Dragonback 04 Dragon and Herdsman (11 page)

Alison snorted. "I don't think I'd even want to see him in a
zoo
,"
she said darkly. "I don't know if he'd bother a Phooka, let alone a
whole group of them. But the Erassvas would be like dumplings on the
hoof to something this size."

"Assuming he's a carnivore."

"It would be criminally stupid to assume anything else at the
moment," Alison said. "Any thoughts?"

Jack chewed at his lip. "Seems to me our best bet would be to
group all the Erassvas together in the middle where we can protect
them."

" 'We'?" Alison said pointedly.

"Fine; where
you
can protect them," Jack said. "Whatever.
Then we let the Phookas roam around the outside, while you and I stay
near the Erassvas."

"That's pretty much what I was thinking," she agreed. "Unless, of
course, you're ready to give up on this caravan and send them back
home."

"Not with those mercs still on our tail," Jack said firmly.
"They'd slaughter the whole bunch of them."

"Why?" she demanded. "That's the part I don't get. Why .would the
Malison Ring waste perfectly good ammunition on any of them?"

Jack sighed. "I already said I can't explain. Trust me; we have to
stick together."

Alison sighed. "Fine," she said in resignation. "In that case,
we'd better start looking for a good place to turn west. We're going to
need those foothill caves more than ever now. In fact, we're going to
need a whole apartment complex worth of them."

"We're not going to the hills," Jack said. "I've been thinking,
and I'm not sure anymore that the
Essenay
was destroyed like
Frost thinks. I'm thinking maybe it just hid in the river and is making
its way down toward us."

"Really," Alison said, her dark eyes probing his face. "You have
any evidence for this? Other than wishful thinking?"

"Not really," Jack had to admit. "But the computer is pretty
resourceful."

"The computer?" Alison asked pointedly. "Or your uncle?"

Jack frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play cute," she growled. "I heard that other voice, just
before that last explosion. It didn't sound like any P/S computer
system
I've
ever seen. Where was he hiding, anyway?"

Jack suppressed a grimace. He'd been hoping she hadn't caught
Uncle Virge's change in tone there at the end. "I'm sorry. I really
can't talk about that."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence. "You know, Jack, it can
be fun to have secrets," she said. "But sometimes those secrets can
turn around and bite you on the butt."

"Don't treat me like a child," Jack snapped. "I can't talk about
it. Period."

Her lips tightened briefly. "Fine," she said. "Have it your way. I
just hope you'll find it in your heart to loosen up a little before
something I don't know kills me. So you want to tell Hren about our new
marching order? Or should I do it?"

"I'll tell him," Jack said. He nodded at the claw marks. "And
given
that
, I think that if I'm on point I should carry the
Corvine."

"You ever fired one before?"

Jack gave her a lopsided grin. "I had ten whole days of training
back at the Whinyard's Edge, remember?"

"That's what I thought," Alison said. "Tell you what. I'll keep
the Corvine, and
I'll
take point."

"Whatever," Jack said, trying to keep the satisfaction out of his
voice. Perfect. "You corral Greenie, and I'll go find Hren."

They'd been traveling in their new formation for nearly an hour
when Draycos finally reappeared, slipping into sight through the
undergrowth. "About time," Jack said as the dragon put a paw on his
outstretched palm and vanished up his sleeve. "Any problems?"

"None," Draycos said. "The animals I smelled were plant-eaters,
though with quite formidable-looking horns. I was able to drive them on
their way with little difficulty."

"And this took you a whole hour?"

"No, of course not," Draycos said. "I scouted ahead for other
potential threats, then circled back to see if I could learn what the
mercenaries were doing."

"And?"

Jack felt a whisper of movement across the back of his right leg
as the dragon twitched his tail. "I found no signs of pursuit," the
other said. "Either they are still pondering their next move or else
they have already decided on a different tactic."

"Probably the latter," Jack said. "I just hope it doesn't involve
bringing the Kapstan over the forest and strafing randomly until they
hit something."

"They wish to capture you alive," Draycos reminded him.

"They wanted Uncle Virgil alive," Jack countered. "I'm not so sure
how badly they want me by myself."

"We shall see," Draycos said. "At least the heavy foliage will
prevent them from using the transport's infrared detectors to easily
locate you. And of course, they still do not know how K'da appear on
such detectors."

"Don't be so sure," Jack warned. "Remember, Frost and Neverlin are
working with the Valahgua. If I were Neverlin, as soon as I knew a K'da
had survived I'd have screamed for all the data they've got on your
people. Including how you show up on IR detectors."

"That data would not do them any good," Draycos said. "Valahguan
sensors work differently from yours."

"Maybe," Jack said. "But don't forget that the Malison Ring had
four of the Valahgua's nasty little Death weapons when they attacked
your advance party. If the Valahgua were willing to hand those over, I
don't think they'd be too hard to talk out of a couple sets of sensors,
too."

"Perhaps," Draycos conceded reluctantly. "Odd. The Valahgua have
always been very protective of their technology. But you're right—the
Malison Ring certainly did have Death weapons."

"Which we'd better hope are a long way from here," Jack said as
that thought suddenly struck him. "They could just sweep it across the
forest and be done with it."

"It does not work that way," Draycos said. "Even in the vacuum of
space the Death is a fairly short-range weapon. On a planet's surface,
its range is much less."

"How much less?"

"Considerably," Draycos said. "In a forest like this, with life
all around, no more than two to three feet."

"Thank heaven for small favors," Jack said.

"Yes," Draycos said. "Were there any problems while I was gone?"

Jack shrugged. "Alison's mad at me for keeping secrets, and
there's something out here that likes to rip off tree bark eight feet
off the ground. Aside from that, not much."

"'Yes, I saw similar claw marks up ahead," Draycos said. "But they
appeared to be several days old. Perhaps the creature has moved on."

"I hope so," Jack said. "Because if he hasn't, we're probably
going to lose a Phooka or two down the rabbit hole."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that with the Erassvas together in the center this way,
the Phookas have a bad habit of ranging away from the main group," Jack
told him. "Far enough out, in fact, that they—blast." He pointed to the
left, where a pale burgundy K'da was walking briskly away. "Come on.
Let me show you how
my
day's been going."

The maverick K'da had worked his way around a stand of bushes by
the time Jack reached him. Completely out of sight of the main group,
digging industriously at a small insect mound, he would probably never
have noticed if he'd been left behind. "Come on," Jack said, getting a
grip on his crest and tugging on it. "Come on, big fella."

Reluctantly, the K'da allowed himself to be pulled away from his
snack. Jack eased him around the bushes and started working his way
back toward the edge of the group. "And it hasn't stopped, either," he
continued to Draycos. "No matter what the Malison Ring has in mind,
once it gets dark we absolutely have to quit for the day. If we don't,
we'll probably lose half of them by morning."

"Perhaps I can help," Draycos offered. "I can patrol the outer
edge of the group and watch for stragglers."

"Kind of like a sheepdog?"

"Not precisely the way I would have phrased it," Draycos said
stiffly. "But essentially correct."

"What if Alison sees you?"

"What if she does?" Draycos countered. "What would one more K'da
be among so many others?"

"I don't know," Jack said doubtfully. "She's pretty sharp, and
there aren't any other gold ones. But you're right, I can't keep them
all together myself. Let's give it a shot."

Draycos bounded from Jack's collar onto the ground. "You return
this one to the herd and then cross over to the right flank," he
instructed. "I will stay on this flank, and also keep watch to the
rear."

"Where you'll be handy if the Malison Ring makes another move?"

"Not
if
," Draycos corrected him grimly. "
When
."

His offer to watch the Phookas, Draycos quickly discovered, was
easier to make than to fulfill.

For starters, the creatures were every bit as irresponsible and
simple minded as Jack had warned. With the Erassvas mostly out of their
sight, it took nothing more than an interesting log or bush or rock to
lure many of them off the proper path. No sooner had Draycos gotten one
back on-course than someone else would wander away.

It was a constant job just keeping track of them all. From the
sounds of rapid footsteps he could hear on the other side of the
traveling formation, he could tell that Jack wasn't having any easier a
time of it.

What was far worse than the physical activity, though, was the
constant pain of seeing his people reduced to animals.

If that
was
indeed what had happened to them. Because
there was another, far worse possibility.

The possibility that
this
was in fact the natural state of
the K'da. That it was only through their long relationship with the
Shontine that Draycos's people had been lifted to the level of
civilized beings.

It was a terrifying thought. If it was true, it would mean that
the legends about their early relationship with the long-lost Dhghem
were false. It would mean that stories of how the kidnapped K'da had
planned and executed an escape from the Cark slavers were completely
made up.

It would mean their entire history was a lie.

To his surprise and shame, he found that he couldn't face such a
possibility. He, Draycos, poet-warrior of the K'da, had finally found
something he was frightened to face.

So instead, he threw himself into his work, focusing his full
attention on keeping his half of the herd in line. Perhaps later, when
things were quiet, he would be able to take the time to think about who
and what he and his people truly were.

It was just as well that he chose to ignore such questions and
turn his full attention on the duties of the present. It was on one of
his wider-ranging herding swings that he discovered the Malison Ring's
trap.

It came as a distant but familiar whiff of scent as he was
corralling a particularly stubborn K'da. Somewhere to their left, he
recognized, a group of humans had gathered.

For a few seconds he stood still, his tail hooked firmly in the
errant K'da's crest, trying to decide what to do. The humans weren't
very close, probably at least a mile away. If he left immediately, he
should be able to see what they were up to and get back before Jack and
the others got too close.

But if he left right now, this particular K'da would almost
certainly wander off again.

The greatest good for the greatest number
. It was one of
the basic rules of life and warfare, a rule he'd been taught in
childhood. From some of the comments Uncle Virge had made over the past
three months, he knew it to be a human saying as well.

And yet he also knew that a warrior could focus so much attention
on the greater number that the needs of the individual became lost in
the mist.

So where
did
his responsibilities lie here?

From behind him came a soft snuffle, and he turned his head to
look. The gray-scaled K'da, the one he'd dubbed Taneem, was watching
him, a mildly puzzled expression on her face.

Draycos cursed beneath his breath. He didn't have time for this.

And was instantly ashamed of himself.
The needs of the
individual
. . .

A sudden idea struck him. If Draycos's people had indeed been
raised up from the level of animals, maybe that potential lay deep
within these K'da, too.

And if Taneem could learn, perhaps he could kill two lizards with
one slash. "You," he called softly to her. "Gray K'da."

She cocked her head slightly to the side, her puzzlement
deepening. "Yes, you," Draycos confirmed. "You—Taneem. Your name is
Taneem now. Come here, Taneem."

Still looking uncertain, she nevertheless came to his side. "Take
your friend," Draycos ordered her, unhooking his tail from the rogue
K'da's crest. "Go ahead—wrap your tail around his crest and lead him
back to the others. Can you do that?"

For a few seconds it seemed that he would have done as well to
talk to one of the shrubs. Taneem stared unblinkingly at him,
apparently trying hard to sort it all out. Then, to Draycos's mild
surprise, she stepped to the other K'da's side and tentatively looped
her tail around his crest. "That's right," Draycos said encouragingly.
"Perfect. Now take him back to the others and stay there with him. I'll
be back soon."

Again, it seemed to take her some time to work it through. Then,
with a flick of her tongue she turned back toward the group, the other
K'da in tow. With one final lingering look at Draycos over her
shoulder, she disappeared around a clump of tall ferns.

Draycos didn't wait to see any more. If they made it, they made
it. Turning to his left, he headed toward the distant human scent.

The telltale odor increased steadily as he traveled, but as near
as he could tell the intruders were stationary. He kept going until
he'd reached a spot perhaps a hundred feet away from them, then shifted
to stalking mode. He covered the last bit of distance as silently and
carefully as he could manage.