by Blaze Ward
Constable Baker smiled as the six people were marched onto the low stage and lined up under extremely bright lights. She was on the other side of a thick window, sitting in darkness with a pair of Yuudixtl men who were practically vibrating with excitement, in spite of the handcuffs around their wrists.
This was all just a formality anyway. Six Elohynn were lined up. Two of them slouched in the uniform of the Constabulary. One of those and another were female. Another was a well-known, local sports reporter with a sense of humor. One was a random stranger off the street, willing to take an hour off and get lunch in the deal.
And one fat, old man Elohynn that had been utterly bullet-proof until yesterday.
She smiled some more, letting it spread so far across her face that she was afraid she might start to glow.
“Number four,” the neared Yuudixtl crowed.
She had only met Morty in the flesh a few hours ago, but she had been reading reports and hearing stories from both Dankworth and Liamssen about the lizardman for nearly two months now. He was just as silly, as sarcastic, and as sharp as they had warned her.
Eveth picked up a microphone and spoke into it.
“Number four, step forward,” she commanded.
It helped that he was the only one wearing cuffs in there, but this was just a formality.
Omerlon took an angry step forward. He looked like he wanted to punch the glass, had his hands been in front. Perhaps he might head-butt it yet.
“That’s him,” the other one said.
Xiomber. Supposedly egg-brother to Morty. Partners in crime and mischief. And willing to spend the last three hours, on tape, detailing every crime they could remember, with names, dates, places, and amounts. And not just Sarzynski’s gang, as these two had spent twenty years being bad guys for a number of outfits.
It would take her weeks, and maybe months to suck these two dry. And they seemed even more excited at the prospect than she did.
Bizarre.
“Morty?” she asked.
“Correct,” Morty said. “Number four.”
“The rest of you may go,” she said into the mic. “Thank you for your service.”
“You bastards got nothing on me,” Omerlon snarled.
“On the contrary, Omerlon,” Baker said with an infectious smile that the other two seemed to have picked up. “I have you on four counts of attempted murder, including attempted murder of a Constabulary Officer.”
Three of the folks in the line-up had departed. The two Elohynn officers were pushing Omerlon the other direction, towards the holding cells.
“May I?” Morty hopped off his stool and approached with a hand out.
Baker shrugged and handed him the microphone.
“Hey, Omerlon,” Morty cat-called the Elohynn crime boss. “You were right. See you in hell.”
He handed her back the mic and moved towards the two officers at the back of the room, almost skipping with glee.
She had no idea what was going on, but this was going to be fun.
Because Omerlon? Yeah, he was about to enter hell.
Home
Gareth entered the research lab as quietly as he could. Talyarkinash was working on a screen with her profile towards him, tracing something on the screen with a nail painted green today. It looked like his silhouette on the screen, so she was probably calculating new options.
He cleared his throat as he got closer.
Talyarkinash turned and blinked in surprise. She took three steps across the lab and engulfed him in a hug, as short as she was.
“You did it,” she said. “I saw you on the morning news. It was glorious. You were glorious.”
Gareth untangled himself a little and leaned back enough to smile at her.
“You did it,” he said. “I was able to rescue Morty and Xiomber in that truck, along with another man, by having Baker bounce me to orbit. I could have never done anything like that without your help.”
“Morty? Xiomber” she cried with joy. “You found them?”
“And arrested them,” Gareth said. “They’re in custody downstairs while Baker and Grodray work out what to do with them.”
“What will happen?” she asked, leaning back herself until they only touched where hands contacted ribs.
“There is a precedence,” he grinned slyly. “Ex-criminals willing to turn state’s evidence and work with the Constabulary.”
“Like you?” she teased.
Gareth’s grin turned into a smile. Technically, he was an illegal alien, illegally upgraded. And trying to do good.
“I might know others,” he teased back. “Have you had breakfast? I’ve been using the Star Dragon form for hours and I’m famished. Plus, I want to talk to you about some things. I had a lot of time up in space alone, since the others were trapped in an emergency cocoon. They could wave, but I had nobody to talk to except Baker and Grodray.”
She stepped back and turned to her workstation, hitting a button to save everything and power it down for now.
“I would love to join you for breakfast, Gareth,” she said. “What did you need?”
“On the one hand, I have a few questions about maybe upgrading the Star Dragon,” he replied. “Or maybe creating a second, larger form I could shift into when I needed to go beyond the normal for size and strength.”
“Okay,” she said, moving towards the door and opening it. “That’s actually along the lines of what I have been working on up until now. What was the second part?”
“How will the average person react to seeing me as a dragon?” Gareth asked. “I will become a symbol of fear to the criminals, which was what I intended, but will the rest of the Accord of Souls see me as one of the Chaa returned? Will they think I’m a god?”
“Oh, Gareth,” she leaned close and placed a palm on the chest of his grinder wool blazer. “That’s not something I can help you with. You’ll need a priest, or maybe a philosopher.”
“No,” Gareth corrected her. “What I need is a friend.”
About the Author
Blaze Ward writes science fiction in the Alexandria Station universe (Jessica Keller, The Science Officer, The Story Road, etc.) as well as several other science fiction universes, such as Star Dragon, the Collective, and more. He also writes odd bits of high fantasy with swords and orcs. In addition, he is the Editor and Publisher of Boundary Shock Quarterly Magazine. You can find out more at his website www.blazeward.com, as well as Facebook, Goodreads, and other places.
Blaze's works are available as ebooks, paper, and audio, and can be found at a variety of online vendors. His newsletter comes out regularly, and you can also follow his blog on his website. He really enjoys interacting with fans, and looks forward to any and all questions—even ones about his books!
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Connect with Blaze!
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Also by Blaze Ward
The Jessica Keller Chronicles
Auberon
Queen of the Pirates
Last of the Immortals
Goddess of War
Flight of the Blackbird
The Red Admiral
St. Legier
Winterhome
Petron
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CS-405
Queen Anne’s Revenge
Packmule
Persephone
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Additional Alexandria Station Stories
The Story Road
Siren
Two Bottles of Wine With A War God
* * *
The Science Officer Series
The
Science Officer
The Mind Field
The Gilded Cage
The Pleasure Dome
The Doomsday Vault
The Last Flagship
The Hammerfield Gambit
The Hammerfield Payoff
* * *
The Handsome Rob Gigs
Can’t Shoot Straight Gang
Can’t Shoot Straight Gang Returns
Hunting Handsome Rob
About Knotted Road Press
Knotted Road Press fiction specializes in dynamic writing set in mysterious, exotic locations.
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Knotted Road Press creates DRM-free ebooks as well as high-quality print books for readers around the world.
With authors in a variety of genres including literary, poetry, mystery, fantasy, and science fiction, Knotted Road Press has something for everyone.
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www.KnottedRoadPress.com
Star Dragon
Box Set One
Blaze Ward
Copyright © 2020 Blaze Ward
All rights reserved
Published by Knotted Road Press
www.KnottedRoadPress.com
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ISBN: 978-1-64470-133-1
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Cover art:
ID 11056051 © diversepixel | DepositPhoto.com
Cover and interior design copyright © 2019 Knotted Road Press
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This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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