Serve and Protect

by Douglas Varnell

  Metsis had a very dry sense of humor, but he did at least have one, he replied, “Oh, all the Dragon Guard is completely trained on every weapons system Verron has in its arsenal. King Verron told us that if you needed anything blown-up that we were to fulfill your request, but you will have to give us directions to the location of FOX, NBC and CBS.” Tim and the camera crew laughed, Robin actually considered the ramifications for a brief moment. Lydia jumped in, adding, “Every one of the Dragon Guard has had the chance to blow something up on Earth, all we get to shoot at is asteroids, desert planets and target drones. We will show you later if you prefer that to FOX.” Lydia was finishing her joke just as she exited the hanger doors and shot off at maximum humanoid sustainable G’s across the bay. She began to describe what she had just done, explaining, “When I accelerated across the bay, you experienced two inventions of Verron technology, the g-force compensation systems and the specially designed g-force seats you are sitting in. We accelerated at 30g’s and are currently flying at 4800 mph – climbing to an altitude of 80,000 and top speed of 32,000 mph. If you were wearing one of our body armor flight suites we could have hit a maximum of 100g’s and already be doing the 32,000 mph. If not for the compensation system, you’d all probably be dead right now. A military enhanced pilot in a body suite, in a g-seat and with a g-compensator can endure up to 300g’s. That is usually hit when we have to reach light-speed very quickly or stop really – really fast.”

  One of the cameramen was a former Army Reserve helicopter pilot. He asked, “You mean that you can stop this thing even at those high speeds?” Metsis grinned with his pointy little teeth and asked, “Is everyone strapped in?” Knowing already that they were, he reversed the thrusters and came to an amazingly quick halt directly above the Robert’s Range. One of the camera crew looked blue in the face. Lydia recognized the condition and yelled, “Under the seat in front of you. Please don’t puck in the King’s ship.” Luckily he got it in time. After a moment of recovery, the passengers began to look out the windows at the nearby top of Mt. Alene. It looked like they were close enough to reach out and touch it. The view in every direction was breathtaking. Lydia rotated the ship in a 360 degree hover as it held position in the 400 mph winds whipping across the mountain-top. Only one comment came from the guests. The ex-pilot said it for them all, “Amazing. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

  Once over the highest peaks of the mountain range, they dropped down to the valleys on the other side and followed the river passes and canyons for the remainder of the trip. As they dropped to a wide valley with a floor elevation of 7,000 feet, they sighted exactly what Paul said would be there if they took this route. Metsis reduced his speed to a mere 60 mph and reduced his altitude to 7,500 feet. Lydia looked back at the bewildered crew shooting video and stills of a herd of over 2000 Unicorns. There was almost every color in the rainbow; like Paul always said, “It looked like someone had spilled a bag of Skittles.” The camera-lady actually shed a small tear, as she said, “I loved Unicorns when I was a little girl and always knew in my heart that they were real even when my big brother would harass me about it. He’s fifty now and I can’t wait to show him these pictures. Lydia reduced the altitude to only fifty feet above the herd before they took off in a stampede for the safety of a nearby forest. Robin kept asking, “Did you get that?” But the three members of the camera crew were busy snapping away. As they were pulling out of the valley and headed for a narrow pass, Metsis informed them, “After we visit the Spaceship Factory, we’ll go further north and see if we can find some of the Wooly Mammoths. Their herds are a bit smaller and with their white fur they are a bit harder to see against the mostly snow-covered ground. It’s not so bad in the summer, but they are there in herds of hundreds.” Robin gave him a questioning look, he continued, “Hey, don’t look at me. Where I come from we only have a few large reptiles and rodents that roam the surface of the planet. We do have some vicious cave leopards and of course the silk-spiders underground, other than that it’s mostly more snakes and cave monkeys. I never saw any of this stuff until I got here and I see something new almost every time I fly someplace I haven’t flown before.”

  They exited the frozen river canyon into the massive snow covered valley that housed the Space Manufacturing facility. There were several ski slopes on the surrounding mountains and dozens of ice-sailing craft racing across a lake that looked as big as Lake Erie. People riding snowmobiles could be seen through the occasional opening through the lush forests. There were beautiful villas and chalets dotting the mountainside and some pretty impressive homes adorning the shore of the lake. Then Robin saw it. She couldn’t help but see hundreds of Fighters, Destroyers, Gljarne Class Destroyers and even a couple of Verron Man of War as they trained and practiced in and around the airbase. She could see the reflective glare of the sun glistening of the surface of hundreds of thousands of spaceships parked along the airbase and the storage facility. She didn’t think there were as many ships and planes in the Navy, Air Force and Marines combined, as there were spaceships parked in this one location. It was a frightening thought to think that this man who had a burping competition at the breakfast table and made his cereal float across the kitchen had total command of such awesome power. She looked at Tim, who whispered, “Paul Verron has got to be the scariest man alive.” Lydia had good ears and replied, “He is indeed, if you’re his enemy.”

  More video was shot as they circled the shipyard and soon the Light Destroyer was on the ground in front of the underground ship factory. It had been expanded recently, thanks to the building skills of the Klelta. There were now two bays making the Man of War and the Gljarne Class Destroyer. The Speeder line had been converted to increase the capacity of the new Class XI Fighter production. Speeders were now done on an as needed basis and were being refitted to become small Fighters designed for the Lyncardi. Running three shifts per day, eight days per week and maintaining manufacturing facilities on Klelta, Xhondar I and Tecalna, King Verron still believed there was a need for more; more ships, more pilots, more crews, more Marines and more weapons. No one doubted him anymore, after the Jhxunka and Volvs, no one doubted anything King Verron said, but it did make a lot of people nervous to think that there was someone out there who would require this much firepower to overcome – if we overcome.

  Marcus Verron greeted the ship and quickly escorted everyone out of the freezing wind and snow. He told his guests, “Our winters are not all that long, but we still manage to get over 400 inches of snow and stay well below freezing for most of the winter. It’s 20 below out there right now, but don’t worry, we keep the work-bays nice and toasty.” As he entered the office area, where he kept his office, he told his guests, “When we first started using this place, it was just me and the original members of the Dragon Guard finishing the almost finished Speeders. We now employ over 300,000 people and almost that many more cyborgs, droids, robots and drones. The machines, the humans and the non-humans work side-by-side and can now finish a task that used to require a whole year, like a Gljarne Class or a Man of War, in a fraction of that time. We are scheduled to produce eight Verron Man of War this year and over 100 Gljarne class. Fighters and Light Destroyer production will be in the thousands.” Robin asked, “Who flies all these ships? You can’t possibly have an Air Force that large.” To his surprise, defensive Lydia answered the question for Marcus. Saying, “King Verron has the largest active Air Force known. He has more ships and pilots than all the combined armed forces of Earth and there are thousands of reserve pilots and crews that work in virtually every profession on Verron who can be in a spaceship in no time when the call goes out. That’s how he manages to keep such a large military with such a small population. Close to half the men on Verron are in the reserve and probably a third of the women. Our schools begin teaching weapons and flying even in the elementary schools and a Verron seventh-grader can do advanced calculus and astrophysics better than an MIT grad, fly a Speeder and outshoot a Marine sharpshooter.
I’m not the only 13 year-old on Verron who can do stuff like that, there are others, King Verron knows what he’s doing.” Marcus shrugged, and said, “Out of the mouth of babes, not much I can add to that.”

  It was getting close to lunch time by the time Marcus finished his plant tour. It took a bit longer than usual since Paul had given Robin permission to take pictures of certain areas inside the plant. He knew that no one on Earth could duplicate what they had, but he didn’t exactly want everyone to know what he was capable of either. Robin was not looking to do a technical expose, so she and her crew mainly focused on the big picture. Marcus invited his guest’s home for lunch. Danyel liked Robin Meade and wanted to make her and her husband feel like friends, not tourists. They climbed into his transport and blasted across the valley to his lakeside home. Flying lower across the lake, it was easy to see hundreds of beautiful homes surrounding the lake and get a good look at the ice-sailing race now in full swing. The hard and constant wind whipping across the lake made for some pretty remarkable speeds as the little sailing ships teetered on two runners as they flew across the ice. Marcus landed the transport inside a larger than normal garage and the eight lunch guests hurried across the backyard to the kitchen. Everyone froze in their tracks at the sound of the roar. On the second roar, the people from CNN were about to retreat for the safety of the transport then Tigger came loping out of the barn to see just what he had smelled. Once he recognized Marcus, Metsis and Lydia, his curiosity died quickly and he slowly walked toward the guests to see if any had food for him. Marcus scratched the 2000 pound Mountain Tiger under the jaw and introduced his guests to their big friend. While still in doubt about their welcoming guard-cat, the ground began to shake and there was an even louder roar from behind. Marcus was surprised that no one had soiled themselves when Ben came out from behind Michael’s garage to see what all the commotion was about. Lydia walked over to the storage bin and removed three frozen coconuts and two frozen pineapples from the large box. Handing one item to each guests, she informed them, “He likes these a lot better than people. Maybe if you give him one, he’ll go away.” Metsis smacked her on the back of the head, saying, “You’re sadistic for someone so young.” Turning to Robin, he added, “Ben is a Tree Bear, they eat trees and fruit, not people. Give him those and he’ll love you forever; he may even decide to follow you home.”

  After feeding the Tree Bear that loomed as large as a tractor-trailer truck and then finding a frozen side of beef for Tigger, the freezing guest entered a very lived-in and love filled house to the smell of homemade chicken vegetable soup, freshly made buttermilk cornbread, a big pot of hot coffee and two laughing MJ’s watching Veggie Tales. Danyel was expecting them and already had the table set. She pointed to the dishes on the kitchen counter and said, “Help yourself, there’s plenty of everything. There was a big fire in the fireplace at the end of the large eat-in kitchen and everyone made themselves right at home. Soon the conversation turned to the Verron family. Robin had no idea that three of Marcus and Danyel’s children were members of the original group of Dragon Guard. She learned about King Paul’s brothers and his mother and the other family members actively involved in Verron’s day-to-day operation. She found out things about King Verron’s past and the kind of man he had been in his earlier years. She almost gasped when she found out that all of King Verron’s ex-wives now lived on Verron except for one, she lived in his 12,000 square-foot NY townhouse and handled his investments on Earth. She couldn’t imagine any man trusting an ex-wife that much, until she found out that the second in command of Verron’s banking and finance, second only to Michael Verron, was his ex-wife Gail.

  Marcus told her about how everyone in the family had been in the Army and had been serving in the military since the American Revolution. The thing that surprised her most was when Marcus began to talk about going to visit Uncle Paul when he was in prison and how dozens had been stabbed and several killed at the prison he was in. He told her that he had become an ordained minister while in prison and was singing and preaching all over Mississippi and Arkansas when he first began his Verron adventure. Marcus obviously loved his Uncle and respected the man that had taught his dad how to ride a motorcycle, shoot a gun and do karate. Marcus smiled, saying, “When Tala was racing in Australia Dad and Uncle Paul had a race around Phillips Island. Uncle Paul broke the track record and he hasn’t raced in years. By the time lunch was over, Robin and Tim felt like they were members of the family and had been sharing personal family secrets. She decided right then that she was going to be very cautious about what she revealed. This entire Verron family was special and she felt a desire to protect them and nurture them, instead of exploit them.

  Tigger and Ben were awaiting more handouts when they exited the house almost two hours later. This time Robin opened the big box on the back porch and removed some frozen fruit for Ben. Danyel called Tigger to the door to receive a tub-sized bowl of some special-blend cat-chow that the local veterinarian had put together. Tim looked at the large barn behind the house and asked, “What’s that?” Lydia grabbed his hand and excitedly pulled him toward the building, saying, “That’s the Sports Barn, they have the coolest stuff and Tala said I can use it anytime I like.” They entered the large barn-sized door and Lydia flipped on the lights to reveal almost every man’s and child’s dream. The place held a ski-boat, jet-skis, dirt-bikes and four-wheelers, snow skis, water skis, bows and arrows, bicycles, rowing skulls, a hang-glider, scuba-diving equipment … Marcus commented, “My brother Michael lives next door. I agreed to build this building to store our toys; he agreed to build the gym. That’s what you see behind his house, I actually got the better end of the deal. The gym is way nicer than my barn, but I imagine all the stuff inside it costs almost as much as his gym.” They walked next door and entered a very nicely designed gym. There was a well-lit basketball court with a dozen of the tallest and best looking young men on Verron practicing basketball, downstairs, under the gym, was an Olympic swimming pool, there was a racket-ball court, a weight-room and a Jxansa Gha training area filled with swords, daggers, spears and staffs, they even had a fighting droid. Off the Jxansa Gha room was a heavy door with a high-tech security panel. Marcus opened it to reveal an armory and underground firing range. As the group re-boarded the transport, Marcus informed them that his wife and Michael’s wife Rachel could fire expert on every weapon in the arsenal.

  When they arrived back at the factory General James Zarman and General Justice Hall were awaiting their arrival. Recognizing them from her visit on the R4 over the Atlantic Ocean, Robin greeted to two Generals with a smile, asking, “What have you got planned for me today gentleman?” General Hall, in his usual sarcastic humor, answered, “Well, we looked around for a few planets to destroy but finally settled on flying you out and letting you blow-up some asteroids. What we have planned is to take a Gljarne Class Destroyer out and run some training on planet assaults, ship boarding and Fighter scrambles then we’ll blow a few things up just to impress the ladies. How’s that sound?” General Hall couldn’t help but observe the pouty look of disappointment on Lydia’s face. He patted her on the shoulder and asked, “Have you ever commanded an entire operation on a Gljarne Class before?” She shook her head no. “Well, someone has been neglecting your training, why the other Dragon Guard had earned their Flying Ace medal by the time they were your age. What’s this place coming to when a girl hits thirteen and hasn’t even commanded a Gljarne Class?” He turned to Metsis and asked, “What about you?” Metsis shrugged and answered, “I have flown one but never commanded an operation.” General Hall turned to General Zarman, and told him, “I think we should be technical liaison and let these two handle the rest. Next they will tell me they haven’t even done a battle drill on a Man of War. Lydia looked like she thought she was in trouble. Metsis had finally figured out that General Hall loved to harass the Dragon Guard, especially since two of his children were on it. He replied, “Well, sir, Lydia and I have been trying to get King Ve
rron to let us take one to Earth and help with the terrorist problem, but he assured us that as soon as he decides to eliminate the entire middle-east, we would be the first he would call.” Robin and her crew weren’t completely sure whether that last comment was a joke or not.