Dragonship
By Thomas Mc
Chapter 2 : A Very Unusual Visitor
Alex stared in stunned amazement at the display from Tia's main forward video screen. The large screen was showing what could only be described as a white dragon floating in open space about thirty meters away from them. The sensor data on the object began appearing on the upper right corner of the main screen and on the smaller data analysis screen of the main console. The beast was 5.7 meters long and it had a 7.2 meter wingspan. Oddly, the mass of the beast seemed to be in almost continuous fluctuation. Other indications showed that it was most definitely a living creature.
The white dragon was slowly fanning its wings as though trying to attract their attention. The beast appeared to be looking back at them with multifaceted eyes that seemed to reflect all the colors of the rainbow. Most interesting of all was the fact that there appeared to be a human, space-suited, figure perched on the dragon where its neck met its shoulders.
After a moment Alex spoke. "Tia, are we seeing what I think we're seeing." He shook his head. "That is a dragon out there, isn't it? I mean as in, out of Saint George and all those classic fantasy stories, dragon?"
Tia responded with a hint of awe in her voice. "I'm seeing the same thing, Alex. All the data that I'm scanning says that it is real. I keep half expecting to see it spew fire from its mouth at any moment."
"But where did that thing come from?" Alex asked glancing over at the sensor data panel. He could swear that it had not been there a few seconds ago and there had been no warning from Tia's collision sensors.
"I don't know. It didn't approach, it just appeared." Tia responded. "One instant there was empty space, the next instant that . . . dragon was floating out there in front of us, its velocity perfectly matched to ours." There was a moment of silence as they studied the image on the screen then Tia spoke, her voice indicating surprise. "Alex, look at this."
A new scene appeared on a one of the console monitors. It showed the outer hatch of Tia's main airlock. There appeared to be three miniature dragons, less than three-quarters of a meter in wingspan, perched on the external handholds and beating on the hatch with their wings.
Alex shook his head. "I swear it looks, for all the world, like they are knocking at your door wanting to be let in." Alex looked back over at her central column. He was torn between extreme caution and extreme curiosity. "What do you think, Tia? Should we let them in?"
After a few moments she responded to him. "Might as well." If she could have shrugged inside her shell she would have. "See what happens. If it looks like they are hostile, I can just hit them with a dose of sleepy gas and toss them back out the airlock." She opened the outer airlock door. "Besides I'm curious."
Tia triggered the outer hatch while sealing all internal hatches that did not lead to the control cabin. It was always prudent to minimise the risk exposure in any new encounter. As soon as the outer hatch had opened wide enough the three mini-dragons launched themselves, through the growing opening, into the airlock and immediately started beating on the inner hatch.
"They are definitely showing signs of more intelligence than I would have given them credit for." Tia remarked in surprise.
Alex noticed that since they had first become aware of that dragon, every time Tia spoke she sounded surprised. Of course Alex had been in a continual state of surprise himself since the dragon's appearance as well. He was beginning to wonder what other strange surprises were in store for them while they were in this system. His curiosity and his sense of adventure were both drawing him in.
Tia closed the outer hatch. The miniature dragons perched on convenient hand holds and stared expectantly at the inner door. She began pressurizing the air lock much slower than normal since she was unsure how the tiny creatures might react to a sudden change in pressure. After a few seconds Tia noticed that the miniature dragons ignored the inrushing air as though they expected it and remarked on their behavior. "They act as though they know what an airlock is and how it works."
Alex had come to the same conclusion. "I'll go down to meet them." He announced as he stood up and started making his way out of the control room.
Tia spoke up sharply before he got halfway to the hatch. "Alex, put on your emergency spacesuit first. We have no idea what types of pathogens they might be carrying." Alex paused glancing at the central column. "You know that you need to be careful about the risks of biological contamination." Tia admonished him as she monitored the rising air pressure and the way the creatures reacted to the change. They would periodically fan their wings as though testing the density of the rising air pressure.
Alex reversed directions and retrieved one of the emergency suits from its storage bin under the main console. It was little more than an air tight suit designed for use inside the ship during a loss of air pressure. They were not designed to handle the hostle environment of open space. While Alex donned the pressure suit, Tia turned on the artificial gravity in the airlock. The little creatures squawked and flapped their wings at this new development. They had taken the rising air pressure in stride but the artificial gravity had surprised them. After a few seconds they calmed down as they adjusted to the new situation. As the air pressure in the airlock slowly rose Tia was studying the little creatures. Each of them was a different color. The two smaller ones were green and blue. The larger one was a very distinctive golden hue. Tia thought that they were all three actually quite lovely and graceful creatures.
About a minute after Alex arrived at the airlock the pressure reached ship nominal. Tia waited another two minutes before opening the inner hatch. The three mini-dragons flew in and hovered in front of Alex. The inner airlock hatch swung shut. Inside the airlock a small portal opened drawing in a sample of the air.
"They seem to be waiting for you to guide them." Remarked Tia over the suit's intercom.
Alex turned and headed back to the control room. The three mini-dragons accompanied him swooping around and twittering excitedly as they followed.
Tia again commented to Alex over the suits intercom. "I swear it looks like they are discussing their surroundings as they follow you." Once they reached the control room the three mini-dragons settled onto open areas on the main control panel and proceeded to look around as if they were memorizing the layout of the cabin. Alex noticed that they had carefully selected spots where they wouldn't accidentally touch any of the controls. He also noticed that they seemed to be paying an inordinate amount of their attention looking at Tia's central column.
"Now what?" Alex asked as he eyed the actions of the little miniature dragons.
"I don't know." Tia responded.
The largest golden miniature dragon took wing then vanished into thin air, right before their eyes. Alex stood there looking into the space so recently vacated, too startled to react.
"Alex! That mini-dragon just appeared next to the space suited figure on that white dragon out there."
A minute later the miniature dragon reappeared in the control room and dropped a four inch long cylinder onto the main control console.
"Alex! Don't touch that! Let me check it out." Several indicator lights on the control panel changed, showing that the ship was now completely under control of the AI computers, then Tia's tiny storage closet opened and her avatar body stepped out, causing a great deal of chirping among the mini-dragons. "Alex, back away while I check it out. This body is replaceable, yours isn't."
The green mini-dragon flew over and checked out the small interior of the storage closet as Tia picked up the cylinder and examined it. The cylinder turned out to be hollow and, when opened, a rolled-up sheet fell out of it. On the film in large block letters was a short message written in an archaic form of common,
"May I have permission to come aboard?" Tia read then showed it to Alex.
"At least he's very polite about his request." Alex shrugged glancing at her. "I'm most definitely becoming very curious about all this, how about you?"
"I'm feeling the same way." She replied with a matching shrug. "Might as well let him in and see what he wants. With the apparent ability displayed by those miniature dragons, It might not be a good idea to antagonize them or their associates." She pulled a marker from a small drawer under the instrument panel then wrote the single word, 'YES' At the bottom of the sheet. She placed it back in the cylinder and handed the cylinder to the nearest of the little creatures. That creature promptly disappeared. Then she walked back to her closet, stepped inside and closed the door. After running a quick systems check and activating the padded bracing that protected her synthetic body when not in use, she turned off the lights and diagnostic indicator panels inside the closet then shut her synthetic body down.
Once again, she was the ship. She reveled momentarily at the feeling of freedom and power that came with having a brainship as her body entailed then turned her attention to what was going on both outside and inside her ship body. She observed that the remaining two creatures were again paying an inordinate amount of attention to her central column and had began twittering back and forth. On the main screen, the little messenger had reappeared beside the space-suited figure. After a short time the creature returned to the control room.
This time Tia was watching and her recorders were running at high speed. She detected a faint shimmer as the white dragon disappeared. A half second later, the great beast reappeared floating next to her airlock. "Alec, I was watching closely that time and that beast just teleported. It quite literally vanished then sixty-seven milliseconds later it reappeared beside my airlock." Her voice took in a puzzled tone. "What I don't understand, though, is where were they during the half a second that they apparently ceased to exist?"
Alex turned from the view screens. "Maybe we can ask them later, but for now I guess you'd better let the person in the spacesuit, whoever or whatever he is, in." He shrugged.
Tia again activated the outer airlock door. Just as it became fully opened, the space suited figure pushed off of the dragon and floated into the airlock.
As soon as the outer door closed, the white dragon vanished. The golden mini-dragon vanished and reappeared inside the airlock next to the suited figure. The mini-dragon settled onto a padded area on the shoulder of the space suited visitor as the air rushed into the airlock. He stood there patiently waiting.
As soon as Alex arrived at the airlock Tia opened the inner hatch. The visitor removed his helmet and gloves then reached up to pet the little creature on his shoulder. The visitor turned out to be a pleasant looking, middle aged, man, graying at the temples, with an open smile and curious, friendly eyes. "Welcome aboard th 3." Alex greeted the stranger. "My name is Alexander Joli-Chanteu. You can call me Alex."
"And I am Hypatia Caide. I usually go by Tia to my friends." Tia announced over the intercom above the inner airlock hatch.
The visitor glanced up at the speaker above the hatch a moment then looked back at Alex. He stepped through the hatchway into the corridor. "I am glad to meet you and welcome to Pern. I am Jaxom, Lord Holder of Ruatha. He had a fairly thick accent and his phrasing was just a bit odd.
Catching the slight emphasis on the title, Tia asked. "How do you prefer to be addressed?"
"Lord Jaxom, Lord Holder Jaxom, or just Lord Holder are all equally acceptable." He replied.
"If you will come this way Lord Jaxom." Alex indicated the way toward the control room.
As the visitor stepped up next to Alex, the airlock hatch closed. At the same time the same small sampling port just inside the hatch again opened to take a sample of the air.
Together, Alex and Jaxom headed towards the control room with the three miniature dragons flitting around them. It was apparent to both Alex and Tia that Jaxom already knew the way.
As they entered the control room Jaxom glanced curiously at the door to the closet where Tia stored her synthetic body. Meanwhile the three miniature dragons continued exhibiting an inordinate amount of attention to the central column that dominated the control room. Jaxom turned his gaze to the central column and his expression showed curiosity, wariness and uncertainty as his eyes swept the length and diameter of the central column but he said nothing.
Normally having so much attention being paid to Tia's central column wouldn't have bothered Alex, since it was supposed to be impossible for anyone to get access to her, but he had seen these creatures teleport in and out of the ship so what could keep them from teleporting into the cavity where her shell was mounted. It would take only a second to do massive amounts of damage to her support systems or even disconnect her brain from the ship network. They could easily destroy her and disable the ship.
Shortly after they entered the control cabin Tia announced. "Alex, the air samples have tested negative for any dangerous pathogens. It should be safe to remove your suit."
Alex removed his helmet and gloves. "Thank you, Tia." He faced their visitor. "This is much better. One of the greatest dangers of our job is unknown diseases so we have to be cautious when we encounter people that are new to us." He pointed to one of the two seats at the control consoles. "Won't you have a seat and we can talk?"
Jaxom took the indicated seat and Alex took the other one. After a second Alex spoke. "So, Lord Jaxom, to what do we owe the honor of your visit to our ship?"
Jaxom glanced again at the central column, where the mini-dragons continued to center their attention, with a puzzled frown then returned his gaze to Alex. "The purpose of my visit is to find out where you are from and why you have come to Pern."
Alex paused a moment at the realization that the planet's catalog designation acronym had become its name. "Our current mission is to catalog all lost or failed human settlement attempts and ascertain the cause of the settlement's failure if possible." He shrugged. "Our records show that a rescue team was dispatched to this planet over two thousand years ago, based on a call for help shortly after all communication with this planet was lost." Alex shrugged. "The report said that the planet was totally unsuitable for human habitation."
Continued in Part 3
( rev 130828 )
'The Ship Who Searched' and 'The Dragonriders of Pern' and their characters are owned by Anne & Todd McCaffery and Del Ray Books. No infringement on copyrights is intended. (I'm only borrowing the characters and promis not to damage them, too much.) This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be freely used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.