Dragon and Herdsman

CHAPTER 17

Fortunately, the Erassvas were more shaken up than actually hurt. Apparently, the Kodiak's attack strategy was to stun his victims and then go back and finish off whichever one he chose as the meal of the day. Jack and Alison got them settled under the trees, applied a few bandages where claws had cut through skin, and left them to rest and recover.

Afterward, as promised, Alison walked Jack over to a different tree—one within sight of the Erassvas—and sat him down.

And with Draycos standing mostly silently at Jack's side, he told her the whole story.

"I'll be fraggled," Alison murmured when he'd finished. "You two have definitely been through the meat grinder on this one."

"And it's not over yet," Jack said, studying her face. But she was every bit as good at masking her thoughts and feelings as he was. Her face said exactly what she wanted it to, which in this case was basically nothing.

"So why haven't you taken this to the Internos government?" she asked. "The Malison Ring's a pretty big group, but StarForce could eat them for breakfast."

"That would be great," Jack agreed. "If we could trust them. If I were Neverlin, I'd have made sure I got to a few of the top people in StarForce, the Internos Police, and maybe even the government itself before I started this whole thing. Nothing big or fancy or obvious, but enough to cover my back."

Alison made a face. "You may be right," she admitted. "Though if it makes you feel any better, I doubt the whole Malison Ring is involved. Frost is only—let's see; only the fifth or possibly fourth in the chain of command. General Aram Davi is the man in charge, and I haven't heard his name even mentioned. Best guess is that Frost is pulling this underneath Davi's nose."

"Rather like Neverlin was doing," Jack said, nodding. "It would certainly be nice if that was the case. Might limit his manpower even more."

"Not to mention his resources," Alison agreed. "What I don't get is this business of cozying up to the Valahgua. Aren't they worried these guys will turn around and bite them once the K'da and Shontine are out of the way?"

Jack shrugged. "Maybe Neverlin thinks he can handle them."

"Or perhaps he does not truly understand the threat," Draycos added. "I have met Neverlin only twice, but he does not seem to plan sufficiently far ahead."

"More likely you've just managed to catch him by surprise," Alison said. "Normally, Neverlin's the type who plans everything out to the last detail, with contingency plans already prepped for anything that might go wrong."

"And you know all this how?" Jack asked.

"My dad did a scam once on one of the Braxton Universis board members," she explained. "I remember him saying at the time that Neverlin was the one he was going to really have to keep an eye on."

"Then we're back to him thinking he can handle the Valahgua," Jack concluded. "He must have one beaut of a trick up his sleeve. Especially since he's seen their Death weapons in action and knows what they can do."

"Which brings us to the other really big question mark," Alison said. "Namely, what the blazes are the Valahgua doing in the Orion Arm in the first place?"

"They wish to destroy us, of course," Draycos said, his tail lashing the air restlessly.

"I'm sure they do," Alison said. "But way out here, this far from their main stomping grounds? What did you do to these guys, anyway?"

"We did nothing," Draycos insisted, his voice dropping ominously. "They attacked us."

"Easy, Draycos," Jack soothed. "I'm sure she didn't mean anything by that."

"Or maybe she did," Alison retorted. "Round-trip, we're talking about a four-year mission here. Nobody does that unless they have a very good reason for it."

"Maybe they just don't like leaving loose ends," Jack said, keeping a wary eye on Draycos. The dragon still looked offended, but he had his annoyance under control again. Three and a half months of dealing with Uncle Virge's snide comments had apparently done a good job of thickening his skin. "Or maybe they think the K'da and Shontine are planning to regroup here and come back after them."

"If so, they are wrong," Draycos said. "We have left our homes forever. Here is now where we shall live, or where we shall die."

"Still seems like overkill to me," Alison said. "But I suppose that's not something we need to worry about right now."

"No, what we need to worry about is getting off this rock alive," Jack agreed. "Do you really have people coming for you? Or was that just some scam?"

Alison's lip twitched. "Oh, they're coming," she said sourly. "Problem is, they could get here anywhere from now to two weeks from now."

"Terrific," Jack growled. "And you were planning to mention this when?"

"I wasn't, because it wasn't any of your business," Alison said. "I was expecting you to just drop me and take off."

Jack made a face. But in all fairness, she had told him he didn't have to stay with her. "Yeah, whatever. So bottom line is that they probably won't get here until it's all over."

"Basically," she conceded. "Which means it's up to you and me and Draycos."

"And Uncle Virge," Jack reminded her.

"Assuming the ship survived," Alison agreed. "Incidentally, not that it matters right now, but I don't think Uncle Virgil could have pulled off a personality imprint like that with a P/S/8. That's got to be at least a ten or eleven in there."

Jack shrugged. "He upgraded everything else on the Essenay. Why not the computer system, too?"

"Point," she said. "So if the Essenay doesn't come for us, we'll need to think about a place to hole up for a couple of weeks."

"You speak of the rocky area at the western end of the forest?" Draycos asked.

"Unless you saw something better as we were coming in, I'd say that's our best bet," Alison said. "The problem is that we have a lot of bodies to hide. And a lot of associated mouths to feed."

She looked over at the Erassvas huddled together around their trees. "Unless you're ready to cut them loose."

"No," Jack said firmly.

"It would be easier for us," Alison persisted. "And in all honesty, it might be better for them."

"What, getting abandoned in the woods with a lot of predators they've probably never even seen before?" Jack growled. "How does that qualify as good for them?"

"Because it would get them out of the sights of the predators with guns," Alison said bluntly. "Once we aren't with them anymore, what reason would Frost's men have to bother them?"

"Because they're K'da," Jack said.

Alison raised her eyebrows. "Are they?"

"Of course they are," Jack said. But even as he said it he could feel the sand sliding out from under his argument. After all, Draycos himself had called them animals. Did the physical form matter when the mind wasn't there?

He set his jaw. No. Whether they were as alive and intelligent as Draycos or not, the Phookas still deserved to be treated with dignity. "They are," he repeated firmly. "Besides, we've also dragged the Erassvas out here. We just going to abandon them, too?"

"Well, there's definitely no reason the Malison Ring would care about them," Alison pointed out, looking at Draycos. "You're the local expert, Draycos. Are these K'da, or aren't they?"

Draycos turned to look at the Phookas as they dug for grubs. "They have the form," he said, his tail lashing again. "But for the rest . . . I do not know what could have happened to make them this way."

"Something in the food, probably," Jack said. "It's the same biomass the Erassvas eat from, after all, and they're nearly as oblivious as the Phookas are."

"Though that predator—what did you call it again?" Alison asked.

"A Kodiak," Jack said. "I think it's a kind of bear."

"I notice that Kodiak didn't seem especially lethargic," she said, her voice suddenly thoughtful. "And he's eating from the same biomass. Draycos, you called your relationship with Jack a symbiosis. Does that mean you take nutrients from him?"

"No," Draycos said, his eyes still on the Phookas. "There is no chemical transfer. I take merely a place to rest, and give only companionship and protection in return."

"And advice," Jack added, trying to lighten the tone a little. He couldn't afford to let Draycos slip back into one of these black moods of his. "He gives a lot of advice, too."

"And I'll bet it's sorely needed," Alison said dryly. "No, I was just wondering if there might be more to it than just the Phookas' food."

"Like what?" Jack asked.

"I'm just guessing here," Alison said slowly. "But remember, I saw you playing soldier in the Whinyard's Edge a couple of months ago. You're a lot more confident and capable now than you were then. A lot more."

Jack shrugged. "Maybe I'm just a late bloomer."

"Maybe," Alison said. "But maybe you and Draycos are doing some trading in something besides nutrients. Something like attitudes and skills, maybe."

Jack opened his mouth . . . closed it again. Some of the decisions he'd made back at the slave camp had been suspiciously like those of a certain K'da poet-warrior of his acquaintance. "Draycos?" he invited.

"I do not know," the dragon said. His agitated tail swishing had settled down to the slow circular tip movements that showed he was thinking hard. "No one has ever suggested that such a transfer takes place between K'da and host."

"Maybe the Shontine are already so much like you that no one's ever noticed," Alison suggested. "I'm thinking it might be worth a little experiment."

"What kind of experiment?" Draycos asked, his voice suddenly suspicious.

"A very simple one," Alison said. "I take one of the Phookas."

"No," Jack said, the word coming out reflexively.

"Why not?" Alison asked. "You've got a K'da. Why shouldn't I have one, too?"

"What do you think this is, some kind of style statement?" Jack growled. "These are living, thinking beings."

"Fine—call it an adoption if you want," Alison said patiently. "But it's the simplest way to see if it's the environment that's doing this to them, either the food or their current hosts."

It made sense. Jack had to admit. That was the most irritating part. But still . . . "I don't know," he said hesitantly. "Draycos?"

"I also do not know," the dragon said, his tail back to its earlier restless lashing. "It seems wrong to experiment this way with living beings."

"What are you afraid of?" Alison asked, an edge of challenge in her voice. "That you'll find out that your particular group of K'da is the exception? That this—" she gestured toward the Phookas—"is how K'da usually are?"

Draycos seemed to stiffen, and for a moment Jack thought he could see a little black edging into the gold scales. Was that really what the dragon was thinking? "That's ridiculous," he jumped in before the dragon could respond. "Draycos and his people helped plan and stage a revolt against slavers back when—"

"Yes, Alison," Draycos said quietly. "That is indeed what I fear."

For a long minute no one spoke. "I'm sorry," Alison said at last. And she really did look sorry, Jack thought. "If it helps, I don't really believe that."

"Yet the universe is what it is," Draycos said. "What we believe or do not believe does not affect that reality."

"Then let's settle it," Jack said, his mind suddenly made up. "Uncle Virgil always used to say that no fact was as scary as uncertainty. Let's grab a Phooka, stick him on Alison's back, and see what happens."

"You have such a way with words," Alison murmured.

"Shut up," Jack advised her, his eyes on Draycos. "Draycos?"

There was a shuffling sound behind him, and Jack turned to see Hren waddling toward them. "We are thirsty, young Jack," the Erassva said.

"There should be some water ahead," Jack told him, getting to his feet. "If you'll collect the others, we'll get moving."

"Yes, young Jack." Hren headed back toward the other Erassvas.

Jack turned back to Draycos. "We need a decision here, buddy," Jack said. "Do you want to pick one of the Phookas, or should Alison and I do it?"

For another moment Draycos was silent. "Who would you choose?"

"No contest," Jack said. "Has to be Taneem."

"Taneem?" Alison asked.

"The gray one with the silver eyes," Jack told her. "She seems to have a lot more understanding than the rest of her friends. Not to mention a lot more curiosity about what's going on."

"Sounds like a good candidate," Alison said, looking around. "You see her anywhere?"

A bit of gray beside a squat bush caught Jack's eye. "Over there," he said, pointing. "I'll go get her."

"Hold it," Alison said. "Let me try something. Taneem? Taneem, come here."

The gray head appeared around the side of the bush, and Jack could almost imagine a quizzical look on her triangular face. "Come here, Taneem," Alison repeated.

And with that, the Phooka came the rest of the way around the bush and trotted over to them.

"You're right," Alison said to Jack as the Phooka came to a halt at her side. "So. How exactly do I do this?"

Jack glanced at Draycos, but the dragon remained silent. "Hold out your hand to her, palm upward," he suggested. "That's how they usually get aboard the Erassvas."

"Like this?" Alison asked, holding out her hand tentatively toward Taneem as instructed. Now that the moment had arrived, the girl seemed to be having a few second thoughts. "I don't need to take hold of her head or muzzle or anything?"

"No," Jack said. "Okay, Taneem. Go ahead. Go onto Alison."

Taneem looked at Jack, then Alison, then Draycos, and back to Alison. Then, looking almost as hesitant about it as Alison, she lifted one of her forelegs and set the paw on Alison's palm.

And with a flicker of gray scales, she vanished up Alison's sleeve.

Alison jerked like she'd touched a live wire. "Good—" She broke off with a strangled gasp, her whole body twitching violently. "Good God in heaven," she breathed, settling down a little. "Whoa. That's . . . that's really intense."

"It'll get easier," Jack said, watching her closely. So far she looked all right. "How do you feel?"

"Weird," Alison said. She started to rub her stomach, then paused. "Is it safe to touch her? I mean, I'm not going to accidentally scratch her off, am I?"

"No, no," Jack assured her. "She's solid and strong and she isn't going anywhere. At least, not until she decides to get off."

Alison lifted her shirt a little, peering down at her shoulders and chest. "This is incredible," she said. "I'd never have dreamed . . . I can't even think of anything to say."

"Well, that's a first," Jack said. "Meanwhile, the Erassvas are thirsty. You feel up to taking point, or do you want me to do it?"

Alison gave her new companion a last look, then lifted her eyes resolutely away. "I can do it," she said, all brisk business again. "Let's go find Greenie and get out of here."