Chapter 6

Nosedive activated the elevator for her, and when they entered the lower level of the Pond, Grace rushed over to where Wildwing and the other ducks were standing near Drake One.

"They're coming here!" she said.

"Who?" Mallory asked.

"Two or three of the ones who have been stealing power from Anaheim. I was spying on them, and I heard their plans. When they couldn't steal power from your city, they decided to come here and find out what was keeping them out."

"You heard their plans from Anaheim?" Tanya asked.

"When they messed with the dome, I was able to locate who was involved, and yes, I could spy on them for a few moments. Long enough to hear their plans."

"But they won't be able to get past the barrier right?" Nosedive asked.

"The dome only keeps them from drawing power outside of it. It's not a wall to keep people from physically moving in or out of Anaheim."

Wildwing had been standing quietly in thought, but now he said, "Even if we could keep them out, I think we should let them in."

The other ducks looked at him in surprise.

"They'll try to steal energy from us once they're inside the city, won't they?" Duke said.

"Probably, but I doubt they'll stay for long," Wildwing said. "It's not like we'll be giving them a warm welcome."

"Wildwing, you mustn't tell them what you know," Grace protested. "We don't have enough proof against them yet."

"We won't tell them, and we won't let them find out about you, Grace. Don't worry about that. But we can show them that Anaheim's not under their control anymore."

"Can you keep yourself hidden from them?" Tanya asked Grace. "I mean, they won't be able to use their powers to find you, right?"

"No, I can keep myself hidden," Grace said. "I'm just worried about you. You're right, Wildwing. They're not going to be pleased that Anaheim has recovered without them. They may try to take it back. And they're going to learn about the dome."

"They can't destroy it, can they?" Duke asked.

"No," Grace said firmly. "It'll remain strong as long as I'm alive. But it won't stop them from drawing power from you once they are inside of it. That's not how I designed it. But I will replenish anything they take from you."

"We'll be fine," Wildwing assured her. "Thanks to your warning, we have some time to plan. I'm going to bring Captain Klegghorn in on this. He can give us support from the local authorities."

Grace's eyes widened.

"Wildwing, please don't tell him about me. He'll feel compelled to report me, even if he doesn't wish to because of his position."

Wildwing stood beside her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"He won't learn about you from me. I promise, Grace. But he needs to know that these humans coming to Anaheim can't be trusted."

Grace nodded and thanked him. Wildwing paused and turned back to face the other ducks as he thought of something else.

"There's someone else besides us who knows about Grace's presence in Anaheim. And I think we should use that to our advantage here."

"You can't mean Dragaunus," Mallory protested.

"He knows about me?" Grace asked in surprise.

"The night you created the dome, he found us," Wildwing said with a sigh. "He wanted to know what you were doing, and I had to explain some things to get him to persuade him to keep quiet about the whole thing. He said that as long you didn't use your powers against him that he wouldn't report you."

"Yeah, but since when have we ever been able to trust old Lizard Lips?" Nosedive scoffed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"But Grace's presence here is good for him too," Duke said. "He can't overlook that."

"No, I don't think he can," Wildwing said. "As much as I hate to admit it, we're going to be on the same side as the Saurians when it comes to these outsiders who have been stealing energy from us."

"We share a common goal," Grin agreed.

"So you want to make a plan with Dragaunus?" Mallory said, still with a tone of disbelief. "How are you even going to contact him?"

Wildwing looked over at Grace, and she sighed.

"Yes, I can do it. It's actually the easiest thing you've asked of me so far."

"And if you're willing, I think you should come with me to speak with him once we set up a meeting."

"Sure, how often does one get to make a deal with a Saurian overlord, anyway?" Grace said grimly.

"Not often hopefully," Tanya said. "Those situations usually don't end well."

Grace walked over to Drake One and placed her hand on the giant computer's control panel. She closed her eyes, and then a few seconds later, the ducks saw that the communication system had been activated. It was connecting to the communication system of the Raptor.

After a moment, the call was accepted, and the ducks heard, over the speaker, a strange voice say,

"You've reached the Hot Springs Day Spa. Can we book an appointment for you?"

Grace looked over at Wildwing and mouthed "Chameleon". He nodded.

"Can it, Chameleon. I want to speak to your boss," Wildwing said sternly.

"Ooh, the duckies found our number," Chameleon said in usual annoying voice. "The boss isn't gonna be happy about that."

"You fink, what are you doing taking a break?! I want those converters now!" Siege roared from the background.

"Hold your stinking breath!" Chameleon jeered back "I'm talking to the ducks."

"You're what?!"

"We didn't call to listen to you two argue. Where's Dragaunus?" Wildwing said impatiently.

Chameleon seemed about to answer, but then he stopped, and there was a crash before a voice said,

"I warned you about using that outsider to meddle in my affairs." Dragaunus' deep voice rumbled with threatening tone.

"If this was about us finding the Raptor, we'd already be at your front door," Wildwing said. "I just want to talk. Grace has learned something important… something I thought you would want to know."

"Well?" Dragaunus asked with a growl.

"I'd prefer to talk face to face. Tell us where you want to meet, and I'll meet you there tonight at 11 p.m. Somewhere not in the Pond and not in the Raptor."

"The alley near Vernon and Winston then," Dragaunus said. "And no tricks, or Wraith will be making a call to the Off-World Agency."

"That won't be necessary," Wildwing said. "But don't think of trying anything against us. Grace will be there to keep things fair."

"So be it," Dragaunus said, and the line went dead.

Grace took her hand from Drake One.

"You should have someone else with you," Mallory insisted. "I'm going with you and Grace at least."

"All right, but the rest of you should hang back," Wildwing said. "I don't expect this to turn into a fight. Dragaunus will see that we have more important things to deal with."


That afternoon, Wildwing took a duckcycle to talk to Captain Klegghorn, and when he returned to the Pond, he said the meeting had gone well. Klegghorn hadn't been completely satisfied, sensing that information was being withheld, but he believed Wildwing about the outsiders coming to Anaheim. He agreed to keep his men out of it unless the ducks needed back up. And he said it wouldn't be hard to convince his officers that the strangers were bad news for Anaheim, even if he didn't tell them everything.

"What do you think he will tell his men?" Grace asked.

"We talked about it, and I told him about the exorbitant prices they tried to charge me when I went to them for help," Wildwing said. "Klegghorn took that and said he could spin the story that these humans were looking to take cheat our town and take people's money, which is true enough."

Grace nodded.

"Now that no one in Anaheim needs their help anymore, they won't be welcome here," Wildwing assured her.

After nightfall, the ducks drove the Migrator a few blocks from the alley where Dragaunus chose. Wildwing, Mallory, and Grace got out to walk the rest of the way.

"Be careful, bro," Nosedive said warily.

"I will, Dive. We'll be back soon."

They walked on, and it didn't take long to reach the alley. It was empty when they arrived, and Grace kept the hood of her jacket pulled up over her head as she looked cautiously at the streets behind them. There didn't seem to be many people out at this time in this neighborhood, so it didn't seem likely that anyone would see her.

After waiting another moment, Dragaunus and Siege teleported into the alley with a couple of hunter drones.

"This had better be worth our time," Dragaunus said coldly as he surveyed the ducks.

Wildwing looked to Grace, and she removed the hood of her jacket, and said,

"The outsiders who have been stealing power from Anaheim, they're coming here. It's probably just a matter of a few days before they arrive."

"They've realized they can't steal from us anymore, and they're coming to find out why," Wildwing said.

"Does that mean we get to crush them?" Siege asked with a malicious grin.

Dragaunus cast a disparaging gaze at him.

"Only if you want to bring the authorities down on us and initiate a full investigation," Wildwing said coldly. "We have to handle this quietly, which means that these humans have to leave Anaheim and go back to where they came from without learning about Grace."

"If you're worried about hiding your little friend, you can give her to us," Dragaunus offered. "I'm sure we can find a way to make her useful."

Mallory moved protectively in front of Grace.

"Keeping her hidden is not the problem," Wildwing said firmly. "Once these humans are inside Anaheim, under the dome Grace placed, they can draw energy from us again. Grace can replenish whatever they take, but still, I don't think either of us want them to get comfortable in Anaheim for very long while they search for answers."

Draganus smiled.

"You want us to convince them to keep their stay here short?"

"Yes," Wildwing said. "Don't kill them or seriously injure them. But you can attack them without us interfering. Or the police."

"I'd prefer breaking bones, but scaring humans is easy," Siege said, seeming content as he swung his club tail into the pavement behind him.

Dragaunus raised his hand to halt Siege's enthusiasm.

"And what do we get out of this service?"

"You get the satisfaction of driving these pests away," Wildwing said. "As I said, if they take any energy from you, Grace will replenish it."

"Perhaps I want to bargain for more," Dragaunus persisted.

Wildwing lifted his beak.

"We're not offering more."

"Then we don't have a deal. I won't tell anyone about your new pet, but I don't have to help you with these other outsiders. You can deal with them yourselves."

Remaining silent, Wildwing stared at Dragaunus, but Grace appeared uneasy as she looked from the ducks to the Saurians.

"What if I told you the location of some faltharite crystals?" Grace asked.

Wildwing turned to her and gave her a look that felt like a harsh reprimand, but Grace continued, seeing she had Dragaunus' attention.

"I know your ship is running low on basic power. We're not talking about crystals that allow it fly or open dimensional gateways, just simple things like lights and your general tech."

"Where are these crystals?" Dragaunus asked.

"I will tell you if you assist in convincing these other humans to leave," Grace said. "After they're gone, I'll tell you what you want to know."

Dragaunus studied her with a wary gaze.

"Very well. I'll unleash my henchmen on these intruders after they arrive. But do not play games with me, girl. I will want that location."

"You'll get it," Grace promised.

Dragaunus and Siege activated their teleporters, and they disappeared with the hunter drones. Wildwing turned to Grace.

"You should leave the negotiating with Saurians to me. Hopefully there won't be a next time, but if there is, perhaps I shouldn't bring you along after all."

Grace lowered her head.

"I'm sorry, but I could see his thoughts, Wildwing. Dragaunus wasn't going to back down. He didn't care enough about these visitors coming into Anaheim."

"Giving him any kind of crystals is a bad idea," Mallory told her.

"These are low power crystals," Grace said. "I know it's not great, but it's something small he stills wants, and this way you don't have to drive these humans out of Anaheim on your own."

"I would almost prefer having to deal with the outsiders alone than giving Dragaunus something," Wildwing said. "My fear is that he won't stop with these crystals. He'll keep demanding more, Grace. That's what Saurians do."

"If you give a mouse a cookie," Mallory warned.

Grace raised her hands with a sigh.

"Fair point. You have more experience than I do with Saurians."

Wildwing moved to the edge of the alley and looked out before gesturing for them to follow. Grace pulled the hood of her jacket back up over her head.

"Well, at least we'll get the pleasure of seeing these OtherEarth jerks have to face Dragaunus' henchmen when they get here," Mallory said with a smile.

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