“I’ll ask for donations … and I’ll search the spacecraft parts in the wrecking fields.”
“I’ll do it,” June whispered.
“Of course I would expect you to help me.”
“No. I’ll breed with the smugglers if it means we can get out of here.”
Madeleine grabbed her sister by the shoulders and shook her. “You will do such thing! Understand?”
“We have to help Dad,” she said as a single tear slowly rolled down her cheek.
Madeleine hugged June tightly and didn’t let go. “Don’t worry. We’ll find a way.”
The sisters had no way of knowing a similar conversation was happening in the distant rocky cliffs where the planet’s largest inhabitants were experiencing a maddening fever of their own.
“We have to find a way to fix this,” Zara said, ducking to avoid a stray flame as two dragons wrestled on the floor, smacking each other with enormous wings. “Innocent bystander here,” she growled before shooting a warning flame over their heads. “Settle down.”
They ignored her, continuing their path of destruction throughout the main hall. It was the tenth fight of the day. All Zara could do was shake her head in frustration. As the oldest female dragon on Vizalia, she had never witnessed this widespread rowdiness before. She was fairly certain of the cause, though. It was the humans, specifically the female variety and their pheromones that wafted across the planet and intoxicated the members of her tribe. It was as if the male dragons were hyped up on mating steroids and their pent up frustration presented itself in displays of exaggerated posturing. At this rate, they would soon cause injury to themselves and destroy the place.
The dragons mated for life and historically within their species. They had enjoyed a fairly even male to female ratio throughout the tribe for centuries, but they were now experiencing a female drought with the present population already spoken for. Zara felt the male restlessness would reach an uncontrollable fever pitch before enough dragon mates could be located. She needed to find females fast and her growing desperation made the thought of human mates more tolerable.
While she looked at the mess the wrestling duo left behind, a smile spread across her face. “You just gave me an idea.”
Chapter 2
Madeleine and June climbed over the junk in the wrecking fields looking for any gold-plated circuit boards that might remain in an old piece of spacecraft.
“This one has already been picked over,” June said, peering in through a window.
Madeleine sighed loudly. “I think they all have. Nothing here either.” A piece of metal with the numbers 01777 caught her eye from the top of a distant heap. “Look, June. It’s our arrival ship.”
The two began navigating their way through the debris towards the damaged craft. “Check out that burn mark,” June said, pointing up. “It’s amazing we survived.”
Madeleine remained silent, standing in place and staring at the damaged hunk of metal. They had barely escaped. She remembered a flash and banging sound before everything else was drowned out by the screams of the passengers. Just when they all thought they would soon slam into the ground, the front of the vessel tilted up and skid across the ground in a softer than expected landing. They believed an atmospheric lightning bolt hit their vessel on entry and the thrusters kicked in just in time.
She watched her sister inspect the spacecraft. “Anything?”
June shook her head. As she made her way down the mound, her focus turned towards the sky. “Madeleine!” She pointed upwards as she lost her footing and fell back on her ass. “It’s a dragon!”
Madeleine’s mouth dropped open as she watched the magnificent creature flap its wings through the sky. It was a rare treat. Dragons were not among the shifters who normally came near the settlement, choosing instead to remain isolated in their rock structure. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
“What do you think it wants?”
“I have no idea.”
They watched as the dragon circled around the settlement, shaking a bag with one of its talons until sheets of paper fluttered down like confetti.
“Air mail!” Madeleine yelled. “Let’s go!”
They ran back towards the condos, scooping up some of the paper along the way.
“What is it?” June asked.
“It’s a help wanted ad.”
“What?”
“I’m serious,” Madeleine said, holding up a sheet for her sister to read.