Read The Prospects (Short Story): Above the Stars for Free Online

Chak dropped him.
    The long-haired man yelled something in Cantonese. He put the gun to Alex’s head. “This friend of yours? He come close, you die.”
    One sailor looked over the bow. He froze. His skin turned as white as the clouds overhead. Through shivering lips he whispered, “ Hen da long .”
    The long-haired man raised Alex’s gun and drew the curved knife with his other hand.
    The boat pitched forward. Alex’s shoeless feet slipped against the deck. The sailors grabbed the railings and everything they could to keep from falling. Chak rolled towards the front. The long-haired man braced his footing and lifted the knife.
    Four curved claws, each the size of a sword, came over the deck. Four more appeared on the other side.
    The long-haired man went stiff with fear. He dropped the curved dagger, which landed point-first and stuck out of the metal deck. A burst of wind knocked Chak’s hat off his head.
    Alex looked to the stern. Rising from the ocean was a dark-blue head with a wide snout above long fangs. Two long tendrils dangled from its upper lip. The scales of its serpentine neck glistened and sparkled like stars against a cloudless night.
    But what Alex really noticed were its eyes. They shone like two stars against a field of black.
    The boat righted itself as Qing Long rose over the water and released a roar deeper than thunder. It was loud enough to drown out the bangs when the long-haired man shot every bullet from the pistol before dropping it on the deck.
    Several sailors jumped overboard before a clawed hand caught the long-haired man. The other cut a jumping sailor into pieces as it fell onto the deck and tore it open. The stench of blood and fire poured from the long open gashes.
    Qing Long threw its head back. Instead of a roar, it emitted a mournful cry. Its claws slashed through the remaining sailors.
    Chak lay prone and let the claws pass harmlessly over him.
    Alex stared into Qing Long’s eyes. The dragon lowered its arm. When it got closer Alex saw a deep cut in its shoulder, the same one he struck with the curved knife.
    Qing Long lowered its head. Its giant nostrils twitched. Its breath smelled like a warm and dry spring night. The fangs in its lower jaws were longer than Alex’s shins and were close to Alex’s shoeless feet.
    Alex’s training taught him to handle such a threat as a force of nature and think only of survival. But here, with his hands cuffed to the rail, he couldn’t escape and he couldn’t fight. He was at the dragon’s mercy. It could tear him in half with a single bite.
    And, somehow, he knew it wouldn’t.
    In a single motion Qing Long shot into the sky. Its snake-like body stretched from the water to the clouds. The boat rocked furiously when it released its grip. Chak rolled through a gash in the deck.
     
     
    It took a long time for the boat to stop rocking. The cloudy skies overhead turned gold as the sun set behind them before Alex dared to move.
    He stretched his foot towards the curved knife. He caught the handle with his toes. He brought it back towards himself carefully and got his hands close enough to his feet to grab it. The blade sliced through the handcuffs’ chain with no effort.
    He looked around the deck. There was no one left alive. The sailors who jumped over the side weren’t clinging to the boat.
    Chak’s voice came through the gash in the deck. “Agent, you up there? Help me out. They tied me up real good.”
    Alex opened the door to a narrow and steep stairway. He flipped the light switch, but nothing happened. He took out his LED keychain flashlight and shone it on the steps ahead of him.
    At the foot of the stairs he turned the light up. Inches from his face were two rows of interlocking dagger-like teeth.
    Alex jumped back so fast he tripped over the bottom stairs and dropped the flashlight.
    “Get up,” said Chak. “It ain’t moving.”
    Alex picked up the flashlight. There was no skin or muscle left on the suspended skull, but