Dragonback 03 Dragon and Slave (20 page)

"An interesting system," Draycos said. "And this applies to
government and diplomatic stations throughout the Orion Arm?"

"Pretty much," Jack said. "It's at least as old as pre-space Earth
politics. The idea is that everyone wants their diplomats to be as
secure as possible. Sometimes they're the only ones who can keep two
sides from stumbling into a war."

"But only when neither side actually desires that war," Draycos
said grimly. "The Valahgua—" He broke off. "Someone is coming."

Jack tensed. Maybe Draycos's little rewiring job hadn't been quite
as undetectable as he'd thought. He could feel the ground shaking
beneath Brummgan feet . . .

There was the click of a key in the lock, and abruptly the door
was thrown open. "You," a Brummgan voice said. "Out."

"What?" Jack asked, squinting against the blaze of sunlight and
blue sky behind the broad shoulders.

"I said out," the Brummga grunted, reaching in and grabbing the
front of Jack's harlequin shirt. "Her Thumbleness wants you."

The Brummga wasn't particularly gentle, and in the process of
getting Jack out of the frying pan he managed to restart at least a
dozen of his collection of aches. Even so, Jack found himself grinning
inside as he was marched back across the lawn toward the kitchen door.

So he'd been right. Her Thumbleness had found him missing, had
thrown the predictable tantrum, and Gazen had been forced to give him
back to her.

So much for the slavemaster and his threats.

The feeling of satisfaction lasted all the way up to Her
Thumbleness's room. It was there as she loftily ordered the guards out
and then told Jack to juggle for her. It even lasted until he picked up
the small fruits he'd been using to juggle with.

It wasn't until the first one slipped from numbed fingers that his
inner smile vanished.

"
Shaak ri'hin mree ka'chu
," Her Thumbleness growled.

Jack's comm clip was still hidden in his shoe, which meant no
instant translation from Uncle Virge. But it didn't take a genius to
tell that she was annoyed. "Yes, ma'am," he said, hastily stooping down
and retrieving the fruit. Again, he got them set up to juggle.

And again his fingers refused to cooperate. The repeated hits with
Gazen's slapstick, plus the additional shocks from the frying pan, had
left his muscles too drained and twitchy to handle delicate maneuvers.

And with a sinking feeling, he realized Gazen had known exactly
what he was doing. Including how to handle Her Thumbleness and her
tantrums.

This second failure earned him an impatient kick that sent him
sprawling across the room. "Maybe we could try a trick instead?" Jack
suggested, stifling a groan as he picked himself up off the floor.

He wasn't even quite vertical yet when a slap against his shoulder
knocked him over again. "Wait!" he pleaded, blinking back stars as the
back of his head hit the floor. "Please. Just give me a minute."

He might as well have asked storm clouds to stop raining. Her
Thumbleness wasn't interested in waiting. She wasn't interested in
anything but getting what she wanted, when she wanted it, and exactly
the way she wanted it.

And in the age-old manner of careless and spoiled children
everywhere, she was going to fix her broken toy by beating it until it
started working again.

Howling in frustration, she charged.

Jack did his best to fend off the flailing hands and feet. But Her
Thumbleness was too enraged, and too big. Another kick got through,
this one landing in his lower rib cage. He gasped for air, spinning
helplessly as two more slaps bounced off his shoulders.

And then, suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a huge hand sweeping
toward the side of his head. He tried to get his arm up in time to
block it, or to at least absorb some of its impact.

But he didn't make it. An instant later, the world went dark.

He woke up in stages, passing from simple darkness to
not-so-simple confusion, and finally to the realization that he was not
at all comfortable.

"Are you awake?" Draycos's voice asked quietly in his right ear.

"I think so," Jack said, prying his eyes open.

The darkness didn't change. "Or maybe not," he amended, blinking a
couple of times. He still couldn't see anything. "Where are we?"

"Back in the frying pan," Draycos told him. "You cannot see
anything because it is night."

"
Night
?" Jack echoed, frowning. The last thing he
remembered was Her Thumbleness trying her best to make a rag doll out
of him. "How long was she beating on me, anyway?"

"Not long," Draycos said. "The guards came in only a few seconds
after you lost consciousness. They took you away from her."

"Did anyone see you?"

"No," the dragon assured him. "I was not required to assist you in
combat."

"Oh," Jack said, feeling vaguely disappointed. He'd always assumed
that if things ever got seriously dangerous, his private K'da
poet-warrior would be out of his collar in an instant to protect him.

"Gazen ordered you returned here after the guards rescued you,"
Draycos went on. "At that point I decided there was no reason to wake
you. You have had very little sleep the past few days and needed the
rest. In addition, I did not think there was much we could do until
nightfall."

"Right on all counts," Jack said. He did feel better, actually.

Though that feeling was likely to change the minute he started
moving around and found out what kind of new injuries Her Thumbleness
had thoughtfully provided. Carefully, gingerly, he probed at the ribs
where the spoiled little brat had kicked him.

And got his second major surprise of the evening. The skin was
definitely tender, but there was no sign of muscle or bone damage.

But that was impossible. That kick had sent him flying halfway
across the room . . .

Frowning, he moved his fingers to his legs, and then to his
shoulders. Again, there was nothing more serious than a few bruises.

"I did not fight, but I did what I could to protect you from
harm," Draycos said. "When I could see where the blows would be
striking, I raised my body slightly from your skin to take some of the
impact on myself."

"You're kidding," Jack said, blinking in the darkness. "I didn't
know you could do that."

"The ability is not common," Draycos said. "I was only rarely able
to do such things with my last Shontine host, Polphir. I was never able
to do so with any of my previous hosts."

"I guess K'da skills improve with age," Jack said. "You're more
like wine than dogs."

"Pardon?"

"Wine improves with age," Jack explained. "And we have a saying
that you can't teach an old dog new tricks."

"Can you not?"

"Can you not what?"

"Teach an old dog new tricks."

"I don't know," Jack said. "I've never owned a dog. Any idea what
time it is?"

"It is likely after midnight," Draycos told him. "The noises from
the house have been largely silenced."

Which meant the Chookoock family had largely gone to bed. "That's
all I needed to know," Jack said, wincing as he sat up straight and
pressed his back against the copper mesh. "Better check and see if the
coast is clear."

He had wondered if having the mesh between his back and the metal
wall would make the gap too wide for Draycos to see over. But
apparently not. "There is no one currently visible," Draycos reported
as he shifted around on Jack's back. "However, from the sounds of
footsteps I have heard, I believe there is a regular guard route that
passes between us and the house."

That could be trouble. "How often do they come by, and how soon
until the next one?"

"I do not know precisely," Draycos said. "But from counting your
heartbeats as you slept, I estimate they come past four times per hour.
The last one was just before you woke, so we should have at least ten
more minutes."

"Good enough," Jack grunted, moving carefully in the cramped
space. "Okay, here's the plan. I pick the kitchen door. We raid the
slaves' storage locker for food packages and as many juice bottles as
we can handle."

"You are hungry?"

"It isn't for me," Jack said, his fingers probing the edge of the
copper mesh where the door met the floor. There had to be a break there
somewhere, where the door swung upward.

"For Noy, then?"

"Bingo," Jack said. "I'm not going to just sit back and let him
die out there. At least, not if there's anything I can do."

"I am pleased," Draycos said softly.

Jack grimaced. "Yeah, well, don't start handing out the warm
fuzzies just yet," he warned. "I'm not doing this for any noble K'da
warrior ethic reasons. I just remember being sick once when Uncle
Virgil had to go off on a job, that's all."

"How old were you?"

"About Noy's age," Jack said. "I was already pretty good at taking
care of myself, so it shouldn't have been a problem. Only the sickness
made me so weak I couldn't go make myself any food. By the time the
fever was gone, I was too dehydrated to get more than a few steps from
my bed without getting dizzy. I was scared I was going to starve to
death."

"What happened?"

"I died, of course."

Draycos's head rose up from his shoulder. "What?"

"Well, obviously, Uncle Virgil got back in time," Jack said with a
snort. There it was: the gap in the mesh. He wiggled his fingers
through it and felt around for the similar opening under the door that
he'd used in the slave hotbox to let Draycos out. "But I still remember
how scared I was lying there all alone. I don't want Noy to . . ."

He trailed off. "What is it?" Draycos asked.

It took Jack two tries to get the words out. "There's no gap under
the door," he said quietly. "At least, not one big enough for me to get
my fingers under."

Draycos slid around onto Jack's right arm. "Let me see."

Jack kept his hand steady as a clawed digit lifted from his hand
and probed the area. "There is an extra level of material beneath the
door," the dragon said.

"Like an extra chunk of door sill," Jack agreed. "Leaves only
about a quarter of an inch to spare, just enough to let some air in."

"Yes," Draycos said, the claw scratching gently at it. "Still, it
is only wood. I would have no trouble cutting through it."

"Yeah, but the guards would be bound to notice," Jack said,
shaking his head. "They'd wonder how I did that. Don't forget, so far
Gazen hasn't bothered to do a real search of me and my clothes."

"Or your shoes," Draycos conceded. "A good point. We certainly do
not want him to find the comm clip now."

"Not to mention the hotbox key we borrowed," Jack said. "Or you."

"No," Draycos murmured. "But perhaps there is another place where
I could create an opening that would not be noticed."

"I don't know where," Jack said, turning with some difficulty and
pressing his back against the side wall. "But you're more than welcome
to look."

The dragon rearranged himself, and Jack felt the familiar
sensation as he leaned out over the wall again. It was an awfully handy
trick, that, as Jack had learned many times already. Too bad the dragon
couldn't carry anything over the wall with him. If he could lean far
enough outside to unlock the door, they'd be out of here in nothing
flat.

But no. The dragon couldn't actually reach outside. All he could
do was stretch far enough to look around.

He was certainly doing a lot of that right now. Jack could feel
the sensation on his back shifting back and forth as the dragon hunted
for a good spot to put their mousehole. He could feel Draycos
stretching to the limit—

And then, suddenly, the dragon was gone.

Not shifted. Not moved somewhere else on Jack's skin. Gone. Lost
somewhere in the fourth dimension.

Dead.

A breath caught like broken glass in Jack's throat. "Draycos!" he
gasped.

And then, to his astonishment and relief, the dragon's voice came
faintly through the wall. "It is all right," he said. "I am here."

Jack let his breath out in a huff. "Don't
do
that to me,"
he snapped. "Where are you?"

"I am outside," Draycos said. "I apologize for frightening you."

"You'd
better
apologize," Jack growled. "Why didn't you
tell me you could do that?"

There was a slight pause. "Because I did not know I could,"
Draycos said. "In fact, I did not even know that it was possible."

Jack opened his mouth. Closed it again. "What do you mean, you
didn't know it was possible?"

"To the best of my knowledge, no K'da has ever done such a thing,"
Draycos said. "I believe we have made history tonight, Jack."

A bad taste was starting to collect at the back of Jack's throat.
"I don't like this, Draycos," he said. "You can call it making history
if you want.
I
call it something going wrong."

"In what way?"

"I don't know," Jack told him. "But the last couple of times you
looked over walls you felt sort of loose. Like you were getting ready
to slide off or something."

"Which is precisely what has just happened."

"Yes, I understand that," Jack said. "What I'm wondering is if my
body is rejecting you or something. Like sometimes a person rejects an
organ transplant."

There was another silence from outside. "That has also never
happened in the history of my people," Draycos said. "If a species can
serve as host, that ability does not change."

"Only you've never tried humans as hosts before," Jack pointed out
darkly. "Who knows what quirks we might have?"

"True," Draycos admitted reluctantly. "Still, there is little we
can do about it."

"Except maybe think about where we can find another host to have
waiting on standby," Jack said. "If it ever happens that you can't
attach to me, you've only got six hours before you die."