Brave New Dawn (Sentenced to War Book 15) by J.N. Chaney & Jonathan P. Brazee

Author:J.N. Chaney & Jonathan P. Brazee [Chaney, J.N. & Brazee, Jonathan P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Variant Publications
Published: 2023-07-08T23:00:00+00:00

20

“Please forgive poor talking,” the dragon said as it led the two gobsmacked Marines into the castle. “Talking will improve with more input.”

Rev exchanged a glance with Randigold. “Poor talking?” It was amazing that they were this advanced. Up until now, the Uauii translators were the finest that humanity had experienced, but those took time to amass any degree of usability. Yet this alien was able to convey enough that Rev had already put his pad, with the pictogram communication program, back in its case.

He wasn’t sure how the dragon managed to speak Standard. They were too far away from Earth to have eavesdropped on radio transmissions. The only possible explanation was that they’d eavesdropped on conversations aboard the ship, and in that short amount of time, had discovered enough to be able to speak in basic, but understandable, sentences.

It seemed incredible that they could do that, but they’d managed to hack into a combat projection, so it wasn’t out of the range of believability. The bottom line was that the dragon was speaking, and Rev could understand it.

Rev craned his head to take in what he was seeing. The interior of the structure was much like the outside. It seemed to be a hodgepodge of different themes, but there was an underlying uniformity at the same time.

And it was bright. The entire place was in various shades of white and transparent. Rev couldn’t spot any windows or light fixtures, but it was very bright, and neither the alien nor the two Marines cast a shadow on the floor.

“I hope you’re getting this,” he whispered into his throat mic.

“Just keep it coming,” Clyburn said. “It’s amazing. And you’re still alive, so there is that.”

“Alive for now.”

Despite that quip, Rev’s initial apprehension when the dragon had approached them had faded somewhat. Maybe it was that the alien could speak that was putting him at ease. You can’t say “Welcome” and then escort your guests into your home while planning to chop them up for dinner.

Actually, you could, but I don’t get that vibe.

They reached the end of the long corridor and entered into a large, soaring room. It wasn’t the architecture that caught Rev’s attention, though, but rather the fifty-to-sixty dragons that were waiting in a huge circle. Some seemed to have clothing of sorts, while others were as naked as their guide, who led them to the middle and stopped.

Rev had never been particularly shy, but with all those eyes on them, he felt more than a little self-conscious.

“It’s like a firing squad,” Randigold whispered.

“A round firing squad?”

“Still feels like we are the target.”

“This is our famint,” their guide said, the bumps under the skin shifting into greater motion.

Rev couldn’t tell if “famint” was a glitch in their translations or if that was a purposeful use of a native word.

“You are ‘human,’ true?”

“Yes, we are humans,” Rev said.

This was deviating from all of their First Contact protocols, one of which was not to initially identify themselves, but Rev was playing it by ear.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.