"At which point he will turn his full force against us."
"But at least it'll just be against us," Jack said. "Not against Alison and the others."
Draycos was silent a moment. "My apologies, Jack," he said quietly. "I did not understand."
"That's all right," Jack assured him. "Actually, I'm as surprised as you are that I'm being all noble like this. If Uncle Virge were here he'd have a fit."
"Indeed," Draycos agreed. "Let us hope we will have the pleasure of hearing his reaction together once we are safely back aboard."
"Sounds like a plan," Jack said. Something pressed against his right hand, and he looked down to find one of the Phookas nuzzling against his side. "If not, I figure that if it's just you and me out there we can give Frost a pretty good run for his money," he added, making his hand into a fist and rubbing the knuckles behind the Phooka's ear.
"Perhaps," Draycos said, craning his neck to look around Jack. "What are you doing?"
"What, here?" Jack asked, switching to the Phooka's other ear. "Nothing. This is Snip. He likes to get his ears rubbed."
" 'Snip'?"
"It's short for Special Needs Phooka," Jack explained. "He seems to need a lot of reassurance that we haven't run off and left him."
"I see," Draycos murmured. "Curious."
"Curious how?" Jack asked, giving Snip a rub along his jawline. "As I recall, you've liked your ears rubbed on occasion, too."
"I was referring to you," Draycos said. "In a few days, apparently without even trying, you have learned the character and personality of each member of your herd. That requires an eye for details."
Jack grimaced. "Blame it on Uncle Virgil," he said. "Attention to detail is a big part of a con man's job."
"It also takes great heart," Draycos said. "And that is not something Uncle Virgil taught you."
"It's no big deal," Jack insisted, suddenly uncomfortable with this. "I've got a soft spot for K'da, that's all."
"As you had a soft spot for Alison and your other comrades in the Whinyard's Edge?" Draycos reminded him. "You risked your life to rescue them."
"At your rather insistent nudging," Jack reminded him.
"You could have refused," Draycos said. "And as you also had a soft spot for your fellow slaves on Brum-a-drum?"
And that one Draycos hadn't pushed him into doing, Jack remembered. In fact, the dragon had been rather surprised by his decision. "I guess your warriors' ethic is starting to rub off on me," he said.
"It is indeed," Draycos agreed. "And it shows how my faith in you has been justified."
"Maybe." Jack looked up at the trees arching over them. "Let's just hope that all that faith doesn't get to go out in a blaze of glory."
CHAPTER 24
They made it to evening still without having seen, heard, or smelled any sign of Frost's mercenaries. Alison found them some partial shelter at the base of a steep hill, and within an hour they were fed and watered and settled in for the night.
"Tomorrow's the day," she warned as she and Jack and the two K'da sat together on top of the hill finishing their ration bars. "I'm guessing we'll reach the river by midafternoon at the latest." She eyed Jack. "At which point, it's going to be up to you."
Jack nodded. "My main comm clip's still wandering the forest attached to one of the hornheads, but I've got a spare in my shoe heel. Once we're close, I'll try giving Uncle Virge a call. With luck, he'll have a floater antenna up and will be able to hear us."
"And if we're not that lucky?" Alison asked. "You have a Plan B ready?"
"We have that covered," Draycos assured her before Jack could answer. "But I do not intend to give up on Uncle Virge quite so quickly."
"I'm not giving up on him," Alison protested mildly. "I'll be the first to cheer if we hit the riverbank and find the Essenay sitting there with its hatch open, ready to lift." She frowned. "Essenay," she repeated thoughtfully.
"What is it?" Jack asked.
"I was just thinking," she said slowly. "Essenay is a really odd name for a ship. Is that its christening name?"
Jack shrugged. "It's the only name I've ever known it by. Why? Does it mean something?"
"Not to me," Alison said. "Though now that I think about it I suppose it could be initials—'S and A.' Did Virgil Morgan have two middle names?"
"As far as I know, he didn't have any," Jack said.
"What is this christening name you speak of?" Taneem asked.
"That's a ship's official name, the one registered in the Orion Trade Association files," Alison explained. "A lot of people then give their ships what are called private or personal names."
"Like a nickname," Jack added. "A ship might be listed as the Rick's Café of Casablanca III, but its owners just call it Ricky. There are an awful lot of ships flying around out there, and they all have to have unique christening names."
"And again, Essenay sounds like a private name," Alison said. "Have you ever looked it up on the official lists?"
Jack snorted. "This may come as a shock, but I've spent most of my life avoiding everything official that the Orion Arm has to offer. This doesn't strike me as a good time to change that policy, either."
"I understand that," Alison said patiently. "I was just wondering."
"Wondering is wonderful exercise as long as you don't overdo it." Jack looked back at Draycos. "You think we should wonder about scouting ahead a ways and see what Frost might have cooking?"
"I don't think that will be necessary," Draycos said. "I have not heard the floater or the Kapstan at all today."
"But he could have sent some troops in along the river by boat," Alison pointed out.
"True," Draycos agreed. "We shall have to be careful as we near the river itself."
"So we don't take a walk?" Jack asked.
"I take a walk," Draycos said, standing up and stretching, cat-style, with his forelegs thrust forward and his tail high in the air. "There is no need for you to go with me. But I will require your comm clip."
"Be careful," Jack warned, digging the comm clip from its hiding place in the sole of his left shoe and handing it over. "Out here in the middle of nowhere, Frost wouldn't have much trouble locating it."
"I understand," Draycos said, fastening the clip to his crest at the back of his neck. "Alison, can you adjust your comm clip frequency to match Jack's? We may need to use them together at some point."
She nodded. "No problem."
"Good." Draycos lifted his head and darted his tongue in and out a few times to taste the air. "I will be back as soon as I can." With a final look at Jack, he loped down the hill and disappeared into the forest.
"He should not go alone," Taneem murmured, her tail lashing restlessly as she gazed after him.
"Draycos knows what he's doing," Jack assured her, trying to hide his own quiet misgivings. "He can take care of himself."
"You mean up to now he's been lucky," Alison said bluntly. "We all have been, mainly because Frost has been trying to take us alive. But sooner or later, even the best warrior's luck runs out."
"Not tonight it doesn't," Jack said, glaring at her. "And you're not going to talk that way again. Understand?"
For a moment they locked gazes. Then, Alison's eyes flicked to Taneem, and her lip twitched. "You're right," she apologized. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah," Jack growled. "Give me the gun and go find someplace to lie down. I'll take the first watch."
"Sure." Alison handed over the machine gun. "Taneem, you feel up to doing a little night patrolling?"
"Yes, of course." Taneem stood up, her eyes still on the spot where Draycos had vanished. "What do you wish me to do?"
"Nothing fancy," Alison said. "Just take a few circles around the camp, watching for predators and soldiers. If you smell or hear anything that seems threatening or even strange, you come and get either Jack or me. Understand?"
Taneem ducked her head. "Yes."
"We just want to make sure nothing sneaks up on the Erassvas and your fellow K'da
," Jack added.
"Phookas," Taneem corrected him, looking down at the group of dragons at the bottom of the hill. "They are not K'da."
She looked back at Jack, an oddly intense look in her silver eyes. "Not yet."
The river turned out to be considerably closer than Alison had guessed. Barely two hours after leaving camp, Draycos caught his first scent of the water. He spent the next half hour moving cautiously toward it, his senses stretched to their limit, watching for the ambush that must surely be waiting.
But there was nothing. No soldiers, no booby traps, no Kapstan, no floater, no boats, no hint of the enemy. It was as if the Malison Ring had given up.
He'd remembered from their earlier aerial view that the river was a wide one. But natural features always looked larger and more impressive at close range. For a minute he stood at the edge of the river, gazing outward at the water flowing slowly past, its edge rippling quietly against the bank. Even at night, it was a majestic sight.
But majestic or not, a river was a terrible barrier for a soldier to be trapped against. Perhaps that was why Frost's soldiers hadn't bothered to capture the riverfront. Perhaps their plan was to simply sweep in from the south, behind the fugitives, and pin them here with nowhere else to go.
Alison had said that the Erassvas and Phookas spent their lives circling the edge of the forest as they foraged for food. That meant they had to cross the river twice per circuit, which implied they either could swim or else knew how to construct boats.
But in this case neither method would do them any good. As soon as they were on the water and out from under the protection of the forest canopy, they would be easy targets for airborne gunners. That was undoubtedly what Jack had been thinking about when he'd suggested that he and Draycos slip away and try to draw Frost's attention.
The problem with Jack's plan was that it wouldn't work. There was simply nowhere in the eastern grasslands where the two of them could hide from the mercenaries. Certainly not for the ten or eleven days it might take for Alison's friends to arrive. If Jack was going to evade capture, he would have to stay with Alison and the others in the forest.
Which meant that if they were going to have any chance of drawing the Malison Ring away, Draycos would have to do it alone.
And of course, without Jack along, he would die in the process.
He gazed across the river, snatches of old epic poems and songs running through his mind. As a warrior of the K'da he'd had to face the possibility of death many times. But it was somehow always different each time it happened. And it wasn't something he'd ever became used to.
Especially when it would mean abandoning such a young and inexperienced host. Would Jack be able to manage alone?
More important, would he be able to learn the location of the refugee fleet's rendezvous point alone and be able to save the rest of the K'da and Shontine?
There was no way to know. But Draycos had no doubt that the boy would try his very best to do so. Jack had fully adopted the K'da warrior ethic of service to others. Even with Draycos gone he would continue the mission as long as life remained in him.
The K'da lashed his tail firmly. Yes, Jack would do his best. But Draycos had no intention of laying such a heavy burden on the boy's shoulders, not unless and until there was no other choice. Retrieving the comm clip from its place on his crest, Draycos gave the air one final sniff and clicked it on. "Uncle Virge?" he called softly.
There was no answer. "Uncle Virge, this is Draycos," he said again. "If you can hear, please respond."
Again, nothing. Draycos left the comm clip on another few heartbeats, then switched it off again. As Jack had pointed out, the device would stand out like a beacon in the wilderness, and there was no point in giving the Malison Ring the exact location where he and the others would be coming out.
Unless . . .
Attaching the comm clip to his crest again, he leaned out over the water and looked in both directions. Downstream, he decided. Backing up into better cover, he headed east, looking for a good spot.
He found it a hundred yards away and a few yards in from the river: a stand of the by-now familiar rubbery trees and their attached vine meshes. He hadn't brought any rope along, but the vines should be strong enough for what he had in mind.
Quickly, he cut a group of them from their trees and tied them together. When he had about sixty feet he tied one end to the base of one of the trees and began climbing the tree next to it, the other end of the vine rope in his mouth.
He'd already done this once, back when he and Jack had taken out the Malison Ring's double ambush line, and he had the technique down to a science. Within a few minutes he had the tree bent over and tied in place. Cutting one final length of vine, he walked over to the treetop, which was now sticking out sideways a few feet above the ground. The other time he'd done this, he remembered, his approach had flushed a group of birds from those upper branches.
Sure enough, another small flock erupted from the tree as he neared it, the branches swaying madly as the birds flapped away from the potential threat.
Perfect.
Tying his last piece of vine to the treetop, letting it hang loosely down, Draycos retraced his steps back to where he'd first emerged from the forest to the riverbank. There, he retrieved the comm clip from his crest and switched it on. "Uncle Virge, this is Draycos," he called again. "Please respond."
Again, there was no reply. Leaving the comm clip on, he backed away from the river into the concealment of the forest and silently counted out thirty seconds. Then, tucking the comm clip beneath his left foreleg, he broke abruptly into a loping run eastward toward his rigged tree. To anyone monitoring the comm clip's movements—and he had no doubt Frost's men were doing just that—it should look like he had just fastened the device to an animal and sent it scurrying away.
He and Jack had already used this trick once, of course. Still, it was likely Frost would simply assume his opponents were running out of fresh ideas.
Draycos came within sight of the bent tree and slowed to a trot. The birds had returned to their meal in the upper branches in his absence, again taking off as he approached. Fastening the comm clip to the piece of vine he'd left hanging, he backed away to watch.
Sure enough, with the threat gone, the birds began to return to their meal. Each one that landed set the branches swaying, the movement translating down the vine to send the comm clip moving in small, unhurried circles.
Draycos smiled again. Frost might be suspicious, but he would have no choice but to conclude that the comm clip hadn't simply been dropped in the leaves in hopes of making him look in the wrong direction. Between the breeze and the birds, there should be enough movement to prove the comm clip was attached to something, and he would certainly conclude that that something wasn't Jack or Draycos.
And he would also know the area where such a diversion had been arranged would be the last place the fugitives would actually head for in the morning.
Which meant that when he set up his watchers above the riverfront in the morning, this would be the one spot on the entire river they would be most likely to ignore.
It was late when Draycos got back to the camp. Almost too late, and he could feel the uncomfortable tingling in his scales as he exchanged nods with Alison and slid up onto Jack's arm.
He had thought he'd been quiet enough not to disturb the boy's sleep. But even as he positioned himself on Jack's back the other stirred. "Draycos?" he murmured.
"Yes," Draycos confirmed, feeling strength flowing back into him. "All is well. Alison is on watch, and there are no enemies nearby. Go back to sleep."
"Okay," Jack said, clearly sliding back toward unconsciousness again. "You find Uncle Virge?"
Draycos grimaced. "We will find him in the morning," he promised. "Sleep now, and I will do likewise."
" 'Kay," Jack mumbled. "Pleasant dreams."
Under the circumstance, Draycos doubted that any of his dreams would be pleasant. But he would neverthel
ess make sure to get as much sleep as he could.
One way or another, this would end tomorrow.
CHAPTER 25
The next morning, as the Phookas performed their morning dance, Draycos told Jack, Alison, and Taneem the whole story.
They were, to put it mildly, unimpressed. "That's it?" Alison asked when he'd finished. "You've got us an exit point barely a hundred yards from where they're expecting us to come out anyway?"
"I did not have time to go farther," Draycos told her stiffly. "And it is not merely those hundred yards. If they believe we sent a decoy east, they will almost certainly conclude that we have gone west. They will therefore concentrate their forces on that part of the riverbank."
"He's right," Jack said, coming to his partner's defense. But it was clear the boy wasn't any happier than Alison was. "At least it gains us a little time."
"Only if the Essenay is hanging around somewhere nearby and happens to be listening when we need it to," Alison countered. "Otherwise we're no better off than we are right now."
"Fine," Jack said. "What do you suggest we do, then?"
"Only one thing to do," Alison said. "We pull back, dig ourselves in as best we can, and wait for my friends."
"Who could still be ten days away?" Jack shook his head. "Not a chance. Frost will nail us long before then."
"Unless there are more opponents to deal with than he expects," Taneem offered.
"What do you mean?" Draycos asked.
"You are a warrior of the K'da," she said. "Could you not train us to fight alongside you?"
Draycos looked at Jack, saw his same surprise reflected in the boy's face. That wasn't the kind of idea he would have expected Taneem to come up with, certainly not this quickly. "In theory, yes," he agreed, looking back at Taneem. "But it is not as simple as it sounds."
"On the other hand, I only had ten days of training in the Whinyard's Edge," Jack reminded him.