Page 6 of Crash Landed with My Weredragon

Too late, Toren realized his mistake. The collection was private for a reason. Knowing about human transmissions was one thing; that was intelligence gathering. Watching their movies for pleasure was something else entirely. It was interest, affection, even. Neither quality would play well on Dobromia.

"Your radio signals reach far," he said carefully. "We've intercepted various transmissions over the years."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the answer I'm prepared to give right now."

Her eyebrow rose. Just one. It was a very effective expression. "Fair enough. Handshake?"

He took her hand. Her skin was warm; warmer than he'd expected, though the twin suns might have contributed. Her grip was firm. His scales met her fingers and she didn't flinch, which impressed him more than any political negotiation could have. Most Weredragons flinched when they touched an unfamiliar species. This woman didn't flinch at anything.

Something happened when their hands connected. Not the bond; he wasn't naive enough to mistake physical contact for something deeper. But a recognition, a sense of alignment. As though two gears from different machines had been placed next to each other and discovered, to everyone's surprise, that they fit.

He released her hand before the recognition could become anything he'd have to explain. "I'll signal my companions. Auren will introduce himself. He's enthusiastic. I apologize in advance."

"Enthusiastic how?"

"He'll probably try to charm your sister."

Athena, who had been listening to the entire exchange with her arms crossed and her weapon still undrawn, raised both eyebrows. "He can try."

Toren signaled Auren. The gray dragon descended in a spiral that was approximately three times more dramatic than the situation required. That was Auren. He never met a moment he couldn't make theatrical. Khrelan stayed aloft, circling with the grim determination of someone who wanted it on record that he'd objected.

Auren landed, shifted, and immediately zeroed in on Athena with the focus of a missile that had acquired its target. "Well," he said, pushing braided black hair out of his face and grinning with every tooth he possessed. "Nobody mentioned the humans would be beautiful."

"Nobody asked," Athena replied flatly.

"I like her," Auren announced to Toren. "Can we keep them?"

"They're not pets, Auren."

"I know. Pets don't carry weapons."

Marina looked at Toren. He looked at Marina. For the first time since the Vulcana had crashed on this miserable red planet, something passed between them that wasn't negotiation or survival calculus. It was amusement. Shared, mutual, slightly bewildered amusement at the absurdity of two species meeting on a rock in space and immediately discovering that one of them was a flirt.

It was a start. Not a great one. But on a planet with acid worms and dying suns and a ship that couldn't fly, a start was more than enough.

CHAPTER 3

*** MARINA ***

The truce lasted exactly fourteen hours before something tried to kill them.

Marina was inside the Vulcana reviewing Rowan's repair estimates when the ground shook. Not an earthquake; she'd felt those on Earth. This was different. A rhythmic pounding that vibrated through the ship's hull and made the emergency lights swing on their mounts. She grabbed the edge of her console and looked at the external cameras.

Something was coming across the red plain toward the ship. Something big.

"Athena!" she shouted into the comm. "Movement, northwest, four hundred yards and closing fast."

"I see it," Athena replied. Her voice had that clipped calm that meant she was already moving. "It's one of the armored things Toren warned us about. A Drog. and it's not alone; I'm counting three, maybe four behind it."

Marina switched to the exterior cameras and felt her stomach drop. The lead Drog was enormous. It was easily ten feet tall and covered in plates of dark chitin that overlapped like medieval armor. It moved on six legs with a speed that something that large shouldn't have been capable of. Its head was a nightmare of mandibles and compound eyes and what looked like acid-dripping tubes along its jaw. Behind it, three more followed in a loose formation.

They were heading straight for the ship.

"All crew, this is Marina. Stay inside. Seal all airlocks. Security team to defensive positions." She tried to keep her voice steady. She mostly succeeded. "Athena, where are the Weredragons?"

"No idea. They were camped about half a mile south last I checked. They might not even know …"