Chapter 12 - THE MAN WHO WANTED A GOD
“Shaw.”
Ethan climbed slowly into the nest chamber.
Commander Shaw held Richard upright.
Blood soaked both men.
“You should be unconscious,” Maya said.
“Pain keeps me focused.”
Voss stepped forward.
“Let him go.”
Shaw smiled.
“You fired me.”
“I shot you.”
“Even worse.”
Behind them, the Queen was being dragged back beneath the ice by the growing energy field.
The Alpha lay nearby, barely breathing.
Four eggs remained intact.
Three babies huddled beneath its wing.
Shaw pointed toward the Heart.
“Disconnect the system.”
Ethan laughed once.
“No.”
Shaw pressed the knife harder.
Richard winced.
“I’ll kill him.”
Richard muttered, “He’s probably going to die anyway.”
“Dad.”
“What? We’re all thinking it.”
Shaw shouted, “Shut up!”
Ethan slowly raised his hands.
“What do you want?”
“The Heart.”
“You saw what happens if you take it.”
“I saw power.”
“You saw a monster.”
“I saw an organism that survived thousands of years without food.”
Voss stared at him.
“You want to weaponize it.”
Shaw smiled.
“I want to understand it.”
“You don’t understand a toaster.”
Maya almost laughed.
Shaw’s face twisted.
He kicked Richard’s wounded side.
Ethan’s smile vanished.
“Do that again and I’ll kill you.”
“Then disconnect the pillar.”
Ethan looked at Richard.
His father gave the smallest shake of his head.
No.
Ethan remembered being eight years old.
His father teaching him to climb.
Never look at where you might fall.
Look at where you need to go.
Ethan looked at Shaw.
Then at the newborn dragon behind him.
“Okay.”
Maya stared.
“Ethan?”
“I’ll do it.”
He stepped toward the pillar.
Shaw relaxed slightly.
That was his mistake.
Ethan whistled.
The newborn dragon’s head lifted.
During the last hour, Ethan had discovered two things about baby dragons.
They liked his jacket.
And they hated Commander Shaw.
The tiny dragon launched itself forward.
It bit Shaw directly between the legs.
Shaw screamed.
Richard dropped.
Maya tackled him.
The knife slid across the ice.
Voss kicked it away.
Ethan pulled his father clear.
Shaw threw Maya off and grabbed a rifle.
He fired wildly.
A bullet struck the eighth pillar.
Sparks erupted.
The seal flickered.
“No!”
The Queen’s claw burst through the floor.
It grabbed Shaw around the waist.
His face changed from rage to terror.
“Help me!”
Nobody moved.
“PLEASE!”
Ethan reached toward him.
Despite everything.
He actually tried.
Their fingers almost touched.
Then Shaw was pulled downward.
His scream vanished beneath the ice.
Silence followed.
Maya breathed heavily.
“You were really going to save him?”
Ethan looked at the hole.
“I don’t know.”
Richard smiled faintly.
“That’s why you’re better than him.”
A warning sound began pulsing from the damaged pillar.
Voss checked the readings.
Her face went pale.
“The seal is destabilizing again.”
Ethan turned toward the Alpha.
The dragon’s eyes were closing.
May you like
Richard whispered the truth none of them wanted to hear.
“If the Alpha dies now, the whole system dies with her.”
