Orb World of the Dragon: Dragon World, #7

The Dragon World—An Overview

About sixty-five million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic Era, there lived a species of intelligent dinosaur.  This creature was about as big as we are. It stood on two legs and a tail.  Its arms ended in hands with opposable digits.  Its body was covered partly in scales and partly in feathers.

They called themselves dragons. They became the preeminent species of life on Earth. They were omnivorous. They had sharp teeth. Adult females were usually slightly larger than males and this had ramifications, often unperceived, throughout society.

The Earth during the time of the dragons was divided into wild places, tribal areas, lesser countries, and advanced technological nation-states of which some were space-faring.  The dragons often called their nations great nests.  The word nest was freighted with many meanings and sometimes high emotion.  It could designate the physical nest where eggs were laid and baby dragons hatched.  It could refer to the home of a solitary adult.  It could mean an extended family group, a neighborhood, a workplace, or a distant outpost in the solar system.  There were times when dragons were willing to die for their nests.

The word nest also could refer to a military unit or base. The dragons were as contentious as humans. They had need of military units and bases.

This was the Age of Dinosaurs and in the wild places, monsters roamed.

Orb World of the Dragon takes place at a time when the civilization of the dragons was approaching its pinnacle. In that age, the world was coalescing around two Great Nests, which they called the Amber Feather Empire and the Emerald Feather Empire. Expansionism and technology quickened and made more terrible military conflict between the Empires. In fairness it should be said that most dragons went about their lives peaceably just as most people do today. Many of the Great Nests steered an independent path.

There was only a single intelligent species.

The Amber and Emerald Empires took their names from the principal coloration of the feathers of the majority of their citizens but appearance in general was highly variable throughout both Empires. The names of the Empires signified political hegemony and allegiance, not necessarily the appearance of any particular dragon.

The Amber Empire started out more monolithic and hierarchical. The Emerald Empire began as a looser alliance of Great Nests. As time passed and pressure from the Ambers increased, the Emerald Empire began to take on more of the aspects of the Amber system.

In the distant past the shape and the position of the continents varied tremendously. However, by sixty-five million years ago, the dragon world looked much like our world. The names of the landmasses and the oceans and so forth were different but the general appearance of the Earth was remarkably similar to what it is today, although there were some differences.

Birds are dinosaurs and dinosaurs are birds. The saurian species that disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous are properly known as non-avian dinosaurs. Anyone who has listened to the vocalizations of birds should not be surprised that the dragons developed rich and nuanced languages. Those languages were different from ours. For convenience and to minimize the use of new words, most of the principal dragon language has been rendered as the closest English equivalent. There were queens and colonels and committees and employees, but it should be kept in mind that these are functional, not perfect, translations. Perfect translations are probably not possible across species.

As examples of functional translations, in Orb World of the Dragon, there is a business called Many Worlds. Many Worlds had its headquarters in the Great Nest called Tabora. Tabora in turn was a nation located on the northern shore of the Central Sea, which we would recognize as the Mediterranean. It should be understood that words like business and headquarters and nation are approximations to what we are familiar with. Sometimes the approximations are good but other times the relationship is vague. Between our world and the dragon world there is always a vast gulf of time and occasionally a vaster gulf of psychology.

Dramatis Dracones

(Dragons of the Drama)

The dragons lived in a world—several worlds counting their outposts throughout the solar system—no less complicated than our own.  The following list summarizes the actors in Orb World of the Dragon. The spellings of the names are best attempts to translate a nonhuman language produced by reptilian physiology into English.

There are other stories in the Dragon World series that take place before and after Orb World of the Dragon. Each of the stories may be read alone or together with the others.

Orb World was the dragon name for the Earth’s Moon.

Bazzum – (male): An employee of the Taboran business Many Worlds.

Bolon – (male): A business executive in Tabora.

Chollon – (male): An employee at Camp Tiroga on the Orb World.

Durok – (male): A former employee of Many Worlds; deceased.

Gennek – (male): An assistant to QueenMother Zumora.

Gobarius – (male): The founder of the Gobarianism religion, deceased.

Krandara – (female): The founder of the Taboran business Many Worlds.

Lemarra – (female): The commander of Camp Tiroga on the Orb World.

Lucapraly – (male): The head of accounting at the Taboran business Many Worlds.

Motari – (female): The chief executive of the Taboran business Many Worlds.

Mtola – (female): An owner of the Taboran business Many Worlds.

Otzur – (male): An employee of the Taboran business Many Worlds.

Porrink – (male): The operations chief at Camp Tiroga on the Orb World.

Posholo – (female): An owner of the Taboran business Many Worlds.

Praxalla – (female): The head of the Emerald Empire’s space agency.

Rualla – (female): A celestial mechanician in the Emerald Empire.

Slarpid – (male): A mountaineer who went to the Orb World; Trammar’s partner.

Thalula – (female): An owner of the Taboran business Many Worlds.

Thonni – (female): An acquaintance of Bolon.

Tiroga – (female): A Qwaran graduate student specializing in celestial mechanics.

Trammar – (male): A mountaineer who went to the Orb World; Slarpid’s partner.

Tunniq – (male): A student at the Qwaran university; colleague of Tiroga.

Vaxir – (male): The head of the Amber Empire’s space agency.

Verkella – (female): An executive at a Paradonian manufacturing company.

Vormot – (male): A scientist in the Emerald Empire.

Vurelli – (female): Lemarra’s assistant on the Orb World.

Vypel – (male): The Paradonian engineer who designed the lunar zone-refiners.

Yorna – (female): Triple-amputee victim of industrial accident on the Orb World.

Zumora – (female): The Queen of the Emerald Feather Empire.

1: In Your Wildest Dreams

Apologies, my good fellow, said business executive Bolon after bumping someone’s drink in the bustling ballroom. Suffering from dotage, and the remains of the mind were elsewhere.

None of the drink spilled.  No harm no foul.

Bolon smiled and moved on past the bumped individual, threading his way through the crowd toward the tall doors leading to the balcony.  The ballroom was not in use as such at this time, instead serving as a place to congregate before the ship reached its destination.  If he were to find the target of his search, it had to be soon, before docking and disembarkation.

He kept on, but more carefully.  About half the ship’s passengers chose to walk around unshod and trampling toes was a risk.

So was tripping over tails, especially as they flicked in nervous excitement over the next port of call, or swished slowly as their reptilian owners talked amongst themselves.

Bolon had his own tail to worry about, and he held it slightly above the plush carpet and straight out behind as he leaned forward, heading for the balcony.  If the object of his quest were to be found before the trip’s imminent end, she would be out there, he guessed. He stepped through the half-opened doors and felt the cool ocean breeze and smelled the salt of the sea.

And there she was.  Thonni! he called out.  Long time!

Several passengers were on the observation balcony staring down at the rolling waves below the helium airship but only one female turned around.  Two reptilian creatures gazed at one other.

The female smiled, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth.  "Such a pleasure, Bolon!  It has been a long time!  You knew I was aboard?  Why didn’t you show up sooner?"

I just found out. I wish I’d known from the start because we could have spent the whole flight together. Now I regret that lost opportunity.

Do you normally spy on passengers of the female persuasion?

No, but maybe I should.  I would make a good spy.

Thonni smiled again and the tip of her tail curved slightly on the thrumming deck.  "A good spy.  That could mean two things, Bolon.  I haven’t seen you in—what?—a year?  More, I think.  And yet here you are."

Yes, like a good spy.

Tell me how you found out I was on this flight and then I’ll decide.

Fair enough.  This trip is business for me—

You have business in the Emerald Empire? Thonni asked, referring to the alliance of great nests across the Central Sea on the southern continent where the flight began.

We have business within and without both Empires. We have business everywhere.

And that business is growing?

By leaps and bounds.

Thanks to you.

I have given it a few nudges.

Bolon, that modesty is misleading.

Is it?

Yes.

Bolon smiled.  And how would you know that, madam Thonni?

I have my own sources of information.

Because you are a spy?

Because I am a female.

A female spy?

Is there a difference?

Bolon laughed. I’m not sure. Is there?

I’m not telling.

Maybe I can wheedle the truth out of you before we land.

How might you do that?

There is a maintenance bay.  It’s closed to passengers but I can take you.  We’ll have a private room with a view, just you and me, so we can make the most use of our remaining time together.

If you wanted more time you could turn the ship around and send it back south.

I am not directly in charge of airship operations.

Maybe not, but you could turn the ship around.

I have never done such a thing. Why would I? It would foul up itineraries all over this part of the world. It would probably end up in the holonews. I would have some explaining to do. I answer to a female boss, you know.

But you could do it.  You could click your claws together—Thonni stepped closer and closed her own claws around Bolon’s wrist—and the ship would take on a new heading. Just on your word.  Because you are important.

Bolon averted her eyes, now too close, fixing his vision on the female’s hand, soft yet firm, holding his in hers. I probably could redirect the ship, under the right circumstances. The thought never occurred to me.

Thonni released the male. You are plenty smart, Bolon, but I gather there are many thoughts that have never occurred to you.

Life is short, madam. Who has time to think every thought? Each life is always drawing to a close, just as this flight is drawing to a close.

Life is indeed short, Bolon.  Take us to your private room before we run out of it.

Thonni and Bolon moved against an increasing stream of dragons headed toward the balcony and observation windows; takeoffs and landings were always popular and the modest low-altitude speed of a helium ship made the outing more of a voyage than a flight.

An entrance off a main corridor led to a narrow walkway framed by a tracery of silvery girders filled with voids and then to a safety barrier surrounding an access shaft leading down.

Why all the holes, Bolon? Thonni asked, looking around.

Saves weight.  Bolon opened a gate in the safety barrier.  Flying machines, especially airships, need to be as light as possible.  Do you mind a ladder?

I’m not sure. I’m a travel writer, not a gymnast.

I’ll go down first and you copy my moves.  I like to keep my tail always wrapped around one of the rails and only release one hand or foot at a time as I move along. Going back up will be easier, so you’re getting the hard part out of the way first.

If you say so.  How far do we have to go?

Only two levels. It’s easy.

Two levels? Bolon, do you think I am some kind of creepy-crawly mammal scampering up and down trees in the jungle?

Two levels are nothing.  In the bulk of the ship above us, where the giant helium bags are, there are ladders that go up twenty levels.

Have you done that?

A maintenance dragon invited me to give it a whirl a few years ago on a similar ship, but I declined.

You got scared?

I had an attack of common sense.

Probably why you’re still here today.

Probably.  Well, here goes nothing.  Bolon squeezed through the open gate and eased himself onto the top of the ladder and started down.  He looked up: Cheers!

You’ve put on weight since I saw you last; you barely squeezed through. You’ve gone from svelte to stout.

Stout, is it?

I didn’t know I was going on a date with a fatty.

I am not fat and this is not a date.

Stepping off the ladder at the bottom, Bolon looked up at Thonni descending.  Many adult females were slightly larger than males but with his weight gain these two were about the same.  In Bolon’s world females tended to rule in part because of a size advantage that was thought of as little as fish think of the surrounding water.  By working smarter and harder, Bolon had overcome the disadvantage of maleness.

They called themselves dragons.  In form their bodies resembled tyrannosaurids; in size, humans. The arms were longer than a tyrannosaurid’s, like a human’s, and at the end of each were two finger-claws and an opposable thumb-claw.

Thonni and Bolon were feathered dinosaurs.  A human scientist would consider them large flightless birds with arms instead of wings.  Plumage came in every hue.  The Amber and Emerald Empires took their names from the most common coloration of their citizenry, although every color was found throughout both polities.  Cosmetics and fashion trends added to the natural rainbow. These creatures of wide-ranging appearance were all the same species.

The feathers were of several types. Most notably a line of tall feathers extended from the back of the head to halfway down the tail. Shorter feathers covered most of the neck and body, transitioning to scales below the elbows and knees and tail tip. Most of the face was scaly and free of feathers; the scales on Thonni's face were green but light brown was also common and any color was possible. Downy feathers, small and hard to see in adults, were prominent in childhood and sometimes reappeared in old age after adult feathers dropped off.

Thonni’s prognathous mouth formed a pronounced muzzle and was filled with pointed teeth. Her unshod feet clanking down the ladder ended in talons. The tail was of sufficient size to serve as the third member of a tripod but tapered to a prehensile snakelike tip at the end. She lived in a warm world and in many locales clothing might not be worn except in the service of vanity, or to accommodate the needs of particular occupations.

Like Bolon’s, Thonni's eyes were large and golden. Behind those eyes was a brain differently arranged than a human's but no less intelligent; it may have been more intelligent. In the distant past, these creatures had emerged from shadowy jungles where the drab plumage of childhood hid them from monstrous predators. The species that Thonni and Bolon belonged to was itself a predator; indeed, it turned out to be the fiercest on the planet: in the fullness of time it took over the world.  Not satisfied with a single planet, now it dreamed of ruling the entire solar system.

I did the ladder, Thonni said.

You did. Here is your reward. Bolon walked his friend over to the window in a crowded maintenance area.

Too bad it doesn’t open.  The balcony smelled nice.  This place smells like lubricants.

Bolon slid a sheet of clear polymer to the left and the salt air of the Central Sea wafted in. Your wish is my command.

Thanks. Why does a maintenance window open?

To allow access to the hull.  See those attachment points?  They’re to hold onto, or loop a safety line around.

At altitude?

Hopefully not, but the window opens if the situation is dire enough.  Of course, our pilots here at Central Seas Airways try to avoid dire situations, like that thunderstorm we’re steering around.  Did you notice that we changed course?

No. The lightning inside that cloud is pretty.

Yes, it is, from a distance. You don’t want to be inside that cloud, though.

Lightning can’t hurt a helium ship, so what’s the worry?

No, but the calculational engines are at risk.  The main worry isn’t lightning anyway; it’s wind; these big airships are basically enormous sails, the biggest in the world. They need to stay away from violent weather: they’re so long that there can be an updraft at the front when there’s a downdraft at the back, and that’s a problem.

If you say so.

The good news about the detour is that the captain’s going to overfly a special island as a treat.

A treat?

The whole island is a nature preserve.  And she’s going to take us in low for a good look.

All right.

Plus, this time of year the island puts on a special show.

How so?

You ask a lot of questions. Can I let the island reveal its own secret?

You can do whatever you want. And you just asked a question yourself.

So I did. Amused, Bolon thumped his tail against the deck.  Speaking of nature, look down there—see them?  Several flights of pterosaurs.

They’re all going the same way, like us.

I would guess that they’re headed back to their island roosts for the night.

Everything is so pretty.  There must be at least thirteen of these helium ships in sight.

This close to Durok Aerodrome, I am not surprised.  It used to be a regional affair but now it is one of the largest in the world.  There is a seaport, too: did you know that last year four percent of the entire global economy moved through Durok City?

No, I didn’t. How much of a role did businessdragon Bolon play?

I had my claws in it a bit.

A bit.

Maybe more than a bit.

No maybe about it is my guess.

Bolon smiled.  When I was a nestling I had no idea that any of this would come to pass.  It would have all seemed like a crazy dream. Durok Aerodrome sends merchandise around the world, and beyond to the rest of the solar system. Who knows where it will end? It just keeps growing.

I assume your employer has rewarded you.

Oh, certainly.

I don’t mean just salary.

There have been bonuses over the years, some quite generous. I haven’t missed any meals.

No, Fatty, you haven’t. By reward I mean beyond salary and bonuses. I’ve heard rumors of fantastic things to come for you.

Rumors?  Pay no attention to them.  The females who run the show are pretty tight-lipped.

Dragons talk, Bolon. I’ve heard some amazing things about your prospects. I’m glad we met so I can fill you in.

Fill me in on rumors? Don’t waste your time. I’ve been hearing rumors for a year or so and I’m a lot closer to the source.

So you’ve been hearing things too.

Means nothing.

I think your modest nature blinds you to things that might affect you.

I think your fevered imagination—

Oh, Bolon!  What is happening to the water?  Look—it is turning purple!

That is the island’s surprise.

It is beautiful!  But what is going on?  Thonni stared down at a layer of purple clouds drifting over the ocean.

Pollen.  Those purple streamers are countless tiny pollen grains from a certain kind of tree.

Soon after Bolon spoke, the airship floated over the surf zone.  There was an expanse of sandy beach, and then a forest of orange-leafed trees.  The orange trees silently spilled forth copious clouds of living purple dust, the stuff of the next generation.

They do this every year, Bolon?

They do it twice a year when the rains are good.

I smell perfume. Is that also from the pollen? Thonni thrust her head out the open window and sniffed the breeze.

I don’t know. There’s so much jungle down there the smell could be coming from a number of things. I like it, though.

Thonni laughed. Now there’s a different smell from that herd of sauropods down there.

Sauropods?  Let me see!  Bolon squeezed in besides Thonni.  The beasts, alarmed by the airship’s shadow and the drone of its engines, lumbered from a grassy plain to a small river emptying into the sea.  For several heartbeats the two friends stood together watching some of the largest land animals that ever lived. If Thonni minded being pressed against Bolon’s warm body, she gave no indication.

What are they? Thonni asked.

I … I don’t know, Bolon said.  I wish I had time to learn more.  Half my life is over and I haven’t accomplished much.  He moved so that Thonni could enjoy the spectacle unhindered.

The sauropods disappeared behind the airship but the orange and purple forest rolled on. With evening descending, the sea wind weakened and the pollen billowed upward.

Not enough time, Thonni said.

Yes, once it seemed limitless. Now I feel the heartbeats running out.

You have made good use of your time, Bolon. Many dragons haven’t. You have changed the world.

Thank you.  I pray to Goddess that the changes meet with Her favor.

I have not heard you mention religion before. You are a believer?

Oh, yes.  More so now than when I was younger.  But I do not make a spectacle of it.  And you?

About the same.