by Stella Sky
“Leaving,” I said walking out. I knew that if I stayed any longer, I would be forced to punch him and then the humans would see me as violent. It is probably what he wanted in order to get proof that we were there to hurt the humans. I was not going to play into his game. I walked out and grabbed Jex and Azlo, ready to go investigate the perimeter fence and attend the meeting that we had set up with the engineers. It was going to be a long day.
Chapter 12
Dr. Vanessa Lopez
I could not believe it. I was such an idiot. Karik had played me just like Dr. Bradley Douglas said he would. I had played right into his hands. It was obvious that he knew all along that having sex with a human female would cure him. I wished that I had figured that out sooner. I had been vulnerable. I had allowed myself to get attached to my desire. It was because of that blind desire that I gave into him so easily. I was seduced by his strange alien weredragon ways.
Now that I had scientific proof that human DNA bonded to Veruka DNA, I knew that that was the real reason that the weredragons were here. It was obvious that they would want something very big in order to help us fight the Clenok cyborgs. I wished I would have thought through it sooner. I had been blind to it all. I went to my clinic shift trying to focus and get my mind off of what I had learned.
When I left, I decided not to walk down Main Street. I felt foolish, and I did not want to encounter anyone. I took a different backstreet to go to my house.
“Vanessa! Dr. Lopez! Wait,” I heard a female voice say. I stopped. It was Jessica; she was coming out of her house and running toward me. I remembered what Karik had said. That this woman had come up to him and spoke to him.
“Jessica, how are you?” I said
“I am just fine. We have all had an interesting day on this block here. The alien men walked this way earlier. I was fortunate to speak to one of them. They are amazing specimens, are they not?” she said. Her eyes lit up. I knew what she was talking about. She was speaking in sexual terms.
“Yes, in medical terms, they are very fascinating,” I said, starting to continue my walk. She walked alongside me.
“What else do you know about them? Do they plan to stay long? Is it possible that maybe I could join you all for dinner one day?” she said.
“Dr. Lopez!” I heard another shout. I turned to see Carol coming out of her house and running toward me. I rolled my eyes.
“Hello, Carol,” I said.
“Did Jessica tell you that we encountered your friends today? It was fun. It was very exciting. Is it possible to set up a meeting with them? I would love to be able to cook for them or help in taking care of their needs,” she said. I stopped in my tracks.
“I mean needs of nutrition or laundry, things of that nature,” she said blushing.
“I will keep that in mind. Now if you’ll excuse me, I would like to do some work at my house. I have a very busy day,” I said walking away from them.
“Yes, of course you do. Just let me know if you need any help,” Carol said.
“I will, thank you,” I said walking faster. This was unbelievable. It was as if all of the women had fallen under a spell and wanted to have sex with these alien weredragons. Maybe that was part of their powers as well. I wouldn’t put it past them. They were able to shift into dragon form so why not have the power of persuasion as well? These women were eager to throw themselves at them, just as I was. That was convenient.
But as I thought about Jessica and Carol getting dirty with the king, I felt extreme jealousy come over me. I did not want anyone else touching him. Why was I feeling possessive? I had no right. In fact, I had been very mean to him and had pushed him away. Why would he want me now? He had plenty to choose from. I wondered if his healing was temporary and he would have to keep fucking human females in order to stay alive. That would be something, wouldn’t it? I kind of like the idea of him needing me in order to stay alive. I was not proud of that thought, but it was satisfying.
I walked into my home and went to do the work I had been neglecting. I had my own project trying to defeat the Clenok cyborgs. I had pushed it aside. I went down to the basement and worked on the virus. This time I turned on the laptop and started to create the code for the virus. I was surprised at how good I was at it. After a couple of hours, I felt like I had come up with something that I could think would be a success. But there was no way to test it.
Ring! Ring! It was a frightening sound. It was the sound of the town bell, and it only meant one thing: Clenok cyborgs. I closed up my work and ran to the neighboring house. I knocked on the door loudly.
“Karik! Clenok cyborgs!” there was no answer. I ran inside, running all over the house. They were not there. I did not know where they were. It wasn’t like he was going to check in with me after the way I treated him. I ran to the town square. Everyone was gathered. I could not see the Veruka in the crowd. They would stand out because they were nine feet tall.
“Everyone, quiet down!” I looked to the stage to see Christopher Allen, a scout, standing there. That was not a good sign. He continued.
“I have news! There is a cyborg army of about five hundred Clenok cyborgs fifty miles away from here over the mountain ridge. They are camped. They are not moving. But they are very close. We must prepare for invasion,” he said.
Everyone screamed and began to panic. I was terrified. Fifty miles was very close, especially for Clenok cyborgs that did not need rest. If they were camped, it was simply because the keddle needed time to maneuver. We were their target; there was no doubt about that. We were lucky that there was a large mountain range in between us. But they were machines. It was possible that they were burrowing through the rock to get to us instead of going up the mountains. It would make sense. They had the power to do it.
“Everyone, listen to me! We do not need to be alarmed. Even if the Clenok cyborgs show up here outside of this perimeter, they will not get through. Our electricals will fry them if they even get close. The circuits go into the ground if we detect any activity under the Earth. There is nothing to fear. But we should go calmly to our stations. We have practiced this many times in our drills. Each of you know your position and your job. If we each do what is required of us, then we will have victory. Remember, it is not even clear if they are headed in our direction. So, for now, let us go into code red.
Everyone knows what to do. You have fifteen minutes to get what you need and get to your station, and then code red will begin. This means that all power will be turned off in the village in order to camouflage our position. The energy will be directed to the perimeter fence. All talking should be kept to a low whisper. We are in code red until we hear that this army has moved away from us. For now, it is daylight so we will be fine without electricity. But take flashlights with you and only turn them on in necessity. They should be off the majority of the time. You know what to do. We have done this a thousand times. Go now and go quietly and do not run. This is not a good time to have a twisted ankle injury. Go now,” Dr. Douglas said.
The people began to disburse. I knew my position and my job. I was to go to the medical emergency tent on the perimeter of the forest. Dr. Douglas would go in the opposite direction. The point was to have medical staff at four points of the wall in order to treat any injured people.
“Where are your dragon protectors now?” Dr. Douglas said, coming up behind me.
“I do not know. I have not been keeping tabs on them,” I said.
“That is convenient that they should disappear right when they are needed to help fight the Clenok cyborgs. This is what they promised they would do and now they are not following through. That is typical. I told you not to trust them. First sign of danger and they have abandoned us,” he said.
“I am sure that is not true. Last time I spoke with them, they were working to figure out our defenses in order to know how they can help the most. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to prepare for invasion and get to my post,” I said walking away.
I felt
him grab my arm. He turned me around quickly. Before I knew it, his lips were on mine. I pressed against his chest pushing him away. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
“What the hell, Douglas? What the fuck was that?” I was grossed out.
“Just in case. I had to do that just in case,” he said.
“Just in case what?”
“Just in case we die. You and I know the Clenok cyborgs are better than us. If a few of them get over the fence, we are done. We are not an army. The fence is all that we have. So if I am going to die, then I am going to sample those lips. I have wanted to for a long time,” he said as he yanked me toward him again. But I pushed back. I don’t know what got into me, but I swung at him and punched him in the jaw.
“Stay away from me. I do not like you. I do not want to kiss you. You disgust me,” I said. I turned and walked away. I walked very fast back to my house. Even though I was panicked about the situation, I felt good. Punching Dr. Bradley Douglas was something that I had wanted to do for so long. I had proven that I could take care of myself against a man like him. I knew that he had hated me for a long time, and now I knew exactly why. Karik had been right about that: Douglas wanted me. He was immature, like a kid pulling on a girl’s pigtails because he likes her. I could not believe I had put up with his bullshit for so long. No more. I would never let him treat me badly again: that’s if we lived through this.
I went back to the house next to mine to see if Karik had returned. I wondered if he was at the fence or had he left. Did he take my threats seriously and went back to his army? I hoped not. Even though I still did not believe that he did not know that having sex with me would cure him, I still wanted him there to help fight the Clenok cyborgs. I didn’t know whether he truly had an army or not but just having the three of them was better than not having them at all. They were military men, weredragons. They were far stronger then we were. I really hope that I had not chased him away. I would feel very foolish if he took my words to leave seriously.
I went down to my basement and loaded the virus onto a small jump drive. Then I turned the laptop off and put the drive in a safe drawer. Then I went into the kitchen and loaded a backpack with some food and water. Then I grabbed my medical toolkit. It was in a black metal fishing box. It was not much, but it would have to do. I found a flashlight and put extra batteries into my backpack. Then I went out on the porch of my house. The sun was beginning to set. It would get dark soon. I had to walk through the forest in order to get to my medical point. I would need to set up a small tent that was left there already. I would just have to erect it. But I did not want to leave just yet. I was scanning the area for Karik, Jex, and Azlo. I looked up at the sky, remembering that they could fly. I wondered where they were. Did they leave the village? I watched as people were walking around the village getting to their positions. Everyone had a job to do, and everyone had a position to camp out in. We had practiced this drill over and over for years, but we never had to do it for real. This was the first time that an army of Clenok cyborgs was coming to us. Before it had just been a couple of Clenok cyborgs here and there; we didn’t know what we were truly up against.
Chapter 13
King Karik Korinth
We spent the rest of the afternoon looking at the perimeter fence with the human engineers. They told us how it operated and what their defenses were. It was a good set up, but I thought it was flawed. It seemed to me that if many Clenok cyborgs attacked at once that it would short out the system, maybe just in segments or perhaps the entire thing. I thought that the concrete wall was a better defense than just the electrical system. But at least the two of them together would give them some protection against the Clenok cyborgs.
But I was very surprised to find out from the engineers that there were hardly any guns in the village. They relied completely on this wall for protection. Their defense also was simply to hide. They would turn off the electricity except for the fence and just hide. They would hope that the Clenok cyborgs would just pass them by. I did not know if that would work considering that the keddle had scanners. But I did not know if they could detect human life forms. It’s seemed to me that they would be able to but I did not have very much experience with them on my own.
But they did not have an army. It was because the Clenok cyborgs first decided to attack all the men that were able to enlist in the military. They took up arms wherever they could and fought against the machines. Because of this, there were very few soldier-like humans left. The men that were in the village were mostly of a science background or were those that had stayed behind to take care of their families and had no military experience because of it. So there were a few guns, bombs, and the like in an underground arsenal, but it was not used for training.
“Look at that out there. It is beautiful here,” Jex said as we stood on top of the one-hundred-foot-high fence.
“Yes, it is. Mountains to the south and what is to the west?” I asked the human engineer named Marcus.
“There is a very big lake in that direction. It is very beautiful. I wish the village was built closer to it. It is about ten miles to the west. Those of us that are more adventurous have risked taking a truck out there every now and then in the middle of the summer when the heat is unbearable in order to go swimming. It is crystal clear water and very refreshing,” he said.
“That sounds tempting,” Azlo said looking at me.
“You know that we can’t,” I said. “Vanessa said that the humans would be frightened seeing us in dragon form,” I said.
“Come on. We are not in the village; we are on the fence. The only one that will see us shift is Marcus here, and he is not going to be frightened, right, Marcus?” Jex said.
“No, as long as I get some warning,” he said taking a step back.
“My king, I am going to lose my mind if I do not stretch my wings. We have been cooped up here and before we arrived we were cooped up on a ship. We have had very little flying time. I think we could fly to the lake swim and be back in an hour. We need this,” Azlo said.
“All right. You are right. I have not been good to you. And now that I feel very strong, I would like to stretch my wings as well,” I said.
My soldiers let out hoots and hollers in celebration. Marcus stepped away from us. Then the three of us shifted into dragon form. It did feel good. I stretched my emerald wings and then I ran and jumped off the one-hundred-foot fence and took flight. Azlo and Jex followed. We flew in the direction of the lake. I flew up high directly into the sky. Then I flew straight down, diving. Then I stopped myself a couple of feet above the ground. I grazed along the tall grass. I could say that I’ve had my full strength back and I felt very strong. Being with Vanessa was a gift in more ways than one. She had brought life back to me.
We were wild as we flew recklessly over the isolated land. It was a very beautiful part of Earth, and we were enjoying it like wild creatures. We were laughing and shouting at each other. Then we finally came across the lake. I landed on the bank. It was absolutely beautiful. There was a tall granite cliff on one side, and the water was so clear it almost didn’t look like there was water there at all. I pulled off my boots and weapons and then pulled off my trousers. Jex and Azlo did the same. Then we were completely naked. I flew over the lake and then dove into the water. It was very cold, and it felt amazing. Because our bodies were always burning with heat, it felt especially refreshing. I dove all the way to the bottom of the lake, swimming and spreading my wings as though I was flying in the water. I could feel splashing near me, and I knew that it was Jex and Azlo.
They were having a great time, and they did deserve this. They deserved some fun after being tied up in the village for so long not able to do any flying. I surfaced on the water and floated on my back with my emerald wings spread out under me, creating a raft. I let the sun hit me even though it was low on the horizon. It felt good. The clouds were big and beautiful. I could hear Jex and Azlo playing around. We should have been doing this
every day, I thought, but then again, my weakness would not have allowed it.
“We should probably check on our ship on the way back,” I said
“Yes, my king. We will remember to do that on return. I am sure that it is still hidden within the trees considering the humans do not leave beyond the wall very much,” Azlo said.
I flew from the lake into the sky. It felt good to fly naked. I flew around the lake in a circle, spiraling down towards the water, and then dove into the water once more. I played like this over and over, enjoying this new euphoria that I felt and being healthy again. But at that moment, I thought about Vanessa. I wished that she was here playing in the water with me. If she would allow me, I would bring her here one day. Now that I was strong enough I could fly with her in my arms and bring her here. I knew that she would enjoy it. Any sign of Clenok cyborgs, we could just fly away back to the village. It was a good advantage to have over the humans.
We stayed at the lake longer than an hour. We were just enjoying it so much that we did not want to leave. But I noticed the sun growing lower and lower.
“We should get back; we still need to check on the ship,” I said. I moved to the bank of the lake and sat down on a rock, giving my body time to dry off. It didn’t take very long, less than two minutes to be completely dry because the heat inside of my body made the water evaporate immediately. It was an advantage to being a dragon.
A couple of minutes later, we were dressed and flying toward the ship’s hiding spot. Just as we had thought, it was still there. There were no signs that anyone had come close to it.
“Let’s turn on these systems and check in with General Razook,” I said.
“Roger that,” Jex said.
They turned the ship on as I looked through the communication log that came up to see if any transmissions had been sent to us.