by Saxon Andrew
Gregor thought about it and said, “The issue isn’t whether or not your blasters could make it through; it’s whether or not the Movement’s blasters could.”
The Clan Leaders looked at each other and the Head of the Council asked, “How can we find out?”
Gregor stood up, “Pick out a tree and let’s go see.”
Kaylee stood up beside Gregor as the Clan Leaders stood and walked out from under the trees toward the far edge of the clearing. Gregor took Kaylee’s hand and followed them. Kaylee saw Ellie smiling and shake a fist in the air toward her. Kaylee smiled back.
• • •
They arrived at the far end of the clearing furthest from the community’s dwellings. They had torches lit and the Clan Leaders found a tall tree on the edge far enough from other trees where it wouldn’t spread a fire if it burned. Gregor activated his link and thought, “Computer.”
“Go ahead, Gregor.”
“Do you see the tree I’m currently standing under?”
“Uhhh…yeah, I have you on the scanner.”
“Give us a few minutes to move away but when I tell you, I want you to fire our blaster at the top of that tree.”
“Are you sure about that?” the computer asked.
“Yes, I am.”
“Targeting it now.”
The gathering quickly moved away to the far edge of the clearing from the tree and Gregor saw the Head of the Council nod. Gregor said over his link, “Hit it!”
A brilliant beam shot down out of the night sky turning nighttime into day briefly and there was a massive explosion in the top of the tree…but there was no fire. They all looked at each other and Gregor started walking back toward the tree. The gathering hesitated and then followed. The Dragons arrived first. They were staring up at the tree shaking their heads, “It’s too dark to see.”
Gregor activated his link, “Computer, bring the ship down and shine your primary landing lights on that tree.” Gregor looked around and said, “My ship is coming down to shine a light on the tree.”
The huge gathering of humans watched the ship come spiraling down out of orbit and then stop directly above the tree. Four brilliant lights came on and many outside the trees canopy had to shield their eyes with their hands. Gregor stood beside Kel and the Dragon hissed loudly, “It appears that the branches it hit weren’t harmed at all. The leaves are gone from it but from here it looks like the tree was basically unharmed.” Kel looked at Gregor, “That’s some metal they have here!”
Kaylee was standing beside Gregor and saw the swordsmith staring up into the tree. She heard him mutter, “I said the tree wouldn’t burn.”
She said in a loud voice, “Hey, Swordsmith!” He looked at Kaylee and she said where everyone could hear, “Do you see that ship above the tree?”
The swordsmith looked up and then said, “Aye.”
“Is there any possible way you could coat it in that metal?”
The swordsmith looked back up and then looked at Kaylee, “If there were some way to heat it, it could be done.”
“How hot would it have to be?”
The gathering all took a sudden breath and Kaylee yelled, “OH LIGHTEN UP!”
“The impurities come out at six hundred degrees. It turns into a liquid at four hundred degrees and then adheres to whatever it’s touching. That’s why we have to use forms that allow us to burn them out of the new swords.”
Gregor turned to her, “You ask this…”
“Gregor, our hulls are built to withstand more than eighteen hundred degrees during a fast reentry into a planet’s atmosphere. We could use hand blasters to heat it and form an outer hull on the ship from this metal without damaging the inner hull.”
Gregor’s eyes widened, “And the new blasters being used by the Movement won’t penetrate it.”
Kaylee smiled and nodded. Gregor put his hands on her cheeks and kissed her on the mouth. He turned and looked at the Head Clan Leader, “Do you have enough of this metal to coat two ships that size?”
“We have plenty of metal to do that. The stuff is everywhere you go on this world. We can even get it out of the tree branches if needed but I don’t expect that will be necessary.”
Kel looked at Gregor, “I want to talk to you about using this metal once all of this is over.”
“You need to discuss it with the Clan Leaders but I’m reasonably certain they’ll work with you since you’re here defending them.”
“Would you put in a good word for us?”
“If your Queen will agree to never harm this planet and come to its defense if needed.”
“I’ll get back to you.”
Gregor looked up and saw his ship moving down toward the clearing. Ten minutes later, Kaylee’s ship was seen moving toward the clearing from high above them. Kaylee looked up and Gregor put his arm over her shoulders as he watched them with her.
• • •
The next morning, Kel was sitting outside the freighter in the sun as Gregor exited his ship. The huge Dragon came running and Gregor’s eyes widened, “Were you out here waiting on me?”
“Yes, I was.”
“What’s going on?”
“The Queen wishes to speak with you.”
“What about?”
“You know I asked you about working out an agreement on using the metal on this planet?”
“Yes.”
“Well, several of us engineers got together last night and ran a few experiments with it and the results were surprising.”
Gregor turned his head slightly and focused on Kel with his left eye, “Do you ever sleep?”
The Dragon raised his front let leg and waved it as he laughed, “Of course we sleep, just not when there’s work to be done.”
Kel was leaning toward his ship and Gregor said, “You must have found out something important?”
“Gregor, that metal will revolutionize ship building.”
“How is that?”
“We fired a laser at some of the purified metal for an hour and it didn’t show any indication that it was affected in any way. Also, one of our engineers, who hasn’t had enough sleep bumped into the table knocking it on the deck.”
“And?”
“It was under the full power of a class five laser and it didn’t burn the floor. Matter of fact, we put a thermometer on it and it was at room temperature.”
Gregor’s eyes widened, “Are you sure about that?”
“Hey, what’s with all the questions? Yes I’m sure! We put it back in the clamps and fired the laser at it again and immediately put a thermometer on it as quickly as possible after the laser was shut down; it was at room temperature again.”
Gregor stared at Kel and then said, “Who needs a force field if your ship’s hull is impenetrable?”
“Exactly!”
“Kel, you have to know that I’m extremely reluctant to put this metal in the hands of an aggressive, conquering civilization.”
“Discuss that with the Queen. However, she has commanded me to get you to call her the earliest possible moment.”
Gregor sighed, “Where do you want to do this?”
“My ship is a good place.”
Gregor stepped aside, “Lead the way.”
Kaylee stepped out of her landing bay and saw Gregor walking toward the Dragon, Shuttle, “Hey, where are you going?”
“The Venzel Queen wants to talk with me about the metal on this planet. According to Kel, it’s impenetrable.”
“Mind if I tag along?”
“No, come on, I can use your advice.”
Kaylee ran across the clearing and caught up with Gregor and Kel in an instant. Gregor looked at her, “Crap, you’re as fast as the Dragons!” Gregor stopped and looked at Kel, “I apologize for calling you that. I wasn’t thinking.”
Key waved his tail behind him, “Forget it. We know that’s what most species call us and just between you and me, we kind of like it.”
“You do?”
“Ye
s. Some of our scholars looked up the term in the Cartian database and found images of what a dragon looked like. We really do look similar and we really liked that they could spit fire and fly. The fact they were also magical creatures added to our liking the term.”
“Well, I apologize anyway.”
“Don’t, we started calling ourselves Dragons long ago.”
Kaylee looked at Kel, “I’ve heard reports that some of your species have attacked others for being called Dragons.”
“They probably needed attacking and the warrior was just looking for an excuse. Trust me that we like being called Dragons a lot more than Venzel Lizards.”
Gregor smiled and tried hard not to laugh. Kaylee saw his expression and stifled a chuckle. They stepped into the freighter’s giant landing bay and Gregor stopped in his tracks. Kel looked back at him, “What?”
“Kel, you can eat off this floor. I’ve never seen a ship this clean and tidy in my entire life.”
Kel waved his right front leg, “We have a lot of difficulty staying still and long voyages just drive us crazy; so we clean while we’re going to a distant place.”
“Why don’t some of you ride back to your planet with me?”
Kel stared at Gregor, “Why?”
“My ship is a trash heap compared to this.”
“Tell you what, if you can work this out with the Queen, we’ll go in at night while we’re here and tidy it up.”
Kaylee smiled, “You can sleep on my ship while they’re banging around in yours.”
Kel, turned to Kaylee, “Banging around?”
“Wait until you see his ship and you’ll understand.”
Kel stared at her a moment longer and said, “Whatever, let’s go speak to the Queen.”
• • •
Fifteen minutes later, Gregor and Kaylee were sitting in front of a twenty-foot wide wall monitor with the Queen and Monarch sitting on their thrones, “I understand that this planet you had my forces go to has a metal in abundance that has some interesting properties.”
“Yes, Majesty. But you have to know that I’m very reluctant to give a conquering civilization access to it.”
The Queen lowered her eyes, “I’m trying to be nice about this but if you’re not willing to work with me, what’s to prevent me from just coming and taking it?”
“Our agreement.” The Queen’s head jerked back as Gregor said, “You agreed that you would not attack any humans who are not part of the Movement. The humans on this planet are not in the Movement and your agreement precludes you from coming and attacking them to take the metal.”
The Queen looked at the Monarch and he raised both of his front legs, “What he is saying is true.”
Gregor quickly said, “I’ve wondered since you started chasing me why your civilization is still going out to conquer other planets. Aren’t they a real drain on your economy?”
The Queen tilted her head so fast that it looked blurry, “When you look like we do, almost every civilization you encounter is not willing to have any dealings with you. It is their fear that allows us to survive and being a conqueror adds to the terror civilizations feel toward us.”
“If you have indestructible warships, what will you have to fear?”
“There will always be fear of the Dragons,” the Monarch replied.
“I must tell you that when I was running from you, I was very frightened you would catch me, but after getting to know your Chief Engineer here, I’ve come to really like him. He has the same sense of humor I do and the inhabitants have also come to think highly of him.”
Kaylee smiled, “The young children love climbing on his back for a ride.”
The Queen and the Monarch both turned and looked at Kel, who was starting to tremble. “Matter of fact, I suspect if he asked the Leaders on Bellingham to trade for the metal they would overrule me and allow it. They trust Kel,” Gregor added.
The Queen looked at the trembling Dragon and lowered her eyes, “You’re damaging our reputation.”
“Yes, Majesty. I’ll stop immediately.”
“YOU WILL NOT!!” Kel’s head went off the floor. “Perhaps it’s time we examined how we’re perceived; your acceptance by the Human Community is evidence that we should. You will be rewarded if you can get the Humans to trade with us for the metal.”
“I can guarantee they will trade with you if you’re willing to make another agreement,” Gregor quickly said.
“What is that?” the Queen asked.
“Agree to never use the ships you coat in the metal to attack another civilization. Only use them to defend yourselves against a civilization that threatens you.”
The Monarch shorted, “If we did that, we’d not be able to assist each other against this Movement.”
“Yes you would; they are a danger to you. Everything you’ve done so far has been to protect yourselves; even chasing me.”
Kaylee listened to Gregor and was amazed at how quick his mind worked. It failed miserably when he was in the confrontation with her. She smiled; that meant he really cared about her.
“The issue with giving up our conquering habits is that we do not have anything to trade. We must depend on what we can take from other planets.”
Kaylee said, “Pardon me, but I heard a while back that the Cartian’s are really disappointed with the Begrons.”
The Monarch looked at her, “They’re the ones the Cartian’s pay to be their traffic enforcers.”
“That’s right. It appears that high numbers of the Enforcers are being bribed by Trading Companies to ignore the speed regulations. I suspect if you approach them and offer your services as Traffic Enforcers, they would probably take you up on it. And who in their right mind would try to bribe a Venzel Enforcer?”
Both of the Dragon’s blinked. The Queen looked at the Male and he lowered his head, “I’ll check on it.”
The Queen turned back to them, Begron is a very wealthy planet.”
“They get to keep sixty percent of the fines they levy. Throw in that you have indestructible warships that will prevent the Begron from resisting the loss of their employment and you could convince the Cartians to use you.” Gregor said, “But that’s not for now. If we don’t stop the Movement, all of that is wasted effort.”
“But if we have warships they can’t defeat, why should we worry about them?”
Gregor rolled his eyes and whispered to Kaylee, “I was hoping they wouldn’t see it.”
Kel said from right behind him, “See what?”
Gregor started and Kaylee said, “You’re butt deep into it now. I don’t think you can dig your way out of this with a shovel.”
The Queen heard them and said, “What are you two talking about?” Gregor thought hard and sat down in a chair behind the console. “I asked you a question!”
Gregor looked at the Queen and sighed, “Majesty, I am concerned that if I answer your question, you will not respond to the answer in ways that I can accept.”
“What does that mean?”
“You will immediately decide to kill me and my mate.”
Kaylee’s head jerked back slightly and the Queen said, “Now I demand to know! Did you negotiate in bad faith?”
“No, I just didn’t tell you everything that the Movement is planning.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
Gregor looked at Kaylee and she shrugged. Gregor turned back to the Queen and said, “The Movement is not just a danger to you. They intend to conquer the entire known universe and if something’s not done, they’ll probably do it.”
Chapter Seventeen
The Monarch stood up from his throne and snorted loudly, “No single civilization can defeat the combined forces of all the others!! The civilizations that would attack them number more than a billion.”
Gregor stared at him and lowered his eyes, “Yes, they can!”
The Queen surprised them by keeping her composure. She looked at the male who was opening his mouth to yell at Gregor and said,
“Be quiet and sit down.” The male closed his mouth, looked at her and saw her expression, and went to his throne. He knew when she was this calm, she was at her deadliest. “I’ve watched you since you trapped my warships and I’ve discovered working force fields that everyone knows is a scientific impossibility. I’ve seen a metal that makes warships unstoppable. What else is there that is going to frighten my scales off?”
“Majesty, the Movement is going to be able to remove the filaments going to planets.”
The Queen stared at him and then burst out laughing, “Oh, is that all. I thought you were being serious.”
Gregor stared at her and said, “I am. The two missing pieces of their plan are on Bellingham. Once they have them, they will be able to control the filaments.”
“You’re serious?” The Queen asked.
“Yes, I am. I’ve seen it done.”
The Queen looked at the Monarch who shrugged as she said, “If our filament is removed, we’ll be completely isolated.” The Monarch nodded. She turned back to Gregor, “Would it be removed forever?”
“No, they will put it back if you pay them what they want. I suspect that if you then try to do something about it they would remove it permanently.”
The Male looked at the Queen, “Do you believe this?”
The Queen looked at him, “I don’t believe it can be done…” She looked at Gregor, “But he does and I do believe him.” She turned back to the male, “If he told you that he had a force field and that our ships would not be able to harm his ship, would you have still ordered them to attack?”
The Monarch glanced at Gregor and turned back to the Queen, “I would have, Majesty. I just would have believed he was lying about having something scientifically impossible.”
“And now?”
The Monarch looked at Gregor and turned to the Queen, “He believes he is telling the truth, I can see it in his eyes.”
“I do as well.” She looked at Gregor, “If they have the ability to do this, why haven’t they come here and done it?”
“They can’t do it…yet, Majesty.”