Three girls have gotten up from their wooden chairs.
“Do you have any idea what time it is, young lady?” Morgan says as she walks fast up to me. “You were supposed to be home… well, weeks ago, basically.”
“Sorry,” I sniffle as I hug her. “Don’t ground me, please. I’ll wash the dishes all next week. And anyway, you’re not my real mother.” I wipe my face and hug Theodora and Cora.
Cora smiles through tears. “But seriously, where have you been? We’ve been worried sick. And that’s the truth.”
“The saucer took off,” I tell them as I discreetly take Nator’ax’s hand. “And it dumped us on the North Pole. Except there was no Santa Claus, just a tribe of mean elves.”
Morgan drags her sleeve across her eyes. “Uh-huh. And now I suppose you want to get married?”
I look down on our joined hands. “That’s the idea. Any chance for something like that? Also, any news about Callie?”
“Callie was found a couple of days ago,” Theodora says with a happy smile. “Or so Dex claims, although we haven’t seen her. I think we can have a wedding, right, Cora?”
“Actually, this is the most popular wedding venue on the planet,” Cora says. “But there’s so much you have to decide. Like, the big or the small menu? Open bar or ‘survive whatever the jungle hands you’? Live drums or screaming dactyls? And don’t even get me started on the seating chart. Are we grouping guests by species, stripe colors, or who’s least likely to eat the bride?”
“And then there’s the question of where we register for gifts,” I play along, immensely relieved about being home. “I mean, I’d prefer Space-Nordstrom, but are their crystal white wine glasses raptor-proof? And do their bed sheet patterns compliment Nator’ax’s stripes? See, these are things I have to deal with.” We sit down, while Nator’ax stands nearby, taking up his usual guarding stance.
Dex the drone comes whirring up the stairs and hovers. “Ah, there you are. Finally decided to return the saucer to me?”he screeches with his broken electronic voice.
“Toyou?” I ask. “I thought it belonged to us all.”
“Well, yes. Of course. But only I can fly it.”
“Actually, anyone can fly it now,” I tell him. “I think. We should find out, at some point. I don’t know if Myron will obey just anyone. Maybe they have to be human?”
“Who is Myron?”Dex demands.
“Myron is the Plood who acts as the key for the saucer,” I tell him. “I gave him a name, because he’s actually pretty nice and saved us from something really bad. And now he’s the pilot.”
The drone lifts one edge and moves back, as if stalling in shock. “He came fullyalive?!”
“He’s in there,” I tell them all. “But I don’t think he’s ready to meet us all. He’s new to the world, and all he knows how to do is fly the saucer to where I want to go. If I tell him firmly enough.”
“He obeys you?” Morgan asks. “Just like that?”
“You said the Plood are a servant species who will obey whoever commands them first,” I remind her. “And I thought, hey, let’ssee if that holds. And it did, at the very last moment. If it hadn’t, we wouldn’t be here now. Myron’s cool.”
Dex perches on a rock and his rotors spin down. “I’m astounded. The planet is full of those proto-Ploods. Millions of them. We may have to get to each one and command it before anyone else can do so.”
“Who else is going to command them?” I ask. “The only dragon is Praxigor, and he’s not going to be that interested.”
Cora nods in agreement. “He’s not going to care about them at all. I guess we only have to worry about other tribes. And maybe the Plood developing some kind of leader that turns them against us.”
“Millions of Plood running around in the jungle isn’t the most joyful mental image,” Morgan says with a shudder. “It’s bad enough with that one in there. I hope he won’t just take off and leave.”
“Yeah,” Theodora says thoughtfully. “He could leave us stranded here. I mean, we’re basically stranded as it is. Going home to Earth is going to be a major problem, even with the saucer.”
I shrug and grab a cup of the bitter concoction that we have to find a name for. “He’s not going anywhere. I can tell. There’s not a sliver or rebellion in him. He’s mine to command, and he gives me the feeling that that is all he is. Maybe for all of us. But we can find out later.”
“Many things are happening on this planet,”Dex screeches ominously as he takes off. “Praxigor isn’t the only dragon in this jungle. And he’s most certainly not the only one on Xren. But I wish you all the best of luck dealing with that saucer, which is by a great margin the most valuable item on the planet. Ican only recommend that you take care of it. And keep it out of reach of the other dragon who was skulking around Callie. I’m leaving now.”He whirrs straight out from the penthouse and descends out of sight.
“O-kay,” Morgan says, nonplussed. “Goodbye, I guess. Thank God you’re home, Riley. And Nator’ax.” She switches to cavemannish, having learned the language much faster than me. “You both look a little the worse for wear. Are those bites?” She points to Nator’ax’s torso, where the bloodwing bites are healing, but obviously going to leave scars.
“They are bites,” Nator’ax confirms. “We were out in a Blood Storm. When can we expect to be wedded?”
The girls look at each other. “Oh, we can probably arrange something pretty soon,” Cora says. “In three days, maybe? Weddings here are usually not that grand, but if you’re all right with cold rekh meat and old irox wings, then I suppose we can deal with it.”
