Chapter 12

Sophia pushed Ron's helping hands away. “I'm tell you I'm fine. Stop fussing. I feel fine.”

“You might feel fine, but you could relapse at any moment.”

Sophia pulled back the torn flap of her pants. “Do you really think I could relapse from this? The wound is completely healed. I'm fine, and you all don't need to carry me anymore.”

Ron fluttered around her in an anxious ferment. “Don't push yourself too hard today, Sophia. You still need to rest and recover.”

“Recover—phooey! I never felt better in my life. If I didn't think I would send you into a cardiac arrest, I would ask for something to carry myself. I want to walk. I've been flat on my back for three days, and I'm not doing it anymore. Now get away from me before I have to take drastic action.”

Ron fell back, and Sophia strode into the camp where Jasmine and Dana waited for her. Jasmine took her hand. “Don't be too hard on Ron. We're all just as surprised as he is that you recovered as fast as you did. You have to admit it's nothing short of miraculous. We all thought you were dead from loss of blood.”

Sophia chopped the air with her hand. “I don't want to hear any more of that miraculous nonsense. I'm fine. Now we can all get on with the rest of our lives. This is the last big push to the Keep, isn't it, Fawks? We can get down to business with our studies. I'm looking forward to that.”

“We're all glad you're feeling better, Sophia,” Dana added. “You had us worried.”

Sophia sat down by the cold, dead remains of last night's fire. She ate a hearty portion of the last scraps of morlock meat. Her eyes flashed with the same animated sparkle Sheena remembered from before Sophia got hurt. She was back to normal, brought back from the dead.

“I had that dream about the lizard again. It stood right over me, and its presence made me feel so good, I thought I could get up and run around right then. I got the impression it was doing something to heal my leg. Isn't that silly? How could a dream heal a wound? It makes no sense.”

Sheena sat well outside the circle of admirers. She heard every word and saw every facial expression, but she couldn't join her comrades in celebrating Sophia's recovery. Of the whole group, only she knew the real reason behind it. Fawks smiled at Sophia. He smiled at Sheena, too, when he caught her looking at him, but she turned away.

Why did she beg him to keep his secret from her friends? Where was her loyalty to the Allies? She gave her whole career to furthering the Allies' agenda. Now here she was subverting it. Why?

Everyone could see Sophia's leg, whole and perfect, under the bloody scrap of her pant leg. The white dragon's saliva closed it up and restored her the same way it healed Fawks' shoulder. He didn't need to know about any medicinal plants. He carried his medicine with him at all times. No wonder the dragon attacked the shuttle with such fearless ferocity. He didn't have to worry about injuring himself.

What a dangerous foe these dragons would be if they ever came to fight the Allies. The Allies wouldn't know the native people were really dragons until it was too late. Neither would they know the inhabitants had the power to heal themselves of any injury. How could the Allies fight an opponent like that?

The patriarchs of Clans Harkniss and Assan must be right. They should keep their secret in reserve against the day when they would have to fight the Allies. That secret would give them the advantage they needed to combat the Allies' superior numbers and technology.

Sheena ought to run straight to Jasmine and tell her everything that happened. She ought to warn Rex, as the Allies' representative. He would know how to handle this situation. He would know how to deal with one of their enemies here in their midst.

She didn't get up, though. Not only did she not tell anybody, she asked him not to tell anybody, either. She couldn't understand her own motives. Then again, her motives had nothing to do with this. Her behavior deviated so far from what her thoughts told her to do, she couldn't explain what made her do anything anymore. Her body and her limbs acted independently from her mind and her will. Nothing would change that now.

Sheena hung back at the end of the line when the group moved out. Assan Keep stood up tall and dark on their right-hand side. They came closer and closer to it with every passing hour, but its proximity made Sheena's heart sink. She didn't want this journey to end.

Once they got to the Keep, Fawks would leave and she would be alone. She would have to carry this secret against all odds and never reveal it to anyone, and she couldn't look forward to any more rendezvous with him.

What would become of her, when he was gone? What would she become? Never again would she be the Sheena Lamb who landed on this planet. She'd become something different. He made her something different. Would she stay that way without him? How could she be that, when she couldn't look forward to him commanding her with his touch, his body, his being?

Later in the morning, Jasmine dropped back to walk at Sheena's side. “We'll be at the Keep soon. I'll be glad when we're finally out of danger. What do you make of Sophia getting better like that”

“I don't make anything of it.”

“Maybe the Krataks know something about it. Maybe it's something in the air of this planet. Fawks certainly seems like a rare specimen of health. He's bigger and stronger than any of our men.”

Sheena couldn't think of anything to say to that, but before she could answer, Jasmine's arm shot up. “Look! Look at that!”

The whole team looked up to see dozens of dragons circling in the sky above their heads. The girls gasped, and the others murmured and exclaimed over the phenomenon. “What are they doing? Are they preparing to attack?”

Sheena started walking again. “I'm sure they're there because we're getting closer to the Keep. They're probably just checking where we are.”

Jasmine hurried to catch up. “How can you ignore them like that, after that dragon attacked us in the air? They must be moving in for the kill, and we have no way to defend ourselves. Those things would be ten times deadlier than the morlock.”

“I doubt they're moving in for the kill. Just ignore them. Come on. Let's get moving. We don't want to spend another night out here without food.”

Jasmine stopped where she was and stared at Sheena walking away. Sheena kicked herself for not playing her part better. Any strange behavior would only alert Jasmine and any other astute person something was going on. She should have pretended to be surprised by the dragons' appearance, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. So, the Krataks—the Ingasores—were watching them approach their Keep. What of it?

She headed into the forest before anyone could interfere. She got on her way even before Fawks. He stared up at the dragons, too. Everyone assumed he was as surprised and concerned as the rest of the team.

Rex hurried to catch up with Sheena. “I'm not worried about those dragons, either. I've still got my gun. Aren't you glad I brought it, even if these backward people don't like it? I'm sure the dragons' skin isn't as tough as the morlock's. Anyways, we have a way to drive them off.”

“We had a way to drive them off in the shuttle, too. The computer couldn't read them. Something in their skin deflected the scanner. They may have other abilities we don't know about. Maybe they can make themselves invisible or something. I don't know. I wouldn't underestimate them if I was you.”

“It doesn't matter what abilities they have. The Allies will take over this planet one way or the other. If the Krataks won't help us get rid of these dragons, we'll just have to bring in the whole fleet to knock them off, one at a time.”

“Somehow I don't think the Allied Command will bring in the fleet to fight a bunch of dragons. The Allies want to convince the Krataks to join the Alliance.”

“Come on, Sheena. You know that's just a pretense. This whole research mission is just a ruse to get us down onto the surface and inside the Krataks' Keeps. Once they let us in, they won't be able to stand against the Allies' full invasion force.”

Sheena rounded on him with her fists clenched. “Do you have some point you're trying to make, Rex? Of course, I know the Allies want to conquer this planet, but they want to do it peacefully. That's the whole reason for sending a research mission.”

Rex grinned at her. “I knew you of all people would understand, Sheena. These pathetic scientists still believe the Allies are benevolent. They think joining the Allies is the best thing that could happen to the Krataks.”

“So, what's your point? Is that all you want—someone to share your dirty little secret?”

“Who said anything about it being dirty? All's fair in love and war.”

Sheena glared at him. “Is that what you think?”

“That's the Allies' whole strategy. Who cares what happens to the Krataks, as long as we wind up with the planet? Did you know these mountains contain one of the richest mineral and ore deposits in the galaxy? I doubt the Allies will leave that lying for very much longer. One or two dragons won't stop them.”

He sauntered away down the trail. Now he was heading the line with everyone following him. That was Rex Masters' dream come true. He wished he'd been born a woman so he could be a leader and make the important decisions with everyone looking to him for answers.

So, he wanted a confidante, and he couldn't find one anywhere else on this team. He couldn't even reveal the truth to his own sweetheart. Jasmine might be Commanding Officer, but she was still a scientist. She had to represent the Allies' benign intentions, not only to the Krataks, but to her own teammates. She couldn't do that if she didn't believe in them herself.

Now what could Sheena do? She knew all along the Allies never really wanted to study the Krataks—not for scientific purposes, anyway. Any valuable information the team reported back, the Allies would use in their future plans to bring this planet under their rule. That's the way they always did it.

They would do the same thing with the knowledge these people were really dragons with superhuman healing powers. So why didn't Sheena reveal that fact to Rex when she had the chance? What kind of officer was she?

She wasn't an officer anymore. That was the plain truth. She wasn't an adjunct of the Allies anymore. She'd gone feral. Sometime last night, the last tie holding her to her old life broke free and cast her adrift. She wasn't Commander of the Allies Air Wing anymore. She was nothing but Sheena, pure and simple.

She stood back from the trail as the others passed her by. She barely recognized them. Sophia smiled at her and passed on. The lizard hadn't changed Sophia with its magical saliva, but Fawks changed Sheena with his tongue and his heat and his throbbing flesh.

She waited until the whole line passed and Fawks drew up at her side. He didn't smile. “Are you all right, Sheena?”

She took a deep breath. “You were right, Fawks.”

“Right about what?”

“I should have told you last night, but I was too surprised by you changing in front of me to tell you. Your patriarchs, or whatever you call them, they were right about the Allies. The Allies never had any peaceful intentions toward this planet. The research team is nothing but an advanced force to gain a toehold on this planet. Once they complete their studies, the Allies will step up their agenda to bring this planet under their control.”

His eyes hardened. “What made you decide to tell me?”

“I don't know. Something changed last night. I don't know how it happened, but I guess I don't feel like I belong to the Allies anymore. I want your people to be able to fight them with everything they have. I think the other Clans were right about keeping your dragon natures a secret. I think that will give you the best advantage against the Allies.”

“I better leave. I'll go home and warn my people.”

“Wait!”

“I can't wait. You can all see the Keep from here. You won't lose your way. You don't need me anymore.”

“I need you. Please don't leave.”

“I have to. If you're right, we have to prepare to meet the threat.”

Sheena wrung her hands. “I never would have told you if I thought you would leave. I can't face going in there without you. Stay here. Please.”

“I can't go in there. I can't go anywhere near the Keep. It's only because of you that I've come this close. If the Assans find me here, there'll be trouble. You can count on that.”

“Can't you talk to them? Can't you explain you were only helping us?”

“You don't really want me to stay here. You have your sweetheart back home. Go back to him.”

“I can't! Don't you see? Everything's different now. I'm different. I don't want to go back to my sweetheart. I want you. I don't want anything or anyone else. I don't know what happened, but I can't face losing you when I just found you.”

He took a step closer. “Come with me, Sheena. You don't belong here. Come back to my city with me. I can fly you there in a few hours.”

A woman's voice interrupted them. “Sheena? What's going on?”

Sheena whirled around to find Jasmine and Dana staring at her. Ron and Abigail Simons trailed behind them with their girls. Pretty soon, the whole company came back looking for Fawks and Sheena.

Sheena whirled away. She couldn't face them. “Nothing. Nothing's going on. Let's get out of here.”

She took two steps forward—and froze. A band of some twenty men marched through the trees behind Rex, threading their way in a line shoulder to shoulder.