“What’s going to come out of it?” Lionel was pacing the floor, his hands flapping in a very un-captain-like fashion.

  I detect a dragon hatchling.

  “No kidding!” Lionel snapped but her blunt response recalled him to the present.

  Hatchlings are not known for their violence.

  “Nor are mice but I still wouldn’t want one on my ship!”

  Unaware of their hesitations, the egg continued cracking, the previously impenetrable scales snapping like they were made out of glass.

  A midnight blue snout emerged with two small horns pushing its way out of the shell and looking around in confusion. Its black eyes blinked under the bright lights and it hissed.

  Lionel’s head swivelled around, before he spoke out of the corner of his mouth “Do I grab a weapon?”

  Historically, initial greetings while armed do not have long-term favourable outcomes.

  So no weapons. He crouched unarmed waiting for the beast to fully emerge.

  It clawed its way upward, the egg shattering as it tumbled out, somewhere between a flop and a forward roll. It landed in front of his feet and Lionel got his first look at its body. The dragon had almost translucent scales with small ridges along its spine that flared into a spiked tail. The creature stretched its wings with a mew and knocked Lionel over as it extended the thin membranes to its full span. For the first time, the dragon seemed to notice Lionel’s existence.

  Lionel perched on the floor, ready to dodge or tackle the creature, but he hesitated, the memory of its cold confused thoughts still fresh in his mind.

  They watched each other. Its head tilted to one side and its ears twitched while it assessed him. It wobbled forward, sniffing at his foot before disregarding him entirely and spinning around to begin devouring its own egg.

  Lionel let out a breath and stood up.

  This didn’t change anything, he would inform the dragon that he would take it home and alert the vanguard.

  The eggshell was vanishing fast, gobbled up by the baby dragon in a hideous crunching noise. It spun, its tail colliding with the column loud enough to scare itself. It leapt up dragging its claws against the metal panels with a screech.

  “Whoa. Whoa!” Lionel ran over, hands in front of him, but the dragon dove and he ducked to the floor. It glided past him with a wobble and ran, skidding into the kitchen. “No. No!” He could hear crashing as he got his feet under him. “Don’t do that.”

  The hatchling was scratching the cupboards, it turned to face him, a dehydrated pack of strawberries in its mouth that popped into a cloud of red powder.

  Lionel shook his head as the dragon licked its lips, giving him a lopsided grin.

  “You can’t eat everything.”

  Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

  The dragon approached, pressing its snout to his hand. It felt surprisingly soft and warm to the touch.

  He couldn’t believe it, he was touching a dragon. Has anyone done this in thousands of years, has anyone done this ever? It felt incredible.

  A flash of images appeared in his mind, jumbled enough that he struggled to hold on to more than a few of them.

  “Aura.” He said and the dragon bounced on its feet. Lionel laughed despite the situation. “Your name is Aura. And you’re hungry.”

  He could have guessed that last part.

  He nudged past the dragon’s body, gingerly stepping over its tail to select some food pouches. The majority of his kitchen was planned around longevity as he didn’t have the credits to restock food on a whim, some of the empire's ships had personal chefs but Aura would have to make do with what he had in stock, he read the printed lettering on the silver pouch: chicken soup.

  Her beady eyes followed him to the rehydration station, examining his every move while he tried his best not to be put off. He emptied the pouch into a bowl and slid it across the counter.

  She jumped up before burying her snout in the soup, it was gone in one mouthful. And she was eyeing him hungrily for a second helping. Lionel gulped, reaching for more soup.

  Four chicken soups, two spaghetti dishes and several sticks of cured jerky later, Aura turned tail and returned to her podium. She curled her tail around herself and began chittering at him.

  “Harriet, can you gently reheat the podium please?”

  A blast of warm air circulated the room, as Aura tucked her head beneath her wing and slept.

  Lionel collapsed to the floor; he had survived a dragon encounter.

  “Harriet, how much does a baby dragon eat?”

  Hatchlings and immature dragons consume a large volume of meat to accelerate their growth. Rover is not adequately stocked to provide enough nutritious food for a hatchling.

  Lionel remained lying on the floor while he thought, pulling up a map on his interface. It would take five jumps to return to The Dump anyway, he didn’t have a problem taking an alternate route.

  There was a popular hunting ground at The Moonbow Lagoon. Swimming in its rays were everything from cloud shrimp and nebula fish to rare sky whales. That wouldn’t work; Lionel needed a secluded location. He discounted several other sites, removing options too close to the capital or to scavenger sites, and anything that might attract larger predators like ice gryphons. Eventually, he settled on the Sky Savannah. It was a large open expanse that was uncomfortably hot, enough to be widely avoided, and close enough that they could reach it within two jumps.

  “Aura,” he reached out a hand and then thought better of it as she blinked one eye open. His voice switched to a whisper, “We’re going to jump to a proper hunting ground for you and then find your home.”

  She simply tucked her head back down and fell asleep.

  Aura slept soundly through both jumps, her body simply hovering above her nest until Lionel recalibrated the ship and she floated down gently.

  When she woke, it was with a stretch and a yawn, she hovered in the air before gliding around and flexing her wings. She took off, bumping into everything as she tried to fly and Lionel ran behind her, tapping various screens, readjusting the solar arrays, and stopping multiple alarms that she had nudged. The ship adjusted to the Sky Savannah’s atmosphere and Lionel fell with an unceremonious thud. Next to him, Aura wobbled to the floor with a disappointed huff.

  She turned to look at Lionel with an accusatory gaze that turned into a look of surprise as she suddenly sneezed shooting her body backwards, claws scaring Rover’s floor. Lionel threw himself sideways and stared in amazement. A protostar appeared, a bright red formation of an infant star. Aura bounced around it.

  “Get rid of it!” Lionel shouted, coughing as he grabbed an emergency breather from the wall. The heat alone would have scalded his skin if not for Harriet’s quick reaction of throwing a shield around it.

  It may be possible to remove it via the airlock. Although I have no comparable data, it is unlikely that another vessel has ever experienced this particular issue.

  Aura bounced through the shield and gobbled up the infant star with a grin as if it were a delicious snack.

  Air purified.

  Lionel dropped his breather and stared at Aura. This dragon would be the death of him.

  Aura shook her body, shaking her scales and looked up at Lionel. She pressed against him, flooding him with images of stars and flying, and hunger.

  “Let’s go Aura.” He said scratching her head automatically and heading to the airlock.

  She nudged him repeatedly while he shrugged into his suit.

  “I need this for outside,” he explained, locking in his tether. “Now when we’re out there, be careful and come back when it’s time to go.”

  He wasn’t sure if she would listen but she gave him a feeling of acceptance before spinning in several circles.

  “You’re sure about this Harriet?”

  Flying and hunting should be somewhat intuitive. Although hatchlings rely on an adult dragon to teach them, she will have to learn those skills later.

  “Let’s deal with her hunger first and then we can organise a trip home.”

  He tugged his lock, re-checking it was secure and floated up as the airlock opened. He didn’t relish the idea of using his suit this much, he should purchase an upgrade soon. Aura was practically vibrating with excitement and the moment the doors were wide enough she bolted into the Sky Savannah and disappeared into the wavy space grass.