Protector of Verron

Chapter 11 Artifact Hunt

I woke up to the sun beaming light into the cockpit. I stretched and yawned as I woke up. I leaned over and grabbed some coffee from the food machine. The smell of coffee filled the cockpit. I blew on it as I waited for it to cool done before I started to drink. I could still remember the dream that I had last night. There was something about it that made it more clear to me.

These dreams I was having now are more vibrant now that I am a protector. Before I met Taggel, the dreams were not as weird. I opened the hatch and drew in the wonderful smell of this planet. I could see some morning dew on the grass below the ship. I finished up my cup of coffee and had eaten some eggs and toast for breakfast. I would give this planet one more day before I started looking elsewhere for the shield.

I went invisible and rushed out into the open air. I found several taverns that were like this one and the other one on planet asdf. I would find a place to become visible and make my way into the tavern and ask questions about the shield they had over the bar. Each one gave the same story about it being the one that was used in the Battle of Larkin. Jennifer was marking off the spots I had been to and the shields I have inspected. I even went to museums and office buildings. There were shields all over this planet. I went to warehouses and even got so frustrated once that I destroyed a thousand shields at once. I rebuilt them of course but I was so frustrated.

The day dragged on and I had covered about ninety percent of it by dinner time. I shot up into space to find a rouge star to charge from. There wasn't one anywhere close. I would have travel a far distance but it would be worth it. After an hour of flying, I found the rouge star and charged up. It felt great to get full soak-off energy uninterrupted. After two hours I shot back to Scaith. I went into the tavern by my ship and had a steak dinner. The same old man was there and didn't ask any questions.

I went back to my ship. To get some sleep. I won't bore you again with what I dreamed of but it was ruffly the same thing with minor changes. I woke again ready to finish my search. I only had a little left to go. I made coffee and ate some breakfast. I stepped out of the ship and stretched for a little bit.

A familiar woman's voice echoed from somewhere, "There you are".

I looked around to see Dora walking from the town towards me. Hands-on her hips. She came up to me as I started to stand up from stretching. Out of curiosity, I asked her, "What are you doing here?"

She was walking pretty fast through the field. She answered me, "Some old man told me you needed help and gave me a ride here. I told him I was wanting to come here anyway so I guess it worked out".

Some old man. I wonder if he had a cane.

I waited for her to come closer before I asked her, "Did this old man have a cane?"

"Yeah, you know him?" She said with her wonderful country accent.

"Did the cane have the head of a dragon and was he really short say four and a half feet tall?" I asked.

She was only a few yards away now. "The was a serpent head on the cane but I don't know of any dragons. Never seen one of them. He was short but at least five and a half feet tall".

She was looking at my ship. I had told her it was small. "When you said you had a small ship I didn't think it would be this small. You were flying all the way here in that thing?"

"Yeah. It might look small but it's really fast".

"Looks like you made it just after you left the tavern too", she said as she was touching it.

I was bewildered by what she meant by that. "Did the old man tell her", I thought.

She answered me as though she could read my thoughts, "The old man told me you had powers and were searching for the great shield. He sent me here to help you find it. At least he had a large ship with room to walk around in".