Chapter 60
Finding a deserted part of the river proved to be no problem; the Dragon Riders had not seen any sign of a settlement since they had come back down to Earth and as Blue poured over the map, he could see why. Between the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Mediterranean, the land had many large fresh water lakes and dams that would make much better places to live. So as the dragons and riders took a post meal nap near the water, Blue tried to plot a new route for their next leg.
"Do you know how fast we were going up in that jet stream? I worked it out." Haley said proudly as she approached.
"I'd guess about three hundred and sixty kilometres an hour, maybe as high as three eighty" Blue replied.
"Oh... you do know; I was gonna say between three fifty and four hundred. How were we able to go so fast?"
"Well it's all relative" Blue explained "If we were flying at about eighty kilometres an hour, and the wind at our backs was travelling at about three hundred, the combined speed was three eighty but it only felt like eighty to us."
"Will we be able to do that all the way back?" Haley asked hopefully.
"Unfortunately no; we can't keep going due east, we have to divert to the south east now. We'll fly down to the Persian Gulf this afternoon and spend the night on one of the uninhabited islands off the coast of Kuwait."
"Do you want me to get the other riders off their butts so we can get going?" Haley asked with an evil grin on her face.
"Nah... they deserve another ten minutes."
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The next leg of the journey passed without incident and they managed to find several good sized sandy islands and atolls about twenty kilometres off the coast of Kuwait; so they picked one and settled in for the night. The weather was warm so there was no need of a fire, and they were pleased to have a cooling breeze blow in off the water.
The Dragon Riders lifted off again at first light and continued their long journey south while down in West Sumatra, the railgun technicians were almost ready to take another stab at resuming supply launches. The unenviable task of removing monkey remains had been completed the previous day, making it possible for the electrical relay systems to be worked on overnight. So with the MTV's orbital path about to bring it back around into the right position, pre-flight checks had resumed over an hour ago.
"I hope you realise a second failure would be not be taken lightly" Sage warned.
"Believe me General, I knew the first failure wouldn't be taken lightly the very second it happened" Sarah replied "We've all done our best and so now its fingers crossed for the next attempt."
Sage was tempted to say something threatening about breaking some fingers, but even he knew not to cause more tension during the already stressful launch procedures.
"MTV will be in launch window in two minutes Doctor Spencer" one of the technicians reported.
"Okay let's power it up... again" Sarah ordered.
"Capacitors at 20% and climbing, all lights green... including L-47... 53% and climbing."
"MTV here" the radio crackled with Luis's voice "Computer synced with ground systems."
"100% and all green" the reports continued "MTV twenty seconds to window, first launch at plus one. Opening railgun exit doors... exit doors green... three... two... one."
The entire complex began to softly vibrate as the first supply capsule rapidly accelerated up the tunnel. Up on the surface, a series of small dust clouds began shooting out of the exhaust vents near the beach, and continued on inland until a different sound was emitted from the top of the mountain some forty kilometres away. It sounded like a short burst from a Gatling gun constructed from the cannons of a World War II battleship, even though such a device was a physical impossibility.
"First capsule away, capacitors charging for second launch" the technician reported.
"So far so good General" Sarah dared to smile.
"Keep up the good work Doctor, and perhaps you'll..."
"MTV computer has control of first capsule" Luis reported.
"Confirmed MTV; second launch in one minute thirty seven" Sarah replied "Sorry General, you were saying."
"I was saying you may just come out of this alive" Sage gave his best smiling scowl.
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For three days the launches continued every time the MTV was in the correct orbital position to make the appropriate rendezvous, while the Dragon Riders continued on their journey; avoiding any place they may find people. Once they had returned to Sumatra and made contact, there would be plenty of time to circle the globe and spread the word about both the dragons and the recommencement of the Earth evacuation, but for now they all they wanted to was get home spend some time with friends and family.
On what they hoped would be their last night away, the Dragon Riders set down in a small clearing next to the Galathea River on Great Nicobar Island roughly an hour before the sun was due to set.
"Only seven hundred kilometres to go" Blue said as he checked his map.
"Only seven hundred? ONLY?" Abigail laughed.
"Yeah okay maybe you're right, but we should be back in Sumatra by early afternoon if we fly all morning."
"Just as well, I don't think I could take another full day in the saddle" Gage admitted.
"As much as I love being a Dragon Rider, I must agree; it will be nice to have a day off" Calla nodded.
Having finished unpacking Speedy, Blue turned his attention to the Gronckle, removing his saddle and bestowing a few compliments.
"Once again you've done a great job today" Blue smiled as he scratched the beasts chin "I don't know what those lazy little Terrors would do without you."
Some of the Terrors in question sat nearby but fortunately for Blue, they did not have any idea of what he'd said about them. With all the dragons now unburdened, Blue stood with the Gronckle saddle in his hands and watched them all wander off to the river. Even now the sight of them all together made him feel very small; it felt odd that such noble creatures would even bother to give humans a second glance.
"Aren't they wonderful" Calla said as she slipped her arm around Blue's waist.
"Amazing" Blue agreed "I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever get used to having them."
Haley was halfway through getting her bed roll set out when she noticed Blue and Calla staring off into the distance. She stood up smiled to herself, and decided to give them a little assistance.
"Okay I need two volunteers to help me amass a considerable amount of firewood; you and you" she pointed to Abigail and Gage.
"I didn't volunteer" Gage protested.
"Yes you did, now MOVE IT!" Haley insisted.
With the campsite now almost empty, Calla took the Gronkle saddle from Blue and placed it on the ground nearby.
"It's nice to have a little snuggle now and then" Blue admitted when she returned and hugged him.
"Considering we are usually surrounded by dragons and the other riders, it was nice of Haley to give us the opportunity" Calla added.
"Home tomorrow, so I guess we'll have to show some discretion around your parents" Blue realised.
"Then I suggest we make the most of the time we have now" Calla blushed as she lifted her lips to meet his.
The carefree sound of splashing dragons drifted up from the river as the young couple took advantage of this rare moment of privacy, until a few minutes later when the rumble of a distant shockwave shook the ground beneath them.
"Wow!" Calla gasped "I thought we had to do a lot more than kiss to make the earth move."
"That was a meteorite" Blue replied with concern.
"Yeah I know; it was just a joke" Calla shrugged.
"But I don't think it was an atmospheric explosion, it must have fallen into the sea somewhere between here and Sri Lanka."
"So what; it's over now and we're a long way from the coast."
"But there are no hills or mountains between us and the sea" Blue pointed out "We've got to get out of here now."
"You sure?" Calla leapt up.
"Positive; HALEY, ABBY, GAGE, GET TO YOUR DRAGONS" Blue called out.
Calla ran down to the river to call Windstorm while Blue started throwing loose items into backpacks and saddle bags. He was sure he had put a lot of the riders gear into the wrong bags but he figured they could sort it all out later.
"I assume this about that big bang we heard" Haley said as she led the firewood patrol back into camp.
"Sure is; saddle up, we're leaving" Blue insisted.
Fortunately the riders had become quite adept at fitting their saddles over the last few days, so their work progressed quickly. Firefly and the other Terrors had noticed something in the air quite early and had flown off to see what they could find. All the riders noticed the bigger dragons were getting a little fidgety as well, and wanted nothing more than to be off the ground.
"Everybody ready?" Blue asked as he mounted Speedy's saddle.
"Almost" Gage replied as he threw on his backpack and joined Abigail up on their Zippleback.
Calla and Haley were not far behind while the Gronckle was already hovering high overhead. Just before they all lifted off, the five Terrors retuned crying out in warning. A second later, all dragons were airborne and in the fading light of evening, the Dragon Riders could see all the water had drained from the west coast.
"Oh that's not a good sign" Calla said, knowing the missing ocean would soon be back with great force.
"BLUE; LOOK NORTH!" Abigail cried out.
All the riders followed her instruction and were dismayed to see the light from several torches moving inland through the forest.
"There are people down there" Haley gasped.
"Quick, follow me" Blue ordered as he turned Speedy around to the right.
"What do we do?" Gage asked, slightly panicked.
"Pick a light, fly down and grab whoever you find" Calla replied.
It did not need to be said that they were all worried, because there were more torch lights than there were dragons. Being the fastest, Speedy was naturally the first on the scene and swooped down behind a woman carrying a child.
"Careful Bud, don't hurt the kid" Blue warned.
Working with fine precision, Speedy wrapped his front claws around the woman's shoulders and under her arms, lifting her into the air. Needless to say there was a lot of screaming and yelling in a language Blue did not recognise. Up ahead Blue saw Lucy and Ricky pick up one person each before depositing them on her back. Boris managed to get one in each talon while Windstorm placed one person onto the Gronckle before sweeping around to pick up another.
"Okay let's get to higher ground" Blue ordered and led the way.
It only took a few minutes to fly northeast to a much higher area, but it felt like much longer with all the screaming and crying from their terrified passengers. It took a while for everyone to calm down, even after the dragons had set them all down together on the top of a hill. Of course they would have been pleased to be safe, but they were all still in shock over what had just happened. For now there would be no explanation because as soon as they were down, the dragons had flown off to the southwest again to pick up another human load.
"Do you hear that?" Abigail called over the obvious rumbling coming from the west.
"The water is moving inland fast" Calla said "We don't have much time."
The sun had now fully set, leaving the Dragon Riders to work in the dark. They could still see several torches moving down amongst the trees, so at least they had something to aim for.
"Quick as you can" Blue suggested as he and Speedy went into a dive.
Blue heart suddenly leapt up into his throat when he suddenly saw two of the lights go out, quickly followed by a third as the rushing water caught up with the people down below."
"It's now or never Bud" he told the dragon as they swooped in for another pick up.
With another screaming person safely lifted out of the path of the surging aquatic death, Blue and Speedy headed back to the hill where they had dropped the previous group. As they approached, the torch lights from the first group showed the Dragon Riders where to go and they all soon landed nearby.
"We only got one this time" Gage said in a broken voice.
"You did better than me" Calla added clearly close to tears "We just couldn't see any one when the water hit."
Boris had managed to get one more making a total of three on the second run, meaning ten all up were saved. Now that the dragons were back, the rescued group all ran off in fear, leaving the Dragon Riders alone.
"I wonder how many we failed to save?" Calla asked rhetorically, her voice just a whimper.
"We did our best... and I'm proud of all of you" Blue told the riders.
"Doesn't help the ones we didn't get to in time" Haley replied, also obviously upset.
"That's probably why I don't feel particularly proud at the moment" Abigail admitted.
"Seeing those lights extinguish... I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that sight" Gage added.
"No... I don't think any of us will" Blue sighed "Right then... take care of your dragons and... let's try and get some sleep.
"Getting to sleep may be easier said than done" Haley admitted.
The riders made sure to give their dragons lots of attention as they removed their saddles once more and got ready to bed down. They way they had all risen to the unexpected emergency was more than impressive, indeed Blue thought it was astounding. The Terrors helped start a small camp fire to give them light to work by, and they were all ready to try and sleep. Blue hoped Calla would set up her camp roll close by so they could talk before drifting off, but she stayed close to her Nadder and almost seemed to be ignoring him.
Blue made the decision not to be offended or worried by her distance because he knew deep down what she was feeling, and of course it had been a very stressful day.
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This is the week Marty goes off the deep end.
Caution; the following author note contains an offensive word (sorry)
I saw a post online a few days ago from a medical worker, who had arrived home to find her young daughter had written something in chalk on the sidewalk outside their home. It read "A hore lives here."
Needless to say she was shocked but soon found out the little girl had just got her letters mixed up and had meant to write "A hero lives here."
While this could be seen as just an amusing story about kids making unintended mistakes, it solidified in me a belief I've had for a few years; true heroes deserve our help and assistance.
A few years ago I was listening to the radio in my bus and heard a report in the news about people who had good jobs but were unable to move forward in life. It spoke of a class of person who would leave higher education as a young adult with good qualifications, would go straight into work in their chosen career, work until retirement age, and never be in a position to own their own home. The top two professions on this list were Nurse and School Teacher.
All over the world we are sending messages of thanks to medical professionals for the work they are doing and the risks they are taking but when the current crisis is over, will the world go back to ignoring them while the powerful people say these essential workers can't have a raise in pay?
A recent YouTube post from Sandi Toksvig posed the question "What would you do with an enormous fortune?" Well I had already worked that out; I would create a lending institution to give interest free mortgages to teachers and nurses (and others too) with repayments at a lower rate than their current rent. This would save the average family one to two hundred thousand dollars and as they payed off their homes, the money would then be used to proving more home loans to more people at no interest.
Am I some kind of crazy idealist? No doubt about it but I've felt this way for several years and it has encouraged me to live simply and do my best to get out of debt, so I can stop giving my spare cash to the bank to pay interest on loans and credit cards; when that is done and I am debt free, I can do something more useful with my money. I know my bank thinks giving them a regular income is useful but I'm afraid I do not agree with them.
Yeah... I know I'm weird, Marty.