\n "Sean, how are we doing on time?"

\n "You just asked me ten minutes ago.  We were doing fine then.  We're still doing fine now."

\n Vallen growled and glared at the dull blue glow of Sean's jet's exhaust, flying along ahead of and below the clan.  "What time is it?"

\n "23:30."

\n "All right.  How far to the border?"

\n "About...  Forty kilometers; we actually might end up getting there a bit early.  But if we do, we won't slow down until we're close, so keep flying how you've been flying."

\n "All right."  He glanced back at the rest of the clan; all of them were keeping up nicely, at least for the time being.  "Aithsa, how are you doing down there?"

\n Aithsa drew up as close as he could without disrupting the air beneath Vallen's wings.  "I'm fine."

\n "You sure?  Not tired at all?  I know it can be hard, since you're still so young for this sort of journey."

\n The little dragon tossed his head.  "I'm sure, dad."

\n "Fine.  Just remember, if you get tired, you can ride more of my slipstream if you want to."

\n "If I need to."  Aithsa looked away and dropped back down to give Vallen more room.

\n He snorted, but now that he thought about it he was much more worried about the oldest dragons, Nesleh and Lemnir, than the younger members of the clan.  There was a lot of youthful energy in those little bodies and their lighter weight helped them float along with the wind, but the old dragons had weakening bones and joints that might not survive the flight.  Nesleh had kept himself in good shape, but Lemnir was overweight and tired easily and he didn't think they could spare the effort it would take to support him all the way across the world...  Especially if they had to outrun any human forces later on in the journey.

\n But of course they would be too proud to answer him truthfully if he asked them about it, and if they did start to wear down it most likely wouldn't be until at least the halfway point of the journey.  He glanced at the two of them, keeping pace easily--for now--near the center of their formation, then said, "Sean, are things still clear up ahead of us?"

\n Sean looked out the windows at the dark, purplish landscape and sky around them, lit by the thermal filters he had lowered so he and Dave could see more easily.  "There's nothing on my side...  See anything dangerous on the right, Dave?"

\n He stood up a little in his seat and peered at a couple of orange blobs down below.  "Just a few wolves, so no."

\n The two of them kept their eyes on the air and the ground, lapsing into silence brought on by the music playing through Sean's speakers and the emptiness around them.  Sean glanced at the rearview monitor, making sure the dragons were still visible behind them, then watched the radar for a moment before turning his gaze back to the front.

\n "How far to the border now?" Dave yawned.

\n He glanced at the center console.  "Sixteen kilometers."  He looked up again in time to see Dave lean forward and point at the ground.

\n "What's that down there?"

\n Sean squinted at the cluster of yellow-orange figures lining the ground up ahead.  "Hmm..."  He reached towards the buttons below the screen in the center console and pressed them in a quick sequence.

\n The viewscreen activated and displayed a closer image of the group of figures, now unmistakably human.  As Sean's jet neared them, they spread out into a line and held up their arms, almost as if there were...

\n "They're holding rifles!" Dave said.  "Look, they're even pointing them at the sky!  Tell the dragons to change course."

\n Sean didn't say anything.

\n "Sean, come on--  Vallen, can you hear me?  There are humans with rifles up ahead, watching the sky, right beneath us!  You have to guide the clan around--"

\n "Oh, damn it!  Damn it, Dave, jets!  Look!"

\n Sure enough, he looked back up at the sky to see another line of figures in the air up ahead, these a brighter shade of yellow and moving towards them very quickly.

\n Sean reached for the center console, shutting off the music and turning up the communicator equalizer.  "Vallen, there are fighter jets headed this way, from the north!  Get to the ground and hide, now!"

\n "How far are we from the border?"

\n "Fifteen kilometers.  There's no way we can make it past them."

\n "Sean, fighter jets have thermal imaging just like you do," Dave said.  "The clan won't be able to hide anywhere, and putting them on the ground will just make them easier targets.  In fact, those men are probably down there to shoot them if they try to land."

\n He didn't respond, and all the while the jets and the dragons drew closer to each other until finally he said, "why aren't they shooting at us?  They must be able to see us; why aren't they shooting?"

\n Dave reached for the center console and worked with the display controls there until he was able to zoom in on one of the jets.  He looked closely, then said, "the jets have their side doors open!  Their doors are open and there are people with rifles leaning out of the sides."

\n "Oh!  That's right, police and army jets don't have stunning weapons integrated."

\n "What does that mean for us?" Vallen growled.

\n "The jets won't be able to maneuver as quickly as they usually can, but they'll be able to shoot in pretty much all directions--  Sean, watch out!"

\n A dot of white had appeared on their thermal imaging.  "Laser!"  Sean twisted the steering wheel and rolled his jet out of the way, the passing shot turning the thermal screens pure white for a moment.  "Damn it, damn it, damn it..."  He slammed the accelerator forward and his jet rocketed away from both the fighters and the dragons.

\n "Sean, what are you doing?"

\n "What does it look like I'm doing?  How am I supposed to fight ten fighter jets in this thing?"

\n "I don't know, but you can't just abandon them!  Not after all we've done to come this far.  I don't know...  Change!  Turn into a dragon, go back there and use that bolt of yours.  It's got to be strong enough."

\n He shook his head, eyes wide and knuckles white on the steering wheel.

\n "Sean, come on!  You have to help them!"

\n Vallen snarled and shut out the voices in his ear.  "Jets!  Everyone, jets coming!"

\n "Where?" Molthan yelled up.

\n "Somewhere up ahead, keep an eye out for them!  Carnoc, get to the front, we're going to need your bolt if we want to make through."

\n "How many are there?"

\n "Ten."

\n Carnoc drove his wings down and made his way to the front of the flight, the rest of the clan clustering together behind him.  "Are Dave and Sean going to help?"

\n Vallen paused a moment, then shook his head.  "From what I can hear, Sean's flying away and Dave can't convince him to come back.  We're going to have to take care of ourselves."

\n He growled.  "That coward."

\n "Don't hold back, son," Nesleh shouted forward.  "We'll need everything you've got!"

\n "I can see them!" Molthan said, pointing forward with a claw.

\n "Carnoc, pick a target and shoot as soon as you're sure you can hit one of them.  Everyone, scatter as soon as he fires, but keep heading north, and Aithsa, stay close to me."

\n Carnoc took a couple of deep breaths.  It wasn't that he was trying to push away any of his temper this time; he could let the rage drive him, but at the same time it needed to be under control enough for him to make the right decisions in battle.  This wasn't a fight just to destroy--he had to protect the rest of the clan while he fought, not only defeat the humans in their jets but also keep them from bringing down the whole clan around him.  They did not have his strength, or Vidac's bolt, so they could not fight as he did, and without him they might not have even had a chance in the first place...  So it was up to him.  This was his task, his purpose, this was the opportunity that made him cherish his gifts the most, and he would not fail.  He could not.

\n He felt the familiar anger rise up inside of him, and his vision almost seemed to sharpen as he squinted into the darkness ahead of them, finally picking out a group of dim shapes in the sky up ahead.  He opened his mouth a bit and bobbed his head, lining up the shot, then spread his jaws and fired.

\n The clan rolled to the sides and down before his shot even connected with its target, and he folded his wings and dropped as the jet's explosion lit up the sky ahead of them, revealing other fighters around it.  He fired again and there was a second explosion, then the humans in the jets began to fire back.

\n He heard a groan to his left and saw one of the other dragons start to fall.  Before he could be hit as well, he tilted his wings and rolled in the opposite direction, stalled, then dove and flew forward again, varying his flight as often as he could to keep the jets' fire off of him.  A third fighter jet passed into his range of vision, and he destroyed it, then swung his head around towards where he could hear the drone of an engine and shot down another.

\n There was a rush of air, and suddenly the sky ahead of him was empty.  Had the jets passed him by?  He looked back and saw the glow of an engine, then aimed, fired and connected again.  Five jets down, and five to go.

\n Another flash of orange lit to his left, and he looked over to see a dragon--too far away to see who it was--winging away from the explosion.  So the others were capable of fighting back, too; that was good.  Carnoc was about to call out to see who was around him when something lit up the sky ahead--a laser barrier.  But...  They weren't that close to the border yet!  Then, another barrier lit up to his right, his left, and...  He spun in midair and sprinted for the opening, but another barrier lit up to the south before he could even get close.  And as that barrier came up, so did one in the sky above.  He was penned in, and the jets were coming back around to shoot at the clan again.

\n A faint tsap sounded from below, and he looked down to see a human there, pointing a rifle in his direction.  He roared, then shot a bolt into the man's chest; the blast knocked him to the ground with his shirt on fire, which quickly burned away to reveal the charred and broken body beneath.  He roared again at the dead human, then started to fly towards the north-facing barrier.

\n A low rumble built to his left, and he looked to see a jet pass through the westward barrier, two others flanking it.  He fired again, missing the one on the far left but striking the one in the middle and grazing the one on the right, which didn't explode but still fell to the ground.  Two jets left--then an explosion to his right signaled the destruction of the ninth.  Just one more, and it was bearing down on him.

\n "Out of the way!" someone shouted, and another dragon flew past, raking the roof of the jet with his claws before the human hanging out of it could fire at him.  The jet kept going for a moment, then split into several pieces and dropped into the forest.

\n "Sean, if you don't turn around, I'm doing it for you.  We can't just abandon them.  Look, there are only four fighters left now!  By the time you get back, I bet they'll all be gone."

\n "I--  I can't."

\n "Yes you can!  Jesus, you're a Class Six mutant and you're running from a couple of jets?  What the hell is wrong with you?  Come on--"  Dave reached over and grabbed the steering wheel, twisting it to the right.

\n Sean tried to force it the other way, but they had already turned all the way around by the time he managed to straighten his jet's course.  "What the...  Barriers?"

\n Sure enough, a cube of barriers had lit up a large section of the sky where they had left the dragons.  "How many dragons are stuck in there?"

\n Sean glanced at his radar.  "There are only fourteen showing up, and they're all inside."

\n "There are the fighters, coming around.  See them?"  Three jets turned up ahead and flew right through the barrier in front of them, then were knocked out of the sky right before their eyes.

\n "He's a good shot," Dave said.  "And look, all the jets are gone now, so get in there!"

\n "What?  Oh...  Vallen, you out there?"

\n "Sean, Dave, we need you inside these barriers.  Orasin, Krain, Lemnir and Ureth were all hit, and we're stuck inside, too."

\n "We'll get you all out like we got Carnoc out," Dave said, "it shouldn't be too hard.  Sean will be down in a moment and I'll see to them."

\n "All right.  Oh, there are some other humans down here.  They had rifles, but Nesleh, Molthan and I surprised them well enough to get them to drop them, and we destroyed the rifles."

\n "Any idea who they are?"

\n "The human who seems to be in charge says his name's Jim.  Do you want me to tell him anything?"

\n Dave hesitated, and Sean said, "wait, your brother?  Or some other Jim?"

\n "I'll ask," Vallen said.  After a short pause, "the man says he's Jim Fuller.  I think that's who you were wondering about."

\n Dave groaned.  "Great.  This...  He won't be happy.  He called me earlier today, asking me about you all, and I...  I lied, told him I wasn't involved.  When he finds out I really am responsible for putting his newfound fortune in jeopardy..."  He groaned again and rubbed his forehead with his thumb and middle finger.

\n "There's a field near the northern barrier; set down there, and the humans will be there.  I already have the clan carrying Orasin, Ureth, Krain and Lemnir there so you can revive them."

\n "We'll be right there."

\n "All right."  Vallen looked down at the humans in front of him.  "Now, are you going to cause us any more trouble, or will you leave us alone?"

\n Jim gulped, wishing he still had a rifle.  "We don't have much of a choice, do we?"

\n "No, you don't.  Will you lower these barriers, please?"

\n "...I can't."

\n "Human, you don't want to delay us any more than you already have.  We have...  What time is it?"

\n One of the humans checked his watch.  "23:55."

\n "We have two minutes to reach Canada...  I guess now there's no chance we will."  Vallen growled.  "Consider yourselves lucky we're civilized enough not to just kill you for getting in our way."

\n "Like you killed all the people in those jets?"

\n There was a gust of wind overhead, and the rest of the clan and Sean's jet all appeared overhead at once.  Vallen moved to the side to give them all room to set down, and the field went from near-empty to almost full in moments.  Dave climbed out of the jet, backpack over one shoulder, while Sean got out the other door.  "Vallen, who needs help?"

\n "Sorry, Dave, they're all over here by me.  Hurry up; maybe the border will be open for another couple of minutes and we'll still be able to make it."

\n "Wait, Dave?  I know that voice.  Dave, is that you?"

\n Dave sighed and walked over to the first unconscious dragon, lying on the ground in full view of the other humans.  "Yes, Jim, it's me."

\n Jim started to walk towards him, but a growl from Molthan kept him back.  "Dave--  How could you... betray me like this?  I know you didn't approve of what I did, but...  Couldn't you have just let it all be?"

\n Dave injected the re-stimulator into the first dragon, then moved on to the next.  "Not after I met Chris, and Sean, and found out how intelligent dragons actually are.  They convinced me to help free them, so I did."

\n "Do you have any idea what this is going to do to me?  The zoos are going to start asking for refunds if they can't get their property back--"

\n "Property?" one of the dragons snarled, lowering his head to glare at Jim.  "Is that still how you see us?"

\n "Regardless of anyone's opinion on the matter, it's what you technically are," he said calmly, and turned back to his brother.  "Anyway, they're going to want refunds if they can't get back what I sold them, and with all I've had to spend on the captures and searches, I don't have the money to pay them all.  I'll be worse off than before!"

\n "Refunds?"  Dave raised an eyebrow.  "They can't blame you if their own security didn't hold up."

\n "But how many does that apply to?  Three, and one of them the cheapest of the lot?"  He ignored the angry growls of the dragons around him.  "I can't blame them for the twenty-one that escaped from my security!"

\n After injecting the final two dragons, Dave stood and walked over to his older brother.  "I'm sorry, Jim, but I felt had to help them.  Besides, you know..."  He forced a smile.  "I have more than enough of my own money, not to mention a steadier job.  I can help you out if you really need it."  He put a hand on Jim's shoulder.  "There's help out there if you need it, you know that.  Family supports family, friends support friends.  We can help if you can't pay them all back."

\n Jim shook his head.  "Charity?  You know I don't--"

\n "Jim, you know you'll need help, and you have friends and family willing to help you.  It's better than living in a shelter somewhere."

\n "But..."

\n "We'll help you, brother.  Let it go.  Move on, and we'll all help you along the way."

\n He sighed and looked at the ground.  "Thanks...  I--  I think I should have known better..."

\n "Wait," Carnoc growled, making his way over to the two of them.  "This is the human who captured us?  He came into our cave, caught us all and sold us off to our prisons?"  He glared down at the two of them and snarled, baring his fangs.

\n Jim turned to face the dragon and nodded.  "Yes, I did.  And I'm sorry."

\n He snorted and lowered his head.  "Sorry?  That's all you humans ever are.  Too stupid to know what should be left alone and too stubborn to let go of what you've lost."

\n Nesleh took a step forward.  "Now, don't say that, there are plenty of them out there who--"

\n "It's true!" he roared, still glaring down at Jim.  "What do you have to say for yourself, human?"

\n "I apologize," Jim said slowly.  "I was greedy, and selfish, and I'm sorry..."

\n Carnoc roared at him, then struck forward, fangs closing around Jim's head.  He bit down and pulled, and Jim's body collapsed, headless, blood spurting from the stump of his neck.

\n Silence.  Dave just stared at the spot where his brother had been, paralyzed with shock.  Impossible, he thought.  There was no way; Jim couldn't be dead.  Jim was his big brother, his closest friend, the one who had always been there...  He couldn't just be gone like that.  "Jim?" he whispered.

\n Carnoc spat out the mangled head.  "He deserved it."

\n He watched his brother's ruined face roll across the ground, coming to rest next to its old body.  He looked into its torn features a few moments longer, horrified, then turned to see the bloody fangs that had done it just a few meters away.  Fangs that had darted forward without warning, closed over the head, torn through skin and muscle and bone...  And destroyed him, killed him, ended Jim's life.

\n He glared up at Carnoc.  "You!"  He ran at the dragon, fists raised to fight even though he couldn't hope to injure a creature Carnoc's size with his bare hands.  "I'll kill you!"

\n "Then you'll die just like your brother, human!"  Carnoc raised a paw to rake his claws through him, but then Nesleh leapt forward and slammed a paw into his shoulder, between the two joints.  He fell to the ground, bellowing at the pain, and before he could recover Nesleh pressed a claw against his throat.

\n "Control yourself, now!"

\n Dave ran past Nesleh and tried to get at Carnoc's head, but Sean grabbed him around the waist and held him back.  "Dave, if you get close he'll just kill you, too!  Calm down!"

\n He struggled away from Sean's grip, managing a few more steps forward, then he cried out and dropped to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably.

\n Carnoc glared up at his father, growling and willing himself to get up, but his whole body had gone numb when Nesleh had struck him and wouldn't respond to his thoughts.  "Control yourself," Nesleh repeated, and when Carnoc snarled he struck him across the face with the back of a paw.  "Do as I say!  Control yourself, now!"

\n He growled another few moments, then finally his father's words cut through the enraged haze over his mind and he closed his eyes with a sigh, tension and anger slowly draining from his body.  He lay there for a full two minutes before he opened his eyes again, and when he did he could feel his blood beginning to calm.

\n "Are you in control?"

\n "I am," he said after a moment.

\n "Good."  Nesleh pressed one claw against the place he had kicked him and twisted, making his whole body tingle, then stepped back to give him room to stand as feeling returned to his limbs.

\n "We need to go," Vallen said.  "There could be more jets on the way."

\n "I can lower these barriers," one of the humans offered.

\n "Thank you.  Is everyone ready to fly again, assuming we'll be able to make it across the border?"  The clan growled their affirmatives.  "Good.  Sean, Dave, what about you?"

\n Sean put his hands under Dave's arms.  "Come on.  We have to get out of here."

\n He shook his head.  "I can't leave him."

\n "Dave, if you stay here a moment longer the only place you'll be is prison.  Remember how we're on the run?  We have to go!"

\n "I don't care anymore!  My brother is dead, Sean, dead!  And he killed him!" Dave pointed a finger at Carnoc, who snorted and looked away.  "You want to go?  Go.  I'm staying."

\n "What is it you want here?  If you're worried about the body, I'm sure..."  Sean looked up at the other men.  "Can you all be sure that Jim's body is properly taken care of?"

\n "We'll see to it," one said.

\n "Come on, Dave, they'll take care of him with respect.  You can't stay here; you'll just get arrested."  Sean managed to get Dave on his feet.  "Let's go.  We can mourn in the air."

\n "No."

\n Sean put an arm around his shoulder.  "Come on, Dave, let's go.  I can help you.  I know what it's like to lose a sibling."  Dave didn't say anything, but he allowed Sean to guide him back to the jet and into the passenger seat, sobbing quietly all the while.

\n Sean returned and collected all of Dave's abandoned equipment, then got back into his jet.  "Vallen, we're ready to go."

\n "All right.  The border's probably closed by now, but we may as well head north anyway, just to be sure."

\n Sean's jet went airborne first, followed by all the dragons of the clan.  As they rose, the barriers around them deactivated, then they struck out north again, flying as quickly as they could towards the border and, they hoped, towards a place where they might finally be safe.


\n END OF PART ONE

\n (There's a new folder for part 2, which is underway.)