Dragon and Judge

CHAPTER 16

There were a dozen different techniques for getting a person to give you what you wanted, and Uncle Virgil had taught Jack every one of them. Even so, it took a full hour and almost the complete set before the One finally realized that he wanted to let Jack go look at the mine.

And even then he insisted that Thonsifi and the guard Sefiseni accompany their Jupa on his field trip. Jack thanked him, switched back into shirt and jeans before the other could change his mind, and together the group piled into the shuttle and headed up.

The shuttle's pilot turned out to be the same one who had flown Jack to the canyon after his kidnapping at the NorthCentral Spaceport. His name turned out to be Eight-Three-One Among Many. "I don't believe this is a wise idea, Jupa Jack," he warned as he once again threaded the shuttle through the system of arching bridges and guy wires up into the bright desert sunlight. "We were told there would be great danger if anyone went into the mine."

"I'll be careful," Jack assured him, studying the area as the shuttle moved toward it over the glistening sand.

The mine entrance was at the western edge of a long mound of sand surrounded by a confused tumble of gray and black rock formations cutting upward through the desert surface. Large plastic or ceramic beams framed the actual opening, which was under the partial protection of a thick rock overhang. Even from their distance it was obvious the entrance itself had filled with drifting sand.

There—to the left.

Jack winced as he turned his torso a little in that direction. What in the world did Draycos think he was doing, talking again in a crowded shuttle like that?

There—Langston's crash site.

Jack peered in that direction as he gave his upper chest a warning tap. He'd better set his partner straight about these slips, preferably before they set off on the return trip.

But the K'da was right. Even amid the random sand drifts and half-covered rock formations he could pick out the buried shape of Langston's starfighter. It was about a hundred yards from the mine entrance, in one of the few patches of sand that didn't have any large rocks in it. Probably why Langston had chosen that spot to ditch in.

It was also no more than twenty yards from the eastern edge of the canyon. The pilot was lucky, Jack reflected, that he hadn't missed the edge and gone straight to the ground below.

"Where do you wish me to land?" Eithon asked.

"Right out front," Jack said, shifting his attention back to the mine entrance. "Between those two big rock formations will do nicely."

A minute later Eithon set them down in the shade of the easternmost of the rocks Jack had pointed out. "Looks like we've got some digging ahead," Jack said as he climbed out. "I wish I'd thought to bring some shovels."

"I brought two," Thonsifi said, her voice reluctant. "They are in the storage area."

"Great," Jack said, stepping around the back of the shuttle and popping the hatch. The shovels were small gardening tools, but at least they'd work better than bare hands. "Let's get to it," he said, pulling them out.

The others joined him, all three Golvins with the same hesitation Jack had already heard in Thonsifi's voice.

But they tackled the job willingly enough. Thonsifi and Eithon handled the shovels, scooping away the sand, while Jack and Sefiseni moved larger stones and broken pieces of the entryway itself.

Within half an hour they had an opening big enough to get through. "Great work," Jack complimented them, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Let's go."

None of the Golvins moved. "It is not safe," Thonsifi said. "We were warned to stay away."

"Who said it wasn't safe?"

"Those who built the mine," Thonsifi said. "After we were told that the copper and iron were not ours."

At which point all the legal complications had set in. "No problem," Jack said. "You can all wait here. I don't mind going in by myself."

Thonsifi and Sefiseni exchanged looks. "The One Among Many told us to stay with you," Thonsifi said with a sigh. "If you go, so must we."

"You don't have to," Jack insisted. "I'm a Judge-Paladin. I can give orders, too."

"No, we will go," Thonsifi said in a slightly firmer voice.

"I was given no such instruction by the One Among Many," Eithon spoke up. "Do you also wish me to come with you?"

"No, thanks," Jack said. "We need someone to stay out here and watch the shuttle anyway." Though to watch it against what possible danger he couldn't imagine. "Load the shovels back into the shuttle, though, will you?"

"We do not have any carry lights," Thonsifi said.

"That's okay—I've got one," Jack told her, pulling out his flashlight. "Well, come on. If we're going, let's go." He turned and squeezed through the gap into the mine.

There was no immediate response from the others. Still, by the time he reached the edge of the daylight Thonsifi and Sefiseni were beside him. "Nice and easy," Jack said encouragingly, flicking on his light. "Stay close, and watch your footing."

The tunnel extended straight back for about fifty feet, then began a gradual slope downward. Jack's small light wasn't really up to the task of guiding three sets of feet, but fortunately it didn't have to. Midway down the slope they reached a section of tunnel where some dim backup lights were still working.

"They are still lit?" Thonsifi asked, looking at them in awe.

"They're long-term emergency lights," Jack told her. "Self-contained, with a twenty-year power source."

A minute later the tunnel came to an end at a large assembly/staging area. Two smaller tunnels extended out from opposite sides of the room, heading downward into darkness. "Those must lead to the actual mines," Jack said, shining his light around the staging area. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made of the same white ceramic as the main entrance tunnel. The floor was covered with a thin layer of sand, all the surfaces stained with age and dust.

But even with all that, an explosion in here should have left behind some very visible evidence. At the very least there should be some powder burns, and probably some cracks and stress damage as well. Only there wasn't anything.

Which meant the explosion that had killed his parents must have been down in one of the lower tunnels.

He turned his light to shine into one of the entrances. The beam faded away, swallowed up by distance and darkness.

"Do we go back now?" Thonsifi asked hopefully.

"Not quite yet," Jack told her. The thought of going deep underground wasn't exactly filling him with bubbles, either. But this whole trip would be for nothing if he didn't at least find some clues as to what had happened to his parents. "Did the mine's owners ever say why they shut down the operation?"

"We are the mine's owners," Sefiseni bit out.

Jack looked at the guard in mild surprise. It was the first time the Golvin had ever spoken directly to him. "My error," he apologized.

"It was our copper and iron they were stealing," Sefiseni said accusingly, as if this was all somehow Jack's fault.

"I understand," Jack said soothingly. "The legal problems—"

"And Jupa Stuart and Jupa Ariel did nothing to stop them," Sefiseni cut him off.

Jack felt his stomach tighten. So he'd been right the first time. Sefiseni did consider this Jack's fault, or at least his fault by inheritance. "Well, something stopped them," he pointed out. "This place hasn't been touched in years."

"They said the tunnels were in danger of collapsing," Thonsifi said, looking nervously at the ceiling. "They also said the lower portions had become flooded."

In a desert? Jack frowned. Still, there was a river rolling along three hundred feet below them. Clearly, there was water around here somewhere.

He crossed the staging area to the left tunnel. Attached to the sides, at just about waist height, were identical five-inch-diameter open-ended pipes partially set into the walls and leading downward. Resting a hand on one of them, Jack turned an ear into the tunnel, though he wasn't quite sure what he was expecting to hear.

He heard nothing but his own breathing. On a hunch, he squatted down and listened at each of the pipes. Still nothing.

A whisper of weight came onto his chest, and he felt the front of his shirt move slightly as Draycos flicked out his tongue. The weight vanished again—There is machinery down there.

Jack sent a glare down at his shoulder. What in the world was making the K'da so blasted careless about talking in front of other people these days? Did he think the Golvins were deaf? "I'm going down a little ways," he called back to the others, pitching his voice a little louder than necessary in case Draycos decided to run some more commentary on the situation. "You two stay here—I'm just going to see if I can find any problems."

He headed off before they could object, shining his light on the rough floor of the tunnel in front of him. There was no white ceramic here; the whole tunnel had been carved out of brown and gray rock.

The floor was rougher than the entry tunnel had been. There was also a layer of rock dust over everything, with small to medium-big pools of dust and stone in practically every dip and depression. Combined with the shadows thrown by his light, it made for rather uncertain footing.

Fortunately, the two pipes running along the sides were just the right height for handrails. Keeping one hand running lightly over the nearest pipe, he continued down.

Another bit of weight came onto his chest and shoulder. "Native stone," Draycos murmured quietly. "We must be below the sand layer."

"Yeah, thanks for the tip," Jack muttered back, throwing a quick look over his shoulder. But neither of the Golvins had followed him in. "Is there something about tunneling machinery that really excites you?"

"Pardon?"

"Blurting it out in front of God and Thonsifi and everyone that way," Jack said. "I know these Golvins are kind of primitive—"

"What do you mean, blurting it out?" Draycos interrupted. "I haven't spoken since we left the apartment this morning."

"Oh, come on," Jack growled. Gotcha! he thought sourly. So much for the high and mighty K'da warrior ethic and the idea of always telling the truth. "It isn't the first time, either," he added. "When we were first coming in to the canyon—"

"I did not speak," Draycos insisted. "And what do you mean by gotcha?"

"I mean—" Jack stopped abruptly, a sudden icy shiver running up his back. "Did you hear me say gotcha just now?" he asked carefully.

"Very clearly," Draycos said, starting to sound a little huffy. "Furthermore, you said it in such a way that—"

"I didn't say anything, Draycos," Jack said. "I just thought it."

"I heard—" Draycos broke off abruptly.

For a moment neither of them spoke. "You never told me about this one," Jack said at last.

"This has never happened before, Jack," Draycos told him, his voice actually shaking. "Not with the Shontine. Not ever in the recorded history of my people."

Jack took a deep breath. "We're sure we're not just imagining things, right?"

For a moment there was silence. Then, as clear as if the K'da had actually spoken, Jack heard his voice whispering in his mind. We stand before, we stand behind; we seek the truth with heart and mind.

"My mother's poem," Jack said, his stomach tightening. "This is nuts, buddy. This is really nuts."

"It does take effort," Draycos said. "I had to concentrate on the words for you to hear them."

"Or else you had to be thinking really strongly about them," Jack said, thinking back. "Like on the shuttle on our way in, when you really wanted me to turn to the right so you could see better."

"I remember," Draycos said thoughtfully. "I wished very much that I could ask you to turn, but knew it would be unsafe in such close quarters. And then, to my relief, you did exactly that, allowing me to see and identify the mine."

"And I've been mad at you for a week and a half about it." Jack shook his head. "Sorry. You suppose it works when we're not together?"

"Let's find out." With a surge of weight, Draycos leaped out of Jack's shirt collar onto the tunnel floor.

"Ssst!" Jack hissed warningly, looking back up the tunnel. Fortunately, a gentle curve had put the entrance, and the two Golvins, out of view. "We don't want them to see you."

"They won't," Draycos assured him. "Did you hear anything just now?"

Jack shook his head. "Nope. Guess it only works when you're riding me. You're sure this has never happened before?"

"Trust me," Draycos said, a little dryly. "I would have heard."

"Another one for the record books," Jack said, forcing his mind back to business. "So where exactly is this machinery you're all excited about?"

"This way," Draycos said, flicking his tail at Jack as he headed again down the tunnel. "Perhaps you will find it interesting, as well."

Shortly ahead, the tunnel split into two branches, the pipelines along the walls splitting along with it. Draycos picked the left-hand one, continuing left when the branch split again about fifty feet ahead. "These must be some really impressive copper ores for them to have gone to all this work," Jack commented as they hit yet another branch and again turned left.

"From what I've read of your economy, this is far too much effort for copper or iron," Draycos said over his shoulder. "There—just ahead."

They reached the end of their branch of the tunnel, to find the machinery Draycos had predicted.

Six pieces of machinery, in fact. There were two self-propelled diggers on tanklike treads, a rock crusher, something that looked like a giant pump, and two machines with large vats that Jack couldn't identify. All of them were wrapped in clear plastic, the soft glint of lubricating oil visible on their treads and drive wheels and other moving parts.

"I could smell the lubricating oil," Draycos said as Jack gingerly ran a hand over one of the diggers. "I thought perhaps it was evidence someone was still working the mine."

"Not yet, but they're sure ready to," Jack said, peering into the empty vat on one of the unidentified machines.

"But why?" Draycos asked, sounding bewildered. "If the ores here are valuable, why wait to mine them?"

"Could be any of a dozen reasons," Jack said. "Maybe they're still fighting to get the mining rights away from the Golvins. Maybe they're waiting for the market value to go up."

He shined his light at the tunnel face, the beam sparkling against a glittering array of metal bits embedded in the gray rock. "Or maybe after murdering a couple of Judge-Paladins they thought it would be smart to shut down and lie low for a while."

"A wise move on their part," Draycos said grimly, looking around. "But I've still not seen any evidence of any explosion."

"Me, neither," Jack admitted. "Must be down one of the other tunnels." He peered back the way they'd come. "But we don't have time to go looking now. Thonsifi's probably tearing her ears off worrying about me."

"Or worrying about what the One will say about letting you come down here alone."

"That, too," Jack agreed. "By the way, while you were sniffing out lubricating oil, did you happen to smell any water?"

"None," Draycos said. "I suspect that part of the story was told merely to ensure the Golvins stayed out of the mine."

"Probably," Jack said. "Stupid lie to tell, though, here in the middle of the desert."

"Perhaps," Draycos said. "Still, there is a river not too far below us."

"Yeah." Jack frowned suddenly at him. "Hey, I was just thinking that a while back. You been eavesdropping on my mind?"

Draycos's tail curved in a frown. "Not consciously," he said slowly. "But perhaps we are beginning to share other thoughts on a subconscious level."

"Maybe," Jack said. The thought of someone poking around inside his skull made his skin crawl. Even if that someone was Draycos. "Or maybe we're just thinking the same direction. The river is a pretty obvious thought."

"True," Draycos said. To Jack's ears, he sounded a little relieved by that thought, as well. "But as you say, we should leave." Touching Jack's hand, he slid back up his sleeve. "I'll guide you out."