Two more years had passed. The advance of humanity towards the stars continued inexorably.
The hypotheses of the scientists had proved to be correct: using a combination of gravity control technology and energy obtained from the Dyson sphere, although still incomplete, they had managed to increase the rotation of Sarah. The planet was slowly accelerating, though not too fast. There was generally talk of an hour each week. At this speed there was no risk of destroying the infrastructure already present on the planet. In two years, the rotation period had gone from 2082 hours to 1978 hours. Continuing at this rate, it was expected to reach 24 hours in 'just' another 38 years.
Once this process was completed, the huge orbiting mirrors could finally be taken off. The day/night cycle would no longer be artificially determined and there would no longer be the risk that sothing would go wrong due to the impact of a microteorite. In addition, the accelerated rotation would have increased the planet's magnetic field, thereby also eliminating the need for an artificial magnetic field. Simply put, in less than 40 years the planet would be completely self-sufficient.
By then, Sarah would likely have beco the second largest habitat in the Solar System. There were already several projects to build huge gacities on the planet and make the most of its resources.
The other major project, the Dyson Sphere, was also progressing quickly. After two years there was already a first structure that was already able to trap part of the energy of the Sun, which however was already greater than all the previous energy produced by other ans. When it was completed within the next five or six years, the energy gained would be imnse.
Sobek was happy with how things were progressing. Knowing how much humanity was progressing, and therefore how far his people were also progressing, made him happy. But he was even happier that Nefertiti was finally calming down a bit.
After a long period of rebellion, his daughter had finally beco calr. He couldn't call her mature yet, but at least she didn't run away anymore and she didn't yell at him every ti he tried to speak to her. She still kept a certain distance from him, but at least she had beco more polite, kind, and above all, responsible.
Nefertiti had stopped thinking only about having fun and she had started to take seriously worrying about the pack. Sobek suspected that she had finally figured out what role she would be expected to play in the future and that she was struggling to prepare for it. Oddly enough, Nefertiti didn't tell him about what she wanted to do, but at the sa ti she seed to do everything she can to make her actions reach his ears. It was like she wanted him to know how hard she was trying but she didn't want to tell him directly. Sobek assud she was normal in a daughter who was coming through adolescence.
To let him know what she was doing, Nefertiti relied on witnesses. Whenever she helped settle a dispute, set a new rule or gave good advice she made sure there were at least fifty animals watching her and that they were spreading the word. The funny part about that was that she always said that she didn't care what Sobek thought, but the spinosaurus could see the apprehension in his daughter's eyes every ti as she waited for him to introduce that topic.
Sobek obviously didn't need to listen to the rumours: now that Nefertiti no longer used [Ambush], at least not frequently, he almost always knew where she was and what she was doing. So one day he decided to prove it to her by teleporting near her while she was taking care of sothing near the sea: "What are you doing?"
"Dad!" Nefertiti almost jumped. "Don't co up behind like that!"
"Sorry, I didn't an to scare you"
"You didn't scare "
"Sure sure. Anyway, I asked you what you're on… oh"
When Sobek's eyes saw what was in the water, he was quite surprised. It consisted of hundreds and hundreds of octopuses, squids, cuttlefish and other cephalopods, which continuously moved their tentacles and changed color.
Sobek knew what was going on. After that ti Nefertiti had revealed to him that she could understand the language of cephalopods, he had continued to observe her in the hope of understanding more. Apparently, Nefertiti had truly unlocked so sort of [Linguistics (5)]. Sobek had hoped that after so ti she would learn to talk to other animals as well, such as arthropods or molluscs, but her communication skills had never gone beyond cephalopods.
Even so it was a huge achievent, and unfortunately he knew Nefertiti: throughout her adolescence she had never missed an opportunity to remind him that she could do sothing that was precluded to him. However, she had never really used that ability… at least until now. "Why are there so many cephalopods here?" he asked her.
Nefertiti seed undecided whether to confess or not, but then she decided that she might as well admit the truth: "I offered them to join the pack, and many of them agreed. However, I wanted to see if I could give other animals the ability to communicate with them"
Such reasoning made sense. Even if cephalopods had been admitted to the herd, if the other animals had not possessed [Linguistics (5)] they would never have been able to understand each other. Sadly though, this involved changing the [Contract], which only Sobek could do. "So you did it?" he asked her, expecting a denial.
But contrary to her expectations, Nefertiti nodded: "Yes, I did it! Look!" she said, and nodded to a lizard that was sitting on a rock nearby. The lizard approached the water and a cuttlefish approached it emitting a few clicks with its mouth and changing color continuously. Sobek didn't understand, but then the lizard turned to him and said: "Freya says she's honored to et you, pack leader"
"Freya?" Sobek asked.
"It's the na of that cuttlefish" Nefertiti replied proudly. "I gave it to her"
Sobek didn't understand. How was this possible? Skills could not be passed on to other animals without a [Contract]. Unless… he imdiately opened the [Contract] interface and was surprised to find that Nefertiti's na had appeared next to his. "I can't believe it! Did she overwrote the [Contract]!?" he thought. "And she did it completely unconsciously? Extraordinary…"
He didn't expect Nefertiti to do things like this. He knew she had inherited all of his characteristics, and thus the [Contract], but he expected that she could only use it after he died or otherwise voided the [Contract] on the other dinosaurs. Instead she had apparently managed to override him, so now she too could pass on her abilities and perhaps even communicate remotely with their subordinates.
"Mh. My complints, Nefertiti. You did good" he said looking at the large number of cephalopods in front of him. "What are you going to do now?"
"I was thinking of sending these here to look for others, and then sending them too, and then again and again, until all the cephalopods existing in the ocean were gathered" his daughter replied. "In this way, the pack will expand enormously in a short ti and our subordinates will no longer have to fear the attack by giant squid or similar"
"Just what I would have done" Sobek thought proudly. "Sounds like a great plan to " he said.
Even if only for an instant, he thought he saw a small spark of pride in Nefertiti's eyes. "I already knew it was a good plan. I've been thinking about it for a long ti"
"Really? How co you didn't tell about it?"
Sobek had asked that question almost casually, but he regretted it as soon as he saw a shadow appear on her daughter's face. "What happens? Did I hit a raw nerve? Did I say sothing wrong? Damn, why is it so hard to understand what my daughter thinks!?" he thought. "You don't have to answer unless…"
"No, it's fine" Nefertiti stopped him. "You see, Dad…"
But Sobek didn't hear the rest of the sentence. His eyes snapped open and a peevish sound erged from his throat. His expression instantly changed from jovial to frightened. Nefertiti recoiled slightly at the sight. "Dad…?"
But Sobek had already activated [Teleportation] and left. Nefertiti looked to where her father had disappeared, wondering what had drawn his attention so much. Eventually, her curiosity got the better of her: she searched for her father using the [Contract] and once she found him she teleported to him.
She found herself on another beach. The weather was warr, a sign that she was closer to the equator. The landscape around her was composed only of a large strip of sea, sandy soil and a few withered and withered plants growing here and there. And in the center of the beach was a flock of large pterosaurs, especially quetzalcoatlus and hatzegopteryx, flapping their wings in obvious fear. Her father was there with them and was bent over sothing.
"We don't know what happened!" one of the pterosaurs was yelling. "He was flying and suddenly fell! He passed out suddenly! He can barely breathe!"
Nefertiti quickly approached and tried to gently make her way among the pterosaurs, but as soon as they realized it was her, they moved to let her pass. The female spinosaurus' eyes t those of her father, who had obviously been aware of her arrival and was looking at her with a strange mixture of pain, compassion and resignation in his eyes. And beside her father, lying motionless on the ground, was a quetzalcoatlus.
It was Apache.
"NO!" Nefertiti exclaid as she ran and knelt beside the pterosaur. "No! Uncle Ap! Wake up! Wake up, co on!"
The quetzalcoatlus was as stiff as stockfish. Nefertiti could barely hear his heart beating. His breathing was so shallow that his chest barely expanded, as if his lungs couldn't fill. Nefertiti's eyes began to fill with tears. "Uncle Ap…"
Suddenly there was a cough and the quetzalcoatlus' right eye flickered, then opened very slowly. "Stop fussing about. I'm not dead yet"
"Uncle Ap! Thank goodness!" Nefertiti seed willing to embrace the pterosaur, but she stopped rembering that at that mont Apache was not in the best of health. "I feared the worst for a mont! Co on, get up! You will see that soon you will be better…"
But Apache let out a slight snort. "Baby, I'm sorry to have to inflict this pain on you… but I can't do it anymore. I've reached the end of the line"
Nefertiti's smile collapsed. "Uncle Ap, don't talk nonsense! You'll see, you'll be fine! You…"
"I can feel life escaping with every passing second. I won't live long" Apache said, then lifted his neck slightly and looked at Sobek: "Pack leader, it is with great regret that I have to hand you my resignation. You'll have to find another air commander"
Sobek ducked and nuzzled him to his feet. The quetzalcoatlus was so weak that he could barely stand on his legs. Sobek knew Apache was right: he was at the end of his life. Apache was now over forty-five years old, making him one of the longest-lived pterosaurs ever. Old age had already consud him to the bone. "I won't have another air commander, Apache" he told him. "No one will be able to replace you, not as long as I'm the leader of the pack at least. And I'll never forget what you did for "
"Thank you, pack leader"
"Your heart is weak, but it can still hold on for a few more days. If you have unfinished business…"
"I won't take another day" Apache said firmly. "I don't want to die like this, lying on the ground, unable to move. I want to leave at my terms"
Sobek let out a slight snort. "I knew you'd pick that option" he said. "You know if you do that, you'll never co back to the ground alive, right?"
"It will be worth it, pack leader" Apache said, turning to face the sea. The sky was turning orange and the sun was setting on the waves. "Allow to make this last flight"
The other pterosaurs stepped aside and watched him as he walked towards the seashore with his head held high. Each of them was clearly devastated and just wanted to cry, but they were holding back with all their strength to bid their commander a fitting farewell.
But Nefertiti was not of the sa opinion. With a snap she was between Apache and the sea. "Stop, Uncle Ap!" she yelled. "You can… You can wait a few more days! You… you don't need to go now…"
"Little one, if I wait even until tonight, I won't have enough energy to move my wings anymore"
"Who cares? You can stay with us… we can be close to you while… while…"
Nefertiti was unable to say more. Her words died in her throat.
Apache was silent for a mont, then he raised a wing and wiped the tears from her face. "Little one… you know that I love you, and that I don't want to see you suffer. But you also know that staying alive would be torture for " he whispered. "Even now, just breathing makes my throat burn. It feels like the weight of my bones is dragging to the ground, threatening to crush . I do not wanna wait. I know I'm selfish, but… please, allow to fly once more. Allow to feel the wind on my skin, to experience the thrill of seeing the world from above"
Nefertiti's lips trembled. She wanted to insist, ask Apache to stay, but sothing blocked her. She knew she would only make her uncle suffer. Apache loved to fly, and he wanted to literally fly to the afterlife. Forcing him to stay on the ground would have destroyed this dream of his, the last dream he could have. "It's not fair" she murmured softly. "Why… why does it have to be like this?"
"There is no why, little one. That's just the way life is. At so point, the old generation has to make way for the new" Apache said. "Give a smile, please. I want to leave rembering your smiling face, not your desperate one"
Nefertiti sniffed at her. With all the will she could muster, she curled the corners of her mouth into a small smile. She managed to hold it for less than three seconds, but that was enough for Apache. "Yeah… that's what I wanted to see" he said, then looked at Sobek. "Take care of her, pack leader"
"You know I will" Sobek replied.
"You are right. You are a good father, even if you don't believe it. She'll be a great pack leader" Apache spread his wings. "I wish you all the best in the universe, Nefertiti! Rember, never stop smiling!" and having said that he gave himself the push and took off.
Nefertiti ran to her father and flattened herself against his belly; Sobek lowered a paw and wrapped it around her shoulders, as if to embrace her. Together they watched Apache as he flew higher and higher.
Apache flew and flew and flew, until the beach cringed beneath him. He launched himself in the direction of the setting sun, enthralled observing the spectacle of the sky and the sea which were tinged with a thousand colours. From the ground it was a beautiful sight, but seen from the air it was sothing beyond imagination.
He could feel his heart pounding and his lungs burning, and with every beat of his wings he felt more and more exhausted, but he didn't stop. Suddenly, flashes began to appear in front of his eyes.
The mont he hatched from the egg.
His mother's face as she brought him food.
The first ti that, as a cub, he had launched into the air.
The mont he caught his first fish.
The day he t Sobek.
His journey around the continent to recruit pterosaurs.
Their first battle.
The constant drills with his subordinates.
The extraordinary clash against the fleet of humans.
Victory celebrations.
A joke from Buck.
The first ti he had entered a human city.
The first ti that, at the insistence of one of his subordinates, he had tried pizza.
When he had seen a nuclear bomb.
The horror of when his pack leader was gone.
The epic battle with the Empire Air Force.
The joy of discovering the pack leader still alive and kicking.
The final victory, which had ended all battles.
A flight over the cities under reconstruction.
A fish eating contest with Snock.
The laugh when Rambo said sothing inappropriate for the umpteenth ti.
The first ti he had mated.
The first ti he had fathered children.
The joy of seeing them fly.
The first ti he had seen Nefertiti.
Every ti he played with her.
Every ti she smiled at him.
"Yes…" he whispered as his lids began to close and his breathing slowed to barely audible. "I really had a wonderful life"
And then, his eyes closed. His heart stopped and his breathing ceased forever.
From the ground, Sobek and Nefertiti saw Apaches suddenly freeze in flight, and then his body plumted. The other pterosaurs all leapt into the air and grabbed it an instant before it fell into the sea. They held it suspended in the air, and they did so as long as the sun continued to illuminate it.
Nefertiti pressed against Sobek's chest and began to sob. Sobek hugged her as tightly as she could, summoning all of his willpower not to cry too.
After nearly half an hour, the pterosaurs finally brought Apache's body back to the beach. They deposited it on the ground and bowed one after the other, as if to honor him. The body was placed with outstretched wings and facing the sun now almost disappeared behind the sea, as if it were still flying.
As he cradled his daughter in an attempt to comfort her, Sobek looked at the now lifeless face of his friend. A calm, serene smile was painted on his mouth, and nothing about him seed to represent pain or fatigue. Apache slept peacefully, continuing to fly to the afterlife, just as he wished.
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