| Phase 16 The ship creaked and groaned. I sat up and listened, hearing several snaps. Was the ship falling apart? A jarring thud nearly threw me out of bed. � This is an emergency. All those onboard report to the bridge at once.� I dashed to the elevator and went to the bridge. So far, I was the only person who�d gotten there. What�s going on?! Sig turned. � Kris, come here.� I walked over to stand in front of him. Yes? He hugged me. � We�re sinking.� What happened?! Where�s Bart?! � Ask Citan later. I sent him away in a pod. Bartholomew . . . I don�t know. The ship landed on Brigandier.� He stroked my back. � You need to get Axyl and leave. Now.� No! I can help---! He shook his head. � No, Kris. It�s over.� It can�t be! � It is. For now, at least. If we make it, I promise I will gather your things and keep them until we meet again.� He pulled away and gave me a short, gentle kiss. I hugged him and then ran from the bridge to the Gear bay. It was filling with sand, but I had little trouble getting to Axyl. Axyl, start up! Nothing. Oh shit. I all but ripped the control panel cover up and dug through the wires. I twisted two cut wires together, then opened the ceiling panel right above my chair and pulled the helmet down. I made sure that all six wires were completely connected, then put the helmet on and flicked a switch just under the control panel cover. Axyl, start up! � Enter control code.� Perfect. Control code: 5-2-7-1, input! � Control confirmed to Krista-Lyn Wong. Welcome aboard, Kris!� The screen inside my helmet flickered to life and showed the far wall of the Yggdrasil. The ship�s stats appeared in a dark area on the far right side of the helmet, nearly out of my normal line of vision, and were constantly changing. Axyl�s own stats were in the dark area on the far left side and remained relatively unchanged. Axyl, we have to get out of here! [How exactly do you plan to do that?] We�re digging our way out, if that�s what it takes! [Kris, we�re boxed in.] Blow a hole in the damn wall then! The ship is in pieces anyway! [Sigurd will be angry.] No he won�t! Just do it! I�m going to be taking all the blame if he does anyhow so what are you worried about?! Axyl bent over and flapped her wings, gouging trenches in the sand. That freed her legs and she climbed on top of the sand. Her crest bumped the roof and she ducked in surprise. [Oh dear.] Axyl! I cried as I pushed several buttons on the panel. Wing Blade! Axyl brought her wings up and began slicing at the Yggdrasil�s side. To my amazement, doing so caused me great pain. Not physically, of course, but it felt like I had totally disregarded everything and was now paying my only home back by destroying it. Once a decent hole was open, Axyl squeezed through and flopped onto the sand. She went up to the bridge and I had the cockpit open so I could get up and see. I took the helmet off and Axyl�s hands cupped down before the cockpit so I wouldn�t fall. But as I watched the ship go down I lunged over her fingers toward the ship. Everyone was in the bridge--I could save them! Axyl wildly grabbed for me to keep me from getting swallowed by the sand and accidentally cracked my wrist. I struggled and wiggled and screamed until my throat was raw. Even so, the Yggdrasil disappeared under the sand. Right then and there, staring teary-eyed at the space where the ship had gone down, I made a silent vow to kill whoever had done it. If the crew made it out alive, I would consider tossing it aside. But if I never saw them again, whoever did it was as good as dead as well. I returned to the cockpit and put the helmet on again. The Yggdrasil�s stats had vanished ny now and I felt tears slide down my face. Steeling myself, I said in as normal a voice as I could manage, To the border, Axyl. We have to find my brother. Axyl�s wing engines engaged and there was a slight moment of weightlessness as she jumped up and then fell some before the wings took over. It was mostly a silent journey. That is, until a beeping started up. It became more rapid as the moments passed. Axyl took a few seconds to analyze it. [Sensors indicate five Gears ahead. Four are not operational.] What about the fifth? [Processing . . . The fifth Gear is operational. Separate from others by two-point-three-six kelts. Gear�s call signal is 3-0-8-2.] . . . I don�t recognize it. Give me a visual. The screen in my helmet zoomed in and refocused as Axyl�s cameras did. I don�t see it. Where is it? [Straight ahead.] It was just an escape . . . pod? Axyl, can you get me an inside view? [Hold on.] She slowed and swung around to the end that was not stuck in the sand. Her cameras zoomed out a bit, then zoomed in and tried to pierce through the darkness inside. [. . .] Is it there? I can�t see it. [It�s there, but it�s not moving.] Is it active? [Yes.] Can you make audio contact? [I can try.] There was a beep and Axyl said, [Oh.] What? [They are attempting audio-visual contact.] Go ahead and open the channel. There was a click and then, � ?! . . . May I ask who you are?� Citan? I held up a finger to ask him to wait, then pushed a button on my panel. Reaching up over the panel to the ceiling, I pressed a few more buttons up there. A tiny new screen appeared in the upper left corner of the main screen and Citan appeared on it. He was bent over in the seat, fiddling with something under the consol. There was nothing outside, just black. Citan? His head rose. � Kris?� Yeah, it�s me. � . . . Do you always wear that?� No. Axyl is usually voice-controlled, so I had to rewire her and use this thing to communicate. She wouldn�t go online otherwise. � I understand.� He reached down and grabbed something under the consol. Pulling on it, he lifted it up a bit so he could work on it in a more comfortable position. It was a severed wire. How did that happen? � I am still not quite sure. But I am unable to move because of it.� I felt something wiggle against my legs and jumped. What the hell?! Half of the main screen was replaced with a view from the cockpit. It was really weird seeing myself from a different angle, but my aim was the bottom of my chair. From the blackness underneath I saw two glowing green eyes and most of a long black tail. � What is it?� There�s something under my chair. � And?� It�s alive and it looks dangerous. I noticed something green crawling along the back of Citan�s chair. You have a . . . a thing. � Thank you, but I know.� The dragon traversed the small space between the back of the chair and Citan�s shoulder with a long, front leg reach and a trying-to-touch-it wave. It finally succeeded and promptly hopped to the consol, landing just so that it wasn�t standing on any buttons. I abruptly grabbed for the tail between my feet and pulled a shrieking dragon into the air. The little black thing wriggled and squirmed and squalled. Its eyes were royal purple now, signalling its anger. How did this get in here? � She is one of the dragons that remained after you were attacked. She seems to like you, so Sigurd and I let her stay. But then she disappeared and we could not find her. Obviously, she likes Gears.� Odd. Dragons have such sensitive hearing I would�ve thought that something as noisy as a Gear would�ve turned her away. � She must have been around Gears a lot as a hatchling so the noise does not bother her any longer.� He looked up and frowned. � Do not hold her like that. It is very uncomfortable for her. Put her in your lap and let her see your face. I am sure she will calm down.� I put the now growling creature in my lap and took off my helmet. She stopped growling right away and peeped happily as her eyes became green again. She put her front feet on my chest and licked my face. Hello, Krista-Lyn! Just Kris, I told her, moving her feet off me. Who are you? I am your Sentinel! A dragon? Citan looked up at us (the visual was also on a side screen, I�d just had the computers relay it to the helmet). � Dragons are not as weak as the legends claim. Even the small ones are stronger than those in the stories.� Hmph. And what�s your name? She arched her neck proudly. Devon. What does it mean? She seemed very pleased that I knew that dragon names had meanings behind them. Star Seeker. That�s pretty. Thank you. She turned and bounced to the consol. Where are we? Near the Kislev border. There was a bright flash and a loud pop and Citan jumped back with a quiet �ouch�, shaking his left hand vigorously. You okay? He inspected his hand for burns. � Yes. Such things are common when I am working.� He picked the wire up and began messing with it again. After a moment, he sat back and checked a few of the gauges on the consol. � Ah. Good.� Unfortunately, Heimdal was still unable to get totally clear of the escape pod. He tried, but somehow got caught right at the edge. There was a sudden screech accompanied by a spark shower and a ripping, tearing sound. Axyl had crystal-clear audio pick-up, but I could hear it even without the equipment. In fact, I had to turn that particular system off to keep from going deaf. Then all was silent. I turned the system back on. Doc?! Are you all right?! � . . . I am fine, Kris.� Beeps in the background indicated that something was wrong. I listened as Citan punched in several codes to find out what it was. He mumbled to himself in low tones, searching over the panel for something. Finding it, he tapped one of the gauges to make sure it was working correctly. A second alarm went off and he muttered some more, then made an annoyed sound. He put in two more codes and the noise finally stopped. The little green dragon peered out from under his hair, looking around the cockpit suspiciously. Citan paid it no attention other than to say to it, � It is not going to bite you, Talic.� It snorted and crawled down his front and then under his right arm, where it jumped to the floor and disappeared off the screen. What�s wrong? I asked finally. � My mobility is completely gone.� Then he�s stuck. I thought. I have an idea, but you might not like it. � Right now, I am willing to try it. As long as it does not possibly mean my demise, go ahead.� I put the helmet back on and engaged my chosen weapon. Axyl arched her whole self back and then flung forward, her hands open flat. Whips burst from her palms and wrapped around Heimdal (Bart made me put them in when we were younger; he insisted that I would need them when we went on raids--I think this is the first time I�ve ever used them). Back, Axyl. <--Phase 15 Phase 17--> |