Each of the Terrans had a number of the dragons to work with, but before they broke up, Bordraab gathered them together. “I know you have great hopes for this,” she said, “even if some of you are unbelievers.” She looked at Master Chief a moment, then continued, “There is no telling how each dragon will perceive the question, nor how each will answer it—or even if each of them can. Our clairvoyance functions differently between individuals, and even from one instance to another with the same person. Based on my own experience, I never know how it is going to work from one time to the next.
“Sometimes a stray scent will conjure up a picture of an event. Other times I can tell where someone has been just by catching a whiff of it, even though I have never been to that place before. I have never been able to track down events that happened in the past, but there are others of my kind who have done so. Sometimes the experience will be just the barest essence of an event or a place, while other times it can stop you in your tracks with its intensity. It is impossible to know what—if anything—any of my people will discern until it actually happens.
“Each of us has an aspect of clairvoyance. As you know, mine is clairalience—it happens through my sense of smell—but that is not how everyone’s clairvoyance works, and I want you to be prepared for a variety of experiences. Clairsentient dragons see objects through their sense of feel or touching things, clairaudient dragons perceive details through their auditory senses, claircognizant dragons recognize information through an intrinsic sense of knowing or intuition, and clairgustant dragons identify items through their ability to taste them.”
“Wait,” Master Chief said. “Taste them? Does that mean they’re going to have to eat us to help us?”
Bordraab chuckled. “It’s nothing like that, I can assure you. They are able to sense things with just a lick; they don’t need to consume you.”
Calvin let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “That’s good; it wouldn’t have taken too many bites from someone your size before there wasn’t much left of me.”
Several other dragons walked up. “If you are ready, then,” Bordraab said, “we will begin. Each of the dragons will take you to your meeting rooms, and we will cycle through each. Due to our size differences, it is probably easier for us to move about rather than you.”
The CO looked down the central passageway. It was bigger than most superhighways back home. He nodded. “That would probably be best.”
The group split up, and Calvin ended up with a slightly-smaller-than-most black dragon. They walked for about a quarter of a mile in silence before coming to a room. “We will be in here,” the dragon said.
“Okay,” Calvin replied, somewhat overwhelmed with the process. “Now what?”
“Now you talk,” the dragon said. “I did not want to start until we got here.”
“What am I supposed to talk about?”
“About whatever you want me to discern for you. While I know your mission and your quest, it is better to hear it from you in person.”
Calvin took a deep breath and let it out, trying to figure out where to start. Obviously this was a clairaudient dragon. “Well, we’re here because we want to go back in time, but we don’t know how far back to go, and we’re hoping you’ll be able to help us figure out the best time to arrive there.”
“Would you like the information to the day, the hour, or the second?”
“You can predict it to the second?”
“Of course not,” the dragon said with a chuckle. “I am hoping to get an indication of when the right time is. It probably will not be to the second, but the more you focus on the event and what you are looking for, the closer I may get to figuring out when that is. Describe exactly what you are looking for.” The dragon closed its eyes and rested its head on the floor.
“We’re looking for a time when they had weapons that are more powerful than ours,” Calvin said. When the dragon didn’t move, he added, “We’re also looking for better shields and defenses.” The dragon still didn’t move. “We currently have lasers and grasers, but we need something that’ll be better than that. And missiles that will be hard to defend against.”
When the dragon still didn’t move he asked, “Is any of that helping?”
The dragon opened one eye. “I’m not getting anything so far. Keep going.”
“We’d like to go back to a time where they had the technology and weapons we could use to beat the Enemy. We would like to join the Progenitors and, with their aid, destroy the Enemy at that time, so they don’t exist in the present time.” He paused, then asked, “Did that help?”
“Not really. I still have yet to get any indication.”
“What does that mean? That such a time doesn’t exist? That there’s no time we can go back to when we’ll get the weapons we need to overcome the Enemy?”
“It is impossible to know,” the dragon replied. “Clairvoyance is tricky, and I cannot force myself to have a vision—in fact, the more I force, the less likely it is that I will determine anything. With me, sometimes it is a matter of saying the right word or hearing the right sound. Perhaps you have yet to reach the crux of your problem.” The dragon gave a very human shrug. “Then again, it is also possible that such a time does not exist, and that there are no weapons to be gained that can be used to defeat your Enemy.”
“Well, shit.”
“That doesn’t seem to help, either,” the dragon said. “Is there anything else you can tell me?”
“Only that the Enemy is way more advanced than us. It broke through all our artificial intelligence’s defenses faster than the AI could stop it, and it disabled our weapons and shields, leaving us wide open to its attacks.”
“So you do not really need better weapons? You need to be able to use the ones you have?”
“I…I don’t really know,” Calvin said, his face getting hot. “I never really looked at it that way. Since we never got to fire a single shot at it, I don’t know what it would take to hurt the ship—something big, I guess, because it’s huge—but actually being able to use the ones we had would be a start. We need better computer technology, networking, and cyber defenses to keep the Enemy out of our systems so we can use them.” Calvin nodded once. “That would be a good start.”
“Then you should go back 57,357 years. That would be a good start.”
“What?” Calvin asked. “What’s 57,357 years in the past?”
“I don’t know,” the dragon said, “but that is the number that resonated within me when you said, ‘That would be a good start.’ I cannot tell you why that is, only that 57,357 years ago is ‘a good start’ to finding the information you need.”
“When you say ‘start,’ does that mean we’ll need to go to more times, or is that when we’ll find the answers we’re looking for?”
“I cannot tell you. As vivid as the experience was for me, it is gone now. All I can tell you is 57,357 is a good start. Whatever else you need to do is up to you.”
Although Calvin talked with the dragon for another five minutes, the dragon wasn’t able to come up with anything else. Eventually, a large red dragon stuck his head into the room. “My turn,” he noted.
“Good luck,” the black dragon said as he walked toward the door. “I hope you find what you’re looking for.”
“Thank you,” Calvin replied, “and thank you for your help!”
The dragon nodded once, then he left, leaving Calvin with the massive red dragon, who had his head cocked at him. “Yes,” Calvin asked. “What is your talent?”
“I am a claircognizant.”
“So…what am I supposed to do to help?”
“Whatever you think best.”
“We’re on a quest to defeat an unbeatable Enemy, who is greatly more advanced than we are.”
“When you say ‘we,’ who do you mean?”
“I mean the ship full of Terrans.”
“Is it only the Terrans who are fighting this Enemy?”
“Well,
we’re the only one it’s spoken to—that we know of anyway—although we have allies in this fight.”
“Who are these allies?”
“Well, there are the Mrowry, the Aesir, and I suspect the Archons will be on our side, although we haven’t contacted them yet.”
“And those are all your allies?”
“There are also the Jotunn, I suppose. They used to be our enemies, but if faced with this enemy, I suspect they’ll help us, too. Oh, and the Sila…although they’re in this universe, along with you, so they really can’t help us an awful lot.”
“And those are all your allies? Those are everyone joining you on this quest? Everyone in your ship is a Terran, a Mrowry, an Aesir, or a Jotunn?”
“No,” Calvin said, after a moment’s thought. “We also have five Ssselipsssiss onboard, but they’re really no more than kids.”
“Are they enemies who are no longer enemies?” the dragon asked.
“Well, yeah, sort of,” Calvin said. “I’m not sure they’re friends, but they were formerly enemies, and now we have some shared experiences. Their father, right before he was killed, gave them to me to raise, not that they really need raising. They already have plenty of skills I wish they didn’t.”
“Raise them as your own? Their father was an enemy, but now they would no longer be considered your enemies?”
“I think that’s a fair statement,” Calvin said. “We also helped out their race and have a détente of sorts with them now. They may not be our allies, but they’re no longer our enemies.” He paused and cocked his head. “Why? What about them?”
“When I first looked at you, my first thought was, ‘Seek the enemy who is not your enemy.’”
“Seek them? And do what with them?”
“I do not know, but I know they will be important in solving your problem. Do not be afraid to trust enemies who aren’t your enemies.”
“Is that the five Ssselipsssiss, or is it someone else entirely?”
“Once again, I do not know, but I know a no-longer-enemy will be important in defeating your Enemy.”
That was all the red dragon was able to see, and after a few more minutes, he left, to be replaced by a green dragon who was smaller by half than any of the other dragons Calvin had seen so far. Although much smaller than the other dragons, it was still forty feet long from nose to tail, and hugely intimidating when it walked straight toward Calvin and ducked its head toward him, mouth open.
“Hey!” Calvin yelled, diving to the side. “Help!”
The dragon’s head reared back. “What?” it asked.
“Is there a problem?” the red dragon asked, re-entering the space.
“He looked like he was going to eat me!” Calvin said, pointing at the green dragon.
“Ha!” the red dragon exclaimed. “She is the most headstrong of her generation. If we cannot control her, it is unlikely you can either. If she had wanted to eat you, you would be in her belly.” The red dragon walked out, laughing.
“You weren’t trying to eat me?” Calvin asked, getting up from the floor, but keeping his distance.
“Of course not. You are not from this universe. You would probably give me indigestion. That is just stupid.”
“Well, what were you doing, then?”
“I’m clairgustant,” the dragon replied. “My powers—which are stronger than all the adults’ powers, thank you very much—run on my sense of taste. How am I supposed to help you if I do not lick you?”
“You could have warned me…”
“It was my understanding that they did warn you about how some of our powers worked.”
“Well, they did, but…” Calvin looked at the floor. “You still could have warned me,” he muttered.
“Are you done being a baby?” the dragon asked. “I thought you didn’t have much time.”
“We don’t.”
“Well, good, come over here then so we can do this.”
Calvin reluctantly eased his way closer to the dragon. “What do…what do I need to do?”
“Nothing. Just stand there and let me lick you. It won’t hurt a bit.”
Calvin closed his eyes. “Okay, go ahead.”
He could sense the dragon moving closer and feel her head close to his. He tried not to flinch as she licked his arm. Although he had some success, the feel of her sandpaper-like tongue caused goosebumps to run down his back as she licked his face.
“No!” she roared. “No! No! No!”
* * *
After the green dragon’s outburst, she ran from the room. After a few minutes, Bordraab came in and asked, “Could you come with me, please?”
“Sure,” Calvin said. “What’d I do? Do I taste bad?”
“No, it’s nothing like that. It’s just…perhaps you better wait until we are all gathered together.”
After a few minutes, they reached a large space where several dragons were gathered, along with the CO and Master Chief. “What’s going on?” Calvin asked as he approached them.
“We don’t know yet,” the CO replied. He pointed to where Thorion, the small green dragon, and two other dragons were speaking as Bordraab joined them. “They were all excited about something.”
“Excited,” Master Chief said, “but not in a good way. Pissed off is more like. The little green one was mad about something—she kept yelling ‘No!’—and they were trying to calm her down.”
“I know,” Calvin said. “It was something she tasted on me.”
“So you’re the cause of all this?” the CO asked. “Why does that not surprise me?”
“I didn’t do anything, Skipper; honest I didn’t. She licked me and then went running off.”
The dragons broke up their conversation and Thorion, Bordraab, and the green dragon approached them.
“It seems we have an issue,” Thorion said. “Unfortunately I am not sure how we can solve it.”
“Whatever it is, I’m sure there’s a solution,” the CO said. “What’s the problem?”
“The problem,” Bordraab said, taking over, “is our daughter here wants to go along with you.”
“That is not what I said!” the green dragon exclaimed. “I do not want—”
“What she saw,” Thorion interrupted, “was you would not be successful in your quest if she does not go with you. She, however, does not want to leave the planet, so she is in a bit of a quandary. She knows what the right thing to do is; however, she does not want to do it.”
“Well, no disrespect meant,” the CO said, “but there isn’t a lot of space to take a dragon along who doesn’t want to be there. Even just having Bordraab with us coming here made life onboard…complicated. Besides, I don’t want to take your daughter with us, as I can’t be sure when—or if—we’ll ever make it back.”
“I understand that, but you obviously missed what my daughter saw—you won’t be successful if she doesn’t come with you.”
“I understand that,” the CO said. “Is it possible, however, that she might be wrong? Or maybe misinterpreting whatever it was she saw?”
The green dragon shook her head. “That is impossible. I have never been wrong.”
“Really?”
“Our daughter is one of the best clairvoyants we have. While her flashes of clairvoyance do not occur frequently, so far, she has never been wrong.”
The CO shrugged. “There’s a first time for everything, right?”
“She does not think so,” Thorion replied.
“So what do we do?”
“We are going to give her the night to think it over,” Bordraab replied, making eye contact with Thorion.
“We don’t have a lot of time—we need to leave in the morning.”
“We realize that,” Thorion said, “and you will have your answer in the morning.”
* * *
“Axlyptrix has come to a decision,” Bordraab said when they got back together again the next morning. “Trixie has decided to join you in your quest.”
“Trixie?�
�� Calvin asked, looking at the young dragon. Where most dragons held their heads up proudly, hers was laid back, almost resting on her body, with her eyes half open. “She doesn’t look very excited about it.”
“That is our nickname for her,” Bordraab replied, “and I did not say she was happy about it. She is, however, resigned to her fate. As are we, who will have to watch her go.”
“What brought about the change?”
“We have had multiple readings across the spectrum of our clairvoyance, and if she does not, your world—no, your galaxy—will be destroyed.”
“How do you know for sure? What have your people seen?”
“The problem is not what they have seen,” Bordraab replied. “It is what they have not seen. They cannot get a good reading on your civilization, or any of the other ones we are aware of.”
“You’re telling us they don’t exist anymore in that universe,” Captain Sheppard said.
“Yes—”
“We do not know for sure,” Thorion interrupted. “It may be that there is something blocking our abilities, or a key point that hasn’t happened yet that is disrupting them. We have seen this before. Everyone in your galaxy will not necessarily die.”
“Yes, they will,” Trixie said, her voice full of certainly. “It is very simple. If I go, you have a chance of success. If I don’t go, you don’t.”
“But there’s something else, isn’t there?” Calvin asked. “There’s something you aren’t telling us.”
“Trixie does not believe she will return if she goes,” Bordraab replied when her daughter looked away. “While she has tasted your part of this clearly, she has not been able to foretell her return at all.”
“But I thought your race couldn’t foretell what was going to happen to yourselves,” Calvin said. “Have you tried having any of the other dragons look into her future?”
“I…we…” Bordraab’s voice trickled off to nothing.
“Yes,” Thorion said, taking over again. “We have asked some of our friends what they foresee for Trixie, but none of them have anything to add. It appears, to all involved, that if our daughter leaves with you, she will not return.”
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