He awoke in a place he did not recognize.
Actually, he knew what the place was. What he did not know was where it was.
It was a plain, spare space. He was on a cushioned surface on a circular fixture that he took to be a bed of sorts. There was a water basin and a chair-like structure that he took to be a kind of latrine. The place had three walls. Directly in front of him, the wall opened out into another chamber, as unadorned as the one in which he found himself.
Sitting up on the bed, Thrax felt for his weapon and found it missing. Of course, his captors had taken it. No one would throw him into a cell and let him keep his powerblade. Without question, he was in a cell. Though it looked as if he could step freely from the space where he now was into the adjoining chamber, if he tried to step through the space where the wall was missing, he would certainly encounter a barrier of some sort, a force field that would block him or hurl him back.
Thrax quickly pulled together the few facts he had available. He had been in the forest outside of Silverwing with the other Knights and Corps members and their human aspirants from the Chateau, including Agena. He felt his skin turn cold and pale at the question of where Agena was. Where had his captors taken her? Where had they taken Meline and the others, yes—but what had they done with Agena?
As a prisoner, it was Thrax’s duty to do everything in his power to try to escape. For that, he would have to face his captors personally, a prospect that he relished at this point. There was only one thing he wanted more than to look into the faces of whatever creatures had attacked his world and brought so much pain and death and destruction to his home. That one thing was to know that Agena was unharmed.
If they had hurt her, whatever kind of creatures they were, they would know the full wrath and fury of a dragon of Lacerta. And though he was a Knight and had a code of honor and a creed of duty, in his heart, he was a man and would take pleasure in punishing any creature that had done any harm to Agena Morrow.
As if on cue, a portal in the adjoining space slid open and three figures, one of them female, stepped into view. The gray-skinned humanoids, one walking a few paces ahead of the others, approached the space where Thrax guessed the force field was. The one in front wore a military-looking chest sash the color of dried blood—an appropriate enough hue, Thrax thought, for someone who had spilled the blood of his people. He looked forward to returning the favor.
The being wearing the sash said in a croaking voice, “It is good we find you recovered. There are things we must discuss.”
Thrax rose from the bed and stepped forward to address his foe. “What is this place?” he asked. “Where am I, and who are you?”
“My ship is the mastercraft Rog’Kalach of the planet Scodax. I am Captain Amlax.” He indicated the ones behind him: “This is Venar, my second-in-command, and Vendass, my third. And we have taken from the sense of hierarchy that you are the leader of the group of beings we acquired from the planet we are orbiting. Are we correct?”
Thrax was slightly puzzled at this: “Hierarchy?”
“Your garment,” said Venar. “Yours is the only garment in three colors of those we acquired with the sonic inducer weapon, suggesting that you are the leader. Is our judgement correct?”
That explained a couple of things. The thing that had hit him, Agena, and Meline outside the cave after the alien ships had destroyed the aerovans was a “sonic inducer,” a way of subduing opponents with minimal injury. And this – Captain Amlax had guessed Thrax’s importance from his armor colors. “Yes,” said Thrax. “I was in command. I am Sir Thrax Helmer of the Knights of the planet Lacerta, and I demand to know where you have taken the others of my group. Where are they, and have they been harmed?”
“They are in separate detention and are no more injured than when we found them,” answered Amlax. “We had no wish to do them harm—or you.”
Thrax wanted nothing more at this moment than to morph to dragon, leap through whatever force field stood where the wall ought to be, and flay this Amlax creature to bloody gray shreds. From the look of him, it would take little effort to do so. His skin looked like old leather that had never been oiled.
But any attempted assault on this creature, Thrax knew, would be wasted effort just now. He would have to bide his time and seek his opportunity. Knowing that, however, did not keep the edge of rising anger from his voice. “‘No wish to do us harm’? How do you claim to have no wish to do us harm after everything else you’ve done? Attacking our cities, injuring and killing our people! Those are acts of war!”
“The actions we have taken were necessary steps in establishing order,” said Amlax.
Thrax nearly roared. “Order?”
“Yes—our order. We have annexed your planet and cannot brook opposition. So long as no opposition is presented, everything will remain in order. We wish no further harm. Far from it, in fact. We want only the things we have found to be of value about this planet. You possess certain resources that we require. There is an abundance of a mineral necessary for space travel. There is another mineral we believe may be of medicinal or therapeutic value. And…there is your population – in particular, those of your population such as you.”
Now, Thrax was wary. “What do you want with our ‘population’—our people?”
“What we ask of those like you,” said Amlax, “is that you join us.”
“Join you?” Thrax balked.
Venar, the alien female, replied, “I shall explain. The Scodax are a mighty and powerful race, as you have found. But we are not a united race. Long ago, our society, our civilization, divided into many tribes and factions that failed to coexist. We spread ourselves thin across the galaxy, sometimes remaining aboard our ships in orbit of stars or uninhabitable planets, sometimes finding a planet to colonize or occupy. But every faction has remained alone, isolated and divided from all the others.
Our people are not like yours. Your people show the capacity to live with differences. Those with one shape live with those with two shapes, and all of you live together with members of different species. You lack our people’s aversion to differences. It is this failure to coexist that drove us apart.”
Amlax continued, “My goal, Sir Thrax, is to begin the process of uniting the Scodax, of bringing us together as it were. We will travel far and wide across the galaxy, and where we find other Scodax, we will bring them to our side. Given our isolationist nature, there will be resistance. We will require a way to enforce the new unity. Beings such as you, joining our cause, will provide us with the way.”
Thrax recoiled at the thought of it. “You want to conscript the Knights of Lacerta into an interstellar army to unite your lost people? And you think we’ll simply fall into line and submit? You think the planet Earth and our allies will allow this?”
“We believe the Knights of Lacerta are formidable enough that our combined might will prevail. As we gather more of the Scodax to our cause, you and we together will make the Scodax invincible.”
Thrax’s hands knotted into fists, wanting to batter down the force field and take his wrath directly to Amlax. “This is absolute madness. Lacerta is a colony of the planet Earth. You may not have heard of Earth, but you will. Earth is powerful and has friends and allies, and they'll come for you in force. They're already on their way. You'll be overwhelmed here, and even if you escape, you'll still have hundreds of worlds against you out there.”
With an arrogant calm, Amlax replied, “They may come in force. We will meet them in force.”
“How?”
“We possess power you have not yet seen. The warp-enabling mineral that is mined on your planet is not only a power source for propulsion. We possess a technology that can convert it to energy--enough power to obliterate a fleet. Your mother planet's forces and their allies may come. But we are already beginning to extract the mineral. We will be prepared for them. They...will not be so prepared.”
Thrax faced Amlax with a look not only of skepticism but of open contempt. “You’re lying,” he said. “No...if you possessed power like that, you wouldn't be a race scattered across the galaxy. You'd be an empire.”
At this, Thrax hardly noticed the eyes of Venar darting between him and Amlax. Nor did he sense the quickening of her pulse or the heat on her skin as she paid careful attention to her Captain and measured his reaction. The Knight’s attention was too focused on the aliens’ leader to notice the subtle cues given off by his second.
Amlax’s tone and stance did not waver. “I have been to parts of this galaxy you have never seen. I have discovered things beyond your knowledge. You have not yet witnessed my true power. But you will.”
“And you think 'witnessing your true power' will force the surrender of whole civilizations?”
“They will have no choice,” said Amlax confidently.
Thrax glared at the alien, “Then, for all your power and everything you're learned, you're no wiser than the fools you came from who couldn't even learn to live in peace with each other. You're doomed, Amlax.”
So consumed was Thrax by his mounting anger at the Scodax that he once again missed the ever-so-subtle change in Venar’s body language, the way she stiffened at the last thing the Knight said, and the way she put her whole attention on the man behind the force field as if wanting to say something but was holding her silence.
The alien Captain answered, “No one in this chamber is doomed. There is only one who is the master and one who will learn his new place.”
If Thrax had been in dragon form, he would have hissed his retort to that. “I’ve learned nothing except that you are mad. Your people are mad. Your failure to live with each other has made you poor judges of other beings. It’s true, my people are united, and we’ll remain that way—united against you.”
Venar inhaled sharply, but remained quiet.
“We expected a display of such spirit,” said Amlax. “And we welcome it. That is why demonstrations will be made. Examples will be set. We will demonstrate to your planet that compliance is in their best interest—by bringing the most formidable warriors of Lacerta to heel in personal combat, for transmission and display to your world.”
“You intend to battle the Knights into submission while the rest of Lacerta watches?”
“We will establish who is now the master, and your world will watch,” Amlax replied. “Though we have lived apart from the rest of our kind, we possess both the power and the prowess to realize our goals. And you will find, once you join us, that our combined power will make us a match for any power brought against us. My battle will be with you.”
Thrax folded his arms and measured the sheer audacity of the being before him. “You challenge a Knight of Lacerta and assume victory before the battle is even fought?”
“You find me presumptuous? I assure you, I make no empty boasts. It was in combat long ago that I rose to my rank. I triumphed over armies in worlds you will never know. I shall triumph again.”
The Knight almost admired the alien’s confidence, standing there with his old and weather-beaten skin, touting his strength and skill. How old was this creature? How long had he been wandering through space, pillaging other planets for their resources, scheming to unite his scattered people under himself? His years of isolation from all but his own tribe must surely have taken their toll on the sanity of this Amlax. But Thrax didn’t bother to give voice to any of this; there was something else more important to him now. “The others who were with me: there was one who wasn’t a Knight. There was a female; she would have been with me when you captured me. Where is she?”
Knowingly, Amlax replied, “The one you speak of is with the others we’ve detained. We took her unharmed, and no harm has been done to her. I gather that one is your mate.”
Thrax frowned hard at the question, his nostrils flaring. He shifted on his feet. “She and I were together,” he answered flatly.
“She will not be harmed, so long as you accept my terms and face me in the duel,” said Amlax. “Once you are a warrior of the Scodax, you and your mate will breed the next generation of dragons in our service. Our power and our might will be all the greater for it. The duel will soon begin. I look forward to meeting you in joust, Sir Knight. I expect you’ll battle well. Your world will see its best and finest brought into line.”
Without another word, Amlax and his two silent fellows turned and exited the interrogation space adjoining Thrax’s cell. Thrax watched them go, and this time he did see a reaction from Venar. He saw her turn and glance at him over her shoulder with an expression that he could not read. He took it as a reflection of her Captain’s confidence in having the upper hand. Thrax’s mounting rage made his skin break out into scales. He scowled as the three Scodax disappeared behind the portal through which they came.
He felt his clenching teeth start to turn to dragon fangs. He would save the wrath that he now felt; save it for use when he faced this arrogant creature in this vainglorious battle. He would put down this Amlax like the presumptuous cur that he was and punish him for holding Agena’s life against Thrax’s compliance. He would free Agena. And he would lead his fellow Knights to crush these encroachers as they so richly deserved.
_______________
The battles across the planet Lacerta reached a tense standoff. The Knights and the Corps in the cities and the settlements and in the training annexes of the Spires dug in and held on, entrenching themselves and holding the line against the invaders. The Scodax ceased fire, not to disengage and withdraw, but to send a message. Into every populated area of the planet, or every place that had been evacuated except for Lacerta’s defenders, holographic transmissions from Amlax were sent.
At last, the dragon warriors saw the face of their true enemy, not the horde of androids that had been brought against them. The alien Captain announced his mission and his intentions toward the planet. He made the Lacertans aware that any further resistance would be unavailing, even though help from other worlds was coming: for the Scodax possessed a power that they had not yet brought into play, which would give them the upper hand at last. The people of Lacerta would be treated with respect and honor—so long as they submitted.
The Ruling Aerie and the Mentors discussed and debated the pronouncements of Amlax. They weighed the option of sending a message back to the alien leader, of demanding a demonstration of this power that the Scodax had not yet revealed. They spoke at length about the danger of not knowing everything that the invaders could do and the potential disaster of this gap of knowledge.
Lacertan scientists weighed in with opinions and theories about what the hidden power of Scodax could be, if they actually possessed such a power. And there was much talk about what form the demonstration of the Scodax might take and about the potential harm to the planet or the appalling loss of life that might result. It was generally resolved that not knowing what they might be facing increased their danger.
The Lacertans knew the places from which help would come soonest; they had identified the systems and colonies from which Earth and its allies would send other forces, and they knew that Knights from those systems were already on their way. They sent warp space communications out to those planets with all available intel about the Scodax, including Amlax’s threat about a secret weapon.
The communications were jammed and scrambled, rendering them useless. The Ruling Aerie decided against trying to send their fastest ships out to warn their reinforcements; if the Scodax intercepted them or shot them out of space, Lacerta’s forces would be depleted that much more. When reinforcements arrived, they would be coming in blind to whatever hidden power the Scodax might hurl against them.
The duels between the Scodax and the highest-ranking captured Knights were the cause of the greatest alarm. The purpose of these battles, to show Lacerta that they were now in the power of the Scodax and had no choice but to submit, was clear. But in the places to which the Aerie and the Mentors had retreated, fists and voices were already being raised in defiance.
The people of Lacerta and their defenders and champions would die, if need be, rather than live in the service of invaders. And if the people of Lacerta must die, it was quickly being resolved that they would die as the dragons they were—and not without spilling rivers of Scodax blood.
_______________
Aboard the Scodax mastercraft, prisoners had been herded in groups into holding cells that the Knights and Corps reasoned must have been used in other campaigns of aggression on other planets unknown. Agena and Meline, with others from the Chateau, occupied one such cell, where Agena leaned restively against a wall with her arms folded and her features creased in a deep frown, masking her fear with a look of smoldering anger. The fear underlying her look was not for herself alone.
The prisoners had been allowed to see the transmission from Amlax, as well as the people on the planet below. Those in the holding cells knew what was happening. Agena knew what Thrax was about to face, and that he would be facing it alone.
Meline was standing near Agena, in a huddle with a couple of other tall and especially muscular Knights. The three of them were speaking in a very hushed tone, and Agena could vaguely guess what kinds of things they were discussing. They were most likely planning what to do when the automatons or some of the Scodax themselves appeared bringing food or wanting to interrogate someone. Agena could just make out Meline saying to the two males, “Yes, others in the cells must have worked out all these same things. We have to expect them to be ready when the time comes, and we have to be ready ourselves…”
Not being privy to the entire conversation, Agena returned her thoughts to the dangerous dilemma facing Thrax, and how completely powerless she was to do anything about it. Half-muttering, she said, “He's going to fight Thrax in some kind of joust, some kind of duel, and try to make him an example? He's going to beat and humiliate Thrax in front of the whole planet, and he thinks he'll make Lacerta fall in line that way?”
Hearing Agena speak to no one in particular, and seeing the growing concern on her face, Meline disengaged from the two males and stepped away from them to approach her. “Amlax seems to think he can do exactly that,” she said.
“He’s insane,” said Agena. “Being out here in space for who knows how long with his android soldiers has made him positively insane.”
“Very possibly,” said Meline.
Somehow, Agena managed to frown even more deeply. “And we can’t help Thrax,” she said. “Stuck in here, in these damn cells, we'll have to watch along with everyone else while this monster tries to beat him down and make him submit.”
“We have only one thing on our side now,” Meline observed.
Agena looked at her questioningly. “What? What is it?”
“Madmen, human or not, make mistakes. Amlax has made one.”
“Tell me!”
“He took all of our weapons, but he left us our badges. And our badges still contain information. Every Knight and Corps member who was at the cave is carrying every bit of data that Thrax and his recon team took from that fallen craft. We all have the internal schematics and blueprints for this ship. And we all have the self-destruct code that can destroy this entire armada. All that one of us needs to do is find one of the optical ports that the androids use to feed and process data and commands, and we can input the code and trigger the self-destruct command.”
Agena shrugged. “But what good will that do? Can't Amlax just shut down the self-destruct process?”
“He could if he or one of his Scodax crew entered it,” Meline answered. “But this code is the one that would be used if a Scodax ship were captured by an enemy. To keep their vessels and technology out of alien hands, this code is irreversible. If we could use it, we could wipe out their ships completely. Then the Knights and the Corps could wipe up any surviving Scodax.”
“That’s still a longshot, Meline,” Agena argued. “They've got us in these cells with no weapons. Even if we did escape, we'd be defenseless. We'd be shot down before we ever got to one of those optical ports.”
Meline considered this and thoughtfully said, “Perhaps. And perhaps not.”
“What are you talking about?” Agena asked.
“We're dragons, Agena. We fight with everything we have. With power blades if we have them, or fang and claw and tail if we don't. We go on to the last drop of our blood.”
“And sacrifice yourselves if you have to.”
“Knowing you may be laying down your own life is part of being a warrior; you know that. When you accept this way of life, you accept that you may sacrifice yourself at any time, and you do it willingly. You do it if it’s the only way.”
Agena sighed from so many things: anger, fear, and frustration. “I'm no dragon, Meline. I'm only a human.”
Meline said, point-blank, “You’re a woman who loves a dragon.”
Agena’s mouth dropped open, but no words came. Her frown broke into a totally stunned expression.
“Did you think I couldn’t see it?” Meline asked. “Even when you'd only just met, when you met me and learned Thrax knew me, what did you think? How did you feel?”
Agena sighed again, this time at how obvious it all was. “I know I was wrong to feel that way. Thrax told me.” She paused at this acknowledgement of Meline’s inability to feel anything but camaraderie for Thrax—nothing physical, nothing like what Agena felt. “What if we do end up destroying the Scodax fleet? We'll all die, Meline. Those of us who haven't already been cut down trying to input the code, we're all dead for sure.”
Without a blink, Meline said, “Again, perhaps not.”
“What are you talking about now?”
“These ships may have robot crews now, but they were originally built for living crews. And I think there’s something suspicious about that on the face of it, something that Amlax isn’t saying, just as he isn’t saying what this secret power is that’s meant to turn the odds in the Scodax’s favor. We’ve seen other living Scodax, the ones that follow Amlax when he goes through the ship, and there must be others in the ship's command center.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning...escape pods. The schematics we have on this ship also show where all the escape pods are.”
Agena understood now. “So, then...we fight our way to one of the optical ports, then whoever survives fights to the escape pods.”
“Like dragons,” said Meline. She put a gauntleted hand on Agena’s shoulder. Agena welcomed the feeling, though she was not quite sure why she did. “There may be more dragon in you than you think,” Meline told her. “I want to give you something.”
“What?”
“Hold up your data collector,” Meline said. “They didn’t take that either.”
Agena did as Meline said, showing her the band of artificial scales that was meant to tell her when she and Thrax at last conceived their child. Meline touched her badge and softly commanded, “Transmit Scodax data to data collector.”
The badge flashed, then emitted a thin pulse of light that struck Agena’s band of scales. At once, it was done.
“There,” said Meline. “Now I'm going to give you some instructions. If you love Thrax--and you do--you'll stand with us when the opportunity comes. And I think it is coming.”
Meline continued to speak softly, leaning in to the human woman. Agena listened, and she understood.