Five weeks later
Trenton’s father was waiting for him outside the city center—the only building large enough to hold ten dragons at the same time—when Trenton, Kallista, and several members of the Runt Patrol emerged from their latest meeting.
Trenton’s parents, along with Angus’s, Clyde’s, and Simoni’s parents had arrived in San Francisco almost a week earlier. Leo had flown the airship to Discovery and back in order to reunite the families.
“Well?” Trenton’s father asked. “How did it go?”
Trenton shook his head. “If you’d told me five weeks ago that I’d be negotiating a peace treaty between humans and dragons, I would have thought you were crazy. But I honestly think it might work.”
“I’d love to have been in there,” his father said. There’d nearly been another battle over who would meet with the dragons to negotiate the peace settlement. The adults of the city felt the children were too young, while the children felt the adults shouldn’t be negotiating anything until there was clear proof that their minds weren’t still clouded by the monarch’s control. And the dragons simply didn’t trust anyone.
Ultimately, it came down to the fact that if it hadn’t been for the kids, there wouldn’t be any peace process to attend.
“I wish . . .” Trenton started, then shook his head.
His father put an arm around Trenton’s shoulders. “You wish Angus was there too.”
“If it wasn’t for him, none of us would be here.” Trenton slammed a balled fist against his thigh. “I keep replaying the last battle in my mind. Thinking what I could have done differently.”
“It wasn’t your fault. I’ve talked to everyone who was there, and they all agree you did everything you could.”
He hadn’t done enough. He’d been the leader of the team, and he’d failed to bring one of his friends home. “How do you do it?” he asked, wiping his eyes. “How do you get over losing someone?”
“You don’t get over it,” his father said. “You only learn to live with it. But time makes it easier.”
They walked down the hill toward the house where they were living. It wasn’t as big as the mansion on the hill, but that was fine. Trenton liked cozy better anyway. Kallista and her father lived next door.
“Do you think the humans and dragons will reach an agreement soon?” his father asked.
Trenton knew his dad was intentionally changing the subject, and he appreciated the effort. “There’s still a lot to figure out. The dragons aren’t used to working together. Without a single leader, they spend a lot of time fighting among themselves.”
“Like some humans I know,” his dad said.
Trenton knew his father was referring to Angus’s father, who had organized a group of people who wanted to change Discovery’s name back to Cove and seal it up again. This time for good.
He claimed it would only be a matter of time before the dragons broke the peace treaty, and he planned to reseal the mountain before that could happen.
“Do you really think they’ll seal up the city?” Trenton asked.
“I don’t know,” his father said. “Darrow has taken his son’s death hard, and there are a lot of scared people right now. People do crazy things when they’re frightened.”
Trenton wondered how long it would be before they returned to the lie that the outside world had been destroyed by creativity and change. “It would be like everything we did for the city was for nothing.”
His dad patted his shoulder. “I believe calmer voices will win out. It will take time to repair the damage the dragons did when they broke in. The fact that you and your friends have negotiated a peace treaty here may give people enough confidence to wait and see what happens before doing anything rash.”
“Leo says he thinks the monarch was controlling the dragons’ minds too,” Trenton said. “He thinks that’s why some of the dragons left the city and others are refusing to obey the truce.” There had been several attacks from both dragons and humans, until the peace treaty committee had established a law that said that any human or dragon who attacked the other was permanently banished from the city. Since then, things had been calmer.
“He would know,” Dad said. “I wish we could get him involved in politics, but no one can convince him to pull his head out of his books and experiments.”
That sounded like Kallista’s father all right. Kallista wasn’t much better. She spent so much time with her father, Trenton barely saw her these days.
A quad clattered past them, weaving from one side of the street to the other. Jack was driving while Cameron fought to get control of the wheel. Lizzy waved and shouted, “Hi, Trenton.”
Trenton waved to his friends and grinned. He’d never seen the Runt Patrol so happy.
“Have the dragons agreed to recognize humans as equals?” his father asked.
“The ones who are staying in the city don’t have much choice,” Trenton said. “Over the years, they’ve come to rely on humans and technology for too much. I’d say they’ve become . . .”
“Domesticated?” his father suggested. “How many dragons are leaving?”
Trenton shook his head. “I’m not sure. They kept close track of the humans, but no one saw a need to count the dragons. The night after the monarch died, every Ninki Nanka in the city disappeared. Some people think they’ve gone to the forests to hunt, while others think they’re living in the sewers, but no one really knows. It’s making people nervous.”
They passed a family moving beds and furniture into an empty house. With their minds restored, many of the adults had moved out of the dorms and into homes of their own. Families who hadn’t lived together for years were being reunited.
“I think we’ll get the Great Treaty ratified in the next few days,” Trenton said. “We’ve agreed to create safe zones where dragons and humans can peacefully coexist, rules governing interactions between the two species, and rights for all ‘intelligent, free-thinking beings of choice.’
“For now, it will only apply to a few cities. San Francisco, Seattle, and a couple of other cities the dragons destroyed in the past—assuming people want to move back into them. Until we get a better idea of what’s happening in the rest of the world, no one feels comfortable making decisions about other areas.”
He’d intentionally not mentioned Discovery since Marshall Darrow and his followers wanted nothing to do with a dragon treaty.
They paused outside their house, and Trenton heard Plucky say something that made his mom laugh. He grinned. It was good to hear his mother laughing again. Ever since his parents had decided to make Plucky an official part of the family, his mother was like a new person. She’d stuffed Plucky with every kind of dessert imaginable and sewed new clothes for her. The two of them spent hours playing games, going to the library, and dangling bits of yarn in front of Allie. Plucky was even secretly working on a pair of mechanical leg braces for his mom.
Plucky absorbed the affection like a sponge that had been far too dry for far too long. It really was a perfect match. Mom’s attitude had completely turned around. Well, almost completely.
“Do you think Mom will ever be okay with machines?” Trenton asked.
“I’m not sure,” his father said. “She was getting more comfortable around them, but once she found out technology was responsible for creating the dragons, she swore she’d been right all along. I think part of her still believes machines are an abomination and that mankind will be cursed until we turn away from them.”
“Do you think she could be right?” Trenton asked. “I mean technology has been a part of some terrible things. We were almost completely wiped off the face of the Earth because some scientists were trying to create a better weapon.”
He’d been struggling with the idea a lot lately. He still loved to build, and the sight of gears and pistons still sent his heart racing. But
look what had happened in Seattle. He’d been so excited about creating new inventions that he’d completely overlooked how they might be used. Some days he thought maybe it would be better if he quit building things. Other days he couldn’t stop dreaming up new inventions. It was complicated.
His father placed a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t think technology by itself is either good or bad. People are the ones who make it that way. You have a talent for inventing, but you’re the one who has to decide how you’ll use it. Now let’s go inside and see what those two are finding so funny.”
• • •
Kallista walked into the room to find her father on a ladder directing a group of men as they fed wires into a conduit attached to the ceiling. Unlike the old lab, which had been completely gutted, this room was bright and airy with skylights and windows overlooking the bay. “Looking good, Dad,” she called up.
“I never did like that old place,” he said. “Too wet and cramped. Besides, it reminded me of one of those novels in the library—Frankenstein, I think it was called.”
Kallista grinned. She’d picked up the book after her father read it, finishing the novel in a single night. Was he even aware of how closely what he’d been doing with the dragons matched the theme of the story? She doubted it. More likely he’d only skimmed the book to see if there was any actual science he could use.
Like the previous lab, there were giant glass cylinders placed along the walls on one half of the room. They were still growing dragons, but a few species were conspicuously missing, including the white dragons, the sea dragons, and the Ninki Nankas, which her father had refused to create.
It was the other half of the room that caught her attention, though. Here the glass tubes were smaller, and the walls were covered with detailed anatomical breakdowns of each type of dragon.
She walked past a line of workbenches, nodding at how well organized and clean the tools were. She paused to examine some surgical equipment and a set of medical books. This half of the room looked more like a hospital than a workshop.
Curious, she began flipping through a stack of diagrams.
“Ah,” her father said, walking up to join her. “You have found my latest work. What do you make of it?”
Kallista looked from the diagrams to the books and equipment. “You’re studying the dragons’ anatomy. How to keep them healthy.”
Leo chuckled. “I like to think of myself as a dragon veterinarian.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Kallista asked. “Wouldn’t it be better if the dragons died out?”
“Perhaps,” her father said, not sounding convinced. “Or perhaps we will find other ways to be mutually beneficial to each other.” He scratched his head. “Besides, I believe we owe them something.”
Kallista wrinkled her forehead. “Why do we owe the dragons anything? Considering how they almost destroyed our species, I’d say they owe us.”
“Come with me,” Leo said, walking to the other side of the room. As they passed the glass cylinders, he stopped in front of one of the tiny growing dragons. “When I told you that humans had been replaced on the evolutionary ladder, my mind was being controlled by the white dragon.”
“I know,” Kallista said. “And I don’t blame you.”
In the weeks since the monarch had died, her father had explained how he’d succumbed to the dragon’s control the first time he’d looked into the creature’s eyes. Inside, a part of him knew he was being controlled and had fought against it. But he’d been unable to do or say anything that directly contradicted the monarch’s will.
Using what little freedom he still possessed, he did what he could to help Kallista and the others—seeing that the dragons were repaired, pointing Kallista to their location, dropping hints about the lab, and, of course, the night he’d intentionally led her there. These small bits of insurrection took all of his strength and gave him massive headaches, but he’d hoped that her years of playing games with him would lead her to the truth.
“There was some truth in what I said, though. Mankind didn’t just invent a weapon, we created a new species with intelligence rivaling our own. The moment we brought this new life into the world, it became our responsibility.”
He tapped his chin. “We might hate what we have created, we might wish we could take it back, but if we abandoned responsibility for our actions, if we failed to recognize the right of the ‘monsters,’ we would be no better than Dr. Frankenstein, would we?”
Kallista grinned. Maybe he understood more of the book than she’d thought. “You’re saying now that this species exists, we have no more right to destroy it than they have the right to destroy us?”
“Exactly. For now, I will search for ways to keep the dragons healthy. What happens after that will be up to the next generation. Your generation.” He tapped her forehead. “I have great confidence in you.”
Kallista leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you, Dad.”
He looked surprised for a minute, then hugged her back. “I love you, too. I always have.”
“I hate to break up this touching moment,” Trenton called. He was standing inside the lab door with Clyde, Plucky, and Simoni.
“You’re out of bed,” Kallista said to Simoni.
Simoni nodded. She still looked pale but much better than the last few times Kallista had checked in on her. “I’ve been needing to get up for a while, but I just couldn’t seem to find the strength. Then Trenton showed up and told me about his idea.”
“It wasn’t my idea,” Trenton said. “It was Angus’s. I wouldn’t have thought of it if you hadn’t told me what he said.”
“I think it’s what he would have wanted,” Simoni agreed.
“What idea?” Kallista asked.
“It’s a plummy corker, yeah, yeah,” Plucky said.
“Amazing,” Clyde said. “Tell her, already.”
“I will if you’ll all stop talking for a second.” Trenton took a deep breath and grinned. “Okay, I have this idea for an invention.”
Clyde was adding the finishing touches to the paint as people began arriving.
“Quick,” Simoni called. “Pull up the cover.”
Trenton and Plucky grabbed a pair of handles and began cranking them around and around. Gears turned, winding thick ropes around metal wheels. As the ropes tightened, a large tent-like structure rose from the ground, hiding what was underneath it.
Clyde climbed out from under the edge of the tent, wiping blue paint off his fingers onto his pants.
“Everything ready, yeah, yeah?” Plucky asked.
“Fine, as long as no one touches the wet paint,” Clyde said with a grin.
Trenton was glad to see that the two had remained close friends after everything they’d been through on their adventures together. He wondered if maybe that friendship might even grow into something more someday. The idea made him smile.
“How are the hands?” Trenton asked.
Clyde held his arms out straight, fingers extended. The tremors were barely visible. “I told you I wouldn’t let anyone take what I love.”
“How are you doing?” Simoni asked, standing beside Trenton.
“Good, I think.” He rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth. “Okay, a little nervous.” He studied Simoni. She looked as beautiful as ever. Only someone who had known her as long as he had would notice the dark smudges under her eyes and the fact that she didn’t smile nearly as much as she used to.
She hadn’t spent much time with Trenton and the others except to help with this project. She’d explained that being around them made the pain of Angus’s death too sharp. She hoped one day that wouldn’t be the case, but, for now, it was what she needed to do.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Trenton asked. “If it’s too much, you don’t have to speak.”
Th
e corners of her lips rose, but the smile never reached her eyes. “It’s the least I can do. His family is still here?”
Trenton nodded. “They promised to come, but they’re leaving as soon as we’re done.”
Trenton and his friends were standing on a spot near where the white tower had once been. It was close enough to overlook the ocean but far enough away that none of the littlest kids were in any danger of falling off the ragged edge of the cliff.
A crowd of humans and dragons had gathered to see the unveiling of a new invention. There’d been rumors swirling for weeks of what the kids had been working on. Some said it was a new mode of transportation; others said it was a monument. A few thought it might be a weapon. The Runt Patrol put an end to that rumor immediately.
Whatever it was, it was big—at least thirty feet tall and a hundred feet across. It was completely covered by a huge, circular, white-and-red-striped tent.
Trenton, Kallista, Simoni, Clyde, and Plucky stood in front of their invention and looked out over the crowd. Trenton’s mother and father were nearby. His father beamed, face alight with curiosity. His mother sat in her wheelchair. She didn’t look as thrilled, but at least she had come. Next to them stood Leo Babbage and Simoni’s parents. Clyde’s family stood near the front, his sisters waving at Clyde, trying to get his attention.
To their left stood Angus’s family.
With his hands shaking, Trenton took a piece of paper from his pocket. He cleared his throat and tried to speak, but found he was too choked up to get the words out. Kallista smacked him on the back—harder than was necessary, he thought—and the people in the audience laughed.
The moment broke the tension, and Trenton found that he could talk.
His eyes blurred as he read the words. He stared at the paper in his hand, then crumpled it up and jammed it into his pocket. He knew what he wanted to say.
“Angus was a stubborn, rust-brained know-it-all. He did what he wanted, when he wanted. But he was one of the greatest people I’ve ever known.”
He paused, and Simoni spoke up. “It is because of his bravery and unwillingness to give up, because of his determination and sacrifice, that we all stand here today. I miss him so much.”
Embers of Destruction Page 28