Chapter 7
General Azlo Bron
Why won't she let me in? She is so close to opening herself to me. But then she stops every time. I pulled the drive out of the panel and disconnected the power to the keddle piece. My actions had forced her to walk out of the bank. So I needed to secure it for her. I closed the bank vault and spun the metal bars just as she did. I pulled on it. It locked. But as I was walking toward the front door, I had another episode. Everything went dark, and I fell to the ground. I don't know how much time had passed when I finally woke up. I was alone. The symptoms were getting worse, and that meant that I was getting worse. Time was getting shorter and shorter for me. This was not good.
I walked back to the base camp and to the fourth floor that I had been using as my own personal meeting space.
“General, I have news,” Lieutenant Reqan said as he opened the door.
“Tell me,” I said. He walked in and looked at me. Then he stopped. Shock came across his face.
“General, you do not look well at all. You have had another episode, have you not?” he said.
“That is no concern of yours, Reqan,” I said.
He closed the door and then came back to my desk. “General, I beg you. The army needs to see you. You are letting us all down by letting yourself die. You know the cure. All you have to do is lie with a human female. I have seen many here that are ready and willing. Some of the human females have been laying with the officers already, by their choice. Choose one, choose anyone that is willing. I beg you to do this today. The blackness will not give you time.”
“Tell me the news, Reqan,” I said getting frustrated with his reminder that he was right.
“The engineers have met with me human Richard as you asked. They have come up with a plan to make the fence electrified. They were seeking your permission to begin,” he said.
“Permission granted. I don't need to see the plans. I trust my engineers, and I trust Richard. Have them proceed immediately,” I said.
“Right away, General. I hope that you will take my words seriously. We cannot lose you,” he said. Then he saluted me and walked out. I was feeling a bit tired. His words did not help. But I knew that he was right.
The following day, I headed to see Richard and the engineers. They were already in full force on their plan. But as I walked through the village, I heard a familiar voice.
“General?”
I turned to see the human female Chrissy. She had a big smile on her face.
“Good day to you Chrissy,” I said.
“I am very disappointed in you, General. You have yet to come to the kitchens as promised,” she said.
“Yes, apologies.”
“You can make it up to me by coming to my home tonight. I am making dinner, and of course we will have dessert,” she said.
The sparkle in her eyes let me know what she meant by it. She wanted me. She was giving herself to me willingly. I thought about what Reqan said. The army needed me alive. The mission needed me alive. I was being selfish. I was only thinking about myself and my own desires. I was willing to risk everything simply to satisfy my lust for Sheila. It was wrong. It was very wrong.
“I accept your invitation, Chrissy Jones. Thank you. I shall come to you at dinner,” I said.
“Excellent; I will see you then. My house is on the east side of the village. Third street from the fence line; it is a red and white house.”
“I look forward to it,” I said.
She walked away with a bounce in her step. I should've been happy to, but I only felt remorse. But I was going to have to do what I had to do in order to survive.
I spent the rest of the day with the engineers and the human Richard working on the plan to electrify the fence. It was a good plan. But it didn't come fast enough.
In the evening, a siren pierced the air.
“The Clenok are here!” Lieutenant Reqan said as he crashed through my door.
“How many!” I shouted as I jumped out of bed.
“We don't know yet. It does not look like a big army, but it could just be the first wave,” he said.
“Get scouts into the air to find out! We need to get everyone else on the fence,” I said.
“On it,” he said. I shifted into dragon form and flew out the window over the base camp.
“To the gates! Commander Zai, take your team to the east side of the fence. Commander Aio, take your teams to the west side of the fence. The rest of you, with me to the gates,” I shouted orders over the base camp as chaos exploded. Veruka were shifting everywhere and gathering their artillery. They flew to their post.
I flew to the gates. I landed on the guard post. I looked around for Sheila. I could not see her.
“You, the one called Casper. Where is Sergeant Adams?” I asked.
“She is on the west side of the fence. The majority of the cyborgs are coming at us from the west and the east.” he said.
I looked out over the forest outside the village. I could see the lights of the cyborg eyes and the machinery. There weren't a lot of them, but they were spread out and surrounding the village in a horseshoe pattern. The cyborgs coming directly at the gate where I stood were very few. Probably only twenty.
“General. We have scouts in the air, and one has reported back. There are about one hundred cyborgs; it seems to be a small band and not an entire army. But they are converging on the west and east sides more than here at the gate,” Lieutenant Reqan said.
“Shit.” I knew that Sheila was on the west side. I needed to get to her. But Chrissy, who could not take care of herself and had offered to save my life without even realizing it simply because she offered herself to me, was on the east side. She could not protect herself. She was not a soldier like Sheila was. But Sheila was brave and courageous: too brave. I could see her putting herself in a dangerous situation. I did not want to lose her. I couldn't. But I had to make a decision, a very complicated decision. I could go help Chrissy and save my life, or I could go to Sheila, because it is what my heart wanted.
“Orders, sir?” Lieutenant Reqan said.
“Double up the team is on the east and west fences. Start an air raid on these cyborgs now, before they even reach the fence line!” I shouted into my armband communication. I got confirmation from the commanders that they understood.
“Lieutenant, you are going to head the defense here on the front of the gate. You have thirty weredragons at your call, and the humans. Fire at will,” I said to him. He nodded in agreement. Then I lifted my armband and spoke into it to all teams, “Attack! Attack!”
Then I turned my back to the fence.
“Wait, where are you going?” a lieutenant asked.
“I am going to go help the sides under heavier attack,” I said and flew away to help the human female that I decided I needed to go to with urgency.