Solar Sailing with Draco the Dragon: "Mister Radioman" and "Id"

By L. M. Baker

Solar Sailing with Draco the Dragon

MISTER RADIOMAN depicts the author's imagination in a scroll of fantasy that unrolls when sailing the heavens with a dragon named Draco. Quinn, a radioman, is taken to the planet of Puppis to help save the Gear Heads from a very wicked, mutant potato leader, Zooid. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wheels Within Wheels
• Release date: Apr 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781087956251

L. M. Baker

I, L. Marie Baker, have enjoyed my hobby of writing stories. My grandson, Tarquin S. Waggoner, as well has enjoyed his hobby of sketching characters. Together, we created stories to give life to Draco, Clute, Gear Heads, the odd.

Book preview

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MISTER RADIOMAN:

To the Planet of Puppies with Draco

Quinn was eleven years old when playing outdoors with friends. A bad storm was brewing and with rain coming, all kids ran for their homes. When Quinn grabbed a hold of his screen door’s metal handle, a lightning bolt struck somewhere close, charging the handle with enough electricity as to shock Quinn when he grabbed it. Electricity traveling through his body stunned him for a few minutes, but he recovered. 

Two weeks later, Quinn experienced an odd happening—a visual of a strange, new alphabet that nagged and nagged at him until his obsession gave him a fun idea: to form a new sound to make new words for any object he took notice of. It was such an interesting happening, he tried his fascination on friends. They called the new language, gibberish, and began to think of Quinn as odd. 

After graduation from high school and a stint in the army, Quinn became a Radioman working as a back-up for a Meteor Tracking Station (MTS), should communication between Washington and MTS be interrupted. Quinn spent three years listening to space talk by MTS workers he knew by name only. This kind of work sounded very important to friends, but reality was, he felt like a featherweight—not very important. 

Then one day, Quinn’s ho-hum morning at the radio was interrupted when the voice of Theo via Quinn’s MTS screen belted out, What the hell! Then Theo’s voice announced to a co-worker at his office, Hey Joe, dump your coffee, I’m picking up what looks very unusual. Joe, taking the cue to join Theo, studies the screen, and says, Could be an asteroid. Hmmm, no, looks like a vapor trail from a comet, or . . . what?! All the radio chatter pauses, then Joe uttered an alarm, I don’t know Theo, you better alert Washington—we cannot identify!

Quinn, listening in, as is his job, had an eerie feeling that raised the hairs on his arms.

Theo warned, It’s careening to Earth! then yelled, Come on—come on! believing by urging, the unidentified object would pass—missing our planet.

The mystery object began to slow its descent. When it slowed even more, Joe engaged all his mind and thought on the object. He ruled out, Not an asteroid, nor a comet, yet I can make out a vapor trail. I think . . . With the object slowing more, it became a sight to behold. A tail! exclaimed Joe. Then Joe questioned what he was made to believe. A tail?! What to? Holy cow—a creature!

Theo, as mystified, made a guess. It’s uh — uh — a dragon?!

Certain it could not survive a crash landing and would be decimated upon impact, Joe whispered, Who would believe us?

Suddenly the dragon’s tail snapped like a whip, causing the thing to spin into a huge, rolling ball as though readying itself to strike our planet. Joe, sounding exhausted and feeling perplexed, whispered an alarming statement, repeating it as if the thought had ricocheted off the back of his brain. What the hell are we in for? What are we in for?

Radioman Quinn’s fear of what he was hearing and imagining had spiked, but he could not take cover—he had to hold his post.

The army was alerted and prepared to protect the country from whatever it was rolling around on the desert floor. When it stopped and unfurled, it was such an unbelievable sight—it caused all to back up. From nose to the tip of its tail, it was a huge dragon!

Fighter planes roared overhead as a brigade of soldiers stood on the ground, armed and ready to shoot. The dragon belched out smoke, then flattened itself on the ground in an apparent act of submission. 

Quinn’s knowledge was scant about what was going on in the desert, yet learning from Theo’s radio announcement to Washington that it really was a dragon, Quinn wished he could shake the hands of his two, now absent radio chatter friends for having identified the flying object correctly. 

As the two from MTS relayed more to Washington about what more could be learned, Quinn’s knowledge grew as the desert scenario continued. 

A general with a bullhorn shouted his message at the dragon. We need to know—what is your reason for coming here?! With no response, the general repeated, What is your reason for coming here?!

The dragon’s words were of another language. Theo did his best to mimic the sounds and respond, Not understanding. The dragon’s language was not a top secret language, unless . . . Theo thought, then tried something different.

Quinn heard the unusual radio sounds and jumped with excitement, recognizing and understanding the language that he, as a young lad, had created—the language of gibberish. Quinn flipped a switch on the radio and let his voice be heard, translating the dragon’s words for Theo. Draco! From planet Puppis!

A familiar click to communicate with him happened from MTS. This is Theo, repeat.

Quinn did with a shout, Hear me! I am Draco! From the planet of Puppis!

The radio voice from Washington ordered, Get this man to the airport, pronto!

At Quinn’s station in Virginia, the night person was called to duty and Quinn was marched out by an armed official to a waiting car. Many minutes later he was boarding a plane that included the Secretary of State, his staff, and a few others. The plane lifted off, the desert its destination.

On the flight, Quinn, who now wondered about his mundane life as a radioman, reflected on the sudden change happening. He looked back to his past when he was a boy, recalling what he had forgotten about. Could that shock caused by a lightning bolt