Dr. Latouche turned to Shon and me and said, “Ooooh, you must be Raquel’s friends! You must come with me to see her. You are the reason she is here today. She is normally timid but was excited to show you her project. I am so happy to meet you. Come! Come!”
Shon and I looked at each other in confusion, but we followed Dr. Latouche as she hurried down the hall. We avoided the pale-faced security guard, sidestepped the overturned cage, and stopped beside the hysterical girl huddled on the floor.
Dr. Latouche knelt down, placed her hand on her daughter’s back, and softly said, “Mon chéri, your friends are here.”
The girl recoiled from her mother’s touch but slowly looked up at me. We stared into each other’s eyes for several seconds before she unexpectedly leaped up and threw her arms around me in a bear hug.
“Mark. Mark. Mark. Thank you. You only help,” she sobbed.
I had no idea what was happening, and neither did anyone else.
“Mon Dieu!” exclaimed Dr. Latouche. “I have never seen Raquel do this before. She does not like to be touched. How do you know my daughter?”
I was about to say that I had no idea, but Raquel released her hug, grabbed my hand, and said, “All go.” Then she looked at Shon and asked, “Shontelle?”
Shon nodded, and Raquel grabbed her hand as well before repeating, “All go. Loud. Too loud.”
Dr. Latouche motioned for the others to follow, explaining that her daughter did not like crowds, loud noise, or bright lights.
Raquel glared at the nervous guard and repeated, “All go! Now!”
It was clear that the guard did not want to be there but was determined not to leave his post. Dr. Latouche pointed at him and insisted, “You! Move down there now!” The anxious guard interpreted these as new orders and happily retreated to a safer distance down the long hallway.
The three of us were awkwardly standing holding hands by ourselves at the end of the hall when we heard a massive crash inside the room next to us. Shon and I jumped, but this nervous, hysterical girl held on, looked at me, and said, “Mark. Stavius. Only one can help.”
I was too busy standing there with my mouth agape to say anything, but Shon said, “Elisa, is that you?”
Raquel dropped my hand and gave Shon a quick and awkward hug.
She cried, “Cage dropped. Out. In room. Scared. Very scared. Too loud. Too loud. Too loud. New place. Not like. Scared.”
Raquel let go of Shon and crouched on the floor, holding her head again for a moment before pointing toward the door and uttering, “Mark see. Stavius only help.”
I did not want to look into that room but didn’t really have a choice. I tried to pretend that I really was Stavius and summoned all my courage to peer into the narrow window on the door.
The room was dark, so I pressed my eye against the window and cupped my hands around my face to block out the hallway light. Something was moving in there, but it was difficult to see what it was. I thought I saw something slender raise up, sway, and disappear, and my heart sank. Maybe this crazy girl had brought a cobra to the science fair.
I was just about to give up and try to get her to explain what was in there and why she thought I could help when something slammed against the other side of the door. I screamed as I jumped back, and it fled, but not before I saw its large, round eye and enough of its head to know what was inside.
I caught my breath and waved off the guard who suspected he should probably come down to assist, although that was the very last thing he wanted to do. He stepped back with palpable relief.
I turned to Raquel and said, “Tell me the truth, Raquel. Is that a chigon in there?”
Shon gasped, but Raquel nodded and said, “Very scared. Very confused. Too loud. Not smart but strong feelings. Very scared.”
Then she smiled and added, “Stavius help. Stavius dragon hunter.”
Shon joked, “Looks like you have another customer, Stavius. Just don’t cut its head off this time.”
Raquel looked terrified, and I groaned, “It was an accident. Can’t you just let it slide after all we’ve been through?”
Shon chuckled, “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. So, what are you going to do?”
I thought for a minute and answered, “We need some ripe fruit and a large, heavy sheet or cloth.”
Shon grinned and saluted at me before running off, laughing, “Yes, Sir!” She returned a minute later, having sent the guard off in search of lunches.
Shon said, “Raquel, it is so nice to meet you finally, but why is there a dragon in that room?”
Raquel was feeling calmer with her friends here and was speaking a bit clearer. She explained, “People not let Juice in. Too loud. Juice scared and excited. Cage fall and Juice get out. Juice fly here and trapped in room.”
I said, “I think Shon wants to know why there’s a dragon on Earth. But wait, you named him Juice? The big guy is going to be pissed to have a little Chigon sharing his name.”
Shon quickly said, “He’ll be fine with it after we explain that the first dragon to ever exist on Earth was named after him. But Mark is right, Raquel. Why is there a dragon here on Earth?”
Raquel grinned and transformed into an animated personality. She said, “Juice is my project to express inhibited avian genome characteristics with select adaptive enhancements. I compared mapped genomes of seven avian species with those of four species of lizards. I then overlaid similarities and differences to determine specific trait causals. Then I deduced the inhibited nucleotides which correspond to the genetic traits I wished to express. I applied this knowledge to adjust the genetic makeup of freshly-fertilized chicken eggs. My paper downstairs explains everything.”
Shon and I couldn’t believe that this is the same girl who was stuttering out single-word sentences a minute ago.
“So, you’re suggesting that you gene-spliced a chicken embryo to turn it into a dragon?” I guessed.
Raquel glared and insisted, “No. No gene cutting. Too dangerous.”
Then her face softened, and she clarified, “I simply inhibited and expressed nucleotides already existing in the chicken’s DNA.”
Shon tried to interpret this and said, “Birds are supposed to be the distant descendants of dinosaurs. I think that Raquel managed to unlock some of those prehistoric dinosaur traits to combine a modern-day chicken with a dinosaur and create a chicken-dragon, or chigon.”
Raquel’s smile broadened, “Knew you understand better than stupid officials. Not quite so simple but mostly correct. I also expressed two other suppressed genes, which I was surprised to find in the avian genome. One impacted long-term memory capacity. Chigons are not highly intelligent, but they have exceptionally long memories.”
I asked, “And, what does the other gene do?”
Raquel stared at me and said, “Chigon telepathic. Stavius best at talking to dragons. Mark calm Juice down. Juice not talk but share much feeling.”
Great, Raquel expected me to go in and telepathically soothe a scared dragon who couldn’t form language. Stavius is the telepath – not Mark. And, neither of us are empaths. I never seem to know what people are feeling, although I sure wish I did. It would keep me out of a lot of embarrassing situations.
Dr. Price and the guard were back with a banana, an apple, and a container of cantaloupe. They also had a black drape stolen from around one of the booth tables. I took the banana and the melon but returned the apple, explaining that it wasn’t fragrant enough. I instructed them to cover the crate as I put my hand on the doorknob.
“Wait, he can’t go in there!” exclaimed the guard.
Dr. Price calmly answered, “Of course he can. Mark has extensive experience doing this. He isn’t in any danger.”
I silently thanked Dr. Price for supporting me, even though she had no idea what was going on. I agreed, “Yeah, I used to do this all the time.”
The guard asked in disbelief, “You’ve worked with these things before?”
Shon laughed, “Yeah, we bo
th have. You should see the big ones we have back home. But you’d both better leave. These things can smell fear and stale salami.”
That was enough for the guard who backed down the hall sniffing himself.
“Thanks, Dr. Price. You’d better go too,” said Shon.
“Are you sure you’re OK?” asked Dr. Price.
“Yup, but you really need to go,” I affirmed as I carefully opened the door.
✽✽✽
The room was dark, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust after I closed the door. It was a windowless room illuminated by an exit sign, some dim emergency lighting, and the hallway light shining through the small window in the door. The place was littered with chairs and tables haphazardly piled throughout. It reminded me of my closet after Mom yells at me to clean my room, but before she tells me also to straighten my closet. I guessed that somebody was in a hurry to clean up after another event and just crammed everything in here before going home.
I hadn’t seen any dragons yet but heard something clatter to the floor and spun around to witness a small chigon standing fifteen feet away. It was less than four feet tall, but I was filled with fear. This kind of surprised me because Stavius would’ve considered this guy as nothing more than a pesky rodent on Mearth. Of course, I wasn’t Stavius, and this wasn’t Mearth. Still, I shouldn’t be as frightened as this.
I kept trying to explain to myself why this wasn’t scary. But my fear kept intensifying, and I was also starting to feel hungry. This was really strange because it wasn’t time for lunch, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the cantaloupe I was carrying instead of the chigon across the room. The thought of melons and chigons reminded me of when the chigon in Mrs. Marlin’s garden got the melon stuck on its beak, and I involuntarily chuckled.
The chigon immediately squawked and flew to the far corner of the room to precariously settle on a stack of chairs. I was startled but no longer afraid and instantly forgot about being famished. Those feelings began to return as the small dragon eyed me again, and I understood what was happening. I was sensing the chigon’s feelings.
I opened the cantaloupe container, closed my eyes, and took a deep sniff. I tried to fill my mind with feelings of security, love, and delicious food. I wasn’t sure how to project my feelings, but it seemed to be working. The dragon had hopped off the chairs and was swaying toward me with his head suspiciously bobbing right and left.
I placed the open container in front of me and began to talk to the dragon in a soothing voice as though I were coaxing a young, shy puppy or kitten to come over and play. I didn’t think Juice understood what I was saying, but he was now feeling more suspicion and hunger than fear. Two feet away, he stopped and cooed at me a few times. Then he cocked his head to get a good look at the fruit in front of me before rapidly darting forward to grab a piece.
Three pieces later, mini-Juice, as I decided to call him, was standing so close that I dared to reach out and touch him. He stopped eating to stare at me for a moment before returning his attention to the rapidly-emptying cantaloupe container. I began stroking the downy feathers on his leathery back, and he shuffled closer. He hopped onto my lap when he finished and nuzzled my head with his long neck. I first thought he was loving, but I chuckled again when I began thinking about bananas.
I pulled out the banana and felt a rush of anticipation as I peeled it. I laughed as I fed bites to him while he sat on my lap. There was no sense of fear from either of us in the room. Raquel was peering through the window, and I smiled at her. I stood up and carried mini-Juice to the door when he was finished eating. The little dragon saw Raquel and immediately pooped all down my shirt, pants, and even my shoes. I had no idea that chigons could make such a stinky mess and immediately began cursing at him.
I stopped soon after when I felt his warm glow of satisfaction and enjoyment. Mini-Juice might not be able to speak, but it was clear that he understood potty humor. The chirps and squeaks he was making were definitely him laughing at me. I couldn’t stay mad and softly explained that we were going to take him home as I stroked his long, serpentine neck. He clearly understood what was about to happen, and I had to hold him tight to keep him from charging the door. I asked the girls to ready the cage and to open the door. Seconds later, mini-Juice was safely in his covered cage, sated, and cooing as if preparing to go to sleep.
Raquel sat next to the crate while Shon and I went down the hall to inform the still-arguing adults that the situation was under control. I asked the guard to direct me to a bathroom so I could clean myself up and to fetch a cart to carry the cage.
Nearly everyone was gone by the time I returned. The dragon poop was washed off, but I still reeked, and my clothes were wet. I don’t think that stink will ever come off, and my sister says she’ll puke if she has to sit in the back seat with me. Dr. Price offered to drive me with her and Tyler. My parents silently mouthed thank you to her before informing me that we will be having a family conversation later.
Dr. Price whispered to Shon and me, “Nice way to keep a low profile from the Agents of Avalon.”
Shon shook her head and agreed, “And what is with you and Chigons?”
Chapter 19
Equous
March 28, Mearth
Elisa pulled Stavius and Janus aside as they were preparing to leave.
She explained, “Raquel is timid and suffers from a form of ASD, which is why her parents chose to homeschool her. She is brilliant, though, and she really likes you, Mark.”
Stavius suddenly felt uncomfortable. Neither Staven nor Mark was accustomed to being liked by girls, and he was unsure what to say. “Um, thanks, I guess. But why can she speak so clearly one minute and barely be able to construct a sentence the next?”
Elisa shrugged her shoulders and guessed, “Nobody knows. She has all the language ability. Raquel is eloquent when speaking or writing about genetics, which is her passion but can barely communicate otherwise. You’ll notice that she closes her eyes when she’s talking about genetics. It helps her block out the rest of the world. Her condition makes much of her life terribly constrained and complicated. It is also what gives her a unique ability to comprehend genetics. Raquel can simultaneously visualize the tens-of-thousands of letters in a nucleic acid sequence and comprehend what the combination means. That’s how she was able to create a dinosaur from a chicken.”
Janus sighed, “I guess we each have our issues on both worlds.” Then he laughed and added, “And Mark’s is that he finally has a girl who likes him. However, he can’t understand either her broken casual conversation or her complex professional speech.”
Stavius groaned, “Thanks for pointing that out, Janus. Do you guys feel weird talking about ourselves as third parties?”
Elisa answered, “Somewhat, but it is amazing. I can say and do things that Raquel would never be able to do on Earth. You cannot imagine the never-ending frustration she has inside her. She is so smart and passionate but finds it difficult to communicate or be with people. You have no idea how terrified she was that you wouldn’t like her.”
Janus concurred, “Yeah, Shon struggles with her identity on Earth, and I have to admit that we’re happier here on Mearth. At the same time, Shon has a close and loving family back on Earth, which is something Janus never had here. He never realized what he was missing, and I wouldn’t trade either world.”
Stavius agreed, “Me either, buddy. Be safe on your trip and take care of Juice. We’ll meet you back at the cave before heading into battle. I can’t believe we’re splitting up after all this time.”
The three friends hugged, and Elisa and Stavius rejoined the rest of the group, who were now ready to depart. Janus wiped a tear off his face and muttered about how pathetic he was for crying before trotting off to find Juice.
✽✽✽
Everyone, except Janus and Saturn, headed out into the bleak, early-spring morning. Their first stop was to visit the unicorns in Equous. Stavius wanted to return Queen Esthara’s horn and to
ask for her assistance in the upcoming battle. The girls were not about to let Stavius visit the unicorns without them again.
The trip was much warmer than the flight to Euryale’s cave but no more pleasant. The sky was overcast, and a steady drizzle was falling the entire day. Most of the time, the rain was little more than a heavy mist, but it didn’t matter. Anyone who has ridden a dragon in a downpour knows that waterproof shields are useless. Riders become as wet as humanly possible within the first five minutes of the flight.
Saiph, her three daughters, and their riders landed outside the north gate of Equous. They were met by a confused centaur who wondered why an invading flock of dragons would bother knocking at the gate. His confusion further increased when he noticed the riders on their backs.
Stavius hoped off Saiph’s back, looking more like a drowned cat than a human. He strode up to the centaur and said, “Please notify Queen Esthara that Stavius has returned and that he and his friends request an audience.”
The centaur’s eyebrows rose as he replied, “If you know our queen’s name, then you must surely know that humans and dragons are not permitted in Equous.”
Stavius sighed and answered, “In that case, please inform Bernice that her friend Stavius has returned, and be quick about it. We are cold, wet, tired, and require a warm, dry place to recover from our journey.”
The poor centaur was unsure of what should be done. He dared not desert his post with four dragons and five humans at the gate, despite this fellow’s assurance that they would politely wait for his return. He also had a duty to inform his captain of the visitors. His problem was quickly solved with the sound of thundering hooves. Ajdahl, king of the unicorns, had arrived.
Ajdahl stopped before the group and considered them before speaking.
“Welcome, Stavius. I had heard of your exploits, but the news was clearly inaccurate since you are standing here. Is this really you? Where is your friend, Janus?”
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