Fire Island: Book 3 of The Chatterre Trilody (Chatterre Trilogy) (23 page)

In fact, since they were stuck with such primitive transportation, they should have left as soon as GEA-4 let them know there was danger.

Had her brother suffered some sort of head trauma when he crashed?

Was that why he looked and acted so different from the brother she knew?

Knowing that they did not have time to waste, talking and planning, she knelt down near Larwin and took his hand. "We need to leave here."

He stared at her. "Why?"

Tem-aki swallowed twice. "It's too dangerous to stay."

"It is more dangerous to leave," Nimri said. "Unless we deal with them here and now, they will remain a threat."

Tem-aki clenched her teeth together as she slowly turned to face the woman who had brainwashed her brother. "That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

Nimri stared at her as if no one had ever had the nerve to disagree with her. Tem-aki narrowed her eyes at the arrogant woman. "At the moment, they are trapped in those rock shells, we need to leave now, while we can." The more Tem-aki spoke, the surer she felt that she was right.

Nimri gave her a sad smile. "Larwin thought that, too, but then he learned that Guerreterre has different ways of doing things than Chatterre. We have no fast ships, so there is no escape. If we run, now, then the threat will always be here. Worse, the baby madrox would have time to grown into a bigger threat."

"She's right," Larwin said. "I know you don't understand this, but if we don't take care of this now, it will only get worse."

Tem-aki squared her shoulders. "But not today, and probably not tomorrow."

"Maybe not even for the next hundred years," Larwin agreed.

"So you understand why you need to be sensible and do what we were always taught to do."

Larwin gave her a sad smile, then shook his head. "Just because we were taught something since we were old enough to focus our eyes does not mean it is right." He cracked his knuckles. "Fortunately, I lived long enough to learn that."

Nimri's hand covered his hands with her own. "We survived the first one. We can survive this, too."

Right, like they'd done hand to hand combat with a dragon. Tem-aki took a deep breath and tried, again, "Can you understand why I question this choice? When you captained a star-fighter that had the fire-power to blow up a planet, you always ran. Didn't you?"

"Of course," Larwin said. "And can you understand that I now have a family to protect?" He took Nimri's hand in his.

Tem-aki gritted her teeth and nodded. "Still, this is impossible to do, so you need to leave."

"If you believe something is impossible, then you never will be able to do it, but if you believe that you can do something, the impossible becomes possible," Nimri said. "I learned that when we faced the first one." She took Thunder's hand in her free one. "It took all of us working together to win, and it will take all of us this time, too. If you're afraid, then you and your negativity need to run away."

Fingers itching to slap Nimri, Tem-aki clenched her fist. "I have gone places you never imagined and taken assignments no one else would, while I tried to find out what happened to my brother." She glared at Nimri. "And now you tell me to leave?" When Mica wailed, Tem-aki realized she was shouting. With force of will, she lowered her voice. "I found him and I will die with him, so I'm afraid you'll just need to get used to having a reality check around. And if by some miracle you survive this and I don't, remember that I told you so."

Chapter 28

As the prow dipped into the rolling waves, Cameron lined his grandfather's old fishing boat up with the harbor's entrance and then waited for the on-shore breeze. If it hadn't been an emergency situation, which forced him to travel with the worst three in the order, he would feel excited, instead, he felt tense. But what else could he do? He certainly couldn't leave Varlet, Malin and Dirk behind. And they had insisted on coming.

Feeling the first stirrings of wind, Cameron flexed his fingers, then wrapped them around the tiller and made the final adjustment, so the sail caught the wind and the tiny craft leaped toward the opening between the jagged rocks that protected the harbor-area.

"What are you doing?" Varlet bellowed.

"Isn't it obvious?" Cameron asked.

"We're pointed at the rocks." Malin snarled, as he lunged toward him. "He's planning to kill us!"

Dirk grabbed Malin a fraction of a moment before he got to him. After wrestling him to the deck, Dirk sat on Malin's chest and held his wrists down. "It's safer with his hand on the tiller than no one guiding us."

Malin hissed a reply, but the fight went out of him and Dirk was able to go back to his spot by the rail. Malin crawled to the other railing.

"If I wanted to kill any of you, do you think I would put myself in a position where it was three to one?" Cameron raised his brow at Varlet, then, when the only response he made was a reddening face, Cameron turned his full attention back to guiding them through the passage.

The rocks had looked wicked from the deck of the Sirocco, but from a smaller boat, they looked lethal. Years of navigating the passage gave him the knowledge that the sides of the passageway were like those of the harbor-area and were nearly vertical, thus, Cameron gently altered course, so that the knife-edged rocks were close to Malin's side of the boat.

Malin turned white and closed his eyes.

Cameron pretended not to notice, but inside, he was dancing in silent glee at finally finding something that could unnerve the annoying initiate.

As they rounded the last boulder, he saw the golden vessel Benji had mentioned floating next to the Sirocco. Though he couldn't see anyone aboard his ship, there seemed to be several people sitting in the shade of a thatch-roofed shack on the deck of the smaller ship.

Not knowing what to expect, he guided the old fishing boat to The Sirocco's other side and tied it where they usually secured the dory, which had been pulled up on the shore.

~o~

Tem-aki watched Cameron pilot a small, scruffy boat into the harbor. He'd come! Her heart skipped a beat, then, realizing that he wasn't coming directly toward her, she rudely turned away from Nimri, climbed back aboard the Sirocco and rushed across the deck to see where he was going.

As she looked down, Saphera and Kazza joined her at the rail. Looking down, she realized that the three nastiest novices were with him and a lot of her happiness fizzled.

Still, as Cameron looked up, into her eyes and his face broke into a look of delight, her heart skipped another beat as she smiled back.

"You came," she said.

He nodded. "We did."

"So Benji made it." Tem-aki bit her tongue and told herself that stating the obvious was stupid. Varlet and his two buddies scrambled up the ladder and made a bee-line for the galley. Tem-aki swallowed then added something Cameron didn't know. "You're just in time to see the dragon eggs hatch."

"What?" He frowned in confusion. "Benji told me that Shaka-uma might be alive. What's this about eggs?"

"GEA-4 says the madrox you call Shaka-uma is warming herself in the lava, and that three of her eggs are getting ready to hatch."

"You're telling me that after having no dragons for over a century, that we'll have four?" Cameron's face looked like he'd just won the greatest lottery prize in ten galaxies.

"That's about it, but why are you happy about this? Don't you realize how destructive dragons are?"

"Do you mean fire?" Cameron asked, looking confused.

"Well, since the old world burnt to a crisp, that would be one reason why people can't understand why you'd want to welcome destruction."

"Yes, fire can destroy, but it also built this island, it can protect us and it can burn out poisons and feed us safe food."

"Larwin believes that your dragons feed on some humans. How can you think that is good?"

Cameron blinked in surprise. "Is that what you believe?"

She gave a cautious nod.

Cameron inhaled deeply and stroked Saphera's flank. "What about the fertility they bring? Isn't this just another example of how one thing is both good and bad? And, when you think about it, isn't that true of most things?"

"I don't know, but I think you need to speak to Larwin, Raine and Thunder, because they are making plans to kill those dragons."

Cameron's eyes widened in shock. "How can they even consider that?"

"Ask them," Tem-aki said, then ushered him to the strange boat and introduced him to everyone. She watched with interest as cultures collided over the question of whether it was right to kill the dragons to possibly save lives or if the correct thing to do was leave them alone and hope Cameron was correct about the dragons making the land more fertile, and thus save lives from starvation.

Thunder cleared his throat then said, "Until you brought up the subject, I hadn't thought about it, but our crops are doing especially good this year." He looked at Nimri. "Do you think that is coincidence or might the madrox have done something to enrich the soil?"

For the first time since she'd met the woman with the ridiculously long black braid, Nimri didn't seem to know what to say. Tem-aki clamped her teeth together to hold in the bubbling laughter over her confused expression. So, she wasn't as perfect as she thought. Good!

"Now that I think about it," Raine said, "The fields, which were downwind from the storage sheds were our most productive." Her forehead wrinkled in thought. "I don't know how the broken bits being stored there could affect fertility, though."

"Strange coincidence," Larwin said. "And while I would love to say, fine, they might have a valid use, so let's quit trying to figure out a way to deal with them before they become a major issue'. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly willing to trade a slightly larger crop of vegetables for my son's life." Larwin put his hands on his hips and looked Cameron in the eye. "Mica is already showing a talent to use myst-energy, but he's a baby and too young to control it."

"Or to protect himself," Thunder added.

"And myst-energy attracts madrox better than anything else," Nimri said. She leaned forward and placed her palm on Cameron's forearm. Tem-aki's hands clenched into fists as Nimri sincerely told Cameron, "I need to protect my son and the best way I know how to do that is kill the madrox."

Larwin nodded. "You first said that you needed the madrox to assure your followers that mad-er-dragons exist. Surely a dead carcass is proof."

Nimri and Thunder eagerly nodded, but Tem-aki noticed that Raine remained noncommittal. Apparently Cameron noticed that, too, because he asked, "Raine, what do you think?"

Her eyes widened at being singled out. "I'm not sure, but then I've never had to deal with one without Nambaba – that is the name of my herder-ship. She was built to deal with the beasts. If I hadn't seen the proof with my own eyes, I wouldn't have thought it was possible to deal with them bare handed."

"But we did, so we know it's possible," Larwin said.

GEA-4, who was standing on the bow, broke the lengthening silence, "The first madrox is hatching."

Calling for Varlet, Dirk and Malin, Cameron scrambled onto the Sirocco's deck.

Telling herself that the higher vantage point would have a better view of the hatching, Tem-aki followed him.

~o~

Larwin's fingers wrapped hers in a strong, comforting grip which gave Nimri confidence, even though she knew that physical strength alone would not solve their problem.

Even Mica, now cradled protectively in Larwin's other arm, seemed to be silently watching the distant shore. As the sharp beak emerged from the break, Nimri noticed that the yellow-robed men, who had gone ashore, had crossed the lava-field and were on their knees in front of the cracking rock. Her fingers tightened around Larwin's. "Do you think they will be okay?"

"I have no idea," Larwin said.

"No one has ever seen anything like this," Raine said, "so there is no way to know how a hatchling will behave."

Thunder wrapped a protective arm around Raine's shoulders and pulled her against his side.

With a loud crack, the hexagonal rock split and a soggy gold ball of ooze, which had a dragon head appeared to roll onto the harsh black ground.

The three gold-clad men threw themselves face-down on the ground, arms reaching forward toward the disgusting looking hatchling.

"Maybe Cameron will change his mind about wanting to keep the things alive, when he sees that just being close to the things kills people," Thunder said.

"They are not dead," GEA-4 said, "I believe they are expressing reverence."

Nimri looked at the higher deck and realized that the four yellow-clad men around Tem-aki were doing the same thing as the trio on the shore. She nudged Larwin, and tilted her head toward them. "Looks like GEA-4 is correct."

Larwin grunted in agreement.

Now that his sister wasn't glaring at her, and her attention was focused on the shore, Nimri had a chance to study the woman that meant so much to Larwin and wonder why she seemed to hate her. Nimri's eyes began to water as she remembered the barbed comments and anger she had forced herself to ignore. Did Tem-aki hold her responsible for being trapped here? If so, she needed to remember that she could have returned to Kalamar aboard Nambaba and it had been her choice to stay with Thunder and Raine. Thunder had been very specific when telling them that Tem-aki had made the choice in hopes of joining Larwin.

If she was going to blame someone, she needed a reality check and to take a good close look at her own choices.

"Is it my imagination, or do they look wet?" Larwin asked.

Nimri's attention snapped back to the newly-hatched dragon. Indeed, it looked wet, but how could that be? Didn't water kill the young ones?

Now that she thought about it, how had the larva – or whatever young madrox were called – survived incubation in a cool area?

A chill ran down Nimri's spine, as she realized that the three surviving larva, as well as the mother-dragon were obviously somehow different from the one she had dealt with.

"How can we kill them if they can survive being wet?" she whispered.

Raine turned so quickly that she broke free of Thunder's protective arm. "That IS what we're seeing, isn't it?" Her face turned white. "Do you think any of the ones on Vilecom can survive water, too?"

Thunder gathered Raine against his body and wrapped both arms around her. "If you're worried about your family," he said, "don't be." She tried to turn to face him, but he held her firm. "Remember that they have a fleet of herder-ships to protect them."

Raine visibly relaxed as a bright red spot of color formed on each cheek. "How could I have forgotten that?" she murmured.

Nimri leaned forward and touched Raine's hand. "I'm sure your family will be fine."

Raine nodded. "I am, too." She straightened and gave the shore a significant look. "If we can't kill them with a quick-cooling in water, how can we kill them?"

Nimri wished she knew the answer to that question.

~o~

Tem-aki's jaw clenched as she listened to Raine and the horrible Nimri discussed how to murder the madrox, even though Cameron had made it plain to them that he wanted to protect them. How dare they show up here and begin telling people, who had lived here for generations how things needed to be done?

What right did they have to kill the madrox?

She looked down at Cameron's prostrate form and wondered why he didn't get up and tell them to leave.

But if he did that, he wouldn't be the man she had come to admire. Tem-aki went to the mast and sat down near Saphera and Kazza, who were intently watching the shore. Leaning against the mast's solid strength for support, she wondered how she had gotten in the middle of what two people she cared about wanted. What should she do?

If she supported Cameron, then by definition, she was against her own brother and his family.

Yet if she supported Larwin, she was doing what the parasitic Nimri wanted, and while she could understand the argument about protecting her son, who after all, was her very own nephew, how much of a threat could the golden blob on the shore be? Only the head looked like a madrox, the rest of the long, lumpy form looked more like slimy scrambled eggs, which were not quite done.

As she watched, the creature moved. Squinting, she thought she could identify a leg. The stubby little thing reminded her of a hologram she's once seen of a new-born puppy. How dangerous could it be?

Convinced that Nimri was being overly-dramatic and using her child's health and well-being as an excuse to get them to do what she wanted, Tem-aki made the decision that she would support Cameron's wish to protect the madrox. While this put her at odds with Larwin, it wasn't as if he still seemed to be the brother she knew and loved.