His dragon sensed it too. Whatever there was about this place, his mount
didn’t want anything to do with it. He signaled his patrol to extra
alertness and pushed on. Then he reached for his communications crystal to
report.
There-again there was strangeness. He managed to reach the Watcher on Oak
Island, but the voice was weak and there were gaps, requiring several
repeats to get the message through.
Interference? he thought as he replaced the crystal. But that didn’t seem
right either. He knew the effects of jamming spells on communications
crystals. He had felt them often enough during the years of war against
the Dark League. But this was more as if someone had substituted a poorly
ensorceled crystal for his own. It was as if the spell on the crystal had
suddenly become much weaker, less competent.
He noticed that the rhythm of his mount had changed as well. The dragon’s
wingbeats had increased, as if they were climbing instead of flying level.
The beast wasn’t exactly laboring, but he was definitely working harder.
He did a quick calculation and decided that if this continued, the extra
effort would reduce his patrol’s flying time by one-third.
Down below the sea seemed the same, but this place was definitely
different.
Off to his right one of the dragons flying top cover waggled its wings to
attract attention. The riders on the right wing caught it as soon as
Dragon Leader did and used hand signals to pass the information on to
their commander.
Dragon Leader kneed his mount gently and his dragon banked gently left and
right to acknowledge. Craning his neck he saw the rider rise in her saddle
and raise both her arms above her head in the signal for land.
Dragon Leader hesitated for an instant and then signaled the entire patrol
to turn toward the land.
The patrol was barely halfway into their turn when three gray shapes
hurtled down on them out of the clouds.
“Break! Break!” Dragon Leader screamed into his communications crystal.
The warning was unnecessary, already the squadron was scattering like a
flock of frightened chickens as the screaming intruders dived on them.
Riders fumbled for their war bows as they twisted and dove in every
direction, trying desperately to get away from their attackers.
In the end it was biology rather than maneuvering that saved them. Dragons
have poor radar returns and the targeting radars on the robot fighters
were unable to get a lock. Craig hadn’t thought to equip his creations
with cannon, so the planes were impotent against the dragons.
Of course the dragons were equally impotent against the planes. The
aircraft were too fast and too unexpected. They swooped through the
formation before a single rider could draw a bow or a single dragon could
breathe fire. The planes made a tight curving climb back into the clouds
and then they were gone.
The dragons didn’t hang around either. The entire squadron dove for the
wavetops and ran for home as fast as their wings could carry them.
“That,” said Wiz grimly, “is definitely a jet fighter.”
The recording had been frozen at the moment that the plane was climbing
away from the dragon squadron. The view was almost from directly above and
the outline and details were unmistakable.
“Looks like it was drawn by a fourteen-year-old,” Danny said
contemptuously. “It’s a combination of a bunch of different planes.”
“Notice that it’s unmanned,” Jerry said, sticking his finger into the
image to point at the place where the cockpit should be. “Either these
guys are real cautious about risking their necks or there aren’t very many
of them. Maybe only one or two.”
“The main thing,” Wiz said, getting up from the table, “is that we’ve got
both dragons and jet fighters in the same air at the same time.” He turned
to Arianne, who had brought them the recording.
“You say the dragon riders were having trouble communicating?”
“Their voices were weak. And they said their dragons tired easily.”
Jerry gestured and the image started moving again.
“Those planes don’t look like they’re doing any too well, either.”
“Basically then,” Wiz said, “both magic and technology work in that place,