by Kip Hartzell
“Everyone, out of the water,” he said waving his hands over his head. They stopped and looked at him dumbfounded. “Out!” They scrambled out as if on fire.
Once they were all out, he took out his pistol and reset it. Walking up to the bank, and standing on a flat dry rock, he put the pistol close to the water and fired an electrical charge. Hundreds of fish floated to the top, and were gradually being carried away by the slow current. There was cheering, then a mad dash for the water, where they retrieved the fish in a matter of minutes.
“How else can I help?” he asked Anataka.
“Quetzalcoatl also likes gold. Another group is usually tasked to find it near the river.”
“Strange, but maybe I can help with that, too.” John took out his handheld and began walking up river. Anataka’s curiosity got the better of her, and she followed.
A hundred yards later, he stopped and examined an outcropping of rocks. Anataka was picking up small nuggets of gold along the river bank. Blue-green rocks caught her eye. She put the small turquoise rocks in her fur pouch along with sand polished emeralds and some rubies. John examined the spot for a few minutes, then went back to the river.
He reached in her pouch and grabbed a handful of turquoise rocks, and then filled the other hand with sand. He put them together and rubbed faster than the eye could see. He rinsed them off and gave the finely polished stones to Anataka. She examined them, and smiled, as she put them away. It was only fleeting, but John saw that same look of familiarity, and then just as quickly, it was gone.
The campfires were low, as fish sizzled over smoldering embers. John was a vegetarian, but found fish to be quite good. Most of the tribe had gone night hunting, in order to make their quota. This was dangerous, since that’s when the jaguars came out to hunt. John stayed back to help with the defenses. His curiosity grew more and more, while waiting for the arrival of Quetzalcoatl. Anataka had been gone all evening, and he was getting concerned. When she came walking up in a slick haired puma skin dress with turquoise stones attached in a pattern of a teardrop, accentuated with emeralds and highlighted with rubies and gold. Her skin was clean and her hair slicked back, Atlantean style. To John, and the others around, she could’ve passed for a goddess.
She sat beside him, both staring into the flames. The other males in the tribe caught onto John’s infatuation with her and kept their distance.
“What’s this Quetzalcoatl person, like?”
She looked up at John, and he noticed she had a bluish ring around her bright brown eyes. “He’s very big, and very angry. The Chief, and the Council, although they like you better, don’t think you can defeat him, so we continue with the tribute.” She looked away, embarrassed.
“That’s alright, I don’t intend to fight him, anyway.”
She looked relieved.
“How long will the night hunt last?”
“Most of the night, or if they catch all they can carry.”
John was admiring the stars, when groups of tribe’s people came out of the dark and began piling jaguars, monkeys, animals of all kinds, on the huge pile of fish. Some loud yelling came from the main part of the camp.
John easily peered over the group at three men and one woman, badly injured from the hunt. The natives were doing what they could for them, buy one was dead and the others soon would be. John, without thinking of the consequences, pushed forward and took out his med-kit. He examined the dead man, and discovered he had just died, there was still time. He injected him, then moved to the others. The screaming stopped and a serenity fell over the injured faces. The major injuries were stabilized and he began running the tissue generator over the massive wounds. How they made it this far, John could only guess-their tenacity, extreme desire to live, all he knew was, they were tough.
John put his med-kit away, and saw the whole tribe on the ground, bowing. He shook his head, got up, and went back to his lean-to for some rest. Loved ones embraced their resurrected kin, and began to dance, talk, and feast, well into the night. They were happy, so John was happy. Anataka, soon joined him. They lay there listening to the primitive jungle and tribal sounds of dance and singing. The beat was so inviting, Jay wanted to get up and dance.
Anataka woke just before dawn, only to find herself alone, annoyed at being left behind again. She made her way to the river and washed her face. John could see her as the shadows retreated. He scanned the area from a large outcropping of rocks near the river’s bend. The sun was still below the tree line, while he scanned and drifted further upriver. He didn’t get very far before he heard a loud splash, and some screams. He turned his scanner to a different setting, and got a very strange reading from the campsite. He ran back to the camp.
John stopped at a large boulder, and peered around it. He stared in disbelief at a large, long-necked beast with wings along its slender body. Its extra-long tail had a series of spikes on the end. Larger back legs made it look as though it could sit on its haunches and hold things with its five-digit opposable thumb claws. Its massive mouth began eating the pile of food before it. It would raise its head and let the rotting meat slid down its gullet. The tribes people were all on their knees, bowing. The creature barely gave them a second thought.
John searched his memory, he had seen this creature before, yes, but that was thousands of years ago, during the Alon-war. Aztek-Alon had created an army of genetically mutated creatures, and to make sure they fought for him, he fitted them with obedience collars. He pulled up the information on his handheld to refresh his memory. How was this thing still alive? Its collar was large and embedded into the scaly skin down close to the body. It was fastened from the durable material that Atlantis was made of. Scratch marks were all over it where the creature had tried to tear it off. Several small access panels had been pried open, exposing corroded circuitry. The collars were made inert after the frequency generators were destroyed during the battle between the Atlanteans, but it still looked painful.
He quickly read through the information, Alon called them Dragons. He tried to take some readings, but they were erratic, then he read further, from the studies from the few Atlanteans who backward engineered most of Aztek-Alon and Maya-A-Toltek’s work. Their design was to evade sensors, and with no machinery to detect, could fly in behind enemy lines for a surprise attack.
John looked up to see the creature finish his large meal and take gulps of water from the river. He spied Anataka approach with a wooden bowl full of gold nuggets. She knelt in front of it with her head bowed and the bowl over her head.
“What is this?”
John heard the words loud and clear. The translator hardly hesitated. It speaks, John thought with ever more amazement.
“This is hardly worth my time. If you want to pass through my domain, you will have to do better,” the Dragon said, and slapped the bowl out of her hands, knocking her down in the process.
John reacted before he thought, leaping out from behind the rock, and ran over to Anataka. She looked alright as John faced the monster. “Dragon, these people are under my protection- “
“Atlantean!” the creature bellowed in a gravelly voice, and with a mighty back hand, struck John back into the boulder he had just emerged from.
Chapter Ten: Embodiment
He was stunned by the sudden attack, and impact. He crumpled to the ground, knowing he might have a few cracked ribs, and a concussion. He was trying to stand when Anataka grabbed a spear, and ran to his defense.
“Quetzalcoatl-stop,” she said, holding the spear to his face.
The Dragon’s eyes got even bigger at the insolence. “You dare confront me, you...your insignificant worm.”
Anataka had bought John the time he needed to reorient himself. He saw her in the morning light, in her defiant stance, and knew who she really was.
“I will teach you obedience.” The Dragon reared its head up and opened its gapping maw.
“Anataka,” John yelled, as he got up, grabbed her around the waist, and cl
icked on his personal force field.
The fiery blast was so intense it pushed them against the rock. The fire breath surrounded them in intense heat, so much so, it melted away the boulder they were leaning against, except a few inches that remained inside the field’s influence. John watched his energy meter retreat, and hoped it would last.
Soon, the Dragon leaned back as if taking a deep breath. John picked Anataka up and clicked off the force field, letting a large slab of stone fall to the ground. He carried her over molten glass, and small fires. The tribe’s people’s eyes were as wide as the Dragon’s. This solidified his status as the Fire God. They jumped up, took their spears, and charged the monster.
He set her down on cool sand as people ran by him toward the Dragon. Quetzalcoatl was so surprised by their animosity, and boldness, that he backed partially into the river. John admired their tenacity, but they were going to get themselves killed.
He clicked on his cloak while running, and leaped into the air, landing on the Dragon’s back, alerting the creature to his presence. Spears flew all around as the creature turned and looked back down his back. His keen eyesight only saw a wavy shimmer moving quickly toward his face. John knelt by the collar around its neck and clicked off the cloak, and enacted what was left of his personal force field. He was hoping the Dragon took time to regenerate its fire breath. He had his pistol out, and stuck it into an open port on the massive collar.
“Stop fighting,” John yelled.
The Dragon opened its mouth and reared back. John fired an electrical pulse into the collar. Sparks shot out, sending electrical ripples shimmering all around. The tribes people stopped and backed away, as the Dragon’s muscles stiffened, and its eyes rolled back in its head. He staggered, and then clumsily collapsed on the riverbank with the sound of earth shaking thunder. The impact kicked up a wall of sand and dust that obscured their vision of the beast. A shadow appeared in the haze. John took shape the closer he walked toward them. Cheers broke out, Anataka ran and leaped into his arms.
John put Anataka down, and raised his hands for quiet. “Quetzalcoatl is not to be harmed. We must learn to help each other, fighting is not the answer. When he wakes, I’ll try to convince him to let you pass. Now, go about your jobs. I will watch over you.”
The tribes people murmured, and began to disperse.
“They are sorry they doubted you,” Anataka said.
“That was a foolish thing to do back there.”
“I know. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Don’t let it happen again,” John said, with a smile. He then turned to the Dragon and took out his comm, and called Chrysalis.
The shuttle hovered for a few minutes, as Drof found a landing spot, nearby. The tribe ran into the jungle out of fear, long before it touched down. The hatch opened up as John approached it. Rhe-A stepped out in a khaki jumpsuit with her black hair tied back into a bun. Her instruments hung from her belt.
“When I was told, you were out here, I knew there would be trouble. Its attracted to you like gravity. Oh, and you smell bad, also.” She smiled a rare smile.
“It’s good to see you, too.”
Pandor-A poked her head out of the hatch and squinted her eyes. She was then coaxed out by Delphi-Apollo, his large grin was contagious as he gave John a bear hug. He released John, noticing he held his ribs. Rhe-A took note, and brought out her scanner. She looked at her instrument, and then froze from the sight of a giant creature in front of her.
“Good to see you, again, John,” Delphi said, “I mean really see you.”
“Good to see you, too, Apollo. Rhe-A, what about my ribs?”
She just stared at the creature, then back at the scanner. “Uh, you’ll be alright. Take it easy for a couple of days, with no animal wrestling, and you should be fine.”
Drof emerged with pleasantries toward John, but Pandor-A barely spoke, while they all stood there and admired the creature. He snorted up sand with every breath. Rhe-A slowly walked up to it, examining her scanner as she went. John followed, along with the rest.
“Is he really one of Maya’s inventions?” John asked, putting a hand on the dark green shimmering scales.
“Amazing,” Rhe-A said, as she kept scanning. “When we defeated Alon, his creatures died, or dispersed. We sent crews out over time, but found very few living specimens. After death, they decayed rather quickly, so no time for fossilization. Their built-in sensor evading system, makes them difficult to pinpoint.”
“Drof, Delphi, could you two hook up a link to that collar?”
Drof studied it for a few seconds. “It’ll have to be a direct link. I’ll get the equipment.”
“The natives call him Quetzalcoatl,” John said, as he followed her around.
“John, what are you doing out here?”
“Looking for the key, studying the environment, recording the migration pattern of our Cousins, oh, and dragon slaying.”
“Funny, sounds like you’re hiding to me.”
“Probably, more like running away. I just had to get out of the TSD.”
She hesitated. “I understand, but do you think it wise to expose the Cousins to us?”
“Their level of technology has not advanced much. I envy them.”
“But shouldn’t they at least be afraid of us,” she stated, looking passed John.
He turned to see Anataka slowly approaching.
“Where’s Athene-A? I specifically asked for her assistance.”
“The TSD wouldn’t release her.”
“Why not?”
“Built in programming failsafe. If the temporal constants are not in align, then it doesn’t react until it is.”
John studied the sky for a few moments, as if trying to broach a delicate topic, and then said, “I want you to do me a favor.” He waved Anataka over, she approached like a skittish cat, darting her head all around. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t be afraid. They will not harm you.”
“Are...are these your brother and sister Gods?”
“Yes.” He looked at Rhe-A. “Don’t try to explain, just go with it. Can you take a DNA, and sub-DNA sample, and tell me what comparisons you find with us?”
“Of course, but why?”
“Just curious. I want to see how far the Atlantean DNA has advanced.”
Rhe-A looked suspicious, but took Anataka’s arm and placed the scanner on it. Anataka struggled, but it was like a small child struggling against a parent. She let go. “There, I’ll get to it later. How did you find this creature?”
“He was extorting the tribes people for passage into the next valley.”
“How?”
“He speaks fluent Cousin, and Atlantean.”
“What? Impossible.”
“Nothing’s impossible on this planet.”
Rhe-A moved down its side. “These scales are like ship armor. No wonder we had a hard time beating them. This is a fantastic find, John. We can learn so much.”
John had not seen her this excited in a long time.
“We’re connected,” Delphi said, kneeling down on the dragon’s back and connecting the dytherium wire links to the collar access port.
“Understood,” Drof replied, as he calibrated his handheld.
Rhe-A reset her settings while moving around the monster’s head. She then set the scanner on its snout. She couldn’t help herself, she had to touch it. She stroked its scales. “It feels soft as skin, but I know how impenetrable it is.” She picked up her handheld and a huge cat eye opened, focusing on her. She squeaked, and fell back on her butt.
“Atlanteans,” he bellowed, raising his huge head a few feet off the ground.
“Quetzalcoatl, remain calm, or I will stun you again.”
The creature slowly turned its head to see all the Atlanteans. “I surrender, please kill me now.”
“Why would we do that?” John asked.
“Because that’s what your kind does. You kill, or destroy everything around you.”
John
flashed back to all that had been lost. His family, friends, planet, and almost his entire race.
“Great forces are out to destroy us. We intend to survive.”
“At what cost?”
“...at all cost.” John could’ve sworn he saw the Dragon smile.
“That’s my point.”
This set John back a little.
“Now, will you do what you do best, and kill. I grow weary.”
“How about a pact. You look after our native Cousins, and promise not to harm them or us, and we’ll let you live. As a show of good faith, we’ll remove the collar.”
The last part got the Dragon’s attention. “How can I trust you?”
“We’re not the Atlanteans that did this to you. We stopped them, and you really don’t have a choice.”
“Very well.”
“Delphi,” John spoke up to his comrade, “can you unlock that thing?”
He made a few more adjustments and then hopped down to Drof. “Of course, but it is so imbedded into the exoskeleton we’re going to have to be very cautious.”
“I have an idea,” Rhe-A said.
By now, the tribes people had come back, but stayed at the edge of the jungle. Anataka was their unofficial spokesperson. Continuing to run back and forth with what information she understood.
Quetzalcoatl opened his eyes and focused on a small human before him. She knelt down and bowed her head, while holding up two strings of fish. He was confused.
“Please accept this tribute as an apology. We never meant for you to be harmed,” Anataka softly said.
The Dragon was ever more confused, because he was defeated, and therefore, not a God. But, they still believed in him. They still cared about him, and he didn’t even have to use fear, or intimidation. He saw the many others hanging back just outside the tree line. Anxiety on their faces.
He stuck out his tongue. She glanced up, and smiled, putting the fish on it, she stepped back pulling the strings with her. He lifted his neck and gulped them down.
