Matthew Reilly - The Great Zoo of China

CJ hesitantly obeyed. ‘What are you doing?’

‘ Lucky… fight… red princes… Lucky help White Head …’

Before CJ could protest, Lucky took to the air and, hovering in front of CJ and Minnie, she roared back at the red-bellied black princes, a terrifyingly fierce shriek that CJ had not thought her capable of.

The electronic voice in CJ’s ear said: ‘… Begin challenge …’

CJ stared at the scene in amazement: there was Lucky, hovering on one side of the cavern, while high up on the other side, guarding the exit tunnel, were the three red-bellied black princes, also hovering.

Red Face snarled at Lucky, then nodded at one of his companions and it flew forward.

It was another red-bellied black prince that CJ knew. She recognised its hideously melted snout. It was Melted Face. She had to hand it to the dragon: he was a survivor.

Melted Face shot down toward Lucky.

Lucky answered the roar and flew up at Melted Face.

The two dragons raced toward each other and CJ realised that she was seeing what Zhang had called a ‘joust’.

The two prince-sized dragons raced at each other at shocking speed and as they passed they lashed out with their claws.

There was a cry of pain—CJ couldn’t tell if it had come from Lucky or Melted Face—and then suddenly they were past each other and hovering again, ready for another pass.

They sped toward each other again, faster this time. Lucky streamlined her body, beat her wings. Melted Face flexed his claws.

And they clashed again… only this time Lucky rolled at the moment of impact… and again there was a shriek of pain… and once again they both kept on flying… only this time, Melted Face did not pull up into a hover. He just went careering into the opposite wall, smashing into it—lifeless, dead—before his body dropped down the length of the cavern and splashed into the little pool at its base.

CJ snapped round to look at Lucky.

Lucky held a ragged chunk of flesh in her right foreclaw. She had landed a killer blow on the second pass.

Red Face squealed and flew into a jousting position.

Lucky readied herself for battle again.

But then the third red-bellied black dragon took up a position beside Red Face.

CJ looked on in horror. It was two against one.

‘Lucky!’ she called.

The dragon turned.

‘White Head and Lucky fight!’ she yelled.

In answer, Lucky swooped around in a tight circle and allowed CJ to leap onto her back before resuming her face-off with the two red-bellies.

CJ felt her heart beating loudly in her head. She reached inside her heat suit and pulled out her MP-7. She couldn’t believe she was doing this.

She was partaking in a dragon joust…

The three dragons sprang forward, racing toward each other, two against one.

CJ had never felt Lucky accelerate so quickly. She saw the two red-bellied black princes speeding toward her across the massive cavern. They were going to pass by on either side of Lucky and double-team her.

Then she saw Lucky extend her left foreclaw—Red Face was coming at them from that side, so CJ levelled her gun at the dragon on the right. It wasn’t exactly a lance but in this aerial joust, it was the next best thing.

They all came together in a blur of claws and roars—Lucky shooting in between the two oncoming dragons—and CJ loosed a burst of fire from her MP-7, aiming as best she could at the right-hand dragon’s head.

She saw blood-spurts erupt from its snout, mouth and eyes—while on the other side, Lucky and Red Face extended their claws and slashed at each other and then— swoosh! —the two red-bellies rocketed past.

The right-hand dragon, hit in both eyes by CJ’s gunfire, crashed at full speed into the far wall in a starburst of rocks, breaking its neck with the impact.

Red Face squealed as he banked away and CJ saw a trail of blood dripping from his ribcage and he landed on an egg-shelf, whimpering and wounded. He cried to the heavens, a squeal of agony.

Lucky continued flying, wings beating powerfully—

—before she jerked unexpectedly, faltering, and lost speed.

Worried, CJ looked down to see that Lucky’s entire left flank was slicked with blood.

‘Oh, no…’ she gasped.

Lucky may have wounded Red Face, but Red Face had also landed a serious blow on her.

CJ tried to figure out what to do now.

Then it hit her: the infirmary in the Birthing Centre. If she could get Lucky there, maybe she could patch her up. But that would mean getting past all the dragons upstairs.

CJ rolled back the sleeve of her heat suit and looked at the battlefield display unit duct-taped to her left forearm, to check on the dragons up in the Nesting Centre.

What she saw surprised her:

The crowd of red crosses was no longer massing around the Nesting Centre. There were now only three red crosses at the Nesting Centre. CJ figured they represented Red Face and his two buddies.

The rest of the red-bellies were flying like a coordinated flock to the northeast, in the direction of the worker city.

Their plan was now clear to CJ: having freed their masters, they were heading for the first of the two sources of the outer electromagnetic dome, the worker city.

This was bad. This was very bad.

CJ turned back to Lucky.

‘Lucky hurt?’ she asked.

‘ Yes …’

‘Lucky fly?’

‘ Lucky… fly …’

CJ said, ‘If Lucky fly now, White Head help Lucky later…’

In response, the wounded yellowjacket beat its wings with extra strength.

CJ brought Lucky around to where they had left Minnie and scooped her up. Then as Red Face remained on the egg-path licking his wounds, they flew over to the exit tunnel and swooped up into it, heading back to the surface.

After a short time, the mouth of the tunnel came into view.

CJ slowed Lucky. She was cautious even though the BDU said there were few or no dragons still here.

Rising to the rim of the tunnel, CJ peered out.

The Nesting Centre was deserted.

Apart from the smouldering remains of the eight dead master dragons, their wretched charred corpses still fastened to the floor, there was not a single dragon to be seen.

A shout made CJ turn and she saw Li running from the stairs near the observation booth.

CJ landed Lucky on the floor near him.

‘They all took off as soon as you flew down into the nest!’ Li said.

CJ gazed off into the distance. ‘They freed their masters and now they’re going after the outer dome. They’re heading for the emplacements at the worker city.’

Lucky groaned painfully and CJ looked back at her, concerned. She saw the wound on Lucky’s side: a gaping bloody gash.

‘We have to stop them bringing down the outer dome,’ she said to Li as she dismounted. ‘But first I have to mend this brave dragon. Come on.’

In the café at the base of the curving waterfall, Hamish Cameron stood. ‘We’re no good to anyone just sitting around here. We’ve got to find a radio and get in touch with CJ.’

‘If she’s still alive,’ Seymour Wolfe said sourly.

‘My sister’s a tough nut, Mr Wolfe,’ Hamish said, ‘and surprisingly hard to kill. Ask the bull alligator that tried.’