by Leslie Chase
The other passengers seemed to be perfectly happy, which only annoyed Ashley more as she sunk into her landing couch. Checking that the straps were tight for what felt like the hundredth time, she tried to relax. It was impossible.
"You okay there?" her neighbor asked. He was an older man, some kind of corporate executive from the look of his suit. Probably heading into Olympus Colony to check on his corporation's investments on Mars, Ashley thought, sizing him up. But his smile was friendly and warm, and his eyes showed genuine concern. Not the asshole type of executive she was used to.
"I'm not used to flying," she told him. "And this is worse than I expected. Going to space is awful."
"Ah." He looked thoughtful and then leaned closer. "My company makes these ships, and I'm in Health and Safety. So I can tell you for certain that you're safer up here than you are in a car on Earth. We haven't lost one since long before we started running passengers to Mars."
Ashley looked up at him and felt herself smile against her will. "So, what you're saying is that you're due a crash?"
The executive looked startled for a moment and then laughed. A second later she joined him, glad to let go of some of the tension.
"Young lady, that's a dark sense of humor you have there," he said, mock-disapproving. "My name's Peter Hampstead, by the way. Interglobal Enterprises."
"I'm only half joking, I'm afraid," Ashley said, prying her hand from the armrest to shake his. "Ashley Warren, and I really am deathly afraid of flying. Don't take it personally."
"Dear me, you must have a very important reason to make this trip then," Peter said, then shook his head. "What do you do?"
"Reclamation engineer," she said. It was a polite way to say scavenger, and what she put on her tax forms. It sounded a lot more formal than the reality of her life. Scrambling through ruins to find and fix up old machines for sale was a far cry from an executive's comfortable life in a corporate compound. Peter frowned for a moment and then his eyes lit up as he made the connection.
"Ah! Looking at the dragon technology, right? Trying to get a handle on how it works?" he beamed. "That's wonderful work. Lots to learn, and there's a fortune to be made for whoever can get it functioning. The artificial gravity on our ships is based on dragon technology now."
Ashley smiled back, oddly pleased by his enthusiasm. It was something that a lot of people thought, but it was a misplaced hope. The alien technology was centuries ahead of Earth's, if not more, and it had also lain in ruins for a thousand years. Scavengers like her were used to working with decades-old human tech. Usually there was a user manual somewhere online if she knew what she was looking for.
Scavengers did make a lot on Mars, using their skills to find caches of lost tech that could be salvaged for parts. But figuring out how the damned stuff worked? That was a job for scientists, and Ashley emphatically wasn't one of those.
But her trip to Mars was based on the hope that people would believe she could crack the dragons' code and get their technology to work. If this man was fooled by the idea, that was a sign that maybe, just maybe, she could pull this off. Maybe, against all her fears, the aliens running the Imperial Research Center would believe that she could unravel the mysteries of dragon shifter technology. If not, this whole trip would be a massive waste of time and Ashley couldn't bring herself to admit that possibility. Not when her brother back on Earth was relying on her success.
She pulled out her picture of him, a photograph of Michael on his hospital bed. I can't fail him. I just can't.
Peter looked at the picture too, his enthusiasm dampening. Ashley blushed and pushed the photo back into her pocket.
"My brother," she explained. "He's got Trygvassen syndrome."
"Ah," Peter said, momentarily at a loss for words. "I'm sorry."
There wasn't much more to say. Trygvassen syndrome was one of the new diseases that came out of the ruins, and the only treatments for it were expensive. Too expensive for her, unless she did something drastic and foolish. Exactly what I'm coming to Mars to do, she thought.
Peter was talking again, and she tried to focus on him. It wasn't easy, but then he didn't seem to care. She thought he was only talking to try and distract her from her fears, which was nice of him. Unfortunately, her fear of flying was only the most obvious of her worries.
Outside the window, the red horizon of Mars leveled out as the ship came into land. It wouldn't be long now until she was safe on the ground. And then, once she was past the imagined dangers of flying, she'd have to face the very real danger that brought her to Mars.
A plan to steal the dragons' secrets.
Just thinking those words made the blood drain from her face. If she had any other choice, any at all, she'd have leaped at it. But her mysterious 'employer' had made things very clear when he'd sought her out. Once she'd accepted the job there were only two ways out of it: succeeding or dying. And if she failed it wouldn't just be her that suffered.
Half of her wished that, despite Peter's assurances, the damned ship would crash after all.
Somewhat to her regret, the ship touched down smoothly and without incident. Ashley sat still and caught her breath while all around her the other passengers disembarked. Peter was kind enough to stop and make sure that she was okay before heading off to whatever meeting Interglobal had sent him all this way for. Then she was alone on a strange world.
Everyone else was gone by the time she stumbled out of the ship, which suited her fine. Collecting her luggage — not very much for someone moving planets, she realized glumly — she made her way through customs. That was easy enough: no one was worried about things being smuggled onto Mars. People taking things offworld was what the Dragon Empire worried about. Ashley's mouth quirked at the thought, half smile half grimace. She might have to face that side of things too if things went well. But that was a long way in the future, and there was no point in worrying about it now.
The domed city of Olympus Colony waited outside the spaceport, a bustling hive of activity. It was hard to imagine that it was only a few years old, and that it had started out as a purely scientific outpost. It was only meant to study the possibility of long-term settlements on Mars. Now it was a huge place, and Ashley could see new domes being constructed to expand it further. The discovery of alien technology had changed everything.
For a moment, she felt as though she could vanish into the city and forget about everything else. But it wasn't that big, and her employer would hunt her down if she tried it. She might not know who he was, but she knew that no one with the resources and ambition to try to rob the Dragon Empire would shrug off her betrayal.
She couldn't hope to hide from him. When he'd come to her with this proposal, he'd known everything about her — and she didn't even know his name. He'd called himself 'Mr. Johnson' but she knew better than to believe it. What she did believe was that he was a rich and powerful man, and a vengeful one.
Squaring her shoulders, she stepped out into the city to find the room she'd booked. It was right beside the port, that being the only criterion she'd cared about when she looked for a place to stay. Small, expensive, and windowless it might be, but it was easy to get to and it gave her the illusion that it would be easy to leave the planet.
That was a false hope, she was pretty sure, but it made her feel better. Right now she needed all the confidence she could get.
At least there wasn't any jet lag to deal with. The ship had adjusted its clock to Olympus Colony's during the flight and Ashley was exhausted enough to fall asleep easily. She woke early, feeling refreshed despite the small and uncomfortable bed. Perhaps it was an advantage of Mars's lower gravity, or maybe it was simply the fact that she wasn't in space. Whatever the reason, she felt better than she had since lift off from Earth, and better able to face the day ahead than she'd expected.
Time to face the music, she thought as she got ready for the day ahead. This was the first real test of the plan, the first point where she could fail. A look at the pict
ure of her brother reminded her why she couldn't let that happen., and she took a steadying breath before heading out into the city.
The flaw in her choice of accommodation was obvious as soon as she started the walk — close to the spaceport meant a long way from her destination. At least there was a tram system that would take her close to her destination, though figuring out the route took her nearly as long as walking would have.
She tried to distract herself with the sights of the new city, and there was certainly a lot to see. The buildings towered over her, built tall in the low gravity of Mars, and the people were colorful in ways she wasn't used to. It was easy to spot those who'd been on Mars for a long time by the way they moved. People like her, fresh from Earth, had a harder time with the weak gravity.
It was, she had to admit, a spectacularly beautiful city. But none of that prepared her for the sight that greeted her as she neared her destination. The Imperial Research Center wasn't technically a part of Olympus Colony, so it was built outside the domes. A viewing gallery linked the city and the Center, giving passersby a look at the Martian desert outside.
And there, sitting on the red sands, was her target.
The Grace of Herendar was nothing like a human-built spaceship. Where humans built blocky, simple ships, it looked sleek and fast despite its damaged hull. And it had survived a millennium trapped under the ice at the Martian north pole before being dug up for research. Ashley was certain that no human ship would last nearly as well.
The Research Center itself was a crystal spire that rose into Mars' dark sky like a jagged dagger, showing the impressive technology that the Dragon Empire still held. Ashley had read that they'd grown the building in a single day, though she wasn't sure if she believed it was quite that fast.
Compared to human buildings, though, it might as well have sprung up overnight. The dragons just planted a seed crystal and walked away, letting it build itself to the specifications they'd programmed it with.
Another technology where they're centuries ahead of us, she thought, shivering. The idea of stealing from them seemed less and less appealing the closer she got, but what choice did she have? She was committed now, anyway. The time to back out was long past.
She turned her eyes back to the spaceship, trying to see it from a professional standpoint rather than a personal one. The viewing gallery she stood in was far enough back that she couldn't make out many details. Still, some things stood out. There was obvious damage to the dark gray hull of the ship, places where the weight of the ice had crushed it. And yet it still seemed whole, somehow. Eager to move, to be somewhere else. The Grace of Herendar didn't belong on the ground, it should be racing across the sky. It looked like it was built for speed, and it sitting here being poked and prodded by scientists wasn't right.
Now she was here to do some poking around of her own.
With a sigh, she turned away from the window overlooking the alien spaceship's resting place. It was time to get to work.
The viewing gallery was nearly empty at this time of day. As she walked along it to the door that would take her into the Imperial Research Center she wondered if anyone from the city ever visited. Right now it looked like a dozen tourists were the only people who cared enough about a starship parked outside the city to take a look. Perhaps the locals were bored of it already.
The doors of the Research Center were tall and imposing, filling the end of the glass corridor that linked the human Olympus Colony with the dragon's crystal tower. Ashley slowed as she approached it, her heart pounding and palms sweating. When she crossed this threshold, she'd be walking into the lair of the dragons and putting herself at their mercy.
Closing her eyes and counting to three, she steadied herself. I've done tougher jobs, she thought. And this is going to pay enough to retire on. I'll be safe. We'll be safe.
Clinging to that thought she held her head high and marched towards the Center's entrance. The doors slid open at her approach, and Ashley walked into a room dominated by a holographic sculpture hanging in the air. An image of a spaceship, half made of crystal and half metal. Not the Grace of Herendar, with its smooth lines and elegant design. This was a fusion of Earth's technology and Mars's and even to Ashley's untrained eyes it looked kludged together and ugly.
But it was something that could be built and repaired, unlike the old and broken ship on the red sands outside. A ship capable of jumping between the stars, using ancient dragon technology and human engineering. It was a wonder, and just looking at the image sent a chill through her.
As she stared at it, details changed and shifted and Ashley realized she wasn't looking at a still image. This was a video of the ship's construction, nearly complete. I wonder if it's live footage or a recording, she thought, before being jerked out of her wonder by someone speaking to her. Looking around, she blinked.
"I asked what your business here is, human," a dragon said from behind a great desk. His angry growl sent a tremor of fear through Ashley. She had experience of standing up to frightening humans, but this was different. The alien was over seven foot tall, and his scaled red skin covered muscles like she'd never seen before. And then there were the wings, adding to his height. He looked like he could tear her apart with his bare hands.
He's still just a man, she told herself. We're not going to fight, so there's no need to be frightened of him.
Fear turned to anger, which was much easier to control. She glared up at the man and pulled out her documentation.
"Of course I have business here," she snapped, letting her anger carry her forward. "You're expecting me. I'm Ashley Warren, the reclamation engineer you asked for."
Which was half true at best. How Mr. Johnson had gotten her a job here she didn't know, but she was pretty sure the dragons hadn't asked for her by name. Even if they were looking for a scavenger to help them, there were big firms that they could have approached. Not an independent contractor like her, working hand to mouth.
The best she'd been able to guess was that whoever he was, Mr. Johnson had influence with one of the human companies that made up the Mars Consortium. That would explain his influence, and his power.
Whatever magic he'd worked, though, it was enough. The dragon glanced at her papers, checked them against his terminal, and pushed them back to her. He was apparently satisfied that she was who she claimed to be (true) and that she had a good reason for being here (well...).
"Welcome, then," he said, gesturing to a doorway. "Take a seat through there. I have let the project team know you've arrived. No doubt someone will be down to collect you shortly."
He didn't sound very happy about her presence, and if he was greeting visitors he had to be one of the dragons most friendly to humans around here. Oddly, that made Ashley feel a little happier about the plan. If the dragons didn't look at her, then she'd have a much better chance of getting out of this alive and with the data she was here for.
I guess it makes sense, she told herself. This is their technology, needing to bring human experts in to figure out how it works has to be humiliating.
Almost as humiliating as it is for human scientists to have to scavenge alien technology, I suppose. Neither of our species comes out of this looking great.
Picking up her documents, she tried to give him a friendly smile. It wasn't easy to know if she'd succeeded — she could feel the sweat beading on her forehead and hoped that the dragon wasn't good at reading human body language.
As she turned in the direction of the door he indicated, the scream of a siren split the air. For a moment Ashley froze, her smile turning into a rictus of fear on her face. It can't be me, she told herself. I haven't even done anything yet.
2
Kosar
The tunnels under the Center were made of dark red stone, and sized for dragon shifters in warform to travel comfortably in. In the dark they still felt claustrophobic to Kosar, and his wings twitched as he hurried into the gloom. Emergency lights lit the junctions, but shadows fille
d the corridors themselves. Whoever was breaking in had done a good job of cutting the power, but not good enough to avoid setting off an alarm.
And as the security director of the Imperial Research Center, thieves were his prey. Kosar was determined that they wouldn't get past him to steal any of the secrets of his people.
A faint, cold draft told Kosar that there was a leak somewhere below him, deep in the tunnels. And that had to mean someone had punched a hole in the Mars rock, letting out the air. The Center's airmakers were keeping up so far, but they wouldn't last forever. He'd need to get that patched as quickly as he could.
I could call out a challenge, he thought, laughing to himself. As though any thieves would be honorable enough to face him. All he'd do is give away his position, and make it easy for them to either sneak past or ambush him.
Neither was a good idea, and that meant he had to keep his own lights out too. Creeping along in the dark, following the draft, he wished his life didn't have these moments of excitement. Security for the Imperial Research Center was important, yes, but it was still beneath the dignity of a warrior of the Dragon Guard. He should be guarding the person of the Emperor, not a bunch of human scientists.
Except that now there was no one else to do this kind of work. The only dragons left on Mars were the Guard and the Emperor they were sworn to serve and protect, and Emperor Verikan was the one who'd set Kosar this task. Reminding himself of that fact, he crept forward, hoping to find the intruders before they realized he was there.
It didn't take long before he heard a voice ahead, speaking English in a low whisper.
