Ember
I lay in my bed that evening with my head filled with warring thoughts. It almost felt like the old times, when my human and dragon parts seemed split about Garret. Part of me despaired over attacking Garret's chapterhouse and even more over him leaving again, maybe never to return. I recalled the touch of his hand again and again, the jolt of energy that passed between us, the look in his gray eyes. Seeing how my threats have hurt him was agonizing. To be so close and watch him go and then feel that... I just slid... back down into some bad dream... Another part of me was enraged by him touching me, by Riley letting him to touch me, by them going away to help defend...
I stood up and went to the kitchen. As I drank a glass of water I told myself, that I was feeling better. Then I picked up my phone and chose a contact on the list.
"Ma'am CEO." I heard Adam Roth smooth self-assured voice.
"Report." I requested curtly.
"The attack was a failure. The soldiers of the Order of St George were warned about our plans and prepared. Stealth, helped them. We've lost vessels and have no confirmed losses on the enemy's side." He said a matter-of-factly. Wasn't he fearing a punishment? I was glad, to hear that nobody has died and angry that nobody has died.
"How many vessels have we lost?" I asked.
"All of them." He answered and I hang up.
All the vessels lost! Stealth a traitor! Oh no, Garret will hate me! Oh I will give him reasons to hate and fear me! I felt dizzy and went back to bed cursing Riley, Garret, the hatchling growing in my belly and the indolent Adam Roth.
I needed to establish my supremacy before pregnancy made me bound to the facility. And everything seemed to work against me. I ignored longing for Garret's embrace and tried to think of the next move, but nothing came.
Talon was vulnerable like never before with our best remaining Viper turned traitor and the Order of St George being angered by my treason... I suddenly felt exposed and alone in the apartment among humans. I picked up my phone again. "Rose, can you send a Gila to... keep me company tonight?"
"And here she is." Adam Roth announced, as the screen showed a huge black shape sweeping down and taking out our last adult vessel. Somehow Riley and Garret were already there, Riley protected Garret from first blow of dragon fire... My headache was intensifying as the day brought only losses and bad news for me to deal with.
"How did they get there so fast?" I asked absentmindedly.
"That... we don't know ma'am. That and many other things... The Archivist have denied me access to most of Talon's databases. I believe that it's a mistake. Stealth have been part of Talon for centuries, there must be some information about her, that we could... leverage. And... Commander Sebastian's parents have worked for the organization until their respective deaths. Even if we don't find something to blackmail him with, maybe he'd be willing to... make sacrifices to get to know more of his parents?" I felt a flash of red hot rage. He would blackmail Garret for information about his parents?! This was... disgusting! But a part of me was ashamed of not thinking about it myself. But I would sooner die, than give Adam Roth any more power and influence. I was glad to hear that the Archivist was still acting with my best interest in mind, even if he's stumbled here and there. And maybe I was curious about Garret's parents myself. A chill ran down my spine at the thought of his father, attaching electrodes to my head, stealing my memories... I had other memories of him too. A man of endless ambition, driven only by desire to advance his inventions and to avenge his family. Both desires so easy to exploit, to bend to Talon's needs. And his son! At the same time so different and so alike.
"Ma'am?" Adam Roth asked and I realized, that I was lost in my thoughts again. I cursed myself for showing weakness in front of such a powerful potential rival.
"I'll take care of Garret Sebastian and Stealth." I said trying to sound more self-assured than I felt. "I want you to keep an eye on the Order. They move, I want to know. Someone visits them, I want to know." I said out of lack of any plan or strategy.
"With all due respect ma'am. Their base is destroyed, they must have suffered some losses, I say we move in and kill them off now." He interrupted me. I looked at him just long enough to make him question if it was wise to contradict me, before I said.
"They have a couple of very good soldiers and two dragons on their side. In meantime all of the Vipers have gone missing and we have lost almost a hundred vessels attacking them. Unless you volunteer to fly there and finish them off by yourself, I suggest you follow my lead." I said sweetly and this time I didn't need to stare him down for more than a second before he averted his gaze. I was getting a hang of it. But I knew, that he knew, that I was full of shit. I needed to come up with a great plan or a major distraction soon, if I didn't want him to stab me in the back... literally.
"There's nothing very exciting to know about Stealth in our archives really, Vipers are Elder Wyrm's secret unit and were protected from most surveillance from the rest of the organization. The only thing unusual about her is, that she has two human forms, Elder Wyrm's request back in time, when Vipers were established and Stealth's original human form attracted too much attention... She was an okay Viper, but her heart wasn't in it really and as Talon succeeded in breeding some more... suitable dragons, she stepped down and let Lilith take over the leadership of their small unit. Since then she's mostly trained hatchlings in combat and hmm... stealth, took an assignment or two every now and then. She was chosen as new leader after Lilith's death, because she's the oldest Viper. Everything we've got on her is here." The Archivist laid a thick file on my desk and then pointed to the other two.
"Garret's mother Sarah Beckham, we only had a social security number on her. I took liberty to investigate her and found out, that she grew up alternately in an orphanage and with her mother's brother. When she was infant, her father died in a mining accident and her mother had mental breakdown and was admitted to a mental hospital, where she died of pneumonia. Her uncle had a drinking problem and when things were grave, her aunt would drop Sarah off at orphanage doorstep, just to pick her up sometimes months, once a couple of years later. Sarah was a good student and received an array of scholarships that allowed her to study biotechnology. There she's met her future husband." The Archivist added a couple of printed pages, I looked at her school records, a couple of pictures from her driver's licenses and yearbooks. One of her as a baby in her mom's arms. Garret's mom was a pretty young woman with her grayish blond hair bound in a pony tail or a lovely bun. She didn't smile on any of the pictures and this made her look thoughtful and mysterious. I was raised in the facility myself, only with Dante and our trainers and evaluators... Yet I imagined, that Sarah Beckham had even harder a start. And once things started to look better...
"And Dr Olsen?" I looked up from the pictures.
"Garret's father was born in Denmark and came to the States as a postgraduate student. He was outstanding and innovative in his research of possibilities cloning living organisms presented... He got quickly spotted by Talon, as the organization was looking for a solution to our modest numbers and lack of success in breeding more. He brought his wife into the organization as his assistant. We have reports of all his projects and some footage of him. I have dealt with him at numerous occasions. He was an introvert gray man, unless he talked about his work. Then he lit up. He was very proud of his inventions and not at all concerned about any... ethical issues. Exactly what we needed." The Archivist placed an extern drive on my desk.
I wanted to ask him what to do. But I went behind his back when planning the disastrous attack. Did I still value his opinion? And if I didn't, then better not ask for it.
"Thank you. I'll look into this and... ask you, if I have any questions." I said forcing a smile.
"Of course." He bowed slightly with ancient dignity and left.
Something made me take Garret's mom's pictures home. He definitely favored her, except for pale blonde hair, he had from his father. I also printed Dr Olsen's pictures and now sat on my white sofa and looked at them with mixed feelings. I doubted Garret would sell the Order for mugshots of his dead parents.
I felt strangely ashamed of snooping. Like I've stolen something from him. And he didn't have much in the first place. I felt sudden irritation. Who cares about Garret's parents? I was probably going to have to kill him anyways! This thought caused a wave of panic and pain rise in my stomach and I ended up standing up and running to my bedroom. There I opened the safe behind a panel in my closet and after screwing the code up a couple of times, I tossed the papers inside on top if some jewellery. I bought lots of it after becoming CEO to replace my hoard of shiny things I lost, when I went rogue. I hardly ever looked at them, it seemed like diamonds and gold wasn't enough to replace the feelings of security and love, that the original collection used to bring. I slammed the doors and the panel in and thrown myself on the bed breathing heavily.
I needed to refocus. Garret-related stuff made me doubt everything again.
The Order of St George have destroyed all our vessels. Stealth helped them. Garret and Riley were with them now. We couldn't get through to any of the remaining Vipers. Adam Roth had some ace up his sleeve, so unfazed and cool he was with all this. It was probably only a matter of time before Jade finds out and Eastern dragons come snooping, demanding answers. My head swam. I was tired and shaken, I haven't eaten since noon. I just wanted to sleep. Yet at the same time I needed to act now! To hell with rest, I'll sleep when I'm dead. Groaning I stood up and went to the living room. I ordered a pizza and sat down on the sofa opening my laptop. If I've learned anything in my entire life it was that, there's always something one can do.
In the morning Rose was shocked to find me already at the office. I couldn't sleep so I decided to walk. Rock, my bodyguard wasn't thrilled, but I bet he was happy, when we finally arrived and I dismissed him.
"We need to keep an eye on the remaining soldiers of the Order of St George. Watch them, listen to their phone calls, go through every email and text. I'll need a team to do this. Could you pick some for me? And no need to involve, Mr. Roth, I'm going to handle this myself." I rattled out as she watched me with unreadable expression. I must have looked! Another sleepless night, no bath, but there was no time. The Order was going to retaliate and I wanted to be ready and poised to strike the final blow.
"Of course ma'am. It will be done immediately, would you like me to get you some breakfast?" Rose answered. I was about to decline but my stomach grumbled. I better remember to feed this hatchling body or I won't even last one hundred years.
"Yes please. A lot of it. Must have an omelet and a strawberry smoothie." I answered and looked back at my screen when Rose left the office. So far I haven't got much though. Any attempt at remembering my former companions and what I have learned about them during our time together brought up overwhelming guilt and fear, so I decided to find out what they were going to do, without analyzing my memories of them. This have been done before.
I was irritated, that I had to carry the burden of these memories without being able to use them for anything.
But in the end it was my memories that brought us the solution. Four busy days later, I woke up from a bad dream and it struck me.
Cobalt have spent twelve years looking for breeding facility. His first objective would be to free the dragonells from the hatchling facility alongside their eggs!