AndroDigm Park 2067 Read online

  “For the dragon’s sake, I will return with you to Camelot. But I know not why you request a single kiss?”

  “That is all it will take to melt your heart and make you mine forever.”

  She laughed. “You are indeed the most arrogant knight I have ever met. Are all knights of Camelot so bold?”

  “I am told by the fair sex that I am the one most irritating.”

  At least he had a sense of honesty. “Then if it pleases you, I will grant you a kiss.”

  Scarlet turned to the dragon. “Go now, while you can.”

  “You will sacrifice yourself for me?” said the dragon.

  “Go. A kiss is but a small price to pay.” She looked at the knight. Some sacrifices were worth making.

  The dragon rose up and beat its wings as it flew towards the mountain from which it had come. Scarlet watched it get smaller as it flew away. “Goodbye old friend,” she said to herself.

  “You will keep your promise?” said the knight.

  “I always keep my promises. But first I need to wash.”

  He followed her down to the water’s edge. She raised a hand to stop him, dropped her sword and shield, and walked into the sea. She walked out until the sea reached her waist and then dived under the water. The cold water engulfed her body. A few seconds later she burst back to the surface cleansed of demon gore and dragon spit. She pushed her hair back with her hands and walked back to the beach where the knight was waiting for her.

  She stood before him brazenly wearing only her leather skirt. His eyes seemed to take in every detail of her body.

  “I’m wet. Do you still wish to kiss me in this state?”

  He walked up to her, put his arm around her middle, and pulled her against him. He kissed her passionately. She melted into his arms. Her tummy filled with butterflies.

  He kissed her again and again.

  “You are indeed a sorcerer, sir. And a thief! I promised one kiss, and you took three.”

  And then she turned around to find the villagers were still behind her.

  “Oh…” she said to the villagers. “Red Demon is dead. You can all go home now.”

  They rushed to her side and hugged her. Everyone in the village wanted to hug her. “Yes, yes. Thank you. You can go back to the village now… Please go. Go!”

  She watched them walk away. When the last had gone, she turned to the knight.

  He took off his tabard and handed it to her. “I have no ladies clothing to offer you, but I would be honoured if you wore my tabard to protect your modesty.”

  She laughed. “What makes you think I need to protect my modesty? I have a sword and shield to defend myself. Does my appearance offend you?”

  He looked at her naked breasts. “Nothing about you offends me. You are indeed everything that Merlin said you were: strange, fiery, desirable.”

  “I said I would accompany you back to Camelot, and I will. But please, no more of your sweet talk and charm. It doesn’t impress me. If you wish to impress me, look into your knight’s values of humility and compassion.”

  “Then ride my horse and I will walk.”

  Images flashed into her mind. They were memories of her life in Camelot. She smiled. “I remember now. I remember my life in Camelot. And I remember a knight so arrogant he thought he could bed every maiden in Camelot. It was you. I slapped your face.”

  “Your memory has indeed returned.”

  “I will return with you to Camelot. But don't expect any special rewards.”

  He smiled. “Seeing you reunited with your uncle is reward enough.”

  Then they trotted off toward Camelot.

  * * *

  As they made their way along the road to Camelot, Shelby noticed two children waving to them. They seemed distressed.

  “What is it?” said Scarlet to the children as they caught up with them.

  “It’s the Black Knight. He has taken my sisters and a dozen young girls from our village. He murdered our parents and drove out the rest of the villagers. Can you help us?”

  Scarlet looked at him, waiting for an answer.

  “How many knights are with the Black Knight?” said Shelby.

  “Four.”

  He turned to Scarlet. “The Black Knight is a fearsome fighter. He was only defeated by Sir Galahad at the last Camelot tournament.”

  “But we have to do something to help. He has taken these children’s friends as slaves.”

  “Then I will challenge him to combat. If he has any honour, he will accept my challenge. And I will defeat him. You must ride to Camelot and tell Arthur what has happened. He will send reinforcements to take the village back.”

  “But what if the Black Knight has no honour?”

  “Then I will die trying.”

  “Lancelot, can’t you wait until I have told Arthur?”

  “Justice waits for no man. Ride like the wind.”

  Shelby turned and walked towards the smoke coming from the village. On foot, it would take a couple of hours to reach the village. Riding, it would take at least four hours to reach Camelot. Shelby had no reason to expect help from Camelot. His only solution was to defeat the Black Knight.

  Two hours later, he reached the outskirts of the village. The knights’ horses were tied up outside the only tavern in the village.

  Shelby opened the door a fraction and stared through. Inside he saw a room of debauchery. Four naked knights were raping young girls while the rest of the girls looked on in horror.

  Shelby unhitched the horses and slapped them. They ran off. When the knights heard their horses gallop away they stumbled toward the door and faced Shelby.

  One knight tried to grab Shelby. It was a mistake. Shelby sliced his arm clean through with his sword.

  A second knight moved towards him. Shelby held his sword tip to the chest of the second knight who froze.

  “I challenge the Black Knight to combat. The rest of you can go from this village and never return.”

  “Five to one, we can take him.”

  The knight blundered forward, and Shelby struck severing the knight’s arm. The other knights retreated. Two knights maimed left only three, but three was still too many. He could attack them now and finish them all, but it was against the knights’ code to attack an unarmed knight.

  He directed his words to the Black Knight. “Have you no honour. Will you not face me alone? Or will you cower behind superior numbers? I will give you time to prepare to face me.”

  “You will not have long to wait, and not much longer to die,” said the Black Knight.

  The knights retreated into the tavern. Shelby moved away from the door of the tavern and waited for the knights to dress. He knew it would be difficult enough to defeat the Black Knight, but if they all attacked him, he had no chance at all. All he could do was appeal to the Black Knight’s vanity. He knew he paid little regard to the knight’s code.

  Five minutes later the knight’s emerged from the tavern doors, dressed in full armour. The Black Knight carried a shield and a broadsword that must have weighed half as much again as Shelby’s sword. Shelby had seen the Black Knight fight in tournaments before. He was seven feet tall with the strength of an ox and relied on power and strength to pummel his opposition into defeat. Shelby couldn’t afford to exchange blows with him or he would be easily defeated. But with lighter armour and a shorter sword, he could move more quickly.

  The Black Knight laughed. “Lancelot, prepare to die. I will split you in two.”

  At least it seemed the other knights were there only to witness the spectacle. But Shelby knew that if by some incredible providence he defeated the Black Knight, he would almost certainly have to face their vengeance.

  The Black Knight lunged at him with all his might, swinging the monster of a broadsword at him. Shelby moved to his right, deflected the blow with his shield, and swung his sword across the belly of the Knight. It did little or no damage at all. The Black Knight’s armour was impervious to the sword.

&n
bsp; The Black Knight lunged again, and Shelby moved to his left, turned his body through a circle, and brought his sword crashing into the back of the Black Knight as he stumbled forward. Again, Shelby’s sword made little or no impact on the hardened armour. How was he to defeat this Knight if he had no vulnerable parts of his armour?

  The Black Knight’s anger boiled up as he turned to face Shelby again raising his broadsword high over his head. Shelby guessed the sword’s arc and moved backwards as the Black Knights sword struck into the earth. Shelby rolled forward and swung his sword low at ankle level. The sword met resistance in flesh. He had struck the Black Knight’s Achilles tendon cleanly. The Black knight tumbled backwards onto his back.

  Shelby was up and held his sword to the throat of the Knight.

  “Do you yield,” said Shelby.

  The other knights moved towards Shelby.

  “Stand back if you want him to live,” cried out Shelby.

  They froze.

  “I yield,” said the Black Knight. “What now?”

  Shelby stood back. “Take your swords and leave.”

  One knight helped the Black Knight to his feet.

  “Kill him,” shouted the Black Knight.

  Shelby backed away from the knights. Three of them were injured, but they were more than enough to take him. They were about twenty feet away and starting to move towards him. He was toying with the idea of which one to attack first when he noticed a large object in the sky heading towards him from behind the knights.

  “You should have left when I gave you the opportunity. Now you will burn in the fires of hell.”

  The Black Knight laughed at him, oblivious to what was rapidly approaching him.

  The fireball burst in the centre of the five knights consuming them all in a single blast. Shelby knelt holding his shield in front of him to protect himself from the intensity of the flame.

  The knights screamed in agony as they were turned into human torches. Even with his shield to protect him, Shelby could still feel the intensity of the heat. Nothing could survive the centre of the fireball.

  And then it was quiet. No flames, just the charred remnants of five bodies that were once evil knights. Shelby got to his feet and waited for the dragon to land.

  Lady Scarlet jumped down from the dragon’s neck. “Are you hurt?”

  He laughed. “Just my pride.”

  Lady Scarlet turned to the dragon and kissed its nose. “Thank you.”

  She stood back as the dragon beat its wings and soared into the air. Shelby watched it fly into the distance.

  “How?” he said.

  “There is a connection between us. He senses my danger and knows when I need him.”

  The two children that they had met on the way to Camelot came into the village riding Shelby’s horse. They jumped down, ran over to Scarlet, and hugged her.

  “No,” she said. “Lancelot is the one that saved the village. Thank him.”

  The two kids rushed over and hugged his legs.

  “I’m no hero,” said Shelby. “It was the Dragon. You must promise me, you will never tell a soul in Camelot that I was rescued by a Dragon. How humiliating…”

  “I won’t say anything… I promise.”

  Shelby noticed that the villagers were coming out of hiding. One came over to him and thanked him. Shelby didn’t want any thanks. He just wanted to leave the village and return to Camelot.

  “We make a good team,” said Scarlet. “You, me and the dragon.”

  “I will never live this down,” muttered Shelby under his breath. “Let’s go.”

  Then everything went blank.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Scarlet’s eyes opened. She was back in the cylinder-shaped pod and Doctor Thexly was helping to remove the remaining sensors from her body. Mitch Hathaway stood talking to Meg Rawlings and Shelby was climbing out of his pod.

  “I’m sorry everyone,” said Doctor Thexly. “We’ve had a glitch and I had to pull you out of your fantasies. It seems some of you ended up in the same park and were cross contaminating your fantasies. I apologise. We will fix the glitch and reboot in a few hours’ time.”

  “Why did you stop it? I was having so much fun,” said Mitch Hathaway.

  Everyone groaned at her.

  “Can we just go back to where we were,” said Scarlet.

  Everyone nodded agreement.

  “Is that what everyone wants? I can send you back, but it’s still going to take a couple of hours to reboot. I suggest you take a break and get something to eat,” said Doctor Thexly.

  * * *

  Shelby opened the apartment door for her.

  Scarlet brushed her hair back with her hand. “What did you make of the fantasy? Me, a Dragon Queen, and you an arrogant Lancelot of the round table.” She laughed. “It was crazy.”

  “It was unreal. But fun. So the super rich will spend millions here playing out their wildest fantasies. I can see why this place will make money.”

  “I’m physically exhausted… I need a shower.” Scarlet walked into bathroom, climbed out of her overalls, and entered the wet room. “I can’t hear you out there.”

  He walked into the bathroom.

  She poked her head out of the wet room. “There’s plenty of room for two in here,” she said. “The water’s so refreshing. Come on in. ”

  “You want me to join you?”

  “I can’t hear you otherwise.”

  He paused to think. “Okay.” He undressed and walked into the spray beside her.

  “I’m still feeling a little woozy from that dream juice.” She wasn’t being entirely honest. She felt okay, but she thought she needed an excuse for inviting him in.

  She handed him some soap and turned her back to him. “Will you help me wash my back?”

  He soaped her back. She couldn’t believe how good it felt to have his strong hands touching her body. She was boiling hot, and it had nothing to do with the water temperature.

  She turned to face him. “You want to make love?”

  “I thought we agreed to be friends. Let’s not spoil it.”

  “We’ll still be friends. Can’t we just do it?”

  “It’s not as easy as that.”

  “It can be if you want it to be.”

  She kissed him. “Was that good?”

  The doorbell chimed.

  “Ignore it,” she said. “They’ll go away.”

  She kissed him again.

  “Marshal Shelby… I need to speak to you.”

  “Who is it?” whispered Scarlet.

  Shelby let out a sigh. “It’s detective Bonny. I need to take this.”

  “Can’t you leave it?”

  “I’ve got to take this.”

  Scarlet watched as Shelby left the shower, put on his robe and opened the door. “What is it detective?”

  The detective’s jaw dropped as he gazed across to the bathroom. Scarlet stood in the doorway completely naked. She smiled at the detective and gave him a little wave. He gave her a little wave back. She was annoyed at his interruption and she was making a point. Maybe if she embarrassed him enough, he would go away and leave them alone together. She walked over to the door and stood next to Shelby.

  The detective’s eyes were practically popping out of his head. “I’m sorry to disturb you both… It’s Larsen,” said the detective stuttering. “He’s abducted Meg Rawlings and Mitch Hathaway and is threatening to kill them unless his demands are met. He says he will only talk to you.”

  “Oh, it’s serious,” said Scarlet.

  Detective Bonny pulled out a small device from his pocket and pressed a button. The device projected a 3D image of Larsen ranting about wanting to speak to Shelby and threatening the lives of Meg Rawlings and Mitch Hathaway.

  “Give us five minutes to dress and we’ll come with you,” said Shelby.

  Detective Bonny left the room, and they dressed.

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later Shelby and Scarlet landed on
the edge of the caldera of Dragon Mountain with detective Bonny. Waiting for them was Chief Anderson and a team of SWAT police officers.

  Larsen was on the opposite side of the caldera obscured by the large dragon’s nest in the middle.

  “The single reason you’re here is because Larsen said he would only speak to you. If I had my way…,” said Chief Anderson.

  “Yeah, I get it. You don’t like me. Can we just get on with it and work together?”

  “He’s wired up Meg Rawlings and Mitch Hathaway to some explosives, and he’s carrying some kind of switch,” said Chief Anderson. “Have you had any experience of hostage situations?”

  “Yes,” said Shelby. “Many times in special ops. That’s why I need her.” He pointed to the sky where a second heli-car was coming in to land with Jess aboard. “She will take him out. I will make the call. Keep your SWAT at bay.”

  “All right. It’s your show. Just don’t fuck up this time.”

  “What about the android dragon?” said Scarlet.

  “It’s been disabled,” said the Chief.

  Jess climbed out of the heli-car carrying the fifty-millimetre rifle, walked up to Shelby, and handed him the rifle.

  “I can’t do it,” said Jess. “I can’t kill a human being. You will have to take him out.”

  “He’s got two innocent hostages.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Jess. “I’m useless. You should scrap me for parts.”

  Shelby noticed Bonny and called him over.

  “Can you fire one of these?”

  Bony took the rifle looked down through the sights. “Yeah. Easy.”

  “Find a vantage point from the East side. I’ll come in from the West. When I give this signal, fire.” Shelby showed him the hand signal.

  He watched Bonny jog to the dragon’s nest and then inched his way around the East side until he could see his target.

  “Be careful,” said Scarlet.

  He felt confident he was in no danger unless Larsen had developed suicidal tendencies. He gave his handgun to Scarlet and walked around the West side of the nest. As he got closer, he saw Mitch Hathaway and Meg Rawlings tied up. Then he saw Larsen. Shelby put his hands in the air. Larsen beckoned him to come closer.

  “I didn’t do this,” he screamed. “It wasn’t me. I woke up and found them tied up. I’ve been set up.”