Dragon's War

by Ehsani, Vered

  The screen went blank. Had she heard me? Did she know how much? I stared down at my dark reflection. Rays of sunlight glowed across the ocean, glittered off the waves and into my eyes. I covered my face and the tears.

  “What now?” Blade asked.

  I shook my head. For once, I was out of ideas.

  Chapter 23: Griffin

  She ran a hand over the tank, wondering what it was like for Dragon to be stuck in there. She couldn’t really remember that part of her life, just snatches of darkness and pain and fear.

  “Why are you keeping him?” Kraken asked. His image floated across the screen of the control centre. “He’s a danger to us.”

  She glanced at the timer on the tank. “I’m keeping him because he amuses me. And he’s no danger now. Besides, he doesn’t have much time left.”

  “Still…” Kraken began but changed his mind under her glare. Wordlessly, he faded away.

  She shook her head, even as she wondered herself. Was it admiration? Curiosity? Revenge? Why had he refused her offer? Of all the MindOpS brains, he had been the only one. All the others had agreed without hesitation, with no regard for the consequences their masters might suffer. The promise of power and freedom and new bodies had been more than enough to win them over.

  But not Dragon.

  “Why are you so different?” she murmured, walking around the tank, her hand lingering on it. “Is it your friend? Do you imagine she’ll come back for you? That she can give you more than a superficial relationship? You are no more than a thing to them, but still you refuse me. Why?”

  The tank remained unmoved and unresponsive, the answers locked away in the brain floating inside.

  It bothered her. The realisation surprised her. His refusal disturbed her, and she couldn’t understand why he had and why it bothered her. Maybe he’d spent too much time as a slave. He’d absorbed their concept of humanity and wanted it, even if it limited him. Even if it destroyed him in the end.

  She smacked both hands onto the tank. “You’re wrong,” she hissed. “And your foolish ideals will be the death of you.”

  Cursing his silence and stubborn pride, Griffin stalked out of the room.

  Chapter 24: Dragon

  The good news is that I’m no longer spinning around in my nightmare that won’t end. The bad news is I’m now watching another nightmare unfold and I can’t do anything about it.

  Apart from scenes of the hostages milling about the stadium, I’m also watching one of the news stations. For some reason, Griffin is feeding them the visuals of the island. Why?

  Director Lavack is being interviewed. He sounds pretty militant.

  What are his thoughts on the current crisis? Inevitable. Let this be a lesson on our choice of technology.

  Is there a future for the MindOps? No, none of the brain systems will be salvaged.

  Will he invade the island? No. Too many civilians in the way. What is he planning on doing? There is a plan, be assured.

  There is a plan, huh? Somehow, I’m pretty sure it’s Griffin’s plan and not Lavack’s. But what?

  Sana Island remains the top news item. If she wants the world’s attention, she’s got it. I think it’s a distraction. So what else is she up to?

  A flicker of motion enters my field of vision. I turn to face a large squid-like creature. Its multiple tentacles wave and weave around an invisible current. I haven’t seen this avatar before, but I’m guessing it’s Kraken.

  I think he’s staring at me. Oops, no. That’s the back of his head. But now he is. Those are definitely a set of eyes.

  “I don’t remember what I used to look like,” he murmurs. His voice is soft and gentle for someone who’s helping launch a war. I don’t know what I had expected, but definitely a harder, stronger voice.

  “I didn’t at first either,” I say. “Not for the first ten years.” I smile slightly.

  The creature doesn’t alter its expression. Actually, I don’t think squids really have expressions, even in giant, mutant forms. There’s just two large, googly eyes and a parrot beak surrounded by pudgy cheeks.

  “She’s crazy, you know,” Kraken whispers.

  Yeah, no kidding.

  “Oh, really?” I say conversationally. I wonder how old he is, or was before whatever happened to him.

  “Yes,” he says. “And she’s scary.”

  He sounds young. I keep him talking. “Why? Has she threatened you?”

  His form shudders, tentacles twitching around him. “Not really.”

  That means yes. In some way, she’s scared him into obedience. I smile understandingly and say nothing.

  He spins from side to side, as if checking over his non-existent shoulder. “She’s going to take over.”

  That’s not particularly original. Scary, but predictable. How many dictators and emperors have dreamed of doing the same throughout history? Been there, done that.

  “And then she’s going to wipe out everything.” Kraken looks at me expectantly.

  I’m pretty sure none of those dictators and emperors had that in their battle plans. The whole point of taking over was to keep the spoils of war.

  “Ah, yeah, wow. That sounds pretty scary.” I know I don’t sound too scared or impressed, but I’m not even sure why squid kid is telling me all this. “So… what’s she planning on doing? She’s going to launch a few missiles?”

  The tentacles shake back and forth. “She’s going to remove all knowledge about and control over the missiles and banking, communication, research, satellites, shipping and aviation and…”

  I hold up a hand to interrupt him. “How do you remove all knowledge?”

  Kraken sucks in a whistling breath. “If it’s on a computer or a server, if it’s in digital form, she’s going to erase it. And she’ll destroy all the systems that run everything.”

  I nod my head. Well, that’s somewhat original, I guess, and it would effectively send us back to the Stone Age. Score to Griffin for the unique but evil idea.

  I wonder how much time I have left? I’m guessing a day at most.

  “Why are you telling me this?” I demand, still musing over my fate. Either way, I’m dead. Her plan will disrupt electricity for certain, which means even if I get plugged back into a life support pillar, it wouldn’t help me for long.

  “I’m scared.”

  “Yes, we’ve already covered that.” I don’t mean to sound mean and cranky, but I’m actually feeling a bit mean and cranky, what with my imminent demise and the destruction of modern civilisation as we know it. I figure I have just cause.

  “I think she’s lying to me,” he says, his voice even softer and quieter than before.

  “Well, that would be a first,” I murmur. It seems Myth’s sarcasm is rubbing off on me. I’m not sure I approve, but given the shortness of time left to me, maybe it doesn’t really matter after all.

  I hope she’s okay and she survives the upcoming Dark Ages. If she’s still with Blade, she probably will. They’ll take care of each other. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

  “I don’t think Griffin’s going to give me a body,” he says. “If she wipes out all the computer-based information and technology, she won’t be able to, will she?”

  That’s a point, and it may just be my ticket out. “No. Probably not. For that kind of operation, I’m guessing you need a lot of sophisticated equipment and software, not to mention electricity to run it all.” I shrug my shoulders, like it’s no skin off my nose that we’ll soon be losing all of that and more.

  Kraken’s tentacles snap around him, twisting and twirling. I decide to really hammer the nail in. “And of course, your support system will eventually run out of juice because all the technology that supports it will be gone. So if you can’t have a body to protect your brain…” I shake my head. “I can see why you’re scared. Death is a scary business, my friend.”

  The large squid form convulses. “I don’t want to die,” he wails.

  “Neither do I,” I say so
ftly. “But the way I see it, there’s only one way we both get to survive this.”

  The big googly eyes fixate on me. I lean towards the surface of my spherical prison. “We have to stop Griffin.”

  Chapter 25: Myth

  I clutched the portable screen to my chest, my eyes shut against the growing brightness and heat of the rising sun. A sharp seaweed scented breeze toyed with my hair. Must’ve been an impossible knotted mess at that point. The hair, not the breeze. I hadn’t combed or washed it in a few days. Not that it mattered.

  Yes, I was feeling sorry for myself. I figure I’m allowed to occasionally wallow in self-pity bordering on depression once in a while. And this was as good (or bad) a time as any.

  “Myth, let’s go tell the others,” Blade said, his deep voice rumbling gently.

  I felt the weight of his hand on my head, stroking. My dad used to do that. My nose began to run, a sure sign of the flood of tears to come. I sniffed it in. “Yeah, sure.”

  The screen vibrated against me. I wiped at my nose with a sleeve. Stared down at the screen. Private Caller flashed at me in bright green against a black background.

  “Don’t answer it,” Blade ordered, reaching for it.

  He wasn’t fast enough. I snatched the screen away, turned my back to him. “It could be my mom.” I answered it and yelled, “Mom!”

  Dragon’s golden brown eyes peered up at me. “Ah, no. Not even close.”

  “Dragon,” I yelled, caught between laughing and crying. This was the next best possibility. Now I knew that both my mom and Dragon were safe, at least for today. All hints of despair melted away in the big grin slopped across my face. “You’re alive. But how? Are you free? I mean, Griffin and your tank and…”

  He chuckled. Here I had just been about to explode into hysterics or a collapse of nerves, and he was laughing. Typical. “It’s good to see you too, Myth.”

  “Hey,” Blade said over my shoulder.

  Dragon nodded at his former colleague. “Thanks for taking care of her.”

  Blade shrugged, his wide shoulders almost blocking out the sunlight coming through the small entrance of the tunnel. “Sure thing. Although she doesn’t make it easy.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Excuse me,” I interrupted, aiming for a sharp tone, but giggling instead. “I’m still here. Where are you?”

  “Grogan’s headquarters,” Dragon explained. “It seems Griffin’s hired help isn’t so happy with her plans. Kraken let me out but we’re running out of time.”

  “Your tank,” I breathed.

  “That too.” He nodded. “In less than twelve hours, Lavack’s virus is going to be released, but it’s been altered.”

  Just like the Games Boss said. Huh. Smart guy. Bad, but smart. At least he wasn’t evil. As Dragon explained what Kraken had told him, I tried to imagine my life without electricity and internet and all the gadgets and services they supported. I stopped imagining once I got to email, cell phone and hair iron. Way too scary.

  “Mom said the virus is locked away until the release time,” I said.

  “I think I might be able to crack it,” Dragon responded. “But I need to be in Lavack’s compound. There would be too many layers of security from outside and too little time.”

  I mulled over that one. “Won’t Griffin be waiting for us to come for you?”

  “Who in their right mind would come to this island?” Dragon quipped.

  I pursed my lips. “That’s a point. So we have to break into Grogan’s compound and escape the island, again, then break into Internal Security headquarters and convince Lavack to let us destroy his pet virus.”

  Dragon grinned. “I think that’s a fairly accurate summary.”

  I turned expectantly to Blade. He sighed, shook his head and smirked. “After this one, I think you’ll owe me. Both of you.”

  Chapter 26: Dragon

  I’m not worried about the first part. Griffin’s out and about, probably terrorising helpless villagers somewhere. With Kraken’s help, my friends will sneak in and out without too many obstacles. He’ll open doors, shut down security sensors, send guards in the opposite direction, that sort of thing. Besides, Myth’s becoming quite an expert on breaking in and out of secured compounds.

  Lavack, on the other hand, could prove a challenge.

  Griffin has let the hostages go to their homes. Considering the lock-down on the island, it just makes their prison that much bigger. There’s nowhere they can really run to. She’s made her point, got the attention and now the world is waiting for the next bit of drama.

  I wonder if I should call Lavack now.

  “Dragon,” Kraken says, “they’ve made it into the compound. They’re on their way down.”

  I glance at my internal clock. It’s taken them more than three hours to get here since we’d spoken. I hope it doesn’t take that long to get to the mainland. I don’t have that much time to waste.

  “They’re here,” Kraken says. “Inside the central control room.”

  I know it’s too much to hope for, but I reach out for the portable sensor unit, my mobile eyes and ears. They brought it. And it’s on. I connect to it and turn on the hologram.

  “Holy bajeebers!” Darren yells as he throws the unit away from him. My hologram legs float through his torso for a moment before I straighten myself out.

  I want to hug that boy. After all I’ve put him through, he clung onto that unit and came back for me. “Great to see you too, Darren. Thanks for…” My voice fades out as I see who’s standing behind him.

  The Games Boss nods at me. “Dragon.”

  “I remember you,” I say, my voice hard, my hands forming useless fists. “From before. It took me a while to find the memories but…” I shake my head and shift to face Blade. He fills much of the small room. “And you. You’re actually still with him? After everything that’s happened?”

  Blade says nothing, his black face carefully neutral. I notice his dreadlocks glitter with drops of sea spray. Another part of me gauges everyone’s stress level, trying to identify threats and lies.

  I shift my glare back to the Boss. “What are you doing here?”

  “He’s with us, for now.” Myth steps out from behind Blade and stands beside Darren. She’s studying me, her eyes flickering over my face.

  I’m not used to intense and conflicting emotions. I’m not used to emotions at all, actually. When I was plugged in as MindOpS, my emotional settings were pretty minimal, nothing dramatic. But now, it’s almost uncontrollable as my past and present stand before me in human forms.

  Like my emotions, my vision is also split. From the bottom of my vision, I can see the dragon tattoo on the underside of my right forearm, the key to all the memories of a murdered dragon boat racer, an ex-smuggler. The rest of my focus is on her.

  I swallow hard at nothing. “Myth,” I breathe out. I can’t say anything more. She’s here, alive, safe for now. Maybe the Boss helped her. Blade definitely did. The rest doesn’t matter.

  I’ve lost my quick wit for the day, it seems, so I ask the first thing that comes to mind. “Did you have any trouble getting in?”

  She laughs. “Nope. It was a lot easier than the first time I broke you out. Are you ready to go?”

  I nod my head. “Sure. What’s the plan?”

  Myth smiles. She’s not faking this one. “Well, I figure we just show up at the gates, ring the doorbell and make our demands.”

  “Really?” Darren squeaks.

  She shrugs, still smiling at me. “I think Lavack will be so thrilled to see us all, he’ll run out with open arms.”

  “You mean armed guards,” Blade says and makes a rude noise, just as Darren squawks unintelligibly.

  The Boss, my boss in both my lives, murmurs, “I think I’ll pass on that happy reunion.” He exchanges a look with Myth. “I need to have a little heart-to-heart with Griffin.”

  What is that look about? Now’s not the time, I figure.

  “Dragon,�
� Darren yelps. He’s bending over my tank on its cart. “Your time. It’s almost finished.”

  Myth’s smile quivers. Before she can say anything, before she can suggest I abandon the plan and take Kraken’s place at the life support pillars in the central control room, I shake my head slightly at her. “Then we’d better get going.”

  Chapter 27: Myth

  Darren may have been right. Hate to admit that. But I had spent a lot of energy over the past month rescuing Dragon’s brain, or worrying about it. And racing across the ocean in Blade’s speedboat. Not that I regret it. Just an interesting observation, that’s all.

  I ducked my head down, squinting against sea spray and sun sparkling off the small waves. Darren sat nearby, clutching the mobile unit tightly to his chest. Gotta love that kid’s loyalty. Dragon had turned off the hologram to save energy. He didn’t have much left. Why’d he have to play the hero now?

  Because if he doesn’t try to stop this, he’s dead for sure, I reminded myself. It still sucked. I tightened my grip on the cart’s handlebar. The metal siding was up, turning the cart into a metal box on wheels. Hard to believe that protected inside was the brain of my best friend.

  “We’re almost there,” Blade shouted back at me. His dreadlocks slapped around his head. “I sure hope you have a pretty speech figured out. We won’t get much time to convince the old goat.”

  I nodded my head. Not that I actually knew how I was going to handle Lavack. Just that I agreed with Blade. We’d be lucky not to get shot on sight: a well-known pirate, a brain seeking to destroy a top secret weapon, a fugitive conspiring to thwart the government, and a serial gambler. Oh yeah, quite the prime group.

  The shore loomed in front of us way too soon. The familiar rocky outcrop didn’t look so big during the day. We’d almost crashed into it before. I picked out the spot where my mom and I had jumped into the ocean to escape a boat load of gun-toting goons. Ah yes, fond memories.