Chapter Fifty: The Big Guy

Howard and Bridget meet with Alexander on his throne to discuss his plan to relocate dragon civilization westward to Lemuria. Alexander reveals he comes from a family of record-keepers with thousands of years of historical data showing cyclical fish stock collapses and air quality crises; Bridget offers her superior maps of Lemuria and suggests a better route, while Howard proposes fishing innovations to solve the starvation problem that threatens any ocean voyage.

In their apartment, Bridget updates Howard on contradictory information about Alexander—that he's from the western continent, sailed to Atlantis via an ancient metal canoe, and wants to relocate dragons due to dying fish stocks. Howard clarifies that Bridget has learned Alexander's endgame is moving large numbers of dragons to Lemuria using floaters he's capturing. Bridget notes Alexander has friends predating his public arrival, and that the Ancients are mythical. They are summoned before Alexander on his stone throne. When questioned about his plans, Alexander reveals his family has tracked celestial and ecological phenomena for millennia, discovering a pattern of three previous civilization-ending cycles involving fish stock collapse and toxic air. He denies being from Lemuria, having visited once already. Bridget and Howard nearly blow their cover by conducting an inaudible intercom exchange; Alexander grows suspicious but refrains from eliminating them when Bridget claims to possess accurate maps of Lemuria. At Alexander's table map, Howard identifies that Alexander's direct westward route fights the main air currents, while Bridget suggests a northerly departure allowing the airflow to carry them south—though this extends the voyage and starvation becomes a critical constraint regardless of timing. Alexander admits previous attempts to head west were made by weakened, starving dragons who apparently didn't survive. When Howard suggests ocean fishing and Bridget proposes net fishing from floaters using winches and booms, Alexander is initially dismissive but gradually recognizes the idea's viability. By the chapter's end, Bridget has effectively positioned herself as management while Howard becomes her engineer subordinate.