Well, I'm still working on the next chapter in between the usual family emergencies. Hopefully, I'll have it ready soon. In the meantime, have a piece submitted by one of my usual suspects!

This was written by taalismn over on Space Battles. I now cross-post it here for your enjoyment:

An Interview With The Dragon:

Transcript Excerpts from an Interview Between Doctor Sydney Freedman and Sergeant Anson Owens:

"Doc."

"Sergeant Owens. Can I call you 'Anson'?"

"Sure. You outrank me."

"Rank's something we leave at the door here. Please, make yourself comfortable."

There's the sound of a large dragon curling up on the floor.

"Now, if you don't mind the cliché, tell me a little about yourself, Anson."

"What's there to say? I'm a backwoods boy from Wisconsin, joined the military for an education and adventure, though I wasn't expecting it to be on another PLANET, and ah…I turned into a dragon-…and isn't THAT something you're not likely to hear at an AA meeting or something?-"

The two exchange introductory banter, going over where Owens came from, what happened, initial reactions…..

"Oh, in the beginning, it was the tests…who likes being. Lab rat…or lab dragon? But I got used to it…at first, it was because I thought they might find a way to reverse my change…find a cure. But when that got less and less likely, it became more irritating."

"Made you upset?"

"Like, bite somebody's head off upset? No, I wanted to, but despite all the new and strange…feelings…in this body, I never got…well, violently annoyed? I think that was on my mind as much as the people poking and prodding me, and well…you. Hurting somebody because they were curious just wouldn't help me any. And I really want some normality, then and now."

"What sorts of normal do you miss?"

"I miss taking a dump without some biologist taking samples! And acting like they're going to get a paper out of studying my $#!+! I miss having a beer! I miss being able to slip through doors without drawing attention! Hell, I miss slipping through a door without feeling I'm crawling through a doggy door! I miss looking forward to leave back home. I miss being ignored by people in authority. "

"I have to ask, what's it like? Being a dragon, I mean."

"It's…it's…it's WEIRD. There's the scale…I'm looking down on people all the time…and forgetting to duck. And there's the SCALES. I'm feeling things I've never felt before because I've got parts I've NEVER had before! I have at least three extra appendages that Mama Owens didn't give me at birth. I've also got an extra length of NECK that's taking getting used to! I can look down the back of my own neck! And anybody who complains about large noses…get a load of THIS snout! And then there's the sex-"

(imagined)Sound of Doctor Freedman's eyebrows rising.

'The... Sex?"

"Ah, yes-NO! Not like that! I mean, I haven't had any, but…but…"

"One thought at a time. Tell me about…well, the sex."

"You really want to know about that, eh? Can't blame you; so would I if I were you. So, young guy from backwoods Wisconsin, full of adrenaline and testosterone…typical Army horndog male, right? Can hardly get up in the morning without …well, getting up…Only, these days the equipment's in an armored bomb bay sort of deal-"

"Oh?"

"Yeah, no hanging block and tackle. Deploys only when needed. Oh god….yeah, Desiree…you heard about the baths? Got a gorgeous woman rubbing up all over me, can't help but appreciate that…but it's like no big deal, eh? You'd think I'd be going crazy and all that….especially with everything else-"

"What everything else?"

"I've got crazy senses, doc. I'm starting to realize just how crazy they are. My sense of smell's, like, bloodhound-level. And…"

"..and?"

"I can tell when every female in the camp is on her period. I tell when they're excited about things, and well, interested. And some of them are interested in me, I can tell when they're around. And my eyesight…I can, well, it's not x-ray vision, but I can pick out detail like you would not believe…I see flushes, skin tension, body language…It's like an ogler's dream package. If I were a teenager, I'd be going gaga all the time, head turning all the time, but-"

"Go on."

"And it's no big deal. It's like there's the appreciation of form, and there's this kinda pride in the attention, and then there's this cool lockdown. It's like something in the dragon is going 'yeah, we got all this information, but let's not get too excited over it'. It's like the ability is there, but the safety's on. Desiree's sexy as hell and…she feels safe around me, I can tell. There's no tension. There's a sense of pleasure in appreciating sexiness, but not 'let's party!' drive. The other doctors thought maybe dragons have mating cycles and I just haven't gone through one yet, but I don't think that's it. Maybe not for my particular kind of dragon, or something. Like I said, it's all weird."

(pause)

"But at the same time the change…it's getting to me."

Doctor Freedman raises an eyebrow.

"How so?"

"Nothing like unusual cravings or bite somebody's head off, I mean….okay, there are unusual cravings…I mean. I never thought tin cans could taste SO good and copper's like licorice. But, the other things…. And #### man, I can FLY! Not falling, not gliding….I can freakin' FLY. Easy-like."

(pause)

"But what really get's me is the whole 'destiny' thing."

"The Golden One."

" Yeah. You got it in one. The giant ape in the room. Sir, you look past the whole 'holy this' and 'golden that' talk and the dragonkin are pretty decent people. Like a lot of folks, though, they just want to believe they're part of something greater, that they're not just some freaks of nature or somebody's cast-aside experiment. They look at me and to me for vindication, reassurance, inspiration. I can ...feel...their wants, their desires in the way they look at me. They want to see themselves happier and better off reflected in me because that's what Golden Ones do; lead them to better things."

Owens' eyes half-close with introspection.

"Sir, if this whole thing turns out to somebody's idea of a practical joke, then it's been played on more than just me. And if the punchline ever comes, well, I want to make sure that as few people as possible get hurt by the fallout. I may be the fall guy in this, but it doesn't mean I have to drag others down with me, and I mean to do as much right by these folks as I can. If following me was supposed to be some sort of a gag, I want it clear that people followed me for GOOD reasons, not foolish ones. That way they can walk away with something positive."

Owens is silent for a long moment. When he speaks again it's lower but more determined.

"…and if there really is something to this whole Holy One thing, then I'll just have to be the best Holy One I can be."

A/N: And again, thanks to taalismn for that.

Also, an anonymous reviewer pointed out that the series M*A*S*H was about the MASH 4077 and not the 407 as listed here. This is, of course, true. That said, the outfit is currently listed as the 407th CSH (Combat Support Hospital) because the army retired the MASH concept for reasons mentioned in the story. While it is true that the 407th is evolving into a return of the MASH concept, it's still, officially a CSH. And while the 8063rd MASH WAS an actual unit that served in Korea, current CSH designations are only two or three-digit numbers, such as the 75th CSH, based in Tuscaloosa Alabama, and the 405th CSH, based in Worcester, Massachusetts.

That said, as the 407th IS evolving into a return of the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital concept, expect that this unit WILL receive a change in unit designation. As for the extra '7'? Well, would it be a superstitious omen to tell?