Dragonstar Destiny Read Free Page A

some of the Mesozoic fauna and began to affect the mental stability of the Saurians, too.
    “Despite warnings from various members of the scientific community on board the Dragonstar that something might be wrong, the decision was made by Colonel Kemp to go ahead with the scheduled broadcast of the documentary. And it was during the final live segment that the current disaster occurred—the massive riot of the Saurian population, and the slaughter of hundreds of Saurians and humans while the holo-cams rolled. Several small groups of human survivors managed to escape from the-radiation-maddened Saurians and await rescue from Copernicus Base.
    “There was only one problem—the one for which you have all gathered here today. When the IASA dispatched rescue teams aboard shuttle craft, they found that they could no longer gain access to the Dragonstar. The last messages we received from Colonel Kemp and his people on the inside reported that the alien ship seemed to be ‘coming to life,’ turning itself on, and operating on its own. All outside hatches were sealed and all communications frequencies from the interior were either jammed or in some other way blanketed.”
    Gregor paused and looked at the clear liquid in the flask. His head was beginning to feel a bit light, and his tongue felt loose and limber. The temptation to take another drink passed over him, but he knew he had reached his limit. What the hell, he thought, he was almost finished, anyway. Drawing in a breath, then exhaling with an almost audible sigh, he wrapped it up:
    “Soon after that, we observed an aura, a kind of force-field, begin to form around the exterior of the Dragonstar. Unable to identify the nature of the field, but fearing for the safety of our people on board, we sent several rescue ships out to forcibly board and enter the vessel. And, as you know, they were disintegrated by flare-like extensions from the field. And then it was not long after that before the on-board engines of the Dragonstar ignited.
    “The ship accelerated away from the Lagrange Point at a constantly. increasing velocity, leaving the ecliptic plane of the solar system. We continued to track the vessel as it accelerated until it achieved a speed of more than three hundred kilometers per second. After that, there was a brilliant flash of light, and then nothing ...”
    Gregor paused, and the audience took their cue, exploding into a shattering wave of questions and comments. He had already carried the summation past the point of what most of them already knew. That last bit about the flash of light and then nothing had not yet been released. Looking out at them, Gregor could see hands waving frantically like a sea of wheat in a strong breeze.
    “Please, everyone!” he boomed through the P.A. “We must do this in a more orderly fashion!”
    The frantic atmosphere seemed to calm a bit, then .surged again: Gregor pounded on the podium console, and the pickups resonated the sound through the hall like thunder. Things started to calm down in a hurry as he grabbed their attention.”
    “Yes,” he said, pointing to a woman in the second row, who had held her hand up with dignity and an absence of body English. Gregor hoped that others would take the cue.
    The woman stood up. “Michele Jordan, NBC. When you say ‘and then nothing,’ what exactly do you mean? Did the Dragonstar explode?”
    “I am afraid I cannot answer that question. Visually the ship appeared to simply vanish in a flash of rainbow-colored light. It looked like an explosion, because of the brilliant flash, but our instruments do not confirm this.”
    A man in the middle tier raised his hand and Gregor nodded at him. The rest of the assemblage remained orderly and respectful. This was more like it, thought Gregor.
    “Gary Leventhal, CNN. What do you mean by that last line? What do your instruments confirm, if anything?”
    “Well, an explosion has a particular ‘signature,’ if you will, which is well