Chapter 22

We were at Yerda. The eggheads were chomping at the bit to get the unicorn.

"Thad, it doesn't look very good," Amy said, looking at the unicorn.

"No. It's dying."

"That doesn't surprise me. So this was really a waste of time after all?"

"I don't know. Maybe the Farans will be able to learn something. Who knows what they will tell us?"

Our unicorn had never seen or heard of a Faran. Once the dragons split they don't keep in contact with each other in any real way. They don't cooperate or coordinate efforts. There is no 'grand pubah' or emperor. Each hive is a separate entity. They left each other alone, not out of some cooperative effort or camaraderie; they left each other alone because they were interested in other things and stayed out of each other's way.

I felt the Farans long before I saw them. As soon as I did though, I closed my mind. Command would not allow the unicorn was not allowed on the planet's surface so we were at Yerda 4's largest moon.

When the shuttle landed, we were greeted by a dozen Marines in armor with coilguns at the ready. Amy and I both had ours secured. The unicorn was restrained and I had not felt any fight in it for a long time. The thing would not walk so I was carrying it. While I was not gentle, I treated it with some respect. It cost me nothing and any unnecessary cruelty would have been petty.

I could tell they were nervous by the way they held their weapons. It was blissfully unaware of it I'm sure. It could not read them and was not paying attention to its surroundings. Not much was bleeding off of it anymore when I was closed up. Maybe I was better at closing my mind but I think part of it was that it really was dying.

"Lieutenant Swanson, I'm Major Chenoweth. Hope you had an uneventful trip."

"Yes Sir I did. It has lost its fight and to be honest I don't think it's doing very well."

"Any injuries?"

"None."

"We will get it to Intelligence and their people will look at it."

"It's all yours. Where do you want it?"

"Have your private set it on the lev-sled and strap it down."

I just moved to the sled and set it down. They were all pointing their weapons at it as I released my hold on it to strap it down. It never made a move. Maybe it would wake up and fight back when they moved it and get itself killed, ending its suffering. I didn't really care too much. There was nothing I could do from that point on.

We fell in behind them as they took it further inside the base and down. Down a hundred meters, I again felt the Farans. They felt different than dragons. Where dragons were aggressive and hungry, the Farans were quiet and controlled. I could not tell if they were aware of me or not, but I was guessing no.

The eggheads and brass made a big deal out of it when it was down in the facility they were keeping it, at least short term. The commandant and field marshal were there along with part of their staffs. I noted the foreign minister, and some other officials I did not recognize, were there as well. They were asking Amy lots of questions. Not paying any attention to them, I was focused on the Farans. They were nearby but I could not see them. On the tactical, the battlecomp found them.

They were in a room across the hall. There were five of them which my battlecomp all recognized. I briefly wondered if there were any more. One of the brass left the group asking Amy questions and went back to the Farans. They followed him back to us. When they entered the room, they first looked at the captive then they all fixed their eyes on me. I was in the back out of the way just like a good lifer, so there were other Marines in the line of sight, but I knew they were looking at me. I felt their attention.

When everybody else noticed their focus, they stopped talking and looked where the Farans were looking. None of the marines in front of me thought they were the ones that the Farans were interested in, so they turned as well and moved to the side.

That left me by myself.

No good deed goes unpunished.

They walked over to me. Then they all put the backs of their hands to their temples and bowed to me. With their heads down the same pink one with the light brown hair spoke. They were all dressed in modest civilian clothes this time though.

"I Gizeel Hitheen Sulamontari F'Seer greet Thaddeous Holton Sweeney and reaffirm our life debt, thanking him for saving what might be the last of our species. All future generations will know of your name and what you did for our people."

As she said this, I could not help but pick up what she was trying to say with her mind. I saw her home world, her family she lost, the time as a captive, and her feeling of me. They felt like I was kindred spirit if not one of them.

I took off my helmet, knowing the response that would make them happy and feel relieved. All of them were worried that their rescue would be held over their heads and they would not be allowed to be a free people. They were realizing that I was not in a position of authority, but felt deeply obligated to me.

What she said to me the first time stuck in my memory so I improvised. It sounded good in my head anyway.

"I see you Gizeel Hitheen Sulamontari F'Seer and hold your life debt in my heart with dreams of your people's rebirth."

All five of them seemed surprised at my response but the smiles could not have been any bigger with their large wide teeth and wide faces. They almost looked like children's characters from holos. In a word they were cute. It was probably a good thing. I imagine they were driving the officials nuts.

Those officials were looking at me with expressions ranging from puzzlement to annoyance. None of the looks were welcome. If there is one thing that top brass and official muckety-mucks don't like, it's being upstaged. I made sure my bored marine face was back and hoped the dragon would do something to get everybody's focus off of me.

After an embarrassing long amount of time, the commandant spoke up. "Private Sweeney was the marine who rescued our guests from their captivity. His platoon is also responsible for our captive. I think that it's time we focus our attention on it. Major, would you be so kind as to give us some privacy?"

The major shut down our audio pickups. I had replaced my helmet when the commandant spoke. My battlecomp acknowledged the command, but did not execute it. I saw he even shut down Amy's.

"Do you want yours back on? They won't know," I asked Amy.

"Fuck yeah! And you are going to show me these tricks of yours someday soon."

I issued an override to the major's command and had the battlecomp not report or log the override so the good major would still think we were tuned out.

"I still think this is unwise, Minister Berger. Our species have much in common with which we can develop a lasting friendship. The Olathugar do not. They must devour or subjugate all that stand in their way. Even if you managed to get a truce or peace with them, it would not last. It goes against their nature. The Colfinth could hold to such a peace but never the Olathugar nor their allies the Telthugar. The Olathugar are very dangerous. This is the most dangerous kind of Olathugar," Gizeel said indicating the unicorn with a look of intense hate.

"We understand your feelings, but feel that to not explore a negotiated settlement would be a gross dereliction of our duty."

"Very well. We do this at great risk only because we are indebted to your people."

I could not tell how much the unicorn was following the conversation, if any, and whether it was using its mind to listen to the Farans or it understood Standard.

The Farans then held hands. forming a chain.

They proceeded to try and talk to it. Their speech sounded like gibberish of course but the sounds all were ones a human mouth could produce.

The thing simply hissed at them. The Farans then said some more and used what sounded like Lizard speech. This went back and forth for several minutes with the dragon only hissing or making a guttural sound from the back of its throat. I could see from its body language that, whatever the conversation was about, the dragon was getting worked up. The fight had come back to our unicorn. It didn't look beat anymore.

"What is it saying?" asked one of the officials.

"It is calling you 'u'lan' which is like animal. They call humans animals. It was also calling us thinking animals," Gizeel explained.

"Tell it that these animals have it chained like an animal."

"I don't advise you to antagonize it. It will not respond well."

"Tell it."

"Wait," the commandant said. "Major. Please restore everyone."

The major turned us all back on.

"Private Sweeney."

"Yes Sir," I said.

"I've seen the holos. Can you handle this thing?"

"Yes Sir."

"Good. Take control of it. I want to have a word with it."

"Aye aye Sir!" I said.

As I moved over to it the official spoke up again.

"What are you doing, General Keating?"

"It obviously holds us in contempt even as it lays there chained. We need to get its attention."

"I don't see how turning it loose will get its attention. You risk our lives without our permission! I protest this. You! Marine, stop!"

I was next to the unicorn. It was thrashing still occasionally. Leaning over it, I tapped it on its helmet with my finger. I could feel its focus on me. I reached over and released an arm. It immediately struck me but I was expecting it and it did nothing.

I thumped it on its helm hard.

"If you do that again, I am going to pull that arm off and beat you with it," I said, focusing my annoyance at it.

The Farans backed up, but they were looking at me and not the dragon. They must have felt my focus on it.

"Private Sweeney. Please, no permanent damage."

"Aye aye Sir," I replied.

"Major, make sure your marines don't do anything without my express order."

"Aye aye Sir!"

The unicorn quit thrashing. I could feel its rage though. It was partly on me but mostly on the Farans and everybody else in the room. I could feel its fear of me nearly overwhelming its anger at me.

"Lieutenant Swanson, would you get its legs?"

Amy walked over and released its legs as I held my hand on its neck. The officials at that point tried to leave the room, finding it locked.

"Why is this door locked? Unlock it at once!"

"Sirs! I am as vulnerable as you and our guests. Please calm yourselves," General Keating said.

When I released its other arm, it got frisky again. I simply lifted it off its feet by its neck, gave it a shake and tried to dominate it like I did the last time. It worked even better.

I heard a couple people scream and the battlecomp showed somebody faint.

"Well done, Private. Well done," General Keating said and walked over to me.

"Does it understand Standard?" he asked.

"I don't know, Sir. It's not plugged into its net so I doubt it."

"Shame. Gizeel, would you be so kind as to translate?"

"Yes," she said as they all continued to stare at me and the unicorn.

"We will crush every Lizard world we find. You cannot stop us. We are offering you a chance to live. Do you want that chance?"

It started to talk to us. Its focus was on me though. I could clearly pick up what it was trying to say. I caught images of its lineage and its clan going back for thousands of years. Those images kept going through its mind.

"It is reciting its name and family," Gizeel said.

"Did it understand what I asked it?"

"I don't know. It understood the words, but the ideas might be too foreign to it. They don't understand mercy or compromise. They did not show it to my people and have not shown any to yours. The only reason they did not devour all the Colfinth is because they could enslave them. And while the Colfinith or as you 'Skinks' as you colorfully call them would rather be free their society has meshed well over the millennia with the Ulathugar. Your people are seemingly immune to their influence."

"What of your people?"

"We would not be slaves. Our minds are stronger but our martial strength is weak."

"Chain it back up, Private Sweeney. Intelligence will get its chance now."

I put it back down and secured it without any struggle. The officials were mad. They had looked foolish and important people don't like to look foolish. As they blustered and demanded to speak to the dragon, I moved back over by Amy. They all seemed to be after the same thing, I thought. To be the one who brokered the peace. The Farans were pretty much ignoring them and were looking at me. I couldn't tell if any of the others were looking at me or not since they were in armor.

The commandant was starting to yell to get everybody's attention when the dragon started to let out a painfully loud screech. It was not only loud physically, which the battlecomp muffled, but it had some kind of psychic part as well. I could feel the pressure from it. It felt like diving too deep in the water. The Farans must have felt it too, but the noise from its mouth got them to stop holding hands and cover their ears. They all dropped to the floor. Every human not in armor covered their ears as well and dropped. Those in armor did not drop, but Amy's battlecomp reported she was in some kind of distress, which it labeled shock. It would take her Rip Van Winkle if things didn't get better fast.