Dragonback 03 Dragon and Slave (21 page)

"I remember, thank you," Draycos said. "But for now, we still have
a mission to accomplish. Can you pass the key under the door?"

"Sure," Jack said, pulling open his shoe flap and digging it out.
"Do you feel sick or injured or anything?"

"I appear to be unharmed," Draycos said. "It felt very strange at
the time, though."

"I'll bet," Jack grunted, sliding the key out through the narrow
gap. "Here."

"I have it."

Jack hunched his shoulders to stretch them. Only now, as he
waited, did it suddenly occur to him that all their work and cleverness
might be for nothing. The key he'd stolen had been to the slave
hotboxes; but there was no guarantee that the frying pan didn't have a
different lock entirely.

And then there came a click, and the door swung open, letting in a
rush of fresh air.

Jack let out a breath. "Okay," he said, trying to sound casual.
"Well. Let's get to work."

The first job was to see if they could fix the door so that
Draycos could get in and out the usual way. Or at least, the usual way
for poet-warriors of the K'da.

Fortunately, it turned out to be easier than Jack had feared. The
extra slab of wood that had kept him from sliding his hand outside
turned out to be a simple add-on, attached to the bottom of the door
frame with three nails.

With the door closed above it, the nails were impossible to reach.
With the door open, though, it was simple. At Jack's direction, Draycos
used his claws to pry up the slab. The three nails came up with it, and
Jack had him slice them off so that they were even with the wood.

Now, when the slab was back in position, it looked as solidly in
place as if it were still nailed there. It even fit tightly enough
against the frame on both sides that a slight bump wouldn't knock it
loose. But with a little pressure, Jack could push it out to drop onto
the ground outside.

"Or I can take it in with me and slide it back into position from
inside," he explained to Draycos as he tested the fit. "Either way, the
Brummgas will never have a clue."

"Unless they try pushing on the slab themselves," Draycos pointed
out thoughtfully. "Tell me, where are the ends of the nails I cut off?"

"Uh . . ." Jack glanced around. "Here they are," he said, picking the
three pointy ends off the ground. "I was going to toss them into the
bushes."

"Give them to me," Draycos said. "Then lift the slab out of the
way."

Jack did so. Draycos delicately shoved the nail points back into
the holes where they'd originally been, pressing them into place with
his claws. "There," he said. "Now if anyone examines them, they will
conclude the nails simply rusted through and broke."

"Maybe," Jack said doubtfully. "They don't look all that rusted to
me."

"It will take a close examination to show the truth," Draycos
said. "They are not likely to have the time—"

He broke off, his ears twitching around toward the house. "Someone
is coming," he said quietly. "Not a Brummga."

Carefully, Jack peeked around the side of the frying pan. There
was a figure coming toward them, all right, silhouetted against a crack
of light from the open kitchen door. Definitely too small for a
full-sized Brummga.

Her Thumbleness?

"Inside," Jack hissed, ducking back around the front. Draycos was
holding the door open; scooping up the wooden slab, Jack scrambled
inside. The dragon eased the door closed, and as Jack poked his hand
through the opening he heard a soft click as Draycos locked the door. A
second later the key came sliding through the gap, followed by a brief
weight on Jack's outstretched hand as the dragon came aboard.

There wasn't enough time to hide the key in his shoe. Instead, he
shoved it out of sight beneath the copper mesh behind him. Even if Her
Thumbleness had come to drag him back to one of her games, Gazen would
probably toss him back in here as soon as she got tired of him again.
He could hear the footsteps approaching.

"Jack?" a familiar voice called. "Are you in there?"

He felt Draycos twitch. So the dragon was surprised, too. "Yes,
I'm here, Lisssa," Jack called back. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Lisssa countered disgustedly. "I'm
Her Thumbleness's newest art project."

Jack winced. "I'm sorry," he said, and meant it. Bad enough to be
dressed up in a clown suit and made to perform magic tricks. Having to
stand there while Her Thumbleness gleefully ran a paintbrush over your
body would be ten times worse. "When did you get here?"

"They came and got me this morning," Lisssa said. "That
Wistawk—Heetoorieef—told me they'd put you in here."

"They did it twice, actually," Jack said, rubbing at the bruises
on his ribs. "You'd better get back before she misses you."

"Not a problem," Lisssa said. "Her Thumbleness is having a long
bath in that swamp off her room. Are you hungry or anything?"

Actually, he was starving, now that she mentioned it. "I'm okay,"
he said.

"Yeah, right," she said. "Here, I brought you this."

There was the sound of something scraping against the wood beneath
the door. Jack tensed; but before he could move, Draycos's rear legs
bulged out from his ankle to press against the wooden slab and hold it
firmly in place. "I swiped a few of these from the kitchen," Lisssa
added as something round and thin slid faintly into sight. "They're
cold, and they didn't taste all that good hot. But they're probably
better than what you've got."

"Grilled sand would be better than what
I've
got," Jack
grunted, prying up the copper mesh and pulling the round thing all the
way in. It was some kind of pancake, he decided as he lifted it to his
nose. It smelled odd, but no worse than some of the things he'd eaten
in his travels around the Orion Arm. "Thanks."

"Hang on, I've got three more," Lisssa said. "Catch."

She passed the rest of the pancakes through the narrow gap. "Hope
that'll tide you over," she said as Jack pulled the last one in. "It's
getting chilly out here. You going to need a blanket or anything?"

"I'm fine," Jack said. "I don't want to sound ungrateful, but
you'd better get out of here before one of the patrols sees you. I
don't want your beating on my conscience."

"Oh, that's right," she said with an audible sniff. "You still
have a conscience. I forgot."

"So humor it already," Jack said. "Thanks for the food. Now get
lost."

"What about that blanket?" she persisted. "I've been in hotboxes
before. They're pretty miserable at night. And you don't even have
scales to keep you warm."

"I'll be okay," Jack insisted. "Besides, you'll never get a
blanket in through that gap."

"I suppose," she agreed reluctantly. "Look, I'll see what I can
do. Don't go anywhere, okay?"

Jack grunted. "Funny."

"I try. See you later."

The footsteps moved off. "To the wall," Draycos whispered.

Jack pressed his back against the wall behind him. Draycos
shifted, paused for a minute, then shifted again. "She has returned
inside," he reported. "I saw no patrols that might have noticed her."

"Good," Jack said. The last thing he wanted right now was to draw
curious Brummgan eyes in this direction. "Well,
that
was
different."

"What do you mean?"

"Lisssa sticking her neck out for me," Jack said. "Or for anyone,
for that matter."

"Yes," Draycos said thoughtfully. "Perhaps the experience of being
one of Her Thumbleness's playthings has given her a new view of life."

"I think that only works with K'da," Jack said dryly. "But we can
ask her about it later. Right now, we need to get moving."

"That may not be easy," Draycos warned. "She implied she would
return with a blanket."

Jack hissed between his teeth. He was right, blast it. "And if she
strolls by when we're not here . . .?"

"Then we shall be burned cinnamon bagels," Draycos said solemnly.

Jack grimaced. "Toast, Draycos," he corrected. "We'll be burned
cinnamon
toast
."

"My error," Draycos said. "Still, the point remains. What do you
suggest we do?"

"You got me, buddy," Jack said. Blast it, and blast Lisssa, too.
"I guess we wait."

"And if she does not return, or does not return soon?" Draycos
asked. "What, then, about Noy?"

"We don't have a choice," Jack bit out irritably. "I don't like it
any better than you do. But if she comes and tries to stuff a blanket
under the door, she's going to push that slab inside. She wouldn't be
able to get it back out, even if she wanted to. And the first Brummga
who saw it . . ." He shook his head. "Burned cinnamon toast, all right.
Butter side down."

There was a moment of silence. "There is one alternative," Draycos
said. "You could stay here while I tend to Noy."

"Right," Jack said with a snort. "He's lying in bed when a gold
dragon pops in to have tea and scones with him. Nothing strange about
that. Definitely nothing he'd think to mention to anyone else."

"He will not see me," Draycos promised. "I can deliver the food
and juices without him noticing."

"No," Jack said firmly. "We can't risk it."

The dragon seemed to sigh. "Then Noy will have no help. From
anyone."

Jack bit down hard on his lip in frustration. But Draycos was
right. "Fine," he growled. "So go. Just be careful."

"I will," Draycos said. He lengthened his stretch off of Jack's
ankle, pushing the wooden slab outside.

Jack stuck his hand through the gap; and with a surge of weight,
Draycos was out. "I will be back soon," the dragon promised softly
through the door as he pushed the slab back into place. "Do not go
anywhere."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Everybody's a comedian," he muttered under
his breath.

But Draycos was already gone. Settling himself as comfortably as
he could in the cramped space, Jack began nibbling on the cold pancakes
Lisssa had brought. And tried hard not to think about the danger out
there. To Draycos, and to Noy.

It was going to be a very long night.

Draycos didn't see, hear, or smell anyone as he made his way
across the starlit ground toward the kitchen door Lisssa had used a few
minutes earlier. From the way she had made sure to leave it open when
she left the building, he suspected he would find it locked. It was.

Jack, of course, would have simply picked the lock. A highly
useful skill, and one that Draycos had practiced hard during their
travels between planets aboard the
Essenay
. But his paws were
not as nimble as Jack's, and he was not yet good enough to manage such
a feat. Certainly not in the dark. Certainly not with a Brummgan patrol
due to appear around the corner at any moment.

Fortunately, there were other ways. The Chookoock family had built
their mansion with broken-edged stonework all across the outer walls.
Very decorative. Also very easy to climb.

He had reached the third floor when he heard the sounds of the
approaching Brummgan patrol on the ground below. By the time they
actually appeared, he was crouched motionless in the shadow of a stubby
smoke vent. They passed by without so much as breaking stride and
disappeared around the corner of the building. Shifting his grip on the
stones, Draycos continued on his way.

In warfare, he had long ago learned, it was usually impractical to
make detailed preparations before a battle. Either the enemy came from
the wrong direction, or they came with the wrong number of troops, or
they used a completely unexpected strategy. Sometimes they were
inconsiderate enough not to show up at all.

But a good warrior still did what he could to prepare first,
second, and even third plans ahead of time. On occasion, such plans
even proved to be useful.

As it happened, this was one of those occasions.

The windows of Her Thumbleness's room were protected by alarms
like the one Jack had found at the gatekeeper's house the night this
mission first started. Unfortunately for the Brummgas, they had no idea
that an enemy had already been inside their fortress.

Not only inside, but with the time and freedom to study the
windows at his leisure. Last night, as both Jack and Her Thumbleness
slept, Draycos had examined both the alarm and the window lock itself,
and had disabled both.

At least, he hoped he had disabled them. Easing a claw through the
gap between window panes, he gently pried the panel open.

No alarms went off, nor did the sound of breathing from inside
change. Opening the window just enough to allow him to slip inside, he
dropped silently to the floor beneath it.

There he paused, senses alert. He had already noted how soundly
Her Thumbleness slept, and there was little danger of her awakening
even if an entire field army of K'da tromped through her bedroom.
Possibly not even if they'd brought a section of percussion masters and
concert drums along.

Lisssa, however, was another matter. Draycos still remembered her
moving about in her bed as he returned to Jack that first night. If she
was here, he would need to be especially careful.

But there was no hint of her Dolom scent anywhere in the room.
Apparently, she was down in Jack's old bed in the underground slave
quarters.

He closed the window and made his way across the room. All was
quiet out in the corridor. Opening the door a crack, he took a deep
sniff.

The cleaning crew had not yet made it to the stairs. But on the
other hand, the Brummgas hadn't been in their rooms for very long,
either. If last night's pattern still held, he had perhaps two minutes
before the stairways and corridors began to fill up. Bracing himself,
he pushed open the door and slipped outside.

Warrior's luck was with him. He made it down the hallway and the
stairs, avoiding the traps and tripwires Jack had located last night.
The entry chamber, too, was deserted.