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Now no one said anything not that there was anything they could have said that would have made a difference. Toni had committed them and now they just needed to figure out where the quads would go and who would make up each quad. That would be Carler’s job, and he couldn’t think of anyone he would stick with them that would be that bad. He had a tendency to wait to get even and Ranger thought Toni had caught Carler off guard. It was no surprise that none of them wanted to go out into the parks. The places were primitive and the temperature outside the shuttle would probably be hot and humid. What hadn't occurred to them was nighttime scouting was usually done in dragon form.
It excited him to think that his mate and he would be riding the wind over an area is large as most of these parks were. Since they had left the planet, their dragons haven't had much freedom. Things would be different until they came back from the parks. Normally on a trip like this they would hunt and eat in dragon form. That would not work now because many of these animals had limited numbers. Part of the issue might be that these rogues were probably feeding on their animals. Dealing with them might improve several things.
”What should we wear?” Toni ask now that they were in their bedroom.
“I know that it's hot, but it's tough in most of the parks. You will need your hiking boots, heavy socks, tough pants. and probably a tank top with something to cover it if we get out into the woods or other growth. At night we will probably scout in dragon form, and it will not be so bad. Dragons are tough and they don't mind the heat.” Ranger explained.
She was quiet and probably wondered if she had upset the whole war council. It was clear none of them wanted to go and that would make her worry about how difficult this task might be. “Do you think they will get over it soon?”
“They have just gotten soft from staying at the resort all the time. Their dragons will thank you for the freedom they will have while we are in the parks. They've not been allowed to get out much and they will love this.”
Chapter 8
Scouting the Parks
She had never been a girl scout or a member of any of those groups that had long campouts. Her parents had been committed to making their store successful and they had never gone on those kinds of vacations. It was more likely that one parent would take them to a nice hotel that had facilities for children for three or four days. They rarely got out of the city.
It wouldn't be so bad because Ranger would be with her and if she didn't know what to do, she was certain that he would. Someone had mentioned they would be in the shuttles and those couldn't be that bad. The shuttles had temperature control, refrigerators, stoves, bathrooms, and some kind of comfortable bed. The other couple that was with them would have their own shuttle so that left a fair amount of room to work with.
Ranger had explained that their dragons would be doing the work at night so during the day one person would be on guard duty and the others would relax and sleep and eat. No one would be overworked and everything they had would be brought in if necessary. Back at the resort, some of those in middle management would be making the decisions upper management usually did and this would be good for them. It would be nice to be able to say that they would be left on their own to figure out their own way but that wouldn't be entirely true. For every group there was one higher level employee that would be keeping an eye on them without making it obvious.
“Do you have everything you need?” Ranger asked.
She rolled a large suitcase out. “I believe I do as far as personal items clothing and such go but are the shuttles fully packed with food water and other items we might need?”
“Yes, a crew has loaded them to be sure that we shouldn't need to come back because food and such will be delivered back to us every three days. It will all depend on how long this takes and how it unfolds. But right now, this is the most important thing that we have to do. We get this marked off the list and then we will go full throttle after Joe and his group.”
“I will be glad when we will be able to do that. I do recognize that this is important too.” Toni replied. “Who are the other two that we will be staying near?”
“You may not have noticed that there is another couple, and they are both dragons. Kareth and his mate Landra will be paired with us.”
“That sounds reasonable, it seems like it would be hard on bachelors out there alone to be paired with a couple.”
“Just remember that when you hear loud screams all night long.” Ranger mentioned.
“Are they newlyweds?”
“It depends on how you view things. They've been together about 100 years”.
“That's longer than most humans live.” Toni observed.
“Yes, but only a portion of the life that most dragons do. they were one of those rare fated mates that few of our people ever found before humans came along. that makes it even harder to understand why anyone would discourage mating with humans.”
“It doesn't make sense to most people but maybe they are selfish and afraid that they will not have a fated mate of their own.”
“If that is why, it is sad that they cannot think of the rest of their kind and put them above their own selfish purposes.” Ranger admitted. “We'd best go.”
He led her outside where there was a row of shuttles lined up. Toni said nothing until they were inside, and she felt secure. “Won't they be aware of what we are doing?”
“We have spread a rumor that all of us are going to the newly completed park to celebrate the royal mating. Since they have no reason to doubt this and the mating is usually celebrated in some way, I hope they will believe it and attack other parks As they have been doing before.”
Ranger pulled out and took the place at the head of the line which was traditionally the spot for the king unless the emperor was going as well. It would be awhile before things were tamed here enough for their emperor to visit. Hopefully, where the rogues were concerned this would be the beginning of their end. They needed to show them that there was no place on this planet where they would be safe and that they would come after them with everything they had.
“We'll be dividing up now and everyone will head in the direction of the park they are assigned to. The only ones that are going with us, Kareth and Landra, will continue on with us. They will not veer off until we get to the park we are assigned to cover. In order to cover more effectively, we decided not to park close together. That will also make it harder for the rogues to see us.” Ranger explained.
“When did you guys discuss all of this because I didn't hear any of it.”
“You have much to learn, my queen. We often use numbers to designate which plan we will cover. You'll need to learn the plans so when someone mentions the number, you'll understand what it means.”
