Dragons of Mars Box Set

by Leslie Chase

  "Because, human, if you do, you will be favored with high positions in the Empire. We dragons will rule, of course, but we require administrators." Askelon's smile widened, shark-like, and his fingers caressed the torture device again. "And because you have no choice — if you try to resist, you will be punished until you obey. Make the logical choice and you will live in luxury instead."

  Living off the oppression of our fellows, Josie thought. Radcliff muttered something under his breath but didn't press his objection. Unhappily, the humans all nodded, none of them wanting to experience what Owens had felt.

  What followed was an exhausting interrogation as Askelon probed for ever more details. He seemed aggravated at the idea that Earth still had separate countries, and that the humans he was speaking with didn't know the details of all of them, but most of what he wanted to know was about the military capacity of Earth. To Josie's dismay, Askelon didn't seem to be concerned by anything he heard. His casual confidence that he and the Dragon Empire could defeat the combined might of every human nation was frightening.

  Worst of all, she wasn't sure he was wrong. The technology this race of dragons casually showed off was beyond anything that Earth had. Perhaps a few hundred aliens could conquer the Earth, especially if they could all transform the way she'd seen Verikan do. What Askelon didn't seem to appreciate was how many humans would keep fighting anyway. Josie had visions of human cities reduced to rubble and shivered, watching Askelon add notes to his map, marking the first targets to be destroyed.

  When Verikan mentioned invading Earth it sounded awful but abstract. Now, seeing Askelon put detail to it, the reality of what it meant sank home. Even if the aliens lost the war, millions would die in the initial attacks. Everyone she knew and loved would be at risk, and she couldn't see what to do to stop it.

  10

  Verikan

  Stalking the hallways of his palace didn't bring Verikan much peace, but it did let him think. Everywhere was so empty, quiet in a way that he was entirely unused to, and he found himself returning to his chambers, a dark mood following him like a cloud.

  Ancestors, what do I do now? He didn't get any answers from the honored dead, not that he'd expected to. Legends said that the First Emperor would return to offer advice in time of need, but that was a foolish superstition. He just wished it were true.

  He knelt before the hologram projector, looking at the crude work that Josie had done to open it. A small smile tugged at his lips. She was so determined to learn, and he admired that along with so much else. Meeting her was something good about this strange new time, even if everything else was wrong.

  With a quick gesture he activated the projector, the image of his mother appearing before him. How he wished he could get her advice again — the Empress was wise, but now almost certainly long-dead. Tears pricked at his eyes as he forced himself to acknowledge that painful fact.

  "I hope that you're at peace, wherever your soul has gone," he said quietly. "I'm going to miss you and father. You were good parents, and good rulers."

  Trying to empty his mind, Verikan waited for a response. He didn't really think that his parents could reach out across time and space and tell him what to do. Even if they could, he knew that they wouldn't. He was the Dragon Heir, the next ruler of the Empire, and this was his duty and his choice to make.

  If they could speak, he knew that they'd support him in his choices but wouldn't make them any easier. The weight of ruling rested on his shoulders alone, and he would bear responsibility for the survival of the Empire. What's my happiness against that?

  Taking a deep breath, he stood and bowed to the hologram of his mother. His soul felt a little lighter for communing with her, but the decision still hung over him like an ax about to fall.

  I should speak to Askelon, see what he has learned so far, he decided. Hopefully more information will make this simpler.

  Verikan stopped in the doorway of the war room, watching the humans as Askelon drew out their knowledge. It was impressive to see him work, asking small questions that revealed more than they seemed to. The notes he'd spun up onto the hologlobe listed information that Verikan was confident the humans didn't realize they'd given up.

  That didn't make the prospect look good, though. A glance at the figures there told him that Earth would be a hard fight indeed with the numbers they had on hand, and victory was far from certain. Not when he could see the humans using nuclear weapons on their own cities to strike back at an attacker.

  We are stewards of our species now, we can't afford to take such risks with our lives. When there were only a few hundred dragons left in this system, and as far as they knew the galaxy, taking chances with their lives wasn't a good thing.

  On the other hand, he knew that they had to do something. Just sitting back would surely wipe them out over time.

  "We must discuss strategy," he said, stepping into the room. Askelon immediately snapped to attention, and the humans looked around at him curiously.

  Josie's expression was hard, though something else flickered behind her eyes. She would no more take the conquest of her species lying down than he would his own. That determination was another thing to admire about her, and he felt drawn to her despite himself.

  Askelon cleared his throat, and Verikan realized that he'd been staring at Josie, oblivious to the scientist's reply. Shaking his head, he forced himself to focus on the present.

  "Send the humans away," he said, putting a snap of command into his voice. "There are things we must speak of alone which cannot wait."

  "I will return them to their cell at once, my Prince," Askelon said, bowing. In front of their human prisoners, he was much more formal — perhaps trying to set an example for them, Verikan thought, though it came across as insincere.

  "No, I will take them," he replied. "You prepare a summary of what you have learned and fetch Mordrak. This is a discussion for all three of us."

  He didn't know where the Guard Captain had gone after their fight, but they had to face each other and make peace. Nothing could be achieved if the dragons were at odds with each other. Perhaps Askelon's presence would keep Mordrak from continuing their conflict. Verikan wanted to tear the guard captain limb from limb for hurting Josie, but he knew that they had to cooperate for at least a little while.

  Turning, he gestured for the humans to follow him and led them out of the door. He heard them close behind him, hurrying to keep up with his long stride.

  "Sir, are you the leader here?" asked one of them. He glanced back at the male, recognizing Commander Woods, the man who had claimed to be in charge of the humans here. Before, he had seemed afraid. Now he was wheedling and submissive. Some leader, Verikan thought. If this is the kind of man they send to lead their expeditions, perhaps conquering their world would not be so difficult after all.

  Verikan nodded at the man, wondering what he had to say.

  "On behalf of all of us I want to thank you for this opportunity," the man said, with a smile that made him look desperate to please. "The technology you have here is marvelous and I'm certain that once we're a part of your empire it will be better for all humanity."

  Verikan suppressed a growl. What kind of a man would give in so quickly? Whatever Askelon had promised these men, it seemed to be enough to bring him onside.

  Maybe he's tricking me, trying to lull us into a false sense of security? It was strange to be hoping that this man was betraying him, but how could he respect a man who would turn traitor so easily? Verikan couldn't see any hidden strength in the man's eyes: if he was lying, he was doing an excellent job of it.

  Woods seemed to be waiting for a response, and Verikan considered giving him some trite thanks. He'd seen enough recordings of his ancestors dealing with newly-conquered species to know the forms of it, even if he'd never conquered a world himself. A glance at Josie and the contempt in her eyes made him reconsider, though. She didn't approve at all, and he didn't want her to think that he did.

  "We'
ll see," he said finally, turning away and walking faster. Setting a pace which kept the humans from talking to him, he led them to one of the guest chambers of the palace. They might be prisoners but there was no need for them to be uncomfortable.

  "In here," he said. "You'll find everything you need to be comfortable. Josie will show you how to operate the foodmaker and so on."

  "Thank you, my lord," Woods responded with an ingratiating smile that made Verikan want to throttle him. He ground his teeth, turning to leave.

  "Wait!" Josie's voice stopped him in his tracks. "Verikan, we have to talk."

  For a moment he stood in the doorway, tempted to leave the conversation for later. He was already frustrated and there was so much to do. But he also felt the aching pull of her presence and knew that he couldn't deny her a chance to talk to him.

  "Step outside," he said to her, and closed the door behind them, leaving the two of them alone in the corridor.

  She stepped close, looking up at him, and the glare in her eyes was as fierce as any warrior's. Taking a deep breath, she spoke with an earnest conviction. "You are not invading my homeworld."

  Verikan smiled. He couldn't help it. She was small, weak compared to him, and helpless. With the other humans locked on the other side of the door, she was completely alone — and still she was willing to challenge a dragon prince like that. What Woods lacked in moral strength, Josie more than made up for.

  He'd never found a female more alluring, and he could feel his body responding to her again. It took an effort not to give in to that pull.

  "You should not speak to a prince that way, Josie," he said, trying to be firm. "And I have a duty to my species and empire."

  "What about mine?" She put her hands on her hips, meeting his eyes and not looking away. "Do you think we're all like Woods, that we'll all just roll over and let you take charge?"

  "Of course not," he said, shaking his head and looking away. "No, there will be battles, that's the way of conquest. I don't like it but—"

  "Then don't do it! It's that simple," Josie interrupted. Verikan blinked at her, shocked that she would dare. But he couldn't argue with her point, not really.

  "I don't want to fight you, but I have to serve my people," he said. He knew what his parents would have said about him explaining himself to a captive, but they were long dead now. Josie was here, in front of him, her questions demanding answers. "The Empire is all we know, Josie. I have to preserve it."

  "No, you don't. You can walk away from it, we can walk away from it."

  There were tears in her eyes, and he could see that she wasn't just upset for her people. Brushing her cheek, he felt the heat of her skin against his hand and wrestled with the urge to pull her to him, to try and comfort her. How can I do that when I'm the thing that's upsetting her?

  "I don't want to fight you, Josie," he said, hearing the pain in his own voice and cursing himself for showing it. "We don't have to speak of this."

  "Do you think I want to? Verikan, if we don't talk about this, if I don't talk you out of this, people will die. My people. Maybe your people too. I don't want to fight with you, I don't want to argue with you, just promise you'll spare Earth and kiss me and it'll all be okay."

  The weight of her pain, the conflict inside her, tore at him. Leaning down, he planted a kiss on her forehead and felt her shiver with suppressed need for him — a need he shared. Josie moaned softly, reaching up to hold the back of his head, pulling his lips down to hers.

  Neither of them could face pulling away. For a moment, it was as though the universe was just there for the pair of them, and there was nothing else. No war, no worries, no end of his species. Just him, and the woman he loved.

  Her body pressed to his, and he held her tight, hands exploring her curves. He felt his cock harden, and Josie moaned into his kiss as she pressed herself to his erection. The fire inside him burned with a terrible heat, and all he wanted in that moment was her. Screw his family, his obligations. All that mattered was the woman in his arms and her happiness.

  But he couldn't keep his duty from breaking into his thoughts for long. Pulling back from her, Verikan groaned with disappointment and saw the sadness in her eyes as they parted. Both of them breathed heavily as they took a step back and Verikan could see that she felt as frustrated as he did.

  Wordlessly, they looked at each other. His desire was almost strong enough to override his reason, and he could see that she was tempted to ignore hers too. And he would not do that to her, or to himself.

  When we are together it will be because we both want it, he promised himself. Not because we couldn't keep our desires in check. I will not have her regret being with me, not for one second. I may be a monster to her, but I won't be that monster.

  11

  Josie

  The door slid shut behind her, and Josie suppressed the urge to cry. Not while everyone can see me, she told herself sternly. She could keep her feelings under control until she was alone.

  On the other side of the door, Verikan was going to plan the invasion of Earth with his followers. The man who had, without hesitation, put himself between her and harm — planning a war that could kill millions. Her mind couldn't handle that contradiction, she knew that he was a good man, but what he felt he had to do was a horror she couldn't be a part of.

  No matter how much she wanted to be beside him.

  Opening her eyes, she saw that the others hadn't even noticed her return. Commander Woods and Dr. Cain were glaring at each other, arguing in strained, quiet voices. Owens and Radcliff watched them helplessly.

  "We came here to make money, didn't we? Well, this is a chance to get richer than we could ever have dreamed," Commander Woods said as she approached. "Come on, Doc, you know there's nothing we can do to stop them. If it's not us that end up in charge, it'll just be someone else, and I'm not going to pass up this shot."

  Cain shook her head. "We came here to establish a base on Mars. Done. You came here to find alien technology, Commander, but you didn't tell us that. Still, look around: we've found it. If money's what you care about, we'll still be rich if we kill the aliens, and we'll have saved the Earth too."

  Both looked up at her, and Josie felt her heart flip-flop as she realized she was being asked to choose between them. Betray Earth or kill the aliens and steal their stuff. Great.

  She could see Dr. Cain's point about saving the Earth, but wiping out the aliens? That would be genocide. And it would mean killing Verikan — as much as she tried to keep that out of her decision, she couldn't bear the thought of him dead.

  "There are hundreds more of the aliens," she said, avoiding making a direct choice. "I don't know how many exactly, but a lot. Still asleep, I think, somewhere in here."

  "Then we have to act fast, before they wake," Dr. Cain said at once. "If we can kill the leaders, then they won't wake the rest and we can take our time working out what to do with them."

  "Don't be stupid, Doctor," Woods said. "Look, we can't be sure we'll get them all, no matter how we try. We don't have weapons, we don't have trained soldiers, and you've seen what they can do. No, we're going to accept the inevitable. They will conquer Earth, so we might as well help. That way we can make it less painful for everyone involved. We're doing Earth a service if we can make the takeover peaceful."

  "That's ridiculous, Mike," said Dr. Cain, strain showing in her voice. "You're just trying to justify it to yourself. Earth will fight no matter what we do."

  "Yes, but we can make introductions. Get some countries onside with the dragons before the war starts. That way it will be quicker, and the dragons will have their administrators in place. Under us, of course."

  Josie looked between the two of them, trying to decide who to back. Neither idea was appealing to her, but they were right about one thing. The humans here were the only ones who could affect what was going to happen, and they had to pick a side.

  She wasn't going to pick Woods. The man's desperate desire for wealth and power
had been bad enough when he was just leading a poorly-funded exploration mission. The idea of letting him sell out the future of humanity made her sick. But Cain's plan was to wipe out an entire civilization, for all that it was only a few hundred people strong. Humanity's first contact with another intelligent species and she wanted to kill them all.

  Taking a deep breath, Josie sat down hard. She had to do better than the two of them. "You're both wrong. What we need to do is escape, get to the ship, and tell Earth. That will let them prepare, and we can leave it to people whose job it is to make decisions like this."

  The others stared at her in surprise, and she realized that they'd both just been expecting her to agree with one of them. Neither had considered that she might have her own plan. She took advantage of their shock to keep talking before they could interrupt.

  "Look, Mike, that way you get to be the savior of the planet." Josie felt a little sick buttering him up like that, but she needed to make the idea appeal to him. "You'll have made first contact, and you'll have prevented the first interplanetary war. You'll be a hero instead of a hated collaborator."

  She turned to Cain. "Doctor, we can't risk your plan. If we try to attack them and fail, you know they'll be furious. Imagine the retaliation against Earth, it'll only make things worse. This just isn't a problem we're equipped to deal with — we don't even have any weapons."

  For a moment, she thought that she'd succeeded in uniting them. But then Woods forced a laugh and shook his head.

  "We can't even leave this room," he said. "How would we escape to the ship? Hell, you've lost your spacesuit, Josie. You're right that we can't fight them, but we can't run either. We've no choice but to cooperate."

  Cain snorted, her pale face drawn. "No choice? God damn it, Mike, you'll leap at any excuse to give in to them. I knew you were a coward but this is ridiculous."