Beneath Sovereign Skies

by Bobmin356

Harry and the dragons fight to find their place and gain acceptance amidst growing international tensions. Not all is well and good as the Weyrs threaten established powers and offer new opportunities. Follow Harry and the dragons as they try to navigate increasingly turbulent waters of international politics, terrorism and intrigue. On indefinite hiatus.

9. Chapter 9

Standard Disclaimer:

Bob sat calmly center stage, munching on a handful of grapes and watching Luke Skywalker make his infamous death star trench run.

"Lose the porch Luke," Bob muttered. Bob wouldn't admit it to anyone, but sometimes he did have hearing problems.

Alyx walked out onto the stage and stopped short. She had been expecting Bob to be giving the disclaimer for this chapter.

"Juke, bruise the torch," Bob said while leaning forward in his seat. He always loved this part, even if the dialog seemed a little strange to him.

Alyx reached around him and flipped off the television. "What are you doing," she said icily. In fact her tone was so frosty one of her nipples popped off and hit Bob in the eye. She hated when she lost a nipple, they always took so long to glue back on! And don't ask her why her bras have holes in them unless you want to die.

"ARGH!" Bob screamed, clutching at one eye. "What's wrong with you woman? I told you to keep your nipples from popping off!"

Alyx sighed and picked up the errant nipple and stuffed it in her pocket. "Enough about me, it's your turn for a disclaimer this week! And what? I find you watching Star Wars again!"

Bob waved her off. "I've decided that the disclaimers are just too much trouble, so we're not going to tell people we don't own Harry Potter or the Dragonriders of Pern anymore."

Alyx stared at Bob in shock and her lower lip started to quiver. "No disclaimers? When will I get to play with my power tools? When will I be able to torture random reviewer number six? What about Snape?"

"All a thing of the past, but I have made some slight arrangements to keep you amused, now if you don't mind I'd like to watch my movie!"

Alyx nodded unhappily and shuffled off the stage while Bob turned on the TV again. "Puke, I am more bother," he muttered with a frown. Bob was certain that was a code for something, but now, 20 years later and he still hadn't figured that one out.

Suddenly from offstage Alyx screamed and ran across the stage, her clothing in tatters. Bob glanced up when the mob of forty pygmy mutant zombie cannibals ran after her in hot pursuit. "Oh good, she found my arrangements," Bob muttered and turned back to the tv.

Alyx ran back across the stage again, this time in the opposite direction. As she ran past she hit the switch to start the chapter. "I'll get you for this," she snarled at Bob, then screeched again when the pygmy mutant zombie cannibals appeared.

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Beneath Sovereign Skies
Chapter 09
Relationships Gone Public

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A safe house in Garraf, Spain, September 15th 2001...

Anna woke to an intense pain in her head. She moaned and slowly lifted one arm about half way before letting it fall back to the bed. Her arm felt like it weighed a ton and slight jostle of the bed when her arm fell made her head pound even harder.

"Shhh, easy little girl," said a kindly voice.

She slowly turned her head until an old woman came into view. "Who?" she whispered. She blinked several times before the old woman came into focus. There was something wrong with her vision, like she couldn't open her eyelids all the way.

"I am Maria and I've been taking care of you since Carlos brought you to me. Near dead you were girl, and I'm still amazed that Carlos would go to the trouble. Now you be still and let the potions do their job," Maria replied.

"Where where am I?"

"You're in a safe house that I keep for Carlos. Sometimes he needs medical help and I still remember my way around a human body," Maria said, then she cackled softly as if amused by her own joke. "Carlos rescued you from some guy that was beating you and brought you to me. Do what I tell you and I'll let you out of that bed in three days. Ignore me and I'll keep you there for a week. Even if you do leave that bed in a few days, you have many months of healing ahead of you."

"Where is Carlos?"

Maria smiled slightly. "Now that you're awake I'll contact him. I'm sure he'll turn up today or tomorrow. In the meantime I have some more potions for you, and then a small meal. You'll nap most of the day but that's perfectly normal."

Maria turned a crank at the bottom of the bed, raising it until Anna was sitting up, then she walked over to a tray with potions and started to hand them to Anna one at a time.

Anna dutifully drank the potions and sighed in relief as the pain faded to a dull throb. Her whole face ached and throbbed. She tried to remember what happened, but the last thing she remembered was opening the door to her hotel room for Ziegler.

She reached up and touched her face and then looked at Maria in alarm. Her cheek felt swollen and puffy, the skin hot and taut to the touch.

"Now now dear, yes you do look a fright, but you look a lot better than you did when they brought you here. Don't you worry, the swelling will go down in time," Maria said soothingly, then she laid a tray in Anna's lap containing some kind of porridge, coffee and a small soft roll.

"Eat and I will tell you what I know. Unfortunately I can't tell you how you got injured, but I can explain your injuries," Maria offered.

Anna nodded and slowly spooned some porridge up while she listened to Maria talk. She couldn't help but wince at the long list of injuries she had sustained, her face with two broken cheek bones was only a small part of that list. A broken collarbone, bruised pelvis and several broken ribs not to mention numerous bruises and three missing teeth.

Maria had just about finished describing in exacting detail her treatments when the door opened and Carlos stepped in.

"Maria, that will be all," he said curtly.

Maria meekly nodded and stood, then she gave Carlos a little curtsy before scurrying from the room.

Carlos moved to sit in the chair Maria had just vacated. "Maria is a good healer and she knows when to keep secrets, but if you let her, she will talk until your ears fall off and catch fire," he said gravely, then he looked her over. "You may not agree with me, but you look much better than when we found you."

Anna placed her spoon on the tray and looked up at Carlos. "What happened? Why am I here?"

"I noticed you several days ago," Carlos admitted. "It took several days to track you down and figure out what was going on."

"They were forcing me to help them hunt you," she admitted in a whisper. "I didn't want to, but I had been threatened with prison time in a muggle prison with magic suppressing bracelets."

"I know. Like I said it took some time to figure out what was going on. What I didn't understand was the man that was running the operation, that muggle, was unbalanced."

Anna's eyes widened. "Unbalanced? I knew he hated me but..."

"Anna, he hated all women. He had visited one of the local brothels that specialized in more exotic entertainment and used to hire girls that he could beat. We had just moved into one of the adjacent rooms in the hotel when he went berserk. He shot his own people, then he went to your room and started to beat you with his pistol."

Ziegler had hired a number of specialty prostitutes, that much was true, but the rest of Carlos' tale was pure frabrication.

Anna winced and lifted up a trembling hand to wipe away the sweat from her brow. Having been in the business she knew that some clients required special services. It was an aspect of the field she had shied away from during her career in Knockturn Alley.

Her sleeve slid back and for the first time she noted the deep bruising that could have only come from trying to ward off a blow.

She stared at her arm for a moment, then she looked up at Carlos. "What happened?"

"I killed him," Carlos admitted truthfully. The fact that he had been commanded to shoot himself when Carlos opened the door was inconsequential to the tale he was spinning. "I killed him and had one of my boys find a prostitute that was roughly your size. We polyjuiced her to look like you, then shot her with his pistol, making it look like he killed you, then himself. After that, we brought you back here and gave you to Maria for healing. That was nearly three days ago."

Tears started to slid down Anna's cheeks and Carlos was surprised that she was capable of such. She weakly reached for his hand and he reluctantly took her hand in his. She pulled his hand closer and gently kissed it. "You have saved me Carlos, from the British, and from Interpol. You have saved me. Anything I can do for you in return, I will."

"You do realize that you cannot go back to Britain, at least not yet. They think you are dead. If you are spotted they will assume you had something to do with the hotel killings. No I think it would be best if you stay and help me with a project I'm working on," Carlos said.

Anna nodded eagerly, she was so grateful for being rescued that Carlos could have asked her to have his babies and she would have eagerly agreed. The incident had seriously shaken her confidence.

He released her hand and gently pat it for a moment. "Rest Anna, Maria will probably keep you in bed for a week. I will visit again and we can talk more about what I'm doing."

Carlos stood and walked from the room with a satisfied smile, he knew Anna would come to the conclusion he wanted. He wanted her unwavering loyalty and knew she would give it and more. To his own surprise he found himself looking forward to the moment when she was fully healed and he could enjoy her considerable talents again.

The Special Committee for State Security, The Kremlin, November 5th 2001...

"And now I would like to hear from General Sukov. You all know of General Sukov, he commands the Fourth North Air District and will very likely succeed Marshal Benoy as Supreme Air Commander of the Moscow District next year," the president of the committee said softly.

Seeing the other members agreeing he pressed a button on the table and said, "Send General Sukov in," he commanded.

The door opened and a man stepped in and stood at attention. "General Sukov reporting as ordered Mr. President."

The general had been told that he would be addressing a special committee of top officials including the President of the country. As far as he knew, this was all approved by the government. He had no clue that these men ruled his so called 'democratic' country from behind the scenes.

"General, we would like to first hear your thoughts regarding the recent western military movements. I know you've recently seen new data on that subject," ordered the President.

"This is not normally my area of expertise, but I have been asked by the academy to review their intelligence data on their new president. The truth is that the American response to this attack on their city has caught many of us by surprise," the General offered.

"Oh? In what way?" asked the Minister of Finance.

"Their response is excessively timid. The new American president was supposedly a hawk, or at least we thought him so. It was the consensus of the general staff was that the Americans would threaten to employ a tactical nuclear weapon against Afghanistan as a way of forcing those barbarians to turn over the terrorists. The current move to build a coalition like they did in 1992 is badly thought out," the General replied.

"Now we are certain they will become embroiled in a guerrilla war like Vietnam or our own experience in Afghanistan. They are adopting a poorly thought out response that will not succeed. In the end their enemies will simply hide deeper in new holes while the Americans burn themselves out in conflicts they can't win. There is also word from some of our sources in Washington that Iraq might be targeted."

"Makes sense," Finance mumbled. "He would want revenge for what Saddam tried to do to his father."

"Foolish," muttered Danakov. "Saddam is a stabilizing influence in the region. Removing him will destabilize many countries and leave a power vacuum, who knows what will happen then. This American president is being foolish, he is leading with his emotions, he should forget about what Saddam did and concentrate on the terrorists. Very foolish."

"I would have recommended a nuclear option if it had happened to us," the Defense Minister stated bluntly.

It was clear that many of the old men sitting around the table would have agreed to the Defense Minister's proposal. The numbers from the multiple terrorist attacked in America were firm, America had entered World War II with a smaller death toll from the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, now they waffled and talked of half measures.

"In addition to the troop movements we are seeing, there has been little other impact on the American Military complex," General Sukov added. "No noticeable increase in military production, no attempts to substantially increase their fighting forces. On the other hand, there have been some incidents, their military is not well trained for the insurgency they will encounter in Afghanistan and they know it. As a result of this we expect they will wage a campaign in which enemy combatants and civilians will suffer equally."

Several of the men around the table grimaced, the old Soviet Union had a similar problem during their Afghanistan years and to their regret their complacency in regard to civilian injuries helped cost them the war.

"What of the claims of chemical weapons in Iraq?" asked the President.

"The western governments talk big, but their claims have little substance," replied Sukov. "Our analysts figured out five years ago that Saddam Hussein had expended most of his chemical stockpile in his war with Iran and in the actions against the Kurds. What few meager scraps remain probably are no longer even usable. There are no indications that he has any other sort of weapon of mass destruction and he lacks the infrastructure to manufacture more. I have spoken with several others among the General staff and no one thinks Iraq has any significant weaponry remaining. Certainly not enough to make any difference against a modern motorized assault."

"Thank you for your thoughts General," replied the President. "Now tell us about the exercises along our northern border to learn more about the dragons."

Sukov nodded, "Four North Air District received orders to obtain intelligence data on the dragon facility just over the Finnish border. I ordered a mission which required refitting one of our reconnaissance aircraft. The mission was largely uneventful and little intelligence was obtained. Our aircraft encountered several Finnish Air Force aircraft during the flight. That particular event turned out to contain the one nugget of useful information."

Sukov opened a file folder and extracted a large photograph which he handed to the president. "That photo came from our first mission along the border. The idea was a simple one, we needed to gather intelligence on the dragon installation that is adjacent to the civilian air field called Joensuu in Finland."

"The mission turned out to be most frustrating. I can say for a fact now dragons do not show up on any radar system we employ. In fact, that photo is proof of that. We carefully examined the radar tapes when we found that photo and there were no traces of any dragons detectable."

The president passed the photo to Danakov who sat on his right. He glanced at it briefly noting the pair of F18 Hornets in the foreground. A red arrow pointed to a pair of dots behind those aircraft and a line led to an inserted enlargement on the photo that showed a grainy enlarged image of two dragons in flight.

"When the Finnish air force arrived, the air crews started taking photographs of the planes. This is standard procedure to take the photographs which are then sent for analysis. The aircrew took over two thousand photos using new digital cameras with removable memory chips. It wasn't until a week had passed before this particular photo was found by our people. The dragons are roughly twenty miles distant from the aircraft in the foreground. We don't know why they were in the area, but this proves that they are invisible to radar."

One of the old men, the minister for transportation leaned forward in his chair and looked puzzled. "I do not understand why this is important."

"Anatoliy, this is important because a large percentage of our air to air missiles are radar guided," the Defense Minister explained.

Sukov nodded in agreement then he said, "The Defense Minister is correct. In an aerial fight our aircraft would be at a disadvantage. Heat seeking missiles are less reliable than radar guided missiles, and are more easily countered. We have few long range heat seekers, and more radar guided. Our missiles were designed to shoot down American or NATO planes, not dragons."

Sukov paused and nervously wiped his brow. He knew what he was about to say could result in the end of his career, or boost it enormously.

"Am I correct in assuming that your interest in these beasts are more than just academic?"

The President of the council looked up sharply. "What gave you that idea General?" he asked hotly.

Sukov shrugged slightly, "There were several indications that this was more than just idle information gathering. That no one countermanded my order for the guard aircraft to be fully armed. Or that the reconnaissance aircraft had to be retrofitted with expensive modern data recorders before the mission could start. And then the rush on analysis from the Ministry; it wasn't hard to infer that someone was interested and that interest wasn't just academic."

"And what does this suggest to you General?" asked the Defense Minister curiously.

"You are looking for vulnerabilities among the dragons. Someday soon we may end up in conflict with the dragons. I think that given enough time, certainly two years or more, we may improve on our missile seeker electronics to compensate for dragons as targets. But we need more information and we aren't going to get it by flying along the border. We need people on the ground to develop the intelligence needed by our engineers," the General replied cautiously.

Several of the men around the table looked shocked that their intentions were so easily read. The president leaned forward and scanned a paper in front of him for a moment then he looked up at Sukov. "General Sukov, your second in command for Fourth North Air District is Lieutenant General Hasaverich?"

"Yes sir," Sukov said. A feeling of dread flooded his body and he wondered if they were about to go back to the old ways of shooting someone without making a major fuss over it.

"When you return to your headquarters you will inform Hasaverich that he will assume command of Four North. You will then report to Moscow Military district to assume command there. One of your primary tasks will be to ensure that our technology is capable of dealing with dragons, should the need arise," the President said.

The Defense Minister nodded in approval and Sukov snapped to attention. "Sir, yes sir!"

Sukov snapped off a salute and the President nodded in reply, then he waited until the General had left the room.

"So, at least now we know we have time before we can act. The question is, how much time can we afford?"

"I might be able to shed some light on that," offered the Finance Minister. "I have been looking at the projections of revenue from our natural gas and oil sales. If the rate of loss remains constant my people believe that it will be at least eight more years before we start seeing significant impact on our economy although there will be localized impacts in as few as three years. Currently we are seeing a little less than one point six percent income loss, but part of that loss has been softened by lowering our prices. Some countries took advantage of the price drop to increase their reserves."

"So three or four years at the earliest then?" mused the president, he turned in his chair and posed a question to his Minister of Internal Security.

"Mishka, what about your efforts to slow these facilities?"

Mishka Danakov opened a folder. "We were attacking European sites directly, but had been forced to stop that effort. Instead we're trying to sabotage other areas. We have been rather successful in locating groups that feel threatened by dragons and are willing to resort to sabotage for us. Of course we have taken pains to never admit that the entity backing these groups is part of the Russian government."

"Sabotage in other areas? How so?" asked the Defense Minister.

Danakov sipped at his coffee and eyed the Minister for a moment. "These power plants require a lot of machinery from hundreds of sources. Delays in delivering those machines results in delays at the building sites. Since the dragons captured a group that was funded and equipped with our help, it was felt that we needed to back off slightly and slow the construction in a manner that is harder to protect."

The Defense Minister frowned. "But that only slows the construction, not halts it," he complained.

Danakov frowned. "My friends, I thought it was apparent that we could only slow construction? We can do little about China who are building six plants concurrently. The Americans will boost security around their sites following this terrorist attack and Europe will likely also increase security. We must be honest with ourselves. We never really expected to be able to halt construction, the only realistic thing we can expect is that we can slow construction, but not halt it."

"Mishka you need not defend your actions," the president said. "We knew from the outset that we could only delay things until conditions were more favorable for us to take a more active role."

Defense winced and leaned back on his chair unhappy with the unspoken rebuke by the President of the council.

Danakov nodded in satisfaction and carefully suppressed the smile that threatened to break out. He controlled the President of the council using magic. The man had been Prime Minister of Russia, but recently moved into the Presidential position and allowed someone he controlled to be elected Prime Minister.

To the outside world he seemed to be the one in charge in Russia despite holding a titular position that held little authority. Danakov knew better, he controlled the man that held the power. It was a position he enjoyed immensely and never once suspected that he could lose control. For now his position was secure but it was becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile ICW policies with official Russian policy. Sooner or later Russia would have to break from the ICW.

Remus Lupin's office, Campbeltown Weyr, November 20th, 2001...

Remus looked up when he heard a knock at his door.

"Remus do you have a minute?" Lord Mills asked.

"James! Come on in and sit down, how are things?" Remus asked.

James sat in a chair across from Remus' desk and eyed him for a moment. "You look great."

Remus smiled. "I can't tell if its the fact that I am Lycanthropy free, or the fact that I'm married to a wonderful woman."

Remus' wedding to Mildred O'Conner, the American scientist had been planned as a low key event. Supposedly he was to accompany her to her home town in Kansas where they would be wed. What happened instead was an impromptu fair as nearly all of the Campbeltown riders and their dragons showed up to see their Weyr Historian get married.

Campbeltown first jumped to Chicago's O'Hare airport to process passports, then went on to Kansas. Three days after the British invasion the head of the Chicago airport announced his retirement citing a wish to take up fishing far away from the bustle of a major airport and five hundred dragons appearing with no notice.

The small town of Schoenchen Kansas found itself knee deep with dragons and once the townspeople understood the reason for the dragon invasion, they used it as an excuse to hold an outdoor town-wide party.

The wedding ceremony had been quickly relocated to the church parking lot to accommodate everyone and while Remus and Mildred slipped away for their honeymoon, most of the Weyr stayed on to celebrate the happy couple's wedding.

As far as his Lycanthropy was concerned, the doctors were extremely reluctant to call Remus cured. He was officially in remission and was required to undergo a blood test every six months. He hadn't had a single transformation or even a bad mood at a full moon in years, but the doctors were trying to be cautious.

James nodded, he knew exactly what Remus meant, his wife had been his rock during his crazy navy years. He still missed her. "Remus, the reason I came to see you is the PM brought up an issue which is starting to see more and more press around the world. I wanted to talk to you about it before bringing it to Harry's attention."

Remus' expression fell. "Something bad then?"

James shrugged. "Something not good. Whether it's bad or not depends I guess on the Weyr's reaction to it."

James held up a video tape which he had been carrying. "Let me pop this into your player and you can see it for yourself."

Remus nodded and gestured to the machine in the corner of his office. Like so many other offices in the Weyr, he had a small combination Television/VCR unit at his disposal.

The screen flared to life and Remus frowned as he watched the three minute clip. When it was complete James shut the machine off. "That as you probably could tell, came from America. They call them televangelists which is basically a fancy name for a preacher that uses television to reach beyond his local congregation."

Remus nodded, the man had only spent three minutes on the topic of dragons, but it was putting things in the worst possible light. Remus stared at the blank screen for a moment, then he turned to James. "How many people hear this stuff? What I mean is, how many will take it seriously?"

James shrugged. "We don't have details on his ministry, but he's not the only televangelist to have taken up this theme. Harry decided the Weyrs weren't going to hide their relationships and to some it's highly offensive," James said, then he paused and looked thoughtful, "Although I suspect part of this is due to the rampant homophobia that seems to infect all of the western nations to some degree. Face it Remus, even what Harry, Hermione and May have smacks of some same gender sex to an outsider."

"Yes, in the absence of facts, rumor and innuendo can do a lot of damage," Remus replied with a sigh, then he reached for his phone and dialed a number. "Harry? It's Remus. James is here in my office and he's brought to light some concerns that have troubling implications if we do nothing."

Remus listened for a moment, then he said, "All right, I'll tell him." He placed the phone back on the cradle and turned to James. "Harry will be here in a few minutes."

James smiled and leaned back in his chair. "So how is Mildred taking things?"

Remus grinned. "Oh well, you know her, give her a dark place to set up her telescope and she's happy. She wasn't too happy being so far from her parents and family, but Momnarth and Dronth both promised to take her home anytime she needed to go. Harry sweetened the deal by offering to install a custom made telescope at Minnewanka Weyr and you know where that went."

James chuckled, "Yes I know, she's now teaching astronomy to a large group of riders. And while still under construction, Minnewanka Weyr is going to host the world first dragon sponsored professional observatory."

It wouldn't be a huge telescope like the one in Hawaii, but it would be a very capable machine. When Harry gave Mildred a budget and told her to order a telescope she was ecstatic over the opportunity. She had rushed out to commission the construction of a telescope that would take a full year to make before it could be delivered. In the meantime Minnewanka would make due with a few off the shelf machines.

Remus and Sirius were among the few non-riders that were privy to Weyr secrets. As such Remus knew that the observatory would eventually tie in with Ronan's design group. He hadn't told Mildred about that aspect of it yet, but only because Harry was still being very cautious about it and asked him not to reveal it to Mildred yet.

"And there's been talks with the Governors at Cambridge to give those taking her class official credit. They are very interested because it gives them access to an observatory plus Harry's willing to let some of their students and faculty have access to it," Remus added proudly. "Mildred is qualified to teach university, after all, she was part of UC San Diego before going to work for NASA. She gave up her citizenship as you know. I was rather surprised at how easily she gave it up. We anticipate that Cambridge will pick up the courses and accredit them with no problem."

James smiled, the PM's office had been involved with those talks and he knew it was likely that Cambridge University would add Mildred to their list of accomplished staff. The university was eager to get access to a world class telescope and adding student riders to their rolls was a small price to pay.

"She gave up her citizenship for you Remus. I think that you both compliment each other," James added quietly. James had been the person that brought the news to the PM's office about Mildred's desire to remain here in the UK. The PM had been most helpful in securing her the proper visas and paving the way for her to obtain citizenship.

Remus nodded soberly. "I know she did," he replied and shook his head. His wedding to Mildred O'Connor was supposed to be low key compared to the celebrations that surrounded some of the other Weyr weddings. And it was low key, for about ten minutes, then the dragons heard of their plans and decided it was cause for celebration. Remus was the only Weyr Historian in the world, and Mildred was quickly becoming a popular tutor in math and science for those needing help with their classes. Plus she was still hoping to find Pern someday.

The idea that a planet existed that could accept humans living on it without modifications was a great temptation to the astronomer. It excited her imagination and fueled her desire to find it.

When they returned from the honeymoon that Sirius and Harry had bought the couple, their house had been renovated from top to bottom by the house elves. Dobby had even thought to include a small building in the yard with a retractable roof for Mildred's personal telescope.

Remus smiled to himself, his life had taken a huge turn around since Harry impressed Chekiath and he had to be honest, it was all thanks to Harry.

Harry appeared a few minutes later and listened patiently while James and Remus walked in through the problem that was brewing. He sat silently for several minutes after they had finished then he stood and walked over to a window.

"George Bernard Shaw once said 'Beware of false knowledge, it is more dangerous than ignorance.'," he said softly while staring out the window. He went still for a moment and the other two men recognize his pose, he was talking to another dragon. After a minute he turned back to Remus and James. "I didn't really comprehend that statement until now," he added ruefully. "I had thought that we should just ignore the topic of relationships, but I see now that is a mistake. Without proper knowledge people are willing to believe anything they hear."

The door opened and Lee stuck his head into the room. "You wanted to see me Harry? Sinnath said it sounded important."

Harry nodded and waved him into the office. "Thank you for coming so quickly Lee. I have a question to put to you."

"Okay."

"Do you know any BBC reporter that you trust to give us a fair reporting?"

"Harry, that's not fair, the BBC has done the Weyr right," protested James.

"I know James, I just want a reporter that will be initially sympathetic to dragons. Even you have to admit some of their reporters are terrified of dragons," Harry countered.

James reluctantly nodded, it was true, some of the people had been afraid of the huge dragons. Despite their gentle nature, they were predators with alarming rows of teeth and the ability to breath fire. Some people had trouble getting around their size and teeth.

"Harry, you're going to go public?" exclaimed Remus.

Harry smirked. "We are, but not quite in the way you think," he said, then he gestured to the VCR that still contained the tape. "That tape represents a small but very vocal segment of the American public. The only way to counter that sort of disinformation is to provide our own version of the truth. We will tell the truth, but from a different perspective than anyone thinks," Harry replied, then he turned back to Lee. "Well? Do you know someone?"

Lee nodded. "Barbara Knowles, she is very friendly with the riders and the dragons. Dronth identified her as being someone that could have been a rider when she was younger. I had Remus add her family name to our search list because she has an eight year old daughter."

Harry nodded knowingly, they were stumbling across potential riders all the time who were past the age of impressing. They were also finding out that such people tended to have children that could impress. Their first inkling of that came from one of the granddaughters of the Japanese Empress. The Empress could have been a rider, and she passed that trait down to one of her grandchildren. The had privately approached the Imperial family and told them about the child, then said that they would do nothing about it with His Majesty's permission. The Japanese emperor had not made a decision and the Weyr wasn't about to press for one. They had years still to go before the girl would be old enough to be presented on the Hatching grounds.

"I remember her, a blond woman who's camera crew nearly had to force her back into their lorry to return to their office," he said with a smile.

"That's her," Lee replied with a laugh.

Harry moved away from the window and sat down in a chair. "We'll need you, Mariah and little Rosalee. And I'll ask Millicent, Bob and Sammy to attend as well," he said thoughtfully.

"And Hermione and May?" asked Lee in surprise.

Harry smirked, "Are you kidding? Once they hear we're going to explain our relationships they will insist on being there. This issue impacts us all, even the couples."

Remus leaned forward on his chair and looked at Harry intently. "Harry, by opening ourselves up to this kind of discussion we will attract more bad publicity from people like that," he said with a gesture towards the blank TV screen.

"We'll never change the minds of bigoted people like that," Harry snapped and gestured towards the TV screen. "Narrow minded bigotry is unmoved even in the presence of hard facts. Just look at the people who still think the Earth is 6000 years old. I'm not even going to attempt to change their minds, but they are thankfully a minority. I want to reach the other people, the people that are willing to hear the facts and understand the implications."

Harry sighed and shook his head and continued in a softer voice. "Remus, people need to understand. Lee and Mariah do not have a regular relationship despite there being just one man and one woman involved. Millie, Bob and Sammy, or what I have aren't normal either. It all boils down to the dragons and we need to make people understand that what we have may not include inter-species mating, but for all intents and purposes, it is a relationship that involves another being that isn't human."

Remus looked back with a thoughtful expression while James watched intently. Harry turned towards James with a sour expression on his face. "James, I understand the difficult position your government is currently in, what with the build up in the middle east and all, and I certainly don't want to add to that, however going public is the only way we can fight this."

"I'm sure we'll manage Harry," James said. "I already warned the PM that you might decide to go public."

Harry frowned slightly for a moment, he didn't like the idea that someone could so accurately predict his response to this problem. It was something he would need to think about.

Campbeltown Weyr, Hangar 2, November 25th 2001...

Harry looked at the harness that Ronan held out for his inspection. He examined it carefully then looked at Ronan, "This still requires the victim to put it on by himself?"

Ronan was showing Harry a new invention from his design group, an electric winch that a dragon could control using a special glove on one paw. With the position of the winch being below the rider and out of his line of sight it was felt that the dragon should control the winch rather than the rider.

Right now the harness was a copy of what the Coast Guard units around the world were using to rescue people in the water, a harness attached to a steel cable. The harness required either someone in the water to put it on the victim or for the victim to be conscious and capable of putting it themselves.

Ronan frowned. "Yeah I know, but short of using a net and scooping up someone in the water, I don't know what else we can do. The Coast Guard has trained rescue divers, we don't."

"Harry?"

He looked up to see Lee standing with blond woman who was smiling tentatively at him. Harry held up a hand to Lee and turned back to Ronan. "This is a good first start Ronan, but let's meet later and see if we can't come up with something that doesn't require the person to be capable of putting that harness on. Sooner or later you are going to have an unconscious victim. Maybe a net is the way to go even if it isn't exactly comfortable or heroic to be scooped up like a fish. Don't forget that our dragons have a greater control of their flight than most rescue helicopters."

Ronan nodded grimly, short of a net, he couldn't see what would solve that particular problem.

Harry turned back to Lee. "Sorry about that," he said.

"May I ask what that was all about?" asked the woman.

Lee grinned, "Weyrleader, this is Barbara Knowles, the reporter I told you about."

Harry extended his hand and Knowles blinked for a second, then shook it. It took Lee using his title before she recalled she was dealing with a head of state and not just some young man.

"That? Our design group has been working on the problem of rescuing people at sea, last month the Weyr helped out when two ships sank, one with most of her passengers and crew, we got called in very late to that one," Harry replied with a slight frown.

"In calm seas rescue is easy, but in rough seas it's dangerous for the riders and the dragons. A rider can easily become unseated and end up swimming himself. We're looking into developing technology that can make it easier for us to rescue people at sea, safely for the victim and for the dragon," Harry replied. This was the kind of thing he wanted the Weyr to be known for so he didn't mind sharing such information.

"We put together a small informal group that are addressing this and other issues around the Weyr. One of the things they came up with is an electric winch that the dragon can control using a glove fitted to their paw," Harry said.

The reporter nodded and everyone present knew she was filing the information away, probably hoping to use it at some point. "Lee told me that you want to talk about relationships?" she said, sounding a bit dubious.

Harry nodded and motioned for her to walk with him. "Your office Lee?"

"No, everyone is assembled in the main conference room, even the film crew, Barbara and I came to get you," Lee said with a grin.

Harry shook his head ruefully. "To be honest it slipped my mind that we were meeting today. My secretary usually reminds me, but she's away visiting family today. Her mother is dying of cancer."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Barbara replied.

Harry shrugged, "It is a fact of life I'm afraid. As much as it might seem that personal tragedy can stop the world it doesn't and the world is filled with such personal tragedies."

Barbara looked at him askew for a moment. She hadn't expected such a viewpoint from someone ten years younger than herself.

"Did Lee explain why we asked you here today?"

"I really didn't get much of a chance Harry. I asked Barbara to come up here so we could talk about relationships in the Weyr, but I didn't go into any detail," Lee admitted.

Harry stopped and held the door to the administration building open for them. "It's all right Lee, we'll cover it inside."

"Lee said you wanted to explain about relationships here in the Weyr," Barbara offered hesitantly.

Harry nodded. "I want to correct some misconceptions that are arising, both here and abroad. Relationships are just a small part of the issue."

A few short minutes later they were seated in the main conference room. Lee had chosen that location because of the number of people he was asking to be present. Lee's office was nearly as big as Harry's, but it still wouldn't have been comfortable with so many people present.

Mariah sat off in one corner, holding little Rosalee protectively, of all those present she was perhaps the most apprehensive person present.

Harry motioned to Ms. Knowles to sit, then he turned to the camera and sound man. "Can you turn those machines off for a few minutes? Please?"

Both men looked at Barbara who nodded with a dubious expression. Harry smiled in relief and turned back to Barbara. "I asked them to turn their recordings off because I want to explain something and I know that this is going to be personal and probably offensive to some people. Your job will be to figure out how to present that information in a way that doesn't offend."

Barbara nodded, her reporters curiosity now highly interested.

"Mrs. Knowles," Harry said.

"Miss, I'm divorced now, Knowles is my maiden name."

Harry nodded. "I'm sorry, I didn't know, let's try this again. Miss Knowles, what would you consider to be one of the most fundamental requirements of human psychology?"

She blinked at him and shook her head, it wasn't a question she expected.

Harry smiled. "Let's try it from this angle, when you were first married, I assume you had a good relationship with your husband?"

"Yes," she replied slowly.

"And your intimate life?"

"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione. His head turned towards her and her mouth snapped close at his glare. This was the Weyrleader she was dealing with, not her fiancée.

"I don't see how that is any of your business," Knowles said in a frosty tone.

Harry turned back to Knowles, "Of course and I apologize for seeming to pry, but you do have a right to your privacy."

Mollified Knowles leaned back in her chair and motioned for him to continue.

"Privacy Miss Knowles," he said, then he tapped his head with a finger. "Even at your most intimate moments with your husband, the thoughts that went through your head were totally private. Your husband only got to see what you were willing to share, wouldn't you agree thats true?"

"It is an odd way of putting it, but yes I can understand that," Knowles admitted slowly, it was an odd concept that she hadn't considered before.

Harry gestured towards the large window where Chekiath and several other dragons could be seen sitting on the road and watching through the window. "Privacy is something that we riders give up forever when we impress our dragons. Imagine that for a moment, your most intimate thoughts and moments are shared between you and your dragon. And believe me when I say dragons are almost obsessively curious about their riders."

Knowles stared at him, not quite understanding.

Harry frowned, he could see she wasn't quite making the connections he wanted her to make. He sighed and jumped into the deep end of the pool. "Take for example a very human behavior that everyone does during their lifetime even if we don't talk about it. Masturbation."

Several in the room gasped in understanding as they realized the point that Harry was trying to drive home.

Harry's ears turned red, it was the only sign that he was embarrassed by the topic. "Most people prefer to be alone during such activity. It's private and not something they usually share, even with people that know them the best. A dragon rider doesn't have that option, there is no way to turn off the bond they share with their dragon, no way to ensure privacy. And to make it worse since dragons can't masturbate, they want to know exactly what we're doing and why, which leads to some very difficult conversations Miss Knowles. Consider the level of intimacy involved here for a moment. Imagine that when you married your former husband if you suddenly and permanently shared a link to his mind. There's no walking away from being a rider, ever. Nor would any rider want to walk away.

"Privacy is something that we lose forever. When we make love with our partners, our partners include our dragons. They are there, with us, in our minds, twenty four hours a day. Comaloth is Hermione's dragon, but she's also an integral part of Hermione. There's no separating the two. I love and care about Comaloth because she's so important to Hermione. In a strange way, she is Hermione in dragon form just like Hermione is Comaloth in human form."

"Something in us changes," Mariah said softly.

Harry glanced over towards her and gestured for her keep talking, this was the reason why he invited them to this meeting.

"When I impressed, something inside me changed forever. I love Lee and our daughter very much, but I also love Buth just as strongly. She's a part of me just like Rosalee is a part of Lee and I. It's that close of a connection," Mariah said, then she pulled Rosalee closer to her and cuddled with the infant. "I knew when I married Lee that I was also marrying his dragon. When my husband and I make love, our dragons are there in our minds, enjoying the intimacy and closeness, ever knowing they are a part of our family, inseparable and unbreakble.

"Dragons do not care for their children like we do, but they understand the need for us to care for our children. A newborn dragon can already speak and communicate with his rider; within two years they are mature and ready to mate unlike our young.

"Buth and Sinnath love Rosalee as much as Lee and I do. Buth watches out for her as much as I do. In a way Rosalee has two sets of parents, human and dragon."

"They are always there," Lee added. "Always. I quickly realized that they took as much pleasure from our intimacy as we did and I have no doubt that we could do the same if we tried."

"You haven't tried," complained Sinnath. "But we understand it is something new to you. It was only in that first flight that you experienced our needs so keenly."

Lee grimaced slightly and glanced out the window towards his dragon. "I know mate, but we'll talk about that later okay?"

"Of course," replied Sinnath.

Lee turned back to Harry and shrugged. The riders knew what Sinnath was talking about and were glad that they didn't suffer that loss of control anymore. Unknown to Harry, every rider considered the possibilities offered in Sinnath's comment.

"Lee and Mariah have been married only about a year," Harry added. "From the outside it looks like a regular relationship until you realize that it's four adults and one infant in that family. Four adults, even if two of them happen to be dragons," Harry added.

Knowles sat silently for a moment, looking at Lee and Mariah. "So your dragons are what? Co-husband and co-wife?"

Lee chuckled, "No or at least not completely, but they are here," he said and tapped his head. "Every second of the day or night. I would like to think that the dragons didn't influence our choices, but I know they do. The dragons seem to know instinctively what will make their rider happy, so they nudge, and sometimes nag us to go in that direction."

Harry stood and walked over to stand behind Lee and Mariah. "Two adult humans, two adult dragons and one human infant make up this family. Here in the Weyr we think that little Rosalee has four parents," he said with a smile, then he walked over to where Millicent Bulstrode sat with Bob Malwich and Sammy Hinnerman.

"Millicent, Bob and Sammy have a different kind of relationship than Lee and Mariah, but instead of three adults, its six adults. The dragons knew their riders would be happy before the riders themselves understood. The dragons know us better than we know ourselves."

"Honestly, I thought I was one hundred percent gay," admitted Sammy Hinerman, then he blushed and looked down. Millicent reached for one hand while Bob Malwich grabbed his other hand. Sammy took a deep breath and looked up again. "Pandoth knew me better than I knew myself. He told me that Milli and Bob would make me happy and when the time came, Milli would give us a family."

Millicent glanced towards Mariah and Rosalee with longing and muttered, "Perhaps sooner than we thought, but first I want to finish school."

"So let me get this straight," Knowles said. "You thought you were gay and now you're married to..."

"Not married," Harry interrupted. "I wish we could, I wish there was a way. But the law will not allow Millicent to have two husbands or me to have two wives. The law is short sighted because it fails to recognize that what we have is six people, three human and three dragon, that are connected far more profoundly than any simple man made marriage ceremony."

Harry shrugged and it was obvious that he was frustrated with the situation. "I intend to share a spiritual ceremony with my fiancées after they graduate from university. But in my mind we're already married even if it isn't legal."

"My god," Knowles said softly. "This is incredible, your pairings are that heavily influenced by the dragons?"

Harry frowned. "Not quite. Chekiath knew that I was attracted to two very specific girls. He was equally attracted to their dragons. Despite that attraction, I am certain he would not have tried to convince us to get together if he knew I would have been unhappy."

"Of course I wouldn't Harry," Chekiath said from the street outside of the conference room. "Your happiness is very important to me. Trath and Comaloth became my consorts only because I knew that Hermione and May would be perfect consorts for you."

Cheki's words lingered in the room and Knowles' eyes widened in surprise. For a brief moment, Knowles watched as Harry's public face fell away to reveal a more emotional Harry Potter. It was an expression that only his riders and his girls had seen.

"I know mate," he said with a warm smile, "and I'm glad it worked out so well." He shot a warm look at May and Hermione who were also smiling gently back at him. Turning back to the reporter he said, "I originally had no intention of explaining this situation, but in light of certain rumors coming out of the United States, I thought it would be best to lay the facts bare. Dragons are people, but they aren't human and they do influence their riders in such a way that most humans normally wouldn't consider."

Knowles nodded slowly, "I think I understand now," she said, then she glanced around the room. "So your involvement with Miss McNulty and Miss Granger is..."

"Something that wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for the dragons. And even today there are times when we have to stop and talk about what is happening," May said firmly. "And it's not what it looks like from the outside. Hermione is my sister and I love her as I would love a sister. We share Harry between us, but Hermione and I do not have any intimate relations. We may all sleep in the same bed with Harry in the middle, but that's all we do. As far as the other triplets in the Weyr, what they do behind closed doors is their business alone. It's not our position to pry or judge them."

"It wasn't easy at all in the beginning. May and I had to set up rules before hand, and then Harry imposed his own set of rules. Contrary to appearances we have had to work very hard to make it succeed," added Hermione. "And on top of that dragon psychology plays an important role in our family unit. Chekiath has two consorts, but that doesn't stop him from having recreational mating flights with other female dragons. It took months of explaining to him before he accepted that Harry, as the human male in our group, wasn't going to emulate his behavior. Our dragon friends are every bit as intelligent as we are, but for all that, they have stronger instincts than we do and are less likely to ignore those instincts."

"And all the while that they are explaining that to my dragon, these two kept threatening to make me sleep on the couch as Cheki tried to convince me to have trysts with nearly every girl he came across," Harry said with amusement.

Both girls shot him bright smiles. At the time Harry had pulled them up short and told them they couldn't threaten him for behavior he wasn't doing.

Knowles leaned back on her chair and made a few notes to a notepad. "I can see why you asked for the cameras to be turned off for this."

Harry smiled a bit sheepishly, "It's a sensitive topic and I do apologize for seeming to pry but I needed to make a point. This seemed like the quickest way to do it. Now that you know, please feel free to turn your machines back on. The Weyrs need your help Miss Knowles, we want people to understand. We want people to know the truth. We need people to understand that being a dragon rider doesn't mean just flying around. Every rider has had to face issues that someone twice their age hasn't faced. Our dragons are in our minds, always with us, even during our most intimate moments, and because of that each rider has been forced to grow beyond what they thought was normal."

Knowles nodded to her cameraman and sound man, then she turned back to Harry. "I think that what I would like to do is start by asking some questions of everyone. When we get back to the studio we'll edit the interviews and mix in commentary. I'm certain that when we're done, we'll be able to present this to the nation and the world without it offending any but the most radical types."

Harry sighed in relief and walked over to take a seat between Hermione and May. Mariah stood from her corner chair and moved to sit next to Lee. Rosalee slept quietly in her mother's arms. Knowles smiled in approval as the various family units rearranged themselves, it was in her opinion a more balanced arrangement and it would send a powerful message. Outside the large conference room window, eight dragons stood, blocking the road, watching and listening.

Knowles gestured for her cameraman to get a shot of the dragons before panning back into the room. As soon as the camera was pointing at her and Harry, the camera man signaled for her to begin. "Weyrleader, I want to thank you for this opportunity, and for the fact that you are taking time from your busy schedule. I heard about the recent hatching and we'll try to be brief so you can return to the Hatching Weyr..."

The Old Bailey, Special Magical Court, July 2002...

Amadeus Nott stood sullenly, his hands firmly cuffed behind his back using magic suppressing handcuffs. A bailiff stood next to him, and on the other side stood his court appointed barrister.

Nott didn't know it, but he was about to become the first person sentenced under a new law that was aimed directly at wizards.

Amadeus was the heir apparent to the Nott family. Only his mother and an older sister still survived. His older brother Teddy had been too young to join the Wizarding Defense forces, but instead had foolishly perished in a duel with an older man over a young girl that he wanted to court. The duel had been held in Hungary, one of the few European nations that still allowed honor duels. Amadeus had the dubious privilege of being Teddy's second for the duel, and the one to tell his mother that her oldest son was dead.

His mother slapped him and blamed him for the death of Teddy. Since that fateful day his life had been in a downward spiral.

The judge entered through a door by the bench and took a seat. He opened a folder and put on his reading glasses. "Amadeus Xavier Nott, having been found guilty of using harmful magic on a normal human without a justifiable reason I am ready to pass judgment. Do you have anything to say in your defense before I pass my judgment?"

"Just issue the fine and appointment and I'll be on my way," Nott replied cautiously. He knew better than to speak in any manner other than with respect to these muggle judges. The last one had cost him nearly fifteen thousand extra galleons over the usual fine.

The Notts were a well off family, but by no means rich enough that he could afford to throw away another fifteen thousand galleons.

The judge frowned at the young man and made his decision. He had seen far too many cases like this and it was time to put a real stop to it. "Young man, this is the third time you have been brought before the court for cursing a non-magical human. I'm afraid that I cannot just give you a fine and order you into court imposed counseling again."

Nott looked up in surprise. "Then what?"

The judge peered at Nott over his half reading glasses. "A few weeks ago all I would have been able to do is administer a maximum fine of fifty thousand galleons but due to changes in the law and the fact that you are a repeat offender I have a new option available to me. Mister Nott, you stand at a cross roads. The Home Office now allows me to confiscate up to ninety percent of your family assets, or you can opt for a more challenging punishment that leaves your family still capable of feeding itself. Make no mistake Mister Nott, if necessary I will bankrupt you."

Nott paled dramatically, "What's the other option?" he squeaked.

"I will place you on five years probation and issue you a ten thousand galleon fine. The terms of your probation will be enforced by a blood oath swearing that you will never raise your wand to another person, except in the case of self defense. During the first year of that probation you will attend mandatory classes on normal life and how normal people live."

Nott gulped and glanced over his shoulder to where his mother sat.

"Take the oath," she hissed angrily. She was beyond furious with him. First her eldest son gets himself killed over a stupid girl and then the now heir apparent is hitting the family's cash reserves because he doesn't like muggles. She didn't like muggles either, but she never felt the need to go out of her way to encounter any like her stupid son.

"I would listen to your mother Mister Nott," the judge said.

He slumped his shoulders and nodded in defeat. The other choice would be to become as poor as the Weasleys once were.

"You are volunteering for the oath?" pressed the judge.

"I am," Nott said, it was obvious to all that he didn't like what was being forced on him.

The judge looked around and spotted the two men he was looking for at the back of the room. "Directors Shacklebolt and Stokes, I understand that as authors of this new law requiring an oath; that one of you will be acting as the oath bonder?"

Kingsley stood. "I am willing to act as bonder for this case your honor. The MLE is training people that will be made available to the court to act as bonders for future cases."

The judge nodded and watched the process with interest. It seemed a little barbaric to insist on slicing open the convicted's palm, but the process had been explained in detail, even explaining the blood letting. The real shocker for the judge, who had never seen real magic before today, was the glow that surrounded both Shacklebolt and Nott as the bonded oath was sealed.

Satisfied that the oath was in place, Shacklebolt stepped back from Nott and turned to the bench. "The oath is sealed and verified your honor."

"Thank you director Shacklebolt," replied the Judge, then he turned his attention to Amadeus Nott. "Mister Nott I need to warn you, should you ever appear before this court again, even if its just for littering, the law demands that you will serve a term of no less than five years at Her Majesty's pleasure in a normal prison. Your wand will be snapped and you will never be allowed another wand, rendering you powerless.

"Make no mistake young man, this is your last chance to become a productive member of society. The next time you are here, society will punish you to the fullest extent allowable. Am I clear on this?"

Nott stood silently for a moment then he nodded. "Yes sir," he replied meekly. He had been shocked to his core by the forced oath and the threat of losing his wand forever.

"Good, now get out of my court," replied the judge, then he banged his gavel. "This court is adjourned. Bailiff give mister Nott his effects and see that he leaves the building."

Nott turned and walked towards the gesturing bailiff, his spirit finally broken. He would never appear in court again and the Nott family would slowly fade over time but would ultimately return to prominence as Amadeus' own child grew up in a more moderate and tolerant environment.

Weyrleader's Office, Condron Weyr, June 2002...

Skip hit the save button on his computer and sat back on his chair in relief. He had been working on that report for Harry for a week now and it was finally finished. The report was the direct result of nearly four months of effort on his part. Skip had spent so much time on the task that his wife had been forced to fill in for Skip in some of the roles he normally took care of.

Harry had very quietly asked him to do some research on the air forces of several nations. Only Kat, his wife, and Ronan Clark knew of the project. Skip also suspected that Harry's fiancées knew of the project, but it was considered a Weyr secret. His Weyr knew something was up, he had spent a great deal of time in his office or visiting libraries around the world.

Nearly six months earlier the Weyrleaders were talking about the fact that the Saudi Air Force had flown over a Weyr located in Kenya. Lac Logipi was alarmed by the aircraft and immediately called for help from Campbeltown. The Weyr arrived within minutes. Over one thousand dragons appeared in the skies over the small unmanned Weyr and their very presence chased off the planes. Harry had contacted the Kenyan ambassador to Britain asking about the planes and that started an international incident.

Kenya knew they had a Weyr within their territory, and they knew that Harry wanted to find another place for the dragons to call home before turning it into a manned Weyr. There were several viable places within their borders that were closer to fresh water and civilization but no decision had been made as yet and no one was really in any hurry to make one. Meanwhile Lac Logipi enjoyed the personal interest and protection of The Weyrleader.

When asked the Saudis claimed they were running an exercise, but Kenya said they knew of no such exercise with their air force. The incident caused considerable tension between the two nations and increased concern among the Weyrleaders. The Saudis never managed to locate the Weyr's exact position, but they had a good idea of the general region now.

Skip volunteered to examine the capabilities of modern combat aircraft and start putting together plans for dealing with them should it become necessary.

"This will teach me to never volunteer," he muttered out loud.

"It could be worse sweetheart," Kat said from the doorway. "Do you have a minute?"

Skip looked up and noted she had two people with her. He quickly closed out his word processor. "Yes, I'm finished, come on in."

"Skip, this is Colonel Peters, he is replacing Captain Wilson as head of the security detail guarding the Weyr," Kat said softly.

Skip glanced over at her and she nodded slightly. She knew what he was thinking, the guard force for the Weyr was far too small to require a colonel in charge.

Skip stood and walked around his desk and held out his hand to Wilson. "We're going to miss you Jim, when is your last day? If possible I think we'd like to hold a dinner in your honor."

"The Captain has been transferred to an outfit that will be shipping overseas this Friday," Peters said.

Wilson nodded, but he didn't look happy.

Skip smiled, "Well come to the mess hall tonight, I'm sure we can whip up something special for your send off."

Wilson nodded and stepped back. Skip turned towards Peters, "Welcome to Condron Weyr Colonel, it's dry and hot and so far, mostly very boring."

Skip and the Colonel shook hands and spoke for a few more minutes before the Colonel cited business regarding the change of command and both marines left his office.

"Skip," Kat said softly. Relations between the US and the Weyr were cordially cool at the moment. Jasper had been working overtime trying to ease tensions and had worked wonders by involving the Weyr in local government efforts. No matter what Jasper tried, at the federal level, there was a level of suspicion between the Weyr and the government.

"I know, I know. Something is not right, but neither you or I have any military experience. I don't know if it's normal for a colonel to command a small force like we have here. Campbeltown uses a major for a similar size force and I'm told she's a major only because of something Harry did. I don't like this, Wilson was solidly on our side. This Peters seems less friendly and a lot more ominous. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but this makes me uneasy. Put a dragon near the Security office with instructions to listen to the conversations, maybe we can pick up some information," Skip replied.

"You know there are charms that will do the same thing?" Kat said with a smile.

Skip stepped closer to his wife and placed both hands on her shoulders. "I know there are, but Harry's right about one thing. Most of our riders aren't magical and we need to rely on techniques that all of us can use. A dragon can listen in just as easily as a charm."

Kat nodded. Skip didn't mind her using magic in their home. In fact she knew dozens of household charms which enabled her to clean the house in about five minutes. He didn't begrudge her when it was her turn to clean, even if it still took him hours when it was his turn. Harry had set an example and even if he didn't realize it, all of the Weyrleaders were working hard to live up to that example.

Skip stood and walked over to his window and gazed outwards. Kat moved to stand behind him. "You're worried aren't you?"

He turned and smiled at her. "I think I'm starting to understand Harry better now than ever before. Ever since the incident with Jared I've been cautious and suspicious. I don't like it, I hate suspecting people, but all of our dragons and our riders rely on us to protect them."

He pulled Kat into a gentle embrace and she molded herself against him. "I couldn't do this without you Kat," he whispered. "To our riders I have to appear tough and confident, only you know the truth."

"I know you," she replied in agreement. "Both May and Hermione told me it would be like this, that I would see a side of you that you would never show to the outside world and it only makes me love you that much more. You shouldn't doubt yourself too much Skip, together we'll get the Weyr through any crisis that pops up."

Skip leaned down and kissed the top of her head, then held her tightly against him. He knew she was right. They were a team that complemented each other. Kat was methodical and meticulous in her planning. She was adept at long range planning, whereas Skip seemed to be able to instinctively handle problems as they arose. For the most part they rarely needed advice from Harry on Weyr issues unless they involved relations with their host government.

"Will you contact Harry about this?" Kat asked.

Skip frowned, then shook his head. "No, I think I'll just include it in our monthly status report, after all Peters might loosen up once we get to know him and maybe I'm just seeing problems where there aren't any."

Kat's hands slid lower down his back and gently gripped his cheeks. "Maybe we can sneak out early from Jim's party?" she said suggestively.

He chuckled at her question. "My witch," he said softly. "For you anything."

Near Kiev, the Ukraine, September 2002...

Anna was terribly bored. Until yesterday she had fully recovered from her injuries and was living in a villa with Carlos. Ordinarily that wouldn't have bothered her, but they had been doing absolutely nothing since she had been released from Maria's care.

To be honest, her recovery had been long and difficult. Even with magical healing she had been bed ridden for nearly three weeks, and then spent nearly six more months slowly recovering. During that time Carlos would sometimes vanish for a week here and there, but she could tell the long period of inactivity was starting to get on his nerves as well.

Carlos hadn't confided in her that his employers were reluctant to make use of his services now that so many law enforcement agencies were actively seeking him out.

The one thing that surprised Anna the most was that Carlos had made no demands on her. He hadn't asked to have sex with her at all, and that seemed out of character for Carlos. It was during one of Maria's last visits to the villa that the old woman explained that Carlos had a great deal of respect for someone recovering from an illness. Maria couldn't be too specific, but she hinted around that someone in Carlos' past had died due to being pushed too hard during a recovery period.

Now with the pain of her injuries a dim memory and her old strength returned, the inactivity was chaffing.

That ended suddenly when Carlos announced they would be taking a trip. Surprisingly they used entirely muggle methods and had flown to the Ukraine. There they sat in the terminal for several hours before finding themselves sitting in this car for even more hours while a driver supplied by their hosts took them to an unknown location near Kiev in the Ukraine. The route taken seemed to be designed to spot and lose anyone following them, and add an extra hundred miles to their journey.

Anna was dozing when the car made a turn off of the poorly graded road onto an even poorer dirt road. The jolting brought her to full wakefulness.

"Are we there yet?" she asked.

Carlos glanced down at a map he had been given which marked their final location. "Soon I think," he muttered. He was feeling very out of control at this point and it wasn't something he was used to. Unfortunately his Spanish masters had grown timid about using his services, thanks in part to efforts of the ICW to curb their excesses. The Spanish realized that Carlos was becoming an embarrassment to the Ministry.

Carlos knew that the time had come for him to leave government service before they attempted to do something rash.

Fifteen minutes later the car passed through a gate and pulled up in front of a large wood villa nestled on a hillside overlooking a large lake. Carlos slowly stepped out of the car and glanced around, it was obvious this was no rich man's retreat. While the villa looked luxurious, there were a number of other buildings nearby which seemed almost military-like in construction. There were four long barrack-like buildings and what looked like a kitchen building nearby. There was also a shooting range in view and signs which Carlos could only assume pointed to more buildings not in sight.

"Carlos my friend!" shouted a voice.

Carlos turned and spotted Markus, the assassin that worked as a contact point between him and the Russian government. "Markus! Why have you brought us here to the middle of nowhere?"

Markus snorted in amusement and stepped down from the front steps of the villa. "We are a long way from Barcelona indeed my friend. This might seem the middle of nowhere, but you will make history here. History that men will write about. Come inside, I have hot drinks ready and some food after your long journey and you'll want to freshen up, then we'll talk more. Great things are happening my friend."

When they were finally settled in nearly an hour later they met up with Markus again, this time in the Villa's grand dining room. A fire roared in the fireplace giving the room a cozy feeling. Markus looked around for a moment before sitting down with Anna and Carlos. "You know, the Soviet Colonel that built this camp was shot for appropriating so much material for this building. He never got to enjoy the fruits of his efforts. Pity, but now we can relax and enjoy his folly instead no?"

Carlos nodded and remained silent while several members of the staff served their meal. It was eerie seeing the service staff scurry about in total silence.

Once the staff left the room, Markus began to speak as he filled his plate. "This land is officially marked as privately owned. It would not look too good for Russia to be too closely linked to what you'll be doing. That's why we're here and not in Russia itself.

"The household staff are all former guests of our Gulag system. Regretably most of them are no longer able to talk thanks to the experiences they had in the Gulag. They serve here because they know there is little else available for them in the outside world."

Anna shivered on her seat and her eyes darted towards the door that led to the kitchen. There was something downright sinister about an all mute household staff.

Markus paused and slowly twirled his wine glass in his hand for a moment. "It has not gone unnoticed that your political masters have become reluctant to use your services my friend. In truth, the Spanish seem to have lost their backbone as your ICW put increased pressure on them to accept the Dumbledore plan."

"You seem awful knowledgable about the happening in the Wizarding world for a muggle," Carlos said softly.

Markus shrugged. "I am well briefed I admit, but I do not have your abilities," he admitted candidly. "That isn't to say that you could use those abilities here with complete impunity. There are guards, both magical and mundane patrolling the fence line and here in the house there is constant surveilance. You are allowed to do your magic, but there are certain people, myself among them that are protected from your abilities. I do not suggest trying any spells on me, the results would prove most unpleasant."

Carlos nodded, he had expected as much. It was likely that Marcus wore some enchanted item that would respond to an attack, probably a portkey.

"So why am I here then?" Carlos asked.

Markus smiled jovially. "You my friend are going to help us bring down these dragons that threaten the stability of the world," Markus said. "My people will provide materials and training. You and your companion will do the mission planning and be in overall charge of operations."

Carlos blinked in surprise and Markus laughed. "Come now Carlos, we know that your Anna is very intelligent and crafty and we know that you do value her advice."

Carlos nodded slowly, it was true that he had come to rely on Anna. She might not be as good as he was in planning missions, but she was keen at pointing out problems with a plan and offering ways to avoid them.

Anna had the grace to blush slightly and look down at the table top.

"In time we hope that we'll be able to use your expertise to train real troops but for now, counter-insurgents will do the trick. This camp will be for magical students, you will train them in both muggle and magical ways. A few miles up the road is a second camp where we will have a more fanatical element that would not appreciate your wizards. Right now we have dozens of men fanning out across the globe looking for people willing to work with us, your first recruits are already here."

Carlos nodded thoughtfully, he knew the type that Markus meant. They were canon fodder, killing for the greater glory of their god. The funny thing is, thought Carlos, it didn't matter which god they were killing for. A fanatic is a fanatic.

"Kiev is just down the road, about an hours drive. Granted it's not Barcelona, or Paris, but still, there are some excellent restaurants and I hear the ballet is most excellent," Markus added, mostly for Anna's benefit. "You will have free run to visit Kiev as you wish and ample funds will be made available should you need to purchase anything from the city. The primary reason for the tight security is to keep the Ukraines from discovering what this place really is, and to protect you. Some of your trainees will be more than a bit... off."

Carlos glanced over to Anna who looked at him hopefully. Here was an opportunity for her to be more than just a bed partner and she knew there was a fortune to be made here if she was careful.

Carlos turned back to Markus. "My friend, given that my employer has become reluctant of late to use my services I find myself at loose ends and gladly accept your offer."

Markus beamed a broad smile and he gestured. A moment later a man came out with three brandy snifters and a bottle.

Anna looked over at Carlos for a split second and saw that he had caught it too, the building was under constant surveilance. They would have to be cautious with what they say.

Weyrleader's Quarters, Campbeltown, December 1st 2002...

Hermione slowly woke up and instantly knew something was wrong. She shifted slightly in the bed and her hand pressed against Harry's side. She had moved away from him in the middle of the night, which was very unusual. Normally both girls stayed tightly cuddled with Harry all night long, but tonight they both moved away from him.

"Harry's sick," Chekiath announced suddenly.

Hermione nodded, the heat he was giving off was an obvious clue.

May sat up and turned in the bed to face him. "He's running a high fever and he's not waking up," she said worriedly after nudging Harry several times.

"Comaloth?"

"The watch dragon is already summoning the healer Hermione," replied her dragon.

"Why isn't Cheki more upset?" asked May in confusion.

"I don't like Harry being sick May, but Harry told me that I have to be strong even in times when he can't. He didn't like me being so upset when Kirteth's rider attacked him. I am The Weyrleader's dragon, for my rider and my Weyr I need to be strong," Chekiath answered. "Besides, Harry is just sleeping deeply so I'm not too worried."

Both girls exchanged a glance. Gordon Chapman had hurt Harry after Harry had been forced to discipline him. Chekiath prevented Chapman from killing Harry and once Chapman recovered from his injuries he was proven to be insane and committed to an asylum for what appeared to be the rest of his life. The whole incident was something the Weyr rarely discussed. Every rider was certain that Kirteth's death caused Chapman to go insane. The dragons felt he was already sick in the head and his dragon's suicide just made the situation worse. No one knew the real truth but everyone wanted to put the incident behind them.

Legally Chekiath defended his rider in the face of mortal danger, no charges were pressed, much to the relief of the British government which was still struggling to form a policy on dragons.

"Why do I hear a capital 'T' in 'The Weyrleader' when Cheki says it?", May asked softly.

Hermione blinked and turned to look at her. "You're just now hearing it? I noted it shortly after I impressed Comaloth," she replied with a small smile, then she looked down at Harry. "Harry doesn't do normal, and I won't expect normal from his dragon either."

The door to the bedroom opened and Issac poked his head in. Both girls knew that Dobby had let the man into their house so they weren't alarmed by his entrance.

Both girls left the bed and slipped on a robe, then they stood back and watched while Issaac fussed with Harry's still form.

"Well?" Chekiath demanded.

"He's exhausted for one thing and on top of that he has what appears to be a mild case of wizard's flu," Issaac said, then he straightened up. "I'll give him a potion which will help him, but other than that, there isn't much we can do except let him rest and make sure he gets plenty of fluids."

"So it's like normal flu?" asked May.

Issac nodded, then turned to Hermione. "I'll have an elf deliver some potions and include a booster for you. It's something only magicals can catch," Issac said.

Hermione nodded, she had all her wizard preventive potions, but a booster would help ensure she didn't catch Harry's illness.

"I told him he was working too hard," Chekiath replied.

"He's been pushing himself really hard learning those drills that Skip Tyler and Draco came up with. We've all been doing a lot of time flying in this weather at very cold altitudes," May added.

Hermione nodded in agreement, all of the Weyr had been working hard to learn the new drills. Skip had published a report about modern combat aircraft that caught Draco's interest. The two of them came up with a plan for dealing with them using the dragon's flaming ability and the ability to go Between.

Once Harry had approved their plan, Draco and Skip set about training their Weyrs in the new maneuvers. Ultimately Campbeltown and Condron would send trainers to the other Weyrs so that they would learn how to handle themselves in an emergency.

"Well he's downchecked for any flights Between for at least a week, probably ten days," Issaac said. "I do not want to have to treat another case of Between aggravated pnumonia."

Both girls nodded fervently. Katie Bell had taken her Kith home for a weekend and had caught wizard's flu from one of her cousins. She felt fine on her return to the Weyr, but the next morning she had to be rushed to the St. Mungos' with a severe case of pnumonia. The Weyr spent a number of tense days worrying about Katie, but she pulled through and made a full recovery.

The incident resulted in an upgrade to the Weyr hospital which included equipment to handle such illnesses and additional beds. What had started out as barely acceptable first aid station was turning into a small hospital that handled cases for all of the manned Weyrs. Plans were in the works to recreate a similar facility in Condron, but they were still looking for a dragon approved doctor in the states.

Condron's Doc Wilson was in fact a typical old fashioned country doctor who had already had a long career in the region. They wanted a younger person who could live at the Weyr like Issac did with his family.

Issac glanced down at Harry and shook his head. "He'll sleep, probably through to mid-morning. Let him have some aspirin when he wakes and something light to eat. I'll speak to Dobby about making sure there's some juice and light foods available. Anything too heavy and he might not be able to hold it down," he said, then he turned back to May and Hermione. "Watch his temperature, if it starts to spike call me. Personally I think he'll be fine. Oh and tell him I said that until he can show two days of normal temperatures, he's officially off duty and down checked for Between."

May snicked and Hermione nodded. Both of them knew that Harry would have at least tried to go to his office to work despite his fever. As it was they knew they would have their hands full trying to keep him in bed.

"Did you hear that Cheki?" asked May.

"I heard the healer May. I have very good hearing you know. Harry can't go Between until you or the healer says so," replied the dragon unhappily.

"It's for his own good Cheki," countered Hermione.

"I know. Harry is strong, he'll be better sooner than anyone thinks," Cheki replied.

Both May and Issaac turned to look at Harry on the bed. "I wonder," Issac mused.

"What?" asked Hermione.

Issac nodded towards Harry. "What Cheki said, it agrees with something I had noticed early on. Harry does seem to heal faster than normal, even for a wizard."

"Could it be due to the fact he's a mage?" Hermione replied.

Issac shrugged, "Maybe," he said dubiously, "I've never really had a mage as a long term patient before. Albus wasn't my patient even though I did consult and help Poppy Pomfrey once in a while. I didn't become Harry's primary physician until I came to the Weyr. It's interesting, maybe I'll talk to Poppy about it."

Issac packed up his kit, then he paused in front of the bedroom door. "I know it's not my place, but why are you girls putting up with this?"

Both girls looked at him dumbly. "What? Putting up with what?" asked May.

Issac sighed and shook his head. "There has been an increase in training based injuries lately. Ronan dislocated his wrist last week, Bob Malwich nearly broke his back two weeks ago. I've had to heal dozens of cuts. I noted a sharp upswing of male riders incurring injuries on these exercises, but there hasn't been a single injury among the girls."

Hermione and May exchanged an amused smile. "Harry has us training as well, but most of the guys seem to think it's their job to protect us. Even Harry does it to an extent although in his case I'm not sure he's even aware he's doing it. Bob threw out his back trying to perfect a mid air transfer of a rider. It was a dumb move on his part and Harry ripped into him over it. No rider is going to willingly abandon their dragon, even if they are injured," Hermione said.

"We're all training hard, I guess we lost sight of the fact that we're all training and juggling school and regular Weyr duties all at the same time. We'll speak to Harry about slowing down. Maybe even taking some time off to relax," May offered. "Skip's report scared a lot of people. When Ronan and Harry approved the extra training people realized it was a real possibility. I promise Issac, we'll speak to Harry about easing off on the training."

Issac nodded, satisfied that he had managed to get his message across. He turned and exited the bedroom, he briefly smiled at Dobby who held the door open for him.

In the bedroom May and Hermione looked at Harry, then started their usual wake up routine. They knew Cheki would warn them if anything was amiss. Both women thought the hard part would be convincing Harry to reduce the training schedule. They would be wrong in that assumption, Harry had seen the injury reports and had planned to reduce the training schedule before he got sick.

Joensuu Weyr/Airport, Finland, December 10th 2002...

Ismo Sippola looked down at the clipboard showing him the purchases made in the previous month. He sighed and absently initialed the top sheet before handing it back to Ingrid Frenoa. Ingrid had been studying accounting in school and had neatly slotted into the role of financial officer for the Weyr. They still had some adult oversight, but Joensuu Weyr was quickly becoming independent from outside influences.

"I know you don't like dealing with these financial items Ismo, but we need to track these expenses," Ingrid said apologetically.

"No no, I know you have to track this Ingrid. I shouldn't be take out my annoyance about having to deal with it on you," he replied.

BOOM!

The sound rolled across the airfield and echoed against the gentle hills. Ismo felt the deep vibration a moment later. He immediately pulled Ingrid to the ground, partially covering her with his own body, then he looked up and around. All around the Weyr dragons were bellowing in alarm. Across the field from the Weyr lay the local airport and there was a large cloud of smoke rising from the small parking lot.

The airport was small regional airport that saw a fair amount of commuter traffic daily, because of that, the parking lot was usually full. Now it seemed that a great many cars were on fire in the lot.

Climbing to his feet Ismo saw his second running towards him.

"Adam?"

"It looks like a car exploded in the airport parking lot. Now there are many cars burning and there may be many injured," explained Adam.

Ismo frowned, then he nodded to himself. "Assemble Wings one and two and let's see if we can help," He ordered, then he turned to Ingrid. "Send an email to all Weyrleaders informing them of the explosion and let them know we'll have more information as soon as we know anything."

Ingrid could have easily had her dragon speak to Chekiath, but by sending an email she could contact all of the Weyrleaders with one message rather than having to repeat the message each time.

From a hilltop more than a mile from the airport several people in a concealed position noted forty dragons lifting off in formation and flying over to the parking lot.

"Less than sixty seconds from detonation to response," murmured one man. He glanced over and noted the video camera was still recording everything.

"Da, is good, better even than our own aircraft . Headquarters will need to know this."

"I will call it in," replied the first man, then he bent over and reached for a secure satellite transceiver.

Ministry of Magic, Britain, December 10th 2002...

Sir William glanced up from his desk to see Arthur carefully opening a brown paper package that their secretary had just delivered.

"Something good Arthur?" he asked. The current report he was reading was dreadfully boring and he felt he needed a break.

Arthur looked up and smiled broadly. "This," he said, holding up the package, "is the very first step in Albus' plan."

He tore open the package at one end and carefully removed several small bottles. Sir William stood from his desk and walked over to Arthur's desk. Arthur handed him a bottle which he examined carefully. "What is it?"

Arthur took the bottle from his hands and placed it on the desk. "You know that we managed to push through the Dumbledore plan on the slimmest of margins. A lot of countries still refuse to go along with the idea. The Brazilians offered to start the ball rolling by providing us with this. This is probably the strongest non-addicting pain relief potion in the world. They will be marketing it as a product of native medicines from the Amazon basin.

"In the meantime, samples will be given to laboratories around the world so that it's value can be tested. The ICW believes that eventually the scientists will agree that the potion works even if they don't understand why it works," Arthur concluded.

"It's really not addictive?" asked Sir William with an intensity that surprised Arthur.

"No, not really. While there are pain relief potions that are addictive, this particular one isn't. Why?"

Sir William sighed and shook his head. "When I took this position I promised myself that I wouldn't take advantage of magic, but my wife has been fighting a losing battle with arthritis. She's always in pain these days," he said softly.

Arthur frowned and picked up one bottle. "William, I knew your wife was ill and I admit to being surprised when you didn't bring her to a healer..."

"I looked it up," William said suddenly. "Arthritis is virtually unknown among wizards. The healers wouldn't know how to treat it."

Arthur shook his head ruefully. It was true there were diseases among the muggles that wizards never suffered from, just as there were diseases that muggles never caught that were deadly to wizards. But Arthritis wasn't one of them.

"William, your source was wrong," Arthur said bluntly. "Arthritis is treatable and wizards do catch it. You need to remember that some authors of wizarding books are heavily prejudiced against normal people and refuse to admit we have anything in common with them. I know for a fact that May McNulty brewed the curative potion for arthritis and gave it to her grandfather. I remember listening to Albus explain how he had to caution her about giving potions to people that didn't know about magic.

"My daughter, Ginny, is apprenticing under healer that grew up in the muggle world. If you like I could ask her to see if her master would be available to look at your wife? As much as I'd like to say, just take one of these bottles, I'm not a healer. He can treat her condition and if he can't, he can certainly help control her pain."

Sir William blinked in surprise, he hadn't expected any help from the wizards let alone cure his wife's condition. "Ask her Arthur, I don't know how much longer I can bear to see her in such pain," he said pleadingly.

Arthur smiled reassuringly at the man, "I'll go floo home right away, Ginny should be home for lunch."

William nodded and walked back over to his desk while Arthur left the room to use the floo in the outer office.

"You know William, a little magic in your life wouldn't hurt. I see you trying to emulate the other deputy ministers in trying to not take advantage of your situation, but it isn't the same thing," Alejandro Croaker said from his desk.

William looked at him with a puzzled expression. "How so?"

"Take the minister for Defense. He can be arrested if he accepted a bribe from a contractor. Merlin knows you've drilled it into us often enough that we need to ensure that we deal fairly with our subjects, including businesses and that we resist the temptation to accept money for favors. Thats fine, but there's a big difference between accepting a bribe and hiring a healer to help your wife with her illness. Even if the healer can't cure her, he can make her more comfortable. It isn't a conflict of interest to take advantage of some of the abilities we wizards have," Croaker offered, then he waved a hand towards the door.

"Arthur offered to intercede with his daughter's mentor because he respects you. He's also a good man that dislikes seeing someone in pain. I daresay he'd do the same for anyone, but I know that he personally respects you. There are still people in this building that do not respect muggles like yourself. Granted their number is dwindling every day, but they are still out there."

"Its a hard habit to break," Sir William replied pensively, "When I was with the Home Office, we had to be so circumspect. I pondered bringing a healer in for weeks and never quite made up my mind, then I found a book that said Wizards don't get muggle diseases. To be honest I'm not sure exactly why I told Arthur what I did, it just all suddenly seemed to come out."

Croaker grinned at the man. "You saw hope in those bottles William. I wasn't keen on Albus' plan, or what Arthur put together from his notes, but I've come to understand that our world couldn't remain hidden for much longer. I will be plain, I don't like the idea of exposing our world, but I also know that if exposure is what we must do, then controlling it is far better than risking our fate to random chance."

William nodded and turned back to his computer. He had long known that Croaker didn't like revealing the Wizarding world, but he had accepted it as a necessary evil. And if a healer could help his Margret he'd seize the chance.

---

Author's Notes and Mockeries:

Special Dedication: With the publication of this chapter we mark the passing of someone who made it his life's work to bring laughter into the world. Robin Williams is gone and he will be sorely missed. There will be no way of replacing that kind of talent or that kind of person. Alyx and I humbly dedicate this chapter to him. This week laughter dimmed in the world and we'll miss you Robin. Mork has gone home to Orson.

* First off, I'm sad to say that the rubber duck ran off with a squeaky chew toy. I'm not exactly broken up about it, but I do wish Alyx would stop laughing at me.

* A great many people were surprised at how we handled 9/11. The simple fact is that even superman can't save everyone. 9/11 was always going to happen in this story and for the Weyrs it would be a political event, not something they would actively participate in. Even if they showed up after the buildings collapsed, there would have been little they could have done. Most of the injuries received by NY area hospitals happened before the towers fell.

Finally I'd like to add that 9/11 did touch me personally. I knew people that lived and worked in those towers, and up until 1994 I often found myself working at both towers.

The event triggered a fundamental shift in the American psyche that still echoes through the country today. Few people realize that the terrorists won the war on terror merely because they forced us to change our ways.

* KB0, thank you. Comparing my meager efforts to someone like Tom Clancy is a great compliment. The man had the ability to weave multiple plot lines together in a logical manner that pulled you along like a roller coaster.

If anyone is interested, KB0 has a very interesting HP/Star Trek Next Generation crossover going on. I recommend checking it out.

* Jupimako I thought I mentioned the sex of the child, but if not, you'll see the babe in this chapter.

* Batman4U while your idea is interesting, a dragon portrait would be silent. There's no mind behind the portrait to provide the telepathy and who said the spells that animate a wizard portrait would work with a dragon. Go try the idea out with a goblin or house elf and see if that works first.

* BJH without giving away too much I will say that the problems between the Weyr and the US Government are not over. The Weyr however has committed itself to several multi-million dollar commercial contracts, which means things are going to have to be very dire before they would abandon those. Plans are in the works which I am not going to reveal to you here, or privately. I guess you'll just have to keep reading.

Condron Weyr, despite being more loyal to dragons than their own country, still consider the US of A as home. And that is a hard concept to break.

* Dragon7734 has apparently forgotten that back in Book 1 of this series Campbeltown purchased and is maintaining it's own herd of animals. You can safely assume that every Weyr does the same or contracts with someone local to provide similar services.

* Araytigre seems to think that Milth can track down Colonel Michel because he has 'touched' Michel's mind. To that I have to say that dragons are not blood hounds. Milth can find his own rider because he can see his rider's location through his rider's eyes. No dragon, not even Chekiath can do what Araytigre wants. Sorry, but dragon telepathy doesn't work that way.