Alien Dragon Read Online Free

My mother would take me to the playground and we’d have a picnic in the grass. It was so soft beneath my feet, beneath my hands.
    I haven’t felt anything like that in a long, long time.
    When I close my eyes, I try to remember a time before the interplanetary wars, but it’s so hard. Sometimes it feels like the world has always been at war with other planets. Of course, Earth lost those wars many years ago.
    When humans could abandon their mother land, they did so as quickly as possible. No one seemed to care that Earth was our home. From where I stood, it seemed like no one really cared that Earth was done for. It feels wrong when I think about it, but then again, I was young.
    I’m still young.
    I have a feeling that when I arrive on Taneyemm, everything will feel different. Earth will seem like a very long time ago and I will believe I used to be innocent.
    After awhile, there’s a knock on my door.
    “Come in,” I say, and stand. I wait with my hands folded in front of me. A tall woman enters the room. Her hair is piled high on top of her head and she’s wearing a uniform similar to the ones I saw on the bridge. The woman looks me up and down, but doesn’t smile. She looks tired and a little bit fierce.
    “So you’re the human who managed to get a last-minute ticket,” she says, and I nod.
    “Yes, ma’am. Mr. Elf and Mr. Tank were kind enough to allow me to board. Apparently another female backed out at the last second.”
    “Yes,” the woman says. “That happens sometimes. We don’t give refunds, of course, but every once in awhile someone decides they want to stay with their one true love or some such.”
    “Do you do this a lot?” I ask hesitantly, wondering how many missions to Earth she’s been on.
    “I’ve picked up refugees from many planets,” she says. “This is my second and final Earth trip. The planet is dying. We cannot come back again.”
    “I understand. Thank you for accepting me, ma’am.”
    “Don’t thank me yet, honey.” The woman is so tall that I have to stare up at her. I feel about five years old as she looks down on me. For a second, I have the overwhelming urge to hug her, but I refrain. The last thing I need to do is draw unnecessary attention to myself. Chances are that this is already going to be a tough situation for everyone involved. An unplanned for earthling? And one who is going to be awake for four years? How’s that going to work?
    As if reading my mind, the woman pats me on the head, almost tenderly.
    “I know four years is a long time to be awake. I can’t promise the journey will be easy, but when we arrive, you’ll have a chance to stay on the planet.”
    “Please, ma’am. Can you tell me anything about that? How do they decide who gets to stay? How can I improve my chances?”
    She waves her hand.
    “I’m just the ship manager, doll. I don’t control any of that, but Hal is going to be in charge of you. He’ll tell you everything he can about the planet and try to give you the best possible chance of staying.”
    So he’s going to train me?
    Like a beauty pageant contestant?
    “Can I ask you something?”
    “Anything, sweetie.”
    “What about the other girls? The guys said that there were others. How do they find out about the planet? I suppose that being awake, I’ll have quite a few chances to learn things like customs and behaviors, but what about them? How will they be trained?”
    “They won’t. The cost of feeding 200 earthlings is incredible even if we only did it for a day, but for four years?” She waves her hand. “We’re already operating with a skeleton crew. We don’t need that many mouths to feed. You got lucky, honey, and you’ll have a small idea of what to expect when we arrive, but those girls are going to be in for a shock.”
    I try to let it all sink in, but already my mind is in overdrive. What’s going to happen when we arrive? How will I know if they’ll let me stay? What if they send me away? What if