The next day involved walking again, although we didn’t find anything. That evening, Alec arrived with Soranto and Tkael. I regarded their excitement with disgust. They were far too happy for Taureen’s promotion.

Soranto sat in a chair. “Did you hear that the Elders passed a new law? The fire lizards are now protected by law. No one can harm them, and no one can capture them without the approval of an Elder. They are hoping that the population will keep growing.”

Alec was fiddling with some grey object in his hands and didn’t look up as he commented, “They also asked several others to help me observe them since they are being so elusive. We are keeping an eye out for abandoned youngsters or any with injuries. If we come across one that we think is sick or might not survive in the wild, we are to catch it. The Elders will examine each one before assigning a handler.”

Tkael looked surprised. “Every fire lizard handler must be designated?”

Alec absently replied, “Yes. They are protected by law, so the Elders have to officially make someone a handler to bypass the part of the law that prevents people from capturing them, thus allowing the handler to keep that fire lizard in captivity.”

“That makes sense. They must have had this in mind for some time, which would explain why the Elder offered the position to Taureen.”

This wasn’t a new idea then. At least the others couldn’t be killed on a whim or out of hand, so they were mostly safe unless they fell ill or got injured, and luckily, we hadn’t had any problems with illness so far.

If I could get loose, they would likely have a hard time telling me apart from the other gold dragonets. If I understood this law correctly, unless they were certain that it was me, they would be unable to try and catch the dragonet they were watching. Or that was my new hope, at any rate.

It’s really too bad that I didn’t manage to escape last week. All of my attempts had been foiled, despite numerous attempts. I was unable to open windows or doors, and the harness and leash had been built specifically to prevent my escape.

Alec stood up. “Okay. It’s ready.”

Taureen leaned over to pick me up, and I snorted at him. He held me in his arms and carefully pinned my feet and body. Unsure of what they were doing and growing more nervous by the second, I tried to squirm free but was effectively pinned.

Alec came closer with the silver object in his hand. When he reached towards me, I hissed at him, but my hands were pinned, so I couldn’t take a swipe at him. I felt him touch a spot just above my hind leg, then it felt like a mosquito bit me. I hissed and struggled futilely.

Backing up, Alec told Taureen, “There, the tracker bead is in place. If she is on this planet, you can track her from anywhere. If she is on a spaceship, you can track her if you are on it or near it. If you have a map uploaded into your wrist com, it can show you exactly where she is and how to get to her. The battery in it should last at least twenty years. It will send low battery warnings when it gets to 10%.”

My struggles ceased as my heart dropped. A tracker? I felt a wave of despair flow over me. There was no chance of escape now…

Taureen nodded and put me back under the heat lamp where I automatically curled up in my shock.

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“Thanks. I have no idea what their lifespan is like. Is it easy to replace the tracker if needed?”

Alec took his seat again. “Yes. It’s just beneath the skin. It can be removed as easily as it was inserted. It’s flat, so it won’t cause any discomfort either. Just take care the next few days if you press on that spot since it might be a bit sore.”

My thoughts were frozen as I simply lay under the heat lamp, trying to wrap my stunned mind around what had just happened. All of my hopes of the potential release attempt, which had only been days away, were now gone. Even if I did escape, they would find me easily. What did I do in life to deserve this?

With a heavy heart, I mindlinked Drake. “Sounds like there has been a change of plans.”

I felt his concern. “What happened?”

“Apparently, the group in power decided that I was too useful to let go since I was already in captivity. The good news is that you guys are mostly protected now.”

His shock came back across the mindlink; he had not expected either of those details. “What do you mean?”

“No one can harm you or catch you without authorization from an Elder. However, they do have leave to catch any youngsters that they think are abandoned or anyone who is injured or may have difficulties managing in the wild.”

I felt him trying to absorb the facts. He eventually asked, “I suspect that they are going to be trying harder to monitor us then?”

“Yes.”

“Then I am much too uneasy to remain in this location like a sitting duck. Since you aren’t being released, what is the best way to get to the park by the wall unnoticed?”

I took a slow breath and gave him every tip and piece of information I had. When we had worked out every detail, I wished him the best of luck with his trip. He left the mindlink with his condolences as he went to figure out how many were interested in such a trip.

I focused my attention back on those in the room. They were going over various ideas on things to train me to do and the best way to go about it.

“I know you didn’t name her since she was originally going to be released. Have you thought of a name?”

Taureen shook his head slowly. “Not yet. I thought of a few, but none seem to fit her. I will keep thinking until I find the proper one.”

After a while, his friends left, and Taureen brought out the cleaning supplies and oil. I came over for a cleaning; there wasn’t much sense being so stubborn at this point. It would just leave me itchy and dirty. Besides, he had always waited me out before, and he had new incentive now. It wasn’t a battle I was going to win.

I lay on his lap, half asleep, as he massaged the oil in. He murmured to himself, “Alec does have a good point. You don’t have a name yet. I can’t seem to think of one that suits you.” He hummed lightly while thinking.

He finished, and I went back to the heat lamp. He tested out the new tracker application on his wrist computer. I was disgusted to see that it was able to pinpoint my exact location as well as how high above the ground I was. So much for hoping that it was defective.

Then again, I had never heard of their technology ever being defective. It took a lot of abuse before damage would affect it. The abuse would probably need to be sufficient enough to shatter my bones before it would affect the tracking chip. Just my rotten luck…

~

I woke in the middle of the night and yawned. I was still bothered by the fact that my card to freedom had been snatched so suddenly from my grasp. I glanced at Taureen’s open door, although he was fast asleep. I was worried about which name he would pick out for me. I liked my name. To get used to being called by another name would be like being… not me.

I narrowed my eyes in thought. I must be crazy. I can’t see how this could possibly work. I concentrated on Taureen and gently pushed with my mind. I carefully shielded all of my emotions and any information that might follow the words. I spoke softly into his sleeping mind, “Call her Tasha.”

I had no idea if it would actually work. We had never tried to talk to anyone other than another dragonet with direct mindspeech, and no other creature or race had ever noticed our general mindlink. He stirred a bit, and I quickly dropped my head as I feigned sleep. I wasn’t sure if he actually woke up or not since he didn’t move again.

Could he have possibly heard my mindvoice? The fact that he had moved in his sleep might mean so. The thought of that made me shiver since I couldn’t exactly get goosebumps. Perhaps it was a good thing that I don’t shout out my mental insults...

Sleep was a long time in coming.