Beneath Sovereign Skies

by Bobmin356

Harry and the dragons fight to find their place and gain acceptance amidst growing international tensions. Not all is well and good as the Weyrs threaten established powers and offer new opportunities. Follow Harry and the dragons as they try to navigate increasingly turbulent waters of international politics, terrorism and intrigue. On indefinite hiatus.

11. Chapter 11

Standard Disclaimer:

Bob walked onto the stage and noted the video camera pushed into a corner. He turned to Alyx, "I thought you were making the ultimate nut shot fail video?" he asked.

Alyx looked up from the book she was reading. "Ummm well I couldn't find any volunteers and my involuntary volunteers escaped. Besides, who needs another nut shot video, the big Internet money is in cat videos!"

Bob looked around warily. He loved cats, but knowing Alyx they would soon be playing host to two hundred cats.

"So what are you doing now?" he asked. Alyx was supposed to be writing the disclaimer; telling people they didn't own Harry Potter or the Dragon riders of Pern.

"I've decided to corner two very lucrative markets on the Internet since the shelter only had one hundred kittens instead of the two hundred I wanted," she replied. She didn't feel the need to tell Bob that she ordered the kittens via Amazon and they would be delivered in two days.

Bob gestured for her to continue.

"Well, this is my facebook," she exclaimed proudly, then thrust the heavy tome into Bob's hands.

He looked down at the huge book and frowned. "Facebook?" he muttered, but he couldn't deny it, the Book was clearly titled 'Alyx's Face book'.

Alyx squealed happily at Bob. "It's gonna make us rich! We can sell copies and people will line up eagerly to buy it."

Bob glanced up at her, then down at the massive volume. He cautiously opened the book to a random page. Inside the book was a face. No, not a picture. She had somehow managed to peel away someone's face and staple it to the page. It looked strangely like Mark Zuckerberg.

The eyes suddenly popped open and stared at Bob, pleadingly. "Help me," the face whispered.

Bob screamed and dropped the book, stepping back.

"Face Book!" Alyx exclaimed brightly. "I have hundreds of entries."

Bob wiped his face with his hands, subtly checking to make sure it was still secure, then he turned to face the audience. "Why don't you folks read the chapter while I try to explain to Alyx what Facebook really is?"

---

Beneath Sovereign Skies
Chapter 11
Fallout

---

Harry's Office, Campbeltown Weyr, August 3rd, 2004...

The day after the affair with the United States saw Campbeltown for the most part, relaxing again with riders getting back into their studies or jobs.

For Harry it was a day spent explaining again that the Weyrs and America had been working together and yesterday someone misunderstood their orders. Harry didn't like outright lying, but he knew he needed America, and the Weyrs needed America. He took comfort from the fact that Presidents don't last forever and someday soon they might find themselves working with someone they could deal with.

After an early morning press conference, Harry spent his morning hours talking with his Weyrleaders about what happened and exactly what message they needed to send to their host governments. The Weyrs would publicly adhere to the American cover story, but privately some of the World's leaders would learn the unvarnished truth from their Weyrleaders or from Harry directly.

Lee Jordan was another who was working extra hard that morning. He and Harry had participated in an short news conference in the early morning and then Harry dumped the rest in his lap. The world wide press were looking for answers and Lee would spend most of the day discounting rumors and correcting misconceptions before they made headlines.

After talking to his Weyrleaders, he spent another few hours on the phone explaining in detail what had happened. For the most part the world leaders had had spoken to were generally understanding, although several strongly urged more restraint and mediation instead of using force. On the whole, most approved of his actions and were grateful for a quick end to the crisis.

Lord Mills found Harry still in his office mid afternoon. A platter of sandwiches untouched on his coffee table. James watched him quietly for a few minutes.

Harry reached for his tea and sipped carefully while paging through the emails from the other Weyrleaders offering to help Condron train their security. He was pleased to see everyone coming together to support Condron, this was the kind of bonding he hoped would happen among the Weyrs.

Kat had sent Harry a document outlining a preliminary plan to enhance the Weyr security. The Condron Weyrleaders had stayed up late preparing the document and it was pretty clear that yesterday had rattled them both.

"Harry, have you got a minute?"

Harry looked up and smiled at Lord Mills. "James, come on in," he said. "I'm just reviewing Skip and Kat's preliminary plan for Condron's security, very dry reading I'm afraid." He paused and watched James enter. "So are you here to yell at me?"

James sat down opposite Harry and sighed. "No, not really but I received a rather startling phone call from the PM this morning. You really had the chaps at Whitehall in a tizzy yesterday and between you and I, I believe the PM was ready to have kittens for a while there. It seems the Americans are rather put out with you. While they haven't declared you Persona Non Grata, they complained to us that we need to exert more control over you. Unfortunately the cover story they invented prevents them from doing any more than grumbling. The Bush administration doesn't dare let it leak out what really happened, and since part of the cover story implies a good working relationship between the Yanks and you, well they can't complain too much I'm afraid."

Harry arched an eyebrow at James. "And the PM's reply?" he asked warily.

James smiled slightly. "Mr. Blair reminded the American Ambassador that the Weyr is an autonomous entity and you in particular are not under anyone's control. He also had some rather harsh things to say to the Yanks about honoring their obligations. It is the opinion of Her Majesty's government that your actions were justified, if a bit melodramatic. He also asked me to remind you that the United Kingdom and the United States are close allies. For the most part our interests and theirs coincide most of the time, but we would rather not be put in an awkward position if a conflict arose between Dragons and the United States.

"Privately he asks that you do try to avoid putting yourselves at risk. He knows dragons hold an important role in humanity's future. He has no wish to see anyone hurt."

Dobby appeared and handed James a mug of tea just the way he liked it. He accepted the mug with a murmured thanks and watched Harry carefully.

"Considering the situation we would have been within our rights to take any action necessary to release our people," Harry countered carefully.

James took a sip of tea then he nodded. "Yes, the PM is very much aware of that fact and he is very grateful that you opted for a show of force instead of using force. While Her Majesty's government might not be willing to admit it publicly I do get the impression that the PM and his staff were surprised with how quickly you resolved the crisis and you managed to do it without any bloodshed."

James leaned back in his chair and smiled. "I think the PM was rather impressed, once he got over his initial shock. Mr. Blair asks that should you believe you might be in such a position, come to him first. He might be able to give you options you haven't thought of. Or perhaps even offer mediation services."

Harry nodded, it had occurred to him to ask the British to intercede on their behalf. But he was aware of the current situation with the Blair government was supporting the Americans in the middle east. He hadn't wanted to ask the British to help when he knew that would have resulted in conflicting interests.

"The PM also passed along a question from Her Majesty, who was concerned about the dragons. She wanted to know if any of them were injured," James said.

"Skip Taylor received a rifle butt to the head because he tried to prevent some marines from disarming Kat, but no dragons were injured. There were no other injuries and the only other item of note is that Luna's Trandieth caused some minor damage while perched on top of their presidential jet. Apparently the plane uses a special paint and it turned out that this paint was especially vulnerable to dragon dung. Trandiath seemed rather pleased with herself and I'm told that nearly forty percent of the top of the aircraft has been stripped down to the bare metal. The Americans are not happy with the fact that they have to repaint the aircraft," Harry said, trying to suppress a smile. "I seriously considered an offer to pay for the paint job if the Yanks offer to repave the roads their tanks tore up. In the end I guess we'll all have to pay for our own problems."

Skip had told Harry that fixing the Weyr streets would be cheap compared to repainting Air Force One.

James blinked and started to chuckle. Dragon dung is very hot when it's fresh and rather runny and takes at least six hours to cool down to room temperature and solidfy. He could easily imagine what a full load of that wet gooey stuff would do to paint.

Harry waited until James calmed down before he continued. "James, Condron has assumed full responsibility for Weyr security, including ground patrols and we'll be bringing their research center under the DSL umbrella. At the present Campbeltown has no plans, nor any reason to do the same. The situations for the two Weyrs are very different. I had Condron assume control because I wanted the American military presence removed from my weyr. Unlike here, Condron now has to deal with the fact there is no trust at the moment between Condron and the American government.

"I would like to rebuild that trust. I need to rebuild that trust, we have commercial contracts with the Yanks that we cannot easily walk away from," Harry admitted, "But it's going to take time. Removing the military guard that enabled those tanks into the weyr is just one small step on the path to rebuilding that trust. Skip and Kat have standing orders to evacuate all three American Weyrs if they ever feel that the Yanks are trying something funny again. That'll mean severing all economic ties with the Yanks and their businesses. It's a drastic move on our part and I made it plainly clear to Bush that if we made such a move, we'd be sure to tell the public exactly why we pulled out."

Harry looked at James pointedly. He was sending a message to the British. If the Americans messed up again, there would be new opportunities for someone willing to take in the dragons. Harry knew that the British and American interests often matched, but the British weren't above taking advantage of someone else's situation. Should the Americans and the dragons have a fall out, the British would have an opportunity to help themselves to the new opportunities offered by three Weyrs looking for a home.

James nodded soberly. Harry's message was clear and James would be happy to pass it along to Tony Blair. James was also pleased to note that it implied a great deal of trust in the British. He knew that trust was based entirely on mutual respect and the history of how the British government had treated the Weyr.

"I can understand that, and when I talk with the PM, I'll make him aware of the situation. Rebuilding trust is not an easy thing and I know the PM won't like that there is an issue now between dragons and the Yanks. However, if I may suggest, perhaps it might not be prudent to ask a third party to help mediate any future problems."

Harry fell silent for a long moment considering the idea. "I suppose it's worth a try," he said finally. "But if a Weyr finds itself under gunpoint again, I can't wait around while someone tries to arbitrate a solution; not when my riders and dragons are in danger."

James nodded, Harry's position was very understandable.

"The other item I wanted to bring up concerned the power plant construction in Germany and Austria. The German police were investigating one of their trade unions for organized crime links; instead they uncovered evidence of the union being influenced to slow production of anything related to dragon power plants. It wasn't a work stoppage, or anything major that would be noticed by the employer. What they found was a systemic problem of delays and costly mistakes resulting in production delays, coupled with payments into the union coffers from an untraceable source."

Harry grunted softly.

"Remember when you spoke about the problems facing the Weyrs?"

"Yes I remember," Harry admitted ruefully. He had long suspected that someone was working against the Weyrs even after the attacks at the construction sites ceased. Now, here was the proof.

"Well you see, the thing is, the Germans have found evidence that someone is trying to slow construction of the power plants by slowing construction of the machinery that goes into building a plant. We've been so busy concentrating on protecting the construction sites that it didn't occur to anyone that someone could impact construction without attacking the building sites.

"The disturbing thing is this appears to be an organized effort. We suspected something along those lines when the construction sites were attacked, but now it's looking like its a confirmed fact. Someone wants to delay or halt construction."

Harry's expression soured and he glanced up to a world map that was peppered with little yellow pins marking the location of every construction site. The map contained a lot more information, but it was the construction sites that interested him most.

"How do you fight back against that sort of tactic?" he mumbled to himself.

"You and your dragons don't. We're going to insist that all future UK contracts include a time based penalty," James said. "The Americans have been doing that since the beginning, that's why there's been no slow downs at their sites. Basically if a company is contracted to provide something for the power plant, they have to provide it on time or suffer a monetary penalty. Each subcontractor will be warned before hand about the problem so they can be on the lookout for and signs of work tampering. A little warning before hand will go a long way to finding and stopping these issues."

James leaned forward in his chair. "Harry, this isn't something for the Weyr to get involved over. The various governments and companies building the power plants need to be concerned, but the Weyrs can't do any more than what they are already doing. I only mentioned it because I have an uneasy feeling about this."

Harry's eyes narrowed and he gazed at James intently. "Oh? Uneasy how?"

James shook his head. "Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it, but it struck me as odd that someone willing to spend so much money would go to such an effort and not resort to more direct action. I mean there is a lot of money changing hands for very little result. With the management of the involved companies aware of the problem it will be harder to cause further job related problems."

Harry studied James for a while. "Is this also the position of Her Majesty's government?"

James shook his head. "No. No, this is just something that has been bothering me since I first learned of the German investigation. From what I've been able to tell, no one has told the PM that there is a concerted effort afoot to slow the building of the power plants. Or maybe he knows and realizes that it's really not our problem to fix," James offered.

"Harry, Sheep Guy is using his instincts," Chekiath said, butting into the conversation. "I've noticed that humans tend to ignore their instincts and sometimes they are right to ignore them. And sometimes they are not right. Sheep Guy is giving you a warning however vague. I think you should listen to him."

Harry smiled and glanced over to his dragon. "You're right about that mate. Its just a hard warning to prepare for. I'll enter it as an item for the next Weyr leader meeting."

He turned back to Lord Mills. "James, I appreciate the warning. Chekiath is right, I think we'd probably be a lot better off as a race if we listened to our gut feelings more often. I'm not sure what we can do about it, but I'll mention it at the next Weyr leader meeting."

James stood. "Thank you, that does make me feel a little better. I was afraid you'd ignore it."

Harry shook his head. "How can I with Cheki around? At worst it's a false alarm but Cheki thinks it's worth talking about, so that's what we'll do."

Moscow Military District Headquarters, The Kremlin, December 2004...

General Iskady Sukov entered the outer office and barely acknowledged the greetings from his aide, Captain Irina Hannanov. She had followed him from his previous posting mostly because he did not want to have to find a new mistress. He considered himself lucky, she was efficient in her work and equally efficient in his bed.

The reason for his preoccupation lay sitting where he left it last night on his desk. A message from Minister Danakov proposing a series of new provocative tests against the dragons at Joensuu Weyr. They had already run some tests which allowed them to judge the capability of the dragons. Such tests included several car bombs, a fire and deliberately sabotaging a commercial commuter jet causing it to crash shortly after take off from Joensuu airport. From these tests they learned how quickly the Weyr could respond and how they would respond.

Now Danakov was proposing several tests which would dangerously increase their chances of exposure.

Sukov's political masters had been rattled by how quickly the United States had given into the dragons and they suspected the dragons had abilities they didn't know about. How else was a country like the US forced to concede so quickly? The Russians were not buying into the American cover story and had enough intelligence information to suggest something had happened that the Americans weren't talking about.

The American government wasn't talking about the incident except to say that due to garbled communications a unit commander acted improperly. Said commander was put on leave pending investigation and was that. Officially there was no word at all from the American government about the press reports of dragons being spotted at most major US air force and Navy air bases.

Privately every western government and quite a few others realized that no one knew how to fight a foe that could teleport vast distances in seconds. Quite a large number of generals around the world were shaken and scrambling to find out information that could lead to new combat doctrines.

Sukov sat at his desk rereading the file that Danakov had sent him late yesterday. The door opened and Irina entered carrying a silver tray with a coffee pot and a cup. She placed the tray on a nearby table and deftly poured a cup of coffee. She placed the coffee on Sukov's desk and then reached for a file folder.

"I have your morning dispatches comrade general," she said softly.

Sukov looked up and nodded slightly then returned to his report. It wasn't always easy to concentrate with Irina around, she had a sultry voice that had caught his attention when she was a newly commissioned captain assigned to his office five years earlier. It captivated him then, and captivated him now.

She paused and noted he was reading a report he had received earlier. "Is something bothering you Iskady?" she asked.

She knew that he would allow these small lapses in discipline, but only when they were alone like now. His wife of thirty years lived in the country, away from Moscow and he hadn't seen her in nearly four years. Her health had been declining for nearly a decade and it was why he finally succumbed to temptation and took Irina for his mistress. If his wife would stop lingering and just die, he would gladly ask her to marry him despite the twenty year age difference between them.

He valued her contribution to his life, both in the bed and out and occasionally he would talk to her in broad terms about issues that were bothering him about his job. For all their conversation however, Irina could readily admit that he never once divulged a secret she wasn't already cleared to know about as his personal aide.

"This report from our Minister Danakov. He proposes some provocative actions and I am uncertain that they will prove anything of any value," grumbled Sukov.

Sukov leaned back in his chair and looked out the window. Moscow had a fresh blanket of snow that always made the city look better than it really was. "These dragons have reaction times that would make our best squadrons green with envy. We struggle to put twenty four aircraft in the air in less than fifteen minutes while they can get over five hundred dragons airborne in less than three.

"We struggle to coordinate so many planes, but the dragons have no need of airborne radars and ground controllers. They can do by instinct what takes months to train our pilots and controllers to do. And now Danakov wants to try direct action to confirm some things that he has read in the western papers. Will a dragon suicide if it's rider dies? That Japanese dragon appeared to do so when his rider was killed, but do we really know if the rider's death caused the dragon to suicide? We do need to know such things, but it is a dangerous thing he is suggesting."

He turned in his chair to look at Irina, "I worry that if we're caught, we might find ourselves in a conflict we are not ready for. If our sources in Washington are correct, what the dragons did to the Americans is disturbing. We are not ready for that and we may never be."

Irina nodded. She knew intimately what the state of their readiness was since she compiled that information for her general every month. Progress had been made on improving the infra-red missile guidance systems and that was the good news. The bad news was that little progress had been made to counter the dragon's ability to go Between. Modern fighter aircraft were not designed to go up against opponents who were capable of violating the laws of physics.

Sukov had watched hundreds of hours of videotapes showing dragons in flight. The dragons frightened him, they seemed to know instinctively where the other dragons were at all time and their flight patterns violated Newtonian physics! A dragon could be heading south at two hundred miles an hour, then jump Between and come out going north with no loss in airspeed! As a former pilot himself he shuddered to think of what it would be like going up against the dragons even in a modern top of the line aircraft. Their ability to go Between meant that they could command the airspace and the air battle despite their slow flying speed.

He had even seen one video of a dragon following a commercial airliner. The airliner was traveling at least twice the speed of the dragon, but the dragon kept up using a series of jumps Between. In that two minute clip, the range between the dragon and airliner never once altered by more than a hundred meters.

"I'm sure Minister Danakov would not ask if he didn't think it was important," Irina offered.

Sukov sipped his coffee thoughtfully, then he held out the report for Irina to take.

"You are probably right Irina but we are not ready yet so we must be cautious. Draft a reply to our good Minister agreeing with his proposal, but suggest that he uses people that have no direct connection to us, and that he picks another Weyr other than Joensuu. It is too close and might arouse suspicion," he said.

Irina stood and took the report. "A wise precaution sir. I will have a letter prepared for you to review shortly," she replied. She started to walk to the door, then she stopped and turned slightly, allowing her profile to show. "Lunch today Iskady?" she asked with a sly smile.

Sukov looked up from his desk and his eyes raked over her breasts covered by her uniform. "Yes captain, I think a working lunch would do us good," he replied a bit eagerly.

Irina smiled, then she turned and left the office. She had a letter to write, and a report to send to her other master at the intelligence service. Irina loved Sukov, but she also had a duty to the motherland and so far she had reported nothing but praise for her general.

Campbeltown Weyr, December 27th 2004...

Harry reread the email printout in his hands for the third time, the disbelief was clear in his expression. He sat at the main table in the hall along with the rest of the Weyr's leadership. They had gathered together waiting to hear they were needed.

"The Red Cross is suggesting that we stand down. A number of factors have come together, political, racial and even religious that make it unwise for us to participate without being asked," He said softly. "The Red Cross says that even the Red Crescent is having difficulty sending material and aide workers to the disaster scene. For some reason the local government is reluctant to allow foreign workers in."

A day after the single greatest disaster in living memory occurred and the Weyr was frustrated by the slow response of the governments involved. Harry could understand the politics, some of it motivated by religion and some by outright fear caused by what the dragons did to America. Not for the first time and certainly not for the last he cursed the American President for being an idiot. Some countries were more open towards the Weyr now that they proved themselves unwilling to follow Washington's examples, other countries however were wary of Weyr involvement, afraid that the Weyrs were a wild card.

This was just another case of the fallout and the Weyr would have to cope with it as best as possible.

His voice carried throughout the hall thanks in part to the hundreds of dragons listening in and repeating the words to their riders. Harry looked up with a very unhappy expression. "We're not going," he said flatly.

"Harry how can you accept that? Are you going to let so many suffer when we can help?" May demanded angrily.

May glared at him for a moment longer then went back to staring at the television which was broadcasting images from one of the greatest disasters in the past hundred years. Just yesterday a massive earthquake triggered a tsunami that some experts were claiming at least a quarter of a million people may have died.

The television was muted, but the images of the destruction were heart wrenching.

Harry shrugged helplessly. "Sweetheart, I want to help, but you heard what the Red Cross had to say, Indonesia is reluctant about asking for outside help and so far, only Thailand has requested assistance. I sent in Sakushima as soon as they asked. India is asking for material aid only, and so are many of the other affected countries. The hardest hit however are reluctant to allow outsiders in to help."

He spoke to May directly, but his words were for everyone.

"As much as we may want to rush in, you know the rules, until the country asks, we cannot simply show up," Harry added. "The IRC has been asking hourly to send SAR units to Bandeh Aceh and the Indonesians are dragging their feet. Isikara says they have everything in hand in Thailand. In the meantime I have five full Weyrs on standby, over 2500 dragons and riders just waiting for a chance to help out. I can't do anymore than that."

"What about some of the other countries?" May asked plaintively.

Harry waved his hand towards a map supplied by the International Red Cross showing the affected areas. "It's the same issue there as well May. The Thais jumped to accept dragon help, the Indians seemed to think they weren't needed and Sri Lanka says they are buried under aid people and have more help than they can deal with.

"Parts of the African coast have been affected, but those regions are sparsely populated and some of them are currently embroiled in civil wars, even the Red Cross is shying away from sending people into a war zone."

Harry paused and took a deep breath, it was obvious to everyone that he was as deeply frustrated as May.

"The International Red Cross and the World Health Organization are hoping to set up an international conference in six months where they can hammer out a plan for dealing with disasters of this scale. Our British Red Cross representative has requested that we send someone to represent the Weyrs. But that's for the next major disaster which, frankly, I hope happens well after I'm gone."

Harry waved a hand at the television mounted against one wall. "I never want to see something like that again," he said fervently, then he turned back to May. "Think about it from my perspective, I can put three thousand riders into the field who have been trained in first aid and SAR techniques, but politics is preventing all but a small token force to sit and watch this unfold on the telly."

May sat down and Hermione put an arm around her. Everyone knew she was the person that had led the effort to get the Weyrs involved with the Red Cross, and everyone felt her frustration. May keenly felt the need to do something, but without approval from the countries involved all she could do is watch and feel guilty because she wasn't helping.

Harry watched her for a moment, then he relaxed slightly. Hermione comforted her and that would do until tonight when they could have some time to themselves. The dragons understood the scope of the disaster, but they didn't understand the politics that prevented their help. Tonight all six would draw comfort from each other.

He glanced up at the rest of the division leaders and their wing commanders who had watched the whole scene with intense interest. The leaders of Campbeltown were present, but so were most of the riders who had been waiting for their turn to be called up. Everyone wanted to know why they were still sitting in Scotland nearly twenty four hours after the disaster.

Harry sighed and reached for the printout of the email he had received.

"As I told May, politics are preventing us from participating where we'd be most effective. I received an email from our Red Cross Liaison who says that the current government in Indonesia is stonewalling a lot of aid from reaching the affected zones. There are even reports of some armed militant bands roaming the affected areas with government permission. Several UNESCO units have reported being fired upon by unknown assailants."

Harry paused and took a breath. "Sakushima is performing superbly according to the Thais. Thanks to their timely request Sakushima was able to arrive within three hours and effect the rescue of some one hundred and forty people who had been washed out to sea and managed to find something to cling to. That is on top of those people our dragons located buried under rubble."

Harry looked up from the paper when an appreciative murmur echoed through the packed Kitchen Hall.

He grimaced and tried not to let his annoyance show. "They are estimating nearly a quarter of a million dead and another million injured. Estimates of the number of people made homeless range from two to six million. As precious as a single life or even one hundred and forty lives are, it is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the scale of this disaster."

A number of the riders openly flinched at Harry's harsh reply.

He crumpled the email in his fist and took a deep breath. There was no sense in getting angry with his riders. The hall fell silent again at his rebuke, and he looked over at Ronan. "Ronan, the Weyr was ready to respond with all wings and disaster equipment in just twenty one minutes, that is our best time yet. Let's make that the standard for future drills. It is not our fault that we weren't asked to help."

Ronan looked up in surprise and nodded.

"On a more pleasant note, Campbeltown found those missing hikers yesterday, and Minnewanka reports saving a fishing boat and crew up Bering Straights last week. Our efforts to provide humanitarian services continues. As much as I am frustrated and angry by that," he said pointing towards the telly, "we really can't let it deter our operations or our morale. It pains me to say it, but there will be other disasters where we will be able to have a positive impact.

"Lee will hold a press conference in the morning in which he'll state that while willing; we cannot render aid to countries that haven't asked for aid. He'll point out our efforts in Thailand and hopefully that will answer some of the press that have been asking why we haven't turned out for this disaster."

Lee looked up from his seat and shot Harry a broad grin. Like Harry, he had reluctantly learned to talk in front of the cameras even if he hated it.

Everyone nodded at that. The press had been asking why the Weyrs hadn't turned out for this disaster since it first started. It was a black mark that they needed to combat in the court of public opinion. Reports out of Thailand however were showing dragons helping. Tomorrow Campbeltown would make it known that they weren't asked to help, placing any blame squarely back on the countries involved.

"Your response to this disaster and the speed in which you made us ready to respond is commendable. I thank each and everyone of you for your efforts. Ronan, send a message to Condron, Minnewanka, Shetland and Joensuu to stand down from the alert. If they haven't called us out by now I doubt they will," Harry added, then he gathered up his papers and stood and left the Kitchen Hall.

Ronan stood slowly and looked around. "You heard the man, let's get our stuff packed away and get back to business."

The riders slowly stood and filed from the hall. Everyone was unhappy with the situation and they knew they would have a hard time explaining to their dragons why they weren't helping.

Lac Logipi Weyr, Kenya, January 2005...

Sorth craned her long neck skyward and watched the aircraft make another pass over the Weyr. Most of her body was safely inside her Weyr and protected by six meters of rock, only her head and neck were exposed.

The Weyr was hidden from detection by the wards emplaced by the Campbeltown riders. It wasn't perfect protection and Sorth knew that, which was why her weyr were currently huddled in their personal Weyrs, hidden from view from the heat seeking devices built by man.

Sorth pulled her head back inside and turned to her mate.

"Dreth, the machines do not go away."

Dreth turned to Sorth. "Rest easy my mate, they cannot reach us here in our Weyrs. Let them look, the Weyrleader says they cannot see us. If we expose ourselves, then they can find us. Unlike us, they cannot stay in the air for long."

Sorth bobbed her head and gave a snort. "You are wise and desirable. I chose well when I picked you for first consort," she admitted with a touch of pride.

Dreth's eyes whirled with bright green streaks at the compliment. "Of course you picked well, I am most nimble in the air. Even your second consort cannot out fly me. It is a shame you cannot cover me on the ground like the riders do. I suppose we'll have to wait until the humans go away."

Sorth snorted again and moved closer to her mate, rubbing her head against his.

"Silly male," she grumbled good naturedly, "be patient."

Overhead the twin engine turbo-prop plane flew past, still looking for the Weyr that was known to be in the vicinity. Officially the aircraft was chartered to search for possible oil deposits. The pilots watched the aircraft be fitted with modern sensing machinery, but they weren't familiar enough with aerial surveying to know the senors had little to do with detecting oil deposits.

The magnetic anomaly detectors had little to do with detecting dragons, but then, the Saudi Arabian general that paid for the mission didn't know that.

Sorth continued to rub her head against Dreth in anticipation of covering her later. But for now she'd be patient. If the humans in their flying machines came again tomorrow, she'd bespeak to Chekiath and let The Weyrleader know.

Mikawa bay, Japan, January 2005...

The small boat bobbed gently in the swells. Had it been daylight the boat would have caught anyone's eye. Sleek and built for high performance and high speed, the cigarette boat drifted slowly in the sluggish current. There were two men aboard, two strangers that had met for the first time only a few hours ago when they took possession of the boat. Neither man knew the other's name, instead they called each other by their function. One was the shooter, the other the driver.

Neither man knew that two other boats were also on the bay monitoring their progress and hoping to record the events as they unfolded.

It was dark and the only lights came from the buildings on the shore. Nearby Sakushima Weyr was lit up by flood lamps mounted on posts along the perimeter of the Weyr and a pair of Land Cruisers slowly patrolled the fence line.

Security was tight at Sakushima, but for different reasons than some of the other manned Weyrs. Sakushima drew people that wanted to meet dragons, or wanted to be dragon riders. Unlike Campbeltown, or even Condron, there were no religious fanatics out to denounce the dragons. No one wanted to hurt the dragons. The Japanese as a nation had fallen in love with dragons and their riders.

Shooter played with his sniper rifle and muttered under his breath about the lack of a stable shooting platform. The Weyr had been checked carefully and there simply wasn't a place on the island that would allow the shooter a chance to get away. Sakushima Weyr was on a small island in Mikawa bay, there was the Weyr and a few commercial buildings and piers, but no place to hide, and no real way to escape.

Shooter was a veteran of operations around the world, and he often worked for the Russians even if he wasn't one himself. The Russians respected him and his skill at getting a job done, which explained why they had obtained a million dollar speed boat for his getaway.

"Dawn is twenty minutes from now," Driver whispered. "If the information is correct, they will lift off in just twenty five minutes."

Shooter grunted in acknowledgment and he adjusted his rifle scope for the tenth time. They were less than five hundred yards from the shore, near the point where the dragons had been spotted assembling for their patrols.

Twenty five minutes later he sighted in on a group of four dragons that were assembling for the morning Weyr patrol. He picked his target and carefully tried to steady his weapon, then he pulled the trigger. He grimaced, the boat was rocking in the gentle swells and his shot wasn't going to be on target!

The driver gunned the engines as soon as he fired. Both men knew that escape was now the only thing they could do.

In the Weyr a rider slumped against her dragon, held in place only by her riding harness. The dragon bellowed in anguish and the other three dragons leapt into the air to chase down the boat. They clearly heard the shot.

The group of riders that had been coming off late night patrol quickly ran to the aid of their comrade. She was hit low in the back; the bullet was off target due to the rocking of the boat. Around them the Weyr awoke to the sound of dragons bellowing in anger and the intruder siren.

The driver looked behind him and soiled himself in fright, his engines were at full throttle and there were three dragons practically on top of him! All three dragons bellowed in anger, then the shooter stood and aimed his weapon. The lead dragon, a Chinese Fireball belched a staccato of fireballs that blew most of shooter's torso apart and set the bow of the boat on fire. The driver screamed again in fright and dove over the side of the boat.

A second dragon slowed and turned around to scoop up the badly injured driver. Jumping from a boat doing seventy miles an hour is not a smart move no matter how scared someone might be. They were returning to the Weyr when a second group of dragons lifted off with their injured rider for the short straight flight over the bay to the nearest hospital.

Campbeltown Weyr, February 2005...

May watched Harry from the window of their home. He stood alone, outside, looking up. Lobsang had just left for Maziang, he had been the last of the Weyrleaders to leave after the meeting. Harry valued Lobsang's advice. His unique Buddhist viewpoint colored his dragon rider instincts. It made for an interesting mix and Harry found that Lobsang often had a different way of looking at things that allowed Harry to see other possibilities.

The meeting had been especially troubling and Harry had kept Lobsang longer than the others. World wide there had been a number of incidents against the Weyrs, some minor and some major. All seemingly unconnected and yet to Harry and the others it seemed like someone was testing the Weyrs.

"Is he still out there?" Hermione asked quietly.

May nodded, "Yes. He and Lobsang spent an extra three hours alone. They even had Dobby bring them dinner in his office."

"Do you know what they were talking about?"

May shook her head. "No, I arrived back from London just as the Weyrleaders meeting was breaking up."

Hermione's expression brightened. "Oh how did you do?"

May turned away from the window and the curtain fell back into place. She smiled at her sister wife. "My research paper has been approved and I'll have my certificate by the end of the month," she replied happily. "All these years I've been the Weyrhealer, but now I have the degree to back that up."

Hermione closed with May and hugged the girl. She had graduated from Law school a year ago and now spent most of her days writing and reviewing contracts for the Weyr. "I knew you'd get it May!" she exclaimed. "Have you told Harry?"

May chuckled, "He knew. Three days ago when he and I were having our 'quality time', he apologized to me for not paying more attention to what was happening. He's been really worried since Lakoshi was shot."

Hermione smirked at May's phrasing, 'quality time' was a term she invented that May and Harry had adopted. It was so much better than calling it 'shaggin time'.

May walked over to the couch and sat down. "Harry has been preoccupied a lot lately," she admitted a touch unhappily. He always made time for his girls, but sometimes they could tell he was preoccupied by the issues confronting the Weyr and not really concentrating on them.

Hermione joined May on the couch. "I know he has."

The door opened and Harry walked in. He pulled off his flight jacket and wandlessly banished it to the closet, then he turned to both girls and smiled wanly.

"Lobsang has an interesting and very fatalistic approach," he murmured. "You know about the problems we've been having?"

Both girls nodded.

"Then you also know that for the most part, there's no evidence linking any of the problems. It all appears unrelated except that it's happening to us," he said. "I have spent nights trying to puzzle out some connection and I can't see any. When I asked Lobsang, he said, 'in the absence of any real proof that everything is connected, we must wait until such evidence appears.'"

Harry sat heavily in the chair across from the two girls and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't like it, but he's right. We have suspicions and no proof and until we have proof there's nothing we can do. Well, almost nothing."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sheet of computer printout paper, then he leaned forward and offered it to May.

"What's this?" she asked as she took the paper. Hermione slid over from her side of the couch to look over May's shoulder.

"Sirius found out which day you're supposed to graduate, so I had Karen book us three a two week stay just outside Athens. I've booked a villa for two weeks, with housekeeping and cooking services. I thought about a hotel, but Chekiath reminded me that many hotels still don't cater to dragons."

May's eyes widened and she looked excitedly at Hermione. "You can get the time off too right?"

Hermione nodded, Athens for two weeks was just what they needed to relax and get away from the constant worrying. She turned back to Harry with a suspicious look. "There's another reason for this isn't there?"

Harry flushed and looked down for a moment, then he nodded. "I realized that I had become too preoccupied with Weyr problems. It took Sirius to remind me about May's graduation, and I know I haven't been exactly setting any records in the bedroom in the last two months," he admitted.

"Harry, all of us have been working very hard. May with her school, plus the infirmary and her degree project. I've been swamped with contract reviews so much so that I'm looking among the riders who are following behind me in law school; hoping to find someone I can bring on early. None of us have set any records, but that's to be expected when we're so busy. I can't speak for May, but you've always been available to satisfy my needs."

Harry watched her carefully, then he glanced over at May who nodded at him. He ran a hand over his head both girls knew it was a sign of his nervousness. It wasn't often that they saw this level of behavior from him and it usually occurred when he had to deal with emotional issues.

"I understand that, but I can't help feeling that I haven't been able to give you both the attention you deserve," he offered.

"So that's why you booked this trip?" May asked.

"That and to celebrate your graduating," Harry replied warily. Despite their assurances, he still felt a lingering guilt because he hadn't had enough time to devote to them.

May stood and walked over to him and unceremoniously sat on his lap. "Well I do think you're wrong about not giving us enough attention, but I'm not going to turn down a trip to Greece. So thank you," she said, then she kissed him on the nose.

Harry blinked in surprise, then he smiled. Both girls were very understanding and that made him a lucky man.

Down the block from the Weyrleader's house Karen Clark woke to find her bed empty again. With a sigh she sat up and threw on her robe, then she shuffled from the room.

"Ronan, come to bed," she said sleepily from the doorway.

Ronan looked up in surprise. "I'm sorry did I wake you?"

Karen frowned. "Yeah by not being in bed," she replied grumpily. She moved closer to him and peered over his shoulder. He was working at his computer and had his CAD program up. "What are you working on?"

"I just finished reviewing that tool for May, you know to clear a blocked egg?"

Karen nodded. The issue had come up several months earlier when an non-bonded dragon died because the egg she was trying to lay became blocked in the birth canal. It happened on occasion and May had figured out it was a result of the egg shell being too thick and hard. Most dragon eggs were leathery and flexible until they came in contact with air which caused the shell to harden.

May asked the Weyr design group if they could design something that could help a dragon without killing the egg.

Ronan's group ended up coming up with two different designs, one that would result in a destroyed egg and one which they hoped would deliver the egg safely. He had argued with May that sometimes the egg might be too big and too hard to safely deliver no matter how much they dilated the birth canal. No one wanted to give up on a potential dragon, but even May understood that she couldn't save every dragon. Reluctantly she agreed to the two different design approaches.

"So do you think it will work?" Karen asked.

Ronan shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. Like I explained to May we don't know how much we can force the birth canal open before we start hurting the clutching dragon. I'm afraid it's going to be one of those things that we have to test under fire."

Karen nodded, then she gestured at the screen. "Well that doesn't look like an egg puller."

Ronan grinned. "No, this is something we've been playing with in our spare time. It's just a design right now, but I have some of the guys making a scale model. The real thing will be nearly eighty feet long and will cost us a lot to build."

Karen arched an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Ronan nodded and hit the save button. He looked at the screen wistfully. "We're probably at least five years away from trying to make one."

He shut down his computer, then he stood and stretched.

"Promise me you'll build every safety feature you can think of into it?" Karen pressed.

Ronan nodded and reached out a hand to caress her belly where a barely noticeable bump was. Karen was pregnant, but it had barely become noticeable. "Sweetheart it's going to be at least five more years before we can build this, but if it will make you feel better, then I promise, for both of you," he said.

Karen shivered delightfully and grabbed his hand. "Come to bed love, lets make love and let me sleep tonight in your arms."

Ronan smiled and let Karen lead him to their bedroom. For the moment medical instruments and flights of fancy were forgotten.

The Red Sea, May 2005...

Pokreth soared lazily above the crystal blue waters, his eyes eagerly searching for his quarry. He was a young dragon, a member of Lac Logipi Weyr. It was one of his nest mates that had been killed by the wizards when The Weyrleader came to the Weyr's rescue.

The Kenyan Weyr was thriving under the watchful eye of the The Weyrleader who seemed to hold that particular Weyr close to his heart. While he visited the Weyr infrequently he often spoke with Sorth the senior dragon of the Weyr about problems they were facing. Harry's wives understood that Lac Logipi was turning into a 'test bed' Weyr. It was usually among the first if not the first places Harry selected when initiating any new security or Weyr ward upgrades. May and Hermione were among the few that knew Harry's real reasons for his interest in that Weyr. It was the first place he had willfully ordered the deaths of people and now he felt personally responsible for the Weyr's safety.

Pokreth was from one of Sorth's clutches and he secretly harbored a desire that someday he'd be worthy of being senior dragon like his dam whom he greatly respected. Sorth was greatly respected in the Weyr and among dragons world wide for her close relationship to The Weyrleader.

Pokreth dropped down to roughly five hundred feet, then soared up to over three thousand, all the while looking for the tell tale signs of a dolphin pod. The dolphins of earth were beasts unlike the ones on Pern. They couldn't talk nor could they help the fisher crafthall. When the time of beasts ended the dragons had been shocked to discover that the dolphins of Earth weren't capable of interacting with man like they had on Pern and that put Earth's dolphins on the menu.

It was felt that humans had somehow altered dolphins, making them smarter and capable of communicating, but the humans of today lacked that ability. So for now dolphins were on the menu of many Weyrs, but only sparingly.

Pokreth searched for dolphins perhaps once a month; when he spotted one he'd call to the Weyr and they would come to help him catch enough dolphins to feed at least ten dragons. The dragons were concerned that they didn't over fish the oceans and that meant they only took from the biggest pods or schools of fish and they were careful to avoid taking too many of any species.

In the distance Pokreth spotted a small boat that was billowing smoke from it's stern. He began a gentle descent to investigate when an intense pain struck him from behind and he faltered in the sky. His left wing collapsed and he began to spiral downwards with no way of controlling his flight. A second later instinct kicked in and he jumped Between to escape the pain.

Below the small missile patrol boat turned off it's smoke generator and resumed it's normal course. The commander grinned to himself because their plan was flawless. The plan was simple, distract the dragon by appearing to be a boat in trouble and hope it wouldn't detect the Royal Saudi Air Force F15C coming up behind to shoot an infra-red seeking missile.

Overhead the F15 turned northwest heading back to it's home base at King Fahad Air base in Taif. The pilot knew his mission was a success, but it wouldn't be declared as such until the data and video tapes had been examined by the analysts.

Harry's Office, Campbeltown Weyr, August 2005...

Harry didn't look up when the door to the office opened. He knew his secretary wouldn't allow just anyone into his office and Chekiath was in his spot, watching Harry intently.

"Harry you wanted to see me?" asked Lord Mills.

Harry looked up from the map he had been examining. "James, do come in, just the man I wanted to see."

He waved the older man over to his desk and pointed at a map. James put on his glasses and bent over the map to look at it. The glasses were something new and he personally felt they were a sure sign of impending old age.

"The Red Sea?" he asked, then he looked up at Harry. "What about it?"

"No, not just the sea," Harry replied. "What can you tell me about Saudi Arabia?"

James frowned and sat down in a chair. "Well the Saudis control one of the largest oil fields in the Middle East. Compared to some countries in the region they are considered to be relatively moderate in their political leanings. Of course I don't need to tell you their standing on dragons."

Harry grimaced. "No, you don't need to tell me."

He sat and fiddled with a pen on his desk for a moment. "James, what I'm about to tell you is a Weyr secret, meaning it's known only to the Weyrleaders and a few select others."

James' frown deepened, he had long suspected that the Weyr was keeping secrets, but he never suspected that Harry would openly admit to it. "Harry you know that while I am a great supporter of the Weyr and you personally, my ultimate loyalty lies with my government and country."

Harry nodded. "I know, in fact this is one of those times that I'm counting on just that."

"Oh?"

"In the month of May, a dragon that was hunting for a dolphin pod went missing over the Red Sea. The dragon in question was less than ten years old and in good health. He just upped and vanished without a trace," Harry said grimly. "Then a month later another dragon vanished under similar circumstances. One dragon, it could be from a sudden illness, two dragons makes it doubtful. Earlier last month a third dragon also vanished, only this time she managed to send a message that she had been attacked before jumped Between."

Harry gestured to the map. "Six different countries border the Red Sea and if you take into account each countries claim to territorial waters, they all overlap! The dragons all come from Lac Logipi, they had been fishing the Red Sea for dolphin since their awakening, and now suddenly someone is managing to kill any dragon that goes there."

Harry sat down and clasped his hands on the desk. "I have considered our options carefully and while I could insist that Lac Logipi start fishing in pairs, I cannot rely on un-bonded dragons to identify the source of the attack. I am considering sending a couple of manned wings to see if we can smoke out the attacker and take appropriate action if we do find out who is doing this."

"Harry," James said in a cautionary tone.

Harry held up a hand. "James you cannot deny us our right to defend ourselves. However given what happened the last time we had this kind of problem, I'm taking an alternate path. I am giving you notice that in September, Campbeltown and Lac Logipi will begin joint overflight exercises in the Red Sea. The Weyr does not wish to start a conflict, especially with a country that the United Kingdom is friends with, but..."

He trailed off and shrugged a bit helplessly. James knew exactly what Harry was talking about. It had taken many months to soothe the feathers of the American Government, the Weyr's actions had embarrassed them greatly. Now Harry was once again preparing to thump a possible ally and his government needed to know about it.

James stood. "Then I best see about talking to the Prime Minister as soon as possible."

James turned and headed for the door. He stopped at the door and turned back to Harry. "I hope we can find you another solution," James said.

Harry looked up from his map and smiled grimly. "I hope so too James. I really don't want to fight anyone but I can't ignore this either."

"You know, you really haven't pinned this on the Saudis yet," James offered.

Harry frowned tightly, "I know it, and I promise you I'll not take action without first knowing exactly who's behind it."

"Right, well I best be off. I'll be back as soon as I can," James replied.

Harry watched him leave then he turned back to his map and pulled out a fresh pad of paper to write on. He was hoping the British could help resolve this, but he had to make plans in case they failed.

Moscow Military District Headquarters, The Kremlin, August 2005...

"This was just delivered by courier General," Irina said as she entered his office. In her hands she held a padded manila envelope.

"Ah, excellent. I have been wanting to view this," Sukov replied. He stood and took the envelope from her hands. He carefully opened it with a knife and withdrew a VHS cassette.

"Should I leave General?" Irina asked.

"No Irina. I value your opinion on military matters, your input could be useful," he replied then he placed the tape into a machine and turned on a television. An image appeared, it was in black and white and rather grainy.

"What are we looking at?" Irina asked.

"This is a copy of a gun camera attack film made by a Saudi Arabian F15C on a dragon over the Red Sea," Sukov replied.

"Their camera is better than ours," she offered cautiously.

Sukov grunted in agreement. The optics system onboard the F15C was superior to what the Russians used. It was something he had lobbied for improving for years without success.

"See there? There is the dragon. According to the display the beast is more than five miles away and facing away from the plane. That white spot is what we believe to be the beast's heat source," Sukov said then he pointed to the display. The dragon was clearly visible in the center of the targeting reticule.

Irina leaned closer to the television. The dragon was visible, but it didn't seem look right. "Why does it look so strange?" she asked.

Sukov paused the playback for a moment. "What we are looking at is the Infra-red imaging mode. For some reason dragons do not appear on normal light cameras except under circumstances which we do not yet understand."

"But I saw the video of the British introducing dragons," Irina protested.

Sukov grunted sourly. "Da. It is most puzzling isn't it? Dragons are visible in the infra-red, but they can be invisible to normal cameras."

"Or a pilot's eyes?" asked Irina in disbelief.

"Or a pilot's eyes," Sukov replied unhappily, then he pressed play on the recorder again.

Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light on the television and when the display returned to normal it was possible to see a smoke trail extending out towards the dragon. The missile sped across the five mile distance in mere seconds and then struck the dragon right hand side, just below the wing joint.

The wing parted from the dragon's side and a few seconds later the dragon vanished from the display. Irina gasped and felt sickened by what she saw. She didn't have anything against dragons and in fact she had watched several bootleg videos about them. There wasn't a lot of information available about dragons in Russia unless you looked at foreign media sources.

The pilot tracked the detached wing for a moment longer before pulling away. The lone piece of the dragon spiraled to the water below. It's presence mute testimony to a dragon who had died at the hands of a human.

The sight of such a majestic creature being killed like that bothered her. For the first time she doubted the wisdom of what her government was doing.

"That is the third time the Saudis have been able to successfully attack a dragon and probably the last," Sukov said.

"The last? Why?"

"They are attracting attention," Sukov explained. "The British have been quietly asking around, most likely because of that Weyrleader of theirs. And no lone dragons have been spotted over the Red Sea since the last attack. Now they always appear in groups of four or two."

Sukov turned back to the envelope and pulled out a thick handful of documents. "Send this and the tape to the analysts, perhaps they can find some useful information though I doubt it."

Sukov turned and went back to his desk where he had been reviewing the plans for new aircraft for the next year.

Irina removed the tape from the machine and took the documents. "I will hand deliver it myself general," she said softly.

Sukov grunted in acknowledgment and she turned and left the office.

Sukov continued working until nearly eight in the evening. Three floors below his office, a member of the night cleaning crew had just finished downloading files from a computer that had been rigged with an extra hard disk and USB port. The man simply plugged in a memory stick to the USB port and it automatically downloaded the information.

It would take a week before the video would be watched in Berlin by an officer of the Bundesnachrichtendienst and another month would pass before the German foriegn intelligence service would share the video with MI6.

#10 Downing Street, London, September 2005...

Harry stepped from the car and nodded in greeting to the security officer that was holding the door open. He had left Chekiath at Gatwick airport and boarded an armored limousine for the trip to number ten. He had been asked in advance to come without Chekiath so as to not alert the media to his visit. The Prime Minister knew Chekiath would be listening in on the conversation via his bond with Harry and he had no problem with that. He wanted to keep the visit secret, not keep the dragon from participating.

The car had pulled into an underground car park one block away from number ten. It was a special entrance that few knew about. Harry walked the remaining distance in a tunnel that exited in the Prime Minister's residence. There he was quickly ushered into the PM's office.

Tony Blair grinned at Harry and waved him in. Nearby his secretary set up a small tea service. Harry sat next to James on the couch facing the desk. He knew this meeting was going to be serious given that the head of MI6 and the Ministry of the Defense were both present.

"Harry, this is Alfred Winniston's the director of MI6," asked Blair.

Harry leaned forward and shook the man's hand. "Pleased to meet you," he said, then he turned to the other man. "Lord Barstow, it's good to see you again."

"You too Weyrleader. I've been asked to pass along some thanks from our 24th SAS regiment. Your dragons found that missing patrol before we even knew they were in trouble," Barstow said.

Harry nodded. "Since we've widened our patrol patterns we do like to keep an eye out for trouble. One of our patrol spotted the land rover as it flipped over and immediately called in help," Harry replied.

"Yes, good work on that," Blair added. "Yet again you and your dragons have helped save the lives of our servicemen and women."

Blair paused and took a deep breath. "Harry," he said slowly, then he continued. "I appreciate your patience in regard to the Red Sea problem. We had several suspect nations in mind and we were diligently looking into all of them. However I can now say that we have proof of who is behind the attacks."

Harry leaned forward in his seat and eyed Blair intently. "Proof?"

Blair gestured towards Winniston, "Alfred would you do the honors?"

Winniston arched an eyebrow at Blair who nodded in return.

"Yes well it should come as no real surprise that the various intelligence agencies around the world sometimes share information they come across, usually in return for a future favor. For example, what you're about to see is a copy of a video obtained by theBundesnachrichtendienst."

Harry's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"The German Foriegn Intelligence service," Winniston said in clarification.

Harry nodded.

"We don't know exactly how the Germans obtained this video, but we were told it came from an asset in the Russian Ministry of Defence. Its a digital copy and our technology boys have enhanced it a little. It was pretty fuzzy to begin with, probably because it was a copy of a copy," Winniston said, then he picked up a remote and pointed it at a monitor on the wall.

Harry crossed his arms and watched in silence as the pilot spoke to someone in a language he didn't understand. There was a dragon in the distance and he could see the pilot lining up his aircraft. The screen bloomed white for a few seconds then it faded away and you could see the missile contrail streaking towards the dragon.

No one spoke as the missile exploded, ripping away the dragon's wing. Harry knew there was considerably more damage than just the wing by the way the shape of the dragon had changed. He closed his eyes in pain and shook his head. "Merciful Goddess," he muttered. The images sickened him and it took all his willpower to control his urge to be sick.

"Harry?" Chekiath asked in alarm.

"I'm fine mate," he replied mentally. "I just had to watch something very disturbing."

"I didn't recognize the language," Harry said finally.

"You were right when you suspected the Saudis," Blair said softly. "There were some other possibilities, but this tape is what our yank friends would call a 'smoking gun'."

"Quite so," added Winniston. "Apparently the fighter was working on concert with a small patrol boat which wasn't visible on the tape. Like many naval vessels, the patrol boat has the ability to generate a lot of smoke. It's a technique rarely used any more, but the idea is to hide the boat in the smoke confusing enemy gunners. In this case however the smoke was used to make it appear as if the boat was in trouble. With the dragon's attention fixed on the boat, it was easy for the fighter to surprise the dragon and get a shot off."

Harry leaned back on the couch and stared at the now still image of a dragon plummeting to her doom. His anger was clearly visible to everyone. He then reached into a pouch tied to his belt and removed a small book and quickly thumbed through it. "The dragons have standing orders not to approach the north side of the Red Sea."

"Could any of them have strayed?" asked Winniston.

Harry looked up from his book and shook his head. "Doubtful for two reasons. A dragon always knows where he is in the air at all times, and they know not to approach the Saudi coast line just like they know not to fly over Iraqi or North Korean airspace. They might not be able to work with maps, but once one dragon has flown the limits, they all know where the restricted space is."

"And they know those limits?"

"Oh yes, Campbeltown ran a series of airspace flights shortly after I spoke at the United Nations in New York," Harry said, then he glanced down at the book again. "Who owns the Red Sea?" he finally asked.

Blair sighed and shook his head. "Harry, that question is a troubling one. Several nations lay claim to the area and depending on who you ask, you'll get different answers. If your dragons have been fishing off the coast of say the Sudan, then the Saudis are encroaching on another country's territorial waters. The problem is that every country bordering that body of water lays claim to territorial waters that overlap with every other country."

"There's not enough visible land in that video to say where it happened," Lord Barstow pointed out. "For all we know from that video it could have happened near Sicily."

Harry grunted sourly, but he had to acknowledge Lord Barstow's point. It wasn't possible from that video to pinpoint where it happened. "Well since the Red Sea is contested I suppose I can order the dragons to keep within sight of the southern shore. Even if they flew a couple of kilometers in altitude, that would still put the southern coast line within twenty five kilometers."

"Why would you do that? Now that you know what happened, shouldn't you just avoid the area?" pressed Winniston.

Harry stared at the man for a moment. "I find myself in an unenviable position," he said finally. "I cannot allow anyone to kill a dragon and get away with it, and yet I am not willing to engage in a conflict when the guilty party is still up to doubt. I am unwilling to engage the Saudis unless they attack us first and Lac Logipi relies on the ability to fish those waters to augment their diet."

He paused and scratched his head for a moment, clearly considering his words carefully. "The area is a political nightmare. The United States has declared the security of the Persian Gulf region to be part of it's national interests, so should the dragons attack the Saudis, it could affect the US as well as the UK. Finally any weakening of the Saudi military may be sufficient to allow some extremist group to take over, they may be more moderate than some Arab states, but they are by no means secure."

Harry paused and took a deep breath. "I am tempted to adopt an Israeli policy of an eye for an eye," he said finally.

Blair blinked in surprise, Harry's analysis of problems he was facing were spot on.

"What do you mean?" asked Lord Mills.

Harry looked over to James and smiled grimly. "They've killed three dragons. The Israelis would shoot down three of their planes in response. If we went looking for their trap...," he replied then smiled grimly leaving the others to consider his implied course of action. If the Weyr found the trap, they would take action.

"Harry," James said in caution.

"It's a sound idea my lord," Lord Barstow said softly, interrupting Lord Mills. "He's not talking about actively attacking unless certain conditions are met. It is a precept of international law that every nation is legally able to defend itself."

"Nation yes, but these are dragons!" protested Winniston.

Harry turned a hard gaze toward Winniston. "Dragons are a nation sir," he said coldly. "We may be a scattered people but we are more than capable of acting in concert like any true nation. If you don't believe me, just ask the American's how they felt when their airbases were shut down by dragons that appeared without warning."

"We happily live within your country and follow your laws for the most part, but the dragons are an independent entity, granted autonomy by your Queen and your government. The dragons will defend ourselves against all enemies. We will not willingly start a conflict, but we won't run from a fight either."

Winniston stared at Harry in shock. He had never really considered the implications of the relationship Britain had with the dragons before. Harry's word had driven home exactly what they had within their borders.

"And if the Saudis back off?" pressed Blair, trying to get the meeting back on track.

Harry shrugged. "Tony I understand what kind of pressure this puts on you, but you need to understand we have to do something. I'll make a deal with you and promise we'll take action only after someone fires another missile. Now that we know what's going on, no missile should catch a dragon that's on alert for it. If you want, you can inform the Saudis that we know what they are doing and intend to take action if it's not stopped. Warn them in the strongest possible terms that the Weyrs will not sit idly by while they kill our kind.

"If no one shoots at a dragon, then we'll do nothing. They are already on our list of countries that are denied dragon products, so we can't do anything economically to them."

Barstow barked a laugh and shook his head. "Weyrleader, you are producing a product and service that is having a significant impact on their economy. Refusing to sell them portable heaters, generators and insulating products is the least of their worries.

"Our analysts had been predicting the Saudi oil fields would be tapped dry by 2070 and the Saudis were doing a marvelous job of ignoring that fact unlike some other Arab nations. Now my same analysts are suggesting those fields might never run dry as the demand for oil drops."

Blair loosened his tie slightly in relief. "So let me see if I understand you. You intend to put some dragons on patrol over the Red Sea, but will do nothing until a dragon has been fired upon?"

"Essentially, yes," Harry replied. "But if possible I would like to prevail upon the British Government to make our position clear to the Saudis as well as the Americans. Finally I ask that you release a copy of that tape to the Weyr."

Blair winced, releasing that tape to the Weyr could cause a problem with the Germans.

"Why do you need that Weyrleader?" Winniston asked.

Harry turned to face the man. "Not all wars are fought on the battlefield Mr. Winniston. If we do encounter a situation that requires us to take action, the Weyr will release that video to the public to explain our actions. I understand you wish to protect the source, so the Weyr would simply say it came from a source inside the Saudi military and we have no wish to endanger that source. The court of world opinion will be where we really face this challenge."

"My God, the Saudis will be roasted alive," Barstow said. "Releasing that video, taken over a month ago will show everyone that the Saudis fired first. Even the Yanks can't complain when the evidence is there for all to see."

Harry nodded in agreement, but he had a plan to ensure that this video wouldn't be the sole source of evidence available.

"Thank you for your honesty and candor Harry," Blair said. "I will arrange to speak with both the American and Saudi ambassadors this week. I would appreciate if you did nothing until at least Friday?"

"I don't think we'll be ready by Friday Tony, it'll take us some time to get organized," Harry replied.

"Thank you Harry, and thank you for coming here today. There'll be a car waiting to take you back to Gatwick."

Harry nodded and stood, then he turned and walked from the room.

Blair waited until the door closed, then he turned to the others. "Opinions?"

"He's a real wild card," Winniston said in annoyance. "Can't we get a tighter control on him?"

"He's not that bad," Barstow countered. "He's looking for solutions that won't injure anymore dragons, but he's right that he has to do something. If you don't set a precedent people will walk all over you. I think we're going to see a very measured and deliberate response over this and I wouldn't be surprised if the Saudis take a major hit internationally over it."

Blair turned to Mills. "James, you know him best, what do you think?"

James placed his cup of tea on the coffee table and leaned forward. "The Weyrleader is a very complex person," he said carefully. "I've watched him growing up from a boy who was buying my sheep in the middle of the night to a leader of a nation of a people. Make no mistake, the dragons are a people and Harry Potter is their leader.

"He seems to be a young inexperienced person, but that is far from the truth. He's led his dragons in battle to defend our country from a major terrorist attack and orchestrated several of the most efficient international rescue efforts in recent memory. Through all of this he's been guided by one principle, the safety of his riders and dragons come first and foremost."

James paused and added some more tea to his cup. "He does not want to fight anyone, but he's been trained by our best in politics and diplomacy. That means he understands that he needs to take action otherwise people will not take him seriously."

He stirred his cup absently and the others sensed he wasn't finished. "I think you can count on Harry to do exactly what he says. The dragons have introduced a complexity to global politics that I expect would give anyone a headache. If I had to hazard a guess, if he releases that video, he'll do so with a lot more footage than what we give him. He'll present the world with a case that is airtight and damning."

Tony Blair snorted and nodded in reply.

"And despite that, there is no doubt in my mind," James continued, "that the problems dragons pose are insignificant to the benefits. For example the Central African Republic has placed an order for one hundred large portable power stations. They will be bringing power to towns and villages that have never seen electrical power before. Harry agreed to help fund the purchase in exchange for space to set up a Weyr. That's just one thing, but it's typical of what Harry's been doing. They will get power for some of their largest villages and we all know that with power, people's lives will be improved.

"In return the Harry will be able to move one of the Weyrs to a more hospitable location. That typifies what Harry Potter The Weyrleader wants to do. He wants to help his dragons and help people, not make war."

Blair blew out an explosive breath. "Well it does tend to see us lead interesting lives. I am comforted by the fact that he recognizes that he needs to work within a complex diplomatic framework. None of us work in a vacuum anymore I'm afraid. I'm just glad he understands that."

Blair turned to Barstow. "Just the same Fred, I think it might be prudent to run a right of passage exercise in the Red Sea. If something does happen, we'll be there to witness it first hand."

Barstow nodded. "I'll see the orders are cut. We have several units in the Mediterranean right now that we can send to the area."

"That's it? That's all you intend to do? Send a few ships to observe?" exclaimed Winniston.

Blair shrugged, "Realistically this isn't an issue which concerns Her Majesty's government Alfred you know that. That it involves a government we consider to be a friend is cause for concern, but unlike the Yanks, we have no doctrines or treaties to worry over. Oh we'll get involved diplomatically because The Weyrleader asked us to, and in exchange he's agreed to moderate his response. I don't need to remind you Alfred that you've been briefed on the full range of dragon abilities, do you really want the Weyr to be tempted to alter history in their favor?"

"He'd never," Mills said angrily.

Blair shot him a silencing glare, "I know that Lord Mills, but I'm trying to make a point here. The Weyr has access to a weapon more powerful than any nuclear device ever made. My predecessor told me that the Weyr could easily send a dozen dragons back one hundred years and completely alter the course of history. No weapon we've ever designed could do that, and we have no defense against it except to treat the Weyrs well enough that they would never need consider such a move."

"He's right about that," Barstow said softly. "The few top analysts in the MOD that know about the dragon's time traveling ability have told me quite bluntly that we can't beat that."

Winniston snorted in derision and Barstow turned to face him. "You don't understand Alfred. We'd need to kill all of the dragons simultaneously. My people think that just one dragon surviving can jump back, even just a handful of years and change everything. Or worse the dragon could go back two hundred years and awaken the other dragons and we'd end up with the dragons ruling us. We'd have no defense against a dragon attack if it came prior to 1900. Frankly I'm not sure we could mount a viable defense against dragons with our forces today."

"And I'll state again, the Weyr will never do any such thing, Harry wouldn't even consider it," James said vehemently.

Barstow turned to James. "Aye, I happen to agree with you my lord, but you know that it's my job to evaluate threats and develop plans to deal with them. The Weyrleader is a wizard however much he tries to ignore it, that means if we're really lucky we're going to see his reign extend for more than a century given his lifespan. Alliances ebb and flow with national interests, but for now and for the foreseeable future I don't believe the Weyr will be a threat to us."

Blair sighed and for the millionth time he wished the head of MI6 didn't have a manic paranoia about everyone. It was as if the person selected for the slot automatically became paranoid. "Thank you for your time today gentlemen. Alfred please see that a copy of that video makes it's way to the Weyr."

Winniston nodded curtly, he still wasn't convinced about the Weyr, but then that was his job. The men filed from Blair's office and the Prime Minister turned to the next issue he needed to deal with.

Glasgow Royal Infirmary, September 2005...

The elevator door opened and Harry and Lee Jordan stepped out first. Hermione and May followed close behind all looking very apprehensive. Harry paused and looked around before spotting a very pregnant Karen Clark tensely shredding a magazine while she sat waiting on information about her husband.

Harry had been in Kenya, overseeing Division one setting up at Lac Logipi when the emergency call came through. He had left Draco in charge while he returned to Scotland with Lee, and May. Hermione met them at Glascow since she had been busy with some important contract talks in Campbeltown at the time.

It was nearly seven in the evening local time and Harry had arrived with the others as soon as they were able to break away from setting up the encampment they would be using. Harry had heard about the accident hours earlier, but had also been advised by Issac that there was nothing he could do to help matters. Rushing home would have served no purpose.

Harry turned and walked up to Karen and had to gently shake her shoulder before she noticed them. "Karen?" he said gently. "Karen."

She looked up in surprise. "Harry? What are you doing here? I thought you were in Kenya?"

Harry shook his head. "We came back as soon as we heard about the accident. How is he?"

Karen glanced up at a clock on the wall and her eyes filled with tears. "I don't know, he's been in surgery for eight hours now," she replied, then she looked at Harry pleadingly. "He was just supervising a milling machine delivery, he's done a dozen of them! How could this happen?"

"I don't know Karen, but we'll find out," Harry said, trying to reassure her.

"It was just an accident Karen, one of the cables on the lift snapped. The machine came down right on his hand," Lee added. Lee had spoken to Mariah who told him more about the accident. She was pregnant again and running the Weyr Public affairs office while Lee oversaw the office's efforts in Africa. "There are some people investigating it, but it was just an accident."

Ronan's design group had been busy installing a new computerized milling machine when the accident happened. The group turned out a number of specialized items for the Weyrs and the new machine would have increased their manufacturing capacity. In fact they turned out so much equipment each month even Lord Mills no longer thought it was unusual for them to be buying up heavy fabrication equipment.

Hermione and May sat next to Karen, bracketing the woman and Hermione put her arm around Karen's shoulders.

"Karen, no matter what happens, the Weyr will take care of you and Ronan, you know that," Harry said.

She nodded absently as if she really wasn't hearing him. Her gaze was fixed on a set of double doors leading towards the surgery area. "But this, now. Two more months and the baby is due," she said in anguish.

"And your husband will be there to help with the delivery," added a new voice.

Karen looked up in surprise and shot to her feet when she spotted a surgeon standing in the open doorway. The man looked tired and sweaty, it had been a long and grueling procedure and now he had the hard part, delivering the news to the family.

"Mrs. Clark?" he asked. "I'm Doctor Cristos, I'm the surgeon that just finished working on your husband."

"How is he?"

Hermione and May stood and each placed a hand on Karen's shoulders.

The doctor noted the others around Mrs. Clark and arched an eyebrow.

"These are friends of my husband and myself," Karen said. "Fellow dragon riders."

Cristos nodded. "Yes well your husband arrived here with four fingers amputated and his hand pretty well crushed. Initially we were concerned by his loss of blood volume but we quickly got him transfused and prepped for surgery."

Cristos paused and took a deep breath. "I'm afraid the news is mixed at best. We pieced the bones back together in his hand as best as we could, but there was considerable damage. We were able to reattach two of the four fingers, but the rest of his hand was too badly damaged to allow us to attach the other two. I'm afraid he lost his pinky and ring finger. The next seventy two hours will be critical to seeing if he can maintain adequate blood flow to the reattached fingers. If not..."

Cristos trailed off and shrugged.

"And if he can?" pressed Harry.

"Then the fingers will survive," Cristos replied. "But that doesn't guarantee they will be functional. I'm afraid Mr. Clark is in for months of rehabilitation in any case. Right now I am reasonably comfortable with saying that I think his fingers will survive, I believe we have managed to restore good blood flow. If you want a guess as to how much functionality he'll recover, ask me again in four months when he's had time to undergo therapy and we've had a chance to see if the nerves are reestablishing connection."

"Can I see him?" asked Karen timidly.

Cristos frowned for a moment before replying. "Briefly. They will be moving him to recovery in a few minutes. He's still unconscious from the anesthesia and I don't expect him to wake until tomorrow morning at the earliest. I'll let you have a few minutes with him in the corridor, then I want you to go home and try to rest. Your husband is going to need your support and you don't need to be stressing your pregnancy. Your husband is alive and will survive this and that is what you have to focus on."

"We'll help her," May said and Karen shot her a grateful look.

A pair of doors opened nearby and two nurses and an orderly pushed a bed with Ronan on it into the corridor. The doctor motioned to them and they stopped and waited. Karen glanced at the bed and paled, then she took a deep calming breath and approached the bed. Hermione and May followed not too closely behind her.

Ronan lay on the bed, a monitor between his legs was beeping softly. His right arm was in a cast that extended from his wrist to his elbow and his hand was heavily bandaged and rested on a pillow. His complexion was nearly white, but he seemed to be breathing steadily and strongly on his own.

"Doctor," Harry said, "please inform your director that there will be a few dragons in attendance while Ronan is here. Garanoth is very agitated by the loss of connection to his rider. Once Ronan wakes up it will reestablish itself and he'll calm down but even I couldn't order him to leave his rider's side for long right now. I promise that there will always be a rider and several dragons here who will help keep Garanoth calm."

"Yes I heard what happened when you were hospitalized here Weyrleader. In fact one of our residents has been hoping to speak to someone at the Weyr. He hopes to put together a guide for other hospitals to use when treating dragon riders."

"That's a right good idea," Lee muttered, then he pulled out his wallet and extracted a business card which he handed to Cristos. "Give this to him and have him email me to set up an appointment. I'll see about arranging for our Weyr doctor to be present as well."

Cristos nodded gratefully, then he turned to join Karen at Ronan's bed side.

Harry waited until the doctor was out of hearing then he swore softly. "Hecate's teats this is all we need," he swore, then he turned to Lee. "Ask Nancy from Div 2, Wing 2 to schedule some of her people so that someone is always here to help control the dragons."

"What about a press release? You know people are going to want to hear about this." Lee asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes, we'll have to do that as well given Ronan's position. It's well known that he's my second, we'll have to announce something. I'll have to talk to James too, I don't know but I think we're supposed to report accidents like this. This is just a cock up that we don't need right now."

"Who will take over Division Two?"

Harry frowned. "I will keep an eye on it. Kelly Prichard will be nominally in charge however, everyone else is already up to their eyeballs with tasks. Ronan can have it back when he's ready."

"It's a shame Madam Pomfrey can't regrow limbs on muggles," Lee offered softly.

Harry grunted sourly. He had already spoken to Issac upon returning to the Weyr. Magic will be able to help Ronan's recovery, but it can't regrow lost limbs on muggles. As it stood Magic could barely regrow limbs on wizards and the process was said to be so painful, most wizards opted not to undergo it.

"You heard the doctor, Ronan is going to be out of action for months and he may never return to full capacity," Harry said, "This may be the first time, but it won't be the last time that a rider will become injured badly enough to be unable to perform their regular duties. We're going to need to address that."

Harry fell silent for a moment while he considered things. Even the rider who had been shot in Japan eventually recovered fully. Ronan would be the first to receive a crippling injury in the line of duty.

Lee shook his head, "He still has his design group," he offered.

Harry paused and glanced over to where Karen stood next to Ronan. "This is such a stupid waste," he muttered then he turned back to Lee. "Get together with James and let's survey the rider's families again. Ronan's injury could have been avoided if we had people with more experience in an industrial setting. There must be family members with engineering and manufacturing experience that we can tap to help us. Hell, hire them on as supervisors to help keep us from killing ourselves. Right now we have Ronan and the others, still fresh out of college and still learning the practical skills. Hiring on some people to help is bound to help prevent accidents like this. Let's check the families first, then we'll branch out to hire others if need be."

Lee blinked in surprise, then he said, "You know, that isn't a bad idea Harry. I think... oh hold on a moment, here comes Karen."

Harry turned to Karen and tried to give her a reassuring smile.

"I guess I don't need to tell you that Ronan won't be able to perform his duties?" she said softly. Her eyes were red from crying and Harry could see that she was barely holding together.

"Karen," he replied gently. "Ronan is a rider and will always be a rider. The Weyr will see he gets the best care and we'll see you and your baby also get the best care."

"And if he can't ride again?" she whispered.

Harry frowned. "Karen Clark you listen to me. Your husband is a rider, Garanoth is still his dragon and nothing will change that. If he has trouble performing his duties, we'll help him until he can, or we'll find new duties for him. As of now I'll take over Division Two on a temporary basis. I am confident he will return to lead the division. Besides, his second has been trained to handle most of the issues so I'll just oversee what Kelly does until Ronan can take over."

Harry missed the sour expressions that flitted across Hermione and May's faces at that pronouncement. Karen's doubts about Ronan annoyed him and he was concentrating on her. He was certain that his division leader would recover and return to his job.

Harry paused and his voice dropped lower. "Even if he couldn't ride Garanoth again, it wouldn't change the fact that he is a rider. He's our brother and your husband and I think you're not giving yourself or him enough credit. Ronan will recover and he'll ride again. Until that time the Weyr will stand behind you both and do everything we can to help."

Karen nodded and looked down, shamed by Harry's words. She had been doubting and for a brief moment worried that Ronan's injury might force them to leave the Weyr. She had visions of Ronan being unable to mount his dragon with only one good hand and in her fear and worry over Ronan, she had forgotten the unique bond and brotherhood they all shared.

Harry stepped closer and pulled Karen into a hug. She immediately broke into tears and he shot a pleading glance towards May and Hermione who smirked at him for a moment before coming over and taking Karen from his arms. Hermione let May lead Karen over to a couch while she went to see if she could find a calming cup of tea for their friend.

"Cheki?"

"Yes Harry?"

"How is Garanoth?"

"We're up on the roof of the healing place. Neruth is here and Garanoth is listening to her. Garanoth is very upset but Neruth is helping him think calmly," replied Cheki.

Harry thought for a moment, "Bespeak to Dronth and have him send two horntails to stay with Neruth and Garanoth. We are going to start patrolling the Red Sea in two days with Lac Logipi and I'm going to need you with me."

"Of course you need me. You can't fly without my help you know," Cheki replied with amusement, "I'll talk to Dronth right away."

Harry shook his head ruefully while Lee chuckled at his conversation. Dragons loved their riders intensely, but also enjoyed pointing out their shortcomings as often as possible. If pressed, each rider would admit that they thought the dragons really pitied the humans inability to fly or breath fire.

Harry walked over to where May and Karen sat and he handed May his wallet. She looked up at him curiously. "There is a hotel just down the block, take Karen there and check her in for a least a week. If you and Hermione want to stay with her, or call her family and ask for them to come over. I don't want her alone if possible, just remember that we're going to need you, May, when the division goes on patrol."

May understood. Harry's personal wealth had grown tremendously despite the fact that he mostly ignored it. He wanted her to use his credit card rather than charging it to her account, or to the Weyr.

Harry knew Hermione could spend some time with Karen since she had to stay in Campbeltown and help with some important contracts that the Weyr was negotiating.

---

Author's Notes and Mockeries:

* A number of people wanted some clarification about May and her fainting spell after the bonding. May shared magic with five very magical beings, including Britain's latest mage. What does that mean for May, well she now has the ability of... well nothing. May has been squibbed, just like every other non-magical that bonded with a magical.

Milicent's two husbands, both of whom were muggles bonded with Milicent and the dragons. They are now squibs too. That means that they can see ghosts and dementors, but there are no ghosts or dementors at Campbeltown.

May gained no abilities to speak of. She is NOT a witch. But I do hear she can make a wonderful soufle if that helps.

* There was quite a reaction to us making the United States the bad guys and it was all over the political spectrum, from the obvious (and oblivious) republicans, to the folks that reluctantly voted for that idiot to the people that wouldn't vote for him to save their lives.

I chose to make them the bad guys because following 9/11 we were in a state of paranoia that we still haven't fully recovered from. I chose to make the Bush administration the bad guy because of the things they did in name of 'national security' still echo today. What they did in the story is something I truly believe they would have done.

Alyx adds, "Ah, the Bush years in the White House. I'm not sure there's ever been an 8 year stretch in history that's given late night comics more fodder than Bush did. For that, we should all be thankful. Let's face it, it's the ONLY thing we have to be thankful about when it comes to Bushy-boy!"

* A number of people, mainly Oregonians, have complained that I have moved Mt. Hood into Washington state. First off, Mt Hood has been in Washington since book one and no one complained then. Secondly the Oregonians need to wake up and understand that they lost their war with Washington and have been absorbed into Greater Washagon.

Nuf said.

Alyx added; "My comments on Mt. Hood's new location. First, my husband is geographically challenge. Second, it took you guys two stories plus 10 chapters to SPOT it? What's a matter with you slackers?! Third, I've beaten him about the head and shoulders for his mistake. Mostly because I enjoy it."

* One person piped in on Knik Glacier being very hospitable. Honestly we were surprised that someone from Alaska was reading this. I thought they spent their days chasing moose off their front lawns and hiding from the rest of the country in embarrassment for Sarah Palin. Seriously though, a lot of locales in this story are found using a mix of Google Earth and some net searching. The images of Knik glacier didn't show any structures or roads. The only things I saw were the bigfoot tracks, but we ignored them.

* Caspian123 wrote an interesting review which made no sense at all. Then he tried to explain it away in an email as the review getting messed up. Yah. I'll believe his email, but Alyx still thinks he's on Meth... or toothpaste.

Alyx says "I guess it was nice of you to send Bob an email with your non-drug fueled review. However, I've got to work with what you gave me. My advice? Stop sniffing the toothpaste my friend. I did that once and THERE WERE NINJAS ON THE LAWN! NINJAS!" ~Dives into the closet and slams the door closed~

* Impstar, one does not easily walk away from a half billion dollars worth of contracts. Diplomacy and politics means that even when someone pisses you off, you may have important reasons to continue working with them. There are things going on behind the scenes in Condron that the Weyrs need and do not want to have to start over elsewhere.

The following replies were supplied by Alyx. Go there at your own risk.

* Alifromnm: You graduated in 1994, yet Watergate was your teenage years? Watergate was 1972, so 1994 minus 1972...Damn this new fangled math! So, wanna tell us why you spent 22 years trying to graduate? You get an A for persistence, if nothing else. :D

* Everpresent: Bush + spanking should NEVER be in the same sentence. EVER. Thank you so much for that horrible mental image. Bastard!

* Wakiyamani: I feel as you do when it comes to folks who say that you shouldn't vote if you don't like the candidates. However, I don't think voting for the "lesser of two evils" is right either. If you don't like the selection, they have this nifty little line to write in your own choice. Try it! It's fun! I tried to get Bob elected as a county judge. I figured it would save me on legal expenses. :D

* Tommy Gonne: That's not a fruit cake, my friend. It's a rock. And proper English does NOT include extraneous letters! What is it with Brits and the letter "u" in places it doesn't need to be?!

* Shaggy37: Will we see any more issues created by America? ~Stares at you~ Seriously? It's America – we butt into everything. Oh, you mean as far as the story goes? Wait and see, Rabbit!

* Sparrownightmare: Mmmm...the 10th Doctor. He's yummy. Though I also liked the 9th! Also very yummy – even with the ears. But NO CROSSOVERS! :D

* Red-Jacobson: RED! ~Pounces on you and gives you a noogie~ You know better than to ask for spoilers! But I'll answer you anyway – read and find out. :D