By Matthew Wong
“Absolutely not!” My bass voice shook the room. “I refuse.”
King Elrose Pendrake VI merely grinned. “Oh, don’t be like that, you big lizard. Wasn’t it you who taught me not to refuse something without knowing what I’m refusing?”
“That’s different. I know exactly what kind of nonsense you’ll be involving me in.” I snorted, involuntarily releasing a small jet of flame from my nostrils. “So no, no, thrice no, absolutely not.”
To my great surprise, the king merely smiled, bowed, and took his leave.
In retrospect, I should have been far more worried about why he seemed to give up so easily.
When a letter bearing the royal seal showed up at the doorstep of my castle, I was worried. When trumpet blasts roused me from my slumber, I was angry. When I discovered a royal procession outside my door, I was flabbergasted.
The king himself turned to the roaring crowds—why are they even there?—and quieted them with a raised hand. “Good people! Today marks a new day for the Kingdom of Pendrake! We join our allies in the stars with the flight of the Torch in the Dark. Our brave Sir Flamberge the Magnificent shall lead us into that great final frontier!”
That’s how I found myself successfully bullied into the captain’s chair aboard a starship. I sighed as I stared out at the endless expanse of space, each small pinprick of light fathomless years away. It was just me, the stars, and the hundreds of small fighters currently trying to kill us.
“Captain!” shouted the communications officer. “Our radio’s been jammed!”
“We’re losing power to the aft shields!” said the engineer.
“We’ve lost the number three forward gun!” said the tactical officer.
Commander! The bulwark won’t hold!
The enemy’s got us surrounded!
I gave orders. Slowly at first—then all at once—our situation turned around, and we watched the broken force flee, leaving us no casualties.
The crew cheered, overjoyed after surviving this close shave. I sighed and closed my eyes. I hadn’t been in this sort of situation in years. Not after that disastrous campaign some dozens of years ago.
With the situation under control, I retired to my quarters, exhausted.
My eyes lit on the note the king had given me the day we launched. There had been some things about how my estate would be taken care of while I was away, how this was a great honor, and how he was partially sorry for forcing me into the position of captain. Yet there was another bit that I read once more.
Flamberge, you old lizard, you’ve been down in the dumps for too long. I know that you only feel truly yourself when you’ve taken a group of people under your wing—sometimes literally—but you haven’t for gods-know-how-long. If it’s some dumb reason like guilt over something that wasn’t your fault during the Tannhauser campaign, I’m going to kick your tail from here to the next solar system. These people need you, and I know you need them.
Well, he was right, in a way. The crew did need me—as seen today. But I was barely given a second to consider that thought before the alarms blared and cut my break short.
“Captain! There’s a warp-hole off the starboard bow!”
“Our thrusters are still out! We can’t escape it!”
“Captain! What do we do?!”
“Shields to maximum!” I ordered. “Angle the ship to create the least amount of resistance! If we can’t outrun it, we need to survive the trip!”
For a few brief, terrifying minutes, we found ourselves staring into the void of pure blackness. Then, just as quickly as they had gone, the stars returned—but none in a position I recognized. We were completely lost.
“Captain, what is our next course of action?” asked the first mate—Tiberion, I now recalled.
“Chart a course for the nearest star,” I said. “All officers, meet with me to discuss our plans.”
As we approached the meeting hall, a fire burned in my chest. I had a responsibility to see these men and women home safely—and I would. I, Sir Flamberge, Captain of the Torch in the Dark, swore it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Such a fun story! I would love to see what happens next with this dragon captain!
Dragons in space??
YES, PLEASE! :D
Don’t think I’ve ever seen dragons in a sci-fi setting before. Fun!