A dragon devouring faeries (TOME 15 of the TIAMAT'S WARS SERIE)

On land

The heated metal cooled and a lot of cracking could be heard.

Ceramic tiles were exploding under the stress of the tightening metal.  From time to time one could hear the sound of gunshots, like sneezes being thrown into the fire.

The sun was shining on the horizon and was reflected through the foliage of the huge artificial swamp.

The crew was waking up and all the humans were alive. There were probably 400 people of all nationalities.

They had all mixed together, the English language being the norm even for the French, Canadians and Chinese.

The AI was able to reboot with the few remaining solar panels that were not stolen.

Bello opened the doors of the airlock and they could discover and rediscover a luxuriant original nature.

The songs of birds but also of unknown species resounded all around them.

About fifty meters away, the ground was firm and Bello, accompanied by his 2 "followers" ran towards the lawn and rolled on the ground.

"How good it is to find the earth again... This perfume, this pure and not recycled air..."

There were no words to describe their sense of newfound freedom...

But Bello remained vigilant.  He knew that they were not alone and that enemies or other creatures could be hostile.

But the land had undergone many changes, as well as in the flora.

There were flowers in the shape of elongated foxgloves with eyes....!!

As they approached, they instantly retreated underground like an anemone and fooled around like a swan, causing a chain reaction of flowers to burrow underground.

The teens found this amusing, but the captain was intrigued.

He looked down at the ground and found a freshly constructed concrete slab that was unusually geometrically perfect.

At the end of the swampy "track", Bello walked a little further, seeing a military vehicle at the end.  Obviously, someone was waiting for them...

"Shhh, not a sound... it looks like a child with two soldiers.  They are in full view and not hiding".

Monty: "Do you think they are waiting for us?"

Bello: "Probably.  I'm going to check it out and if I don't come back in a week, I'll sound the alarm.  Your mother will know what to do....  She'll be the chancellor..."

Bello walked about 50 meters down the concrete path and was in full view of the 3 observers.

The vehicle was a kind of MBT, armored personnel carrier of Soviet manufacture.  The turret with the light gun was facing down.  There was no sign of direct threat but the 2 soldiers looked strange, with a head full of bumps.

When he reached 50 meters, Bello stopped and realized that they were not soldiers but killer robot drones.

They both had assault rifles slung over their shoulders but were not pointing them at him.  That was a good sign in itself.

But what was most intriguing was the girl.  She looked like a child but she gave the appearance of a very small adult.  But what was most amazing was the pair of wings that protruded from her back.

A winged human?

How could that be?

The creature slowly turned and waved his hand in greeting.