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.

13. Chapter 13

Standard Disclaimer:

Bob paced back and forth across the stage. It was time to publish again and he still didn't have a disclaimer written!

"Watcha doing?" asked Alyx.

Bob paused midstep and glared at her. "I'm trying to think of a clever way of telling people we don't own Harry Potter or the Dragon riders of Pern, but I'm totally stuck."

"Stuck?" echoed Alyx. "Like that time you accidentally picked up the tube of super glue instead of lube and we had to go to the emergency room? Now that would make an interesting bonding story for the kiddies."

Bob scowled at her. "That wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been using the riding crop you know. It's hard to think straight when someone's yelling 'yeeeehaw' and smacking my butt."

Alyx giggled, "Good times though."

"Not for the emergency room people. I never saw people use bleach on their eyeballs before and I hope I never see it again," Bob muttered.

Alyx poked Bob in the chest, "So when are you going to finish the disclaimer? People want their chapter, just look at them," she said, then she pointed to the audience where people were actually drooling.

Bob glanced at the audience and stepped back. "Now I understand why people are bleaching their eyeballs. You know what? I give up, let them have a chapter without a disclaimer for once."

Alyx gasped and stared at Bob worriedly. "Won't that get us into trouble?"

Bob shrugged. "Nope, I'll just tell the disclaimer police that it was your turn to do it this week," he replied, then he walked off the stage whistling.

Alyx looked around warily. "Ummm right, so no disclaimer this time people. I'm afraid you'll have to live without it."

"Disclaimer Police! Open up!" shouted a voice.

"Beat the crap outa her," shouted another voice.

Alyx shrieked and dashed off the stage.

From his super secret control room, Bob started the chapter, then he turned back to more important matters. "I think I'll ask for Helga to deliver my donuts this time," he muttered. Picking which naked donut delivery girl to use was always such a chore!

---

Beneath Sovereign Skies
Chapter 13
Actions and Reactions

---

Harry's quarters, Campbeltown Weyr (same day)...

May softly shut the door behind her and smiled weakly at Hermione who sat at the kitchen table. "You didn't tell him?" she asked.

May had taken the antidote to the contraceptive potion the day after Hermione announced her pregnancy and to her surprise, had caught almost immediately. When she asked Isaac about it, he chuckled and told her that one of the lesser known facts about Mages is they tend to be rather virile and then he reminded her that with her magical marriage bond she should be able to have children safely into her sixties.

May shook her head. "I was going to, but it was obvious he was exhausted. He was up all night speaking with that guy from Sudan and the other Weyrleaders."

Hermione chuckled, "Just admit it, you are as insecure as I was. He's not going to yell at you you know."

May sat down heavily on a seat next to Hermione. "I know, I know. I expect he'll react much like he did with you."

Hermione poured May a cup of tea and smirked at her. "If he does, you'll have trouble moving the next day."

May blinked and leaned a little closer. "What do you mean?"

Hermione sipped at her tea for a moment in silence. "The night I told him I was pregnant we made love in a way we've never done before. Harry's used his magic to reach out to me. It was like our dragon bond, except that it was private, more intimate. I could still feel our bond, but this was something new, something different. He thinks that family is a precious gift and I suppose to an orphan it must seem that way, but with his magic I could feel his utter joy, his awe and his love."

Hermione paused and added a little more milk to her tea. "I don't even think he was doing it consciously, it just happened. He's always been the most giving lover, but that night was different. I really hope you get to experience that."

"She will," Trath offered suddenly.

May made a soft exclamation and turned towards her dragon. "Why do you say that?"

"Because The Weyrleader isn't capable of treating you differently from Hermione. I suspect he already knows, but is only waiting for you to tell him."

Hermione chuckled softly and gave May a look that clearly said "I told you so!".

"Let him have a few hours sleep, then go to him," Chekiath offered. "In the meantime I'm going to take a nap myself."

Comaloth lifted her head and looked at Chekiath. "A nap? Really? Didn't you sleep enough last night?"

Chekiath opened one green streaked eye and gazed back at Comaloth. "I know what you want. Let me sleep for two hours and then we'll have a shagging flight."

"Me too?" asked Trath.

Chekiath rumbled contentedly and closed his eyes. "Of course," he replied softly. "If my rider can handle two consorts, then I certainly can."

All three dragons settled in for what looked like a brief nap. Hermione and May stared at them in amazement, the May turned to Hermione.

"So is Harry giving stamina to Chekiath or is Chekiath giving it to Harry?" she asked in amusement.

Hermione's brow furrowed. She didn't know and wasn't sure she wanted to know. All she knew that was whenever she was in the mood, Harry was more than ready to oblige. "I don't know," she muttered.

The pair fell silent as they considered the implications.

The Special Committee for State Security, The Kremlin, October 15th 2005...

"They said what?" exclaimed the defense minister.

The Foreign Minister looked unhappy, then he reached for his glasses and picked up a piece of paper.

"According to the Saudi Foreign Minister he said, and I quote. The Saudi military forces took a larger than expected hit when the dragons counter attacked. King Faisal air station has been effectively destroyed. The loss of equipment and the use of the air strip has left the nation in a position where we are unable to continue any action against the dragons. Unquote."

He placed the paper down on the table and looked around. "Friends, the Saudis fought their short war on two fronts and lost on both. The loss of material is substantial, but more importantly to the Saudis, they lost in the eyes of the world.

"This Weyrleader of the British cunningly laid a trap in which he documented every action of the Saudis and then he played it for all the world to see. The implications for the Saudis are very bad. The American government has no great love for the dragons, but there is now a movement in their government to prevent the Saudis from buying replacement helicopters and jets."

The Finance minister leaned forward in his chair with a look of eagerness. "Can we sell them ours?"

Everyone turned to look at the Defense minister. "We can," he offered bluntly.

"Will they buy?" asked the Energy minister. "They have mostly American or European aircraft and no experience with our own."

"Probably," offered the Foreign minister. "But not right away. They need to rebuild a new airbase first."

"Rebuild? Why?" demanded the President.

The Foreign minister glanced over at Danakov.

Danakov nodded and picked up a piece of paper. "Our sources are reporting that the dragons turned a good deal of the runway into a permanent heat source, there is a white hot mass of glowing concrete running up the center of the runway. The one earth moving machine brought in to try to clear away the glowing concrete melted its blade. Temperatures are close to one thousand degrees Celsius. The Saudis are considering trying to cap the burning material, but it's clear that a new runway will have to be built. The one attempt to extinguish the glowing material resulted in the sand melting into a glass and then flowing away from the heat source."

The Defense minister scowled heavily.

"Something troubles you Josef?" asked the president.

The Defense minister looked up and nodded. "General Sukov tells me that they are working with an much improved IR seeker for our new missiles, but they have been unable to come up with any counter for the dragons ability to go Between. The new Mark 6 seeker looks very promising, but it is only one part of the problem.

"As much as I would like to find fault with that, General Sukov's results speak for themselves. He has worked diligently for Mother Russia. Even when his wife died last month he only took a day off to attend the funeral. He was one of the first to understand that the missiles were only part of the solution and has been working closely with our airplane designers to counteract what we know about the dragons."

He paused and took a breath before continuing. "To hear what these dragons did to an airbase is troubling my friends. We have the ability to kill these creatures if we catch them by surprise but an alert dragon is much harder to kill."

"What does this mean for our plans?" asked the Finance minister.

"We have a few options," the Defense minister admitted after getting a nod from the committee President. "General Sukov assures me that improvements are ongoing in the seeker head and we expect to deploy a number of new high performance SU-34 aircraft in the coming years. Now we hear what happened to the Saudis. I fear our only option will be to wait until we can hit them with overwhelming force. We won't be able to kill them all, but if we can kill enough, the rest will be too afraid to oppose us."

The Sukhoi 34 was a brand new plane that was expected to be reaching the air fleet in early 2006. It was a highly maneuverable aircraft that had been designed operate in the modern air battle arena. Now it appeared that it's first test would be against dragons instead of Americans or Europeans.

The president nodded and turned to Danakov, "And what of your efforts Mishka?"

Danakov leaned forward on his chair and flipped open a file. "Back when this initiative was first started we identified two distinct objectives. First was to slow the construction of the Dragon Power plants and the second was to find out as much as we could about the dragons in general.

"The Finnish Weyr proved to be an ideal place to obtain some critical information about the dragons which we passed to Josef's research department."

Everyone turned to look at the Defense minister who nodded. "Yes the information was invaluable in helping us design the new seeker heads." The Defense ministry didn't like having to acknowledge Danakov's help.

Danakov smiled tightly. "An attempt to assassinate a dragon rider to confirm that the dragon would suicide like the Weyr's claim was attempted, but the dragon response was quick and very lethal. The rider was severely injured, but did not die. It was decided not to repeat the attempt since we were risking exposure. Fortunately we learned from some accidental deaths that the dragon will suicide."

Danakov glanced slyly at the Defense minister. "General Sukov rejected a plan to try killing a rider at the Joensuu Weyr in Finland."

"And he was right to do so," snarled the Defense minister. "He told you that you were risking exposing our involvement and what happened? Your assassin was killed and the other man was captured. It was just luck that the Japanese couldn't prove his assertion that he was paid by a member of our Embassy in Tokyo."

"This fighting is pointless," the Foreign minister said softly. "So an operation failed. We have had many succeed and many fail in the past, we all know this. What of your attempts to slow construction?"

Danakov tore his gaze from the Defense minister and looked down at his file again. "On average we have added anywhere from three months to eighteen months to the construction time. The variance is mostly due to the nation involved and the labor laws of that nation. I believe that the western governments are aware of some of what we are doing and are taking steps to circumvent our efforts.

"We have had more success in delaying dragon related projects that are not connected the power plant construction. To that end we have put together a unit of operatives under a defector from the Spanish government. We even placed them in an old installation in the Ukraine that is listed as being owned by a Ukrainian national. As to the results, I think it best to ask Gennady that," Danakov said, then he sat back, clearly finished speaking.

All eyes turned to Gennady, the Finance minister who chuckled lightly. "With that opening I am glad to announce that we continue to sell our gas at good prices. The reduction in orders is lower than my analysts anticipated but they caution that the trend may not last. There is some growing unease over the exploitation of dragons in some western nations. Mishka's efforts are paying off elsewhere by portraying the dragons as being exploited. Some nations even are considering laws in an attempt to limit the exploitation of dragons by their riders, but so far no laws have been passed."

Danakov smiled tightly, his ministry was funding a number of fringe groups that were trying to portray the riders as exploiting the dragons. "A minor project, started on a lark that seems to be more fruitful than I anticipated Gennady," Danakov admitted. While the project was seeing some minor payoffs, Danakov wasn't about to admit that every time it came close to disrupting dragon operations, the Weyrs would step in and explain that the dragons weren't being exploited.

The Finance minister bowed slightly in his direction. "However you managed it Mishka, the slump in oil sales has slowed. I would urge you to keep it up."

"So where are we now?" the President pressed.

The Finance minister shrugged. "Currently we have experienced a total drop in sales of seven percent as compared to ten years ago when dragons weren't known to the world. Given a variance, five percent of that drop can be attributed to dragons, but my analysts suggest that we have entered a period of flat sales, where things will remain fairly static for a few more years.

"We can offset some our losses if the Saudis do want to buy some of our military hardware," Gennady offered.

"Yes, what can we do to bring the Saudis closer in line with us?" asked the Foreign minister.

"I suppose we can offer people to train them on the new hardware. And perhaps allow a small number of the new SU-34s to be sold to them, but I want to keep the bulk of the production for us. General Sukov wants to put together several wings of specially trained pilots using the new aircraft."

President Putin nodded sagely. "Excellent, but I think we need to make more exacting plans. Let us help our Saudi friends replace their losses and also sway them to our point of view. I think we are still several years away from a conflict with the dragons, but when it does happen, I want us to have allies all over the world. Russia will not stand alone, instead she shall lead the charge."

The men around the table nodded happily to him and Danakov suppressed a chuckle. He generally steered Putin in a particular direction and let him do most of the talking. Danakov was willing to admit Putin did have a certain flair and an ability to attract people to his cause.

The Foreign minister stood, "Well if you'll excuse me then, I need to speak with the Saudi ambassador and I have several other countries to speak to."

"Thank you all friends, we'll meet again at our regular time just after the new year," President Putin said, then he picked up his papers and put them in a leather case. It was a clear dismissal, but for once a meeting ended on a high note.

ICW Hall of Deliberation, Paris, France, October 18th 2005...

Joachim Stebbins surveyed the chamber and felt a little apprehensivr. Never had a Supreme Mugwump delivered such dire news and he wondered if the ICW would survive this crisis or would they go back to independent countries squabbling over every simple little thing.

He signaled to the hit wizard in his control booth overhead and the wizard activated the runes to flash the lights. The delegates hurried to their assigned boxes with worried expressions. The Mugwump had sent an urgent message yesterday urging every delegate to come to Paris with all haste for an emergency session of the ICW.

Of course not every delegate had shown up, but that was to be expected considering the news he bore.

As soon as the delegates were seated the doors were closed and sealed.

Stebbins stood from his position and cleared his throat while a number of delegates were surprised by Stebbins bypassing normal procedures.

"Delegates, earlier this week I received notice from five member nations informing me that they were withdrawing from the ICW citing irreconcilable differences as the primary reason for the move. Specifically each nation states they cannot and will not support approved plan to reveal the Wizarding world to the Muggle nations. They also categorically reject all of the substantial evidence in regard to the intelligence of dragons."

He paused and looked up at the shocked delegates. "The notices went on to say they had performed the requisite ritual releasing them from the treaty obligations."

A gasp rippled through the chamber. The ritual that would release any nation had been designed to include enough dark arts so as to make any nation think twice before performing it.

"Chief Mugwump!" shouted a voice.

Stebbins looked around and then zeroed in on the delegate from South Africa. "Delegate Maarsins?"

"I note there are a number of empty seats here today. Far more than the five you mentioned. Who among the missing was willing to slaughter a Unicorn knowing full well that such an act would condemn not only the wizard wielding the knife, but also his family? We have a right to know!"

Stebbins nodded, then he looked at the parchments he carried. He really didn't need to read the names, he had memorized them by heart, but the act of reading seemed to give him a sense of normalcy. "Russia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Paraguay and Cambodia. Delegates, there are missing member nations whom I have not heard from that may yet join with these others."

Delegate Maarsins sat down and looked around thoughtfully for nearly a full minute, then he stood again and signaled to the Mugwump that he wished to speak again.

"Delegate Maarsins, you have something to add?"

Maarsins nodded, "Supreme Mugwump, honored colleagues, South Africa wasn't convinced that the Dumbledore plan was the right way to go, but the esteemed delegate from Britain visited South Africa and laid out his reasons in clear and undeniable terms. Since then we have been in contact with our muggle counterparts and if anything Delegate Weasley understated his case, a trait for which the British colleagues are well known."

He smiled at Arthur Weasley to show he meant no malice, then he continued. "South Africa believes in the Dumbledore plan. The members who have left this august body are not only misguided, but are clearly not the type of people we want as part of our Confederation. Magic will judge those since they have removed themselves from our jurisdiction. Let them go! They chase a pipe dream of hiding while the rest of the world learns of the Wizarding world.

"We could fight them and try to bring them to heel, but I say, let them go. They cannot turn back the tide, and make no mistake. The Dumbledore plan is a tide, inexorable, implacable and undeniable. It will happen and I say we concentrate our resources on the plan rather than some misguided attempt to lure those nations back into the fold."

Maarsins sat down and folded his arms, looking around defiantly.

Arthur stood and Stebbins acknowledged his desire to speak. The Mugwump motioned to Arthur more out of shock than anything else. He had expected a totally different reaction than what was being expressed here.

"I believe it is safe to say that Her Majesty's government echoes the sentiments of my esteemed colleague from South Africa. When we proposed the Dumbledore plan we knew there would be resistance to the plan, but never did we imagine countries reneging on their treaty obligations.

"The Dumbledore plan is in my mind the safest option we have to our inevitable discovery. It is the best way to safeguard our future and our children's future."

Arthur leaned against the railing of the British booth and took in the chamber watching him intently. "I will echo South Africa, let them go. We have far too much to be concerned about without letting ourselves be drawn into a conflict. The one thing we must do, and we must do it together, is work to preserve our confederation."

The Japanese delegate stood as Arthur sat down.

"Delegate Masabe? Do you have a comment?" asked Stebbins.

The aged Mage nodded, then he also surveyed the assembled delegates. "Both Britain and South Africa have spoken wise words that I can hardly improve upon. If I might suggest that a warning be sent to the Weyrleader who has proven to be a firm ally of this body. He needs to be warned so he can alert the dragons."

Yoshi sat down and smiled to himself, a great many of the other delegates were nodding in the affirmative at his suggestion.

"Thank you delegate Masabi, I will draft a warning to the Weyrleader and ask our British colleague to deliver it for us," Stebbins said. Even though no vote was called for, nearly every box lit up with an affirmative vote.

Stebbins suppressed a desire to laugh hysterically, less than an hour ago he was convinced he was about to preside over the break up of the ICW, but to his surprise the members were rallying together. It was an action that Albus Dumbledore had been able to achieve several times in his tenure as Chief Mugwump and something Stebbins felt he'd never be able to replicate.

Stebbins returned to his seat. He was pleased with the results of the meeting which had far exceeded his expectations. "Delegates, I realize that no one is prepared at this moment, but perhaps we can turn our attention to ways to make our unity even stronger? We have had a body blow, but the response of our membership heartens me greatly. The member nations remain committed to the Dumbledore plan. What can we do to strengthen our unity?"

A light appeared and Stebbins looked at the Peruvian delegate. "Delegate Delgado?"

"Chief Mugwump, as you know we have been trying to find appropriate substitutes for dragon based potion ingredients. Thus far we have successfully found replacements for nearly forty percent of the ingredients, including those used in the critical cardiac repair potion. I have been reliably informed that we are close to a breakthrough that should bring us up to nearly seventy five percent replacements.

"Our potion masters are the best in the world and the member nations have been paying for their salaries. Unfortunately after they went through the more common possible potion ingredients there was little money left for the rarer ingredients.

"What we need are more samples to test with but some of our best potion masters lack the funding to purchase some of these rare creatures and plants. If each nation would donate a small amount, say five thousand galleons, there would be ample funds to help our potion masters continue their efforts. Therefore I propose a motion requesting a one time additional funding of five thousand galleons per member nation for the purposes of providing access to these rare ingredients."

Stebbins looked at Delgado in surprise, he hadn't realized how successful their efforts had been in finding replacement ingredients. The ICW had put together the funding for the effort which Delegate Delgado oversaw, but apparently they now needed more money.

"France seconds the motion and I will personally add two thousand galleons out of my own pocket to further help the effort," shouted the French delegate.

That opened a floodgate among the delegates as others offered additional funding and shouted their seconds. For a moment the chamber descended into pandemonium. The Hit Wizard up in the control booth looked pointedly at the Chief Mugwump, but the man was unwilling to shut down the delegates over something so important.

Delegate Delgado hurriedly wiped his face and tried to hide his tears. If the numbers were to be believed, he had managed to raise nearly half a million galleons for this special project.

Finally the chamber settled down and Stebbins looked around with a huge smile on his face. "Delegates, I daresay never has a motion received such overwhelming support without extensive debate. However to satisfy protocol can I have a vote on the motion, all delegates should signal their vote now."

One by one the delegate boxes lit up with yes votes. Of the present delegates not a one voted against the measure.

It would be a moment that Stebbins would treasure until his dying day.

Bejing China, October 21st 2005...

Harry spiraled in for a landing at Tienanmen square, behind him all of Wing four, plus Lobsang from Maziang Weyr followed. The square wasn't entirely empty, but the Chinese police had done an excellent job of clearing a large space for the dragons land in.

Dragons now tended to avoid using airports as points of entry after a few encounters with jet blasts. The hot, super speed winds created by modern jets didn't bother the dragons much, but the heat had injured several riders, causing Harry to forbid dragons using airports anymore. Many large airports had safe areas to park aircraft that the dragons could use, but until the local authorities gave permission to use those areas the dragons would find other places to land.

The dragons, in formation landed neatly in the exact spot set aside for them. Nearby a line of limousines and a bus waited. A dozen motorcycle police stood nearby to provide escort for the motorcade. Behind a police barricade stood a large number of local and international press who were covering Harry's state tour.

Harry slid down from Chekiath and winced painfully. He was beyond exhausted at this point and just the drop bothered him. Ever since the conflict with the Saudis he had been visiting with various national leaders personally reassuring them that the Weyr had no intentions of making a habit out of attacking nations. Twenty two nations in ten days, it was a grueling schedule made possible only because of the Dragon's ability to jump Between.

Each country required several hours of private discussion with a President or Prime Minister, plus a press conference usually followed by some kind of state luncheon or dinner. And each night he'd climb into a bed at some hotel and fall asleep instantly.

When word of his world tour leaked out, he received a message from the Chinese via the British asking if he could drop in for some talks with Wen Jiabao the Chinese Premier. China had been pretty quiet since the formation of the Weyr and Harry figured they didn't want to rock the boat as far as access to Dragon products were concerned.

China had significant investment in the idea of dragon power and in doing so, reduced their consumption of fuel oil by nearly thirty percent. But dragon powered power stations were the only thing Maziang was doing for China.

The request to meet precipitated several long meetings between Harry and Lobsang which only added to the stress and tension of the last week. Harry had worked out several possible positions based on what the Chinese could have wanted and he could only pray he had covered all the possible contingencies.

Some of the positions would force Maziang to work more closely with the People's Republic of China despite Lobsang's reluctance. However Lobsang was a realist and he knew they couldn't hide away forever. He did get a promise from Harry that if necessary, Maziang and all of the villagers would be evacuated to a new Weyr should something go wrong. Lobsang was satisfied with Harry's promise, he had been worried that the villagers would be left behind; but Harry assured them that Maziang's non-rider population were a part of that Weyr and always would be.

Maziang had reported sporadic contacts with the PLA over the years, but no one was sure if the People's Liberation Army was looking for the Weyr or just doing field exercises. The Chinese had not found the plateau where Maziang lay thanks to the heavy anti-muggle warding.

Maziang was unique in another way, it was the only manned Weyr where wizards outnumbered muggles.

Maziang recruited potential riders from the local wizards, or from other countries, but they never searched China for candidates.

Harry had asked Lobsang to attend this meeting and he had reluctantly agreed. Before impressing Lobsang considered the Chinese to be invaders, but after his impression he had adopted Harry's view of thinking that he was a dragon rider and not a citizen of Tibet. He hadn't completely rid himself of his dislike for the Chinese, but he was working on it.

Harry waited until Lobsang joined him. Like Harry, he wore the white beret of leadership and sported colors which no known Weyr used. He had been spotted at several Weyr events and had been the source of much speculation in the press because no one had identified the mysterious unnamed Weyrleader. Maziang thought the whole thing was funny and caused much laughter when they read some of the rumors about their Weyrleader.

"You look much tired my friend," Lobsang said while they waited for everyone else to assemble.

"He is tired," Chekiath added sounding tired himself.

Harry sighed and nodded, "The schedule has been taxing and this unscheduled visit isn't helping."

"Perhaps then a rest after this visit no? You and your wives can go to Joensuu or perhaps Sakushima." Lobsang offered.

Harry nodded thoughtfully, he had discovered only two years earlier that every Weyr had set aside quarters for him and his family. It had surprised and humbled him to know that every Weyrleader had done that.

Lobsang turned to Chekiath and eyed him with a knowing eye. The large dragon was also showing some signs of fatigue, but clearly wasn't as tired as Harry was. He turned back to Harry. "I think I must insist that you let me ferry you home tonight my friend. Chekiath can follow using my imagery. You need a rest my friend."

The message was clear, Lobsang thought Harry might be approaching the point where it was dangerous to give jump imagery to a dragon. It was a lesson pounded home in Weyrling training and Lobsang wasn't going to let Harry risk Between. A quick glance at the Wing four showed they were fresh and alert. Lobsang realized that Harry had been rotating Wings for this trip, the wing was fresh, but their leader was clearly not.

"I'm not going to argue with you over it, but first let's get this meeting over with," Harry said slowly, then he gestured towards a small cluster of people standing in front of one of the limousines. He paused for a moment and drew deeply on his magic, flushing away any fatigue that might impair his ability to deal with the Chinese. It wasn't something he did often, but on this trip he had used it frequently. Sooner or later it would catch up with him and he'd regret it. For now it would help with this meeting and that's all that mattered.

Harry and Lobsang approached the limousine and one of the men bowed deeply. "Weyrleader, I am to escort you and your companion to the Premier at his private residence. For your other riders, we have arranged an opportunity for them to partake of our city and sample some of our culture. If you would have them board the bus they will be taken to a nearby restaurant and theater."

Harry nodded and sent a mental command to Chekiath to inform the others. "My riders would be delighted to enjoy a good meal, thank you."

The man ushered Harry and Lobsang into the car and they sped away with their police escort.

Harry glanced out the window and noted that parts of the city appeared to be very old and other parts built in modern steel and glass. A gray haze hung over the city that had been most uncomfortable to breath when the riders came out of Between. It made the city look dirty and unappealing.

"The Premier is most anxious to meet with you," said their guide.

Harry smiled and replied, "I suppose it is long overdue to be honest. I tried several times to arrange enough free time to visit your country, but I'm afraid something always came up to interfere with that. When the request for a meeting came through our British friends I jumped at the chance."

"For the purposes of introductions might I know the name of your companion? He has appeared several times in the western media, but no one has identified him as yet," asked the guide.

Harry realized the man was probably more than just a mere translator/guide. "Weyrleader Lobsang is in charge of the Weyr that exists within your borders. His Weyr is smaller than most with only three hundred bonded dragons. The total population of that Weyr is less than two thousand people and dragons."

"Ah," the man replied. His fingers twitched as if he wanted to write that information down. "It is a big responsibility for one so young."

Harry smiled thinly, "Actually Lobsang is a few months older than I am."

The guide flushed slightly, "I meant no disrespect Weyrleader."

Lobsang grinned at Harry and Harry nodded to him. "There was no insult," Lobsang said, "You could not have known. Besides, youth and inexperience are two different things for riders. We are coupled with a mind who has memories spanning back eons. If nothing else it tends to make one grow up faster."

The guide glanced to Harry who nodded in agreement. The trip continued on in silence for another twenty minutes before they pulled up to a large gated residence with heavy security. Harry would have been worried, but he knew he wasn't alone. Two wings of non-bonded dragons had been carefully following them since the square and both Chekiath and Jekrith were listening closely. Harry didn't expect any real trouble, but Sirius had insisted on having a dragon guard even if they were invisible to the Chinese.

Harry didn't like it, but the recent events had proven that it was better to take precautions than to be caught with one's pants down. If anything went wrong forty dragons would instantly be there, tearing the place apart and thousands of dragons would be only a minute behind them.

Their guide led them inside the building and stopped in front of a glass door that lead deeper into the building. "Premier Jiabao often enjoys the peace and quiet that he can find from a garden. Unfortunately such a thing isn't always possible, so he had an interior garden built into the center of the residence. Please enter and follow the stone path until you come to a small pond surrounded by chairs. He will join you there."

Harry nodded and thanked the guide, then he pulled the door open allowing both of them to enter.

"Such opulence," Lobsang murmured after a moment.

"It seems that way, but it really isn't," Harry said with a half hearted shrug. "If the Premier's job is anything like ours then he needs a place to go that is quiet. It's a place where stress can bleed off and for a short while he can forget about the pressures of state."

Lobsang looked at Harry shrewdly, his Weyr had far fewer problems than any other Weyr, but it interacted with the world far less than any other Weyr. He had heard about 'Harry's perch', a rock ledge at Disko Island that was situated in such a way to block the wind and still receive a good amount of sunshine. Harry was known for going there and spending hours curled up with his dragon. Lobsang had never considered how stressful being The Weyrleader could be.

"You are most perceptive Weyrleader, affairs of state sometimes weigh quite heavily on one's shoulders," said a voice. "Please do sit down and let us talk of things."

"Premier Jiabao, I am pleased to finally meet with you," Harry said. "May I introduce Weyrleader Lobsang, of the Weyr that resides within your national territory."

He avoided naming the Weyr, just to be safe. Maziang had been a wizarding community, but there was always a remote chance that some old document somewhere might reference it and it's location.

Jiabao smiled thinly and gestured again for them to sit. As soon as they had taken their seats several servants appeared and scurried about setting up a small table with drinks and refreshments. "Do try the tea Weyrleader, I'm certain you will find it quite different from what you are used to," offered Jiabao.

A servant immediately placed a small table between Harry and Lobsang. Another servant placed several cups and a small pot on the table, then as if by magic all the servants fled the area, vanishing from sight.

Harry poured a cup and raised it in salute to the Premier. "To your health sir."

Jiabao smiled again and Harry noted it was the first true emotion he had allowed to show through his mask.

"Mister Premier, before we begin I would like to tell you what I have told the British Prime Minister, the American President, the Emperor of Japan and his Prime Minister, and all of the other national leaders I have been visiting for the last ten days," Harry said.

Jiabao raised an eyebrow and then gestured to proceed. Harry sipped his cup and then glanced at in pleasure, it was better than what he was used to. He placed the cup down on the table and turned to face the Chinese Premier. "The recent action taken by the Weyr against Saudi Arabia was a direct result of actions initiated by the Saudis. We have no wish to fight anyone, but we will defend ourselves.

"The Weyrs can be a great many things, we can be powerful friends, helping to solve the problems that face humanity, and I'm sad to say we can be powerful enemies to those that wish us harm."

Harry paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "The Weyrs believe that your great nation is a friend to the Weyrs. We understand your energy needs were troublesome before we came along and we hope we've helped ease that problem.

"The Weyrs would like to help in other ways, but we are cautious. I mean no disrespect when I say that your country does not look favorably on the issue of autonomy."

Everyone knew Harry was referring to Hong Kong which had been absorbed back into the country only a few years ago. The Chinese had allowed a greater degree of freedom in the small island city than the rest of the country, but the whole world knew there was an army nearby ready to put down any dissension.

Jiabao frowned for a moment. "Autonomy is a difficult subject Weyrleader," he replied finally, "I am pleased to note your position on the recent actions in the Middle East. It was not my intention to bring that subject up, but every nation understands the concept of self defense."

He turned his gaze on Lobsang who resisted the urge to squirm in his seat. "Lobsang is a Tibetan name is it not?"

"My parents were Tibetan," Lobsang admitted.

Jiabao smiled, he picked up on the fact that Lobsang's answer was just vague enough to be unhelpful. Jiabao turned back to Harry. "There are some in my government that say we should find the Weyr and bring it into the fold. The Weyr has no commissar, no party members. That degree of freedom upsets some of our more conservative officials."

"And yet, I have no doubt that before we found your location you would have been long gone," Jiabao said. He paused and watched Harry for a reaction.

Harry smiled thinly and said nothing in reply.

Jiabao was impressed by Harry's stoic posture, but he pressed on anyway. "I am reminded of a tale, a child's story from Europe about a bird that laid a golden egg. We have a similar tale in our own mythology, only this time it was golden feathers. Both stories have the same lesson to teach. Over exploitation of a resource can lead to the loss of that resource."

Jiabao paused to sip from his cup, then he looked at Harry. "Other countries enjoy many benefits from having a Weyr within their lands. China would like to enjoy similar benefits. Such benefits might appease some of the more conservative members of the politburo that wish to find and seize the Weyr. For myself I have no wish to pluck all of the feathers only to discover they are no longer gold."

Harry glanced at Lobsang and then leaned forward in his chair. This was one of the contingencies they had planned for. "Other countries have learned there are limits to their benefits. In all cases, Riders are exempt from military service and will not participate in weapons research. We can and will assist in any non-weapon research as well as helping out during times of national emergencies. You have seen what the Weyrs can do during disasters."

Jiabao nodded. "Yes I have seen what the Weyrs can do. Disasters are fickle things, but when they happen, any help is appreciated. I suppose you want to have some say in what kind of research we can undertake?"

"Only to an extent sir. As you admit, a dragon and his rider is a precious commodity. Would it not make sense to ensure the dragon and rider's safety? All of the research we are participating in around the world works under a few simple rules. The dragon and rider's safety is paramount. If an experiment endangers either, the rider or the Weyrleader can refuse to participate. Mind you that isn't a permanent refusal. If you come back and say 'here are the things we have done to make this safer.' We will reexamine the test and reconsider our decision to participate."

Jiabao nodded, that particular requirement was different than how the Chinese operated, but risking a dragon could result in the Weyr pulling out of any research efforts. It was a concession he was willing to give up in order to get the Weyr's help.

Harry glanced over at Lobsang who was looking a little lost, then he turned back to the Premier. "The Weyr wants to work with China sir. There is so much that can be done to help your great nation. All we ask in return is that we are partners, autonomous and willing to help your country achieve greatness."

"And you Weyrleader Lobsang? Do you share the Weyrleader's position?"

Lobsang blinked in surprise, then he glanced over to Harry who nodded to him. "The Weyrleader is right to be concerned about the health and well being of his dragons and riders. But these past years we have lived in a bubble, safe, but not content. All the other Weyrs worked with their host nations and I think it is time we do so as well. Our people want to help and have been more than a little jealous of the other Weyrs.

"The Weyrleader has convinced me that his plan will work and together China and the Weyrs will become great partners. I find I want to believe that," Lobsang replied honestly.

"Working together can only make us stronger," Chekiath suddenly announced.

"The Weyrleader's plan is the best way to go," Jekrith added.

Jiabao's eyes widened and Harry chuckled. "Mister Premier, you will find that where a rider is, so is his dragon as well. Chekiath and Jekrith, our bonded dragons, are nearby, and unobserved by your security people. They hear our conversation through us and can participate despite their not being in this room."

"Are there other dragons nearby that my people cannot see?" Jiabao asked nervously.

Harry leaned back on his seat and reached for his tea. "Do your security people allow you to go un-escorted Mister Premier? We are all friends here and have no ill intent. Like a good security detail, they are unobtrusive."

"I see," replied Jiabao slowly, then he shook his head. Apparently it was true that you couldn't isolate the rider from the dragon, but it never occurred to him that the dragons could travel around without being seen. For all he knew there were hundreds of dragons nearby.

Bringing the Weyrleaders to his residence had been designed to put them into a defensive position, away from the dragons and perhaps nervous about being separated from the rest of their companions. It was a sound psychological ploy that had just failed in a spectacular fashion. Now Jiabao was the one wondering if he was in danger.

Realizing that Harry had basically leveled the playing field, Jiabao knew he had no choice but to press forward. "What is it you propose Weyrleader?"

"Campbeltown Weyr is willing to pay half the costs for the building of a research facility within your country, your government will pay the other half. You may assemble your own team of scientists to staff the facility. The Weyr will help in any research with the exception of weapons. We will also use a small part of the facility for the intent of giving you a means of contacting us in case of emergencies, as well as for teaching your people about dragons.

"We reserve the right to ask that any experiment be redesigned if we feel there is a significant risk to the life of a dragon or the rider. In return for this I am willing to offer my personal assurances that the Weyr will never interfere with your government inside or outside of your established borders. The Weyrs are and always will be neutral when it comes to conflicts between nations."

Harry leaned back in his chair and waited while Jiabao mulled over Harry's offer.

"And for this the Weyr's location will remain unknown to my government?"

"We are willing to allow some of your government to know our location as a gesture of good faith, but only those that are signatory to our agreement," Harry offered. This was one of the things he had planned on doing from the start, any agreement between China and the Weyr would also be covered by a magical contract that Maziang would draw up. There would be a simple compulsion on the contract that would make people think there was no reason to share the location of the Weyr.

"I propose that we meet again in two weeks at Sakushima Weyr in Japan where we can hammer out the exact wording of our agreement and then, if acceptable we can meet shortly afterwards to sign the agreement," Harry offered. "Personally I think this would be a benefit for both China and the Weyrs. By meeting in Japan we can control what the media sees in a fashion that will be favorable to both parties."

Jiabao blinked in surprise. The suggestion of holding talks in Japan was intriguing and since it was at an already established Weyr, they could control the access to the western media. It was a bold move that would make China look progressive and strong and yet the Weyr's could maintain their own image.

He leaned back in his chair and truly smiled for the first time in over an hour. This kind of publicity would mollify some of his detractors in the Politburo and strengthen the position of his allies. "I agree," he said finally. "One of my aides will be in contact with you to make the necessary arrangements Weyrleader."

Harry returned the smile and offered his hand. "The Weyrs look forward to working with China Mister Premier. And perhaps after the formal signing you would allow us to introduce you to our dragons?"

Jiaboa nodded happily, he was firmly convinced that despite a slight bump, he had gotten everything he wanted.

The three men talked for another two hours about various topics before Harry was able to politely make his excuses. He was pleased to see Lobsang warming up to the Premier. They never would be best friends, but there was a grudging respect being sown between the two.

After a limo ride back to the square, Harry climbed up behind Lobsang for the trip home.

Three minutes later he slid down from his position on Jekrith. Chekiath landed next to the other dragon and nodded in thanks. "Thank you for the ride home Jekrith, and you too Lobsang. I think you were right, I do need some rest."

Lobsang smiled and gave Harry a wave, then Jekrith leapt skyward and vanished. Jekrith had dropped him off right near his house, a fact he was very grateful for.

Harry nodded to Chekiath and the large dragon walked over to the dragon door and increased his weight until the door triggered. It was very late Scotland time and he was sure no one would be awake. Harry could feel his energy falling quickly.

Hermione and May looked up in surprise when the pair trudged into the house. Wing four had returned home a half hour earlier and they had been up waiting for him. Harry stepped inside and casually dropped his jacket and hat on a chair gave each of them a weak smile.

"May, call Janay in the morning and have her reschedule the next three days please," he said, then he walked past them both and entered their bedroom.

"He is exhausted," Chekiath said into the shocked silence.

Both girls leapt to their feet and hurried to follow him.

He sat on the bed, his eyes drooping. "I swear, no more multinational whirl wind tours," he said.

"Love, let us help you," Hermione said, then she moved closer and started to remove his dress uniform.

Harry chuckled, "I'm sorry, but I don't think I have the energy for that."

May looked up from pulling off one of his shoes. "Well that's obvious. Right now you don't have the energy for anything. But a good night's sleep will fix you up."

He grunted and let his wives help him into bed. In less than fifteen minutes he was asleep and Hermione and May retreated back into the living room.

"Should we call Issac?" Hermione asked worriedly.

May glanced towards the closed door for a moment, considering the question. "No, not now. Tomorrow or the day after we'll make him go see Issac. This trip of his has been hard on everyone, but no one has worked harder than he has. I'll call Janay and leave her a voicemail, he was right, his schedule needs to be cleared for a couple of days why don't you go join him. He may be asleep but you know how he's always a bit restless if one of us isn't there. I'll be in a few minutes."

Hermione nodded and headed back into the bedroom. She had hoped to find out how well the meeting with the Chinese Premier had gone. Harry had already told her it was her task to write the magical contract that would be disguised as an official treaty.

"Lobsang wants you to know that the Weyrleader has been working too hard Hermione," announced Comaloth.

She smiled. "We know Coma, please tell Jekrith that he is already sleeping. Ask him if their meeting went well."

"Jekrith says it went very well, The Weyrleader got everything he wanted."

Hermione smiled to herself, then she started to undress. "Thank Jekrith for me, I'll get the details from Harry when he wakes up," she replied silently.

She slid into bed next to Harry and reached for a book. With her free hand she reached out and gently touched him, letting him know she was nearby. Almost by instinct he turned and slid an arm around her.

"Sleep love," she whispered. "You've earned your rest."

Kiev, the Ukraine, November 15th 2005...

Anna handed her driver, the packages she had picked up, then she walked around to the open door. She and Carlos had been spending a considerable amount of time planning various acts of sabotage against the companies that were building Dragon Power plants. It was meticulous and exacting work and at times dreadfully dull.

Because of that, Carlos arranged for Anna to visit the nearby city of Kiev twice a week. She would pick up material needed for their planning and use the time to relax a little, taking in a concert or a play before returning to the camp.

Life in the camp was difficult at times but she was thankful that she never had to visit the muggle camp like Carlos needed to do several times a week. He frequently complained about the muggles they were training because they tended to be violent and hard to control. It didn't help that they held even Carlos with disdain because he wasn't part of their religion. If they discovered he was a wizard, they would have tried to kill him immediately.

"Where to now Miss?" asked Serge.

Anna looked up from her list. She had been checking off the items they needed for the next job. While the Russians provided the weapons, explosives and money. It was up to Anna to arrange for phony passports, travel tickets, maps and the like. The Russians had provided ample money, but they had left the planning and logistics behind each operation in Carlos' hands.

Anna took over that aspect, freeing up Carlos so that he had more time to train his volunteers. Fortunately for Anna there was a bustling black market in Kiev that she could tap into for forged documents and other needs.

Anna checked her watch, she had already picked up what they needed for this week, "I have tickets to a matinée Serge. So can you suggest someplace to lunch until it's time?"

Serge glanced up and looked at her in his rear view mirror. "I know just the place Miss, a most excellent Greek restaurant."

Anna nodded happily and Serge put the car in motion. She leaned back on her seat and relaxed for a moment.

As the car pulled away from the curb a nearby pedestrian flipped open his phone and spoke briefly, then two more cars pulled in behind the sedan with Anna in it. A third vehicle, this time a van, followed much further behind, closely monitoring a GPS tracker that had been placed on the car.

Anna was wanted by numerous countries and Interpol. She had been linked with the death of a German Interpol officer and his entire team of agents, so when she had been spotted by an Interpol agent, they jumped at the opportunity. This time they were sure, Anna would lead them to Carlos.

The only real kink in the operation was that it appeared Anna was spending her nights at a facility that was known to be owned by a member of the Ukrainian government. That led Interpol to incorrectly assume that the government was in on whatever scheme Carlos had going. And because of that assumption, they were running this operation without the knowledge of the Ukrainian government.

Moscow Military District Headquarters, The Kremlin, December 1st, 2005...

Major General Iskady Sukov looked up when the door to his office opened. His aide stepped inside and gave him a warm smile. They had been married for a little over a month and both of them were extremely happy. There had been a problem, but the Defence Minister had given Sukov special permission to marry his aide and keep her in her current position. It was rumored that the FIS had raised some questions, but the Defence Ministry managed to squash them neatly.

"Iskady, Colonel Istinova is outside waiting to see you," she said.

Sukov nodded. "Send him in Irina, then see we are not disturbed," he replied.

He had married Irina but in order to keep her in her position she had to retain her old name at least on a professional level. She also had to tell a Colonel in Military Intelligence about any FIS agents she knew about. Fortunately for Anna, she had only been aware of her immediate superior which was expected. The man had been transferred to a position of increased authority, but far away from Moscow.

Irina turned and exited the room. A moment later a short wiry man entered the office and stood at attention in front of Sukov's desk. He snapped off a salute and said, "Colonel Istinova reporting as ordered sir!"

Iskady absently returned the salute, then gestured to a side table. "Help yourself to some coffee and then take a seat Colonel. I know you must be very tired from your trip."

Istinova relaxed slightly and poured himself a coffee, then sat infront of the general. "It was a long flight sir," he admitted.

"And you're wondering why you were rousted out of your bed and put upon a transport plane?"

Istinova nodded. "It has crossed my mind several times."

Sukov glanced down at his desk and flipped open a folder. "Colonel Josef Istinova, served one tour in Afghanistan after you graduated from flight school. Wounded twice in combat and once you personally led a team of mechanics that held off an attack of Afghan bandits until help arrived. Since then you have qualified on nearly every major aircraft we have put into the field, including helicopters."

Sukov looked up from the file and eyed Istinova who looked embarrassed. "Helicopters are fun to fly," he admitted a bit sheepishly.

Sukov smiled in reply, then he glanced down at the dossier again. "You recieved a Order of Lenin for service in Afghanistan. You also have picked up several citations. When you assumed command of your own wing you instituted new training techniques that raised your wing's efficiency by nearly 20 percent. When you were taken before a review board over your unorthodox methods you refused to back down and were ultimately proven correct.

"That black mark however has effectively stalled your career," Iskady observed, looking up at Istinova.

Istinova's counternance darkened, but he said nothing.

Sukov slowly closed the dossier and leaned back on his chair. "Colonel, I have ordered you here because you have an uncanny ability to build a fighting unit that can think quickly and react to new situations. I brought you here to give you a chance at redemption in the eyes of command. You read the file you were given on the new SU-34 on your flight here yes?"

Istinova nodded, he was too shocked to say anything. He had been certain his career was stalled forever.

Sukov raised an eyebrow and waited.

Istinova flushed, then he straightened in his seat. "It is a very advanced airplane general, but I as puzzled by the extra suite of infra-red tools built into the standard configuration. Is the plane intended to be a high performance night fighter/bomber? Or perhaps its intended to counter the American's F117?"

Sukov nodded, he had expected an experienced pilot to reach those conclusions. The F117 was a stealth fighter/bomber with an extremely low radar and infra-red signature. The enhanced IR suite of the SU-34 appeared to be tailor made to counter a stealth aircraft.

"Yes that would be the impression most would have, but the SU-34's basic design has specially modified for a special mission, a mission that I want you to undertake."

"Sir?"

"The new fighter isn't supposed to reach the air fleet until March of next year, but I have managed to procure the first twelve fighters which you will take command of next month. Ultimately you will assemble three enlarged wings of twenty four fighters each, all trained to go up against a living opponent unlike any you have ever encountered before Colonel," Sukov said solemnly, then he fliped on a television and started a video tape of a dragon in flight.

"Dragons," Colonel Istinova said breathlessly.

"Dragons," agreed Sukov solemnly. He let the video play for a moment then he turned off the television. "Colonel I can't tell you how important this is to our country. These creatures are hurting our economy greatly and unless we stop them, they could cause great harm to our country. It's going to be your job to develop tactics to surprise these creatures and kill them where ever they may be.

"An office has been prepared for you one floor below this one. There you will find dossiers on our best pilots. Pick the first twelve who will serve as a core of your unit and I will see to their transfers. They will go on to train your other pilots and eventually the rest of our pilots."

Sukov fixed Istinova with a steely gaze. "Do this Josef Petraovich Istinova and you will have redeemed yourself and earned a star."

Istinova nodded, "I would be honored sir," he said thickly.

"Good, in two days time you will recieve new orders placing you permanently under my command. Your family will be relocated to comfortable quarters here in Moscow. I daresay Marianna and little Nickolai will enjoy the new posting. Captain Hannova, my aide will see that you are suitably billeted until your family arrives."

Istinova stood and saluted. "Yes sir!"

"Dismissed," Sukov said. He waited until Istinova left the room then he frowned. Istinova was good, one of the best pilots they had, but Sukov was certain he was asking for the impossible. The dragon's ability to teleport around the battlefield made every standard air combat tactic nearly useless.

He was having serious doubts about this coming war, but there was no stopping it. The only thing he could do is to do his best and hope it was enough.

#10 Downing Street, London, December 19th 2005...

Tony Blair looked up when the door opened and he smiled briefly. Harry Potter entered along with Lord Mills the Weyr liaison.

It had been a difficult year for the Weyr and Blair wasn't surprised to see it's effects on Harry Potter. His hair had a touch of gray at the temples and the beginnings of crow's feet at his eyes. Blair was generally pleased with how things had turned out, but he hoped things would go more smoothly from here on.

"Harry, come on in and sit down!" He called jovially. The Weyrleader was one of the few people that he had to deal with diplomatically that he actually liked.

Harry smiled and sat in a comfortable armchair and Blair chuckled to himself, long gone were the days when Harry was still learning what it meant to be a leader. Now he sat, confident in himself and his dragons and it showed.

"Harry, several years ago our people were running an operation which used a witch we had caught red handed swindling people," Blair said, then he passed a folder.

Harry took the folder and opened it. It showed a standard booking photo. "Anna Elizabeth Upton?" he murmured. He didn't recognize the name.

"That's right. She was linked to Carlos the Gerbil and we think she was involved when he was trying to stir up trouble after we took back the ministry. We caught Miss Upton a few years later, working the normal world as a psychic and con-artist. We didn't have enough proof to prove her connection to Carlos, and you know we're only allowed to question someone under truth potions about the crime which we arrested her for. So we convinced her to help us try and track down Carlos the Gerbil."

Harry looked up at that and Blair shrugged. "At the time our people thought they could use Miss Upton. Unfortunately there was an incident in Spain that resulted in the deaths of a team of Interpol agents and we lost track of Miss Upton. Originally we believed she had been killed when the lead agent running the detail went berserk and killed the entire detail.

"Both she and Carlos vanished from sight until recently, but we've always suspected that some of the attacks on the power plant construction sites might have been the work of the Gerbil. Or at least he was the guiding force behind it."

Harry nodded and placed the folder on the coffee table. "And now you've found your missing witch?"

Blair smiled tightly. "Indeed we have, she was spotted last month in the Ukraine. I can't tell you how surprised we were to discover she was still alive," he replied, then waved to a wall where a large map was hanging.

Harry frowned. "The Ukraine, well that complicates things doesn't it?"

Blair glanced at the map and then back to Harry. "Oh? I know why I think its a problem, but what do you think?"

Harry stood and walked over to the map. "The Ukraine is an independent country and yet its firmly in the Russian sphere of influence. That suggests that whatever Carlos is doing, he's doing it with Russian approval and support."

"We thought the Russians might be involved," James said. "Remember when I told you about the explosives used?"

Harry glanced over to Lord Mills and nodded grimly. "That's right, you said the stuff was former Soviet explosives easily obtained on the black market. And then you added it was nearly impossible to tell old surplus Soviet stuff from newer Russian explosives because they still used the same factories."

"That's right, we had one piece that said Russia might be involved," James replied. "Now here is another piece of the puzzle, Carlos in the Ukraine also suggests Russian involvement."

"Suggests, but that doesn't prove it," Harry said quietly.

"No Harry, it doesn't," added Tony Blair, pleased that Harry made the connection.

"So what is Carlos doing in the Ukraine?"

Tony Blair used a laser pointer to highlight a spot on the map. "We traced Miss Upton to this location. It's a heavily guarded site but we have managed to confirm Carlos is there at least part of the time. It seems he travels between this site and another some five kilometers away. Both sites seem to be designed as training facilities. Our analysts think this is where they train the people that have been causing so many problems for the dragon power plant construction sites."

Tony frowned and consulted a file. "The first camp, the one that Miss Upton is staying at seems to consist mostly of European wizards. They are being taught stealth techniques and how to use regular munitions. They also seem to be getting instruction on politics for several European nations. We believe they may be behind the movements started by Greenpeace and some of the other activist groups.

"The second camp is more troubling as we've spotted members of several Islamic terrorist organizations. We are hesitant to share this with the Yanks for obvious reasons. The training we've seen is strictly terrorist in nature. Explosives and attack techniques, how to plan operations for maximum effect, that sort of thing."

Harry nodded. "Yes, an American strike against the camp would surely provoke a Russian response. And the Yanks seem incapable of keeping something like that quiet."

Harry stood and walked over to the map and studied it for a moment, then he turned to Blair. "You didn't bring me here just to tell me this, you want something," he stated.

Tony smiled thinly. "I keep telling people you are a lot sharper than anyone realizes. Yes, we'd like dragon help. We need to take these camps out and hopefully neutralize Carlos, the problem is that we can't assault these camps openly. I'm not asking that the dragons do so, but I'm hoping the dragons could carry a multi-national assault force on a covert mission to neutralize these camps. They wouldn't be picked up by radar and it would keep the Ukraine out of the picture.

"When the assault is over, everyone will deny involvement, leaving Ukraine, and Russia with a mystery on their hands."

Harry nodded slowly, he knew that Blair wasn't planning on these people being arrested. Neutralized meant killed.

Harry turned back to the map. Harry ran down the list of manned Weyrs in his mind. "Campbeltown can't do it, nor can Condron, riders of either of those Weyrs are just too well known," he muttered. "There are a number of Weyrs that are involved in projects which are important... half a moment." Harry looked up and his eyes glazed over.

"Lakreth is your rider busy?" he sent. Joensuu Weyr had worked very hard to build itself as a haven for riders needing a break. They did many of the same jobs as the other Weyrs, but their reputation for providing recreational facilities had hurt their reputation among the Weyrs. Having Joensuu participate would go a long way to correcting that problem.

Blair's eyes widened as a faint glow surrounded Harry. Lord Mills raised a hand and motioned for the Prime Minister to stay silent for a moment.

"Weyrleader, no he is just working at his desk which he hates. Shall I interrupt him?"

Harry smiled, he could empathize with that. "Please ask him to join me. Chekiath will provide jump imagery."

Harry turned his attention back to the Prime Minister. "I've sent for Ismo Sippola, the Weyrleader for Joensuu Weyr in Finland. His Weyr was created when I evacuated the dragons from Russia. Can someone meet him on the roof? He should be here shortly."

Blair nodded shakily, he knew that Harry was a wizard, but the amount of visible magic he had seen Harry perform was nearly zero. "You were glowing!"

Harry arched an eyebrow and looked at James who nodded. "Aye lad, you were."

Harry sighed and walked over to the couch to sit down. James reached for a phone and spoke briefly to someone while Harry rubbed his temples.

"Harry?" asked Tony Blair.

"I try very hard to keep my magic use to a minimum," Harry said. "As Weyrleader I need to set an example for my riders, most of whom are not magical. Unfortunately my magical power is still peaking and won't stop until I'm nearly forty. Sometimes when I use my magic I have a visible aura, it's not something I do deliberately, it just happens.

"I have been talking with a mage in Japan who has been offering some useful advice in controlling my powers. It's just that lately it's been hard to find the time to put those ideas into practice. Some days it seems like I don't have ten minutes to myself."

Blair chuckled. "I know exactly how you feel."

"Harry, there is another issue while we wait that I do need to bring up. As you know there has been considerable pressure both for and against the relationships we're seeing in the Weyrs. As of right now the laws remain unchanged. However my office has circulated a memo around the country basically stating that the government will not support any court proceedings against riders for being in multiple relationships. Lord Mills here has convinced me and others that it would be a really bad idea to bring any of you riders up on charges. He seems to think you would insist on including the dragons in any trial."

Harry smirked. "Oh I doubt anyone would be able to keep them away Tony, you couldn't put just the humans on trial, and you would find the world laughing at the idea of holding a non-human intelligent species to human morals. Did you know that the Goblins also have multiple relationships, and ritual slavery as well as a policy of advancement by combat. You can advance your position in the bank by either performing some extraordinary service or by killing your superior. Granted they are slowly doing away with that practice, but it still exists.

"The Centaurs tend to have harems with many females and only a few stallions per tribe. A young male is cast out from the herd at age fifteen to spend a couple of years on his own before returning to the tribe and fighting for his own choice of females."

Blair blanched and held up a hand. "Alright I get it besides, it's not an issue right now and I hope to eventually get Parliament to approve it, even if they do it quietly."

A door opened and Ismo Sippola entered the office looking rather flustered and confused. Ismo was blond like the typical northern European stereotype, but that was the only thing he adhered to. As tall as Harry and just as stocky in the shoulder and thighs, he had a much broader chest than Harry. He was also very soft spoken.

Harry walked over to Ismo and shook his hand in greeting. "Ismo, thank you for coming. I'd like you to meet Prime Minister Blair," he said, leading the Finnish Weyrleader over to Tony.

"Mister Prime Minister, I present to you, the man who will lead your dragon airlift, Ismo Sippola of Joensuu Weyr," Harry said formally.

Blair rose from his desk and walked around it to offer his hand. "Weyrleader Sippola, thank for coming."

"You're you're welcome," stammered Sippola.

Harry clapped a hand on Ismo's shoulder and gently faced him towards the map. He quickly explained the problem and how they would get around being detected by using the dragons to airlift in the assault troops.

"I'd use Campbeltown Ismo, but we nearly tangled with Russia over the Saudi issue, besides your dragons are originally from Russia. If Joensuu does this and you get caught, the Russians would hesitate, at least long enough for me to mobilize the Weyrs. Personally I don't think you will get caught, but it's wise to plan ahead." Harry explained.

Harry understood that any hint of Campbeltown involvement could escalate the tension between Russia and the Weyr. Despite the fact that all of the Weyrs answered to Harry, people still thought that the local Weyrleader had full control over his Weyr. It was a small matter of perception, but no one was about to dissuade that viewpoint.

Ismo smiled grimly, "We won't let you down Harry."

Harry pat him on the back. "I know you won't. Prime Minister Blair still has details to arrange. In the meantime why don't you join me at Campbeltown for dinner and we can make some plans."

Ismo nodded and looked at Blair who stepped forward. "Of course, of course, you'll need jump imagery I imagine. I'll have my office email you the GPS coordinates also I'm sure we'll have coordinate with the assault force for training."

A dragon rider would have to jump to the nearest, non-Russian location and then fly straight through to the GPS coordinates in order to get the jump imagery. As good as the dragons were, there was simply no way for them to use latitude and longitude coordinates as destinations for jumps Between.

Lord Mills and Minister Blair watched the two men exit the room, then Blair turned his attention to Mills. "Funny, I thought Harry would have jumped for the opportunity to get personally involved."

James chuckled, "Normally he would have, but he has learned that he simply cannot do everything. And by asking Joensuu Weyr to participate he helps that Weyr build it's image among the other Weyrs."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"Joensuu performs many of the same duties as every other Weyr, but they also have worked very hard to provide a place for riders to go and rest. Ismo Sippola has built a resort into the Weyr and a convalescent spa. The emphasis on the resort has hurt their reputation a bit among the other Weyrs.

"Joensuu didn't want to set up a research station like so many other Weyrs. They wanted to become known for helping other riders. The Weyr is more like a resort park than a real working Weyr. They do provide dragons to guard construction sites and they did take part in Harry's action against the Yanks, but they still had an image of being soft. I think it's an unjust image and Harry agrees that it's unjust. So by asking them to help, the Weyr shows that they can do more that provide a vacation spot for dragon riders," Mills said, then he paused and said, "Plus there's one more issue why Harry didn't involve Campbeltown but I bet he never even realized it was affecting his decision."

Blair looked at him with intrigue in his expression. "What other issue?"

Mills smiled widely. "Both of Harry's wives are pregnant and I don't think he really wants to upset them."

Blair looked at him for a moment, then he began to laugh. "An excellent decision," he replied finally.

Harry's quarters, Campbeltown Weyr, January 1st 2006...

Harry opened the door and smiled warmly at Remus and Mildred. "Happy new year! Come in! Come in!"

Mildred stepped in, followed by Remus who handed Harry a large bottle of champaign. "Come on in, Sirius and Katherine are already here, Ronan and Karen are also here. Dobby says dinner will be ready shortly. Did you have a good flight?"

Mildred laughed at that. "Harry, from here to Canada and back takes less than two minutes. I'm not sure it qualifies as a flight."

"Yeah, there's no in-flight movie," Sirius shouted from the dining table.

Katherine calmly elbowed him and he looked at her sheepishly. They had been married for over five years now and Katherine still wasn't sure if Sirius had grown up very much. The couple had tried for several years to have children without success. Finally they sought Isaac's help and he sent them to a specialist that determined Sirius was unable to father any children. Sometime during his stay in Azkaban he lost the ability to father children. Isaac didn't tell Sirius, but it was strongly suspected that he had been cursed since there was nothing wrong physically with him.

The news came as a shock to the couple and a deep blow to Sirius. His offer of divorce resulted in the only time Katherine ever hit Sirius, knocking him out for three solid minutes. After he woke up he had to deal with a storm of tears for another thirty minutes.

The couple did eventually have a child, but not in the usual sense. The Weyr responded to a English Channel ferry disaster and one of the people saved was a three year old girl who lost both her parents. Normally Sirius would not have gone along with the Weyr, but in this particular case he was flying on Norendrath when Harry called for an all wings response from the Weyr.

Sirius personally rescued little Kristin and when he learned she was an orphan with no family, he told Katherine he wanted to adopt her.

With the help of the Prime Minister's office, the adoption was fast tracked and two months later, Katherine and Sirius were the proud parents of a little girl that had captured the hearts of the Weyr.

Kristin was an ordinary little girl and the dragons didn't know if she could impress, but that didn't matter. She fit into the Weyr as if she had been born around dragons. Sirius doted on her and Katherine often spent her time trying to prevent Sirius from spoiling their daughter.

Sirius and Katherine presented the only stumbling block to what Harry wanted to accomplish tonight, but he was pretty sure he had a plan to deal with them.

Dinner was superb as usual thanks to Dobby. Harry sat in between Hermione and May who were both clearly pregnant. May had managed to work up her nerve finally to tell Harry who had already guessed. It was only in the past two weeks that Issac had confirmed that Harry had been correct. Hermione was pregnant with a boy and May was having a girl.

Despite the available space, Dobby and his mate Tisky only ate with Harry, Hermione and May when they weren't having guests. When they had a function like this, even one that Harry called a family function, the two elves ate elsewhere.

After the meal Harry called Dobby and asked him to take Kristen from Katherine for an hour or two. Katherine looked surprised at that and Harry shrugged sheepishly. "I'm sorry Katherine, but Kristen is at an age where she's apt to repeat things she's heard. What we're going to talk about now isn't for her ears just yet and you know she'll be perfectly safe with Dobby."

Katherine nodded, Kristin was now a precocious five years old and often asking people about conversations she had overheard. Sirius learned the hard way to control his tongue after the first time Katherine heard little Kristen say "bugger me!".

Karen held her son Jason and she placed him in a bassinet that Harry had placed nearby. At barely a month old Jason was not a concern to security. Jason had been born a little later than expected, but the whole Weyr celebrated with his parents when he came home from the hospital.

Katherine nodded and Harry gestured to Ronan who stood and walked over to Harry's computer that had been setup for this evening. The computer was attached to the large wall TV as a display.

Harry leaned back on his chair and watched Ronan for a moment then he turned back to the others. "What I'm about to tell you is a Weyr secret. Remus and Mildred are bound by the confidentiality agreements they signed when they were hired on by Dragon Services. Sirius, you're also bound by the same agreement."

Harry paused and looked at Katherine. "Katherine, every bone in my body says you can be trusted and Chekiath agrees. So I'll ask you outright. If I were to reveal a secret to you that not even the British government knows, would you keep it?"

Everyone turned to look at her and she sucked in a breath then she straightened in her chair. "I can only give you an answer of it depends Harry. If your secret threatened the safety of the country that I'm bound in service to, then no I couldn't keep it secret."

"And if the secret didn't really affect any country and in no way threatened the security of the United Kingdom?" Harry pressed.

"If it truly didn't affect the country then I couldn't see any reason to divulge it. I'm sorry, but I gave an oath to protect and defend my country," she replied. "If you want, I can return to our cottage."

Harry raised a hand causing her to settle back down in her chair. "I'm satisfied with your answer Katherine, just like I'm satisfied that nothing we're planning will hurt the United Kingdom. The dragons are satisfied that you are trustworthy and I am inclined to agree with them."

"Goodness Harry, I know this has been bothering you for months, but honestly, Katherine isn't going to tell on us," Hermione said. "And frankly I'm dying to know also, especially after that build up."

Sirius turned to Harry in surprise, "Your own wives don't know?"

Harry made a sour face, "Until recently I wasn't even sure that we'd do this. I'm not about to tell someone about a project that I wasn't sure it was even going to get off the ground," he answered then he turned to May and Hermione. "I'm sorry, it wasn't that I didn't trust either of you, I just didn't know if it was possible and if we should even attempt it."

May and Hermione frowned at him, but before they could say anything Sirius jumped in. "Ladies, stop that right here," he said firmly, surprising them. "I know for a fact that Katherine has secrets that she can't share with me. She's a major in charge of security at the Weyr, she's not guarding the Queen or protecting some deep national project and she still has some secrets. Harry's The Weyrleader, he probably has secrets within secrets. It's part of his job and not a reflection on either of you. I imagine that you both know more than any of us in this room and any secret you don't know, is because Harry has a good reason not to tell you it yet."

Harry coughed lightly and Sirius looked at him bashfully for a moment. "Thank you Sirius, but tonight you are all going to learn about one secret in particular."

Harry stood and walked over to where Ronan stood. "Several years ago the American Space Program people wanted to see if dragons could go into space and I refused."

"I remember that!" exclaimed Mildred. "You told them that until they strap an astronaut onto an engine and shoot him into space, you weren't going to risk a rider and dragon."

Harry chuckled. "Yeah well they basically wanted to put a rider into a suit and send him and the dragon into space. While I thought the idea was insane, I thought it bore more looking into."

He placed a hand on Ronan's shoulder. "At the same time, and by a stroke of fate, my wing second expressed an intense desire to take his hobby and turn it into a career of sorts by becoming an engineer."

Mildred chuckled, "Harry, he didn't just become an engineer, he specialized in aeronautical design. In fact with the sole exception of yourself, every member of his model airplane club went to school for..."

She trailed off and stared at Harry in shock. "No, it's not possible," she whispered. "You planned this didn't you?"

Harry just grinned. "It's funny how the model airplane club turned out four aeronautical engineers, two electrical engineers, eight other engineers of varying specialties and more than a dozen competent machinists who formed the core for our manufacturing group. The Dragon design group now has over one hundred riders from every manned Weyr and half of them have engineering degrees. With my approval they've turned out everything from the new harnesses to the dragon winch and the egg delivery system."

Harry stepped back to his chair and motioned to Ronan. "Go ahead Ronan, tell them the rest."

Ronan shuffled a little nervously. "At the time that I realized we needed specialized tools that couldn't be found elsewhere, Harry came to me with some questions. You see, he and I had been talking about outer space and how the single biggest problem with exploring space was the weight to lift cost ratio."

Remus leaned forward in confusion. "I'm sorry, the what to what?"

"The weight to lift cost ratio," Mildred said softly, "right now it costs millions of US dollars to lift a few hundred pounds of cargo. Launching a space shuttle with a satellite like the Hubble can cost over a billion dollars."

"That's right," Ronan agreed. "But dragons don't have that particular problem. One dragon can lift a cargo container weighing up to fifteen tons and take it anywhere in the world, including straight up."

Ronan paused and pointed one finger skyward. "Harry didn't like the NASA proposal because it exposed a rider to one of the harshest environments known. When NASA learned that dragons were capable of an extended exposure to outer space without any harm they jumped on the idea without fully thinking it through. It seemed to me that the only thing we needed to do was protect the riders, but a space suit was not the way to go about it like NASA suggested. Harry decided that for the time being, any discussion concerning outer space was to be a Weyr secret. But he also had another concern.

Ronan paused and took a deep breath, "He was concerned that eventually hot rocks would be replaced."

"How?" exclaimed Katherine sharply.

"Fusion power is one possibility," Mildred offered. "Renewable power sources like wind or tide generated power offer other options. Every one of those have shortcomings that haven't been overcome yet, but they will eventually solve the problems. If you look at history, coal had supremacy for about a century, then it shared the stage with oil. Coal was waning heavily in the states, but a lot of countries still use it. I suppose it's reasonable to expect Hot Rocks will take over fully from oil by the middle of the century."

"That's right. Harry told me that he believes that Hot Rocks will see at least a century of use before something comes along to replace it," Ronan said.

"It would be foolish to ignore progress. Just the other day I saw a perfect example of it. Exxon and BP's joint research project has started to pay off. Their new heat transfer chamber design is twenty five percent more efficient than the one they first came up with," Harry said, then he paused and glanced over at Ronan. "After many talks with Ronan and some of model airplane club members, I authorized him to put together a team of our best designers to work on Weyr problems and in their spare time, work on keeping us relevant."

"Relevant how?" asked Hermione suspiciously. She thought she had known about most of the Weyr's activities but this appeared to be something new. Hermione, as recorder for all the Weyrleader meetings, knew that space was a Weyr secret, but she hadn't witnessed Harry's private conversations with Ronan.

Ronan tapped a key on the keyboard and the television image changed from the standard desktop to a 3D rendered view of... something.

"What is that?" exclaimed Mildred. She immediately reached for her glasses and stared at the large screen.

"This is a rendered version of what we officially called the 'Dragon's egg', but most of us just call it the egg for short. It is a self contained capsule, fifty feet long and twenty feet in diameter. There's room inside for six people and thanks to the modular construction we can provide enough air and water for up to ten days for people," Ronan said.

The screen showed what looked like a long tube, as if someone had cut out the middle section of a submarine. There were six pairs of legs along its length. At one end there were several large globes packed in a lattice work, at the opposite end there was a empty claw.

Along the top of the egg there was a row of what looked like open garbage cans of differing sizes. Finally there was a man-sized door and a ladder going down to the same level as the legs in the middle of the egg.

Ronan stepped up to the screen and pointed. "The claw is designed to hold satellites. Many satellites these days have their own rocket motors to move them to the correct orbit, so we just need to get them in the general area and their own engine will move them into the proper position.

"With the ability to put satellites in orbit cheaply, the Weyr will see a huge income stream that is not related to hot rocks or products reliant on hot rock technology. Additionally claw is removable and we have an alternate configuration that allows us to couple the egg to a standard inter-modal cargo container. With some additional engineering to provide a way to dock the container, we'd be able to lift tons of supplies to the international space station, and more often than it's done now."

Ronan paused and grinned. "I've even got a group of people looking into redesigning the cargo containers so that they could be used as empty modules by the ISS, either for crew space or storage.

"Along the top of the egg are five different breathing bays, each bay has an adaptable ring designed to accommodate different classes of dragons. The dragon will stick their head inside a bay, that will engage a switch that will inflate an airtight collar around the dragon's neck. The dragon will then be able exhale and take another breath of air, extending their ability to remain in space.

"While we expect a typical satellite lifting mission to take less than an hour, we wanted to provide more time to be in space. If we had six riders and six dragons lifting the egg, maximum allowable time would be only twenty four hours, but we could easily lift hundreds of tons of cargo during a twenty four hour period before the O2 tanks would need to be refilled. On average the dragons only need to breath in once per half hour, but their lung capacity is many times that of a rider. The breathing bays and oxygen capacity of the Egg were designed to handle dragons holding their breath for up to seventy five percent of their maximum recorded time. Its not set up to allow dragons to breath continuously, to allow for that we'd need to nearly triple the size of the capsule and all of that would be breathable air."

"How much of this is designed and how much is concept?" Mildred asked intently.

Ronan smiled at her. "Its only a guess, but I would say that at least sixty percent of the mechanical systems are designed. The electronics and computer software is lagging behind somewhat, but I'd say it's somewhere between forty and fifty percent. We've already started ordering some of the sub-systems and have begun machining parts. There is a lot of work to do still, but we have a target goal of having a test egg ready for testing by mid 2007."

Mildred slumped back in her chair. "My god," she muttered. "This could revolutionize the satellite launching industry."

"And that's why we need you to help Mildred," Harry said softly. He motioned towards the screen, then towards Ronan who still wore a bandage over his hand. The cast was long gone and his hand was healing well, but it would never be a pretty sight. "Mildred, we need people with experience. Ronan was injured because of a technique he used was fundamentally unsafe. It worked for a number of successful installations, but the last one could have killed him. There have been other accidents because we have a bunch of people straight out of university with no practical experience. We need people to help with the practical matters and to help determine our direction.

"In a few days time we will be breaking ground to build a brand new manufacturing building that our engineering group will use it to turn out the specialty items each Weyr needs, and to build the egg. The construction company will erect the building, then we'll turn it over to the elves for all the interior fixtures, power and lighting.

"While that's going on we need someone like you to look beyond our idea of just putting satellites in orbit and see what else we can do. Ronan talked about mining asteroids, can we do that? Should we talk to mining companies? I don't know and I don't know who else to ask about that other than you.

"Sir Scott is a great scientist and he's leading the efforts and joint partnerships wonderfully. But he's not an astrophysicist, space isn't his field of expertise," Harry said, then he smirked. "Besides, you're family like Katherine. I know I can trust Sir Scott, but in the end he's not family. I know my family and know I can trust them to keep our secrets."

Both Katherine and Mildred gaped at him for a moment, then their cheeks colored.

"What would you need me to do? You know I've been busy teaching," she asked.

Harry nodded to Ronan.

"Initially it would be mostly looking over our shoulder and trying to find pieces we missed. For example one of my guys designed the interior layout of the egg and it took us two weeks to realize he had forgotten to include a bathroom," Ronan said with a chuckle. "Harry has told me that as we get closer to testing he wanted to open us up to some scientific payloads as well as paying commercial contracts."

Mildred turned to Harry who looked a little abashed. "It just seemed to me that we would have an easier time getting our first launch customers if we took on a few heavily discounted or even free science packages."

"That is a very good idea," Remus murmured.

Mildred sat for a moment before smiling broadly and nodding to Harry. While it wasn't pure science, here was a chance for her to help mankind get to space. And if she was lucky, maybe even get there herself.

"Well I'm glad that's settled," May announced. "Hermione and I were getting tired of pretending to not notice when Harry was visiting some astronomy website."

She looked at Harry and arched one eyebrow. "You do remember that Hermione takes notes for your Weyrleader meetings and you made the whole issue of space travel a Weyr secret during one of those meetings?"

He looked down at the table when the others chuckled. "I'm sorry," he said, "I made it a secret to keep outsiders from knowing about it. I never meant to keep it a secret from you."

'Outsider' was a new Weyr term, first coined by Lee Jordan to refer to anyone that wasn't a dragon rider or part of an Weyr. Everyone present, even the non-riders were considered part of Campbeltown. Someone like Lord Mills who only spent his days here, or Sir Scott, who ran the research part of Dragon Services were outsiders, special outsiders with privileges, but still outsiders.

May reached across the table and stroked his hand for a moment. "We know and understand Harry."

"We do," Hermione agreed, "but we hope you know that you can talk to us about anything?"

Harry smiled. "I do, but I will try to remember that more often."

"Well now thats settled, perhaps I can get some help. Kristin wants a pet dragon," Sirius announced with a broad smile.

Katherine nodded with a smile. "She seems to feel that so many in the Weyr have a pet dragon, that maybe if she's a good girl, she might get one."

Harry's expression grew pinched. "Goddess knows I don't like disappointing her. But..."

"Harry? Do you remember Cethath?" asked May.

"She's that dragon from Aogashima Weyr, the one who developed a wing joint problem?" Harry asked.

May nodded. "She came to us late last year and we haven't been able to help much with the problem. X-Rays show damage to her joint that looks similar to damage that some people have from Arthritis. Unfortunately the Arthritis potion doesn't work on dragons, Maziang is looking into that but so far they've had no luck. Anyway, unless we get lucky, she's permanently grounded."

Harry winced. Permanently grounding a dragon is near condemning them to a slow death. A grounded dragon tended to become depressed and sooner or later, despite the inability to fly, they would leap skyward and take that fateful trip Between.

May was dealing with the issue of dragons that arrived at the Weyr and may never return to their home Weyr. So far the Weyr had six permanently grounded dragons. There would have been more, but most suicided when they were told that they couldn't fly again.

"I have been, with her permission, trying new treatments and trying to find something to keep her mind off of her condition. It strikes me that we could use the children of the Weyr to help our sick dragons. We have what? Twenty kids ranging from one to nine years old," May said. Everyone knew she was referring to Francis, Doctor Sheppard's daughter was the oldest child in the Weyr. "My point is why not organize the kids like a scout troop, let them help by the distracting the dragons from their problems. I could easily see the older kids oiling the dragons or even just reading to them."

Harry considered the idea for a moment. "I don't have a problem with it May, but it doesn't solve Kristin wanting a pet dragon. I suppose we could give her Padfoot," he said with a smile.

"No!" Katherine said sharply, then she looked directly at her husband. "If Kristin is getting any kind of pet I want something that's easy to house train and we all know Padfoot isn't housebroken. I'll buy her a kitten instead."

Sirius stared at his wife with his jaw on the floor while everyone else broke up in laughter.

May's idea would ultimately lead to the formation of the Weyr youth league dedicated to helping the older infirm or non-bonded dragons. The league would eventually be responsible for some of the most famous Weyr and wing leaders.

---

Author's Notes and Mockeries...

* For those that suddenly woke up two and a half books later and decided to complain about Harry not using magic to protect himself and his dragon. Forget about it, its just not going to happen. Harry hasn't taken his NEWTS and while Hermione has taught him every spell she knows, he's not about to spend time researching how to cast a shield that encompasses him and his dragon.

If you don't like the fact that Harry is relying more on his dragon's abilities and technology rather than magic, then I suggest you fire up your word processor and get to writing your own story.

* Okimi Bijuudama wants to know what happened to the rider that was shot in Japan. Yes, Harry was informed, but it was only a minor sub plot to illustrate the lengths in which the Russians would go to find out information about the Dragons. You'll also hear a little more about it, from the Russian perspective in this chapter. Harry's involvement in this particular incident is minimal. He is responsible for thousands of dragons and the leadership of the Japanese Weyr is handling the matter to his satisfaction. Harry cannot be expected to micromanage every thing in every weyr.

* AlsoknownasMatt, don't worry, the kid gloves are off and the next time the Weyr is forced into that kind of situation, the only concern will be the safety of the dragons.

* NabikiB, while your review made for some puzzling reading and seemed unrelated to anything in this story, you do realize that Harry is a politician whether he likes it or not.

* StevenG you must be seriously bored if you're reading and responding to reviews. I think you need a new hobby.

* Bluedragon of the 13, your question is answered in this chapter. I'm curious why you didn't complete the name. Shouldn't you be Bluedragon of the 13 smelly socks?

* Caspian123, PETA can complain all they want, I have dragons on my side, and unlike PETA, they don't mind eating people.

* Just a reminder that people that do not sign in, have their reviews deleted and their questions unanswered. I do try to reply to some of the questions directly, but if you're not signed in, I can't reply to your question. And the fact that I automatically delete unsigned reviews means they can't even get answered here. So if you really want some kind of response, LOG IN before you review.