Chapter 31
13 Years Post Apocalypse
Return of Greta
Human Population 40,000,000
Chaos would be a mild term for what was going on in the council meeting room.
“Ian Anderson, did you know we were about to get attacked by your dragon companion? Please tell me you haven't been lying to us again!” Dad shouted, his face red with anger.
“If a certain woman hadn't been screwing around with a certain other person, this would never have happened!” Gabe said, glaring at Sabrina.
“You had better be talking about you and Phoebe!” Sabrina yelled back.
Mrs. Wilcox stood at the end of the long table, arguing with five council members at once. Two other councilors were in a shouting match that threatened to come to blows.
Ian stood up and pounded the table with his fists. “Everyone focus!” He waited for the room to quiet down. “I assure you if I'd known Greta was going to visit the Fortress and steal my niece, I would have said something. I knew Greta had awakened, but I didn't realize she was coming here. To put it bluntly, Greta snuck up on me.”
Ian drew himself to his full height at the end of the table, and looked over the group he was addressing: his family, Mrs. Wilcox, and some twenty council members. “On a more positive note, things are not as bad as they seem. My niece is still alive and well; she is with Greta, and both are nearby.”
“My understanding of monsters is if a monster eats a human, that human is dead,” Gabe said. If looks could kill, Ian would have been eviscerated.
“Greta, and female dragons in general, have a cheek pouch they use to transport eggs and young hatchlings. I believe she used this to transport your baby to a nearby location. Since I'm psychic, I can assure you your daughter is alive and currently unharmed. I believe we witnessed Greta's idea of a joke. Yes, she has a scary, alien sense of humor.”
At least fifteen council members started shouting at once. Ian stood silently until some semblance of order had been restored.
“Why is Greta doing this?” Dad asked.
“I don't know,” Ian said. “I believe she's trying to communicate with me. I felt her awaken weeks ago, and she's been trying to contact me since. I thought if I ignored her, she'd forget about me and move on, but it seems she has other plans.”
“It seems to me Greta had a nice territory in a distant mountain range,” Mrs. Wilcox said. “Why would she leave?”
“Greta has always been curious. Then I entered her life and showed her another world she might not have been mentally equipped to deal with. I may have driven her insane.” Ian took a deep breath. “I'll meet with her, and try to retrieve my niece. If I fail at this, then the less I know about your plans, the better. Before you ask, no Greta can't teleport, but she's smart, psychic, and has the best stealth capabilities of any alien I've encountered. You've seen pictures of Paradise Valley Refuge before Greta attacked it. I wish I'd taken photos afterward; let's just say there wasn't much left. BG gave me more than one-hundred-thousand credits for that massacre.”
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“If you mess this up, like I expect you to, how do we kill her?” Gabe asked.
“A weapon that could kill fifteen to twenty normal male dragons in close proximity, at the same time, should kill her. I know you have several such weapons. But keep in mind she's not going to hold still and let you use them on her.”
***
Before Ian entered the underground parking lot where Greta had taken residence, Dad hooked him up with multiple observation and tracking devices. No weapons or bombs, though; those could ruin any possibility of retrieving the baby.
“Give me the rest of the day,” Ian said. “If I'm not back by then, you can assume we're fucked.”
“I'm coming with,” Sabrina said. Buddy was next to her.
“Rooowwwrrr,” Buddy said, looking frightened and miserable.
“No, you're not,” Ian said. “Both of you. Stay!” Ian turned away and started walking. When he looked back, both of them were following about twenty feet behind him.
Ian sighed, but continued into the darkness, entering the huge underground parking lot, where he knew Greta was waiting.
***
When Ian returned to the council meeting room, the sun was setting. He looked and felt exhausted, both physically and mentally.
“Our tracking devices all died when you went in there,” Dad said. “I'm glad you're still alive.”
Sabrina clutched her baby girl, Chou-Xing, who seemed no worse off for having been kidnapped by a dragon.
Greta had returned the baby to Sabrina as soon as the three entered her lair. She then told Sabrina and Buddy, under no uncertain terms, to leave.
“When we found Greta, my baby was playing next to a large dragon egg,” Sabrina said. “Greta mindspoke to me. She said 'Ian's children are my children.' I don't think she fully understands human reproduction.”
“Sabrina says as she left, you and Greta were fighting like an old married couple,” Gabe said, smirking. “Is there something you'd like to tell us?”
“Greta feels I owe her for carrying me around and not leaving me to die. She feels that as a consequence, the Fortress owes her. Now Greta has a fertilized egg.”
“Did you fertilize it?” Gabe asked.
“That's the dumbest thing you've ever said,” Ian responded, “also impossible for a number of reasons. Even with BG, human-alien reproduction is not an option. But, no. She had sex with a male dragon. As I was saying, she's decided that the Fortress will help her in the care and protection of her egg, as well as any future eggs and hatchlings she might have.” Ian collapsed in a nearby chair. “I tried to convince her that letting humans near her future children is the last thing she wants, but she disagrees, and she's not taking no for an answer. Keep in mind, what little maternal instinct female dragons possess concerns their eggs and hatchlings. If you ever try to hurt her eggs or hatchlings, make sure Greta is dead first.”
“What if we refuse this request?” Dad asked.
“I'd rather not find out,” Ian answered.
“Will she be eating anyone?” Mrs. Wilcox asked.
“I don't think so. She promised not to eat, or harm, any Fortress humans, as long as we hold up our end of the deal.”
“What about these future hatchlings? Will they be eating anyone?” she asked.
“Hatchlings don't have teeth for the first five years of their life,” Ian said. “Greta was born with some basic knowledge concerning the raising of infant dragons and she shared it with me. I believe Greta chews the hatchlings' food like a bird and spits... but let's not get into that. By the time her hatchlings grow old enough to leave the nest and become a problem, we should be able to kick them out without Greta caring too much.”
“So she's moving here,” Dad said.
“Yes,” Ian said. “She's decided that the underground parking garage near our Fortress is her new home. She's already enlarging the place for her and her offspring's benefit. On the bright side, few alien monsters are dumb enough, or scary enough, to enter a female dragon's territory without her permission. I suggest we accept this partnership for the time being. If Greta is to be believed, a much larger dragon is headed our way, one that has no interest in negotiation.”
“Much larger than Greta?” Dad asked, unbelieving.
“An older male, over 500 feet long. Not sure if he's Greta's ex-boyfriend or not. From the image I received from Greta, he's very beautiful, covered with bright silver scales. If we can kill him, he should be worth a shitload of credits. And with Greta's help, we stand a real chance.