Chapter 37
The tiny radio room adjacent to the bridge usually had only a single operator even though there were two chairs. The room soon became very crowded though when Calla and Captain Debar squeezed in behind Blue and the radio operator, while all the others gathered around the door. As soon as he had taken the only spare seat, a standing microphone slid across the table to Blue, so he pressed the call button and spoke.
"Erm... this is Blue Dias... to whom am I speaking?"
"Hello... my name is Mateo; are you the dragon guy they said was coming?"
"Um yes that's me. Can you describe what you saw?"
"Sure; I saw a dragon. Actually I only saw the head and neck up close."
"Go on I'm listening" Blue said as everyone leaned forward.
"Okay... well... the snout was a flat like an alligator, but the back of the head was much smaller with two bulbous eyes sitting up on top, a little like a frog. Its smoking nostrils were high on the snout and were quite long; also there was a dark reddish black curved horn between them. Behind the eyes there were four long twisted horns; two pointing up and back, and two pointing out and back. It was a greyish white underneath but mostly it was deep red, with deeper red markings that were almost black. It had more teeth than I care to remember and when its mouth was shut, a row of white dagger like fangs protruded from the lower jaw. There was also a line of long triangular spines running down its neck."
Captain Debar smiled to herself at the description, feeling sure the young man in front of her would be totally out of his depth.
"Okay Mateo it sounds to me like you have what was once a very common dragon in these waters. It's called a Monstrous Nightmare and they are quite dangerous, but the good news is they only tend to attack when they feel threatened. I understand these dragons took your catch, and it was very wise of you to let them have it. I don't know if it will return in the future; but if you don't have any more fish on board, it should just leave you alone."
"We don't have a many, but we did use poles to catch a few for ourselves. You see, we don't have much food left on board."
"That should be fine Mateo, but try to cook and eat what you catch straight away. And if the dragon should by chance return, just leave everything for him on the stern of your fishing boat and back away; that should be enough to keep him happy."
"Thank you Blue... we didn't know what to do before, but now I feel more confident" the gratitude in Mateo's voice was clear to everyone in the room.
The radio operator took back the microphone and told Mateo they would try and contact them again in exactly two hours.
"They have no way to charge their battery but we have to make regular contact to get a directional bearing on their signal" he explained to Blue.
"Now do you see why we needed these young people?" Professor Adisa asked the captain.
Debar merely scowled as they all returned to the bridge, but she soon had much more to say.
"I don't think I have ever heard such a complete load of bilge crap in my entire life" she sneered "Monstrous Nightmare? Is that what you planned to call it or did you just make up that name at the last minute? Everything you said to that poor gullible man was an obvious lie."
Without answering her accusation, Blue simply picked up the satchel full of books he had taken from DeGroot and placed it on the chart table. He fished out the tome he wanted and quickly found the desired page.
"Take a look at that" he snapped at Debar.
Blue pointed to one of the beautifully drawn pictures in the book and everyone leaned in to see.
"Notice the horn, the protruding teeth on the lower jaw, the broad snout, long nostrils and bulbous eyes; even the colour is similar to what Mateo described. I know you can't read the Viking Runes but here are the translation notes I made months ago. The runes in a more modern script are easier to desipher; Hveorungr translates as monster, Nott is night, and Illr-Draumr is bad dream. This word Ormsliki literally translates as dragon so if you put it all together, you have the name given to this dragon by the Vikings of Berk; Monstrous Nightmare. The rest of the runes on this page give detailed information of what the dragon is like and how to handle it safely."
Captain Debar did not like the feeling of being put right on her own bridge, but she had to admit something; it certainly appeared this young man did indeed know what he was talking about.
"So um... what is this book anyway?" she asked humbly.
"It's one of the volumes of the Ingerman Chronicles; compiled by one of the first generation of Dragon Riders, who had the rather comical name of Fishlegs Ingerman. But before you start thinking it is nothing but a joke, many of the Vikings had names we would find funny but were quite normal for them."
"Really; what other names did they have?" Professor Adisa asked with genuine interest.
"Let's see... there was Snotlout, Bucket, Mulch, the Dragon Master himself was named Hiccup, but my personal favourite would have to be a blacksmith who was named Gobber the Belch."
Captain Debar looked again at the open book before her and thought for a moment.
"I'm sorry... I really thought..."
"What did you think; that I was lying or crazy" Blue asked bluntly.
"Yeah, either of those" Debar admitted turning a page "Forgive me but how can you know that all the dragons in this book are real?"
"To be honest, I can't be one hundred percent certain but I do feel very sure."
Blue removed two more books from the satchel and opened them to pages he had bookmarked.
"Take a look at these; Terrible Terror, Smothering Smokebreath and Buffalord" he pointed to each in turn "These are the three dragons types we have found so far and therefore I have no reason to doubt we will find more, given time and opportunity."
"Right... yes I see..." Debar pondered the pages "So is there anything we should do to prepare for any unexpected encounters?"
"Yes there is Captain... make sure we have plenty of food to share."
'
'
Deep underground on the other side of the world, Neville Sage was actually pleased. Marching down the main corridor from the Main Staging Area to his office, he was finally getting the news he wanted from his second in command.
"So... the Railgun is finally ready" he smiled as he walked.
"Effectively sir" Joshua Cook replied "According to the technicians I talked with, the only thing left to do is to test all integrated systems, but they should be complete long before the Mars transport ship arrives."
"It's called the Mars Transfer Vehicle Mister Cook, or MTV for short. Trust me when I say you can't go misnaming vehicles and equipment in space for if you do, you end up dead from mixing up vital systems."
"Yes sir... sorry sir."
"So had Doctor Spencer said anything about..."
Sage stopped in his tracks so suddenly, Cook almost bumped into him. The leader of the raiders had suddenly been distracted by an unusual sight. As he had passed one of the secondary computer rooms, he saw what appeared to be a child sitting alone at one of the work stations. Sage did not trust children, for they tended to be more willing to take risks than adults were, assuming their young age would protect them from any consequences. The thought that one of the local rug-rats may be tampering with the launch protocol program sent a shiver down his spine.
"Well then... what do we have here?" Sage said menacingly as he pushed the door all the way open.
The sudden intrusion made Saffron jump in fright.
"Th-they said I could use this computer... when they didn't need it" Saffron said defensively.
"And when you say 'they', I assume you mean Railgun Personnel?" Sage asked as he looked over the screens and desk in front of them.
"Y-yes sir."
Sage had expected to see coding and calculations on the screen, but instead he saw some kind of written language and strange markings of parallel lines, swirls and circles. On the desk he noticed pages of hand written notes half covering a very thick and very old book.
"What's all this?" he demanded to know.
"Err... I'm uh... translating sir" Saffron said honestly.
"Translating what exactly?" Sage said with suspicion.
"Um... this book... it belongs to my brother... I've already read what he translated, so I thought..."
"That doesn't tell me what it is though" Sage said menacingly as he picked up the book.
"It's uh... called the Book of Gothi and its over a thousand years old."
As Saffron explained, Sage turned the pages of the book and looked over the rune writing of the ancient Vikings, as well as the quite exquisite illustrations. On some pages he saw drawings on plants and flowers, but on others he saw mythical beasts; monsters that were the stuff of nightmares. One picture in particular caught his eye. It appeared to be a group portrait of six young people standing in front of five particularly fearsome winged reptiles, but everyone appeared to be smiling; including some of the beasts.
"What's this say?" Sage asked, pointing to the runes under the sketch.
"Ah yes..." Saffron quickly looked through the papers of translations on the desk "...let's see... ah here it is. The two in the front are Hiccup and Astrid with their dragons Toothless the Night Fury and Stormfly the Deadly Nadder; the black one is Toothless. On the far left is Snotlout and his Monstrous Nightmare named Hookfang, and Fishlegs with Meatlug the Gronkle. On the other side are the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut with their Hideous Zippleback named Barf and Belch; a name for each head."
Sage studied the picture with interest.
"So it's a book of fairy tales and legends" he noted.
"Err... I suppose so" Saffron said, not wanting to admit she thought it was real.
"Pity these things aren't real; when considering the tactical advantage given by horses, camels and elephants in battle, beast like these would make you almost invincible."
After looking for a few more seconds, Sage surprised Saffron and his own men by sweeping the pages off to the side of the desk.
"Move over kid" he ordered as he pulled up a chair.
Some of the papers Saffron had been working on fluttered to the floor as Sage grabbed the computer mouse and started to check files.
"Err sir... is anything wrong?" Cook asked as Sage poured over the information on the screen.
"Just checking something" Sage replied without saying what it was he sought.
Anyone who used a computer terminal inside the complex had to log on before working, so Sage brought up the record of when Saffron had logged on and what files she had accessed since that time. It only took him a few minutes to see she had only made use of translation software, and had not gone into any vital systems. He was soon satisfied all was well but noticed something else; the name of the person he had been questioning.
"So... Saffron Dias; I suppose I should have recognised you as a younger version of Cadet Abigail Dias."
"I um... didn't do any space ship operations training back on Mars sir, so I guess you haven't seen much of me."
"Hmm..." Sage thought "With you down here, that means the only member of your family still in space would be your father."
"Yes sir, he is" Saffron knew it would be useless to try and lie; what's more she had no reason to.
"I find that disturbing" Sage scowled "The only reason I can think of for Luis to send his family back to Earth, would be to ensure they were not in harm's way when he attempted to stop me from taking back the MTV."
"Do you really think..." Cook began.
"Of course I do; that's how I stay alive" Sage stood up "Get Spencer and Dias into my office... NOW!"
Given the volume of his order, Joshua Cook realised it would be best for everyone if the two people Sage wanted to interrogate were waiting as soon as he arrived. And so the two women were literally dragged away from what they were doing and rushed to Sages office.
"Are we in trouble?" April asked when she was thrown into the room.
"Aren't we always" Sarah replied "Is Rose okay?"
"Thank heavens yes" April replied "I was able to leave her with the botanists I was working with when the goon squad grabbed me."
"Probably a good thing she won't be here when Sage arrives."
"A good thing that who won't be here?" Sage barked as he strode in.
"Err... Rose... the baby" April replied quickly.
"Funny you should say that Ms. Dias; I was thinking about the fact that almost your entire family are now here on Earth, with the notable exception of your husband. I am now beginning to think he wanted you all out of the way so you would not get caught in the crossfire when Luis and his crew try to defend the MTV. So tell me; what have you two got planned?"
"Wha... NOTHING, I SWEAR!" Sarah gasped in reply.
"Then why..." Sage started but April jumped in immediately
"I had only three choices of where I would give birth to Rose" she snapped "We didn't have the best facilities on the MTV and I didn't want to go back to Mars; so Earth was the best option... here in particular."
"And your daughter; why did she come with you?"
"Saffron never wanted to leave Mars in the first place, and she certainly did not want to stay in space virtually alone. Her father is very busy and so with her brother and sister also here on Earth, and all her friends back on Mars..."
"It all sounds very convenient" Sage interrupted "Don't think for one minute that I am completely convinced by your excuses, so consider this; I've got my eye on you and so if you do have plans, you'd be wise to cut your losses and drop them before I find out and HAVE YOU BOTH SHOT!"
There was silence for a moment as Sages threat sunk in.
"Do I make myself perfectly clear ladies?"
"Crystal clear sir... butagain I swear..." Sarah tried again.
"Just get out" Sage barked.
Cook held the door as April and Sarah cautiously exited the room. Their hearts beat excessively fast as they picked up speed to put as much distance between themselves and Sage as they could.
"Do you think he knows?" Sarah whispered.
"Of course not" April replied "But when you're as paranoid as Neville Sage is, it only stands to reason that eventually, amongst all the various imagined threats and plots he suspects us of, he would stumble upon the real one. But fortunately, even he can no longer tell the difference between real danger and his own fear."
"But still..."
"Listen Sarah, you and me are the only people on Earth who know what's going to happen, and we planned it that way so Sage couldn't find out for sure; all he can do is guess and he had done quite a lot guessing lately."
"I know it was the right thing to do, but I've hated lying to my own people all this time."
"It'll be worth it when Sage is gone... and I'm sure they'll forgive you."
'
'
Test results have not come in yet but I'm still feeling fine with no fever.
End of the story is progressing well and I've already got a few plot lines in mind for Fire Sky Ruling.
Don't let your crossed fingers cramp up Vin, and thanks to carlsniper1990 for favoriting the story :D