into the wildly swinging bed. GEA-4 tentatively tested the fabric's strength with her palm, and apparently decided it was not strong enough, because, without uttering a sound, GEA-4 turned, walked back to the ladder and went back above-deck.
After his startling dunking, he was unwilling to urge her to give the comfortable hammock a try.
Watching her leave, Cameron noticed that the last rays of sun were shining through the eyes of the huge feline crystal skull, as it sat in front of the porthole. The skull had been given to him when he earned the rank of high draco. But, for the first time since he had seen it, it looked like something was moving inside the skull. He took a step closer, to get a better look and squinted at the tiny moving figures inside. It looked like Saphera, who appeared to be the size of an ant and some even smaller people were inside the skull and either dancing or fighting with some fiery, golden dragons, which appeared as large as dragonflies. Having never seen such a bizarre phenomenon previously, he bent forward until his nose pressed against the skull.
Now that he was closer, he thought that he recognized himself and was even more certain that one of the two cats was Saphera, but he did not recognize the other humans or understand why they seemed to be fighting three dragons. He was also surprised that by comparison, one of the dragons looked larger than Sirocco's hull.
He blinked as he stood upright and wondered why he would fight something as revered as a dragon.
Suddenly, the crystal skull filled with a blaze of blinding light, then a few moments later, it was back to normal; the vacant eyes staring out the porthole to the last rays of the setting sun.
Heart hammering against his enclosing ribs, Cameron continued to stare at the skull. He nearly forgot to breathe, as he tried to understand not only what he had just seen, but why he had seen it.
The only explanation was that this had something to do with the tendril of smoke and the two strangers, who had arrived with the lost staff of power.
The vision couldn't be an omen, could it?
No draco in the entire history of his faction had ever considered harming one of the magnificent, life-bringing creatures.
Yet he had seen himself and others fighting the dragons in the skull, hadn't he? Had he actually recognized himself or had it been his imagination?
Before the light totally faded to shadows, he climbed into his hammock and tried to relax enough to rest, but all he could think about was the tiny figures, and the more he thought about it, the more certain he was that they had looked like they were locked in mortal combat.
Saphera padded into the salon, curled up on her pile of cushions and began to purr. Cameron couldn't recall the last time he had felt so agitated that she had purred him to sleep, but he soon felt his muscles relaxing and his breathing return to normal.
Then lapsing into sleep, he dreamed he was high in the night sky, soaring, like a bird and looking down at Sirocco's deck. He woke in the middle of the night thinking his dream had almost been as disorienting as the vision inside the skull.
~0~
Tem-aki woke from a dream where she had been heavy with child. By the time she had blinked away the remnants of the strange dream, she realized she was staring at the big translucent plastoid, alien skull, which, if she understood what she had witnessed yesterday, was apparently some holographic display, but judging by the way Cameron had reacted, he didn't understand it any better than she did.
'Skull of doom, skull of death' flickered through her thoughts, making her shiver. She continued to stare at the unusual artwork. At least she thought it looked like some sort of artistic creation, even though it might be some sort of entertainment system or maybe even a communication device.
What if it had supernatural powers?
The small hairs on her arms stood on end. She quickly glanced around to see if Cameron was watching her, but
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