Page 5 of Consorting with Dragons

“Our wedding anniversary is coming up soon, and I’ve bought a gift for Vannos that I need you to pick up for me. I wanted it to be a surprise for him. There is no bauxite. Well, there is, but I’m not really interested in that. It’s the gift I need you to pick up.”

“Oh…well, why didn’t you just say so in the first place, without all that bauxite business?”

“Because it’s a surprise, like I just said.”

“What did you get him?”

“You know how much he loves animals—and you know how he talks about being in training years ago and riding those vetami creatures from that moon of Lycanus 3? I got word that a rare vetami egg was about to hatch and it was offered to me. It’s really unusual for them to be available at all, and their gestation period is really long. Anyway, it’s more or less forbidden to buy them now. They’re considered to be a protected, endangered species. I jumped on it right away, as soon as it was offered.”

“What do you mean? Even though it’s an endangered species? Father, that doesn’t seem right. Can’t you get arrested for doing something like that?”

“Not if you have connections, like I do. The breeder of the egg, himself, King Travon of Thalios, the one we were just discussing, owns the egg and he’s agreed to sell it to me. He wanted you to come to his planet to pick it up, but I talked him into taking it to Lycanus 3, which is more or less halfway, and he agreed when he heard that you would be picking it up for me.”

“But why?”

“Because Vannos is right about him being a bit too old for you, but he’s very interested in you. And I don’t have time right now to accompany you as a chaperone, so meeting him like this is perfect. To tell the truth, I don’t fully trust him not to compromise you, so you’d have to marry him.”

“Compromise me? Father, I can take care of myself.”

“I’m sure you can, but I’ve heard rumors. It’s just better that you meet on Lycanus 3 on more or less neutral ground.”

I laughed a little. “Surely, he wouldn’t try anything in public. And if he’s so awful, why do you want me to marry him?”

“I don’t, but there can’t be any harm in meeting him. I’m sure he must have heard how good looking you are, because he’s very insistent. Anyway, the egg is inside its crate and waiting for you there on the docks. I’ve already sent him the purchase price and I have the signed receipt. All you have to do is meet him, have a few minutes of conversation and bring the egg home.”

“But what about the fact that the vetami are an endangered species?”

“Only the ones from that moon Horvath are on that list. That’s a moon of Lycanus 3 and the vetami are native to that world. This egg is perfectly legal because it comes from the planet Thalios, where Travon is king. People used to be able to purchase them for years until the people of Horvath got involved and petitioned the Axis to make them endangered, even though they have literally hundreds of them on Horvath. Then the Intergalactic Union for the Conservation of Nature got involved and now you can’t buy the eggs at all anymore.”

“Then how did King Travon doing it?”

“From what Travon told me, his father is from Horvath, but came to Thalios years ago, with some of his property. Including vetami. It was all perfectly legal back then—and now King Travon has a large herd of these vetami, and they’re quitevaluable. But he has agreed to sell me this one egg as a favor and a mark of his friendship. As I told you, he’s interested in you as well. Not that you have to do anything about that,” he said. “That’s a negotiation for me and your omak to be involved in. But it won’t hurt you to at least meet the man. He’s doing me a big favor here. Do you understand now?”

“I guess so. You want me to pick up Omak’s gift, meet this king and then bring the gift home. Easy! What is a vetami anyway? You said it was an egg. Are they some kind of birds?”

“No, Rylan. They’re much more special than that.They’re dragons.”

Chapter Two

“Dragons?Father, what are you talking about? Dragons aren’t real.”

“It’s what people call them. There was an Alliance Command base on Horvath during the war, full of humans, and that name got started back then when the humans noted the resemblance to the fictional creatures in their old legends and stories. I’ve seen the drawings, and they really do resemble the things. Their true species name isvetami.Your omak was stationed on Horvath during the war after the Axis kicked the Alliance out and took over, and he was able to ride the creatures with his friends. I know you must have heard him talk about it.”

“Those creatures that flew? I thought they were supposed to be kind of vicious.”

“The wild vetami can be, but not the ones who are properly raised and trained. I think Vannos would be thrilled to have one. Anyway, I’ve already made the purchase. I just need you to pick it up for me.”

“So, it’s an egg?”

“Yes. But it’s due to hatch soon, so we need to get it here before that happens. They’re very valuable, but Travon gave me a really good price. Anyway, I’ve made all the arrangements and all you have to do is just meet King Travon and take possession. He might ask you to go to his ship for the meeting, and as long as you have your guards with you, that should be fine. Then pick up the egg and bring it home.”

I shrugged. It sounded easy enough. “All right. Consider it done.”

He clapped me on the back, and I finally escaped back to my room to get ready for this journey. I actually felt pretty lucky that it seemed to be an easy task, except for meeting this king. I had no interest in that, but I figured it might be good to firmly shut him down before he got any more ideas. I had no interest in getting married to him or anyone else.

I thought it was true that Omak probably would love having one of the flying creatures. I would too for that matter. He certainly relived his time there on that moon often enough and told us all about it. He’d been a teenager at the time though. I thought he might be a bit old to go flying around these days, though I’d never say it to his face. I went upstairs to pack a small bag in case we did get delayed and had to spend more than one night. I made up my mind that I’d get through this and then I could take off with my friend Kareb on a little trip to the southern coast. It had been far too long since we’d been to the beach.

A few hours later, I was in my father’s ship headed to Lycanus 3. Kareb had gone along with me, as one of my personal bodyguards, and we’d been talking about our upcoming trip, when one of the other guards interrupted us.

---