Lost Change

Chapter 13

Susie woke me at some point and disappeared back into the house. I watched sleepily and was still trying to wake up enough to understand what had happened when I heard the sound of something sliding over the floor in the house. The dog came back into view, proudly wagging her tail as she dragged a very comfortable looking dog bed along behind her.

She dropped it in the cool grass and the gathering dew and curled up inside the bed with a happy sounding huff.

I smiled at the dog and sprawled back against her side.

We slept the whole night through after that. When I woke again, it was to the sight of fading stars and a growing glow in the sky above us. The watch told me it was 6:03 in the morning.

I hopped up to the fence post and stared to the east with wide, intent eyes. I heard Susie whimper behind me and I trilled out a distracted, "It's okay". The dog huffed, then I heard her get up from the pet bed and start sniffing at the torn bag of food. I ignored her and focused on the sky.

I honestly wasn't sure what would happen. After yesterday morning I had been so sure, so certain, had just known for a fact that the next dawn would draw me into dance, but as the sensations had faded I had begun to wonder. I didn't have any way to know for sure that it would be more than a one-time thing.

Though I didn't have any way to know for sure that it wouldn't be, either.

I watched until I saw the first rays break into the dark sky... and I felt the same excitement begin to build up inside me. I spread my wings and rose upwards to greet the dawn.

The next few days passed in much the same way. I woke in the morning and danced for the sun, while Susie ran through the yard and barked in excitement at my trills and whistles. I would rest for a few moments after that, getting a happy tongue bath from the over-excited dog, but after I recovered - and after a cleaner bath using some of the bottled water - I would fly to the supermarket.

I hated leaving the dog alone for any length of time, both for her sake and because as a dragonet I was finding I did not enjoy being alone for very long, but I still had to get food for both of us and going to the supermarket was the only way to do it. The smell of rotten meat somehow managed to get worse, and I spent one day just flying all the canned goods, water and dog food into a big pile on the farthest side of the store just so I would never have to go back into the grocery section. After that it was just a quick thirty minute trip to get breakfast and haul a few things back to the eager greeting of Susie.

After that I spent the rest of the time with Susie - I kept her in the backyard for now, still worried she might run off and get lost if I let her out in the open. The dog had obviously been well trained, though, and I was gradually managing to get her to respond to my whistles. Fetch, come, sit, and roll over were all tricks she would happily perform with the right whistle, and I was pretty sure with another day or two I could get her to shake hands, too.

Most of the time we just spent playing together, tossing toys around the yard or wrestling with the short bit of rope. I wasn't entirely sure what Susie thought of the strange creature that had shown up out of nowhere to play with her, but I could tell that she was happy.

I tried to fly around the city a few times - I still wasn't sure if there were any other creatures like me that had managed to escape the lab, or if I would find any people that I could turn to for help - but flying through the empty streets and facing that dreadful stillness all on my own wasn't easy. It was never long before I returned back to be with Susie instead.

When evening approached Susie would grow tired and flop down on her side. Sometimes I would keep tossing the ball around for a bit on my own - it was fun, and I'm not ashamed to admit I got caught up in the excitement - but in the end I would always join the dog and sprawl out on her side. Her body was almost as warm as the heat lamp had been, and her fur was soft, and I ended every night drifting off with the subtle rocking motion of her chest lifting and lowering me with her breaths.

But on the fourth day, my trip to the supermarket was interrupted.

I dropped to the ground and ducked behind one of the cars in the store's parking lot. I had heard noises, the sound of strange voices, and there was what could only be described as a spaceship sitting next to the front door of the building.

I peeked around the tire to make sure I had seen right, and caught sight of two figures on a ramp leading into the ship. They were definitely alien - they looked like something right out of the conspiracy theories about Roswell, or Area 51, with the stereotypical thin bodies and pale skin - and they seemed to be struggling with a heavy box they were carrying down the ramp.

The encyclopedia in my head helpfully informed me that they were known as the Votaks, and that they weren't native to Earth, but it didn't have much to say about them beyond that.

One of them grumbled something to the other... and I was amazed to find that I understood what had been said. The words were definitely strange sounding and ones I had never heard before, but at the same time they made perfect sense to me, courtesy of the encyclopedia sense in my brain. "This is such a waste of time."

I folded my wings against my back and darted across the parking lot, making sure to stay hidden beneath the abandoned cars until I had a closer vantage point. Were these creatures the reason the city had been ruined? I lurked in the shade of a minivan and stretched my neck as far as I dared, eager to spy on their conversation.

"I'm serious. Why are we doing this?"

The second alien responded in a voice that sounded annoyed. "Because we'll need cannons here when the Kymari show up, and these eyesores are all in the way."

The first alien let go of the box they were carrying, causing it to thump heavily to the ground. "I know that. I mean, what's the rush? We wiped the entire species out on the first day, and their stuff was all too primitive to work without them around, so it's not like we have to worry about any death machines waking up to hunt us down. And it'll be months before the Kymari even notice we're here, much less do anything, even if they could make any use out of this mess."

The second alien let out an exasperated sigh before answering. "We hope it'll be months before the Kymari notice. And if we can stay unnoticed for the six months we want, we'll be in good shape to hold the planet. But there's no telling how long it'll be before they come to check up on their pet primitives, and when they do, we're busted. And because some idiots were poking around here before us and got themselves noticed by the locals, if the Kymari manage to dig through the rubble and find enough surviving records, they'll know we were poking around in their territory. There goes our cover story - they'll know that we didn't simply make an error in navigating to a planet in our own territory, oops, so sorry, and then they'll treat this as an act of war instead of a band of troublemakers. So all the records and other signs of our presence have to go."

"But why does it have to be us..."

"Because you keep sleeping through all the briefings, and because the boss thinks his daughter is interested in me and wants me so miserable I'll transfer anywhere else first chance I get. Now stop complaining and help me finish unloading all the charges; this city needs to be leveled by the end of the week."

I stared back at the box, suddenly forgetting all about the aliens. The writing on the side of it was completely unreadable - no help from the encyclopedia there - but I was pretty sure of what I was looking at.

I skittered back across the parking lot, and when I was sure I was far enough away, I took flight and fled from the bomb.