You may not know it Vin, but you found the Princess Bride quote. "If you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything" was said to Prince Humperdinck by Count Rugen. Well done :D

Chapter 25

Deep under the ruins of Berk, the crews of the three ships had set up their temporary home, leaving only skeleton crews to look after the vessels on rotation. As a man who had always assumed he had seen everything, Professor Adisa was still feeling shocked, stunned and excited; he was so pleased that life on Earth could still surprise him.

"So it's called a Horrible Horror?"

"Terrible Terror" Blue laughed.

"Right... I see... and what is this place again?" the Professor asked.

"The underground dragon stables" Blue replied "There's an exit on the southern cliff face where the Dragon Riders could fly straight in. We found one of the other entrances near the arena."

Professor Adisa looked around at the amazing sight of people living with dragons. The little creatures scuttled everywhere, knowing whoever they approached would either pet them of feed them; sometimes both. Probably the person who was feeling most at home was Doom. She had managed to find a Terror with colouring ranging from deep blue to near black and after being shown by Haley how to befriend it, she had named the dragon Azrail.

"I assume she does know Azrail means Angel of Death?" the Professor asked.

"Oh I'm sure she does" Blue nodded.

"There are so many of them" Linton gasped "How do you keep track of them all?"

"Actually it's not so hard" Blue revealed "Not only do they have different colours and markings, the little devils also have very different personalities so all we have to do is give each one a name that suits it. For example, the green one over there with the yellow splotches on its sides is Daisy, the one sitting with Captain Sumner is Knucklehead, and the one getting a belly rub from Marion Green is called Rollo. Along with Firefly, I'm using those four dragons for a special project."

"What about the rest?" Professor Adisa asked.

"I'm still learning what they're called; some don't even have names yet" Blue admitted.

The Professor looked at all the activity going on around him and smiled.

"I'm amazed at what you've been able to achieve with these creatures in such a short time" he beamed proudly.

"Well I did have a lot of help from the books I'd read" Blue admitted.

"The ones given to you by that DeGroot fellow?"

"Yes; I was able to learn so much about the various ways to gain a dragons confidence, but finding Terrors was a real stroke of luck as they are so easy to befriend and train. Thanks to what we learned working with these little guys, we were even able to make peace with the Smokebreaths... well... kind of."

"What do you mean... kind of" Linton asked the young man.

"In all seriousness, I don't think they really trust us but we've been able to establish a kind of truce by freely giving them metal."

"Do they... eat metal?" the Professor only asked because his previous beliefs had been so completely shattered, he was ready to believe anything.

"No they don't eat it" Blue smiled "they collect metal and use it to build armoured homes; fortified nests would be another way of putting it."

"But where did you get all the metal?"

"We picked up a guy in Canada who actually had a metal detector in his pack" Blue revealed "He's been looking for treasure, and he's found a bit too, but any scrap metal we find can be used to bribe the Smokebreaths."

Professor Adisa smiled at the young man.

"I am so proud of you" he stated "I wasn't sure what would happen after we opened up the Sumatran Complex and you went outside for the first time, but you've adapted well and done so much."

Blues smile suddenly disappeared after the compliment.

"Well... to be truthful, I had a lot of help from Calla."

There was a moment of silence as the Professor took in what Blue had said.

"You must miss her... and your sister... very much" the old man nodded.

"I can tell you this; when it comes to getting them back, failure is not an option I would consider. I'd die first."

'

'

Over the next few days, plans were made and enacted for their eventual departure. The yacht Star Runner was placed on the rear deck of the Striker for the trip across the Atlantic and once it was secured in its cradle, a three meter tall triangular dragon hutch was built around it from wood sourced on the island. Blue did do his fair share of the work, but he would also disappear for a few hours each day. He would go to the main cave of the Smothering Smokebreaths with a backpack filled with as much scrap metal as he could comfortably carry.

On the first day he went, the defensive dragons would not allow him to come within fifty meters of their fortifications. But after he threw a few iron bars to them, the dragons started to show just a small amount of trust. After a few days the beasts allowed Blue to walk up close to their metal wall, where the dragons would snatch the welcome gifts out of his hands. For all of his efforts Blue did not manage to win the creatures over, but he did achieve his main goal of getting these territorial dragons to accept the presence of their human neighbours.

As soon as the conversion work on the Striker was complete the dragons were introduced to what everyone hoped they would accept as their new home, and the whole process proved to be easier than they expected. Firefly, Ginger Nut and Azrail were all happy to follow their pet humans anywhere they went and after a few hours on the sea tug, the other Terrors followed them over out of curiosity only to discover a custom built home with easy access to fish right at their back door.

Now the only thing left to do was to pack up and be on their way back to the west. But first Professor Adisa decided he needed to talk to Blue about something important the young man had been avoiding.

"Blue..." he called the young man aside.

"Don't say it Professor; I can tell what you're after just from your tone."

"Come on Blue... you have to talk to him eventually. And I think it would be better if you do it here where you can still take your time. Once we get underway, you'll both be trapped together onboard ship."

"Not if we go on different vessels" he stated

"I'm serious Blue" Linton declared sternly "The longer you wait, the harder it will be."

The only answer Blue gave his friend and mentor was a deep and heavy sigh before dropping the items he was packing and walking off. On the other side of the dragon stables he found the man he had been ignoring for far too long, and he too was packing to leave.

"So... all this time..."

"Blue!" Henry turned with a start.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I'm sorry Blue... I honestly am. At first it was to protect Luis and April but..."

"We were trapped underground for fifteen years" Blue countered "And for all that time I thought my mother was dead, and my father had abandoned me. You could have told me."

"I had to keep it all secret from everyone" Henry pleaded "If Linton had known April was alive and her death had been faked, he would have opened up the railgun complex and... well to tell the truth, I don't know what would have happened but I was sure it would not have been good. Prime Governor Redding had ordered people executed for far less and I feared for the lives of everyone in the complex."

Blue stood silently and thought for a moment.

"All that could be true... but it all sounds very convenient" he said eventually "I know the Professor has forgiven you but in all fairness, he has become accustomed to being betrayed while it's still very new to me."

"I never meant to betray..."

"All those years I thought I had no family... only to find I was with my Grandfather from day one."

"I know it's a terrible excuse, but if I hadn't done it, if I hadn't abandoned my own wife and son when he was just a boy, Luis would never have been accepted into the Mars Program, he would never have met and fallen in love with your mother; and you and your sisters would never have been born."

Blue sighed and shook his head.

"I believe there is a difference between doing something difficult because it has to be done, and lying about it later because you can't face the truth."

"I... I'm sorry Blue... please forgive me."

The pleading look in his Grandfather's eyes did touch Blue's heart, but he still wasn't ready to grant the request.

"I need more time" he said before he walked off.

'

'

Blue soon found departing from had Berk left him with mixed emotions. Yes he was glad to be headed back to Canada, but there was still so much to learn from the home of the Dragon Riders. Apart from avoiding his Grandfather, Blue had also spent much of his time on the island avoiding Maximilian DeGroot. Fortunately this had not been difficult because the odd man had spent most of his days wandering around the base of the mountain and constantly referring to the ancient books and notes he possessed.

Finally when everyone was ready to leave, DeGroot ran down to the beach declaring he had found it, and begging Blue to come with him. He was more than a little disappointed when the young man refused. When asked what he had found, DeGroot would only say it was a cave; and so because the tide was right and the wind was almost perfect, Blue said it would have to wait until they returned, if they returned.

Later in the evening, the sun set in the west, but that was mainly due to habit. Reed Branson was manning the helm, pleased to be back in command of his ship, and Blue found himself sitting on the same forward hatch of the One and All where he had first seen Firefly; while the dragon in question napped peacefully with its head on his lap. The running lights of the Striker bobbed up and down with the mild swell about eight hundred meters ahead and slightly to port as the two ships made their way in the fading light. With his yacht safely secured on the sea tug, Emerson had brought his sailing experience over to the One and All and naturally Doom had come too.

"These guys would have to be the greatest pets in the world."

"Oh... hi Doom" Blue greeted "How's Azrail doing?"

"Great" she replied "These dragons are just so easy to take care of; whenever they're hungry, they go and catch their own food. And did you know these guys are really tribal?"

"How do you mean?" Blue asked a little confused.

"They're like... how do I put it? They treat us like part of their family. Not only are they protective, but they even share. Azrail came back earlier from fishing and when he had finished eating, he went out again and brought back a big Cod for me; the ships cook is preparing it now."

"He may have gotten it from the Striker" Blue grinned "I saw them haul in a net full of Cod just before sunset."

"He stole it? Why that sneaky little..."

"You mean resourceful" Blue winked.

'

'

Two hundred million kilometres away, the Mars Transfer Vehicle slipped silently into orbit around the red planet. Ever since the discovery and downfall of the Deep Council, who's members had been secretly manipulating the running of Mars Base since its inception, a lot had changed down on the surface. Several members of the Mars Base Citizens Council were found to be either Deep Council members or were heavily influenced by them, a new governing group was formed and one of the first decisions made, was to slow development of Mars Base Two and use it as a kind of prison for all those found guilty of the various crimes that had been committed.

While expansion work did continue at both locations, a new purpose was decided for the two thousand people living on Mars. They had been given help to get established by those left behind on Earth, and so they would now return the favour and assist Doctor Spencer in her plan to create liveable colonies inside some of the larger asteroids of the inner solar system.

Amos Hooke and Sid Cartwright looked down on the Mars surface from the viewing cupola behind the MTV's bridge. They both had a lot of work ahead of them but for now there was nothing to do but wait.

"Did you know there used to be a Mars Bar on Earth in the last century?" Sid noted.

Amos glanced at Sid in disbelief; how did he always manage to come up with some useless yet relevant piece of information, and why did Amos always fall into Sid's trap?

"Oh... really? So what kind of drinks did they serve in this Mars Bar?"

"There were no drinks" Sid replied without offering any explanation.

Amos let the silence continue until against his better judgement, he felt the need to comment once more.

"Not much of a bar if it had no drinks" he mumbled.

"It had caramel" Sid stated in his infuriatingly calm manor.

Amos took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.

"Caramel... with alcohol?"

"No, nougat... and it was coated in milk chocolate" Sid answered.

"So it was a chocolate bar" Amos huffed in frustration.

"Obviously" Sid declared making Amos want to hit him.

Fortunately for Sid, Kwame Moloi chose that moment to make contact with the orbiting ship.

"Mars Base One calling MTV Star Cruiser; we are ready to begin launching your new equipment."

"Message received Mars Base One; standing by" Luis Dias replied from the bridge.

Floating back to the main body of the ship, Luis addressed his skeleton crew.

"Alright you two; your gear is on its way, so it's time for the fun to begin."

'

'

Ah it is good to have Sunday morning off. Nothing to do but water the garden, have an early lunch and edit this chapter. And now all that is done, I still have time for a half hour nap before getting ready for work. Of course you guys and gals won't see this chapter till Friday-ish but it's done anyway and that feels good :)

Late week update... IT'S HOT ! To be exact, 44C (110F). Oh boy, do I love air-conditioning? (yes)