A/N: Thanks again for reading my story. iamdragonrider: 'more evil than Senator Kinsey' – LOL! Is that even possible? That's a shame – I'd love to read your story if you were able to write it. For the record, I have yet to read any of the Pern books. I keep meaning to, but just haven't found the time yet. That said, I don't know if there are any similarities between Rover and McCaffrey's wonderful creations, if there are, they are coincidental. Unless of course Rover's been to visit her. He does disappear sometimes and it's hard to keep track of where he's gone.
Chapter 25 – Questions
Once the initial shock had worn off, Sam still just stared at Jack, then she stared at Rover. Meanwhile, Jack was smirking and thoroughly enjoying himself. It wasn't often he got to see Samantha Carter, super-genius thrown so far off balance. He knew it wouldn't last though, so he held out his watch and looked at it while holding up his other hand, ticking off one finger at a time as if counting down. He said quietly, "Wait for it, hold it, in three... two... one..." He looked at her as she started to smile at the dragon, then said more loudly while pointing at her face, "And there it is – the gleam in her eye as she finds some new doohickey or scientific phenomenon to study."
She turned to him with a dazzling smile and a hint of a blush at his predicting her behavior so easily. "Jack, this is amazing. Do you realize what this means? We can actually communicate with a race of legendary beings that people on Earth think are only a myth. Wait till Daniel hears about this."
"Oh no you don't! If Daniel comes with the rescue ship, you are NOT telling him about the telepathic mythical creatures until well after we've left. I'm not spending any more time on this planet while he tries to become Dr. Dolittle and tells these dragons he's a peaceful explorer or goes into his Chaka mode and chants at the moon."
She laughed a little at his outburst. "Jack, you know we have to tell him while he's here. If we don't he'll sulk the whole way home and I know even you can't resist his sad puppy face when he's sulking." She then turned and regarded the dragon for a moment. "Rover, this town we might see if we go up the mountain, are the people there friendly, or are they like the men who attacked us?"
Rover stared at her for a second and blinked. Then he turned his head and yawned. Sam frowned as she waited to see if she'd get an answer. After a couple of minutes of watching the dragon become completely interested in a bug crawling in front of him, she tried again. "Rover, is it a big town? With a lot of people in it or just a small town?"
Rover poked at the bug with his snout. When it didn't move, he poked it again until it flew away. He watched it and then put his head down on the ground between his front legs and looked up at Sam.
"Jack, maybe he only understands you. I don't think I'm getting any answers."
"Do you think maybe your mind is too complex for him to understand?"
"No, it's not that, I don't know, but he doesn't seem to be interested in what I'm asking."
"I don't think that's it, Sam. I tried asking him if the people were friendly when he first flashed me the thought about going up the mountain. I didn't get any kind of response either. I just think he doesn't know the answer. He's been in this area with us pretty much since he learned to fly. If this town is far enough away, he may have only seen it from the sky and doesn't have an idea about the people in it. He might not know how to say 'I don't know' yet."
He walked over and knelt in front of the dragon. He drew a question mark in the dirt at Rover's feet. "Rover, if you don't know an answer, or want to ask a question, send us a picture of that, ok?" Rover looked at him and wagged his tail.
"Ok. So I'll ask him something I know he knows the answer to and see if he answers me." She thought for a few seconds. "Rover, do you know who Jack is?"
He looked up at her, with his head still on the ground as he wagged his tail once. An image appeared in her mind of Jack. He was near the lake holding a yo-yo. Well, the yo-yo part was actually dangling off the string which was tangled all over his hands as he was trying to free himself from it. She laughed as the vision changed to Jack looking around, as if checking to make sure no one was watching him. Satisfied that no one was, he lifted up a couple of big fish and held them out. She could just make out him saying something, not actually hearing anything, but hearing it in her head like a memory. 'This is just between us, ok buddy?' She turned towards Jack laughing. "I KNEW you were giving him fish when I wasn't looking."
Jack tried to feign innocence, holding up his hands. "What? I don't know what you're talking about. I'd never do that." Then he turned to Rover and winked. "I can't believe you snitched on me, you traitor."
He joined Sam in laughing at himself for a bit, realizing he'd have to be more careful around their little friend now.
Sam turned back to the creature she was now even more in awe of than she had been previously. "Rover, what's it like to fly?"
At this the dragon immediately raised his head and stared into her eyes. In her mind, Sam saw trees whisking by swiftly below her. She saw the glitter of the lake in the distance. She could almost sense the wind blowing in her face. She saw the view shift as she seemed to fly upwards towards the sky, then flipped over backwards and then into a nose dive which was pulled up just above the tree line. This went on for several minutes. Sam didn't want to give up the connection and Rover apparently was eager to share his love of flying. She felt a feeling of exhilaration, it was like what she herself felt when she flew a plane, except even more powerful as there was no machine aiding in the flight.
