On the Wings of Dragons

by Bobmin356

The Weyr prepares for the step of going public against the backdrop of heightening international tensions and increasingly complex personal issues. And is Britain really secure now that the Ministry has been conquered? Sequel to The Queen Who Fell to Earth. Harry/Hr/OCF

18. Chapter 18

Standard Disclaimer:

Bob walked over and sat at Alyx's desk and started to cackle maniacally. He looked up at the audience who was watching him intently and he grinned. "I know, this is Alyx's computer, the source of her writing, her holy of holies. But as you might have noticed, she's not here. She's... ah... occupied at the moment, which allows me to do this!"

Bob's fingers danced over Alyx's keyboard, calling up the appropriate file. He began to type feverishly.

"Slobnovia, long neglected by the dashing Prince Draco who was still on his world wide hunt for a replacement Who who, has been sold to Poland for two cans of coffee and a pack of cigarettes by Dark Lord Dumbledore," Bob muttered, then he started to cackle again. "The plucky Princess Hermione has retreated with the rest of the rebel alliance to a remote moon, err... island off the coast of Slobnovia!"

From one of the side wings a voice could be heard shouting. "Goddammit Bob unlock this closet door and let me out of here or you're in so much trouble."

Bob frowned and glanced nervously towards the closet. The forty two locks appeared undisturbed, so did the steel reinforcing bar and concrete barrier holding the door closed. Satisfied he continued to type. "Meanwhile, the dashing Harry Potter has recovered the amputated Who who from cryo-statis and has placed it on sale at Ebay after disguising it by tattooing a dancing hippo on it."

A sound drew Bob's attention and he looked towards the closet again. Sparks were flying from the door! Alyx was using the acetylene torch she always carried in her back pocket in case of emergencies! She was cutting her way free!

"Damn, I need more time!" Bob muttered to himself. "Draco and Snape meanwhile had been kidnapped while attending a Rio Mardi Gras. Unfortunately for our two heroes, they were kidnapped by different people. Draco had been taken by a group of amazon women who needed a eunuch for heavy labor, while Snape had been taken by a crazed Donkey owner looking for someone to play stud to his donkey."

Bob glanced over at the closet, Alyx was cutting through the steel retaining bar!

Bob turned and faced the audience. "Ummm I have to leave now. Enjoy the rest of the chapter while I ummm go to an appointment I have. Yeah, that's it. I have an appointment. Oh and if you think we own Harry Potter or the Dragon Riders of Pern you're even nuttier than I am."

Bob hit save and dashed away from the computer. A moment later the closet door exploded outward and Alyx dashed onto the stage. "Where is he?" she ground out.

The audience, in terror, unanimously pointed in the direction Bob had run. Alyx growled and dashed off stage. In the distance Bob could be heard screaming, "You traitors!"

"Harry?"

"Yes Cheki?"

"Will she kill him this time?"

"Nah, he'll be back for next chapter I'm sure," Harry replied. "Now, lets watch the chapter, this is one of the good parts."

---

In war there is no second prize for the runner up.
- General Omar N. Bradley

Hangar Seven, Dragon Infirmary, July 16th...

Harry quietly closed the door behind him and looked around the large interior area. It was past midnight and he didn't want to wake anyone if he could avoid it. Most of the stalls were empty, but here and there a dragon lay in a stall.

The last three days had been a hellish nightmare of training for everyone. Up at dawn and training until dusk with only a few short rest breaks. Tomorrow the Weyr would fly out to the HMS Illustrious to await their meeting with Mu and his band of terrorists. But for tonight the Weyr slept uneasily.

Megan Haas looked up from the central desk in curiosity when she heard the door open. "Harry?" she said softly and started to stand. She was one of the group of people that were training under Hagrid and May. On the desk was a stack of x-ray images and what looked like a sketch pad. When Lornth was injured they had brought in a portable x-ray machine and had taken over forty overlapping pictures just to get one wing x-rayed. It appeared she was busy working with those same images.

He lifted a hand and waved her back to her chair. "Don't get up. I'm just a little restless, so I thought I'd drop in here and see if everything is all right."

Megan relaxed a little, she was from the second hatching and had in fact been one of the people that questioned why he was in charge and not some older rider. "We're fine, everything is quiet tonight. We've stocked up on pain relief potions and have made several fresh tubs of the bandage paste. Hagrid went off to bed about an hour ago."

He nodded absently and peered at the sketch pad on her desk. "What are you drawing?"

She held up the pad, it was a drawing of the skeletal structure of a dragon wing. "You know the dragons didn't like us using names of bat parts?"

He nodded and smiled. "Yes I remember. Lornth was most put out about it, he wasn't the only one that seemed insulted by it."

Megan giggled softly, the dragon's reaction to the use of bat names had swept through the Weyr and only ended after May promised Chekiath that they would find new, better names.

"Well May had an idea that maybe I could come up with a better set of names. My father is a wildlife biologist, so I sent him the x-rays. He sent me back a new set of names. I've been drawing the wings and labeling everything so that I can present it to the class for everyone to look over."

Harry bent slightly and examined the drawing which was quite good, then he straightened. "So many things to learn," he said to himself, not realizing that he had spoken aloud.

"But that's the exciting part, its all new and we're the first ones to do this," Megan countered eagerly. It was impossible to miss the excitement in her voice.

Harry smiled, "Yes that is very true. I'll let you work on your studies. I think I'll just walk around a bit."

Harry turned and walked off, leaving Megan watching him a bit worriedly. The last week had been grueling for the Weyr and no one had worked themselves harder than Harry had. They had practiced numerous times on unsuspecting shipping in the Irish sea, lining up overhead and popping out in bow range all the while relying on the dragons ability to remain unseen.

Harry had been there for every minute, even when the wings from Condron and Maziang joined up with theirs. Maziang's riders needed extra help with their bow accuracy and Harry had personally spent many hours at the Weyr firing range helping them improve their skills.

He had allowed only one wing from each of the other Weyrs to join them in this effort. Too many dragons and there might not be enough room on the ship for them.

Megan watched him walk away and shook her head. Harry looked older tonight and more care worn, but he walked with a confidence that was felt by everyone in the Weyr. Things will get better, she thought, once we're past this coming fight. I can't believe I ever questioned him!

Harry saw the dragon he was approaching was awake and watching him.

"Hello Lornth," Harry said warmly. The entire Weyr had been afraid they were going to lose him, but May and her father had pulled off miracle for this dragon and her Weyr. Lornth's wings were carefully attached to a metal framework. Overhead cables attached to pulleys and counterweights connected to the frame and allowed the healers to adjust the wings for the dragon.

It had taken May a full day and the help of her father to come up with a way to splint Lornth's massive wings. Normally he would have been in a regular stall, but given his injuries, the partitions between the stalls had been removed so that May's father could install the framework that help Lornth's wings in place. Once he was able to retract his wings, they would return his stall to a normal size.

Steel rods had been clamped to Lornth's wings with locking joints in-between each rod. The elves had assembled a scaffold that allowed her to reach the wings and carefully cut the wing sails enough to allow a clamp to be threaded through the slit and attached to the steel rods. Each clamp had been treated so that it wouldn't stick to the skin and then packed with the bandage paste to protect the wound. It was delicate work that only she could do. As much as Hagrid tried to help, his hands were just too big for the fine manipulation needed.

Lornth lifted his head and looked at Harry. "Good evening Weyrleader."

Harry looked at the strange contraption that held the dragon's wings immobile. He had been badly injured at the Hogsmeade school and no one knew yet if he'd be able to fly again. "That doesn't look very comfortable," he said softly. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Lornth looked at one wing, then turned back to Harry. "The Weyrhealers are a big help, and the elves are helping as much as possible. The pain is not to bad and Megan takes good care of me at night. But no one knows if I will ever be able to fly again," Lornth finished with a touch of sadness and other emotions in his voice.

Harry closed his eyes in sympathy and nodded, it was impossible to ignore the fear in the dragon's voice. May had been keeping him up to date on Lornth's condition. Next month it was planned to bring in a portable x-ray machine again to check his wings to see how well the breaks were healing. "Even if that turns out to be the case, you will always have a place of honor here Lornth. In fact, I heard from Headmistress Early. A group of students have been pestering her about coming to visit you. Would you like that?"

Lornth lifted her head and looked at Harry, his eyes slowly started twirl with streaks of green. Harry absently reached out and scratched his eye ridges. Lornth thrummed softly with pleasure. "I would like that very much Weyrleader. Sometimes it does get lonely here," he admitted.

Harry smiled. "I will email Headmistress Early about setting it up for sometime after we go public. In the meantime Sir Robert tells me that we will receive some more dragon book readers next week. Would you like us to install one here for you?"

"Thank you Weyrleader, that would be very nice. You honor me with your caring."

Harry blushed and was about to speak when another voice spoke from behind him. "The Weyrleader sees us all as his family Lornth. He cares what happens to each of us."

Harry turned to see May standing there. She shot him a quick glare and he winced slightly. "I'll let Sir Robert know that you get one of the readers Lornth. I guess right now my Weyrhealer wants to have words with me," Harry said to the dragon.

Lornth rumbled softly. "She is just worried about you. Do not be too angry with her Weyrleader. Good night Weyrleader, Weyrhealer May."

Harry peered at May. "How much trouble am I in?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Hang on a second, I need to tell Trath I found you. She'll call Hermione back, she's checking your office and the Administration building."

She went silent for a moment, then she turned her attention back to him and held out a hand. "You have developed a unique ability of climbing out of a bed without waking the other two people in it. Why didn't you wake us?"

Harry shrugged. "You needed your sleep."

"So do you," she countered in exasperation.

He shrugged again. "I tried, but I was too restless. I kept thinking about tomorrow, trying to think of ways to make it safer for us. No matter how much I tried, I just couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd check around and see if everything was set for tomorrow."

"You mean set for today love, today. Hermione is picking you up a light sleeping potion for the rest of the night, next time say something Harry," she gently scolded. "We both woke up looking for you and got worried. The only reason why we weren't in a panic is Chekiath seemed unconcerned."

May lead Harry out of the hangar, back towards their quarters. "Will Lornth fly again?" he asked.

May was silent for a moment. "Maybe," she said finally. "Once his bones are healed, the wings will be dreadfully weak. We'll probably spend months helping him regain his strength. None of the joints were damaged and we think the frame is doing a good job in holding the bones in place so they heal straight or mostly straight."

She paused mid-step and he turned to face her. "Lornth hasn't had a lot of visitors so your visit tonight was special to him. It is so hard for the non-bonded dragons in the infirmary, they have no one like the bonded dragons. I know that we should be in bed, but you really helped Lornth tonight."

Harry looked embarrassed, he shrugged helplessly. "No one likes to be alone when they are hurting," he said finally.

May peered at him, she knew him well enough now to know he was saying a lot more than just commenting on Lornth's situation.

He tugged on her hand lightly and they fell into step again. "I promised Lornth that we'd install a reading machine in his stall. We're supposed to be getting some more of those machines in a week or so."

She nodded. The machine was fairly simple, a huge projection system with a small computer embedded inside and a pressure sensitive pad that controlled a menu. The unit connected to the Weyr network where it could access a steadily growing library of books they were purchasing. The control pad was small enough that Lornth wouldn't have to move around, it could be positioned right under his feet. It was large enough that he could step on a control pad or push it with his snout.

Each unit was hand made and expensive, but the Weyr was able to easily afford them now.

"That will be a help," she replied, then she looked up and smiled. "There's Hermione."

Hermione stood on the stoop leading to their quarters, she held a potion bottle in one hand.

Harry decided to opt for the cowards way out. "I'm sorry," he said quickly, then he reached for the bottle she was offering him.

Her expression softened slightly. "We know you're worried about what's going to happen. But we need you at your best. You can't be that if you're exhausted from lack of sleep."

He nodded. "I know," he said with a sigh, then he gave them both a worried grin. "So let's go back to bed and let tomorrow come on it's own."

The English Channel on board the HMS Illustrious, July 17th...

James Mills looked around feeling decidedly out of place. The notice had come just five days earlier that his commission had been reactivated for the duration of this operation and while he was proud to serve, his old uniform didn't fit as well as it used to.

To add to his discomfort it was his first time on duty on board an aircraft carrier. His previous blue water duty stations had been on board a destroyer and an ice breaker. Comparatively speaking, those were rowboats compared to the Illustrious, and she wasn't as large as some aircraft carriers.

"Captain on the bridge!"

Several enlisted men and officers stiffened, including James.

"As you were," said the captain. "Status commander?"

A man looked up from the plotting table. "Sir, we're steaming east at 18 knots. We linked up with the Argyll, and the Kent about a half hour ago. The London and the Cornwall will be here within the hour. As ordered we're to hold just south of Dover to await further friendly units. We'll be in position in about twenty minutes."

The captain remained silent for a moment, then he glanced out the window. In the distance he could see the two newer type 23 frigates steaming close in. He smiled when he saw both ships had their lynx helos spooling up on the aft flight decks, no doubt to use their time to run ASW drills. "Very well. No change to orders commander."

A lieutenant motioned towards James and he stepped forward. The captain nodded to the lieutenant who glanced down at the papers in his hands before speaking. "Sir, Commander Mills, is reporting for temporary assignment," said the lieutenant. "He arrived this morning via helicopter."

The captain eyed James who saluted, then offered the captain his official orders. The captain grunted and read the message with an unhappy expression. "Come with me," he said tersely, then he lead James to his personal office one deck below the bridge.

The captain waited until his steward had closed the door on the two of them before he turned on James.

"What the blazes is this Mills? First we get orders to the channel, diverting us from our previously planned deployment, I find myself senior officer of an ad hoc task force consisting of the Lusty and four frigates. Now you come aboard with orders saying you'll provide additional briefing and this is all classified right up there with the size and color of the Queen's nickers!"

Captain Brent Jackson blew a heavy breath, then he motioned to James to sit. "I know this isn't your fault commander, but you have to admit it's damn unsettling. We were due to provide air support for NATO operations in Bosnia and now this? And just what is a 'Special Aviation Detachment' from an Allied Nation?" he said in an exasperated tone.

James fought to hide the smile at the term invented by the Admiralty for the Weyr. "Sir, if I may, in a little over twelve hours time, your task force will attempt to intercept a hostile force of heavily armed terrorists who intend to land on our shores.

"You already know this, I'm sure Admiral Slater sent you the briefing notes on the subject. You'll also note that your orders specifically state that if the terrorists fight back you are to back off. I am here as liaison between the Royal Navy, in this case, you and your ships sir, and a detachment of friendly forces who will become involved only if the terrorists resist your attempt to take them into custody.

"At the end of this mission, you and your task force will continue to your duty station in the Adriatic Sea, stopping at Gibraltar to pick up dispatches and any missed supplies which will be flown there to meet up with you. I know your questioning Admiral Slater's choice of course and the fact that it will add a number of days to your journey."

"Days? It'll take us two bloody weeks to follow his planned course," growled Jackson. It was highly unusual for the office of the First Sea Lord to issue a detailed course. Usually the Captain had the ability to select his own course and the Admiralty merely told him what his destination was. Jackson knew that he'd need to refuel at Gibraltar just to continue on to the Adriatic sea.

James nodded. "I know sir, but by the time you reach Gibraltar the 'Special Aviation Detachment' will become public knowledge, although you must stress to your men that no one must ever know of their participation in this operation."

Jackson eyed the reservist carefully. He had his orders and part of those orders included cooperating with this officer.

"Alright, what can you tell me about this 'Special Aviation Detachment'?" demanded Jackson a bit put out by all this cloak and dagger stuff. "Will they require refueling or other support services? Are they bringing their own ordnance or will we be supplying it?"

James leaned back in his chair and relaxed slightly. He knew the Captain was coming to grips with his orders. "No sir, they will not require fuel or any of your mechanics. The personnel involved in the detachment are all quite young, in many cases younger than anyone aboard this ship. However their commanding officer has been awarded an Order of Saint Georges by her Majesty. He is considered to be a head of state, and he personally ran the operation that resulted in the rescue of HMS Orkney and her crew," he said, then he glanced at his watch. "The first wing isn't due to arrive for another two hours."

Jackson blinked, most of the crew of the Orkney had been saved. If this special group was involved in that then they were worth respecting. One thing however worried him. "Head of state?" he repeated worriedly, envisioning having to roll out the red carpet.

"He's here to help us do a job Captain, not to hold a white glove inspection and I think were you to ask him to hold such an inspection he'd be appalled at the idea. He is a rather modest individual who tends to downplay his accomplishments."

"All right, but this bit about backing off if these terrorists refuse to surrender," protested Jackson, that particular part of his orders really bothered him.

Mills sighed and nodded in agreement. "Captain, if I had my way you would stand off and bomb that scow to pieces. But its rather hard to hide that sort of action in these waters. That tub is carrying nearly one hundred heavily armed people, a great many are former soviet army commandos. They might not win an engagement with us, but you can be sure they will make it a costly victory. Even if we stood off and fired a missile into her, what would we do with eighty heavily armed men in lifeboats? Or for that matter what if they called for help?

"The two men we caught at Heathrow were violent and lethal, a security guard was killed with a single blow. Now let me ask you, what would happen to your career and the reputation of the Royal Navy if it became public knowledge that we killed eighty Russian nationals aboard a Russian registered ship in international waters or even in our own territorial waters?"

Jackson winced. The answer to that would be simple, he'd be cashiered immediately and the Navy would take years to recover it's honor. Parliament and the public would be out for blood and no one would be safe, not even the Prime Minister. Such a disaster could bring down the government ahead of the scheduled elections.

"And your Special Aviation Detachment?"

"Has capabilities beyond ours. If needed they will subdue the terrorists and relocate them to a place where there are two regiments of Royal Marines waiting to round them up. The ship will have vanished off of any traffic radar without a trace. It will be duly investigated by her Majesty's Coast Guard and reported that she went down with a loss of all hands. So very tragic," James said with a small smile that signaled his true feelings.

Jackson smiled broadly. The idea of terrorists being dealt with and without evoking public outrage appealed to him. "Quite so."

"Very well Commander, I'll take you down to where you can talk to our tower and landing systems officers and let them know what frequencies your detachment will be using," Jackson said.

Mills winced and then explained that the unit didn't have radios, radar transponders or any other standard avionics. Jackson stared at the man and wondered if it were too late to toss him in the brig and pretend he never received Admiral Slater's orders. Who ever heard of any military aircraft that carried no radios?

Two hours later Captain Jackson was wondering if instead of tossing this reservist into the brig, he shouldn't be contacting the MOD about the sanity of the First Sea Lord, Admiral Slater. Twenty people appeared on his flight deck with no warning and even more disturbing, no aircraft!

"Captain, would you like to join me in welcoming your allies?" asked James. He was trying very hard to hide his amusement. The Captain was a solid, dependable individual who was about to have his reality knocked off kilter in a big way.

An alarm rang and the marine security detachment scrambled up from the bowels of the ship to deal with the intruders.

"Those are your special aviation detachment?" Jackson asked incredulously.

Mills nodded.

"Belay that security order," the Captain snapped.

"Marines, stand down," a voice announced on the ship-wide public address system.

Jackson blinked, the twenty people on the desk had just doubled, the people seeming to appear and drop from the sky from nothing. One moment they weren't there, the next moment they were landing lightly on his flight deck!

Jackson turned to a commander that stood nearby. "You have the bridge, I'll be on the flight deck," he ordered, then he gestured to Mills. "Come along Commander Mills, introduce me to our mystery allies."

After a short trip James found himself scurrying behind the Captain as deckhands and officers alike scurried to get out of the old man's way. It was obvious that the man was agitated and no one wanted to be in his way. Mills couldn't blame the man, the Navy thrived on order and a regimented lifestyle. Since James had arrived via helicopter early this morning, he had been chipping away at the man's world with a powered jack hammer.

James caught up to the Captain just as they walked out onto the flight deck. A brisk breeze whipped at him and he grabbed onto his hat. "Captain, if you would follow me please?" he said loudly. Near one end of the flight deck a helicopter was spooling up for take off and it made quite a lot of noise.

He absently noted Harry and the others watching the helicopter preparing to take off. He assumed they were waiting to bring in the next wing after the helicopter was airborne and out of the way.

"Harry!" shouted James, then he waved.

Harry looked over towards James and nodded, then he turned and said something to Ronan who grinned back at him. Satisfied that Ronan could handle the incoming wings, he walked over to where James stood with an unknown officer.

"James, we're bringing in the rest of the manned wings just as soon as that helicopter moves off. We don't need any accidents," Harry shouted.

James smiled and waved Captain Jackson closer. "Why are the dragons disillusioned?"

Harry glanced around and then he grinned sheepishly. "Two reasons, they weren't sure if they could be seen, I wasn't sure what to tell them, and they aren't very comfortable on a moving ship."

"Well it's safe to be seen," James replied, returning Harry's grin. He had been getting strange looks from the Captain all morning and now he was finally going to get to enjoy watching the man meet dragons for the first time.

Harry nodded. "I'll pass the word along."

James turned to Captain Jackson. "Captain, this is Weyrleader Harry Potter, leader of the special aviation detachment and a personal friend of the crown."

Captain Jackson looked at Harry in surprise, then he turned to James. He was about to tear into the man when another voice broke his train of thought.

"'ello sweetcheeks, whatcha all dolled up for?"

Jackson looked up to see one of his pilots towering over one of Harry's people. The riders wore their standard flight gear which had a definite aviation cast to it. In fact the flight suits visible under their World War Two bomber jackets were very similar to what his pilots wore. More surprising to the Captain was the very obvious pistol grip crossbow and the bandolier the girl wore.

"You can't be part of that detachment they said we were getting. You're barely knee high. Kinda cute tho, if you're lonely darling, I can show you around the ship."

The man looked over at his mates who were having very mixed reactions to his actions. Most it seemed didn't approve of his behavior, the girl was obviously a lot younger than they were used to dealing with, except possibly as a parent.

Jackson scowled angrily, here was one of his pilots acting like an ass. He started to stride forward when Harry grabbed his arm. "Wait," Harry said in a commanding tone.

Luna Lovegood looked up at the pilot and smiled sweetly. "I'm afraid you're just not my type. If you're so fearful that you have to strap yourself into a metal contraption before you fly, then you're just not my type at all."

Several of the riders around her broke out in laughter and the pilot sputtered angrily. He considered himself a very suave lady's man and he wasn't about to take any flack from a snot nosed child, even if she was cute.

He took a half step forward and stopped immediately. Everyone heard that growl, even over the roar of the helicopter that was just lifting off. The pilot looked around and shivered as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Something very large made that noise and some primal instinct in the pilot screamed that something capable of growling like that had to have big teeth!

Trandieth shimmered into view. A moment later twenty one other dragons also became visible, along with the four wings orbiting overhead waiting to land. The dragon craned her long neck until she was just behind Luna and opened her mouth slightly revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Luna reached up on her toes and patted the pilot on the cheek. His gaze was firmly fixed on Trandieth and her rows of teeth. "Perhaps someday I'll try sampling other fliers, but right now I prefer the riders of my Weyr," she said, then she stepped back and lovingly caressed Trandieth's neck and ear. All of the dragons on the deck started rumbling with laughter and the pilot turned white as a sheet, then he bolted for the nearest entrance to below decks.

Harry chuckled and turned to James. "Luna is one of a kind and I wouldn't trade her for any other rider."

James smiled and nodded. He had been on the receiving end of that young witch's attitude on several occasions. The navy pilot couldn't have picked on a worse person to pick on.

"Harry, the other wings still need to land," Chekiath announced.

"Ronan will see to it Cheki, right now we need to talk to the Captain," Harry said and then he turned back to Captain Jackson. The man was staring bug eyed at Chekiath who stood nearby. Wing Three's dragons lifted off and found themselves places to settle all along the ship's superstructure. As soon as they settled down, two more wings landed and dismounted.

James looked a little alarmed at the number of dragons settling on any spot they could find.

"Don't worry, they know to keep off anything moving," Harry said with a chuckle. "Is there some place where my riders can assemble and wait? Perhaps get something hot to drink?"

"Yes, the main galley," Jackson said absently. He was still staring at Chekiath who was as at least long as two harriers put together! He shivered and wondered if they ate people.

"You don't have to fear us," Chekiath said, turning to look at the startled Jackson. "I can't really read your mind, but I can tell you find me frightening. We really are here to help."

"My god," muttered Jackson in awe.

"Captain Jackson, allow me to introduce my bonded dragon Chekiath," Harry said. "As you can see our dragons are telepathic to a limited degree, they can sense your emotions and are keen judges of character, but they cannot read your mind."

"And... and you fly these dragons?" the Captain asked incredulously.

Harry smiled broadly. "Flying on dragonback is a truly novel experience. With their ability to go Between, I could have you in Japan in less than two minutes. But do not mistake them for beasts. They might not be able to use machinery like we do, but they are every bit as intelligent and self aware as we are."

"We have never been on a boat before," Chekiath said. "The rocking motion is a bit unsettling. The ground under our feet isn't supposed to rock so." The large dragon's eyes twirled with a hypnotic streak of yellow signaling the dragons discomfort.

Jackson shook himself from his shock and turned to Mills, "Commander, would you escort these people to the main galley?"

Mills nodded and waved towards mass of riders who stood nearby. All the riders were down and now the unmanned wings were landing on anything they could. "Follow me and I'll take you below to the galley, we'll wait there."

Harry stood with the Captain, watching his people follow James. When the last of them vanished into the island, he turned back to the Captain. "I know you have questions still. I would be happy to explain further. But I would appreciate if you could announce to your crew that the dragons won't harm them. People just need to talk to them as they would to each other. The dragons can speak to you, and your crew telepathically."

Jackson nodded, then his eyes widened. A dozen heavily armed marines were exiting a doorway on the island. "Stand down!" he shouted to their surprise.

Jackson strode up to an officer who was staring at Chekiath and nervously fingering the holster to his sidearm. "Lieutenant, where is your commanding officer?"

The marine lieutenant was newly assigned to the ship and unused to speaking to the commanding officer. "Below deck sir, mustering the rest of the company," he stammered, then he belatedly remembered to salute.

"Send someone below and tell him that I order him to stand down his unit until I say so," growled Jackson.

The lieutenant paled and swallowed nervously. Chekiath had followed Harry who had followed the Captain. "Yes sir," he replied, then he gestured to one of his men who gladly scrambled away from the dragons.

Harry shook his head, Chekiath was releasing puffs of smoke from his nostrils and rumbling with laughter. The problem was, as a rider, he knew it was laughter, but the others didn't.

Jackson waited for a moment, watching as the men unloaded their weapons and shouldered them, then he turned to Harry. "I see what you mean, if you'll follow me..." his brow furrowed. "What do I call you anyway?"

Harry shrugged. "If you want to be formal, Weyrleader is my title, but I prefer to go by Harry," he replied with a slight grin. He was finding it hard to suppress the amusement he felt from the dragons.

"Weyrleader," the Captain said, recalling what Mills had told him about Harry's status. "If you'll follow me, we'll go up to the bridge where I'll address the crew."

Harry nodded. "Lead the way, I'm rather eager to see more of your ship. I've never been on an aircraft carrier or any ship before."

Five hours later Harry watched quietly from the the bridge of the HMS Illustrious. It was dark and the ship was darkened so that they couldn't be easily spotted. Since their prey had no sophisticated electronics at all was decided that the little fleet would continue to operate their radars as normal. According to intelligence reports the Sea Pearl boasted a standard maritime radio and an old, very simple radar system from the mid sixties. Jamming that radar would make it appear as if it were malfunctioning.

A chime rang in the darkened room and then a voice came over an overhead speaker. "Bridge, Lookout Two One reports contact, one hundred twelve miles, course two three nine, speed ten knots. Positional fix, chart sixty two, grid A4". Lookout Two One was part of the group of search aircraft that had been launched from mainland bases an hour earlier.

Harry stepped away from the deck wall he had been leaning against and watched Jackson's number two man unroll a chart on the map table. He quickly located the reported position and pointed it out to Jackson.

"Excellent. He's roughly fifteen miles off the coast of Holland and still following the coast. It looks like he still intends to make a straight in approach to Kingsdown like we were told," Jackson said. "Make your course zero five zero and set speed to twenty. We'll catch her at West Hinder, that will put all of us off all of the coastal traffic radars," the Captain commanded.

Jackson turned to Harry, "We'll be on station in about an hour, but I don't expect our prey to be anywhere nearby for another three hours after that. Why don't you go below and get something to eat?"

Harry nodded and the Captain turned to an ensign. "Take the Weyrleader to the galley where his people are."

Jackson watched Harry leave and shook his head. He had never run across an experience like this before in all of his nearly thirty years in the navy. His ship was covered in intelligent dragons that had capabilities he could only wish his aircraft had. And they were led by children who didn't act like children. They acted like his pilots, dedicated, and very serious about their jobs. This was the strangest mission he had ever been given by the Navy.

On board the Sea Pearl, July 17th...

Jin Tan Mu sipped at the sour liquid these Russians called tea and made a face. It was foul stuff. He glanced at a wall clock and noted the time, nearly midnight and they were still four hours from their destination. It would be close, they wouldn't have much time to unload before dawn arrived.

"Is everything ready?" he asked.

Mishka, one of Janus' men nodded. "Da comrade Colonel. The men are sleeping now except for the crew and eight men on sentry. We'll wake them at two hundred and start bringing the supplies up on deck."

Mu nodded, they were very close to their destination and soon they would be loading their gear on trucks for the drive up to Campbeltown. He had no idea that a nationwide manhunt had been going on to find Janus and his men or that Kingsdown was currently hosting a British Army field exercise for the first time since World War II.

Janus was a canny individual who had enough experience to suspect something was wrong as soon as his two men failed to meet at the prearranged spot. The British might be looking for him, but he and his fellows quickly headed for the nearest channel ferry to leave Britain. Since then he had been trying, and failing to contact Mu using his mobile phone. Russian telecommunications companies were still struggling to provide nationwide coverage let alone Europe.

After several days of trying Janus did the pragmatic thing. He gave up trying to contact his people and decided to disappear again. He still had eight good men and plenty of contacts. He could rebuild his organization. It was time to cut his losses.

"Tell the men on watch to keep an eye out we are coming close to the British mainland and we don't want any surprises."

"Da Comrade Colonel," replied Mishka.

On board the HMS Illustrious, July 18th...

"Steady as she goes commander," ordered Jackson. His first officer was carefully maneuvering the Lusty and the four frigates so that the Sea Pearl would be in the center of their formation. They were still over ten miles from the freighter.

The small fleet had slipped in behind the Sea Pearl and then split up so that the old freighter would find itself inside their formation.

"All units are nearly in place sir, another minute and we'll be ready to intercept."

Jackson glanced at the plot for a moment, then he turned to an ensign. "Contact Commander Mills and inform him to have his people stand to. Commander, you may engage when ready."

The Captain settled into a chair and watched as the activity on the bridge went up a notch.

"Signal to fleet, all units converge. Sound action stations, surface action starboard! Increase speed to twenty eight knots," ordered the first officer.

An alarm bell rang throughout the ship and someone called the ship to action stations over the loudspeakers. On the flight deck four Lynx helicopters lifted off. A Sea King rescue helicopter was already standing by in case it was needed.

The deck plating vibrated as the engine speed increased and the ship heeled to one side as they radically altered their direction. Jackson glanced out a window down to the flight deck. The dragons were flying from their perches to assume positions on the deck. Their eyes reflected whatever dim light they could pick up, it was the only real indication he had that the dragons were there. Jackson knew that right now those teens were climbing onto the backs of those great creatures and he shuddered at the thought. A former pilot himself, he couldn't envision what it must be like to be unprotected on the back of a living being.

A tenseness filled the darkened room and Jackson waited in silence as the minutes ticked by. Whole wings of dragons lifted off simultaneously to his immense surprise. The dragons ability to know where it was in relation to the other dragons astounded him, as did this demonstration of that ability. It took less than four minutes to clear the deck of hundreds of dragons.

A door opened and James Mills stepped onto the bridge. "All dragon wings away sir. They'll take up station at one thousand feet as we discussed," he said softly then he held up a small radio. It was one of Jackson's contributions, he had supplied Harry and James with the units so they could communicate. "The Weyr's assembled a temporary aid station on the port side aft flight deck. Once you give the order, I'll contact the Weyrleader."

"Very good Commander, you may remain here and observe," replied Jackson.

The minutes ticked by slowly. Every so often a yeoman would call out the range. Finally he called out, "Range to target 2000 yards."

Jackson sat up in his chair and gave the plot one last look, then he turned to his first officer. "Commander, lights on, let them know we're here," he ordered. "Tell Kent and Argyll to put a shot across her bow."

"Aye sir, Comm signal that ship to cut it's engines and prepare to be boarded. Send to all ships, lights on and send in the helicopters. Tell Kent and Argyll to give her a warning shot."

The Illustrious was suddenly an island of blazing light in an otherwise darkened sea. A few miles away, Jackson could make out the four frigates of his little fleet also lit up and in between them, the darkened hulk of an old freighter, full of armed terrorists intent on attacking his country.

Multiple beams of search spotlights stabbed out from the navy ships, pinning the Sea Pearl perfectly. The old ship was caught in the bright lights and clearly visible.

A pair of Lynx helicopters made a low level pass over the Sea Pearl while another made a higher level pass, dropping flares attached to parachutes.

A young ensign watched the operation with a smile. "Sucks to be you wankers," he muttered.

Jackson turned and stared at the young officer and then he chuckled slightly. "It does indeed Mister Olsen."

On board the Sea Pearl, July 18th...

Jin Tan Mu cringed as the deck lit up in a blaze of light. Two helicopters roared past the ship barely missing it and rattling the windows with the noise. At the same time the maritime radio came alive with orders cut their engines and prepared to be boarded. A surge of anger ran through him. They had been caught! He could not allow his mission to fail!

Someone on board rang a bell frantically and everyone scrambled to grab a weapon. Unfortunately most of the weapons were still packed away. They only had about forty automatic rifles readily available, the rest were still packed away along with all but a few boxes of ammunition.

"Send someone below deck to bring up the missiles!" he shouted, then he grabbed an AK-47 that was leaning against the bulkhead and stepped from the enclosed bridge. He opened fire on the nearest helicopter, but he knew that his lone weapon couldn't do much.

If we can mass our fire, we may be able to hold them off, he thought desperately.

A lynx made another low pass and he fired at the helicopter as it did. It took him a moment to realize he wasn't alone, at least ten men were now shooting at the helicopters.

Two of the frigates, the Kent and the Argyll had closed the distance with the Sea Pearl and their main deck gun slewed around, aiming for a spot in front of the Sea Pearl. A bell rang on both ships and flame spat from the 4.5 inch guns. The water less than one hundred yards front of the Sea Pearl erupted in a spray of sea water.

The Pearl slowly turned as the Captain frantically tried to alter course. Another helicopter flew past, low and loud and it drew heavy fire from nearly twenty armed men. The helicopter raced away while the captain continued to try to change course. If he could only make it only a few miles south, he would be in the territorial waters of Holland and the British would have to back off! The sound of helicopters orbiting just out of gun range rattled the bridge windows almost as much as the sound of the gunfire futilely reaching out to them.

The radio blared again with orders for them to surrender. He reached out and snapped the radio off, he just needed time and no distractions!

Two men appeared on the foredeck carrying a long box between them. The captain watched anxiously as they un-boxed a shoulder fired missile. One man put the long tube to his shoulder and aimed upwards. The other man scurried out of the way.

The captain grinned when a rush of flame and smoke obscured the man. That would scare off the helicopters!

On board the HMS Illustrious, July 18th...

Captain Jackson's expression tightened when a missile launched from the foredeck of the Sea Pearl. It quickly closed on one of his Lynx helicopters, hitting it in the tail rotor. The crippled aircraft started spiraling into the water. He gripped his chair tightly in anger. "Launch the rescue helicopter and signal off the rest of the flight," he ordered tensely.

The Lynx hit the water with a tremendous splash. The flickering light from the overhead flares showed an eerie black and white image of the downed helicopter, the main blade, broken, but still turning for a moment longer, then a strange shape appeared and the aircraft was gone!

Jackson tore his eyes from the scene and turned to James. "It's your turn Commander," he said quietly.

James nodded grimly and lifted the small radio to speak into it.

Down on the flight deck May watched incredulously as a dragon gently deposited a heavily damaged helicopter about fifty feet from her position, then the dragon turned and landed on three paws. He moaned loudly and she shivered, then ran for the dragon with several of her helpers hot on her heels. She skidded to a stop in front of the dragon who was favoring one paw. The deck lighting was barely good enough to see something sticking more than a foot out of the dragon's leg.

"What is that?" she murmured, then she turned to Katie Bell. "Bring up the pain relief potion, then we'll figure out what we can do."

Katie dashed back to where May had placed their supplies and quickly grabbed two buckets of pain relief potion.

"It hurts," whined Cetath, "I thought it would be safe to pick up the flying machine and the men inside, but it bit me with something!"

"Blimey that's a part of a rotor blade!" someone said from behind her.

May turned to see a deck rating staring at the piece of helicopter main rotor blade sticking out of the dragon, then she turned back to look at the leg again. There was nearly a foot and a half of broken blade sticking out of the dragons leg, the piece was jagged and she guessed the length of the wound was at least a foot or more.

Katie ran up to Cetath, carrying two buckets. "Open wide Cetath," she said. The large Ironbelly eagerly allowed Katie to pour both buckets of potion down his throat. The dragons hated the taste of the potion, but greatly appreciated the effect it had.

May knelt by the leg and carefully looked things over. Even with the deck lighting, it was dark, too dark for her to see much. "Damn, I need more light," she complained. The ship was lit up, but it was night and the area was inside the shadow that Cetath cast on the deck.

Katie grimaced, she was under strict orders not to use any magic in front of the muggles. She looked around helplessly, unable to figure out how to provide the light needed without giving away her magical abilities.

A man who overhead May shouted some orders and a half a dozen men pushed a large cart over. One men bent next to a side panel and flipped some switches. A panel of lights lifted vertically from the cart and flooded the area in a blaze of light. It was a utility cart that the flight deck crews used at night and it illuminated the injury perfectly.

May nodded in thanks, then she donned a pair of leather gloves and gave the rotor a light touch, trying to see how tightly it was lodged in the dragon's leg. Judging from the exposed blade May estimated the wound was at least three inches deep. The rotor appeared to be wedged in tight and May doubted she would be able to pull it out.

Katie knelt next to May and watched. "This is going to bleed badly when this is pulled out," May said tensely to Katie.

"It can't stay in Cetath," Katie said. "We have to remove it and hope we can stop any bleeding."

May looked at Katie. "All right, lets do this. Get our kit and one of the buckets of bandage paste."

May leaned back on her heels and removed the leather gloves, she needed someone else to pull the metal out while she tried to do something she had never done before. Something no one had done before, operate on a dragon.

Katie nodded and ran back to where May had stored her supplies. Meanwhile May looked around at the men milling about watching the wounded dragon that had saved the helicopter crew. "Can any of you help? I'm going to need some muscle to remove this metal."

One man stepped forward and took the gloves from May. "I'll do it Miss," said the man.

She smiled gratefully. "Thank you. In a few minutes I'm going to want you to gently remove that metal. Try to pull it straight out without too much side motion. The dragon is on a pain reliever, and I'll be injecting the wound directly with a local pain relief drug once you have the metal out. Lets just try not to make it any worse."

The man nodded and knelt down not far from May. Katie ran back up carrying a box. May reached in and pulled out a towel and a large bottle of alcohol which she liberally poured on her hands. Katie watched her friend and bit her lip, both girls knew they were about to do something they had never done before. This was not a good place to be doing surgery and both girls knew it.

Katie helped May don surgical gloves, then she laid out their never used before surgical kit. She saw May looking at her and could see the determination, and the fear in her eyes.

The kit was the brainchild of both Doctor Shepard and May. Instead of regular sutures and needles, it contained tools more appropriate for a machinist's kit. Heavy surgical steel wire normally used to wire bone pieces in place, needle nose pliers, heavy steel needles used for stitching canvas and leather and wire cutters. It was an unused and untested kit that had been hastily assembled in the last week just in case May ran into a situation like this. No one had really expected it to be used during this trip and certainly not by May alone.

May paused and looked at Katie who knelt beside her. Katie gave her an encouraging smile. "You can do this May," she said firmly, "You're the only one of us that can."

May took a deep breath, then she nodded to the crewman. "Let's do this," she said reaching for a needle and the spool of wire.

Above the Sea Pearl, July 18th...

Harry watched as one of the non-bonded dragons swooped down and pulled the helicopter from the water. He absently noted the other helicopters exiting the area at high speed. They were under orders to withdraw if they spotted any missile fire.

"Illustrious to Wing one, it's your turn now Harry," crackled his radio.

"Understood Illustrious, we are beginning our run," he replied, then he stuffed the radio in a pocket.

"It's up to us now Chekiath. Is anyone ready?" he asked.

"Everyone is in position Harry. We're ready."

Harry closed his eyes and concentrated. "All right everyone, just like we planned, unmanned wings, go!" He sent.

Five unmanned wings, one hundred dragons, folded their wings and broke formation, diving for the ship more than a thousand feet below. The plan was to make a high speed flaming pass, then circle back and make a second, slower speed pass, bathing the ship in fire hot enough to set any of the rigging and wooden fixtures on fire. Harry had decided that the dragons would use a modest amount of fire. They didn't want to burn the ship down to the waterline, or turn it into an everlasting glowing hulk.

It had also been decided that the principle issue was to reduce any chance of a dragon or rider getting injured. Injuries to the terrorists was not an issue that concerned anyone.

On board the HMS Illustrious, July 18th...

Jackson blinked and climbed out of his chair. One of the dragons had just deposited his damaged helicopter on the aft flight deck, then limped partway over to where the riders had set up their aid station. Already his deck hands were swarming over the damaged aircraft to get to the flight crew.

It wasn't possible to see the dragons in the air over the Sea Pearl, but even with the ever present shipboard noise it was impossible to miss the sound of one hundred dragons roaring in anger as they dove. The hairs along Jackson's arms and neck stood straight up, then the whole area lit up as the dragons flamed the ship.

"My god!" Jackson said in a strangled voice.

The dragons cleared the ship a few seconds later and they pumped their wings hard to gain altitude.

The Sea Pearl was smoking heavily, like so many of the older ships, the basic hull was a mix cast iron and steel and the deck was mostly wooden planking. The single pass of the dragons had set parts of that planking on fire. From his vantage point he could see men scurrying about on decking that was literally on fire. He watched dispassionately as two men plunged over the side in order to escape the flames. Both men had been ablaze.

Then suddenly out of no where, the dragons were back! They surrounded the ship and then let loose with another wave of fire, this time aiming for a spot just above the ship forming a curtain of fire and heat. The idea was to make the top decks of the ship too hot and the dragons were doing just that. Jackson thought he saw flashes of gunfire from one of the open hatchways, but he couldn't be certain.

Just as quickly as the dragons appeared, they were suddenly gone again. One dragon reappeared over the Illustrious and aimed for the the aft flight deck.

"Must be heading for their aid station," said Ensign Olsen. The young officer had moved away from his station at the plot table to watch the spectacle. It was only then that Jackson noted that most of his bridge crew were glued to the windows.

"Back to your stations!" he snapped and watched in satisfaction as they scurried back to work. He really couldn't blame them, this was warfare like none he had ever seen in his long career. He fervently prayed he'd never have to face a dragon as an enemy. Their ability to appear and vanish seriously unnerved him.

He watched his bridge crew for a moment longer, then he turned his attention to the battle unfolding less than a mile from his ship. The manned wings of dragon riders popped out of Between just above the deck and for a moment Jackson thought he was watching a scene from a science fiction movie. Bolts of red light streaked down from the dragons as the riders fired their stunning bolts into any open hatchway they could shoot down. As they fired, another two wings of non-bonded dragons landed on the Sea Pearl, grabbing railings, open doors, anything they could grip.

One of the dragons that was holding the ship suddenly released its grip and turned towards the Illustrious. Jackson watched it land near the others it was also favoring a paw. Shaking from the sight he turned back to the Sea Pearl. The manned dragons continued to fire their crossbows while the dragons used their fire to keep the terrorists pinned down inside the Sea Pearl's structure.

At some signal Jackson couldn't detect the assembled dragons started to lift the ship. It started slowly and quickly picked up speed as the mass of dragons lifted her. Jackson gasped as the large single screw became visible, still turning, then all of the visible dragons and the ship vanished from sight!

On board the Sea Pearl, July 18th...

Hermione appeared with her wing just about twenty feet from the port side of the ship. Comaloth, along with the other dragons roared and shot a long line of flame against the side of the ship. She wasn't aiming at anything in particular. It was a move Harry had decided upon in the hopes that fear would keep the terrorists inside the ship instead of confronting the riders on deck.

Hermione's eyes swept the deck looking for motion when suddenly she felt a sharp jerk on her head to the right. She lifted her bow instinctively and fired back at the muzzle flash. Comaloth roared and flamed the area with fire that was white hot. She heard an agonizing scream and then a figure dashed out of the open hatchway and hurtled over the side.

"Hermione? Are you hurt?" Comaloth said, her voice laced with worry.

With trembling fingers she pulled off her glove and reached up to feel her head and neck. She didn't feel anything wet, nor did she feel any pain and she could move her head just fine. It took her a moment to realize that the bullet missed her. "I'm fine sweetheart, it was just close that's all," she replied, a bit in shock.

Comaloth pumped her wings and doubled the distance between her and the ship. She didn't want to risk her rider any further.

On the starboard side Jin Tan Mu cowered back from the opening as a gout of flame rushed in. He was having trouble coming to grips with the reality of the situation. One moment they were holding off the helicopters with the threat of shoulder fired missiles, then suddenly they were under attack by strange beasts breathing fire.

Dragons!

It was impossible, but even he recognized the creatures for what they appeared to be, fire breathing dragons. He shuddered back from the opening to the deck and gently leaned against the wall. The sleeve of his right arm was still smoking, but the fire was out and the pain wasn't too bad. He lifted the AK-47 with his left arm and fired a three round burst blindly through the doorway.

"Comrade Colonel, what are these things?" gasped one of his men. The man stood at the top of the stairway leading deeper into the ship and he clutched his automatic weapon like it could protect him from the dragons that roared in the skies over the ship.

He glanced at the man and gestured towards the opening. The man hefted his gun and fired off a long burst, emptying the clip. Ordinarily a well trained soldier would never fire a full clip in a single burst, but the man was seriously rattled by the dragons presence. A half dozen streaks of red lights flew through the opening and one struck the man in the chest. He glowed a bright red and fell backwards down the steps. His gun made a loud clatter as it bounced down the metal stairway.

Jin grimaced, he was alone now. He could hear the terrified cries of his men from various compartments, but he was alone in this passage. There was a loud flapping sound and the deck under his feet tilted sharply as the dragons on one side of the ship lifted before the others. The ship leveled off again and then there was total blackness and an intense bone chilling cold.

Jin Tan Mu thought he was losing his mind! It seemed to go on forever and then, just as he opened his mouth to scream, the sensation was gone, replaced by another, even more terrifying sensation. Impossibly, the ship was falling!

Jin Tan Mu screamed as he bounced hard against the roof of the passageway. His weapon swung wildly and it hit him in the head, momentarily stunning him. Then there was a tremendous crash and he cartwheeled down the steep stairway which was now canted at an impossible angle.

The Sea Pearl lay on it's side, the bottom hull plating pushed in. Inside the ship, Colonel Jin Tan Mu lay, his eyes roving wildly as his body breathed it's last breath. He had broken a number of bones in the landing including his neck. His mind dimly recognized the sound of heavy machine gun fire and shouted orders, then his vision faded and blackness engulfed him.

On board the HMS Illustrious, July 18th...

Search lights from Illustrious and the four frigates slewed wildly trying to reacquire the ship, but it was gone.

"Contact lost sir!" said the surprised radar operator.

"Relax," said a voice just over Jackson's shoulder. "This was part of the plan captain. They saved the Orkney in a similar manner."

Jackson turned and saw James grinning at him. "Right now that ship is being dropped from height on the island of Skula Sgeir, and there are fifteen hundred marines waiting to greet them."

Jackson smiled slowly, the idea of two regiments of marines ready and waiting for those people was something he greatly appreciated. His mind refused to consider the idea that the ship had been transported nearly a thousand miles away in a handful of seconds.

Turning back to the scene where the Sea Pearl had once been he spoke again. "Have the Sea King search for anyone in the water. I thought I saw at least two people jump over the side."

He didn't bother mentioning the men had been on fire at the time.

"Aye sir," replied the communications officer who then picked up a handset and spoke quietly into it.

Five dragons appeared overhead, near the aft flight deck and came to a gentle landing. From the bridge Jackson could see all five had riders that were dismounting.

"Harry probably sent the other wings back to the Weyr," James said, standing next to Jackson. "None of those dragons seem in distress. I bet he came back to check on the wounded dragons."

Jackson turned to Mills. "Well Commander, perhaps we best go find out what is going on. Number one, you have the ship, signal the task force to stand down from action stations."

Mills nodded and followed the captain while his second in command gave the orders to stow away weapons and return to normal stations.

Ten minutes later James found himself watching May carefully finish sealing the large wound on Cetath. On the deck a few feet away was a two and a half foot long piece of helicopter rotor blade covered in dragon blood. Cetath moaned softly despite the pain relieving potion.

Harry who was also watching nearby stepped up to the large dragon and placed a hand against his neck and concentrated. Cetath turned to look at Harry as the pain faded from him. "Weyrleader?"

Harry grimaced and continued to apply his power in an attempt to help dampen the dragon's pain. "I'm trying to help Cetath, don't fight so much," he said through gritted teeth. The more pain the dragon felt, the harder it was for Harry to dampen that pain because the dragon's innate magic was fighting against him.

James was alarmed when he noted Harry's hand shimmering but a quick glance around showed that everyone was concentrating on what May was doing with Katie's help. It had been long thought that surgery on a dragon was nearly impossible, but May had thought that stitching up wounds might be possible if they used a very heavy needle and surgical steel wire. And that was what she was doing, using a pair of pliers to pull the heavy needle and wire, slowly closing the gaping wound.

James edged closer towards Katie, "How will you remove the stitches without tearing the wound open?"

Katie glanced at him and shrugged. "There are two ways to do it, May intends to slice the stitches into pieces and remove them by pulling on each piece. The wire has a special coating on it that is supposed to keep the flesh from sticking to it. Or there's the other way," she said, then her eyes darted down to her wand holster and James nodded in understanding.

Finally May leaned back on her heels and pushed some hair out of her eyes, her hands trembled from the strain they had been under. "Katie, let's get that bandage paste on nice and thick. We'll give it a half hour to set, wrap it in blankets and then call in some help and the sling."

Katie picked up a large bucket of the bandage paste and started to apply it to the now closed wound.

Harry walked over and gently pulled May to her feet. "The sling and four lifters are already on their way. Are you all right?"

She nodded and pushed her hair out of her eyes with her wrist, "Pulling those sutures tight takes a lot of strength. If this is going to be a common procedure I'm going to have to work on building up the strength in my hands and wrists." It was impossible for her to hide the fact that her hands trembled from the strain they had just undergone.

"Katie, what about the other dragons?" she asked. While she had been busy, Katie had attended to the other two dragons that had gotten injured.

"Minor stuff May," Katie replied. "Kranth tore off a claw. Apparently wherever he gripped that ship, he pierced the iron and it tore out the claw. Painful but he's not in any danger. Nekenth has three bullet wounds to her tail. I'm not certain but I think at least one bullet is still in her tail. It's not a life threatening wound so I bandaged her up and sent her back to the Weyr and Hagrid. Kranth will be able to return to the Weyr in a few minutes, he's nearly done waiting for the paste to set."

May nodded tiredly and Harry led her over to where Chekiath sat. He glanced up at his dragon and without asking the dragon stretched out and laid down, offering a huge paw which Harry seated May on. Harry gently examined her hands which were still trembling from the strain. "You're tired. I want you to rest for a bit. I need to talk to James and then we'll go home," he said softly.

She nodded, her hands and wrists ached terribly, punching through the underlying dragon hide and pulling the metal wire through had been very hard work. Harry pat her on the shoulder and smiled, then he turned and walked over to where James stood watching Katie apply the bandage paste to Cetath's wound.

"You okay Harry?" James asked.

Harry nodded. "We got really lucky James, I haven't heard any reports of a rider injured so I think we're safe on that regard. Cetath was hurt the worst among the dragons."

"He saved that helicopter crew," James said. "It's a shame that he got hurt, but I don't think they would have survived otherwise."

Captain Jackson walked up to Mills. He had heard Mill's comment. "No, they wouldn't have survived," Jackson said. "My surgeon tells me that the pilot and co-pilot both have head injuries from the impact and are unconscious still. The aircraft would have sunk with them inside. We'll be airlifting them to a hospital in a little while. Your dragon risked serious injury to save my aircrew and I am deeply grateful for that Weyrleader. If I can I intend to express that opinion to Admiral Slater personally."

Harry nodded in acknowledgment, he was grateful for the captain's comments. "As fearsome as they might appear, the dragons really just want to be our partners. Cetath will be pleased to hear that his actions were appreciated. The dragons value human life as much as they value their own, knowing that they saved lives is important to them."

"Weyrleader," Jackson said hesitantly. He was looking at this young man through a totally new lens having seen the dragons in action. "If I may, what happened to the ship?"

Harry smiled grimly. "Our terrorist friends were taken to Skula Sgier. We dropped the ship on the island a good hundred yards or more from the shore. As soon as the dragons were clear, the marines were moving in to begin their assault. I don't think they will find much fight left in those people however. With a little luck I daresay the marines will have this affair wrapped up in short order."

"Oh?" pressed Jackson.

"Originally the plan was to drop the ship from about twenty feet," James said, then he turned and eyed Harry who smiled mischievously back at him. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Just how high were you?"

"Closer to fifty feet. I was afraid that the marines might start shooting as soon as we put her down and I didn't want a dragon hit, so I thought it would be best to drop it from a higher altitude," Harry replied.

Jackson paled and turned to stare at Harry. "You lifted the ship and moved it hundreds of miles in a handful of minutes and then dropped it?"

Harry shrugged. "Less actually. Distance has no meaning when you can jump Between. It's funny, Admiral Slater seemed to dislike the idea of our dropping the ship too. I mean we gently laid down the Orkney in that field.

"It wasn't much, all totaled, only about forty dragons actually lifted that ship. The rest of us provided covering fire with our crossbows to protect them," he replied, then he grinned and glanced around. "Captain, I imagine it would only take sixty of our dragons to move your Illustrious anywhere in the world. We did it with the Orkney, and now the Sea Pearl."

"Harry, don't do that to the captain." James warned with a smile, then he turned to Jackson. "Sir, he has no intention of lifting your ship, he's just trying to make a point."

Harry nodded. "That's true, I wouldn't dream of trying to do anything to your ship sir. On the other hand the Navy knows that should another situation like the Orkney arise and we can get there in time, we'll do what it takes to save lives and property."

An ensign approached the captain and handed him a message form. He glanced down, then tilted it so that the work lights could illuminate it. "Our Sea King found and recovered three bodies from the ship. They are continuing to search, but it doesn't look like we'll find any more."

"Bodies?"

Jackson looked up from the note and saw the Weyrleader looking especially uncomfortable. "All three were badly burned, probably from your first pass."

James placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and squeezed. "You knew it was likely to happen Harry."

Harry swallowed and nodded. "Knowing it could happen and hearing it did happen aren't quite the same James," he said a bit unhappily. "I suppose it was necessary."

"Weyrleader if I may, we do what we must to protect our nation. Sometimes the job is very distasteful and sometimes it is very rewarding. Those bodies are balanced out by the fact that your dragon saved my air crew from certain death," Jackson said. "What you do now is go home and put this behind you. Mark it as a victory for our side and look towards the next challenge. It is a rare operation that we can call done and have no fatalities."

Harry looked at Jackson, he knew the man knew nothing about what was happening at the end of this month or the ultimate fate of the terrorists. His advice was simple and based on what Jackson's own job was.

"Thank you captain," Harry said after a moment. He stood a little straighter and turned back to James. "Are you required to stay here or do you want a lift home?"

James grinned broadly. "I've been reactivated for the duration of this crisis. But no one said anything about me serving aboard the Illustrious on her next tour. I'll go with you."

Jackson chuckled, he had looked up Mills' service record and knew he wasn't on any sort of active duty. He had left the service on a special discharge to help care for his dying wife years ago and then made a name for himself as a minor member of Parliament. The man could have had a promising career in the Navy if it hadn't been cut short by a personal tragedy. He nodded to Mills in understanding. "Thank you for your efforts commander, you have been a great help today. You have served honorably and are a credit to the Navy. Consider yourself relieved."

James smiled and saluted smartly and Jackson returned the salute.

Harry looked over at Katie who was directing Cetath into the sling they used to move injured dragons. His front paw was now covered in bandage paste and wrapped in thick blankets to protect the wound from the cold of Between.

Harry turned back to Jackson. "Captain, thank you for your help today. We were honored to spend some time on your great ship and hope sometime in the future the Weyr can come again for a more leisurely visit. I am certain a great many of my riders would like to see more of your ship."

Jackson smiled broadly, like every captain, he was proud of his ship. "And I'm sure my crew would like to know more about your friends."

Harry and James walked over towards where May sat on Cheki's leg. Meanwhile four dragons grabbed the corners of the sling and launched themselves skyward. Cetath barely lifted from the deck when all five dragons vanished in a blast of super cold air. Kranth leapt skyward a moment later and vanished in his own blast of cold air. His paw was also wrapped in blankets to protect the injury, but he didn't need a sling.

"My god that's incredible," Jackson said, then he shook his head. If only we could do that, he thought to himself.

Harry turned and walked over to where May sat. He bent slightly and gently checked her hands. She winced and he frowned. "Let Trath take James back to the Weyr. I'll take you on Cheki," he said.

She glared at him. "My hands are fine!"

He looked at her. "Make a fist," he said. When she couldn't he sighed. "Sweetheart, right now I'm not sure you could even climb up on Trath without help. I'll help you get seated on Cheki and we'll get you home where Issac can look you over. Tomorrow we're going to get together and see what can be done to prevent this kind of thing."

"Harry you can't prevent these kind of injuries, they just happen," May protested.

Harry ran a tired hand through his hair. "May, I'm talking about how you hurt your hands. We need another way of sewing up a wounded dragon that doesn't injure the healer. Issac once told me that surgeons also use staples, can't we do that also?"

May blinked in surprise and stared at him. "I don't know," she admitted.

Harry nodded and gently pulled her to her feet. "I know sweetheart, that's why tomorrow we'll talk about it."

He wandlessly cast a featherlight charm on her and she literally vaulted up to a position behind Harry's normal spot. Chekiath turned and eyed her while Harry easily climbed into his place. He fumbled with the harness for a moment trying to connect her in. The harnesses weren't designed to secure a passenger.

"Harry, just add it to your list and I'll hold onto you tightly. I know you and Chekiath won't make any sudden maneuvers to throw me off," she said tiredly. The excitement of the day was quickly wearing off and she was very tired.

"We'd never," protested Chekiath.

She smiled. "I know Cheki."

Harry nodded and turned forward, then he glanced around. Katie was waiting patiently for Harry's signal. Trath was nearby with James sitting a little uncomfortably on her. He wasn't used to flying solo. The remaining dragons and riders had assembled around James and tried to take his mind off of the solo flight by joking with him.

Harry pumped his fist twice and the small group of dragons leapt skyward and vanished.

Captain Brent Jackson shook his head in amazement, then he turned and walked back to the island and it's path up to the bridge. The Illustrious still had work to do and this was only the start of it's deployment. As he walked, he wondered how he was going to write this up in the ship's log. He didn't believe it, why would someone reading the log in the future believe it?

Kitchen Hall, Campbeltown July 18th...

It was lunch time and the Weyr was just waking from an exhausting night. Harry walked into the hall, one fist clutched a printout of an email he had received from the Prime Minister's office. He looked around and noted everyone watching him.

Harry strode to the front of the room and turned to face the Weyr. Everyone looked tired still from last night. If his riders were tired, he was beyond tired. He had been up all night and had Dobby swipe a potion from the Weyr stores to wake him up. The potion had given him energy, but he knew when it wore off he was going to crash hard.

"So is everyone awake?" he asked with a weak grin.

There was a moment of silence before people grumbled at him. He had awoken his riders an hour earlier. Harry knew from experience that they shouldn't let themselves get turned around.

Most of last night after returning to the Weyr had been spent dealing with his girls. Hermione had nearly been shot and as it stood, she had lost a considerable chunk of her hair, cut away by the passage of the bullet. It wasn't until she got home and had looked at herself in a mirror that she realized how close that shot had been. It took a light sleeping potion from Issac and a sharp command to Comaloth from Cheki to finally settle the pair for the night.

May was a little better off, but her hands and wrists ached terribly last night. She actually needed Harry's help to change into her pajamas. Today she wore a simple pull over blouse and skirt that didn't require a lot of hand movements to get on.

He waited until they settled down, then he unfolded the paper and glanced down at it. The numbers listed were there in all their stark reality. It was a reality he had no intention of sharing with his riders unless asked.

Looking up from his paper he began to speak. "Thanks to our efforts, Her Majesty's government has been able to avoid a major attack on British soil. It should please everyone to note that our adventure last night was not noticed by anyone. Also I have here a brief note of thanks from the Prime Minister. He informs me that they now believe the terrorists that were supposed to meet the ship may have fled to the continent either via one of the cross channel ferries or the chunnel. Apparently they fled when the pair that were arrested failed to show up at their arranged meeting place."

He glanced down at the note again, then he looked up and smiled. "On a more pleasant note, the Prime Minister reports that both helicopter crewmen are now listed in stable condition and are expected to recover fully. Cetath's actions resulted in saving those lives at great risk to himself. That rotor blade could have gone through his neck instead of his leg. The important thing is that all of you, riders and dragons acted like we should. I'm proud of all of you. Well done!

"It might interest you to know that First Sea Lord Admiral Slater wishes to give Cetath a Conspicuous Gallantry award for his actions yesterday. Normally this is only given to a member of the British military, but if he succeeds in convincing the PM, I'll allow it."

Harry paused when the doors opened and Sir Robert and James walked in. He nodded in greeting, then he continued. "Today is a wash, I know most of you would like to go back to bed, but you really don't want to turn your days and nights around. That's why I had the dragons wake you when I did. Remus will be handing wake up potions in a bit and a light sleeping potion for tonight in case you need it, please see him after lunch for your potion. Use it, it will help wake you up, trust me on that. Doctor Sheppard will have the sleeping potions available after dinner."

Harry paused and looked around the room for a moment. "Sir Robert I realize the last few days we haven't been helping as much with preparing for the thirty first..."

Sir Robert waved Harry to silence. "Nonsense Harry, the Weyr is ready. The science complex and power station is ready and I believe our army friends will be ready as well."

Harry nodded, he felt they were ready as well, but he wanted to make sure. "Well then can I prevail upon you and Doctor Sheppard for some help of a technical nature?"

Sir Robert looked intrigued and he bobbed his head happily.

"After lunch then in my office please?" Harry asked, then he waved to May, "May, you too please."

She looked up from her lunch in surprise and nodded.

Satisfied, he turned and walked from the hall leaving the riders tired, but happy to know there was nothing pressing for them to deal with today.

Twenty minutes later, Sir Robert, Issac Sheppard, May and Hermione filed into Harry's office. Harry looked up from his desk in surprise, but both girls smiled when they saw the small tray containing Harry's mostly eaten lunch on it. They were going to take him to task about skipping meals, but Dobby beat them to it.

"I thought I'd sit in if you don't mind Harry," Hermione said a bit meekly. Of all the riders, she had the most traumatic experience last night, even if she didn't discover it until she returned to Campbeltown.

He shook his head. "No not at all, I just wanted to discuss the problem May encountered last night. Your input could be useful."

Hermione still looked terribly pale from last night and he was worried about her. This morning her mother and a few of the girls helped trim her hair and he had to admit he found the shorter hair very attractive on her.

Last night however was a different story. Once Hermione realized how close she had come to dying, she broke down in tears. Not because she nearly lost her life, but because she knew her dying would result in her dragon dying. Her reaction was enough to cause Comaloth to become upset and the pair fed off of the emotions of the other. A quick call to Doctor Sheppard had him deliver a heavy calming drought while Chekiath forced Comaloth to settle down.

The bullet had passed close enough to cut off a significant amount of hair on one side. Instinctively Comaloth and Hermione both fired on the person that shot at her. She had missed the man by a few inches, but Comaloth did not miss.

Her last recollection of the man was of him plunging over the side, shrieking in agony and on fire from his head to his toes. She hadn't even known how close she came to being killed until she came home and discovered the damage to her hair. Correcting the damage to her hair resulted in trimming it back to shoulder length.

She had killed, if indirectly via her dragon and she needed Harry and May last night to help her get through it. This morning Emma, Mariah and Susan had helped trim and fix her hair and Harry thought it looked really good, but he didn't like why she had to cut it. Her hair now rested on her shoulders instead of falling to her mid back.

Between Hermione and May both, Harry had spent the better part of the night talking and soothing his girls. The entire weyr was running on only a few short hours of sleep and Harry was running on even less. After both girls dropped off he got up and went to his office to find out how the assault on the ship had gone, then he visited the infirmary to talk with his injured dragons.

It wasn't over by a long shot and he knew Hermione was suffering from a major case of guilt and lack of confidence right now. He was certain that last night's action would be the subject of many conversations around the Weyr in the days to come.

"You didn't tell everyone everything that was in that email did you?" asked May suddenly. Hermione's eyes narrowed and she looked intently at Harry while Sir Robert and Issac watched uncomfortably.

Harry sighed. "No I didn't," he admitted.

"What did you leave out?" pressed May.

Harry looked between the two girls and then he passed the printout to Hermione. She read it and her expression grew pinched. "Oh," she said softly. Finally she looked up and handed the paper to May.

Harry turned to Issac and Sir Robert. "I didn't feel it would help matters if I told the riders that only thirty four terrorists were found alive on-board the Sea Pearl. Everyone of them had injuries due to the fall, some died from burns, but most of them were killed when the ship was dropped.

"That Chinese Colonel was one of the fatalities. He was found at the bottom of a stairway with a broken neck," Harry said quietly. He didn't want to think about it too strongly. His first impression after reading that was to throw up, he was thankful at the time he had nothing on his stomach.

Sir Robert looked down sourly, clearly not thrilled with the news either. Finally he looked up and gave Harry a determined look. "It seems very condescending to say it was necessary, but it was. The issue now is to look to your future with your dragons Harry."

Harry nodded. "I know, and that is why I asked you and Issac here to join us. Yesterday May hurt her hands attempting to close a large wound on a dragon using stitches."

Issac looked at May in surprise. "You used that kit we assembled last week?"

May looked up from the printout in confusion. She hadn't been paying attention to their conversation. "What?"

"You used the surgical kit?" Issac pressed again.

"Yes, the wound had broken the scales off so that only the underlying hide was visible. It was at least a foot long and an two inches to three inches deep. I didn't see any major blood vessels, so I thought stitches would be good enough," May replied. "The hide can be pierced as long as you're pulling the needle with a pair of pliers. But it's really not a good solution, my hands and wrist still aches from it."

Issac nodded knowingly, he and May had discussed the issue many times. There were a series of problems involved in healing a dragon injury, the first being the formidable layers of protection the dragons had. The outer layer of scales were hard to cut and nearly impossible to burn. Each scale was like a human fingernail, it would grow to replace a missing piece and on older dragons could become thick enough to make cutting very difficult. Underneath the layer of scales was a thick hide that was tougher and stronger than the thickest rawhide.

Issac noted May still protecting her hands and he leaned forward and took her hands in his, examining them. He had her make a fist a couple times, and squeeze his hands.

"The pain you feel is partly due to the fact that you are performing repetitive motions that you are not used to May," Issac said. "My hands used to ache when I was doing my surgical rotation as an intern and human skin is much easier to stitch than dragon hide. Given how tough dragon hide is, I daresay you really strained your muscles last night. I didn't honestly expect you to jump into surgery this soon. When we're done here I would like to inspect the wound with you and talk about it further."

Issac turned to Harry to explain. "When we assembled the kit I didn't expect it to be used just yet. At the time May and I thought it would be a smart idea to have something to fall back on just in case. From May's description of the size of the wound I'd say she really had no choice. A wound of that size doesn't heal well without some help like suturing it closed.

"I had planned on exploring some alternatives to stitches than the old needle and thread method. I was thinking about some sort of surgical staple, but they would have to be custom made to be stronger. That means the staple, the tool to insert the staple and the extraction tool have to be redesigned," he explained. "Given the toughness of the hide, it may be necessary to completely rethink the surgical staple gun entirely."

Sir Robert turned to Issac, "I have a very promising physics student who has been pestering me about a summer internship. If you need someone to redesign established tools, he would be perfect for the job."

Harry looked over at May who was staring at the two men. "May?"

She handed him back the printout and grimaced slightly when her wrist twinged. "Honestly if that wound had been longer I would have asked one of the men who were watching to help. If we had another wound like that one today I don't think I could do it."

Harry looked at her in disbelief, he knew she would do whatever it takes no matter how much it hurt her. It was one of the things that he admired so much about her. Her empathy and compassion for injured and sick dragons drove her to forgo her own health to help them. Harry turned to Sir Robert, "I think that would be a great help Sir Robert. My question is can we tie this in with increased healing abilities?"

Sir Robert looked up his expression full of interest. "Eh? What do you mean Harry?"

Harry leaned back in his chair. "I know there's been a lot of talk about bringing in x-ray machines and other stuff I don't understand. My problem with this is we seem to be working under the idea that it's impossible to operate on a dragon."

Harry gestured and a book floated off of a shelf into his open hand. He flipped a few pages. "Last week among the unmanned Weyrs four dragons went Between. Remus records the reasons as follows, old age for two of them and two for reasons unknown. He notes that one dragon spat up blood suddenly and then leapt Between. Remus also states that no one even knew that one dragon was sick. He never asked Hagrid for help, or came to us for help. The non-bonded dragons just assume they can't be helped for anything beyond a simple injury."

He paused and looked at them, his expression grim. "Right now our bonded dragons will hold on as long as possible because of their riders. But the non-bonded dragons don't have that reason to tie them here. I think we need to start thinking of ways to give them that option. I'm not saying everything can be fixed and May has done wonders helping our dragons. So has Hagrid, but if you look at what they are doing, they are basically fixing minor injuries."

He stood from his chair and put the book back on the shelf, then he turned and faced them again. "Lornth was a major injury, and the only one so far that we've handled. He would have jumped Between had it not been for May and her father. The dragons understand we're willing to help them but why can't we do more?"

He walked around to the front of his desk and placed a hand on May's shoulder. She looked up at him, watching him intently. "I am certain that someday people will look back and remember May Potter as the pioneering Weyrhealer that put the science into the healing, but right now she's just one person that is actively trying new things. Everyone else, even Hagrid, has been following her lead. Lornth would be dead, but instead she got help from her father and copied an idea she saw her cousin go through to heal his injury."

"Harry," Issac said gently, "Your goal is admirable, but not very realistic. We are at the very beginning stage of understanding dragon anatomy and physiology. Perhaps in ten years we'll know more about dragons and we'll be able to start performing some simple surgeries."

May sniffed a little and looked down. Harry turned to her, startled then he realized something very important. He walked over to crouch down in front of her. "May sweetheart, I know how hard you've been working. I can't think of anyone that could have done a better job. I'm just concerned, it's too a big a job for any one person to do alone. You and Hermione are constantly making sure I don't overwork myself. It's my job to make sure you don't do the same thing."

She looked up at him, carefully searching his expression. "Do you mean that?" she whispered.

He nodded. "I do. I just thought we've been spending all this time and money on all kinds of research, but very little research is being done into the dragons themselves."

"He's right," Sir Robert said after a moments silence. "We have been concentrating on unique abilities and aspects of dragons and not doing anything that could benefit them. In all the excitement over things like Hot Rocks and the Bulstrode Effect we have done very little in terms of their basic biology. That sort of understanding would help in learning to heal dragons."

Harry straightened up a little and kissed May on the forehead then he stood up. "I will ask all of the Weyrs to contact us when they have an egg that fails to hatch. I'm afraid that's the best we can do for the moment. Any unhatched eggs will be turned over to Sir Robert," Harry said. He wasn't thrilled with the idea but he understood the necessity of it.

Sir Robert nodded and suppressed the urge to smile. He knew the riders found the topic very distasteful. This was the breakthrough he had been hoping for since he first met the dragons. "I do have a preliminary report on that one egg, but I was under the impression that no one was really interested."

"Sir Robert, it's not that we're uninterested. I am very interested," May said, recovering from her misunderstanding of what Harry had been saying. "It's just an uncomfortable subject for us. Dragons seem to have an instinctual need to go Between to die. Unhatched eggs aren't dragons as far as the dragons are concerned. It doesn't seem to bother our dragons, but we riders find it upsetting. And having admitted that, I need to know more. Harry is right, I need to know more about dragons if we are to have any hope of handling anything major.

"Cetath's injury was in a good place, had it been to his belly where the scales are thinner, or to his neck I don't know what I would have done," she said, then she shivered slightly. "I probably would have watched helplessly as Cetath used the last of his strength to go Between."

May leaned back in her chair and smiled slightly at Harry. It had taken a bit for her to understand he wasn't complaining about her performance.

"More eggs would be a huge help," Sir Robert said softly. "But an adult specimen would be a major boon, but as you pointed out, the dragons seem to instinctively know when to make that final jump Between."

Harry nodded unhappily, the idea of a dragon not going Between bothered him. It seemed to be too much to ask of the dragons.

"Why aren't the eggs sufficient?" asked Hermione.

Sir Robert smiled. "My dear, you're a beautiful young woman, but could you determine your adult form by looking at your infant self? As we age, our bodies mature, sex organs develop, the brain continues to develop. A typical human adult male can out weigh and out mass a newborn by many times. And then there is the issue of what killed the hatchling? How do we know what is a properly formed heart and what isn't? Right now the only thing we can do is compare one heart with another, but we can't even do that. We have organs from just one egg that failed to hatch. We have lots of questions, but no answers and the only way we'll get that is by looking."

Harry nodded while Hermione sat back in her chair thinking about what Sir Robert said.

"I have seen baby pictures of both Hermione and May and while some features are still present, there is no way I could have guessed how they would have grown up," Harry admitted.

Both Hermione and May glanced sharply at Harry for a moment, then started considering how best to get revenge on their parents for breaking out the embarrassing baby photos.

Sir Robert turned to Harry and pointed a finger in the air. "Exactly! We do not know what the proper starting condition is for the eggs nor do we know what the adult anatomy is like. There are organs that couldn't be identified. Are they involved in the fire generation or perhaps the ability to go Between?" Sir Robert said, then he sighed. "For all we know there is a special part of their brain which controls their telepathy. At this point we understand more about their DNA than we do their anatomy. And I'd have to see we only understand a small bit of that."

"This is all interesting speculation at this point, but it doesn't solve the basic problem," Issac said. "May performed a fairly simple operation on a dragon. It was the first one ever performed and it was under less than ideal conditions. I think it's safe to say that we can close major wounds. If we concentrate on just that aspect, we can significantly improve our knowledge and our ability to save dragon's lives."

May nodded. "Just by sealing an open wound?"

Issac shook his head. "No, not just that alone. But you have to start somewhere. Consider the next time this happens and the wound is not in an extremity. You flush the wound with normal saline and look for obvious bleeders, then you clamp them off and try to repair that damage before you close the wound. At one time battlefield surgery consisted of little more than amputation, then they moved to sewing things up and hoping the patient healed. One step at a time, but you have to start somewhere.

"First we nurse Cetath through and make sure he doesn't develop any problems. We learn from each case and build upon what we learned. I'm not saying it has to be done now but I can easily envision a day when the infirmary has new room added to it just to handle dragon sized surgeries," Issac said firmly.

Harry coughed to catch their attention. "All right then, to sum up, May and Issac need to examine the idea of staples and Sir Robert has someone to do the engineering for us. I'll talk to Karen about funding that engineering effort. Further we all agree that more needs to be done to learn about the dragons themselves. I will ask all of the Weyrs to inform us of any eggs that fail to hatch. As to the issue of an adult to examine... well I can't promise anything, but I do see the need for it and will consider how that can be achieved."

"I'll contact Doctor Standish at Condron and ask if they would be interested in leading the effort into the basic biology. The Yanks have access to some hardware that we don't, including an industrial x-ray machine and a CT scanner capable of providing images of large pieces of machinery like a lorry chassis. They've been working on the baseline data so extending into the biology and physiology shouldn't be too hard for them," Sir Robert offered.

Harry nodded. "Thank you Sir Robert, Issac. This will be a big help I'm sure."

Seeing that the conversation was over Sir Robert and Issac rose from their seats and left the room.

Harry watched them leave and waited until his door was closed before he turned back to May and Hermione. "May I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. I know how hard you've been working and how difficult it's been for you."

She shook her head. "Its fine Harry. It took me a moment to realize you weren't complaining about what I was doing. Instead you were complaining about the lack of help in learning about dragons in general."

He shrugged uncomfortably, "I just want our dragons everywhere to know we're trying. I understand that we can't do this overnight, but if no one is looking into the basic science, we'll never be able to do it at all."

He made a sour face. "The really hard part is going to be explaining to our dragons the need for a few adult bodies."

"It is not a nice subject," Chekiath said suddenly. "But if I understand rightly, May and the other healers need to know more about dragons so they can help dragons. Collecting unhatched eggs is easy enough, but you also need to see how we are... made? With adults?"

"That was a very good way to express it Cheki," May replied. "Human doctors have spent years learning about how the human body works by examining dead bodies. It's not a nice topic, like you pointed out, but sometimes it's necessary to do something distasteful in order to do good. The more we learn about dragons, the more problems we'll be able to deal with."

"It's not as simple as that," Hermione protested. "Human doctors have been examining bodies for hundreds of years and they still haven't answered all the questions."

May turned to Hermione. "Yes that's true, but you have to start somewhere. If we limit ourselves to examining only eggs that fail to hatch we will certainly miss important information. Even one specimen is better than none."

"Ladies," Harry said, jumping in to prevent them starting a heated debate. "Let's worry about getting the ball rolling, then we'll deal with satisfying the needs of the scientists."

"I will talk with Spath about this Harry. Is it okay if I ask May to help explain things to Spath if needed?" Chekiath asked.

Harry smiled and glanced over at May who nodded at him. "Go ahead mate, May will be glad to help." He reached for his book and scratched out a line, then added another notation. "One item down, one item added," he muttered.

Hermione and May shared an amused glance between them then both turned back to him. "Harry have you slept at all?" May asked.

He sighed and shook his head. "Not yet. After you both dropped off there were things I still needed to do."

"Harry, you can't do that," protested Hermione, suddenly forgetting her own problems.

"I'll be in bed tonight," he promised. "There was just too much to do when we got back last night."

"You better," May all but growled. "I've half a mind to tell Cheki you're grounded today."

He wiped his face tiredly. "I know," he said softly. "But we have no plans to go anywhere today."

May stood and straightened out her skirt. "Fine," she said a bit angrily, then she walked out.

He watched her leave in astonishment, then he turned back to Hermione. "Are you going to be angry with me also?"

"No," Hermione replied with a shake of her head. "She's still upset about yesterday. We know that sometimes your responsibilities make you do things that are unhealthy for you, but that doesn't mean we have to like it."

"I said I'll be there tonight," he said with a slight whine.

Hermione smiled, this sounded so much like the Harry she grew up with. In a way it reassured her to know that the old Harry was still there under the tough Weyrleader image he now wore. "I know and I know that you usually do what you say. Last night you helped May and I. Tonight it's our turn. Don't worry about May, she's not really mad at you."

Hermione stood and leaned over the desk to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "I'll see you tonight Weyrleader," she said with a weak smile. Harry knew she was latching on her need to help him rather than dealing with her own issues but he wasn't going to force her to face them today.

He nodded and watched her walk from his office. He sighed and flipped on his computer, there were still twenty unanswered emails waiting for his attention.

#10 Downing Street, London, July 24th...

Sir William, Alejandro Croaker and Arthur Weasley, filed into the Prime Minister's office for a special meeting. Arthur had been personally selected by Albus Dumbledore to replace him. In a personal letter left by Albus to Sir William he wrote that Arthur might not be very magically powerful, but he was one of the most honest and trustworthy members of the ministry and would be an excellent person to fill his position at the minister and at the ICW.

Sir William had shown the letter to Alejandro who agreed with Albus' assessment of Weasley's character. After personally interviewing the man, and visiting him at home he offered Arthur the position. He also took the opportunity of the home visit to ask the younger Weasley to consider returning to Ministry employ, assuming the position his father once held as Director of the Office of Revision.

Percy's recovery from his ordeal was slow and he still needed to spend more time with a mind healer, but the offer greatly improved his morale and he agreed to start filling in for his father.

His ordeal had not left him unscathed, but with his parents support and Penelope's help the only visible remnants were a tremor in his hands and a tendency towards nightmares. As soon as Percy had been released from the hospital, Penelope Clearwater showed up at the Burrow and announced she was here to help Percy recover. Her parents were shocked that Percy had managed to maintain his relationship with Ms. Clearwater and keep it secret from them. She hadn't been allowed to visit Percy in the hospital but since arriving back at the Burrow she had been there nearly every day.

Molly was ecstatic to see Penelope and to have her helping. She was sure that someday very soon, she would be calling the young woman daughter.

Prime Minister Major looked up from a report he was reading and waved the men into the room. Tony Blair sat in one of the armchairs and he had been talking softly with Lord Kennewick. Both men looked up and nodded in greeting when the others entered.

"Excellent, now we can get started," Major said. "First, Sir William, well done on dealing with those terrorists. I'm told that you've captured nearly sixty people. It is a shame that Carlos slipped through our fingers, but CID has alerted Interpol and I know your ICW is also looking out for him as well."

Sir William nodded. "Yes sir, I think that for now we can safely put that issue aside."

"Good, good, one less thing for us to worry about and if we get lucky Interpol or someone else will put a finger on Carlos and pick him up for us," Major replied, then he turned to Arthur.

"Mr. Weasley I know that you haven't had much time in the position, but I would like to know how things are fairing with the Italian/Greek situation."

Arthur sighed. "Perhaps not as well as we could have hoped sir. There is a multinational force now separating the two countries and neither country has enough of a defense force to start another direct fight. Unfortunately we're being hampered by both sides resorting to more subtle methods of attacking each other. Last week a high ranking member of the Greek Ministry attempted to assassinate the Greek Minister of Magic. It later turned out that the assassin was under the imperious curse."

"I'm sorry, imperious curse?" asked Tony Blair.

"It's one of the three unforgivable curses Mr. Blair," Sir William said. "Under such a curse you can be commanded to do virtually anything and unless you are very strong willed and magically powerful you have no way of breaking free from the curse. Imagine putting the Archbishop of Canterbury under such a curse and ordering him to kill someone. He would have no choice but to obey the command and the victim would die never understanding why someone so trustworthy was killing him."

"Under Ministry law, any British wizard or witch found casting such a curse is tried and sent to prison for life. Its one of the few laws we kept from the old regime that made sense," Arthur added.

Blair nodded thoughtfully, he was coming to realize that the muggle government was in a much better position to protect itself, but it still relied heavily on the loyalty of the wizards to behave themselves. It was a chilling idea to know that so many people had the power to wreak havoc if they chose to.

Sir William eyed the Labor leader and nodded to himself. "You are worried that the the Wizards can still cause problems for us aren't you?" he asked Blair.

Blair shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "You have to admit it is a possibility."

"From the general wizard population perhaps," Arthur said, "but not from the Ministry. Every Ministry employee has given a magical oath of loyalty to the office of the Prime Minister and the British Monarchy. It's now a requirement for hiring anyone at the ministry."

"A oath?" exclaimed Blair incredulously. He couldn't believe they would put their faith in something so flimsy.

"Sir, you don't understand," Arthur replied. "A magical oath is enforced by magic. Should I, for example, pull my wand and attempt to cast the killing curse on the Prime Minister, my oath will kill me before I can finish the incantation. No sir, the Ministry of Magic will remain loyal to the legal government of Britain for as long as we continue to insist on the oath as a requirement for new employees."

Major grinned at Blair. He had been briefed on the oath months earlier when he first raised similar fears to Sir William. "Amazing isn't it? Sir Basil would kill for the ability to enforce such loyalty. Imagine being able to be absolutely certain there are no double agents in your department."

Blair nodded thoughtfully, the British had a long history of trouble with double agents going all the way back to the forties. What the Ministry of Magic had done was unprecedented and it offered a certainty that no other department could provide.

"Getting back to the Greek problem?" prompted Major.

Arthur blinked and nodded. "Yes yes, right now the region separating the two countries is still wide open, so portkeys and apparation is still possible. By the end of this month Warders from several ICW member nations will start closing those holes by erecting a series of wards. The need to create so many ward stones and put them in place is why it's taken this long to fully erect the blockade. Typically a magical ministry has wards along their border to control and funnel traffic to key points, but neither of the governments involved were willing to hand over control of those wards. We were able to close their borders to other countries, but we had no control on traffic between them.

"Yoshi Musabe, the lead ICW negotiator feels confident that once the ward stones are in place, the Greeks and Italians will have little choice but to talk since the last avenues for them to continue their war will have been closed. He is also concerned about Spain which he believes might have been at least partly responsible for this war in the first place. Unfortunately there is little hard evidence to back that up."

Major nodded solemnly, "Please stay on top of that for us."

Arthur nodded. "Of course Minister."

Major glanced around, then he flipped open a file folder. "Gentlemen, in a few days time Her Majesty's government will be announcing the existence of dragons to the world. Security at the Weyr will be extremely tight and I would like to add to that by borrowing a few of your Aurors for the day."

"Of course," Sir William said instantly. "We'll be happy to help."

"Excuse me, but they are revealing dragons, what about the magical aspects of dragons?" asked Arthur worriedly. He knew the government wanted to eventually announce the existence of magic, but the plan he had been working on called for a very slow trickle of information to be released. It was a plan that spanned whole decades, this sounded like it would short circuit the entire process.

"The Weyr is revealing the existence of dragons Mr. Weasley, not the existence of magic. All of the magical abilities of dragons will be explained as either being unknown, meaning we don't yet understand how they manage it, or explained as part of their design. An awful lot can be covered up by the fact that the dragons are extraterrestrial in origin.

"It will be acknowledged that dragons were artificially designed, a long long time ago and brought to Earth by accident. The truth behind the creation of the dragons is now covered under the Official Secrets Act at the highest classification. The public will not be told who designed them and will wrongfully assume another alien race designed them. When asked we will simply say we don't know who did the original design.

"Harry's impression will be explained as an accident that awoke the dragons from their eons long loss of intelligence. Most of the public will simply assume that it took this long before humans became compatible with dragons," Major said. "On the day that we reveal the existence of dragons there will be nearly a thousand people at the Weyr. Foreign dignitaries, including nearly every ambassador currently in Britain. We've invited the American President as well as the UN Secretary General. Not counting the press, we've also arranged for the survivors from the Orkney and their families to be present.

"The Orkney incident will be explained in detail to give an example of what the dragons are capable of doing besides creating hot rocks," Major said. "The press and dignitaries will be given a tour of a working power plant powered by hot rocks and allowed to mingle with the dragons and ask their own questions."

"My god," O'Hearny whispered. He shook his head, awed by the scale of the undertaking.

"Yes," Major said with a smile, "we're pulling out all the stops on this one. In a way, since we aren't explaining the origin of dragons except to say that they are extra-terrestrial in origin we are admitting the existence of intelligent life outside our planet. The dragons have no memory of other species of intelligence, but we're fairly certain that the space going humans that created them probably encountered aliens in their travels. Admitting that intelligence outside of earth exists is a far cry from saying an alien race is coming to visit us."

"Shall we coordinate through CID?" asked Sir William, bringing the conversation back to the original topic.

Major glanced over at Kennewick who nodded, then he turned back to Sir William. "That will be fine. Thank you gentlemen."

Kennewick, Blair and Major watched the three men file from the office, then Major turned to Kennewick. "Has our other problem been dealt with?"

Kennewick nodded, "Left out of RAF Benbecula this morning around 2am. Our Chinese friends were able to dig up one of their Il-76s to reduce the number of aircraft needed. Although I do think they were disappointed that their man wasn't alive to face their idea of a trial. We told the locals that the Chinese were performing a humanitarian mission for one of their fishing vessels that ran into trouble."

"And the two men that we captured?" pressed Major.

"We informed the Russian embassy earlier yesterday. One man faces murder charges and he'll be tried in our courts. The other we will deport under escort to Russia and turn them over to their Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Russian ambassador was suitably shocked and dismayed and immediately offered to take them both off their hands. Instead we got an agreement. Once their man is sentenced, he'll be returned to Russia to serve time in their prison system. I don't have all of the details, but that was how it was explained to me," Kennewick replied.

Major leaned back in his chair and sighed in relief. The Chinese had agreed in principle to take the prisoners off their hands, but he wasn't entirely sure they would do just that. His economics adviser explained that the Chinese were desperate to secure access to hot rocks, reducing their reliance on oil. As a country they had vast reserves of natural resources, coal and other minerals in abundance, but little oil of their own. Because of that a significant amount of their money went to paying for oil to be imported in from the middle east.

"Excellent," Major said, "Well Tony? One problem down and now we're going to reveal our friends to the world. Is Labor ready for that?"

Ordinarily Blair and his party would use an incident like this to publicly destroy Major's administration, but that wasn't the case. Despite their political differences, of which there were many, both men were united on the subject of dragons. Dragons, they felt, were key to the future prosperity of the nation.

Blair smiled broadly. His party were clamoring for opportunities to meet again with the dragons and hear more about the ongoing research projects. "I'm afraid they are about as excited as an Irishman that's been told he's won a lifetime supply of whiskey. Curbing their enthusiasm is probably going to take up a lot of time."

Blair paused and thought for a moment. "Its a unique experience actually. The dragons represent something we, as politicians, rarely see. Good news... no, great news. Not just proof that intelligence other than our own exists, but an offer of friendship and an offer to help all rolled into one package. They want little in return, a place to live, and a chance to earn their place in society.

"I have wracked my brain trying to think of something that affected the world like this will. I tried comparing it to the invention of the steam engine, or the car, but the comparisons all seemed lacking."

Major leaned forward in his chair. "And did you eventually come up with anything? Lord knows I have considered it myself some nights."

"Sir Robert finally told me that the dragons were nearly as fundamental as the invention of the transistor, then he went on to explain how that one invention changed the world. I think he was right, now days you can't walk ten feet without bumping into transistors. They literally reshaped our world. I firmly believe dragons can reshape it again. I don't think you'll see dragons every ten feet, but their influence and impact on our society will be just as profound."

Major leaned back and smiled. "Yes I think I can see your point, and I hope you don't get too upset with me if I steal your idea."

Blair smiled thinly, he knew Major would be addressing the world in a few days time, it was an opportunity that any politician would kill for. He bowed slightly in his chair. "Not at all," he replied, he knew his turn was coming.

Major scribbled a quick note in his file, then he closed it and pulled another file from the pile and opened it. "While your here Tony, I'd like to discuss the National Health Care system and our funding requirements."

Kennewick stood. "With your permission Minister?"

Major nodded. "Yes, thank you Cyril, I'll call you in a few days."

Kennewick nodded and left the office. Once the door was closed, Major handed Blair a duplicate of the folder he had. Great news or not, the business of government must go on.

---

Author's Notes and Mockeries:

- A few have commented about disliking the idea of a third book that continues into the future. Its rather puzzling really, but I will put one expressed fear aside and say that it will not continue on until Harry's death. In fact since I first started this storyline it was always my intent to carry the story to a point in time that would end the entire series in the area of 2010-2015. No death for Harry, that's a promise.

- There's been A LOT of people suggesting simpler solutions to the terrorists. This is the reason why they are the readers and I am the author. Let's make a simple point here. Drama. That's ultimately what brings the readers back to stories like these.

George Lucas isn't stupid, he KNEW that his X-Wing fights in the first star wars movie could have made a straight vertical approach to the venting port on the Death Star, but visually, that wouldn't be as dramatic as flying up a trench.

Tom Clancey knew that Jack Ryan running unarmed into a gun fight in Patriot Games was more interesting than having him cower behind a car.

So picking up the ship and dumping it Between, or dumping it directly in China is a bad idea from a writing perspective no matter how much you think its what they should do. But then you aren't writing this story, I am. If I followed your suggestion this chapter would be about 10 paragraphs in size and you'd yawn your way through it.

Harry and company aren't perfect and I can promise you that real life isn't perfect either. People make plans and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. If you don't believe me, look up operation Market Garden in World War II, it's a prime example of an idea that in hindsight wasn't all that great.

Finally I'll finish by saying I did consider those ideas LONG before you even knew about the terrorists and discarded them because I wanted this story to end on an high note. Most of the suggestions put forward simply put were boring and dull.

- Yeah Carlos failed, but he's not gone from this story. He will return in Dragon storm.

- Lord Sauron the Deciever, it is my intent to try my hand at an original story. Once Dragon Storm is completed, I'll start working on that, but the only way you'll be able to monitor it's progress will be via our Yahoo group. See my profile for the url if you don't know it.

- WhiteElfElder, I'm bucking the genres here. Putting Harry on deaths door is standard for Harry Potter fan fiction these days. But it's not going to happen here. Oh he'll get hurt now and then, but no big fight with Harry ending up in the hospital fighting for his life etc... You've come to expect that which is why it isn't going to happen. As far as using the cold as a weapon, well they really haven't played much with that, PLUS a ship that old is a mix of steel and cast iron and wood. Cold could see the thing shattering like an egg shell. PLUS the dragons haven't perfected using cold in any coordinated manner. So no, no cold anytime soon.

- PtDean threatens that he'll/she'll go crazy if I don't get the big reveal and the ship segment done. Well this chapter takes care of one of the requirements. Pt, if you do go crazy, post the video on youtube and let us know. If should be good for a laugh or two.

And now for this chapter's recommendation.

Harry Potter & Death's Ultimatum by White Angel of Auralon
StoryID: 8286141

This is one of those tales that does a passable job of redoing book 7 and in the process making Ginny a lot more palatable to the reader. Harry/Ginny stories don't bother me like it bothers some people, a story like this makes greater sense than the official canon. As always if you like the story, drop the author a note saying so. It's a decent read.

I will say it's getting harder and harder to find decent stories that don't devolve into smut. I know of several well written stories that I won't recommend because of that. I don't have a problem with smut and honestly, as a male, I find it can be rather enjoyable sometimes. But there is a trend lately for all HP fan fiction to have a lot of explicit scenes. A good story doesn't have to be explicit. You can allude to a lot without getting into the mechanics.

It's a shame, but smut shouldn't be the prime focus unless you're getting paid to write porn.