Chapter 5
General Azlo Bron
I walked out of the building that Sheila called a bank feeling a combination of extreme happiness and frustration. I felt euphoria. It was as if hot to blood was rushing through my body and vibrations were tingling my skin. I felt like I was in a blissful place that I had never been to before in my mind. It was very strange. I remember Karik speaking about this extreme happiness after being with a human female, but I thought he meant after having sex. I wasn't expecting it from one single kiss. It made me feel good; it made me feel damn good. But I felt frustrated that she had pushed me away. Her body was telling me that she wanted me to kiss her, and for a moment, she was in deep. She had kissed me back; she had relaxed in my arms. But then out of nowhere, she stopped and grew angry with me. I knew not to stay longer considering she wouldn't even talk to me. She made it clear we were not on a first-name basis when she told me to call her Sergeant. That was fine. I couldn't expect that she would be open to a stranger she had only known for less than a day, and an alien at that.
Still, I felt the bliss inside of me, and I was happy about it. I went back to the base camp to oversee the setup. And the next thing that I would have my soldiers tackle was a project to secure the fence. We could figure out a way to electrify it, but I would need to know what resources Providence had at its disposal. The skies looked gray and overcast the entire time I had been there, I wondered if this was a winter season symptom or if it was always like this in this area. It meant solar power could not be used to electrify the fence. I knew they had plenty of trees in the forest to cut down for firewood to keep these fragile humans warm in their snowy environment, but did they use the fire for energy as well? There were many things that we would need to know, and that my engineers would need to use in order to problem solve when it came to defending the fence and the gates.
“Have the scouts returned?” I asked Lieutenant Reqan. I had sent several weredragons out flying and all directions for one hundred miles to see if there were any cyborg armies in the area. It was best to know as much ahead of time as we could.
“Only one has returned from the north. Good news: he did not see anything that would indicate a base for a cyborg army. We are still waiting for the others to return, but it is early. The weather is strange here; storms could erupt and force them to seek shelter. We have no reason to be alarmed yet,” he said.
“Good, keep me posted. I am ready to meet with the engineers. Send them to the fourth floor,” I said walking into the office tower building that we had taken over.
“Right away, General,” he said.
I spent the next two days planning with the engineers. Sheila did not talk to me directly, only when I had specific questions for her. She was avoiding me the entire time. She preferred to talk to my engineers directly about matters of fortifying the fence. It was irritating. But since I kissed her, I had not had one symptom of the blackness plague. I was happy for that. But I thought it curious that she had two days with a virus so far and did not have any more questions for me. I assumed that she did not have computers in the village, just the way Haven Brook did not have them either, considering computers had been outlawed when the machines took over. It was only luck that Dr. Vanessa Lopez had found one and kept it secret while she invented the virus. Maybe Sheila was hiding a computer as well and did not want to tell me. Whatever the reason, she was up to something, or she would be asking me more questions about it.
“General, all the scouts have returned,” Lieutenant Reqan said as he entered the room I called my office on the fourth floor of the building.
"Give me the report,” I said.
“All scouts have reported that the area is clear for one hundred miles. There are no cyber encampments to report of,” he said.
“That is good. That is very good news. Make sure the scouts get adequate rest,” I said as I stood up from my chair. But as I did, I felt dizzy. I sat back down quickly.
“General? Are you all right?” Reqan said as he came to my side.
“Fine. I just stood up too fast,” I said.
“It is the blackness,” he whispered.
“I told you not to speak of that,” I said.
“It is getting worse, General. You must take care of this. Find a human female, mate with her, be cured. We need you to lead us, not to be sick,” he said.
“I will be fine. Now go see to the scouts, and tell no one about this,” I said.
Reqan gave me an angry look. Then he walked out. He was only being loyal.
I walked out of the building and decided to walk down Main Street to get some fresh air and to see what kind of resources these humans were living off of. I was not in dragon form, yet everyone stared at me as I walked; it was to be expected.
“Excuse me, General Bron, is it?” I heard a delicate female voice behind me.
I turned around to see a young woman with blond hair and blue eyes. She was about the same age as Sheila in human years. She was beautiful and had a big delightful smile for me. She had very large breasts in a tight sweater and tight pants.
“Yes, that is what I am called. And what is your name, human female?” I asked.
“Oh, human female… I guess you would call me that considering that you are an alien,” she said looking at me up and down. Was this human female looking at me with desire in her eyes? It was a look I had not seen before on a human female. It was interesting. Maybe I was reading too much into it.
"Yes, I am an alien and a weredragon. What is your name?” I asked again.
“My name is Crys; he Jones; it is a pleasure to meet you. I have wanted to speak to you since you arrived,” she said.
“You have?”
“Yes, I have. I wanted to see how things were going. I also wanted to lend you my services if they were ever needed,” she said looking down at my crotch and then back up at my eyes. Was she offering what I thought she was offering?
“And what kind of services are those?” I asked.
“Well, I can cook. I would love to show you the communal kitchens that we have here. I think I am the best cook here. I would love to make something hot for you,” she said with desire.
I raised an eyebrow at her. She was flirting. She was begging for me to take her.
“I might take you up on that. I have work to do at the moment. Perhaps another time?” I asked her.
“I look forward to it, General. I want to show you just what I can do for you,” she said with a big smile. Then she turned around with a bounce and walked off. I watched her walk away. It was a good sight to watch.
I could take her. I could have sex with this human female Chrissy Jones, and it would save my life, according to Karik. But I would be bonded with her. I would share her DNA. Something inside of me prevented me from doing it at that moment. As soon as she was inviting me, I thought about Sheila. I wanted Sheila. But how long could I wait for her? What if she never wanted me in return? I could die waiting for her. Here was a human female willing to take me today if I wished, and I would be rid of the blackness plague.
Was I being wise in the following my heart and wanting Sheila? Or was I being incredibly dumb in refusing Chrissy? I was being selfish. I wanted what I wanted, and in doing so, I was putting my life on the line. That wasn't fair to my soldiers that had followed me to Providence hundreds of miles away from our king. A part of me wanted to go after this human female named Chrissy in order to heal myself, but the other half of me wanted to wait for the challenge that was Sergeant Sheila Adams. It was a dangerous game to play with her, and yet I was willing to play.
I continued walking until I came across a mechanical shop. There was an older human male working on what looked to be a power generator and a couple of human vehicles.
“Hello, human; my name is General Azlo Bron,” I said.
“Hello. I know who you are, alien,” he said with a smile.
“Of course, I guess the entire village does,” I said.
“Yes, Sheila made sure to introduce you so that the town didn't freak out. You know, aliens and all…” he said playfully.
“To me, you are the aliens,” I said.
“That is true,” he said.
“So what do you have going on here, sir?” I asked looking at his work.
“My name is Richard; call me Richard,” he said.
“All right, Richard, what are you working on?” I asked.
“These are some generators that I am hoping to bring back to life,” he said.
You are an engineer?” I asked.
“No, not as educated as that. I was a mechanic of sorts back in the old days,” he said.
“You fix things? You make things?” I asked.
“Yes, exactly,” he said.
"Then you are an engineer,” I said.
“I will be sure to tell Sheila that,” he said.
“Tell me about Sheila. Is she always that… reserved?” I asked.
“You noticed?” he said.
“It's hard not to,” I said.
“It just takes her a while to warm up to people, or aliens in your case,” he laughed.
“What's her story?” I asked.
“She lost someone close to her when the wars broke out. It was her fiancé, a man that she was going to marry. I don't think that she has healed from that pain, if she ever will. Will any of us? I lost loved ones to win the war is broke out,” he said.
“I understand. That does make sense. I have lost loved ones in the past too; that happens when you live as long as we do,” I said.
He stopped working and looked at me. “How old are you?”
“One hundred,” I said.
“Dang!”
“Yes, our lifespan is different than human lifespans. One hundred years old is probably equivalent to twenty-eight or thirty years for humans,” I said.
“Yes, you look around that age, if you were human,” he said.
“I myself am sixty-five,” he said.
“Well, you look extraordinary as well, Richard. You seem to contribute to your village,” I said.
“Yes, it keeps my mind off of things. As far as Sheila, don't worry about her. She has her own demons to deal with; it is nothing to do with you. Just continue to be her friend, and eventually, she will be friendlier to you. You have come to help us fight the Clenok cyborgs; how can she not be friendly?” he said.
“My thoughts exactly. Will you allow my engineers to come and work with you? Perhaps you can help each other. I have been wondering what resources are available in the village to help make the fence stronger. Perhaps electrify it like the one that we saw in Haven Brook. You seem to be the man that knows what mechanical items are available in the village. They can show you what technologies we have with us on our ships; it will be a good exchange,” I said.
“That would be extraordinary. Send them over whenever I am almost always here except for at nightfall when the village shuts down,” he said.
“Excellent; I will have them come see you straight away. Keep up the good work here, Richard,” I said.
I walked back toward the camp. Now it all made sense; Sheila was hot and cold to me because she still had love for her fiancé. I could understand that. Anyone that had lost a loved one needed time to heal; she needed that time. I wouldn't try to rush her. I wanted her badly, but it was wrong to push myself on her when she was going through so much pain. I wanted her to be happy. I would have to pull back on my behavior toward her. I felt like a fool now that I knew her past and what she was going through in the present.