Dragonback 02 Dragon and Soldier Read Online Free PDF Page A

his hand into his right-hand pocket. The man had said there was a
holster somewhere in there?
    "It goes like this," a girl's voice said from behind him. Jack
turned, to see the dark-eyed girl who'd had the brief run-in earlier
with Jommy Randolph. "What?" he asked.
    "I said it goes like this," she repeated. She patted her right
hip, where her Moray was already nestled in its holster. "You pull the
tab and it folds out into shape."
    "Oh." Jack located the tab and pulled. Sure enough, the holster
folded out. "Right. Thanks."
    "The rifle goes like this," she added, looping the sling over her
right shoulder with the gun pointed down and the top of the barrel
facing forward. "This way you can just grab the grip and swing it up on
its strap into firing position." She demonstrated. "See?"
    "Yeah," Jack said, tucking his Moray away and redoing the rifle.
Gingerly, he swung it up. "Yeah, I see."
    "Don't worry, it won't bite," she assured him, her face somewhere
between contempt and amusement. "See the red spirals along the barrels?
These are candy canes."
    "They're what?"
    "Candy canes. Non-functional guns."
    Jack frowned down at his rifle. "What are they giving us
non-functional guns for?"
    She shrugged. "Get us used to carrying the weight, I suppose."
    "But why not use real ones?" Jack persisted. "They're going to
give us those before we go into the field anyway, aren't they?"
    She snorted. "If you want to get on a crowded transport with a
hundred farm boys like you who've never seen a gun before and who have live ammo, go ahead. Me, I'll stick with Santa's elves and
their candy canes."
    "I have too seen guns before," Jack insisted irritably. This girl
had a genuine knack for rubbing people the wrong way. "Just not this
particular type."
    "Sure," she said. "Just keep 'em pointed at the ground, okay?" She
nodded toward his left hand. "You need help with that, too?"
    Jack looked down at the nameplate still in his hand. "I think I
can figure that one out for myself, thanks," he growled.
    "I'm sure," she said. Her own name plate, he saw, was already
neatly pinned over her right shirt pocket. KAYNA, it said. "The name's
Montana, right?"
    "Yes," Jack said. "Call me Jack."
    "Call me Kayna," she said pointedly. She took another look at his
face, and her lip twitched. "Or Alison," she added, almost grudgingly.
    "Nice to meet you, Alison," Jack said.
    "Yeah. Right." She tapped her own name plate. "And remember: If you can read it, it's upside down."
    She smiled sweetly and moved off, her footlocker rolling along
beside her. Muttering under his breath, Jack pinned his nameplate into
place and followed.
    Maybe Jommy had been right. Maybe this was going to be
like prison.

CHAPTER 4

    Half an hour later, after a lot of jostling and confusion, the new
recruits and their luggage were finally aboard the transports.
    The seats were hard and narrow, and the teens were squeezed
together like slabs of packaged meat. Jammed against the two boys on
either side of him, apologizing as his equipment poked into their ribs
and wincing as theirs poked into his, Jack had to admit Alison had been
right. He was just as glad no one aboard had live ammo.
    He tried a few times to strike up conversations, but no one nearby
seemed interested in talking. Eventually he gave up the effort and
spent the rest of the trip gazing moodily at the seat in front of him.
With his comm clip connection to Uncle Virge buried inside his
footlocker, and with too many people pressed around for him to risk
talking to Draycos, he felt strangely lonely.
    It was an hour before they set down in the center of what looked
like a random collection of small huts, large prefabricated buildings,
and a scattering of tents of various colors and styles. The recruits
were herded off their transports and ordered into one of three long
barracks buildings nestled under the trees.
    Jack had hoped to get a bed near one of the handful of tall,
narrow windows, with an eye toward the kind of midnight computer