Endangered Ch. 10

"Today?! Well, I guess I can see the benefit," she agreed cautiously. "Have you considered the risks?"

"I figure the main problems are safety and detection," Chris reasoned. "What if my orb can't sustain the extreme temperature and pressure? We could end up in all sorts of trouble."

"You want to skip straight to hot fusion?" she scowled up at him. "What about my Muon net?"

"Too complicated for now, I think. Besides, we don't have the materials ready. You said it yourself that the true grail of fusion would be to replicate the proton-proton chain, and my orbs might just be able to do it. If we pull that off, Muon-assisted cold fusion should be a piece of cake. Imagine it, Hailey."

"Let me see your damn tongue, I swear it's silver." Her stern look was being ruined by her small bouncing motion as she rose onto the balls of her feet. "The first test will be very hazardous. If your orb breaches there will be all sorts of radiation and high-speed particles, maybe a huge electromagnetic pulse."

"Let's not forget the worse case scenario."

"A cascade," she shuddered and looked up at him searchingly. "I almost feel crazy for even suggesting the idea to you in the medical centre."

"Crazy or not, my brilliant little bison, you've convinced me of the potential benefits. Look, there's your proof right there," Chris pointed up at the sun rising through the crisp, cloudless blue sky, radiating warmth and life-giving energy across the desert. "There's nothing magical going on there, even if I might have thought so before I met you."

"That's very sweet," she hummed, reaching her arms up toward his neck in a gesture he'd come to understand meant she wanted to kiss.

He was, of course, more than willing to comply, but such a maneuver required a more equitable vertical disparity. Sinking slowly to his knees in the rocky soil, he let his hands roam her trim hips as she leaned down and pressed her lips to his.

Kissing Hailey was a delightful exercise, so soft, warm, and eager. Those beautiful cornflower blue eyes of hers twinkled as she slipped her pink little tongue boldly into his mouth. Her sweet scent washed over him, igniting a fierce desire as their lingual muscles danced. It was getting harder and harder to show restraint.

"So, other than making me incredibly horny with sexy science, what's your plan?" she asked as she leaned away to regard him, hands running through the short hairs at the back of his neck.

"If you thought that was sexy, you're in trouble, Mini-Moo," he chuckled, darting forward to peck her adorable nose.

"Don't tease me, Chris," she admonished with a wee tug of his hair. "You're so confident about it all of a sudden. Out with it, what are you thinking? Are you sure you don't want to try my muon idea first?"

"I've got confidence your idea for a muon trap could work, but it's about three layers of added complexity," he reasoned, taking far too much enjoyment from her endearing impatience. "It came to me last night, the perfect place to really finish our experiments. Somewhere far removed from population centres, no wildlife to worry about, just a couple of defunct old vehicles and..."

"Just tell me!" She punched his muscular shoulder.

"No one's been there for decades as far as I know," he continued, ignoring her attempted battery.

"Chris, I'm about five seconds away from turning into a thousand pound buffalo and goring you."

"Alright," he grinned. Standing, he brushed the dirt from his knees with excessive slothfulness as she scowled on. "Miss Sibon, how would like to be the first woman on the Moon?"

Her eyes widened, flickering over his face for a sign he was sincere. Words failed her, her lips parting in a failed attempt to speak before she clamped her mouth shut.

"I'm serious," he laughed, holding out a hand to her. "I think I can get us there inside an orb, no space suits required. I just need you to help me come up with the conditions that will make it safe for us. I figure if a squirrel can handle it we have to at least try to..."

"Squeeee!" She launched herself into his arms, peppering his face with kisses.

"That's more like it," he rumbled heartily and hugged her close.

"You're the best fucking boyfriend in the galaxy!" she almost deafened him in her excitement.

"Only the galaxy?" he joked, pulling away from her with mock hurt.

"There are a lot of galaxies," she shrugged with failed nonchalance, still obviously giddy. "I can't jump to conclusions."

"Huh," he snorted. "I suppose it is only the Moon."

It took over three hours of careful planning before they were ready to embark on their historic attempt. Hailey scribbled list after list in her notebook as the sun rose overhead and warmed the Arizona wilderness.

Chris watched, contributing when he could, but ultimately happy to sit back and let her remarkable mind attack the problem from every angle. Every now and then, he would catch her staring skyward at the faint, pocked visage of their destination hovering high above. Her obvious joy at the prospect, despite the inherent danger involved, brought a conspiratorial smile to his face every time.

Perhaps it was foolish, but he felt flushed with righteous confidence. It took only a few minutes to confirm the instinct that if he willed it so, one of his orbs could safely accommodate him inside. Interestingly, he discovered that the width-less horizon of the Ether zones were impenetrable to him in both directions unless he specifically willed it otherwise. Once again, the orb conformed to both his subconscious expectations and understood his abstract thoughts.

This reassured him against one of his key concerns for their upcoming voyage, that they might accidentally tumble out and be exposed to vacuum. He had plans of his own to test in that regard, but Hailey would be a goner in seconds.

Making an orb sustainably habitable in space was complicated though. Of course, he left the tricky calculations to Hailey and her many lists. Ideal gas composition and partial pressure, temperature regulation, particle and radiation deflection, and even meteorite shielding; all and many more were accounted for, and triple checked.

At her insistence, he attempted to manifest an Ether orb nested inside another. This proved impossible, and almost brought their escapade to a premature end. The problem was that without access to spacesuits, or at the very least compressed air tanks, they were going to run out of oxygen inside the orb too quickly. Especially if Chris went as a dragon, which was the agreed plan. His flight magic was pretty neat, and in space, it might just save their lives. Not if a second orb was required to carry reserve air for them.

The prospect of failure drove him to try something he hadn't considered at all before. He could already summon more than one orb, he'd tried up to fifteen before. They were easily maintained once created, and it was changing their conditions and making them move that required effort and concentration. But what happened if two orbs were forced to touch? Could matter or energy transfer between the two if the parameters matched?

The answer, they discovered, was yes. Therefore, Hailey's modified idea of a second orb, filled with condensed, liquid oxygen was back in play. That way they could realistically carry enough oxygen to survive for days if something happened to them in transit. Incredible as that prospect might seem, he'd needed a half hour lesson on the more advanced characteristics of gas interaction and the idea of alveolar pressure in order for Hailey to be confident that he wouldn't straight up kill them when he tried to refresh their oxygen. Their backup plan was that Chris could strip oxygen from the Moon rocks once they arrived. It would be a waste product in their collection of hydrogen anyway.

They took an indulgent half hour break to take care of her needs once it warmed a little. Hailey's milk was as sweet, creamy, and delicious as ever. He was in genuine danger of becoming obsessed with the raised, puffy pink, cone-like nipples atop her incredible, bronzed breasts. She squirmed softly in his lap and held him to her bosom as he greedily drained her, running her fingers over his broad shoulders. Every now and then, her petite body shuddered as he stroked up and down her flanks or gently massaged her small, sexy ass through her jeans. She would coo contentedly as a surge of milk let down under his suction, their eyes meeting in restrained, mutually acknowledged lust.

He wanted very much to give her pleasure, so he tentatively stroked her thighs and tender womanhood through her pants. Hailey really liked what he was doing to her, but begged him to stop in the end because she didn't want to spoil her underwear for the rest of the day with excess moisture. Chris thought it was silly to deny herself pleasure for such a mundane reason, but kissed her and made sure she knew there was no pressure to rush things before they reluctantly separated back to their tasks.

Already the boldness of their plan had yielded significant dividends in the form of knowledge. There was nothing further to be gained by resting on his laurels. If they wanted to make a difference, the envelope must be pushed. He was incredibly grateful that his partner in crime shared that sentiment, as well as a mind capable of backing up his sometimes blind tenacity with a healthy dose of realism and cold logic.

His only true qualms about embarking on this mission involved his mates. They were going to be livid when they found out, and fair enough, too. What he had planned was irresponsible given his domestic commitments. It didn't stop him, just made him feel guilty. This was a significant risk to be sure, but he hoped that if they managed to pull this off, the world might be a better place for all of them one day. At least that's what he told himself as he stripped off his clothes and prepared to transform.

Hailey gasped at his dangling tackle, cheeks darkening as she muttered something about needing more practice.

He let it slip and embraced the dragon dwelling in his core, body shimmering he felt it rise and swell, uncoil and then finally exploding into its full, majestic form. At forty-five feet from head to tail, the dimensions of his manhood were instantly forgotten as she was confronted with the startling reality of his nature. His great adder-like head snaked down to sniff at her, hot breath heavy with smokey spice.

She stood dead still, marvelling at the reflected sunlight on his purple and cream coloured scales, the raw, coiled power evident in every serpentine movement. This would certainly take a little getting used to.

Entranced, she reached out and tentatively patted his brilliantly scaled snout. He replied with a deep, happy chuff and a wet, fork-tongued lick. She laughed, and he pranced around her like a playful kitten, trampling hapless cacti and setting the inquisitive owls upstream to a concerned hooting.

His sinuous spiked tail and clawed forewings looked vicious, but she knew it was his head that was positively deadly in battle. In the pit of her stomach, instinct sparked a smouldering fire in her young loins. Such a mate was sure to satisfy, protect, and provide for those he cherished.

"You're beautiful," she whispered in awe, taking in the elegance and deadly power. "And really, really huge."

"Not so bad yourssself," the huge serpent rumbled appreciatively in a timbre that defied even her father's deepest bellow. "The oxygen is beginning to condense to liquid. I only need to create our orb. Please read me the properties one by one, if you're ready?"

Hailey gulped nervously, glancing down at the notebook in her quivering hands before taking one final look at the faint moon so high above them. It didn't seem real, that they were actually about to try this. This was her chance though, her chance to begin fulfilling dreams she'd lamented as impossible before she met him. She wasn't about to let a few butterflies in her stomach stop her now.

"Yes. Visible wavelength photons, 60% permeable, 100% transmission," Hailey stated confidently, her chin rising as she met the dragon's appraising stare. He smiled, flashing a maw of brilliantly white, knife-like teeth. An enormous sphere shimmered into existence behind him, suspended in mid-air a foot above the rocky ground. Her first instruction had an astonishing effect. The surface of the orb seemed to shimmer with reflected light, yet within, she could still see a darker version of the desert landscape that lay beyond.

"That is truly strange," the dragon observed, bobbing his head from side to side. "Like the spawn of a depressed snow globe and a disco ball."

"Back to work," she laughed at his ridiculous yet apt observation. It was exactly the sort of thing Chris would say, and it was comforting to be reminded he was still there. "Gamma, impenetrable. X, impenetrable. Ultraviolet, impenetrable. Infrared and all larger wavelengths, transmit. Helium-4 nuclei, impenetrable."

The list of required properties was long, but eventually, Hailey watched the dragon pad tentatively inside, coiling until every inch of his spiked tail was safely contained. He settled, turning to beckon her with a foreleg.

"One small step," she sighed, hoisting her backpack.

She experienced a moment of terror when she first touched the orb's surface. It seemed to take her hand in an unbreakable grip, absolutely refusing to budge as she tried to tug away. Her panic, and the resulting struggle sank her arm up to the elbow as she began to hyperventilate.

It was the warm flick of a serpentine tongue on that hand which returned her reason. She looked up and saw the dragon had his head pressed hard into the other side, barely inches away. Even as a dragon, his concern for her was clear and once she calmed, her mistake was quickly apparent. The orb wasn't supposed to let her out.

"Sorry, that was stupid of me," she apologised moments later when she stepped up and entirely inside.

"There's no need," he said, rearranging his bulk to give her some room in the bottom of the rounded orb. He ended up offering her one of his front legs as a seat, and she caught her breath leaning back against the thick base of his neck. "I was thinking of releasing it, but it would have been such a waste."

"I'm glad you didn't. Have you begun venting the nitrogen?"

"Yes," he said, a note of humour in his deep voice. "Ready set, go!"

"Oh shit!" An unrelenting force pressed down on her, squishing her back into the dragon. The last of her butterflies vanished, and indeed her whole stomach seemed to drop away under their acceleration. Something in her backpack pressed uncomfortably into her shoulder blade, and she squirmed to get away from it, a water bottle? "Aww, crap. We only brought a little water and no food."

"It's fine. If we're not back by evening safe and sound, I'm probably as good as dead anyway. Look outside, Hailey."

Gravity fought her savagely, making sitting up a struggle, but he helped her with a delicate nudge. When she focused her gaze out of their bubble, the dimmed view of the canyon was already fading away far below. She could even see the black sphere containing their air supply bobbing in their wake.

"Fucking lift off," she gasped excitedly, switching her view heavenward. All she could see was blue sky, but as she sat cradled against him, it steadily grew darker and darker as they began to rise out of the atmosphere. Glancing to the sides, the planet's curve became more pronounced, and soon enough she could see both east and west coasts. "This is awesome."

His coiled body was tense as he spent magic to fight the combined efforts of drag and gravity trying to keep them earthbound. In his mind's eye, the churning purple orb that held them safe slipped effortlessly through the Ether at his touch. The actuality was much different, and the sphere was waylaid by the unnatural properties he'd forced upon that small section of the universe. All the way up, gravity clawed at him, and the atmosphere had to be shunted aside with increasing force as they gained speed.

The pressure eased as they soared higher above the planet through thinning air. He ruffled his wings, stretching in what limited way he could as these tensions eased and they rocketed out into the expanding void above them. Easing his magical push, he allowed the orb to continue with the momentum they'd already gathered, a bowling ball sent on its way down a freshly oiled lane.

As his magic faded, they were suddenly weightless, still shooting upward and toward the eastern horizon. Hailey's excited squeal echoed around the orb as she slowly floated up past his head, flailing and laughing joyously.

"Hold onto my neck," he offered humorously, twisting his head up to her as he braced himself against the sides of the orb with his wings and tail. "I don't want to accidentally crush you against the side."

"I can't believe we're doing this, it's so beautiful." She clung to him, turning to look back at the swirls of white clouds on the canvas of green and blue below. It was a similar image that captured her imagination at a tender age, drawing her to pursue her scientific education rather than finding a niche in Being society. Now she saw it with her own eyes and the sense of wonder she felt was overwhelming.

"Yes, it is," the dragon agreed, swivelling to regard Earth. "Worth fighting for, certainly."

"Is that what we're doing?" she puzzled, looking up at the creamy underside of his rounded-arrowhead jaw.

He sighed, cocking his head so one bright gold-laced eye could focus directly on his blonde companion. He shouldn't let his unease about Radek or the growing fragility of the Revelation taint this incredible moment for her.

"No, I guess not," he purred. "It's just that lately it feels like all I've done is fight. So, thanks for giving me something productive to do."

"You're welcome," she bubbled. Wrenching her gaze from the browns, tans, and rich greens of the African continent, she spun with careful handholds to find their destination. "Unfortunately we can't linger. It might look small from here, but it's easily as broad as the States, just really far away. So, onward chauffeur, to the Moon please."

"And hopefully home in time for dinner," he scowled in concentration as he resumed propelling them and their sense of weight seemed to magically return.

***

"Wait here," Michelle breathed heavily, glancing to Lisa as they came to a halt outside Reyla's study. The elf's urgent summons was ambiguous, but Michelle deemed it prudent that they run to get there. When a glowing blue glyph materialises out of thin air in your office and barks out a haughty command, what's to lose in arriving as quickly as possible?

Lisa shot her a reproachful look, smoothing back short brown hair that was just starting to become sweat-damp at the roots. Running across cold downtown streets and through the Compound tunnels in her suit only to be told to wait at the door felt suspiciously like the sort of bullshit she'd endured in her first few months at the Bureau.

"Sorry," Michelle nodded her acceptance of the silent rebuke as Samantha came huffing and puffing around the final corner and started up the corridor toward them. "I have no idea what this is about, but I can almost guarantee her mood won't be good."

Without waiting for Sam to catch up, she rapped twice on the heavy wooden door and slipped into the dark room as unobtrusively as possible.

Lisa only caught fragments of muttered words before the door closed again. Nothing she could make out for sure, but the mood inside seemed grim. Thankfully, there were three tall-backed, purposefully uncomfortable looking chairs in the corridor. Meant to disquiet the elf's guests as they waited for her audience no doubt. The new BIA agent didn't care in the slightest and slumped into one as her wind returned.