Domesticating Dragons by Dan Koboldt

Author:Dan Koboldt [Koboldt, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure, Hard Science Fiction, General
ISBN: 9781982125110
Google: He-YzQEACAAJ
Publisher: Baen
Published: 2021-01-05T05:00:00+00:00

The Gila woodpecker is small but scrappy, with a red spot on the top of its head, zebra-pattern wings and a brown body. This one must have had a nest in the saguaro, because it started dive-bombing my head and cawing at me.

“Son of a bitch!” I shouted. My arm was at a funny angle in the cactus. I couldn’t get loose.

But I could hear Summer laughing just fine. My face grew hot; I’m sure it was bright red. Goddamn woodpecker. I tried batting the thing away with my other arm. “Octavius!”

Octavius swooped down from where he’d been circling and tried to catch it, but the woodpecker was too quick. It ducked into one hole in the cactus and popped out another.

Hell, I might as well just go for it. I reached down into the cavity inside the cactus. Way down, until my shoulder was right against the spines. My fingers closed around something hard and rectangular. It felt like a pack of gum, which would be an odd choice for a cache. I eased it out of the hole and retreated about ten yards from the cactus. Octavius returned to my shoulder without being told. The woodpecker gave us a final chewing-out and disappeared.

“Check it out.” It was a polished piece of antler, with coordinates carved scrimshaw-style into one side. I plugged them into my watch.

Summer made a disgusted sound and started walking toward us.

I guess I could have been a gentleman and handed it to her. But there was the honor code to think about.

So I let Octavius take the carving and plunk it back in the woodpecker hole, before she could say anything.

“Thanks a lot,” she said.

I smirked at her. “Say hey to the woodpecker for me.”

We finished two points on Big Mesa Star before it got too hot. I really wanted to keep our lead on Summer, but I also didn’t want to collapse of heat exhaustion. Big Mesa was going to take me a while. But if it put us above SumNumberOne, all the trouble would totally be worth it.

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