Authors Note - See, I told you I'd upload a new chapter within a few hours. Aren't you all lucky buggers! The notes at the bottom will be extremely useful for future chapters.
He'd only been asleep fifteen minutes, but that small amount of sleep had done Jet a world of good. He rose, not exactly willingly, from his semi-comfortable place of rest, when the message came through, informing him, and the other Dragons, that they were needed in the briefing room.
He saw other Dragons and the Komodos, (Dragons are like the officers, Komodos are like the non-coms), pick themselves up from the couches, chairs, and rugs that they had lain themselves down on, or rather collapsed onto, and any spare sheets were tucked around those still sleeping. The remnants of their sleep, no matter how short it had been, were rubbed from their eyes, and hands were scraping hair back into ponytails or behind ears.
A quick look around the room saw the little ones, his Serpents, all fast asleep, the day being very exhausting for them, some stirring only briefly at the message. He sent a quick thought to all their minds not to wake up until he returned and called for them to wake. He had done that only once before, and he had gotten a very bad, sharp shooting pain behind eyes. That however, had been when he was a lot younger, and not as experienced in his powers. Now all he got was a short, dull throb, before it settled down.
He said to all those who could hear him, "Don't shoot unless you're absolutely sure it's Wraith. You may see some unexpected things or people, so do not be alarmed. Inform me if you see anything. Komodos are staying here, the room will most likely be packed. I want two of you on guard at at times, rotate the watch as you see fit."
He started towards the door, ignoring the complaints, but stopped, turning to the side slightly, and stated, "The room will be put on lockdown as soon as the last Dragon leaves the room. Ancient codes only." He turned back and left the room.
The other Dragons quickly followed him. The doors shut, and lockdown was initiated. The only sounds heard in the room were the soft snores of the children, and the hum of the shutter as it closed half-way, fully acknowledging that everyone, or near enough, was going into deep sleep.
This passage way must be caught in a temporal corridor or something, Jet thought, as he and the others made their way to the briefing room. The journey now only seemed to take a minute or two now, compared to the earlier journey time of nearly ten minutes, which seemed pretty miraculous to him. He should get Micky or Trip to come down here with their specialised doo-hickeys to check it out.
They were approaching the more populated areas now, and judging by the various gasps and hushed conversations started behind him, he guessed that at least some of them could see the people around them. Others however, he overheard saying they could hear whispers, or only see mist, just like Shadow.
The group quickly approached the briefing room, where he could see Shadow sitting by herself on one side of the room, and a large group of people crowded around a person sitting down, meaning he couldn't see any of their faces.
Jet quickly made his way over to Shadow and seated himself next to her, others from the group sitting down somewhere in their portion of the noticeably divided room, or standing in various positions around those who were seated.
He saw that Shadow had various notebooks and papers on the desk in front of her, and was sorting through them to find the ones that she needed.
"Answers, Shadow?" Jet asked turning his head slightly towards her. She looked towards him, and told him,
"Yes Sir."
"Good." Jet nodded his head, and turned back to the still huddled group on the other side of the room. "Oh, and Shadow?" he continued.
"Yes Sir?" she responded, cocking her head in an inquisitive manner, and slightly raising an eyebrow.
"Don't call me Sir", he ended.
"But Sir, you are the ranking member of our group, and it's only right to utilise a proper command structure when facing the unknown. It also makes us seem less weak if we have a command structure, and as you are the most powerful person amongst our group who also has the most combat experience, it is only logical for you to assume command. Correct?" Jet didn't know that Shadow could form such a good argument, was his first thought. His second was that he was glad she was on his side.
Apparently, she had also mentally networked the conversation to all their people who were in the room, as various nods and signs of agreement were seen and heard. It appeared that he was now their ranking leader.
May God have mercy on them all.
The group across the way broke their huddle, and sat down in various seats on their side of the room. It was then that Jet looked upon the face of his father.
The doors all shut. The meeting began.
Can anyone guess who his father is? I have provided various clues; you'll just have to go over the story with a fine toothcomb to find them. An honourable mention to anyone who finds the correct answer, and even honourable mentions to those who don't get the right answer.
I also suggest brushing up on the mechanics of quantum theory, because the next couple of chapters might end up being a doozy. Also, if anything needs to be further explained, just send me an e-mail, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible with the answer.
The Dragons, in decreasing age order, are; Jet, Cas (shot), Micky (stunned), Hex, Akasha, Marcus, Daemon, Z (stunned), Luka, Krystian, Martin, Liam, Trip, Shadow, Deuce, Rhea, and Ellie.