| Phase 25 � She�s going to get herself killed,� Sigurd fretted. Citan frowned. � Did you not try to stop her?� � I tried! She�d been in the bay the whole time with Axyl and then she just up and left! I spoke to her, but something happened and we lost contact!� Citan thought as Sigurd paced and murmured worriedly. � There is nothing we can do, short of going after her.� � She won�t be easy to convince. She said Bartholomew called her.� � Then I suppose we must wait for the report.� � . . . Wait!� Sigurd turned and ran down to an empty station. � We can tap into his cameras and COM system.� He typed in a code and the screen filled with several smaller screens. � Elly . . . Fei . . . Kris . . . Kahr . . .� A disgusted pause. � And that woman.� Citan watched the live feed. As Weltall went down, he said, � That did it. Someone is going to kill Kahr now.� They observed as Elly�s Aerods drove the Haishao back a bit, but the fish-like Gear did not leave. � Now what is he doing?� Haishao rushed at the fallen Weltall, but Axyl arched back and touched the tips of her wings together as she held her arms and hands out in a submissive gesture. Sigurd groaned in disbelief and worried anew. � Oh no . . . What is that? What is she doing?!� � If you will wait, Sigurd, I believe we will find out.� Puffs of sand appeared all around Axyl, then a small cyclone swirled around her and dissipated. There was nothing, and then short lazer shots came from all directions and burned a line of glass between Haishao and Axyl. Haishao floated in silence, then Axyl surged forward. A rather unfamiliar female voice travelled over the COM links. � Is that Axyl?� � I was not aware that Gears could speak.� � Me either. We should ask Kris about it later.� The Haishao left and Sigurd cut the tap. He stared at the blank screen for a moment and heaved a deep, tolerating sigh. � Hello, insomnia.� A pause. � I hope this isn�t like the time she was sick and I had to stay up with her all night.� � Well, she will not be sick, at least.� � True. But . . . I have a job here. I can�t perform it adequately if I�m exhausted,� Sigurd protested. � Kris would not do that, would she?� � No, but I�m her Guardian. I�m supposed to be looking out for her. I�ve already screwed up once; I don�t need to do it again. I have to protect her.� � She will get angry if she finds that out.� � I don�t care! That�s my job too!� � Where is Kris� room?� Sigurd stopped his grumbling and looked at Citan, slowly switching gears to accommodate his friend�s abrupt question. � Since Dominia put the hole in it, she hasn�t had one.� � Then where did she put her things?� � Probably in Bartholomew�s room somewhere.� � Do not move her to a new room.� � . . . Hey, no way. Kris is bad enough, but I�m not putting Bartholomew in danger too.� � I did not say to. If you were to move her, how far away would she be?� � Uh . . . I�d probably have to put her in the barracks until her room was back together.� � Think about how far away that is. You would never get to her in time. As dangerous as it is, it would be more prudent to let her remain in Bartholomew�s room. Or,�--Citan shrugged--� you can make her sleep in Axyl. Once the situation is explained, I believe Axyl will seal herself up.� Sigurd made a face. � Gears are as comfortable as a rankar�s---� His headset beeped and he flipped the microphone down. � Sig!� � Yes, Young Master?� � Have you seen Kris?� � No, I haven�t. Why?� � I can�t find her.� The door opened and Sigurd and Citan looked up. Kris staggered in, acting like she�d been beaten badly, and leaned against some standing equipment. She stared around the bridge dimly, obviously looking for someone. � Kris?� Sigurd questioned. � Yes, Kris,� Bart replied from the headset. � I told you before!� � No, she�s here now, but . . . Kris, are you all right?� Her gaze snapped to Sigurd. � Sig, my head . . .� She suddenly jerked as if she was being electrocuted, let out a pained sob, and collapsed to her side. Sigurd and Citan ran over to her and knelt by her. � Is it . . .?� Citan touched the back of her head at the base of her skull. A small jolt ran up his arm and he nodded. � It is.� Sigurd sat down and put his hands over his face. � Damn it, I thought they�d forgotten about that thing!� � It was probably Kahr.� � Of course it was! He had them put the damn thing in her head!� He hesitated thoughtfully, but didn�t move. � Did she speak? Out loud?� � Yes. It was probably from the trauma of watching Fei go down.� Citan noticed a glint of silver and lifted the open front of the jean shirt. � I was not aware she had this.� Sigurd peered through his fingers, then dropped his hands and bent forward. � Isn�t that her environmental suit?� � Yes, but it was never that big on her, was it?� � No. It always fit perfectly. Are they supposed to grow?� � I do not know. Apparently, they do.� Sigurd pulled at the material. It stretched easily. � Hm. That�s interesting.� Citan gathered Kris up and stood. � I will take her to the sickbay so she can rest. It should only be a few minutes before she wakes up.� The door opened and Devon rushed in. What happened to her?! Why is she in pain?! Sigurd crouched down and held his arms open. Devon hopped into them and let him hold her. � She�s all right. Kahran activated the Chip, that�s all.� Devon crossed her arms. I don�t like him. He�s strange. He�s always angry or sad, never happy. � Don�t worry about him. Kris is just fine. There�s no need to hold a grudge against him.� She�s in pain, was the flat correction. That�s far from �fine�. And as for grudges, I have plenty on him for what he did to her. Another won�t hurt. The door opened again and Bart burst in, a tumbling mass of small dragons behind him. He spotted Kris right away and went to her. � Kris, open your eyes. Come on, baby, please.� Not completely to their surprise, Kris stirred and opened her eyes. � . . . ? Bart?� *>*<* He smiled in relief. � Hi. Nice to see you in the real world.� I looked around. � . . . Fei?� � He�s in trouble, Kris. I need your help.� � That would not be a wise idea,� Citan put in. � She is very weak.� � I am not!� To prove my point, I wiggled until Citan set me on my feet. I started to nod and say �See?�, but the simple move unbalanced me and nearly threw me to the floor. Citan steadied me. � As I was saying, Kris is too weak to even walk.� � I can so walk!� Sig groaned. � She�s in one of those moods . . .� Bart snorted. � What are you talking about? You couldn�t even stand a second ago!� � That was then!� I snapped. � You still cannot stand on your own,� Citan cautioned me. � I am the one holding you up.� I opened my mouth to yell at him, but realized he was right and said instead, � This sucks.� Bart put his hand on my shoulder and said to Citan, � They�re moving Fei here so we can transport him to the �Ethos� headquarters. Elly�s being real picky about how they move him. Could you try to explain to her that they aren�t hurting him at all?� Citan went for the door. � Of course.� The door opened right after he left and Levex entered. The dragon stared at the accumulation of younger dragons in stark horror. Ew! Ew! Hatchlings! Draclings! No! I can�t take any more Hatchery duties! He ran to Sig and climbed him like a tree, slithering up under his coat and reappearing from the collar to perch on his shoulder. You stay back! he told the confused dragons on the floor. Just stay away from me! Oh, Levex, Devon scolded. That�s so cruel. Of course you think so! the older dragon spat. You�re just a dracling yourself! I�m not surprised you�re pitying the little parasites! Devon hopped to the floor and went to the congregation of young dragons. Don�t pay any attention to him. He�s old and grumpy. That�s exactly right! Levex cried. Just stay away from me and I won�t hurt any of you! I looked at Bart. � How did all these get here?� He shrugged. � They were on the Thames and began following me around. I had no choice but to bring them here.� � Where are you going to put them?� Another shrug. � Actually, I was going to dump them with Margie until I could find people who�ll take at least one.� � You�re such a caring cousin, Bart,� I praised in the most sarcastic tone I could muster right then through my pain. � Making Margie keep track of all these dragons.� � Well what else is she going to do while she�s here? She hardly comes out of her room--I have no idea how she keeps from being bored--maybe the dragons will provide some entertainment.� I patted his chest as I headed for the door. � Sounds like an alibi to me.� He trailed after me to make sure I didn�t fall over and the dragons trailed him. � I just hope they don�t eat that stupid fuzzball of hers. Not that I care, but it�ll tick her off.� He glanced back over his shoulder. � Sig, we�re going to the �Ethos� headquarters. They�re due north from our position . . . If you wouldn�t mind starting us out while I take care of this little problem?� � Not at all.� We went down to Margie�s room and the dragons spilled in happily. Margie jumped back in surprise. � My goodness! How many are there?� � I have no idea,� Bart answered. Margie knelt down as a yellow female (Taini--Gentle Heart) tried to climb her leg and picked it up. � Are you keeping them all?� � I hope not. I don�t think I have the rations to feed all of them.� � Then why did you get them?� � I didn�t! They just started following me around!� He sighed. � Look, can I leave them here with you until I can find them homes? I don�t want them to get into trouble.� � Sure, I�ll watch them.� She watched a beige dragon paw at the wall against the medical room. � Why don�t you take that one to Fei? I think it wants to see him. And the white and orange ones, I don�t know where they want to go.� Bart looked at me. � See? Told you she�d know what to do with them.� � I didn�t say she wouldn�t.� � What?� Margie asked. � Kris didn�t think it would be a good idea to drop them off with you.� � Oh, I don�t mind. It�ll keep me busy.� � That�s what I told her. Besides, you�ve already lessened the group�s number a lot, which is a big help.� � I have?� � Yep. Now we�re down to two.� � But what about the red one?� It dawned on her. � Oh, he�s with you, right?� � Sure is. Well, thanks, Margie. I owe you one.� � Don�t mention it.� We left, carrying the three dragons Margie had suggested that we take along with us. The beige one, Frensik (Unseen Force), curled against Fei�s side as soon as I set him down on the bed. The orange one, Opion (Concrete Power), ran down to the room where Rico was and the white one, Yasen (Ageless Insight), hopped onto the bar and began carrying on a conversation with Maison, who appeared momentarily surprised, but then went on with whatever he was doing. Bart sighed. � Looks like I need to start ordering more food supplies.� <--Phase 24 Phase 26--> |