Timothy Zahn - Dragon and Slave

"That day is today, Noy," Jack said. "For you, and anyone else who wants to go."

"This dragon," a Parprin from across the room said in a husky voice. "What did it look like?"

"It was all gold," Noy said. "Smaller than dragons you hear about in stories.

He gave me food and juice, and he sang."

The Parprin flexed his ears and stood up. "All right. I'm in."

"What?" the Eytra demanded, turning in his seat to look at the Parprin. "Have you gone crazy, Muskrack?"

"The gold dragon is a symbol of hope and change," the Parprin said. "And what have we to lose?"

"Our lives, for starters," the Eytra said scornfully. "If you two humans want to be insane, go be insane somewhere else."

"I intend to," Jack promised. "On the far side of the wall." He looked down at Maerlynn. "Well?"

Maerlynn gave a deep sigh. "Jack... I can't. I have Grib and Greb and Lisssa to think about. What would they do without me?"

"So bring the twins along," Jack offered. "As for Lisssa, maybe we can pick her up on our way out."

"Pick her up where?" Greb asked. "She's—well, she was right here."

Jack frowned. "What do you mean, right here? She's at the Chookoock family mansion."

"No, she's not," Maerlynn said, frowning back. "How would she get there?"

"But—"

And then, the horrible truth hit him. Lisssa, stealing out to the frying pan every couple of hours. Lisssa, who had told him she only looked out for herself, coming to see how he was doing. Lisssa, risking her life with the Brummgan patrols to bring him food and blankets.

Lisssa, helping Gazen make sure Jack stayed put throughout the night.

Lisssa, a Brummgan informant.

"See?" Grib said, pointing behind Jack. "There she is."

Jack spun around. There she was, all right, slipping out the door into the night to report to her masters.

Jack snarled one of Uncle Virgil's favorite curses, his eyes darting to the floor and the tables. The floor? Too crowded. He'd never make it around everyone and catch up with her. Not with the lead she already had.

The tables, then? Leap up onto one of them, bound across to the next, and so on to the door? But there were just as many people around the tables as there were in the narrow aisles between them. And the tables were loaded with dishes and cups besides.

No, there was only one way to stop her now. Only one person who could catch her before she blew the whistle and brought the whole Chookoock family down on them.

"Draycos," he hissed. "We haven't got a choice." The dragon didn't answer, but Jack could feel him coil himself to spring. Jack braced himself, wondering dimly what all the scoffers would say when the golden dragon actually appeared.

Then, from the direction of the doorway came a sudden squawk. There was a second squawk; and to Jack's amazement, Lisssa reappeared in the doorway. She hesitated, as if unwilling to continue; and then a large human hand appeared from the darkness and shoved her roughly all the way inside.

And stepping into the hut behind her—

"Here you go, Jack," Fleck called cheerfully across the room as he gave Lisssa another shove. "This what you were looking for?"

Jack felt his knees go suddenly weak. Fleck. Bright red sash across his chest.

Slapstick at his side. Full authority of the Brummgas at his back.

But he, Jack, had Draycos. A single command, and the K'da warrior would leap out of his collar and tear Fleck into small, bloody pieces—

"Here," Fleck said, flipping something small toward Jack.

Automatically, Jack reached out and caught it. It was a comm clip, one side colored and shaped just like a Dolom scale. "What's this?" he asked, frowning up at Fleck again.

"This—" Fleck shook Lisssa's arm "—is a Brummgan spy. Gazen gives them special privileges in exchange for information." He spun Lisssa around and gave her a final shove that landed her on one of the benches. "I've suspected her for a long time." "Ask if she communicated with them," Draycos murmured in Jack's ear.

"Was she able to get off a message just now?" Jack asked.

"I don't think so," Fleck said. "But my guess is they already know something's up. If we're going to go, we'd better be quick."

Jack blinked. " 'We'?"

"Sure." Fleck smiled tightly, sending a look around the room. "Like Jack said," he went on, raising his voice. "Anyone else hate this place enough to go with us?"

"It's a trick," someone growled. "Fleck's one of them, too."

"None of the rest of us carry weapons," someone else added pointedly.

Fleck didn't even bother to glance that direction. He started toward Jack, the crowd melting away from in front of him.

And as he got within arm's length he drew his slapstick.

Jack tensed. But Fleck merely turned the weapon around and handed it to him, handle first. "I'm willing to take a chance," the big man said, looking around the room again. "How about you?"

For a moment the room was silent. Then, in twos and threes, the slaves began murmuring quietly among themselves. "If this is a trick," Jack said quietly to Fleck, "I'll make it my business to be sure you're the first one in the Brummgas' line of fire."

"It's no trick," Fleck said, just as quietly. "Strange things have been happening around here lately. Odd footprints in the dirt. Odd activity by the Brummgas at night. Someone carefully cutting their way through the thorn hedge."

He must have seen something in Jack's face, because he smiled suddenly. "Oh, yes, I knew about that. The Brummgas tried to keep it quiet. But I knew."

He nodded fractionally to the side. "And now we've got Noy coming back from an isolation hut with stories about gold dragons."

"What do you think it all means?" Jack asked, keeping his voice even.

"Maybe it's nothing but wishful thinking," Fleck said bluntly. "Maybe you're just a con man playing on old legends and gullible types like Muskrack who find omens in everything they see or hear. Maybe all you're doing is trying to turn us into a distraction so you can sneak out alone." He paused, his eyes steady on Jack.

"I came back to get Noy," Jack told him. "I just thought some of the rest of you would like to get out, too."

Fleck snorted under his breath. "And maybe you're such a good con man that you can sound as honest as you're sounding right now."

Jack felt a stirring of anger. Here he was, risking his own life and freedom for these people. Living up to the K'da warrior ethic that Draycos was always prattling on about. And all Fleck could think about was that it might be a con?

"Look, Fleck—"

Fleck stopped him with an upraised hand. "All I know is two things," he said.

"One, that none of this strange stuff happened until you showed up. And two—"

He looked at Noy. "There's no way that kid came up with that poem on his own.

No way. Something big is going on, and I'm willing to take a chance on it." His eyes drilled into Jack's face. "Just remember one thing. I'm the one responsible for these people. It's my job to keep them in line so that the Brummgas will stay off their backs. If you're spouting smoke... you understand me?"

Jack swallowed. "Perfectly."

"Jack, may I have a word with you?" Draycos murmured at his ear.

Jack took a deep breath. "I'm going to take a quick look outside," he told Fleck. "Be right back."

He could feel the slaves' eyes following him as he made his way to the door.

Maybe they were wondering if he'd given up on them and was heading out on his own.

Good. A little pressure might help them make up their minds.

He'd half expected to find a ring of armed Brummgas waiting outside. But the night was quiet. "I know what you're thinking," he told Draycos before the dragon could say anything. "And I suppose it is stupid to trust Fleck. But as near as I can read him, he seems okay."