Dragons of Mars Box Set

by Leslie Chase

  It was one thing to look into an abyss like this when he could fly. With his injured wings and inability to shift, the drop would be lethal. It commanded a lot more respect now, and he took a step back before looking to see where Harry's trail led.

  He'd followed the edge of the cliff until he'd found a way down, and taken it. Zardan swore to himself. Presumably the human boy wanted his adventure and wasn't going to stop just because of the risk to his life.

  There was a narrow ledge leading down and along the cliff face, and Harry's footprints went that way until the uneven cliff wall blocked his sight. Thousand Suns, why did the boy keep going? This isn't safe.

  Behind him, Gillian was moving with reckless speed, and Zardan waved at her to stop. If she saw him, she ignored his gesture. Zardan growled into his mask and braced himself as he stepped into her path. Catching her mid-leap, he swung Gillian up into his arms. Her protest was lost in the static, and he didn't try to answer. Surefooted on the ice, he ignored her struggles as he carried her to the cliff top and let her see the canyon she'd nearly run into.

  Gillian's squirming stopped as she stared down into space, and then her arm went around him, holding tight. Zardan lowered his face to hers, letting their glass faceplates touch. Sound carried through the glass, and he could hear her swearing under her breath.

  "Calm yourself," he told her. "And next time I tell you to stop, pay attention."

  Gillian closed her mouth with a snap, glaring up at him. Good. Angry is better than afraid, he told himself. It felt hollow, though. Having his mate angry at him would never feel like a victory.

  "My brother's down there," she said, voice cold. "And you're telling me to calm down? He could have fallen, he could be injured or worse down there."

  "And you falling wouldn't help him," he snapped back before he could get control of his words. "We'll find him, but we'll do it quicker if you don't fight me on this."

  Gillian didn't answer, just squirmed against his grip. But Zardan had no intention of setting her down. Lifting her over his shoulder, he carefully lowered himself onto the icy path and made his way down the slope.

  It took a while for Gillian to stop struggling, and he was fairly sure she hadn't stopped swearing yet. But with their helmets separated he couldn't hear any of what she was saying, and that was a small mercy. Eventually she settled down and he could move faster without worrying about her throwing his balance off. The path was narrow but as he followed it he realized that it was curiously even. As though it had been carved from the ice, perhaps? And, while it was worryingly narrow for him, for a human it would have been comfortably wide.

  It seemed unlikely that something like this had formed naturally. And that was a mystery that wouldn't stop preying on his mind. Why would someone have dug a path down like this? It would have been a lot of work.

  But there were no answers to be seen, and he pressed on rather than ponder it. Investigating that mystery could wait until they'd made sure that Harry was safe. He followed the steep path down along the cliff, walking deeper and deeper into the rift. Soon they were well below the surface, a sheer wall on one side and a deep drop on the other.

  Fortunately, finding Harry didn't take much longer. Zardan turned the corner to see the young human's flashlight reflecting from the ice up ahead. Another turn, and there he was, standing on a broader part of the ledge and looking at the cliff face. As soon as he saw Zardan approaching he waved him closer, gesturing at the ice wall ahead of him. The radio crackled with static, masking whatever he might be trying to say, but it was easy to see that the human was excited about his discovery.

  Seeing what he'd found, Zardan couldn't blame him for being excited. A large opening had been burned into the cliff beside the path they'd followed, and where the path was probably not natural, the cave mouth definitely wasn't. The surface was smooth where the water had refrozen and the tunnel extended deep into the cliff.

  Zardan put Gillian down carefully on the ice ahead of him. She shot him a glare, then turned it to Harry, and Zardan knew she was trying to decide who to be furious with first.

  Harry wasn't about to wait for her to make up her mind. With an impatient gesture he walked into the artificial cave. Gillian stomped after him and Zardan followed, looking around as they entered the cave. It was easily large enough for him to walk upright, and that was strange in and of itself. There weren't many reasons for someone to take the extra effort to melt the tunnel that big. It had to mean that they'd wanted something big to be able to make its way into the ice.

  Or out of it.

  Zardan stopped and stared, wondering what in the Thousand Suns could be at the end of that tunnel. It didn't make any sense for Karaos and his allies to be digging here. For all that they'd descended deep into the rift, they still had to be miles above the entrance to the Herendar estate. Could the ice have lifted something from the surface, over all those centuries? He shook his head. It was possible, but he didn't know what might have attracted Karaos's attention.

  Still, it had to be Karaos. And he had to have a reason for digging here: it was far enough from any source of air that it couldn't have been easy. Aside from the ice farm, the air would be at Fuller Station and that was far enough to make the round trip a pain. A dragon flying out from there wouldn't have been able to work for long before needing to go back and breathe.

  There's only one way to find out what they were looking for, he thought, following the humans inside. Ahead of him, Gillian stared around at the passage as she walked, her shock palpable.

  13

  Gillian

  "What on Earth—" Gillian said, looking at the hole melted into the cliff face. Realizing that no one could hear her, she shut her mouth with a snap. The static was worse here, and seemed to get stronger the deeper she went into the tunnel. There was no way her signal was getting through.

  Anyway, we're not on Earth, she reminded herself. And what did this on Mars is clear. It had to have been a dragon.

  Melting this much ice, in these temperatures, would be difficult. But a fire-breathing lizard the size of a bus? That might be able to do it, she thought. Not quickly or easily, perhaps, but it would work.

  Harry ran ahead to the end of the tunnel, excited by his discovery, and for once Gillian couldn't blame him. This was amazing, and the way the light reflected from the tunnel walls was beautiful. Turning, she looked to see what Zardan thought of it, only to see him frowning through his mask.

  She started to ask why, and caught herself in time. Stepping close to him, she pressed her faceplate against his so that they could hear each other.

  "Okay, what's wrong?"

  "I don't like this," he said. "The dragons who dug this out must have been the ones who tried to kill you. This place, whatever it is, brought danger to my mate and I don't like that."

  Gillian hadn't thought about that, and she felt her face pale as his words sank in. The ice cavern seemed a little less inviting once she considered who'd made it. Swallowing, she forced herself to smile. "It's still good that we know what they're doing here, right? I mean, if they wanted this place hidden, then we don't. Maybe once it's not a secret they won't be interested anymore."

  Zardan looked dubious, and Gillian didn't need him to tell her why. Going on past form, they'd try to cover up the find by killing everyone here before they gave up on it... and she still didn't know what it was that they'd found.

  Better fix that, she thought, smiling with a dark humor. Wouldn't want to die without knowing why I'm being killed, after all.

  "The ice could have lifted something from the surface as it froze," she thought aloud. "But it would have crushed whatever it was. Wouldn't it?"

  "I'm not sure," Zardan said, sounding unhappy at the admission. "Dragon technology is tough, very tough. Something of my family's might have survived. but the weight of this ice..."

  He trailed off, and in the silence that followed, Gillian was very aware of just how close their faces were to each other. If it wasn't for the g
lass between them his lips would be close enough to kiss, and the thought was infinitely distracting.

  The two of them stared at each other, and a tremor of desire ran through Gillian's body. Her breath caught. Swallowing, she pulled back and tried to keep her mind off his oh-so-kissable lips. Anger was a refuge, something to hide behind, and she wrapped it around her like a cloak.

  He's not here to help me, he's here to reclaim his land. She had to keep reminding herself of that. Zardan was an ally, perhaps. He was gorgeous, certainly. But for the sake of her family, she couldn't afford to trust him or let her attraction to him blind her.

  Before she could decide what to do next, Harry came bounding back up the tunnel towards them. Skidding to a stop beside her, he untangled a connector cable from his suit and linked it to hers. Their communicators linked directly, and the static faded to a manageable hiss as he spoke.

  "Stop messing around up here, sis," he said, pointing back down the tunnel. "I can see something in the ice. I think there's a light!"

  "What?" Gillian's head snapped around to look where Harry had been. Was that a dark shape behind the far wall? She couldn't be sure, but it seemed possible. Or maybe it's just darker ice. We can't tell, not like this.

  Killing her flashlight, she waved for Harry to do the same. Plunged into darkness, Gillian's eyes adjusted and there it was. A faint, almost imperceptible red glow from under the ice. There really was a light down there, frozen into ice that hadn't melted in centuries.

  Gillian shivered. It was one thing to know that there were ruins of a thousand-year dead civilization buried on Mars. It was quite another to see the lights of one shining back at her.

  That's enough to make me believe in ghosts, she thought, swallowing nervously.

  "That's impossible," Zardan whispered as he stepped up beside her, pressing his helmet to hers again. His presence comforted her, though she didn't want to admit that. He'd keep her safe from whatever ghosts haunted the ruins, surely? Or would he attract the ghosts of his own kind?

  There's no such thing as ghosts, she told herself firmly. It didn't quite stop her trembling as they approached the wall and its faint red glow.

  "What do you think it is?" she asked him, reaching out to tap the ice with a shaking hand.

  Zardan shrugged, and though she could barely see him in this darkness, she could imagine the frown on his handsome face. The look of irritation at the unanswered question in front of him, the focus in his alien eyes. Stop daydreaming about him, she told herself, trying to focus on the mystery ahead of them. It wasn't easy when he was right there, so close to her.

  Eventually, Zardan brought his helmet back into contact with hers and answered. "I do not know what it is, but I do know how to find out. I can finish what they started."

  Gillian snapped around to look at him, shocked at the idea.

  "You're too badly injured," she objected. "You can't shift, you said so yourself!"

  "I can't fly," he corrected. "And I probably shouldn't shift. But we need to know what's in there. I can manage."

  "Don't be ridiculous. I'll get one of the robots to dig through."

  "Sis," Harry said, startling her. He'd been so quiet that she'd forgotten he was still connected by cable. "I don't think that'll work. I mean, this tunnel is big, maybe even big enough for a mining robot — but how would we get one down here? That ledge outside isn't going to support one, I'm pretty sure."

  Gillian opened her mouth to argue, and then shut it with a snap. He wasn't wrong. With a frustrated groan, she shook her head and started to speak, only for her brother to talk over her.

  "Plus, you know, we've been losing control of the robots around here. I don't think that—"

  "All right, Harry," she snapped, throwing up her hands. "Fine, you're right. Robots are out. We could fetch hand tools, though."

  Even as she said it she was losing confidence in the idea. Going back and fetching them, then digging through however many yards of ice, all of that would take a long time. She peered into the ice again, trying to work out how far away that light was. It wasn't easy to make out, but it was still deep in the ice. Digging that far would be a lot of work, and she was impatient for an answer. All of them were.

  The silence stretched for a long moment, and then she nodded. "Okay, okay. Fine. If you think it's safe, Zardan, shift and see if you can get through. Don't come complaining to me if you hurt yourself, though. I warned you."

  Zardan didn't dignify that with a response, shooing the two humans back up the cavern towards the exit. Grabbing Harry, Gillian pulled him up the tunnel and onto the ledge outside.

  "Harry, I want you to go back to the farm," she said. He started to argue, but she didn't give him a chance to speak.

  "Just do as I say for once, Harry. One of us has to be up there, in case there's news from Dad."

  "Why does it have to be me, though?" Harry's voice was a petulant whine and she pursed her lips.

  "Because you're the youngest, and I say so," she snapped. As soon as the words were out she knew it wasn't a good answer. Sighing, she tried again. "Okay, no. I can do better than that. It's because I'm terrified that something'll happen to you if you stay. Whatever's in there could be dangerous, and I'm supposed to be looking after you, Harry. I love you."

  Harry glared for a moment, then looked away. Through the glass of his helmet Gillian thought she could see him blush. "That's not playing fair, sis."

  "I know. I'm not trying to be fair." Gillian hugged her little brother. "This isn't a game, and there's no prize for sportsmanship. I can't have you risking your life here. Please go home."

  After a long pause, Harry nodded. "Okay, okay. I'll go back home, and you can play with your dragon boyfriend."

  "He's not my—" Gillian caught herself, felt her cheeks heat, and started again. Don't argue when you're winning. "I mean thank you, Harry. I really do appreciate it."

  "Yeah, yeah." With that, he unplugged the cable from her suit and headed up the narrow path along the cliff. Gillian watched until he was out of sight, hoping that she'd made the right choice in sending him away. If Danforth or Karaos came back, the farm might be even more dangerous than here. It was too late to change her mind now, though. Even if she'd wanted to, there was no way to call Harry back through the static.

  She sat back carefully out of the way of the opening, waiting for Zardan to re-emerge. It wouldn't be safe in the confined spaces in there, not with a dragon breathing fire.

  As though to prove that point, a tremendous rush of steam and fog burst from the opening, freezing in the thin air and falling as snow. Another, and then another followed as Zardan worked his way through the yards of ice.

  Each burst was beautiful as it caught the light, shimmering with a rainbow of colors, and Gillian watched, transfixed. But the work wasn't quick, and she shivered as Zardan sent cloud after cloud of steam rushing out to freeze in the rift.

  Eventually, though, Zardan reappeared from the ice cave. He looked exhausted behind his mask, but he managed a smile and a bow, gesturing for Gillian to go and look at what he'd found. She frowned, wanting to make sure that he was okay first. But she wasn't sure how she could do that, and her curiosity got the better of her anyway. Setting off down the tunnel, she went to see what he'd uncovered.

  The tunnel felt strange underfoot, freshly-frozen ice crunching as Gillian made her way through it. It looked different, too. The red light was bright now, enough that her helmet darkened automatically to cope with the glare. That meant that the ice had been thicker than she'd thought, and sure enough, the newly-cleared area was deep. She was very glad they hadn't tried to excavate it with hand tools.

  At the end of it was a gleaming metal surface, the light coming from a square in its center. Gillian swallowed nervously as she approached it. Knowing there was something stuck in the ice had been bad enough, but seeing it made it feel real. Real and frightening.

  The new ice was treacherous underfoot, and her eyes were locked on the end of the corr
idor of ice rather than watching where she was stepping. Gillian stumbled and almost fell, would have fallen if Zardan hadn't been there to catch her. Blushing, she pulled away and straightened up.

  She hadn't forgiven him the indignity of the way he'd carried her down the slope, and wasn't going to give him another excuse to do that here.

  Was it really that bad? Part of her argued his case, and she wished it would shut up. Being carried in his arms was too much like something out of her dreams, and she wasn't sure what to think of that. Half infuriated that he'd done it, half regretting that the bulk of her suit had been between him and her skin, she did her best to put it out of her mind.

  As she reached the end of the tunnel, she realized what she was seeing and that drove everything else from her thoughts. It was unmistakably a door. Approaching it carefully, Gillian looked at the controls Zardan had uncovered and swore under her breath. The writing was alien too, of course, but there was no disguising that this was an airlock.

  Why? The dragons had an atmosphere shield around Mars, didn't they? That was what the scientists said, anyway, according to the news shows she'd seen. If Mars had an atmosphere back then, though, why would a building have an airlock?

  Because it's not a building. The thought turned up unbidden, but it fitted. The whole wall was at an odd angle, and it curved softly. And, she reminded herself, it was embedded ice miles above the Martian surface. It had to be something else, something mobile.

  It had to be a spaceship.

  Her heart hammered at the thought. An alien spaceship. This would be the first one that anyone had found, and that made it a prize worth killing for. People would pay any amount for it, especially if it still worked. And the light that still shone showed that at least some of it was functional.