Richard: Federaton Attacks

The Chapter 2

The FBI Gets Involved

Flying high over the mountains of the air dragon planet on a sunny day, Richard looked out over this vast land. A few white puffy clouds drifted slowly overhead. He sighed, and dark smoke streamed from the corners of his mouth.

He cursed himself for the way he’d treated his brother and wished he had not scared Brenda or talked to his mate the way he had.

Swinging his head around on his long golden neck, he looked back at the valley. He watched AAL and the others disappear. His dragon vision still surprised him. It was sharper than a human’s, and he could see much farther. He could also see a broader spectrum of light.

They did not deserve my anger. It is not their fault that this happened to me.

Flying higher, he thought, I am sorry, Amber, for talking to you the way I did. And you are right. I need to stop feeling sorry for myself.

He wished he could go after them but quickly realized how impossible that was. “They probably went to the complex,” he hissed. “I am too big now to fit in its halls and rooms.

“But I can fit in the hanger bay or the entertainment center.”

He quickly dismissed it.

They might also have gone to the woods behind his parents’ house. Wouldn’t the neighbors be surprised if a red fire ring appeared, and I came flying out?

He landed on a ledge on the side of the mountain from which he and the air dragons had left to attack Aries Prime. Folding his golden wings, he sat on his haunches. A light coat of snow had fallen on the mountains overnight.

Looking down on the forest, he saw the homes in the trees where the air dragons dwelled, grown from tree branches. Richard and Andreas had stayed in one when Drake had brought them to the air dragon world. The branches sealed out the weather nicely. Richard did not know if the air dragons molded the trees or if they grew that way. He had noticed that the color of the trees matched the air dragons who lived in them.

I am too new at being a dragon to know. And I don’t want to know. At least I have a cave to live in. It keeps me out of the weather.

To the east, he could just make out the nearest ocean. It was blue like the oceans back home on Earth. Taking flight, he blew a yellow fire ring and soared through its dark center.

***

An instant later, Richard was flying over the ocean. The sky was clear, and the weather warm. I do like to travel by fire ring, he thought as he surveyed his surroundings.

Dragons were blowing yellow fire rings and disappearing into them all along the coast. At the same time, new rings blossomed, and dragons shot out of them. Air dragons lounged on the white-sand beaches. Some of the dragons looked strange, lying so close to each other that the smaller dragons seemed attached to the bellies of the larger ones.

The dragons with smaller ones attached to them had contented looks on their faces. Richard recalled how Frostine had attached herself to Drake’s belly; he would have to ask them what that was all about.

All the beaches were occupied, and he wanted to be alone. Blowing another yellow fire ring, he plunged through its dark center and came out over the open ocean.

Richard stopped and hovered, looking around. No land was in sight. Then he remembered the sandy beach he and Amber had always gone to. He blew another yellow fire ring and dove through its dark center.

***

This time, Richard came out over a beach that looked familiar. At least it is unoccupied. Then it struck him. The sun here was dropping below the horizon. He was back on Krel, over the same beach he and Amber would visit when they wanted to be alone.

“Damn it,” he hissed. He was still new at traveling by fire ring.

There was no one in sight. Deciding it was safe, he landed on the dune from which he and Amber would watch the setting sun. He folded his wings and sat on his haunches. With his tail curled along his side, he looked out over the blue ocean he knew all too well.

Steam rose from his nostrils as he sighed. If only I were human and Amber were here by my side.

Blowing smoke out his mouth, he closed his eyes. Why would I put myself through the pain of longing for things that I may never be able to have again and that are beyond my control?

Richard sat there for…well, he did not know how long. Finally, he raised his wings and, with the help of the sea breeze, rose into the air. Settling on the beach, he turned back to the dune. Then, with his tail, he smoothed the damp sand until it was a rectangle eight feet long, four feet tall, and two feet thick. Once satisfied with its shape, he breathed a stream of white-hot fire at it.

The sand of the rectangle melted into thick, dark, nearly black glass. He waited for it to cool, and then, using a narrow but very hot fire stream of white-hot flame, he carved, “I will love you forever, Amber. Your Richard.”

Stepping back, he looked into the sky. The stars were just appearing. “Please help me return to my human form,” he said to them. “I beg you.” He hoped they had heard him.

Richard took flight and blew a fire ring. He dove through its dark center a second later, returning to a place where he could never feel at home.

***

“What do you mean, they want you to be the king of the Milky Way?” Brenda shouted as she stood in the entertainment center in the underground complex.

“Richard is still the king,” said AAL. “Now that the air dragons have attacked Aries Prime, destroying many structures and killing or injuring many humans, the non-human worlds will turn to their young human king for comfort and guidance. Many worlds will be terrified that their worlds might be next.

“We need Henry to step in for Richard and reassure them that this will not happen. We will come up with a story that Richard was able to get the aid of an unknown race of dragons to save his cubs. He then convinced them to leave the kingdom.

“The war will soon be ending. We will help Henry lead the kingdom through the necessary steps to bring the human sectors back into the fold.”

Henry frowned as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“Henry, I will be by your side to help and guide you,” said Amber. “I know my mate’s ways better than anyone else in the kingdom.”

“I, too, will be by your side,” AAL said.

“And what about me?” Brenda said. “Will I be stuck on Earth?”

Henry pulled her close. “You will always be by my side, my love.”

She turned her back to him and crossed her arms.

“You are Henry’s mate and will be by his side,” Amber said. “When he is in public…” She sighed before continuing. “When in public, I must be by his side.”

“Yes, I understand that,” Brenda said. “Henry has only two sides. It will be a bit cramped around him with the three of us standing so close.”

Amber rolled her eyes. “You have been around my mate far too much,” she said. They laughed.

“How are we going to explain our absence back home?” Henry asked.

“I have purchased a thousand acres of forest in the mountain area of Colorado,” said AAL. “I have also constructed a house that is a replica of your parents’. And—”

“Wait!” Brenda shouted. “You did all of this without asking our permission?”

“Babe, Richard needs—”

“Are you really thinking about taking his place!” she said as she glared at Henry.

“If Richard needs my help, I have to do it, Brenda. We have talked about this. If I don’t—”

“You don’t have to!” she said with her hands on her hips.

“Brenda, stop and listen!” Henry demanded.

She folded her arms beneath her ample bosom and looked fiercely at the floor.

“Even if Henry didn’t want to help Richard,” AAL said calmly, “he has a molecule size computer in his brain that will force him to comply. It is better for him and you if he does this willingly.”

Brenda pushed away from Henry and stormed over to the miles-deep hole in the Earth. Resting her hands on the black railing, she looked over its edge. Tears fell.

“Brenda has been getting more emotional here lately,” Henry told Amber.

“I, too, have been more emotional since I have been with cub,” Amber said, “so I understand.” She went to Brenda and stood next to her at the railing. “As my mate would probably say, pregnancy sucks.”

Brenda looked at her with her mouth open. Amber giggled.

“It does suck,” Brenda said. “Big time. I always have to go pee, and my breasts are getting even bigger.”

“I bet Henry likes that,” Amber said.

The corners of Brenda’s mouth turned up as she gave Amber a sidelong glance. “You know it.” She turned and leaned back against the railing. “It’s not that I don’t want Henry to help, but leaving Earth and living on Krel, well, it’s something I never thought would happen. I had an idea that Henry and I would build a house somewhere near his parents.” She placed her hands over her belly, and a small smile came to her lips. “We’d have a white picket fence around our house and four or five kids playing in the yard. But that will never happen if we live on Krel.”

Brenda glanced at Henry, who had an anxious look in his blue eyes.

“The kingdom will soon be at peace again,” said Amber, “and Krel will be a wonderful place for you to raise your cubs. Just think of all the advantages they will have.”

Brenda sighed. “I know. It just caught me off guard. Henry is used to being pulled away at a moment’s notice. I like a quieter life.”

“And you will have it on Krel. You and Henry will have rooms all to yourselves, and servants to help you with your cubs.”

Brenda looked at Henry, who patiently waited for her to return to him. “Will we ever be able to return to Earth?” A sad little smile crept over her face as she looked at Henry. “This is our home. I don’t have any family I care about here, but Henry does.”

“I am not sure,” said Amber. “Perhaps one day, when Richard is changed back…” She stopped, and tears rolled down the fur under her eyes.

“And the computer in his head will really make him do it even if he does not want to?” Brenda said.

Amber nodded.

“Well, I guess we have no choice.” She returned to Henry.

“Are you all right, babe?” he asked.

Brenda wrapped her arms around his neck, and they kissed. “So, when do we move to the kingdom?”

“You will graduate from high school in two days,” said AAL. “It will take another week for you to prepare and say your goodbyes. You can also be married in that time.

“And Henry, you will need to go before the Senate.”

“When?” Henry asked as Brenda took his hand.

“Tomorrow.”

Henry looked shocked.

“They know Richard has been occupied with the war. That is why the Senate has not called on him sooner. They need to find out what he knows about the Aries Prime attack. I am sure they have received word that Amber was seen on the planet, and they will want to know how Richard and she made it past the blockade.”

“Then I need to talk to him,” said Henry. “I need to know what he knows.”

“Yes, you will need to exchange memories with him.”

“As long as he doesn’t bite Henry’s head off,” Brenda said.

“Richard is very upset at being unable to be with his cubs and me,” Amber said. “He is also frustrated at being unable to change himself back to a human. He wants his life to return to normal.” She turned her gaze to AAL, but he would not look at her.

“I am sure he has calmed himself,” he said to Brenda and Henry. “He loves you two and would never do anything to harm you.”

“I hope not,” said Brenda. “Tomorrow is Richard and Henry’s birthday. Amber and I have planned a party for them. Maybe that will cheer…” She trailed off when she saw the sad look in Amber’s golden eyes. “I’m sorry, Amber. It’s just that—”

“It is all right,” Amber said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “I need to get used to not having my Richard around anymore.”

“And what am I going to tell my parents?” Henry asked.

“That you need to move away to manage your money and help it grow,” said AAL. “You can tell them it will be a full-time job. And what better place than out west, where many young adults move to make their fortunes.”

Henry looked down at Brenda, and they kissed. “All right,” he said, “I guess we need to get back. We can come up with a story and tell my parents tomorrow.”

Brenda grabbed his butt and smiled up at him.

Amber looked away from the loving couple, her heart breaking at the thought that Richard might never be human again.

***

At FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., Special Agent in Charge George Smith sat in his office on the top level, reviewing disturbing reports. He was a tall black man with a neatly trimmed beard and close-cropped hair. Reaching over to an intercom, he pressed a button. “Madeline, get Agent Jefferson in here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Five minutes later, Jefferson came walking in. Six foot three and lean but with a small spare tire, he moved tentatively, like an aging athlete on sore knees.

“Take a seat,” George said.

“What so urgent?” Jefferson asked, brushing a hand through his shock of unruly, prematurely graying hair.

“Have you seen this report by Frederick from Australia?”

“Yes. It sounds strange to me. A guy from the hills of Ohio somehow changed a judge’s mind on a case in the courtroom without talking to him. He was trying to get custody of his seventeen-year-old niece after her parents were killed in a car crash. He said she and a boy are engaged to be married and he wanted to stop it.”

“How old are they?”

“She just turned eighteen, and the boy’s eighteenth birthday is tomorrow.”

“They’re old enough to get married if they want.”

“I agree. I didn’t give it a second thought until I received a message from NASA.” Jefferson sat back, crossed his legs, and waited.

“NASA was doing a routine scan of the area around where Frederick said the boy lived.” George pulled a sheet of paper from a file and slid it across the desk to Jefferson.

After scanning it, Jefferson looked up and shrugged as if to say, What am I looking at?

“That is a scan of the electromagnetic spectrum of the area around the house the boy lives in,” said George.

“Okay, so what’s the significance?”

George pulled out another sheet of paper and slid it to Jefferson. This one was a close-up of Henry’s house. In one area of the backyard were bright lines indicating a flow of energy. The lines were slender near the basement but grew thicker and denser as they moved out into the backyard, forming a large, glowing circle.

“And this is what?” asked Jefferson.

“They told me there was a build-up of energy in back of the house.”

“Do they think the boy is some sort of young genius and doing some experiments underground?”

George pulled a tablet out of a drawer and tapped the screen a number of times. “Damn it, I hate these things.”

Starting over, he finally pulled up what he was looking for. He smiled as he slid the tablet to Jefferson. “Now, tap the center and—”

Jefferson had already done so. As he watched the video, his eyebrows slowly crept up.

“Yes. That is real-time images of the energy waves. As you can see, they stayed in one place, then moved very quickly to the east. It is as if the waves were disappearing into the Earth at an incredible speed. They move so fast, NASA could only track them for a short time.”

Jefferson looked up. “They could only track it for two seconds. It says here the speed at which the wave was moving was incalculable.”

“And that’s not all. They have picked up the same waves deep under the Atlantic Ocean.” George leaned over the desk and tapped on it with his index finger. “And the waves were moving west, towards Ohio.”

Both men stared at each other for a long minute.

Finally, Jefferson said, “This is interesting and all, but we’re not scientists. What do they expect us to do, George?”

“It gets even more interesting. The boy, his name is Richard Drumm, purchased a great deal of land, a thousand acres in Colorado.”

“Where the hell did a boy from Ohio come up with that kind of money?”

“It’s legit. His fiancé’s parents were killed in a car accident. They had a ten-million-dollar life insurance policy on them. That is where the money came from. When I went over the land records, I discovered that last year, there was a shack in the middle of it. Want to guess what’s on it now?”

“Two shacks?”

“A house that matches the one he lives in now. There’s only a very long, small dirt road going to it, so I don’t see how all the building material could have been transported there. The road looks like it hasn’t been used for years.”

Jefferson frowned as he mulled over the information.

“I did a little checking on Mr. Drumm,” said George. “He led the average life of a teenager until he was fifteen.”

“What happened then?” Jefferson asked.

“A number of things. For one, he took a girl to the Halloween party at his high school.”

“Sounds normal to me. I did the same thing when I was his age.”

“He dressed up as King Henry VIII, and the girl he brought was dressed in a fox costume.”

“So?”

“The costume looked so real, people thought she was a real fox.”

“Hollywood can produce realistic-looking costumes. Maybe her father works out there.”

“There is no trace of her before the party. Also, there was a fight, and she hit one of Richard’s friends in the chest and sent him sliding halfway across the gym floor.”

This got Jefferson’s attention; he shot up in his chair.

“She also caught the fist of one of the strongest boys in the school as he tried to punch her. After that, she showed what looked like real fangs, and her ears lay back. She bent his hand backward so far that she snapped multiple bones in his wrist and lower arm. He was in the hospital for a week.”

“Sounds like someone I would hate to have pissed off at me.”

“There are other incidents concerning him. A farmer swore he saw two red foxes as tall as a man around his farm. When they saw him, guess where they ran to?”

The hairs on the back of Jefferson’s neck stood on end.

“That’s right,” George continued, “they ran to Drumm’s house. The farmer and his neighbors ran after them. They even shot at them. A helicopter chased the two, and the pilot reported the foxes were the size of small humans.

“The sheriff reported they ran into the Drumm home. When he questioned the boy, the kid shouted, ‘You fat bastard, you killed my brother! He’s dead. Richard is dead, and he’s the better part of me.’”

“He said Richard was dead?”

“The sheriff reported that the boy was talking as if there were two of him. Then he ran into the basement. The sheriff chased after him but could not find him.”

“Okay, this is getting too weird, George.”

“It gets even stranger. A deputy was standing on the lawn in front of the house when the boy came running from the side and knocked him to the ground. And guess who was following him?”

“The two foxes.”

“Give the man a cigar. The deputy said the boy yelled, ‘That is for shooting at my mate.’”

“Mate?”

“That’s what’s in the report. There are other things, but I think we have enough to investigate the boy and his family.”

“All right. Give me the word, and I’ll set it up.”

“You have it.”