The Defender of Rebel Falls: A Medieval Science Fiction Adventure (The William Whitehall Adventures Book 1)

by Christensen, Erik

  “They did…they were magnificent.” It was hard enough to speak in her presence, even without the uncertainty of how to address her. He dared not risk insulting her with a lesser title than she was entitled to. He felt silly worrying about protocol with a creature no older than an infant, but he couldn’t help it.

  “I’m glad,” she said. “When the Elder informed me of your visit here, and all you had done for my hive, I deemed it just that we return the favor.”

  “We are most grateful,” he said, resisting the urge to bow. Or should he? He was too nervous to think straight. “I hope our…peoples…can work together for mutual benefit in the future.” Was ‘peoples’ the right word? Would she even know if it wasn’t? King’s boots, this was Jack’s sort of job. William was sure he was about to botch it.

  “It is my hope as well,” said the Queen. “The Elder has also informed me of the arrangement he has made, to trade metal for…books, I believe. Is this your understanding as well?”

  “It is…yes, that’s correct.” He would have to find a way to give her a name. Calling her ‘Queen’ didn’t seem quite right, nor did any honorifics like ‘Majesty.’

  “I would like to see one of these books.”

  At last! Something he had done right. “I have one here,” he said, reaching into his pack. “The first one made for delivery to your people.” He moved tentatively forward to hand it to her.

  She lowered her head as though to scold him. “I am winged, not handed, William Whitehall. You must show it to me.”

  “Sorry. Of course.” He edged closer and held the book open in front of her. Slowly he turned the pages, knowing she couldn’t decipher the writing. Her sapphire-blue eyes mesmerized him as she scanned the pages; he smelled the sweetness of her breath that contained no hint of smoke or fire. He lowered his gaze, not wishing to be caught staring.

  “These markings are speech?” she asked. This time, she appeared to be the one in awe.

  “They are. This one says ‘dog’ in our language. This is a picture of a dog. This is ‘water’…and this says ‘tree’. This book is meant for our children, but it should suffice as a learning tool for you as well.”

  “I hope we may both profit from this exchange,” she said. “That is why I sent the drones…not only to help your people, but to release you from your promise of secrecy. The Elder was correct to extract this promise from you as I alone could say otherwise. I wished to make clear that I consider our peoples to be allies, as you did when you delivered the news of our attackers.”

  “I wondered about that. Were the hornets destroyed?”

  “All that we found,” she said. “None have been seen since I was hatched.”

  William hesitated, but curiosity drove him on. “May I…ask how long ago…?”

  “I was hatched 30 days ago,” she said without any hint of anger at the question. “But my quickening began long before. Hatching begins the final phase of the growth of my body, which is still quite small. I cannot yet breed, but my mind already exceeds even the Elder’s. Is it not so with your people?”

  “No, we require nearly twenty years for both our bodies and minds to mature. If Maya were here she could explain it better. Her mind is greater than those of our Elders as well.”

  “And yet she is not your queen.”

  “No,” said William. “We have both a King and a Queen, but the Queen does not rule.”

  “Your people seem as strange to me as ours must to you,” said the Queen. “I trust we will learn more of each other. You must have noticed that my people resemble a hive of insects. This was done on purpose.”

  “On purpose? How?”

  “The Elder explained that our people send colonies to different planets to either adapt or perish?”

  “He did,” said William. “He told us there must have been a colony on our home planet a long time ago. Earth, I mean.”

  “It seems certain. How else could we have learned your language so quickly? When a colony returns, it brings with it the knowledge it has gained, which is why your offer to trade knowledge is so welcome. But we also learn in another way.”

  “What way is that?”

  “By observing other creatures on worlds we are sent to, we learn which adaptations are effective and which are not. Of all the lifeforms we have encountered, the insect type is the most successful in numbers.”

  “You mean there are insects on other planets besides Earth and Esper?” asked William.

  “They would not be insects as you know them, but the likeness would be obvious. One breeding monarch, many workers, other specialized functionaries. But they lack other features that we value.”

  “Such as what?”

  “None of them has what you and I would call intelligence.”

  “So how did you manage to get both?”

  “You are familiar with how creatures become the way they are?” asked the Queen.

  “Not entirely,” he said. “I know parents pass on traits to their offspring, and traits that lead to survival are passed on to the next generation.”

  “Correct. Survival is but one part of it; creating offspring is the other. Survival without progeny is pointless.”

  “That makes sense.”

  “Dragonkind have learned another method of obtaining traits to add to our own, by sampling living material from other creatures. This is one of my duties: to find a successful species with traits we desire, and obtain a sample to be incorporated into my young.”

  William stood in stunned silence. The implications of this self-directed evolution were staggering. Add the speed of a horse to the strength of a bear, or the ferocity of a lion, and you’d have a formidable creature. The dragons already possessed so many daunting traits, he couldn’t imagine what else they would need. “Well, now that you’re no longer hiding your existence, I suppose you’re free to look for such a species.”

  “We have found the desired species already. In fact, we already know the one member of that species that we want.”

  “Already? That’s fast work.” Again, curiosity overcame shyness. “May I ask what it is?”

  “Yes. It is you.”

  Many emotions gripped William at once. The first and most dominant was ‘why me?’ What did he have to offer that the dragons did not already have? Lurking behind that thought was another asking what would be expected of him. Would he have to stay here? Could he come and go as he pleased? Would he even survive the process? But none of these found a voice. “I am honored,” he said. “But my people hold sacred the birth of their children, as I expect your people do. I hope to have children of my own someday, and becoming father to a generation of dragons might make that impossible for me.”

  The Queen’s bright blue eyes sparkled as though she was laughing. “No, William Whitehall. No father would you be to my children. I expect the drones would have something to say about it even if it were possible.”

  “Then—”

  “If you agree to it, I will take a minuscule piece of you. Like your books, each life is formed by writing of a kind. I would add a part of your writing to mine. Some will be added to the life story of my children, so you would be more an uncle to them than a father. Which, if I understand human families, would make you a brother to me.”

  William’s mind spun. “What quality of mine could you want? Nothing about me would improve your people.”

  “You think too little of yourself, William Whitehall. This one fact nearly disqualified you. But what the Elder most admires is your overwhelming desire to learn and accept new things. We also have this trait, but it is limited. The Elder believes that by adding your powerful curiosity to our own, we might better our chances to fulfill our destiny and return to our home world victorious. And I agree.”

  She was right. He did feel a strong desire to learn everything. It wasn’t what he most admired about himself, but he recognized its value. “So, how do we do this?”

  “You are offering your life story to me?”

&nb
sp; “As long as it doesn’t kill me, yes.”

  The Dragon Queen closed her eyes and dipped her head, a bow if William had ever seen one. “Come forward,” she said as she raised her head. “Hold out your arm.” Her tail reached around from behind her and wrapped itself around William’s outstretched arm. A long, thin golden needle extended from the end of her tail. William shuddered against his will as the tip of it pricked his skin, but he felt almost nothing as it penetrated. The tiny needle was opaque; whether it drew blood, skin or muscle he could not tell. It may even have hit bone, for all he could feel. The Queen withdrew the needle, leaving a small dot of blood on his skin. He rubbed the spot after she unwrapped her tail from him, and felt nothing worse than a bruise.

  Her tail now touched her belly, and the same needle that pierced his skin now pushed into hers. After a small shudder she pulled her tail away. “Thank you, William Whitehall. Now you must ask something of me in return.”

  William pondered. What does one ask of a Queen after donating genetic material? Especially one whose name he didn’t know? Wait—of course! That’s what he wanted. “What is your name?” he asked.

  Her eyes laughed again. “The Elder—or Chronos, as I understand it—told me you preferred to call us by name. My name in our way of speaking simply means Queen. Will that not suffice?”

  “In our language that would be your title, not your name. For instance, our Queen’s name is Sabrina.”

  “Perhaps you could call me that.”

  “No, that would be confusing.”

  “Very well. What would you call me?”

  William looked around for inspiration. They had named the other dragons for old gods, but that seemed inappropriate for the Queen. Nothing in these dirty, dusty tunnels could suggest a name for such a beautiful creature. In fact, the juxtaposition seemed bizarre, like the lotus flower Maya had shown him months ago growing from the murky water.

  Aha! That was it. “Padma,” he said. “I would call you Padma.”

  “I like the sound of it,” said the Queen. “What does it mean?”

  “It’s a flower revered for its beauty, and for the fact that it grows in the dirtiest of conditions. It’s considered a good omen to find one.”

  “I offer you a gift in exchange for the one you gave me, and instead you give me yet another. I will watch for this trait in my children. It will be most welcome.”

  “You honor me,” he said, unable to resist bowing.

  “Very well,” she said. “I will give you a gift rather than having you ask for one. I will give you a name as well. All dragons are named for their place in the hive. I will call you Brother, and you will be known to my people as the Queen’s Brother. I think it fit seeing that—what is wrong with your eyes? Are they damaged?”

  “No,” he said, laughing as he wiped away the tears. He was glad Jack wasn’t here to tease him. “I am grateful for the name. It will be among my most valued possessions.”

  The drones crowded him for the honor of carrying him back to Rebel Falls. Perhaps they were only eager to please the Queen in hopes of fathering her children when she was ready. Regardless, William had the pick of mounts to choose from. Word had spread of his new name, and the drones all called him “Brother,” each professing to be the fastest. William laughed and said he hoped he could fly with each of them soon, and simply chose the nearest one for the flight home. He would have selected Apollo again, but he wasn’t sure if it would tax him to fly again so soon. Besides, if carrying him was an honor, he would do well to spread it around.

  As he climbed onto the back of his new traveling partner, he remembered his pack. He had left it in the Queen’s chamber, forgotten after he had displayed the book to her. No matter—nothing else in it warranted running after it. But before they could take flight, the Ambassador himself arrived, carrying William’s pack in his mouth. The silver and black dragon had to reach up slightly to pass it to him, so large was the silver mount that William had chosen.

  “Thank you, Ambassador. Ouch, that’s heavy. You didn’t put the book back in here, did you?” he asked.

  “No,” said the Ambassador. “Only payment for it.”

  William had barely enough time to peek into the bag before the dragon took flight. He laughed aloud in surprise, yanked the strap tight and pulled the bag close to his body. It wouldn’t do to lose it before he could show Sir Hiram.

  Private enterprise has a long history dating back to the first few years after Arrival. It was quickly determined that personal gain created greater production than central planning could, and early attempts at a controlled economy were quickly abandoned. Large cooperative efforts were made possible when rules were written regarding capital, liability, and shared profits.

  These laws remained in place after Conversion, and survive to this day. Though modeled after Partnerships on Earth rather than Corporations, there are several key differences, the most important being that the local lord always enjoys a share of the profits.

  Planet of Hope: A History of Esperanza

  The delivery of iron was just the first of many. William oversaw weekly trades, which were limited only by how quickly Dayna could print new books. These books, and the knowledge they brought her colony, delighted Padma; likewise, Sir Hiram put the metal they received in exchange to good use. A portion was sent to Faywater Port for use in ships as King’s Law required, but Rebel Falls’ greatest need was for saw blades. The new ones made by Alex Walker kept their edges much longer than the old bronze ones. Construction soon flourished, and within weeks all signs of carnage from the rebel attack had disappeared.

  Exciting news came a month after William returned from the hive. Duke Vincent sent official notice that Rebel Falls was to become a permanent town, complete with its own Baronies and Guard, and separated from the Earldom of Marshland Crossing. Sir Hiram was named Earl of Rebel Falls, signifying the start of many changes in the new community.

  Changes for William too: he was going home. After all, Earl Bradford paid his wages, not Hiram Doran. William was to return on the next trade barge, along with crates of books, stacks of iron tools, and the best friends he’d ever had.

  Rachel’s numerous injuries were healing, but slowly, and she was accompanying Maya to the Melchiors’ clinic in Faywater Port for further treatment. Charlie was joining them of course, with plans to open a tool-making shop. The influx of metal from the dragons would soon bring his trade into great demand, especially in a large city like the Port.

  On the day of departure, William sat on Jack’s cot as his friend packed. “I’m surprised you’re coming back with us,” said William. “I’d have guessed your dad would need you here.”

  Jack strapped his pack closed and hoisted it on his shoulder. “My mother needs help preparing for the move. She can’t do it herself, and my dad is busy. Mother won’t trust a stranger, so it has to be me. Are you ready to go? The barge is about to leave.”

  Excited as he was to go home, William was leaving Rebel Falls with reluctance. The hardest part wasn’t saying good-bye to Jack’s father, who taught him so much; nor was it leaving the little town he’d helped establish and had the honor of naming. What pained him most was his final talk with Dayna.

  “Ready for your hero’s welcome back home?” she asked as she approached the barge.

  “Huh?” he said. “Hero’s welcome?”

  “Spare me your humility. We both know you’ll be famous now.”

  William grinned and waved it off. “I’m no one special.”

  “‘Dragon Brother?’ You really don’t think that will get around?” she asked. William shrugged. “Anyway,” she continued, “I’m sure you’ll have your pick of girls to choose from. Just remember—I knew you first.”

  William laughed. “You weren’t first. And anyway, you said you only wanted me to keep the Guards away.”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “How can someone so smart be so daft at the same time? Yes, I played it slow, but did you honestly believe I wasn’t intere
sted in you? And by the way…out of all the girls who haven’t rejected you, yes, I was first. So stop making this so difficult.”

  “I’m not,” he said. “At least not on purpose. And when it comes to love, I really am daft.”

  “That’s why I’m telling you this. To make it obvious for you.”

  The sun shone on her long blonde hair as the wind blew it back. She was beautiful, smart, and what was more, she understood him. He hung his head and kicked at the ground absent-mindedly. “I’m sorry. You deserve better than to be someone’s second choice.”

  Dayna squinted away her tears and looked away. “King’s eyes, Will! Let me decide for myself, would you?”

  He shook his head again. “I’m sorry.” As she stomped away he wondered how big a mistake he’d just made.

  Sir Hiram arrived at the barge and handed a small package to William. “See that Cairns gets this, would you? It’s a copy of the settlement’s records to date; the Library will need it.”

  “Of course,” said William.

  “I hope you won’t find the Library boring after all you’ve been through, William. You have a gift for making things happen; don’t let it get stifled. If you ever find yourself looking for other opportunities, let me know and I’ll set you up with something.”

  “Thank you, sir. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Earl Hiram shook everyone’s hands. “Best of luck to you all,” he said as the poleman pushed off. “I’ll see you soon, Jack.”

  “Bye, Dad.”

  “Shouldn’t that be Lord Earl Father now, Jack?” asked Rachel as the rear poleman pushed the barge into the current.

  “Watch how you address me, woman,” he quipped, nose in the air. “I’ll have you know I’m a potential future Earl now.”

  “So how about it, Will?” asked Maya. “What are your plans?”

  William shook his head. “I don’t know yet, but I could stand a little boredom for a while.” Everyone nodded in agreement. “I’m not sure about the future, though. Earl Hiram was right. The last few months have changed me.”