Emerald DARE Read online

  "I wouldn't say that," Sirah said with a snort. "If anything, they'll fight to stay and they should have research material, too. They went off about six months ago and we haven't seen them since."

  "I hope they haven't perished out there in the wilderness. You know how difficult it can be to find copses of edible plants." Tamash bit her lip, obvious worry painted on her face.

  Emerald nodded. "I am on my way to find them. Prepare your samples for travel. We will leave as soon as I return."

  Sirah swallowed. "How will you return us? You don't have the generator or the stationary gate."

  Emerald winked. "I will manage. This isn't my first rodeo."

  Chapter Six

  Aegon was curled up on a rock in his other form, basking in the sunlight. What do you need, Emerald?

  She struggled over a pile of rocks as she approached him. I need to find a clutch of geologists. Their location seems to be interfering with my scanners.

  I will get you as close as I can to the largest electromagnetic disturbance in the area.

  His huge clawed foot extended to her in invitation. Emerald smiled and climbed aboard the proffered limb.

  She settled into place and gripped one of the ridges for stability. When he launched into the air, she watched the camp below and though they stopped to point at the dragon as it flew over them, the scientists seemed to be involved in crating up their discoveries.

  The steady beat of his wings took the place of her heartbeat. She felt the world falling beneath her as air was scooped and pushed away. The heavy pulse became her focus.

  Her scanner crackled on her arm as they headed north. Four small pulses of light surged and then settled into steady beacons, flickering on the display.

  I can see them. Northeast.

  Near that huge volcano?

  She looked up in surprise to see the smoking edifice of the natural disaster in the making. Can we circle that? I have never seen one before.

  Of course. Where have you lived that you look at the world like a child?

  In a lab, underground. We saw pictures of this kind of thing in our educational classes.

  You received an education?

  Of a sort. Physical education, navigation, orienteering, reading, writing and general anatomy of a world in distress. Seeing it all in person is quite another thing.

  Then look all you wish, there are places out there that I would love to show you, walls of crystal and fire. Oceans of bright jewels and new wonders are around every corner.

  It sounded wonderful.

  The glow of lava simmering in a pool surrounded by a ridge of stone was hypnotic. The blast of heat felt amazing on her skin. This is wonderful. It feels amazing.

  We like the heat as a species. Those little humans won't be faring so well.

  What humans…oh.

  Down below, a course of lava was making its way toward the small cluster of humans, pinned against a pillar of rock and trees, a tiny oasis in a growing sea of molten rock.

  Can you grab them?

  Not all in one go. I may knock more of them into the lava if I am not careful.

  Crud. Emerald thought about it quickly. Drop me amongst them and then come back to get me after they are clear.

  Are you sure you can manage a landing? I will have to stay fairly high to slow down.

  Emerald was already shifting her legs and working her way down to his huge talons. He gripped her lightly by the arms while lowering their altitude.

  The heat was uncomfortable for Emerald as they swooped down to the small oasis in the molten flowing rock.

  Ready? Drop. He let her go and she fell thirty feet, tumbling forward before rolling to a standing position.

  Her ankle twinged a little as she walked toward the cowering humans. "I am here to get you home."

  One of the geologists looked at her through swollen eyes and he yelled, "I don't care who you are, get us out of here."

  Emerald raised one eyebrow and opened a portal for them. They grabbed their gear and headed to the exit she offered as quickly as they could. She couldn't do anything about their sighting of the dragon, but with their bodies and minds suffering from heat and panic, she could only hope they would be vague in their report.

  Okay, they are away. Come and get me.

  Move toward the center. The lava is coming in rather quickly.

  She followed his instruction and stood as close to the center as she could manage. The heat was coming toward her in waves, blurring her vision. A silver glow was coming at her and either the moon had come down to crush her or Aegon was on his way.

  Hold still, Emerald, this isn't going to be comfortable.

  The warning was given to her an instant before the cooler rush of air caressed her face.

  A squeak of pain was forced from her the moment that he connected. Emerald felt the flutter of contrition as he carried her away from the lava field and the small piece of land she had been standing on. A few rapid blinks of her secondary lids and she got to witness the destruction of her previously safe haven.

  I guess we got there just in time. Dangling from his grip, she tried to ignore the pain in her ribs.

  Your timing was impeccable. I would almost suspect the humans of having a psychic link.

  Not really, I have retrieved bodies before. It isn't pleasant, but it is part of the job.

  That's horrible. I can't imagine sending a woman as sensitive as you out to deal with the dead.

  Emerald laughed. There were twenty of us on duty when we started. There are eighteen now. The humans have no one else.

  Are you all out in the worlds at the same time?

  No, they always hold a few of us back so that if something happens, they are not without their safety stock. Also, not all assignments take the same amount of time. We come and go all the time.

  He was silent as he flew the rest of the way back to the small base camp that housed the rest of the research team.

  Limping and slapping out the few embers that were searing into her clothing, she hiked over the hill and approached the research team. Absently, she removed her canteen from her belt and slugged back some water. Her ribs were probably cracked if not broken. Her injuries were not life threatening, but she was not comfortable.

  The pain made her a little grumpy when she stomped back into the research base.

  She must have looked like the hammered hell she felt like because Teil shouted and brought her a chair. Emerald sat and pressed her head into her hands.

  "What the hell happened to you?" Sirah was in front of her, a damp cloth in her hands that was applied to Emerald's face.

  "Oh, not much. The geologists are safe, but their camp is under lava right now. So they were only able to take away the information they had on their persons. You have about twelve hours before the lava flow reaches you. Less if the volcano blows."

  Sirah looked northward and widened her eyes. "I didn't…that wasn't there yesterday."

  Teil whistled. "Where did that come from?"

  Tamash gasped, "How long do we have?"

  Emerald removed the compress from her face. "I estimate less than twelve hours. That is just going by the curves and the twists in the valleys between here and there. It was as if this spot was designed to be in the middle of the pathway."

  Sirah nodded and got to her feet. "Then we had better get a move on. Prep all active experiments and get ready to move."

  Tamash and Teil jumped to it and left Emerald to replace her compress.

  With her eyes closed, she reached out to the dragon just beyond the hillside. Did you hear that?

  I did. Are you returning with them?

  Emerald froze. She didn't want to. She wanted to see the crystal hills and oceans of jewels. Will you take me to see my sisters?

  Of course, as soon as we take you to a healer to get your leg and ribs fixed.

  What?

  I heard and felt them crack when I grabbed you, but I wanted you to finish this assignment before I took you for m
edical care.

  Pretty confident that I would go with you, aren't you? One would think you thought I liked you or something.

  His chuckle in her mind made her smile slightly. What is not to like?

  If I had a response for that, I would tell you, but you have rendered me speechless.

  Save your little humans and I will take you off to meet not only your sisters, but more of our kind. There is an entire universe out there waiting for you, Emerald. Time for you to come to greet it.

  Chapter Seven

  Emerald could hear and see the smoke rendered by the approaching molten rock. "Are we ready?"

  Her targets were standing by, their collection of boxes impressive by anyone's standard.

  Teil nodded. "How will this work?"

  "I will open the portal, one of you will go through and warn the base crew and the two with me will start sliding boxes through to the other side. Once the boxes are through, you two will follow and I will bring up the rear."

  She added, "Now, I will do the throwing of the boxes because if you strike the side of the portal you will begin to pass through it and it is a one way door for humans if I am not touching you. You can go in, but you can't come back. Is that understood?"

  The group nodded.

  "Now, who is going first?"

  Sirah cleared her throat. "Tamash will go first. She is the youngest and the best research assistant I have ever had."

  Teil nodded. "I will pass you the boxes, but please be careful. We will not be able to return for more samples, will we?"

  "No. I am afraid not. When the mechanical portals were created, they punched holes in space that ruptured the fabric of matter in the area around your world. This caused a weakness that is rippling across dimensional barriers. When you passed into those holes, you carried bits of the dimensional fabric with you. Until those bits are replaced by your return, the instability will spread. This is a complete recall of all those who left Earth by the way. Not just you."

  They had turned grey.

  Sirah nodded. "We understand. Ready when you are."

  Emerald nodded, walked to the edge of the pile of containers and opened a portal back to Earth.

  Tamash gave Teil a passionate kiss that Emerald watched with intense curiosity before placing her hand on the woman's shoulder to escort her into the portal.

  Tamash held a case in front of her and walked into the swirling vortex with a soft gasp.

  "Now we wait for a minute so she clears the station."

  Teil cleared his throat. "You said it was our world. Where is your world?"

  She smiled at him as her internal clock counted down. "I don't know. My mother was captured years ago and my sisters and myself were cloned from her existing pregnancy. No one knows what we are, let alone where we came from."

  Sirah frowned. "Why won't your mother tell you?"

  "I don't know, I have never met her. We were raised in the lab and she is within the facility, but kept from us."

  Sirah scowled, "Are you sure?"

  "I am positive. Whatever I am, it isn't human." She ticked off the seconds. "Time is up. Let's get this load shifted."

  Speech turned into soft grunts as Teil and Sirah passed her the heavy boxes and Emerald slid them through the portal.

  Whatever sense it was that allowed her to create the rifts, told her when they were empty and she launched through the next crate.

  The smell of burned grass and smoldering trees was coming closer. Emerald paused as Aegon flew overhead to take up a safer perch.

  Sirah was gasping, but she asked, "Have you seen one of those before?"

  "A dragon? Once or twice." Emerald kept working.

  "They have been doing fly bys for the last few weeks. I have never seen anything like them outside of a storybook."

  "I have heard of those."

  "Dragons?"

  "No. Storybooks. My handler told me about them." She smiled and kept working. "Becky was always a lover of the handsome prince rescuing the princess."

  They had moved two thirds of the boxes when Aegon reared up and flew toward them.

  We are running out of time. I will help.

  "No one panic, we are about to get some help. His name is Aegon, and yes, I have met him before."

  As the giant silver beast came toward them, Sirah stopped helping and watched him land and shift into his other form. "How did he…"

  Aegon didn't introduce himself, merely started lobbing more and more of the crates into the portal.

  "He looks like you, Emerald."

  "I think he's taller, Sirah."

  Her dragon companion snorted and shoved the last of the boxes through.

  She turned to the researchers. "Time to go. Just walk through and you will be with your research in no time."

  "Aren't you coming?" Sirah paused after Teil entered the vortex.

  "I will be there in a moment. I just have to speak with my companion first." Emerald smiled.

  Sirah rushed at her and hugged her. "Thank you."

  Emerald didn't know what to do, so she hugged the woman back. Sirah wiped her eyes and smiled as she turned to walk through the portal.

  Aegon came up behind Emerald and wrapped his arms around her. "Do you want them to know you are coming willingly?"

  "Not particularly." The feeling of his arms was completely different from those of Sirah.

  "Then scream."

  She didn't understand until Sirah took that first step into the portal and Aegon gave her ribs a gentle squeeze. She screamed.

  * * * *

  Sirah was already being drawn in, but the sound carried with her all the way to Earth as the dragon caught Emerald and made her scream. The pain in the tone stayed with her until she stumbled out onto the platform and the doorway closed behind her.

  "Where is the agent who sent you here?" A serious technician was looking at the spot where the portal had been.

  "I don't know. There was a dragon and I heard her scream…"

  Teil looked up from the crate he was checking. "What?"

  "He came up behind her and then she screamed. After that, the portal closed." Sirah wasn't sure what had happened, but that scream had been genuine. Emerald was out there and she was in pain.

  * * * *

  Emerald caught her breath. "Did you have to do that?"

  "Sirah had to return to her world with tales of your scream. There was only one way to do it." His hands soothed her sides.

  "Wonderful. You mentioned a doctor?"

  "No, a healer, but the same for your purposes. Come along, the lava is almost here." He shifted into his winged form and she struggled to get onto his neck once again.

  She settled in place with pain rippling through her every nerve. He lifted slowly, easing into the air and riding the currents of heat that the black and orange course of lava was giving off.

  When they were hundreds of feet over the crackling remodeling of the landscape, a portal opened in front of him and he flew into it, taking her away from destruction and into a burst of light and possibilities.

  Chapter Eight

  Dragons were everywhere. A cluster of dragons were circling a tower and when they moved so Aegon could land, she knew they were expected.

  Galen is a great healer. He will be able to help.

  This is his home?

  It is. Many come to seek his assistance, but he only helps those he deems worthy. He has healed both of your sisters by the way.

  Good. Can we get on with this? She was having trouble breathing.

  He quickly shifted into his bipedal form and ducked his head back from between her thighs.

  She was lifted into his arms in a moment and another dragon male came to greet them as they approached the door to the tower.

  "You must be…hmm…green eyes…Emerald? Peridot maybe?" The male smiled at her in a brotherly way.

  "Emerald."

  "Well, Emerald, I am Galen and I will be your healer today. Aegon, please take her to the sun room."
>
  Her companion nodded and walked swiftly down the tower steps to a room that glowed with light.

  He placed her on the bed in the center of the room, under the skylight. "Galen is really the best, I swear it."

  The man in question arrived and sighed. "I am sorry, but I will have to have contact with your skin. If you could disrobe, it would be best."

  She tried to undo her belt, but her hands were not cooperating. "Can I get some help?"

  In a moment of ridiculous surrealism, two dragon males stripped her to the skin. Blushing wasn't doing her any good. She was not ashamed of her body or marks, but their looks of extreme appreciation were making her uncomfortable.

  Galen hissed as his gaze took in her deeply bruised ribs and ankle. "What happened, Emerald?"

  "Oh, nothing much. Just a regular day at work. Can you fix me?"

  He grinned. "Of course. And I will even remove your leash."

  She smiled weakly and let him work on her, the pain of the healing reminiscent of the original injury. Through the whole process, she kept a tight grip on Aegon's hand, his touch the one anchor in her world of pain.

  Galen moved and a necklace swung free. Two leashes were hanging there.

  "You really did heal my sisters, didn't you?"

  He grinned. "I really did. It's a good thing Aegon brought you. You had internal bleeding."

  "Oh."

  "Now for the most painful part, the leash and the viral capsule." He pressed his hands over her thigh and she felt the tug deep inside as it came loose from her femur.

  She wasn't able to ask questions as pain seared a burning path from her bone outward. When the leash broke the skin, she breathed deeply for a moment before it began again.

  The tiny capsule between his bloody fingers confused her, but he healed the torn path and set the capsule and the leash aside while he washed his hands. "They put a contaminant under your leash in case you tried to remove it yourself. Topaz almost died, as did Ruby. Fortunately, Topaz's mate realized that the problem was more than a minor fever."