by Tygati
The female hissed. "They will come to regret that." Her gaze slid from Sangkhara to Promise and her expression softened, even as it took on a hint of exasperation. "You are without a doubt the most chaotic offspring I have ever produced."
Promise ducked his head, but he was smiling. "Yes, Bejalii."
Bejalii's gaze swung around to take in the rest of them, studying each in turn, then she turned away and began walking back the way she'd come. Sangkhara followed her almost immediately, with Promise following slightly after. Jeremey followed Promise, not wishing to stray too far from him, and Zorevan and Charlie followed along behind.
They made their way down to the edge of the water before veering away, into the cliffs that were riddled with a series of holes. Bejalii entered one of the holes, leading them out of the sunlight and into darkness. Jeremey stumbled, his eyes unable to adjust to the lack of light as quickly as the dragons, but Promise caught his arm with a steadying hand and led him through the gloom.
Just when Jeremey was beginning to have doubts about this course of action, they stopped. He heard a faint hissing sound and then there was light spilling through a door in the rock. One by one they filed through it, finding themselves in what strongly reminded Jeremey of the space ships he'd recently been in. They made their way through two corridors before finally emerging into a large room filled with more books than Jeremey had seen in all his life and numerous other objects he couldn't identify.
Bejalii seated herself before a smooth table covered in strange markings. She ran her fingers across several of the markings and an image of Noman suddenly appeared in the air before them.
"Humans," Bejalii said, drawing their attention, "You should know that we are no more native to this world than you, although we have been here for a very long time." She touched the table again, and the image changed to show several Vek.
"Once, long ago, the blood enemy came to this world. They sought to conquer and destroy, but they were no match for the poison bite."
The images of the Vek began fighting with an image of a dragon. The dragon bit one of them and the Vek began screaming soundlessly and convulsing. After a moment, it collapsed. It was something Jeremey had seen before, though not nearly as accelerated as the sequence before him.
Jeremey sucked in a breath. "The arrival sickness."
Bejalii nodded to him. "Indeed. That which is merely dangerous to humans is deadly to the blood enemy, for we share a common ancestor. They left this world, and we had not ever expected them to return. That they would now is foolish."
"They're desperate."
Everyone turned toward Charlie, who was staring thoughtfully at the display of the dead Vek.
"Think about it. This war they're fighting with the Galactic Federation has been going on for over eighty years. It doesn't sound as though either of them is winning, so now they're looking for ways to end it quickly."
Sangkhara nodded slowly, rubbing his chin. "It is a long time to wage war."
Jeremey looked between the dragons and Charlie, at each pensive face, before finally asking the question that had been plaguing him since they left Deadwood Gulch. "So, what do we do? They've already lost two ships. Is that enough to keep them away?"
The dragons looked uneasy. Slowly, Bejalii shook her head. "I do not know. We never expected them to return at all. That they have now makes them… unpredictable."
"We have to do something." Jeremey looked from face to face, lingering first on Charlie, then Promise. "I made a promise," he said softly. "I have to protect everyone."
He knew Promise was in agreement. He could see it in his eyes. They both shared a deep, undeniable need to protect their world.
"They'll never give up," Zorevan's deep voice rumbled, momentarily startling Jeremey. "Those who care only for war and bloodshed cannot see that there is more to life than the pursuit of death. They will return, with new tricks, new subterfuge, until eventually they succeed. The only way to stop such an enemy is to defeat him, wholly and completely, so that there is no more strength left in him."
Silence followed, expressions hardening as each person recognized the truth in Zorevan's words. Charlie was tight-lipped, Sangkhara and Bejalii looked like the predators they were, and Promise had gone cold and distant.
Jeremey let out the breath that he'd been holding. "So, how do we do that?" he asked.
Zorevan's intense gaze turned toward Jeremey, but before he could answer he stiffened, a gesture mirrored by all of the dragons as in unison they turned toward one of the far walls.
Charlie's hand went to his shock-lasso. "What is it?"
It was Bejalii who spoke. "Something is wrong."
Sangkhara moved first, with Promise and Zorevan almost on his heels. The three dragons took off back the way they'd come with inhuman speed, leaving Charlie and Jeremey to exchange expressions of helpless confusion.
"A tremor in the earth, where there should be none," said Bejalii, coming up behind them. "Go. I suspect you will be needed soon."
Without a word, Charlie and Jeremey took off after the dragons, the light spilling out from the room behind them just enough to keep Jeremey from falling flat on his face. There was no sign of their friends when they emerged from the caves, but one of the white dragons sitting nearby pointed up the path that led back to the dragon valley, and they took it at a near run.
Even before they emerged from the jagged stones that separated the dragon pool from the rest of the dragon valley, Jeremey could hear angry bellowing. When they rounded the last of the stones, he stopped short, taken aback at the fury displayed before him. Dragons were clawing the earth, mantling their wings, screaming up at the sky. There seemed to be a constant flux of dragons taking off and landing, yet going nowhere.
Then Zorevan's powerful bellow cut through the din and a knot of dragons in the center pulled back, revealing Zorevan and Sangkhara in their dragon forms. Sangkhara barked out a series of sounds and launched himself at the nearest cliff, scaling it and hurling himself into the air. Dozens of other dragons followed his lead, taking off for the northeast as fast as they could fly.
Next to him Charlie swore. He put his fingers in his mouth and let out an ear-splitting whistle. Zorevan's head swiveled to fix on them, then he made a strange screeching sound and the other dragons scrambled to get out of the way. As soon as they started moving, Charlie took off for Zorevan, who moved to meet him halfway. Not knowing what else he should do, Jeremey followed.
When they reached Zorevan, Jeremey's first thought was that Zorevan was saddled, and he wondered how that had happened. Then he saw Promise, still in human form but carrying his own saddle, just behind Zorevan.
"Promise!" Jeremey called. "What's going on?"
Promise dropped the saddle in the dust. "Death is in the air. We fly."
Throwing himself forward, Promise shifted to his dragon shape before his hands hit the ground. He gave a low growl and looked expectantly over his shoulder at Jeremey. Jeremey had never gotten a saddle on a dragon as fast as he did then.
As soon as Jeremey was on, Promise took off, flinging himself at the sky and pumping his wings hard to get off the ground. Zorevan and Charlie were right behind them, though Zorevan had to climb a cliff first as he was considerably heavier than Promise and couldn't fly without some sort of boost. They turned in the direction the other dragons had taken, barely taking the time to seek out a thermal to gain altitude.
Whatever was driving them, it had to be terribly important. Jeremey could do little more than hang on tight and wait until they reached their destination. It wasn't a long flight, like the one from Deadwood Gulch. Jeremey estimated no more than a half hour had passed before Promise began to descend and he could finally look around to see where they were.
What he saw was smoke, enormous billows of it rolling into the air from a scorched and blackened stretch of earth. They set down at the edge of the burned area, next to a greenish-grey dragon, and Jeremey slid from Promise's saddle.
"What is this?" he whispe
red. "Where are we?"
"Dust Creek," Charlie said flatly, a coldness in his voice that Jeremey could not ever recall hearing. He had not moved from Zorevan's back. "This was the Dust Creek settlement."
Jeremey felt sick. Now that he knew what to look for, he could pick out the burnt remains of buildings, along with smaller shapes he didn't dare look at too closely. There was nothing left of the Dust Creek settlement but ash and ruin.
"What happened?"
"The blood enemy," Promise spat, now back in his human form, his tail lashing behind him. "I failed to kill them all when I should have and now both of our peoples have paid for my mistake." He gave a low growl. "I will not make the same mistake again."
Zorevan made a series of odd sounds, punctuating them by snapping his teeth, and Promise nodded curtly. "Yes, you are right. It is time to do what we should have done long ago. We will meet this enemy in its lair and it shall know death."
EIGHT
Taking the fight to the Vek proved not to be as easy as it sounded. What technology the dragons had once possessed was long gone, with what little remained being firmly in the hands of the females because, as Zorevan explained, "They are less likely to do something incredibly stupid with it." Even if they had been able to convince the female dragons of their need, nothing on the planet was still spaceworthy after so much time had passed.
The only option was to catch a ride with the Galactic Federation ship that was coming to pick up the stranded soldiers. That, however, came with its own difficulties, especially since they were still not certain whom they could trust. Harry's betrayal haunted Jeremey, making him reluctant to place his faith in another stranger. Charlie and the dragons would never betray him; he could not say the same for the Galactic Federation soldiers.
After some debate, they decided to approach Colonel Brocius, reasoning that he would not have aided Jeremey in the battle with the Vek had he been in league with them, or so they hoped. More difficult still was in deciding how to approach him. Colonel Brocius could usually be found in the company of Sheriff Sullivan, having been extended and accepted the invitation to bunk at his house, and Jeremey wasn't quite sure if he was ready to face Jack after all he had learned.
After all, Jack had been the one chosen to keep the secret of the dragons, and yet Charlie and now Jeremey both shared that secret. Would Jack be happy? Angry? Relieved? Jeremey just didn't know enough about the mercurial Sheriff Sullivan to even hazard a guess.
Whatever Jack Sullivan's reaction would be, nothing would ever make Jeremey regret learning about Promise. He'd always known Promise was special without really ever understanding why. Now, he knew.
There were quite a few other things that Promise would need to explain, but they could wait until after the threat of the Vek was gone. In the meantime, they had more important things to deal with.
"Jasper? Where the fuck have you been?" Zack demanded, on watch with Midnight at the gate. "And who's that with—?"
"Sheriff Colcord, of Deadwood Gulch," Charlie interrupted, voice booming out in a way that Jeremey remembered extremely well from childhood. That was the voice that meant 'you are now in Serious Trouble, young man'. He was very glad it was not directed at him this time. "We are here to see Jack Sullivan. I suggest you do not keep us waiting."
Zack blanched and disappeared from sight. A short time later, the gates opened, allowing Charlie and Jeremey into Fair Valley.
After sniffing the air, the two dragons conferred for a moment in their own language before heading off down the street. They paused twice to scent the air and reorient, finally stopping outside Doctor Holliday's clinic. There was another round of conversing in dragon-speak before Zorevan looked pointedly off in another direction.
"Looks like we're off to keep Jack busy," Charlie said, the edges of his mouth quirking upward. "Good luck, Jasper."
Jeremey watched as Zorevan ambled off in no particular hurry then swiveled to face the clinic. Charlie was leaving him to face Colonel Brocius alone? What if he said something wrong? What if the colonel didn't listen to him? What if—?
Jeremey nearly fell out of his saddle as Promise nudged him with his nose. He shot him a reproachful look before smiling ruefully. Promise was right. He needed to stop waffling about and go do it. It would be just like the time he convinced the Grimes brothers to help him steal Miss Starr's best silver and hide them at Deputy Eaton's place. After all, a pissed-off Belle Starr was way more terrifying than a Galactic Federation colonel could ever be.
Running two fingers along the brim of his hat to make sure it was positioned just right, Jeremey drew in a slow breath and slid from Promise's back. He could do this. Promise believed in him, and Charlie must believe in him or he'd never have left Jeremey on his own.
The small reception parlor was empty when he walked in, so Jeremey headed upstairs to the recovery rooms. The colonel was in the second room he checked, talking quietly with one of his people. Jeremey rapped gently on the door frame to get their attention.
"Great stars, lad, where have you been?" Colonel Brocius exclaimed, swiftly crossing the distance between them and stepping out into the hallway with Jeremey. "We've had reports of traitors in the ranks, a second Vek ship, some sort of explosion, and Lieutenant Longbaugh appears to be missing." His expression hardened slightly. "Last I knew, he'd gone out with you to scout the area."
Swallowing around the stab in his gut at the mention of Harry, Jeremey nodded. "Yes, sir. We… we found another Vek ship, hiding in the hills. We went in, to see if we could figure out what they were up to and… and Harry, he…"
The words caught in Jeremey's throat. Colonel Brocius sucked in a sharp breath, eyes widening.
"Longbaugh was the traitor? Are you certain?" he demanded.
Jeremey nodded miserably. "He gave me to the Vek, said they were going to 'extract my immunity' or something. They want to use the arrival sickness as a weapon against your people."
Colonel Brocius's words were cold as ice. "And where is Lieutenant Longbaugh now?"
"Dead," Jeremey said softly. "He… they all died when Promise rescued me."
Colonel Brocius nodded curtly. "Dragon didn't take too kindly to his rider being threatened, I imagine."
Jeremey shook his head. "No, sir."
"Then you came back here?" Colonel Brocius inquired.
Jeremey shook his head again. "I… wasn't sure whom to trust. After… after Harry. I went to Deadwood Gulch. Charlie Colcord is sheriff there and he… I can trust him."
Colonel Brocius studied him for a long minute, his face a mask, then gave one brief nod. "And you came to me instead of your sheriff because…?"
This was it. Jeremey drew in a deep breath. "We—Charlie and I—believe we have something that will defeat the Vek. But we need to… get up there." He pointed at the ceiling and, beyond it, the sky.
"That's a hell of a request, lad," Colonel Brocius said slowly, face giving nothing away. "Especially as you don't seem particularly eager to share the details of this weapon of yours." A hint of a chill entered his eyes. "Why should I trust you, if I can't even trust my own people?"
That was the question, wasn't it? If Jeremey's own people didn't even trust him, then why should this stranger from a faraway world?
But Charlie had trusted him. Charlie, who had more reason than anyone to suspect him, had trusted him without question. The watch rider at Deadwood Gulch had welcomed him. And Promise had entrusted him with the most important secret on all of Noman.
"Because… I need to protect my people," Jeremey said finally, "even if they don't always like me. This is my home. I know it's not really the kind of place where people want to live, but I love it, and I want to protect it. Please help me keep my world safe."
After a long, tense moment, Colonel Brocius smiled and set a hand atop the crown of Jeremey's hat. "You remind me a lot of myself as a boy. Eyes full of starlight and a drive to right all the wrongs of the galaxy. Keep your secrets, if you must, though you'll have to tell them
eventually if you're going to succeed at this mad scheme of yours."
Jeremey could hardly believe his ears. "You'll help us, then?"
Colonel Brocius grinned. "Aye. The captain of the Lucifaria owes me several favors, as well as a bottle of Irish whiskey. We'll get you to Rylon, lad. If you can actually hand defeat to the Vek once and for all, it'll be us who owe you!"
At a loss for words, Jeremey could only stare. Colonel Brocius guffawed and clapped him on the back.
"Figure out what you're going to need to pack. The Lucifaria should be here in three days. Pack light, since there won't be much in the way of bunk room with all the extra passengers she's taking on."
Jeremey nodded, managing a quick thank you before bolting off down the hall and out of the building to find Charlie. Colonel Brocius was going to help them! They were going into space!
He nearly ran headlong into Promise in his euphoria, laughing wildly and hugging Promise's nose.
"He said yes, Promise! He'll take us into space!"
Promise snorted and made a trilling sound, then promptly stole Jeremey's hat. Jeremey squawked and lunged for it, missing when Promise pulled back and took off down the street. Jeremey took off after him, a lightness in his heart for the first time in a long while.
Space!
He wondered what it would be like. After being abandoned, Noman hadn't much cared about the rest of the universe. They'd covered the basics in school, but what point was there in learning about a universe they were no longer a part of? Only now, they were. Now, the universe had come to Noman, whether Noman liked it or not.
Jeremey thought he should probably be terrified, going off into the unknown, but all he could feel was excitement.
It was real. It was happening.
Space!
NINE
With three days before the Lucifaria was to arrive, it was inevitable that Jeremey would have to face Sheriff Sullivan at some point. That point arrived late afternoon on the day before the ship was scheduled to reach Noman and Charlie was back in Deadwood Gulch making sure everything would run smoothly while he was away. Jack caught him in the barracks packing the few things he owned and stood blocking the doorway.