Cody, Chapter 7 Cody peered through the narrow view slit, his brown eyes wide with a mix of fear and wonder as the chaos unfolded outside the ship. The cacophony of distant explosions vibrating through the asteroid provided an ominous soundtrack to the battle beyond. "Stay back, Cody," his mother whispered, her voice taut with concern as she gently pulled him away from the slit. The dragons, once mere plastic playthings, now fluttered around them with an air of mischief in their newly animated forms. Firebelly, the crimson-scaled leader with emerald eyes, hovered protectively near Cody, its wings buzzing like a hummingbird's. Outside, the bulky figures of Mining Corps soldiers lumbered across the pockmarked surface of the asteroid. Their armored suits with each heavy step left deep impressions in the gray dust. One of them, distinguishable by the thick plasma torch gripped in his hand, approached the ship's hull. "Watch this!" snickered Sparkwing, a dragon with lightning patterns etched into its blue hide. With a flick of its tail, the toy dragon focused on the soldier's tool. In an instant, the plasma torch vanished from the soldier's hand, only to reappear several feet away, lying harmlessly on the stony ground. Laughter erupted from the group of dragons, their glee echoing within the confines of the ship. They repeated the trick each time the frustrated soldier tried to retrieve the torch, teleporting it farther and farther away. Cody couldn't help but chuckle along, the tension easing momentarily from his slender frame. "Enough games," came a stern voice over the comm link, breaking through the mirth. It was the commander of the Mining Corps, his tone laced with irritation and a hint of grudging respect. The laughter ceased, and the playful atmosphere in the ship turned serious. Silence fell as the dragons looked toward Cody's mother, awaiting her response. With measured calm, she reached for the comm link, prepared to confront the enemy whose presence threatened her family and all they held dear. Cody watched in silent awe, pride swelling in his chest for the strength his parents showed. Cody's heart pounded in his ears as the commander's voice again crackled through the comm link, a mixture of accusation and unexpected admiration. "So, the fuel source you found has allowed you to solve teleportation," he said. "We know Cody is a Quasar genius, but we didn't expect him to find a practical application for the fuel so quickly. Surrender now and I’ll let you leave." "Imagine what happens when I allow him to start teleporting your oxygen tanks away," she said, her gaze locked on the flickering screen that showed the armored figures outside. The enemy commander's laugh crackled through the static of the comm link, brittle and forced, like he was trying to convince himself more than them. "You're only teleporting the cutter a dozen feet away. I don't think you have very much range on the device you created." Dr. Amelia Branson, Cody's mother, held the comm link open. “Cody, get ready to teleport their air tanks away.” "Fall back!" the Mining Commander barked into his own comm, his order reaching the ears of every soldier clad in the heavy suits outside. They shuffled backward, weapons held ready, eyes darting around as if expecting the atmosphere itself to betray them next. "Can you teleport their oxygen tanks?" Cody asked Firebelly, the idea sparking in his mind like a live wire. Firebelly's plastic wings fluttered, stirring the air. "Yes," he replied, his voice a harmonic melody that seemed to dance around the room, "but your mother said we are not to kill, only get them to back away from the ship, we have accomplished that." "Okay," Cody whispered, more to himself than to Firebelly. He glanced back at the retreating figures outside, their movements slow and measured under the weight of their suits and the fear of the unknown. "Let's keep watching them," Cody said, his voice barely above a whisper, "just in case they try something sneaky." Firebelly nodded, his head tilting in a distinctly draconic gesture of agreement, and together they watched the soldiers disappear into the distance. The ground shook under their feet, sending fine dust dancing across the metal floor of the ship. Cody's eyes widened as he heard the distant thrum of new engines cutting through the silence of space—another Mining Corps had arrived. "Look, Firebelly!" Cody pointed to the viewport, his finger tracing the arc of a landing craft as it touched down on the asteroid's rugged surface. The toy dragon, animated by alien life, twisted its head to follow Cody's gesture, its scales catching light like a prism. "More humans," Firebelly observed, his voice a soft murmur that vibrated through the air like a plucked guitar string. Outside, armored figures from the newly arrived corps spilled onto the barren landscape, their weapons glinting menacingly. But before Cody could even process their arrival, a barrage of energy blasts erupted between the two factions. The soldiers who had tried to breach their ship were now firing at new arrivals, chaos unfolding in a ballet of violence. "Mom, look!" Cody called out, tugging on his mother's sleeve, "They're fighting each other now!" "Back away from the glass, Cody," she cautioned, pulling him gently but firmly towards the center of the room. As if in response to her words, the battle escalated. Bright streaks of laser fire carved lines in the darkness, and the vibration of distant explosions rolled under them. The surface of the asteroid became a no-man's-land, every soldier for themselves, until, as suddenly as it began, the skirmish moved into the void of space. "Phew," Cody exhaled, pressing his face against the cold window once more, watching as ships clashed, becoming blurs of motion against the stark backdrop of stars. "Will they come back?" he asked, a twinge of worry threading through his voice. "Maybe." His mother's gaze was fixed on the scene outside, her sharp mind undoubtedly calculating the odds. "But maybe not today." Weeks passed like seconds in the vastness of space. Each day, debris from shattered vessels joined the orbiting graveyard around the asteroid. Yet, for every silent hulk that floated past their window, fresh ships charged into the fray, emblazoned with corporate logos that turned the battlefield into a perverse advertisement. "More ships!" Cody's announcement became a daily ritual, his excitement tinged with unease. "Too many," Firebelly agreed, his tail coiling thoughtfully. "Humans covet this rock." Cody nodded, understanding. The asteroid was more than just a home; it was a prize, one that everyone seemed willing to fight for, except for Cody and his family—guarded by dragons who knew only peace until they met humanity. Cody watched his parents pace the bridge of their ship, their faces etched with lines of worry. Firebelly, the dragon with scales that shimmered like molten copper, watched them from his perch on a console. "Firebelly," Cody's mother began, her voice steady but eyes revealing a deep concern, "you've been with us for quite some time now. Have you always been... aware?" The toy dragon blinked slowly, his eyes glowing softly. "Yes, since Cody took his first breath we have protected him." "Protected him?" Cody's father chimed in, his brows furrowed. "From what?" "Many things," Firebelly said with a flicker of his tail. "Even from decisions made with the best intentions." "Decisions?" The word hung in the air like a spacecraft in orbit. "Two years ago," Firebelly continued, "young Cody's appendix grew angry, inflamed." Cody remembered the pain, a sharp ache in his belly that wouldn't go away. His parents had talked in hushed tones, their medical jargon flying over his head like distant comets. "Cutting into a living being..." Firebelly's voice trailed off, his alien sensibilities clear in his tone. "Such a strange concept to us Ara. We heal differently." "You did that?” she asked. “That, and more,” said Firebelly. “Come, I will show you…” Cody felt the vision descend like a warm blanket as his parents eyes glazed over first, then his. *** The whir of medical equipment hummed a strange lullaby as Cody lay on the operating table within the mining ship’s medical bay, his small body tense with apprehension. His parents, both clad in sterile white, their faces obscured by surgical masks, loomed over him like two benevolent giants preparing for an act inconceivable to the Ara. "Ready, sweetheart?" Cody's mother asked, her voice muffled yet dripping with concern. Cody nodded, not trusting his voice, fear knotting his stomach tighter than the tangles in his wild brown hair. But even as the cold touch of metal threatened to invade his body, warmth spread from within, a comforting embrace that seemed to whisper of safety and healing. Within moments, the pain that had been his constant companion vanished like stardust in the void of space. His parents stared in disbelief as Cody sat up, his previously pallor complexion now rosy with health, and no indication of the anesthesia he’d already been given present in his blood. "What... how?" his father muttered, the scalpel slipping from his fingers and clattering onto the tray. "Impossible," his mother breathed, peeling off her gloves, her eyes wide with amazement. From the corner of the room, where shadows danced with the ship's gentle sway, Firebelly watched, his scales shimmering with the secret knowledge of Ara technology. It was he who had woven the healing energies through Cody's being, sparing the boy from the barbaric ways of human medicine. The vision changed and Cody was younger, his journey of curiosity just beginning. "Firebelly," Cody whispered, his four-year-old self standing wide-eyed at the airlock door. Curiosity had guided his steps, a longing to explore beyond the confines of the ship. "Where are you going, young one?" the dragon toy had asked, its voice unheard by any but Cody. "Outside!" he had declared, imagining himself a brave explorer about to set foot on a new world. The lab's cacophony of beeps and clicks masked the sound of his departure as his parents, engrossed in their research, had not noticed the absence of their son's chatter. But as the airlock door hissed open, and the endless vacuum rushed towards Cody, a force field snapped into existence, invisible yet as solid as the walls of the ship. Gently but firmly, it nudged him back, away from danger, guiding his small form back into the protective embrace of the spacecraft. "Not time for you to go out there," Firebelly's presence assured, his laugh echoing in the boy's mind like a secret shared between friends. The years shifted as the vision changed again, the understanding of Firebelly's silent vigilance settled upon Cody and his parents, realizing they had always known Firebelly was there, but just outside the peripherial of their awareness. Cody's fingers danced across the smooth surface of an ancient control panel, his eyes alight with curiosity. The old machine hummed to life at his touch, circuits awakening from their slumber. He reached up, tugging at a manual lever, his small frame barely able to budge the weighty mechanism. It groaned in protest, and with a final determined heave from Cody, it released. Above him, a heavy metallic object dislodged from its resting place on a high shelf, teetering precariously. Cody's heart skipped as he looked up, his mind racing with questions rather than fear. How could he calculate the trajectory? Would it break apart on impact? "Careful, Cody," Firebelly's voice resonated in his mind, clear and calm. Before the object could descend any further, it halted in mid-air, suspended by an unseen force. Cody gawked, his mouth agape, as it floated gently back into its proper position. Cody’s gaze flicked to the dragon toys perched around the room, their plastic wings shimmering with a life beyond their make-believe origins, but still hidden behind his imagination. "Always watching," Firebelly responded with a chuckle that seemed to vibrate through the very air. Another day found young Cody by the same control panel, this time fiddling with the wires that peeked out from beneath its casing. His parents were preoccupied with deciphering an algorithm that danced just beyond their grasp. Cody, meanwhile, sought his own discovery within the maze of circuits before him. "Watch this, Firebelly!" he exclaimed, his fingers brushing against two exposed wires. "Wait, Cody!" the living toy dragon warned, but not a moment too soon. A spark emitted from the panel, an electric snake ready to strike—but then darkness. The current ceased before it could reach the boy, its venom dissipated into the void. "Got it," Firebelly said, a hint of pride woven into his words. Cody, unharmed, turned to the dragon, his eyes shining with the reflection of a hundred stars. "You did that?" "Of course," Firebelly replied, the other dragons nodding in silent agreement. Cody's parents watched the memories, their expressions softening, the lines of worry smoothing as they witnessed these exchanges between their son and his unlikely guardians. They began to understand the depth of the Ara's investment in their child's well-being. "Firebelly, you've been looking after him all this time," Cody's mother murmured, her voice tinged with amazement. "More than you know," the dragon answered, its vibrant eyes meeting hers. "He is precious to us, as he is to you." *** The images of the past faded away. Cody's parents exchanged a knowing look, understanding the truth that was slowly dawning on them. Their child had never been alone; the Ara had always been there, observing and protecting him with their living toys. "We are grateful," Cody's father spoke, his voice heavy with appreciation. "For everything." "Always for Cody," Firebelly echoed, a guardian from another realm, bound to protect the boy who would become the bridge between two vastly different worlds. His mother's voice barely rose above the hum of the ship's engines as she suggested, "Maybe we should land on the planet where Cody can be safe?" Her hands were clasped tightly together, worry etched in her white knuckles. Sitting on a console with his wings partially extended, Firebelly turned his head to the side in contemplation. "If we leave, the humans will follow," he spoke solemnly, his voice echoing like a distant thunder in his small, toy-like frame. "We are defenseless without weapons, and only those who have studied humans can truly comprehend the brutality of war. We would have no chance against those who have practiced it with such dedication." His mother sighed, the sound carried away by the soft whirring of the ship. She looked at Cody, her eyes brimming with the same protective fire that had fueled countless nights of tinkering and fixing what was broken. But this challenge, this threat that loomed over them—it was something not even her skilled hands could repair. "Can't we make some sort of shield?" Cody murmured, more to himself than anyone else. He imagined wrapping the ship in an impenetrable bubble, like the ones in his old comic books. But reality was far less accommodating. His father stood by the viewport, hands clasped behind his back—a stance Cody recognized as one of deep contemplation. "There's got to be something we can do?" Cody voiced louder this time, his frustration bubbling over. It wasn't fair; all he had wanted was to collect rocks and tinker with machines, not become the center of a space-aged gold rush. Cody's father's usually composed face held a new expression, one that Cody had never seen before. "We must leave this place soon," he spoke slowly, as if each word was causing him physical pain. "It's inevitable that someone will decide to destroy the asteroid instead of letting anyone else have it. They'll drop a nuke on us eventually." Cody's mother wrapped her arms around herself, hugging her own body as though bracing for impact. Her eyes met Cody's, and he saw the same spark that would gleam when she'd fix a frayed wire or patch up a leaking fuel line. "Then let's think," Cody said, squaring his shoulders the way he did when he faced a particularly stubborn bolt or a circuit that refused to cooperate. "We're smart, right? We've got Firebelly and the other dragons. There's gotta be a way to... to trick them or something." His parents exchanged a look—a silent conversation passing between them—and Cody felt a surge of hope. They were a team, the three of them and their unexpected alien allies, against the universe. And Cody Branson didn't back down from a challenge, especially not with the odds stacked against him. "Okay," his father finally replied, his voice firm with resolve. "Let's put our heads together and come up with a plan." Cody's fingers drummed against the cold metal of the ship's console, a rhythm that mimicked the pounding of his heart. The sound of distant explosions rumbled through the hull, a constant reminder of the chaos unfolding just beyond their barrier of steel and space. Firebelly, the living plastic dragon turned towards him, its crimson scales catching glints of light from the overhead panels. A hint of mirth still danced in its emerald eyes, a stark contrast to the tension gripping everyone else in the room. "I had someone check on our spaceships," Firebelly said, his tone oddly formal for a creature that moments before was giggling at the disarray they caused the enemy soldiers. "Do any of them still work?" Cody asked, tilting his head to one side, trying to grasp onto hope like it was a lifeline—or at least a wrench he could use to fix something broken. Firebelly's eyes seemed to look right through Cody, seeing not just the boy before him, but the potential within. "Some still work," came the reply, cryptic yet tinged with an undercurrent of possibility. "How many?" Cody breathed out, the word less a statement and more a promise to himself. They weren't out of options. Not yet. "Perhaps ten-thousand," said Firebelly, his voice echoing slightly in the metal chamber of the ship. "Umm... that's a lot!" Cody exclaimed, his eyes wide with astonishment. The notion of ten-thousand spaceships was difficult for him to fathom, each one representing a glimmer of hope, a star in the vast cosmos of their predicament. “That is but a handful to what we once had,” replied Firebelly. “We once filled the universe with our ships, searching for others of our kind, not understanding we would have to wait billions of years for organic life to emerge from the primordial oceans.” “You were created from the immense forces being unleashed at the moment of creation?” said Dr. Branson, Cody’s mother. “A silicon biochemistry, eons before organic life emerged. The theory is that a silicon-based lifeform would look similar to carbon-based life.” Firebelly chuckled. “I know what you’re asking. Why did we never get up and walk around? There was no need to evolve in that fashion, and it takes a considerable unnecessary use of energy to do so. Perhaps if you were to give up those energy wasting bodies you have, you would find your lives much longer than the brief flame they currently are.” Dr. Branson nodded in agreement. “We’ve theorized that is exactly the direction our evolution will take us. Who are you among your people, do you have a title?” “Not as humans have,” Firebelly replied. “But, if I were to translate a title to your language, I am called, First Light.” Dr. Branson bowed her head. “I give greetings from the human race to the First Light of Ara,” she said formally, “I hope that we will have many discussions as this one.” Firebelly dipped his head. “Thank you. We welcome further discussions with you, Doctor, there is much we can learn from each other. I am particularly interested in human emotions.” Cody pushed his way between his mother and Firebelly. “Mom! Firebelly is my dragon, get your own.” “Ah, I don’t believe you’ve had the opportunity to study jealousy,” said Dr. Branson. “Here it is in fine display.” “I do sense a new emotion coming from Cody that I have not encountered before,” said Firebelly. Cody rolled his eyes. “I’m not jealous,” he said, waving his arms at the hull, “there’s a war outside, we should be talking about that.” “Have you come up with an idea?” asked Firebelly. “You said humans have practiced war a lot, and dad said the very first weapons we used were rocks, so that’s my idea.” “You want us to throw rocks at the humans?” asked Firebelly. Cody gestured wildly as he laid out his plan.