ll find them in a minute. What’s your idea?” Julia threw the covers over his legs again. “You aren’t going anywhere until a doctor looks at you, so what are you talking about?”

  “We need to go out with Earth Fleet. We’ve encountered all these planets that we left alone because of the dragons, right? Well, now we’re practically half dragon. We can negotiate for Earth Fleet. We get new planets, but we’ll make sure Earth Fleet agrees to find a balance with their ecosystems. The dragons can watch to make sure E.F. keeps their end of the deal. Everybody’s happy.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Dante mused.

  “No, it’s a great one.” Coraolis beamed at Jack, and he grinned back.

  “Of course it is. It’s mine.”

  “You’ll have to run it by Earth Fleet, but we’ll help. I can’t imagine they’d say no to more planets,” Julia added.

  “Great. We’ll work on a proposal… as soon as I get some pants on.”

  ***

  The doctor insisted on running more tests, but Jack was finally discharged. They went directly to E.F. headquarters. The others backed him up, and leadership jumped on his idea as if it was their own. The only conditions were that only two Evolved could leave Earth at a time.

  Maybe in the E.F.’s eyes their slate wasn’t so clean after all; still, it was a step in the right direction.

  As Jack went through the usual pre-mission examinations, he had a nagging feeling he was forgetting something. He made a list of everything he intended to pack and sent it to Julia. Maybe she would see what he’d missed; yet, she didn’t find anything and, soon, it was too late. It was time to pack and see if their rapport with dragons was as good as he thought.

  The pressure in his head lessened once he’d taken action, and the haunting feeling he’d forgotten something faded. By the time he received his orders, Jack felt nearly normal again.

  CHAPTER SIX

  It was hard for Coraolis to say goodbye to Earth after only a few months. Part of it was leaving Julia and his students behind, but Coraolis couldn’t turn down this mission. He wanted to be part of negotiations to ensure expansion was done in a way that protected planets, the Astral Plane, native life, and Dragons.

  He and Jack boarded E.F.S. Charon after saying their goodbyes. They were given a cabin near the commune chamber and far from the bridge. The crew gave the Mystics plenty of space. He caught more than one sailor looking at him sideways. He ignored it. The only thing he could do was demonstrate he was a worthy person. Confronting the crew wouldn’t help anyone.

  To that end, he smiled and nodded when he crossed someone’s path. If the other person avoided eye contact, he left them alone. If they spoke to him, he responded in a friendly manner. For the most part, however, only Jack and Ensign Moe spoke to him.

  Moe was the ship’s designated Mystic Whisperer. He gave them the tour, starting with their cabin and ending with the galley. Captain Wells met them briefly. He was polite but made it clear the bridge was for ‘crew only’ except by special invitation.

  After that, Coraolis became aware of increased security on the ship. Double the guard was stationed outside the bridge. He’d never seen security posted to Engineering before, but Charon had it. Every time they stepped outside their cabin a pair of officers loitered in the corridor. Wherever he and Jack went, the officers followed.

  “Guilty until proven, well, guilty, I guess,” Jack muttered upon noticing they had gained an extra pair of shadows.

  “Our records are clear, but people have long memories.” Coraolis smiled at the gentlemen following them, then started for the galley.

  “Do you think it is the E.F. in general or just these guys?”

  “If I had to guess, I’d say it’s Wells. Tanner let us have the run of her ship. Other E.F. personnel have been polite en
ough.” Coraolis smiled at a passing lieutenant. The young man returned the smile, then his expression stiffened as he realized they were Mystics.

  “That’s the look of a young man who thinks he’s in trouble. I should know,” Jack commented. “This is going to be a long trip at this rate.”

  “Too bad we can’t play one-on-one D&D to pass the time.”

  “We could. I brought my books.”

  “Okay, we could. I don’t know if we should. If we hide in our room the whole time, it’ll just give them more to speculate. If we show we’re harmless, it’ll erode some of…whatever this is.”

  “Okay, so let’s play in the galley.”

  Coraolis chuckled. Now that he had the idea in his teeth, Jack wouldn’t let go. Not that he objected. “Fine. Maybe we’ll find some gamers on this boat.”

  They reached the galley, but it was time for chow, not games. The tables were packed with crewmen eating and talking. Coraolis and Jack got in line and, before long, had trays laden with stroganoff. Jack nodded at a table with open seats at the end.

  “I suppose I could make a wandering barbarian type. He could start as a lowly shepherd and grow up to be the emperor of the known world,” Coraolis mused.

  “You know that’s been done, right?”

  “Yes, but maybe I want to be Conan.”

  Jack chuckled. “Sure, who doesn’t?”

  He slid into a seat, and Coraolis claimed the spot across from him. Two things happened quickly. The Engineer sitting next to Jack glared and his elbow jerked. His elbow hit Jack’s tray, which flew off the table. Stroganoff went everywhere, with the biggest mass of noodles landed on a pair of well-polished boots.

  Chief Bergen wasn’t tall, but he was built like a tank. The man looked like he could stare down a dragon. He turned that glare on Jack, who had frozen like a rabbit in an eagle’s shadow.

  “You think you’re pretty funny, don’t ya?” The chief planted his hands on the table, looming over Jack. “Well?”

  “That wasn’t me.”

  “No? You’re the only one I see here without a tray.”

  “It was my tray, yes.”