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Plutonia - a small, dry planet, with one inhabited moon - orbits two suns and is situated in the Andromeda Galaxy - two million light years from Earth and four million light years from Icarrion. For several hundred years it had successful trade links with the Intergalactic Coalition, but had never been accepted as a member, mainly because it was considered a planet of pirates and brigands with little or no moral character. Over the centuries, its leadership made sporadic attempts to get the population under control. New laws were made and broken, and civil war was a frequent occurrence. Positive change was always fleeting, and the planet remained relatively isolated from the upper strata of the Coalition hierarchy.
Damanacree hoped to change that. He hoped that, by winning the throne of Icarrion, the natural alliance that would then be generated between Icarrion and his home planet would catapult Plutonia into the political powerhouse that was the Coalition. He had nurtured Icarrion allies and attempted to bully and bribe all those he considered useful to him, and he was now poised to eradicate every member of his extended family. They posed a threat to his ambition and they had to die– starting with the bitch from Earth.
He felt anger bubble inside him. That Aggerron should have shunned him so publicly and sent the psychotic gynoid to Earth for the girl was so humiliating, so infuriating that he feared he would suffer a stroke at the very thought of it. He had no understanding of the queen’s antipathy towards him and he had no grasp of her motivation for choosing a mere human girl over him. Yes, he had a temper, and it had been known for him to do a little raping and pillaging - just like his grandfather before him – but what prince hadn’t done that sort of thing? It was unreasonable of her to hold it against him.
The royal castle Keep was quiet and deserted – the perfect place to have a clandestine meeting with Sabre – and, as he waited patiently for the arrival of his trusted lieutenant, Damanacree let his fury build.
His face, in anger, was the stuff of nightmares and, once seen, only the completely idiotic would ever wish to witness it a second time. When Sabre arrived and saw his master’s expression, he quite naturally feared for his life.
‘Sire,’ he said, stoically keeping the tremor from his voice. ‘You have orders for me?’
Damanacree’s mouth formed in a bitter twist. ‘Orders? I’ve already given my orders, lieutenant. I ordered you to bring me the girl.’
‘The human betrayed us, my Lord. He gave us false information.’
‘No, Sabre... you allowed him to give you false information. You see the difference, I hope?’
He swallowed and nodded. ‘Yes, my Lord.’
‘You took his head?’
‘Yes, Lord.’ Despite the heat, he shivered. ‘He died well.’
Damanacree didn’t trust himself to speak further. He was close to maiming or killing the stupid bastard for failing in his orders and now for uttering such a stupid comment... He died well.... HE DIED WELL!! What did he care how the human died?
‘I can still get the girl. My spies have told me that she’s already on her way to Icarrion. She travels in her father’s cargo ship.’
‘I know that, you fool.’
Damanacree’s voice was deceptively calm and, if Sabre hadn’t known him so well, he would have believed that his master was quite calm, quite unaffected by everything that was happening around him. But, he knew him very well and wasn’t deceived by the outward signs of composure.
‘You know?’
‘I know everything.’
He now felt his master’s anger come off him in waves and was forced to take a step back lest that anger touched him.
‘She has Icarrion royal guards at her side. She is well protected and getting to her on board the cargo ship is an impossibility. You should’ve killed her on Earth before Macha spoke to her. You failed me, Sabre and you know what happens to those who fail me.’
‘My life is yours, sire. I gladly give it.’ He lifted his chin and, for the first time since he arrived, he looked his master straight in the face. ‘I apologise for letting you down. I don’t deserve to live.’
Suddenly, all of Damanacree’s anger evaporated. He was no longer in the flush of youth and had learned many hard lessons over the years – the least of which was not to allow emotion to get the better of strategy. He needed Sabre and he needed the men the lieutenant commanded.
Sabre felt the tension in the atmosphere diminish and he slowly eased out a sigh. He still kept his wits about him. Damanacree could quite easily explode at the slightest provocation and, despite his words that he was ready to die, Sabre wanted desperately to live.
‘You have one more chance to capture or kill her. I’ll leave the details of how you go about that to you. Either bring her to me alive or bring me her head – I don’t care which.’
Sabre nodded, bowed his head in salute, turned and walked away. He had his orders and there was nothing left to say.
Outside the royal castle Keep, the air was heavy with the scent of calliper blossom. Not many plants or trees survived the dry, arid heat of Plutonia, but the blossom from the callip tree was well adjusted to the climate and its fruit was the sweetest in the galaxy. Sabre inhaled the heady fragrance, and only then did he succumb to the violent tremors of terror. He knew that his reprieve was short-lived. Damanacree would kill him one day, unless he went above and beyond his duty. Finding and killing the girl wouldn’t be enough. He would have to do more than that to regain his master’s favour.
An idea began to form in his mind and his face split with a grin. He knew exactly what he needed to do, and he left for his ship in a far easier frame of mind.
*
THE DRAGON SOARED ABOVE the sulphurous waters of the great lakes and felt the power of the wind surging across his wings. He no longer felt the evil grip of death and his newfound lease of life exhilarated him. For the first time in his long life he felt free. There was no queen to tether his mind or his will and yet the dynasty was still protected. There was a queen-in-waiting who, according to the gynoid, was of the bloodline, and the life in his wings and the power of his racing heart confirmed the truth of it.
He knew that the new queen would need his protection and he was not loathe to give it. It was his duty to defend any queen born with dragon fire in her veins, but for one glorious moment, he was free from obligation and free to simply fly and race the wind.
He was oblivious to everything but the hot sun warming his horny head and the rush of air across his back and, so, was unaware of being tracked. He neither saw nor sensed the lens on him and, when the crack of atomfire rent the air, he was hit before his brain registered the fact.
Only atomfire could penetrate the dragon’s thick skin and only atomfire could kill him. No other weapon stood a chance against his defences, but atomfire was his kryptonite.
The pain began in his hind leg and immediately set the whole limb ablaze before travelling along his nervous system to attack his heart.
He had seconds to react before death seized him and he immediately went into a freefall dive. The water was his only chance and he broke the surface cleanly and dove straight to the bottom of the lake.
Every nerve in his body screamed in agony as he thrashed and churned in frenzied torment. He thought that he might have been a nanosecond too late in taking refuge in the water. If the atomfire had already reached his heart, then there would be no saving himself. He gulped down the stinking sulphurous water, filled his belly and dragged it deep into his lungs. He had been prepared to die before the gynoid visited him with news of the girl and, now, he fought that same death with every fibre of his being.
On the shore of the great lake, Sabre stood and watched the roiling water and prayed that his aim had been true. Killing the dragon would be his road back to salvation. He knew that, without that great winged creature as her ally, the earth girl would be all but defenceless and the people of Icarrion would be less inclined to accept her as their queen.
He had little time to waste and hoped that his first shot had did its job. Nevertheless, he charged the weapon a second time and watched the surface of the water. It had calmed and only a few ripples remained as evidence of any disturbance. There was no sign of the dragon and, satisfied, he turned to leave.
Then, the dragon exploded from the water. Sabre turned quickly and saw its huge head and shoulders break the surface. Before he had time to aim and fire at the beast, it was in the air.
Its roar of fury was deafening, but it was dragonfire that terrified Sabre the most. A mere second’s burst of flame would incinerate him, and he abandoned his weapon and scurried for cover.
The dragon had no fire. The water had wreaked havoc on his ability to summon it. But, Sabre didn’t know that. His greatest fear was to burn, and he took refuge in the underbelly of his ship and prayed that the dragon would simply leave.
With a final scream of rage, and with almighty flaps of its wings, the dragon soared towards the horizon
It was just as well, Sabre thought bitterly, that Damanacree didn’t know of his plan to slay the dragon as it would have been one too many failures.
He dragged himself from below the ship and watched helplessly as the dragon disappeared beyond the horizon. He mentally shrugged. There was no point crying over something he couldn’t change, so he signalled to one of his soldiers to fetch the atomfire weapon and climbed on board the ship. He had a girl to kill and he’d wasted enough time.
Just as Sabre was taking off in his small craft, the dragon was nursing his wounds and attempting to muster his fire. The water had all but extinguished it, but he knew there was a spark there waiting to be ignited. Without his fire he would be helpless and, judging by the attempt on his life, the sooner he recovered the better.
The atomfire did damage and it would be weeks before he would recover sufficiently to protect himself and the girl. If he’d been anywhere but over the great lakes, he wouldn’t have survived. By inhaling and swallowing the noxious water he had stopped the spread and limited the harm to his body and organs, but he was weak and vulnerable. It was obvious he had enemies and those enemies might not be satisfied with one attempt on his life. He would have to lie low, hide out, and hope he regained his strength before the girl needed him.