Ingev frowned into the viewer. "That's the landing pad?  It's dirt!"

"And grass," Dermot pointed out. "And there's our ship over there under the camouflaging. So she looks like she's fine," he added with some relief.

"But where's the town?" Ingev asked, still frowning.

"Under the trees to the east. They don't go in much for fancy architecture," Darin explained.

"Who's going down first?" Ing asked, looking around at the faces gathered in the pilot's area.

"What do you mean who's going first?" Dinah asked.

"Well, you and Marc, and Darin and Dermot and who else?  Dragon back or shuttle?"

"Oh dragon back. The dragons are tired of being cooped up," Marc replied.  "As to anyone else going down," he turned to look at McGee, Zaf and Stella, "Maybe we better make sure they're invited."

"I don't think that's going to be the problem," Dinah said, refocusing on the present company.  "All the dragons are going, according to Quinn."

"Nice of him to let us know," Marc muttered darkly.

"Well, they are tired of being cooped up," she said, her smile bright.  "So who do we appeal to for invitations?"

"We just go down and they'll come out and meet us. At least that's how we did it before," Darin replied.

Dinah nodded and looked at Marc.  "Ready to go make new friends?"

"Sure," he replied with a grin.

They were quite something spiraling down on dragon back, the two babies flitting around them happily, and Cola looking decidedly smug. They all landed in the clearing and waited. It was some time before a few people walked out from beneath the trees to the east. They were dressed in homespun and were not armed.  Chola was with them.

Dinah tilted her head at Chola and then smiled at the natives.  "I'm Dinah," she said.  "And this is Marc.  I'm told you already know Darin and Dermot.  We brought them to pick up their ship."

A woman stepped forward; she smiled at Dinah. "You are welcome. As are the rest of your crew. Including McGee, Stella and even Zaf."

"You know them?" Dinah asked.  "We weren't sure if we were intruding or not."

The woman laughed.  "We know OF them. Chola has been most helpful in that regard. Also, we are not quite as isolated as you might think. I am Claudia. Please, tell your dragons to play where they will. Follow me. I will have someone meet the rest of your crew as they port down."

"Thank you," Dinah said, exchanging a look with Marc as she moved to follow Claudia.  "We're very happy to learn Chola is well.  May we conclude from this that Hodran is not?"

Chola nodded. "He is with his ancestors among the stars. Claudia here was kind enough to heal my wounds."

"We are pacifists," Claudia commented as they walked into the forest. "But we are healers as well."

"I shall be sure to light a candle for the repose of his soul when next I'm in church," Dinah said.

Claudia looked around at the forest.  "This is our church. You are welcome to the use of it, so long as you treat it kindly."

"Ah," Marc commented. "Thus the lack of a landing pad and this," he said as they entered a cleared area under the high limbs of giant trees. The houses were made of stone and wood, with thatched roofs.

Claudia smiled. "Indeed. Our needs are small."

"It is a simpler, less complicated life that way," Dinah said.  "And obviously a more peaceful one."

Claudia's eyebrows rose. "Yet we keep putting men who are beaten up or shot back together again."

"They patched me up," Dermot admitted.

"Does it bother you that you do?" Dinah asked.

"No, not in the sense that we regret the signs of violence brought to our peaceful world. But I do regret that there is so much violence out there that otherwise good men and women are at risk. I heard what you tried to do at Sutta. I hope things will be better for at least some time now."

"But the means we chose were very violent," Dinah said.

"I know. That I regret."

"Yet you welcome us here?" Marc asked.

"Yes, yet we welcome you here. We became known to the outside world when some of our people were taken to become slaves on Sutta. Luckily for us, the slavers had the misfortune of running into Paxx Palandjian. We did not ask Paxx what he did with the slavers."

"I see," Dinah said.  "And perhaps even understand," she added thoughtfully.

People were coming out of the huts now to greet them and make them welcome. "We will have a feast this evening for you.  Ah, and here come the rest of your crew."

"Most of them anyway," Dinah said and then made the introductions.

The feast was one of simple but excellent fare. And the people of Tyvek were happy and friendly. There was dancing by the central fire afterwards. When Dinah found herself sitting alone Chola came to sit by her. "So you've brought the boys to their dream," he commented.

"Their dream?" she said.  "I thought I was giving them a ride to their ship."

Chola grinned. "And the cavern."

"Ah, Darin and his archaeological exploits," she said.  "Yes, Melly and Colin are very keen."

"And McGee?"

"I think he's just sightseeing, if you must know," she said, looking over at him.  "I find him very strange, him and Zaf both.  But he thinks I'm beautiful so what can I say?"

"He's wasting his time. You're most definitely taken," he said with a chuckle glancing over to where Marc was chatting with Claudia.

"Oh he knows that," she said, looking at him.  "He likes it that way.  And what about you?" she asked.  "Are you just sightseeing?"

Chola shrugged. "I'm between gigs at the moment. I thought a few weeks of peace might be pleasant for a change."

She nodded.  "I'm looking forward to a few days of peace and quiet myself.  Tell me, how long do you think it will take them to rebuild?"

"They're already working on it. But it will take them some time to build up the necessary support to pull off the worst of it.  For that I thank you."

"I had an agenda, so thanks aren't necessary."  She sighed.  "I suppose, no matter what, they'll always be able to rebuild."

"So long as people are willing to pay for it, they'll rebuild. Trying to change that is a sucker's game."

"I know."  She looked at him, studying him.  "What will you do now?"

He shrugged. "Try to live with myself."

"That's why there's suckers games, I think."

"Oh? How so?" Chola asked frowning.

"So those of us who need to try to live with ourselves can play them.  There are some windmills I'll never stop tilting out."

Marc walked over to join them. "You makin' time with my girl?" he asked Chola.

"Do you blame me?" Chola asked.

"Not a bit. I'm glad to see you survived. We wondered."

"It was a close call, but I made it. Talk to you two later," Chola said as he sauntered off toward the darkness.

She watched him walk away.  "Is it too early to leave?  And for you to take me to bed and make me forget everything but you?"

Marc looked around at everyone enjoying themselves. "Nah. No one will miss us."  He held out his hand and she took it and they found their room for the night.

The sun was barely risen above the mountains when Darin emerged from his room. His eyes were drawn directly to the mountains and the place where the cave awaited them.

Quinn, watching, nudged the other dragons awake.  After a moment's communion with Kalie, he and Cola woke Dinah and Marc.

Dinah rolled over and opened one eye and then groaned and closed it again.  "It's too early," she said.

"Don't be such a spoil sport. The dragons are dying for us to get to the cavern. Up and at 'em," he added, slapping her bare rump as he got out of bed."

"Yeah, but why are they so eager for this?" she asked.  "It makes no sense."

"Well," Marc replied pulling on his pants, "we aren't going to find out lazing around in bed. Come on.  I'll go roust out Melly and Colin. Hopefully not from the same room."

She giggled and sat up.  "And maybe find some coffee too, huh?"

"Yup. Leave it to me," he said as he kissed her and followed his nose.

Colin and Melly were already awake, being nearly as eager as the dragons to see the cavern. Darin was with them, running once again through what he knew. The dragons were swooping in the sky calling and trying to hurry them along. Only the heavy cover of the trees stopped them from swooping down and grabbing their humans and dragging them off.

Dinah dressed and followed Marc, finding him with the others and, fortunately, the coffee.  She fixed herself a cup and glared at Quinn in the air, nagging her.  "Okay, so what's the plan, guys?  Before the dragons have a complete breakdown."

"Rolf will lead us up there. You guys take Melly and Colin with you. I'll get into position and set the key. Simple."

Dinah nodded and called Quinn.  "Right," she said, and mounted, then watched Marc and the others do the same.  When they were ready she waved at Darin and then held on, Quinn making it plain they weren't wasting time today.

The three dragons and the humans riding them were accompanied by every dragon as they flew up toward the mountains. It felt like a ceremony, and left Marc frowning. Melly and Colin were too busy talking business to notice much. Darin, though, looked a bit worried as he ran his eye across the dragons. If they broke out into dragon song he was outta there.

Rolf took Darin into the cavern and she followed on Quinn, Cola right behind her.  Then she just gaped.

The cavern was huge, and the walls pulsed with all the colours of the rainbow.  Darin, not wasting any time, since Rolf was too eager to stand on formality, took the relic from his pocket and was ready when Rolf moved to near the center of the cavern and waited. Darin lifted the relic up and then froze. It was as if the world froze for a second and then, while the cavern had been lit before, now it sprang into a far more brilliant life, and a section of the cave was lit with a scrolling pallet of what seemed to be words in a language unknown to Dinah and unknown to anyone else in the cavern.

Colin, his eyes huge, just muttered, "Cor...." as he pulled a recorder out of his pocket and began filming like crazy.

Dinah shook her head and then glanced over at Marc, as awed as she was.  She could feel Quinn quivering and then looked over to see Kalie enter the cavern.  She watched as Kalie studied the scrolling script and then lift her head and give vent to a keening series of notes, as haunting and as eerie as anything she'd ever heard that were immediately echoed by the dragons outside.  "Quinn?" she said in his mind and was stunned at the depth of grief she sensed before he slammed his mind closed.

Rolf flew himself and Darin down to the bottom of the cavern and the clear pool of water there.  It too was lit.  Marc and Cola landed there as well. "There's something about this water. It had me hallucinating, I think," Darin told him.

Marc nodded and reached out to touch the water there.