6
See part one for explanation and disclaimers. I don't own 'Dinotopia', James Gurney does. Hallmark still owns the characters and I'm still not profiting from this. Hope you're enjoying this. Still recommended for teens and up for action/violence and mild language.
He had tried to blend in by wearing Dinotopian garments, but still the familiar figure in black caught Karl's eye as soon as Pterra reached the marketplace by the falls. The clothes were no disguise for that particular outsider…Karl would have known this guy anywhere. In general, an outsider within the city limits was certainly up to no good, however, some of them managed to outdo themselves-even by outsiders' standards---in causing problems for the peaceful Dinotopians. He'd only been on the island for six months, having arrived courtesy of the squall that took out his father's airplane, but since he'd joined the skybax corps, he was learning fast which outsiders were the worst of the lot. Doris Le Sage and Gabriel Dane were at the top of the list, but the young off-worlder who was emerging from the stairway to the sanctuary below---David Barrett---was number three with a bullet.
Judging by the way the outsider was keeping a discreet hand over his coat pocket and glancing around as casually as possible (for human or saurian guards, most likely), it was a sure bet that he'd just helped himself to something from the sanctuary. As far as the skybax rider knew, there was only one thing in the sanctuary that could possibly interest an outsider. Maybe the next time I warn Marion about this creep, she'll listen to me.
Karl Scott banked the skybax downwards, flying in the direction of the outsider, at the exact moment Barrett caught the sound of the pterosaur's wings beating and spotted his pursuer. The outsider turned and headed for the crowded marketplace. Karl shook his head. Barrett didn't seriously think he was going to outrun a skybax, did he?
It certainly appeared that way. From the air, it was easy to track the outsider even as he tried blending in with the patrons and passerbys or ducked beneath the canopies of the merchants' booths to try to throw off the skybax rider. "Where does he think he's going, Pterra?" Karl wondered aloud.
His skybax uttered a noise that sounded almost amused in response.
Then something that did not amuse the rider happened---Marion came barreling up the stairs from the sanctuary, glanced around the crowd, and spotted the thief at once. Her face darkened with a look of pure fury and she took off like a shot in Barrett's direction. She caught him almost completely off-guard, body-checking him with such force that both of them tumbled into a pile of baskets and rugs. She proceeded to fight him for the object in his coat pocket, oblivious to the highly compromising position they were in. From the looks of it, Barrett was aware of their situation and didn't mind at all.
Karl minded…very much. He felt his ears flush red, jealousy knotting his stomach. "Go, Pterra," he urged the skybax to find a landing spot, no small task with the crowd that had gathered around Marion and Barrett.
Marion gave him an accusing glare that made David feel uncharacteristically abashed. There was something in her large, dark eyes that almost looked like betrayal. Instinctively, he started to apologize, but stopped himself. Where did that dumb idea come from? Instead, he tried a roguish grin. "Bad time to mention that someone should go to the sanctuary and untie that scalie priestess?"
Marion snapped out of her momentary stupor and made a growl that would have done a T-Rex proud. David had the fleeting thought that, for pure self-preservation, he should drop the box and run for his life, and then she renewed her attack, hellbent on whaling the tar out of him. One sweep of her fists knocked the box out of his hands. It clattered across the cobblestone to rest beneath a pile of overturned baskets.
He had no desire to fight Marion, so he caught both her wrists with his larger hands, trying to push her off of him. "Just for future reference…" he told her "…if you ever get into the ring with Le Sage, my money is definitely on you."
That seemed to tick her off even more. "You'd be the one to know," she spat.
He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Jealous?"
That sufficiently flustered her. She hesitated just a millisecond, and David scrambled out from under the girl and dove for the box. Marion jumped onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. That made breathing a challenge…which wasn't a good thing. He felt a familiar tightness suddenly squeeze his chest. Not now, he silently begged his uncooperative lungs. That was another thing that sucked about this island---not one pharmacy or refill of Primatine anywhere to be found. "Okay, this isn't…fun…anymore," David gasped, trying to stave off the attack by force of will. He didn't bring any of the medicinal leafs he used for these attacks with him. That had been a mistake.
He was trying to figure out a way to (literally) get the girl off his back without hurting her and coming up with nothing. Hoping the movement would dislodge her, David awkwardly made his way on hands and knees towards the box. Marion maintained her grip on his neck. Worse, his fingers were just closing around the box when the elderly woman manning the booth decided to jump into the tussle. The woman began whacking the outsider with one of the baskets. It wasn't an effective weapon, but he dropped the box in surprise. The unexpected blows didn't hurt, but the combination of that, Marion, and the impending asthma attack made him falter and still Marion hung on with all her might.
Meanwhile, the skybax was circling overhead, searching for a clear space to land, and more citizens were gathering around, drawn by Marion's shouts and the cries of the scalie from above. He was going to need help if he didn't want to end up a permanent guest of the 'topinas. He raised two fingers to his lips, did his best to draw a deep breath, and whistled for all he was worth.
"C'mon, people, move!" Karl shouted as Pterra circled again in a vain attempt to find a break in the crowd gathered around Marion and that slimeball outsider. The saurian guards were on their way, but from his vantage point, Karl could see they weren't going to get there soon enough to be of help. Marion was more than holding her own against David Barrett, but Karl didn't like the way the guy was looking at his girlfriend…not one little bit.
They were struggling for possession of a small box. Karl knew what it was. What the outsider wanted with Marion's medallion, Karl didn't know and didn't care. He'd had enough of this guy's troublemaking in the last six months to last him two lifetimes. If this incident didn't convince the Council to institute a prison system, Karl didn't know what would.
Karl sighed in frustration, abandoning hope of getting the crowd to move for Pterra. He'd have to land on one of the adjoining streets and make his way to the combatants on foot. He banked Pterra…
…and saw a flash of albino scales and wings as a second skybax glided past, close enough to force Pterra to turn sharply to avoid a collision. Pterra nearly dislodged her rider as she reared up to avoid slamming into the albino dinosaur. The albino skybax went into a steep dive towards the streets below, and let out a cry of unmistakable challenge to Pterra.
"Pterra…no!" Karl gripped the saddle for dear life as his skybax arched downwards in pursuit of the albino and began a stomach-churning chase, twisting and turning around the towering buildings of Waterfall City.
At David's prearranged signal, Freefall emerged from his hiding place beneath the bridge. The albino pterosaur rocketed to intercept the skybax rider. Karl Scott's own mount had been close enough that the outsider could enjoy the look of total shock as Freefall caught him unprepared. Better still, Freefall's appearance drew the focus of the crowd from Marion and David to the dogfight---dinofight-between the two pterosaurs. Even Marion glanced skyward, her grip on his neck slackening just a bit. That was all David needed---he reached back and pinched her right on the butt, just enough to completely unsettle her. She instantly let go, realized her mistake, and tried to stop herself from sliding off by grabbing at the back of his shirt and coat. Her fingers tangled in a cord around his neck, which snapped. She landed on a stack of rugs. David twisted free and snatched up the box before she knew what was happening.
Marion wasn't watching him anymore. She was staring at the cord in her hand and the small, blue meteorite hanging on it. It was an old amulet, probably dating back to the age when her people lived in the World Below. There were markings in the saurian language on what was left of the meteorite's original gold setting. Part of it was an incantation, a prayer, the rest was only two words: Tohma Faiere. Faith Stone.
"Where did you get this?" she asked him, eyes wide.
"Hey! That's mine!" David snatched at the meteorite out of her hand. Marion was about to reply, but he finished her thought for her. "And, yes, I'm aware that I'm a hypocrite…"
He was wary of most of the meteorites, but he'd found this one shortly after his arrival on the island, before he knew about some of the nastier powers the space rocks could wield. It was half-buried in the abandoned caves (supposedly used by the 'topians to survive after the meteor impact) near the inner island. He couldn't read the markings, but he'd figured it was just some old piece of 'topian jewelry. He'd originally planned to barter for food or shelter or as a 'get out of jail free' card if the 'topians ever caught up with him, but somehow he never got around to doing so. It never showed one hint of having powers…
…until that moment. The meteorite began to glow as soon as his fingers closed around it. Brilliant blue light radiated, blinding him. No, not just blinding him, David felt like the azure glow was physically invading his senses, overwhelming them. He squeezed his eyes closed, trying to shut out the light, but images began to swim through his mind, inescapable and uncontrollable and bathed in the blue glow. The image was himself, riding on the back of the familiar pale pterosaur as it glided through the skies over the island. They were flying along the coast of the island.
Was this a memory? David and Freefall had flown along the coast many times to avoid the predators of the inner island. But, no, this couldn't be a memory. In the image, David saw himself wearing the orange-bronze jumpsuit and heavy protective gear of an official skybax rider, and David would be dead and in his grave before he'd think of joining the ranks of the dino-scouts. Freefall was the only scalie that the outsider could tolerate. David had saved the albino pterosaur from one of the traps at the hunting grounds favored by the more vicious outsiders, and the two of them had teamed up for mutual survival. The albino had a loner streak that David could respect; Like the outisder, the pterosaur had also refused to be tamed by 'topians. It would never be recruited by the dino-scouts.
In the vision, David and Freefall---very much in the gear of the dino-scouts---were over the water. Something wasn't right…there was no protective glow of the sunstones' light in the sky. It had to be during the days when the stones had failed, David thought. He and Freefall glided along the coast, both on the alert for carnosaurs, until something on the beach below drew both their attention. Someone was running, and for good reason---a crocodile-like dinosaur emerged from the sea and had designs on making a meal out of whoever that poor soul was. It was a woman, dark-haired, clearly a 'topian. She looked up at the sound of the pterosaur's wings and screamed, "David!"
Marion. It was Marion.
He didn't have to urge Freefall down; the albino was already landing on the sand, placing itself between the future matriarch and the super-sized crocodile/monster. David leaped from the pterosaur's back and ran for Marion. Freefall beat his massive wings at the crocodile, driving it away from the humans as they ran. David looked back in time to see the croc's large teeth clamp down on one of the pterosaur's wings----
David dropped the stone. The blue vision ceased as though he'd awakened from a dream. It had to be a dream or a hallucination, some 'topian method of brainwashing people into thinking they were 'topians too…it for damn sure wasn't a memory. He didn't take a chance on the meteor screwing with his mind again. He used the corner of his coat to pick up the rock, grabbed the box containing the sunstone medallion, and then he was on his feet and running.
Marion called after him, "David, wait!"
Not far away, the saurian guards roared in their scalie-speak dialect. He didn't speak saurian, but that didn't matter. 'Stop thief' and 'Hold it right there, scumbag' was understandable in any language. David ignored them. He glanced up, searching for the albino dinosaur. When Freefall appeared, skimming just inches above the river that ran through the center of the city, the Super Skybax Cop was on his tail. David whistled again, "Freefall!"
Smoothly, the pale dinosaur banked away from his pursuer and veered towards David. Freefall's massive head turned toward the outsider. His massive eye glared at the outsider and then the albino pterosaur blew right past him, leaving David standing dumbly in the middle of the street. He gaped in disbelief. "Where are you going!"
As Freefall streaked away, he made a scolding noise. That saurian command David knew quite well. "Are you kidding me with that! Now!"
Freefall huffed as he Pied Pipered the dino-scout around for another pass through the city, casual as if he had all the time in the world. Meanwhile, half the population of Waterfall City was rapidly closing in on David. He shouted a curse that he hoped his pterosaur could hear and ran back to the marketplace. "I'm trying to make a getaway and he wants me to shop…" David found the booth he wanted and skidded to a stop. The man behind the stand was torn between watching the skybax chase scene and the spectacle of the guards closing in one the outsider. "Ganja fruit please."
The shopkeeper obligingly produced a bag of the purple, apple-size fruit. David patted his pockets and remembered that he didn't have any money (thus his frequent need to appropriate such goods alternate means). "Um, can I owe you?" he asked meekly.
The man nodded, the picture of trust. "Of course, friend. Breathe deep."
David snatched up the bag. "Yeah, back at ya."
He ran for one of the bridges so that, as Freefall approached, the pterosaur could clearly see the bag with his favorite snack in David's hands. The pterosaur gave an approving growl and, in a burst of speed, rocketed away from Scott's own mount to rendezvous with David on that bridge.
David almost made it…until a figure appeared on the bridge, blocking his path. The 'topian boy gawkishly spread his arms and tried to look intimidating, despite the fact that he was a head shorter and twenty pounds lighter than the outsider. If the outsider wasn't working his way into a bad mood at the moment, he'd have found it comical. "Stop right there! You're not getting past me."
David didn't so much as break his stride. "I'm not in the mood, Scott."
Jack Scott, younger brother of the meddlesome skybax rider Karl Scott, attempted a glare. "I'm serious, Barrett. Don't make me…"
David was close enough now to reach out with one hand and push the younger Scott aside. This, in turn, sent the smaller man right over the stone bridge and into the river a few feet below. Scott popped to the surface almost immediately, spitting water and shouting for help to the skybax rider above.
Freefall landed on the bridge. David climbed onto his back. As soon as David had a grip on the reins, Freefall took off. The outsider glanced over his shoulder and saw Scott break off his pursuit of David and Freefall to head for the figure bobbing in the river. There were several dots on the horizon behind them, more skybax riders coming too late to prevent his escape. Satisfied that he was no longer in danger of being caught, David finally let himself relax a bit.
"Does the word 'blackmail' mean anything to you!" he asked the pterosaur.