by Mel Todd
The being blinked at them. She realized he had two sets of eyelids like most reptiles, but he was close enough she could feel his body heat. So not cold-blooded? So many questions and not enough answers.
"You are the ones I will be working with. You will be the leaders for your people. You have the information you will need to make this, already loaded into your memories. It is only proper you are involved in the saving of your people. You are the leaders."
McKenna frowned at him. "No, we aren't. The president is the leader. I'm just a police officer that got an AI stuck in my head. I don't have the power to do anything."
His brows furrowed. "You are the leaders, you will be. It will be you who decide what comes after. You have the knowledge and ability to make the correct choices. If I work with anyone else, they will lack the knowledge needed." His hand, with three fingers and the thumb, and scaled with sharp claws where nails would be, reached up and rubbed his left eye ridge then jerked his head up, his ridges rising up.
On a human she would have interpreted it as an 'Oh, yeah' reaction.
"Ah, I had forgotten. I was instructed to say certain words where all could hear them. Without speaking them, the knowledge would not be accessible." He cleared his throat and said slowly, both out loud and pushing through the mindspace. "Stars of Alara find justice for the ashes of Alara."
McKenna wondered if their new ally was insane, but a cry of pain or surprise came from outside the small office and inside the mindspace.
~What the hell?~ the words exploded from her in mind and out loud as she took two steps and looked down the hall. Perc, JD, and Cass all leaned against the wall, grabbing their heads, panting.
~Oh shit, that hurt. Kids?~ McKenna could hear a frantic tone to Toni's thoughts and the impression of movement.
~Charley? Are you okay?~ She asked as she headed down the hall towards the others, who were shaking their heads slowly and standing up straight again. Though the slowness in their movements reminded her of the poison that had wreathed through them not so long ago.
~That hurt.~ There was a hint of a whine in his voice, and Charley almost never whined.
~What hurt? What happened?~ She tried not to panic at his tone, but Toni and the kids were so far away from her. Trying to tamp down the feeling of everything spiraling out of her control, not that she had ever been in control, she headed over to Perc. JD was already checking Cass out, his large clawed hands gentle on her fragile skin.
"You okay?" her voice came out raspy as she got close to Perc and she didn't like it.
"This is my fault. I had been warned there might be pain involved. I forgot." McKenna whipped her head towards the dragon, glaring at him.
"What did you do to them?" Accusation and frustration coated her tone, but the being only shrugged.
"It's okay, Kenna." Perc rasped out, dropping his hand from where it had been grasping his head. "Remember the dreams we've had? Well, apparently we had a bunch more that were blocked from us. All that info got dumped into our brains at once. It was a bit intense to say the least."
"Intense? I swear for a second I expected Minerva to burst out of my head," Cass muttered it, but she didn't sound amused. "My brain now feels gorged and over-stuffed. As if I'd eaten too much information."
~Yes that,~ Toni chimed in.
~My brain has a tummy ache,~ Jessi contributed and McKenna had to close her eyes and fight the desire to be home, hugging her kids and protecting everyone.
Though I'm curious why this didn't hit me too.
"It was necessary." The rumble of words was musical. But they set McKenna's teeth on edge. She spun, ready to attack this invader. Her stomach churned, body wound tight enough to break.
"Kenna, no." JD's voice reached her at the same time Perc pulled her back against him. In warrior form he still had a decent amount of height on her. She fought for a second, then calmed down. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on breathing in and out, all too aware of the audience.
I always have an audience these days.
She let her eyes slip back open and looked at her friends. ~Explain, please.~ She moved it to mindspeak, not wanting to let everyone know what happened until she could get a handle on how dangerous.
~Ash has been giving us training. Information to help defeat the Elentrin. It was locked until just now. Maybe to protect us, maybe him, but it’s information we needed. It’ll just take a bit to get it all unpacked and figure out what we know.~ JD's voice was calm and steady, as always. Her rock.
~Truly. I did know it would hurt, I did not realize the level of pain that would be involved. If I had known, I would have spoken the trigger words in a much less public space.~ The Drakyn glanced around at all the soldiers surrounding them, many with weapons ready to jerk up at the slightest wrong move.
JD shook his head, straightening up to his full height. "Chill out, people. Just a headache. Not like I got shot or tazed or something." A round of snickers ran through the room at that. The stories of McKenna's misadventures had provided humor when it was sorely needed.
For her part, McKenna rolled her eyes, her tension fading, and turned back to the small office. Captain Alfonso stood there, face a bit pale and eyes wide. "You didn't expect this job to be boring, did you?" she said, trying to lighten the mood.
Mark tried to smile and gestured to the phone. "The secretary of defense is still on speaker." He almost squeaked it out, and she sighed, walking back in.
"How much did you hear?"
"Enough to know I'm headed back to your place. Anyone else I should bring?"
"You get a new joint chief yet? If this helps the way we hope, we'll need someone who can order military types around besides you. Someone that might have an idea of tactics? Otherwise, since I don't know how he can help, I can't answer what’s going to be the right people to bring."
On the other end, Doug sighed. "You're never what I expect. Meet you there this afternoon. I hope this works. We're taking heavy losses in dense urban areas. At this point I can guarantee you every person currently in office won't be re-elected."
McKenna snorted. "Am I supposed to care? This has nothing to do with politics, it's about survival. If I honestly thought that anyone in office could have stopped this and didn't, I'd skin them alive. Slowly. But as it is, we'll suffer through."
A burst of laughter from the other end and Alfonso flinched. "I'd join you. You're right though, most voters won't care. Oh well, if we make it through this, I'm done. I will have served to the best of my ability. After this I'm retiring and going to work on forgetting aliens exist." The words were meant to be humorous she thought, but she flinched, knowing they were the aliens now.
"Okay, bring food. We'll be more comfortable in human form and will need the calories. You can get the good stuff better than we can at this point."
"Understood. See you in a few hours." The line clicked, even as she heard him start to give orders on the other end. Rubbing behind her ears, it really did feel good and relieved stress, she looked at Mark.
"Can you get us a vehicle and escort? We're about thirty-five miles from here. More of a suburban area. I suspect the level of Kaylid is lower there because, of all the shuttles I've watched not many have gone there, and my people there have kept a very low profile. I'll probably need some snipers, people that know how to fight. If they attack us there, they'll do it en-mass, assuming they have any idea what’s up. They might not."
"If they know I am here, they will bombard your planet, and focus on this area. It would be best if they had no idea." The Drakyn's voice rumbled behind her, and she flinched. It was his voice. Wefor's created an odd dissonance in her mind. His hit every primal reaction she had. Much like when that lion roared. She wanted to run, hide, kneel, worship, all wrapped up in one emotion. It created an odd reaction she didn't like. And it made her cranky.
"Well, we aren't going to broadcast it. They don't seem to communicate much. So we’ll get you to our place, but if anyone sees you, you’ll cause a stir. Y
ou aren't exactly inconspicuous. But we’ll try."
"Ah. Hmm. I assume you all look like this being here?" He indicated Cass and Alfonso with a wave of his hand.
"Well, yes. Variations of colors and stuff. Granted Cass is a female by gender, while Alfonso is a male, if that makes a difference." She replied, her arms folded across her chest as she glared at him.
The corner of his mouth turned up, the scales pulling slightly, but he didn't reveal any teeth, which made her oddly comforted.
Stupid primal brain. He's here to help.
It didn't help, she still saw an apex predator and had to fight to NOT run away.
"I had assumed. While my people do not nurse, so we have no mammary glands, it is not an unknown aspect of female genders. Though you do not have neutral genders, correct?"
McKenna blinked and didn't know how to answer. What was a neutral gender?
"No. While there are a few species on our planet with either both sexes or neither sex, humans are either XX or XY chromosome-based. If that answers your question," Cass responded, her sharp blue eyes fascinated. McKenna could see her fingers twitching, as if taking notes by typing on an invisible keyboard.
"Yes, thank you. Interesting. My people are able to choose more what they want, if they want a gender, as we have triad chromosomes. But for now that will suffice."
"Suffice for what?" McKenna stared at him, all of this just seemed so odd. Aliens, invasions and now dragons. Even a movie would have had more logic than her life at the moment.
"To make myself less obvious." He rumbled and closed dark red lids over those swirling eyes.
"And how—" she broke off in shock and took a step back, pressing into Perc as the Drakyn started to change.
Chapter 3 – Going Home
Who will win, the animal or the human? More and more people are asking these questions after a few more attacks by rabid shifters. If you shift will you de-evolve into your animal form? What does this mean for the protections that were rushed into law? People are starting to wonder if this new ability might come with more downsides than just invading aliens. ~TNN News
In front of her stunned eyes the scales faded, drawing into the skin even as they smoothed out. A weird feeling struck McKenna again as if she had a visitor in her head, but it felt familiar, so she didn't worry about it. What was happening was more incredible.
McKenna couldn't take her eyes off his wings as in slow motion, yet still faster than she could countenance, shrank backwards and were pulled into the body, until she could hardly even tell where they had been. He condensed, shrinking down to be about the height of Perc, while his shoulders and body slimmed down to something approaching human norms. The colors of his reds and yellows, smoothed out to be more normal, though his skin tone tended towards a red clay color that she'd never really seen on people.
When he opened his eyes, they were the only part still-fully inhuman. They swirled with colors almost opalescent and pale compared to the vivid colors they had been. His fully humanoid hands tightened his robes with quick efficient movements to handle his sudden loss of mass.
"What? How?" the words burst out of multiple mouths as they looked at a man who seemed human in most respects. About six-feet-tall, and weighing maybe 250 pounds, with reddish yellow hair, and smooth skin. With sunglasses on, no one would have given him a second look if they passed him on the street.
McKenna struggled with the realization he had weighed close to 500 when he got in the Humvee. The damn thing had tilted. It only shook a little when JD or Perc got it, and it sank when this being climbed in.
The stranger tilted his head looking at them, blinking. Even his secondary eyelids had disappeared.
"You did need me to pass as a member of your species, correct?"
"Well, yes. What I don't understand is where the mass went. How do you weigh less now? I mean I'm assuming you weigh less because you're physically smaller. If not, your mass would be insane. Most vehicles won't be able to support you." Cass's voice bubbled out and McKenna was glad she had said it. Her mind still couldn't get around the absorbing wings.
A long beat of silence then he shrugged. "I do not believe I could explain it right here. Besides, if you can utilize that method it might come in useful. But will this appearance work?"
Was he avoiding? Hiding something from them?
The questions ate at her, but lately nothing ever seemed to get answered to her satisfaction, so she just let it go.
~We okay with bringing him home?~ McKenna asked even knowing he would hear. This wasn't something she'd decide. They all had too much on the line, even though she didn't see any other choices but to go with his whims. Right now she felt like she was being backed into a corner and she wanted to hiss at the sensation.
~I want to see the dragon.~ Nam's voice was so soft, almost timid, but she had strength there, too, that McKenna had to smile at.
~You do?~ She knew her tone had softened, but the little girl was too damn cute.
~I do, too. I never met a dragon before,~ Jessi interjected before any of the adults could respond.
~That would be because they don't exist. You can't have dragons, the math doesn't work.~ Jamie's dismissive voice would get Jessi's temper up in thirty seconds. Luckily Toni stepped in before it could escalate.
~If you two want to squabble fine, but do it in your own mindspace not this one. Shoo. Yes, that’s fine, Kenna. I'll get coffee and stuff going. I assume bigwigs are coming with you?~
~I think Doug Burby and others will be showing up there, yes. I told him to bring food, if it helps,~ she offered even as some of the tension had faded with the completely normal squabbling of the kids.
~Yeah. Since we stocked up, we’re still good on meats, but fresh stuff is pretty low, and trucks are hit and miss. Going to be some very hungry people by the time this is done.~
~I know. We'll need to shift but we can eat the calorie bars and do it slowly to use the least amount of calories. See you when we get there.~
She turned and looked at everyone. The pure humans looked confused at the silent staring. Though the soldiers they worked with had gotten used to it.
"Take it you need an escort to your place?" Alfonso said wryly. He seemed to have regained his equilibrium and she appreciated that. Having him freaked out would create a ripple effect.
"Yes, please. Lawson if you can spare him, but something a bit less obvious than the Humvee if possible," she responded, trying not to smile at the burble of excitement leaking down from the kids.
He sighed and walked back in the office and came out almost immediately tossing a set of keys to her. "There's a Suburban out there. Take it. If you see any place with gas fill it up or you won't be driving it back."
McKenna caught the keys in midair. "Will do." Their cars had been damaged too badly during the firefight that first day to be drivable. Everything useful had been stripped out of them ages ago.
She gave the dragon an arch look. "Then let's get this show on the road."
He furrowed brows at that but followed them out of the back door. Lawson stood out there watching the area, a pensive look on his face.
"Hey, Lawson. You just got volentold." JD said, a grin splitting his muzzled face revealing too many sharp teeth.
Lawson groaned. "Great. What is it is this time? Storm the White House? Rescue the princess? Who's this and where'd the dragon go?"
McKenna jerked her thumb at the Drakyn. "Turns out they can change forms too. He's coming with us. Ready for an off-the-reservation trip?" Even as she talked, she tossed him the keys heading towards the dark gray Suburban sitting in the corner of the lot.
"With you guys? Why not? Not like I thought I'd live to see my pension." He followed her and climbed into the driver's seat. He took a minute to organize his weapons to be easily accessible, but not in the way. JD headed to the passenger side while Perc and Cass climbed into the far back.
"Our place. We're taking this guy to meet the family. Plus the secretary of defense, an
d whomever else he drags along with him.”
Lawson choked. "Shit, Largo. You don't do anything by half-measures." He narrowed his eyes and at her and the now-human alien who looked around with interest. "Don't you have kids at home?"
"Yep. And he wants to meet them." She shrugged and said the thing that had been running through everyone's head. "Not like they’ll be in any more danger than they’re already in. There's aliens that want them, remember?" Her voice dry and sarcastic.
"True. Well then, saddle up boys and girls and other creatures. Time to go meet the family." Lawson said in a fake announcer voice.
"Don't quit your day job," JD advised. "You'd starve to death trying to support yourself as a comedian."
McKenna caught Lawson's mock glare as he closed the door and she climbed into the back where the others waited. Cass and Perc were in the back row with the Drakyn-turned-human waiting for her on the bench seat.
I can't believe this is my life.
She shook her head and buckled in. She felt him watching her carefully as she adjusted the seat belt. With elegant movements, he mimicked her.
McKenna started to talk but stopped before the words left her mouth. She'd gotten used to saying all the snarky inappropriate stuff in her head and now the person she wanted most to talk about could hear everything she said.
When did I become that person? Or is it I'm just used to having all of them as my sounding board and vice versa, knowing it’s a place we can say anything. Make a note that if he’s trustworthy maybe we can have him teach us how to lock it down to private so no one else from outside can overhear. Huh, wonder how the kids do it.
The odd silence both in and out of her mind ate at her while JD talked quietly to Lawson giving him directions. It didn't help that Lawson drove the Suburban the same way he did the Humvee, like it was a sports car. The seat belts were mandatory even with almost no traffic.
Lacking the desire to try and make small talk she turned her attention to the scenery. Most of her questions needed to be heard by everyone.