Starship Armstrong - Season 1

Part 71 - Dragon Slayers (XX)

I didn't take long, in the absence of direct stimulus from the Dragon, for the mind-states of the Cairnians to return to normal. The city, however, was still in ruins.

"This is not the way I wanted to win," said the Queen, looking over what little remained of the gleaming capital of her once-hated rivals.

"That's not something you get to choose," said Dr. Kang.

"Where do we go from here? It's like the sky has been ripped open. How can my people survive in a world that contains such terrors?"

"You're in luck then," said Dr. Kang "Because you're right, the galaxy is full of terrible things. Horrible things you wouldn't want to contemplate. The night, as they say, is full of darkness. But all of that is nothing, it is nothing, next to the brightness of the towering inferno of my genius. You've gained my attention and as a consequence of that you'll have a functioning space program within the year. You'll have member status in the Huxley Foundation within 5. It won't be immediate, you've seen first hand how difficult it can be to build up to an acceptable level of precision, but it's possible. It has been done time and time again by humans just like your people."

"What did we do to deserve you, Sir Doctor Kang?"

"As is usually the case you have Captain Littlecrow to thank for that," said Kang "Most people who gain my help do so after she creates an untenable situation for them as a result of her recklessly naive do-goodery."

"We speak the same language, and yet I often don't understand a word you say," said the Queen "You are very learned."

"That's very true," said Dr. Kang.

"How can we ever thank you?" asked the Queen.

"Statue," said Dr. Kang immediately.

"Pardon?"

"Build a statue of me," he repeated "That's how you can thank me."

"You want a statue?" asked the Queen.

"On as many planets as I can manage," said Dr. Kang "Call it an endearing eccentricity."

"If you live up to even half of what you have promised," said the Queen "You won't even have had to have asked."

Dragon Slayers: End