Dragonback 02 Dragon and Soldier Read Online Free PDF Page B

blackmailed into assisting him."
    "You think that's going to matter to Neverlin?"
    "I suppose not," Draycos conceded, his voice thoughtful.
    Again, Jack tried to get a look at the dragon's face. "So where
exactly are you going with this line of conversation?" he asked. "You
suggesting we ask Braxton for help?"
    "Certainly not," Draycos said firmly, his mind apparently finished
with wherever it had been wandering. "You know we cannot afford to let
anyone know there was a survivor of the Valahgua attack. I have simply
been thinking about Braxton today."
    "And I'm sure he appreciates it," Jack said. "Can we forget him
now and concentrate on the problem at hand?"
    "Yes, of course," Draycos said. "What do you wish me to do?"
    "First of all, you eat," Jack said, reaching under his bunk to the
napkin-wrapped slices of meat he'd managed to smuggle out of the mess
hall. "There isn't much here, I'm afraid. I'll try to do better
tomorrow."
    "I am grateful." Draycos's head rose from Jack's chest, pushing up
the blankets.
    One by one, Jack fed the meat slices into his open mouth,
maneuvering carefully between the sharp teeth. It felt rather like
feeding a pet dog, he thought.
    He quickly and firmly put the warm-fuzzy image away. Draycos had
already made it clear he wasn't anyone's pet. "I can hunt if necessary,
as well," the dragon said, still chewing as his head sank flat against
Jack's chest again. "What is next?"
    "The main computer system is probably in the headquarters," Jack
said. "It's a big, three-story gray building through the trees facing
the landing area. It had a flag flying in front of it earlier."
    "I saw it."
    "Good," Jack said. He was never quite sure how much Draycos could
see riding his skin that way. "There may be a way to tap into their
records from somewhere else, but I'm guessing the HQ is our best bet.
And since they probably aren't going to let us just walk in and sift
through their files during the day, it's going to have to be at night."
    "There will be guard patrols," Draycos pointed out. "As well as
alarms."
    "Right," Jack agreed. "Nothing we can do about the alarms until we
can get a close look at them. But we should at least be able to figure
out the patrols."
    "Yes," Draycos said. The blankets swelled upward again as the
dragon raised his head from Jack's shoulder and poked his snout into
the open air. "These windows do not face the proper direction."
    "There are some in the washroom that do," Jack said. "High up on
the walls. You should be able to see the HQ and most of the area around
it from there."
    "Good." Draycos rose higher off Jack's skin and stretched his
neck, the movement shaking his head completely out of concealment.
"Hold your breath."
    Frowning, Jack took a deep breath and held it. For perhaps twenty
seconds the dragon sat there like a statue, his golden scales seeming
to glow in the pale light. Every few seconds his ears would twitch; and
then, abruptly, he nodded. "They are all asleep," he said, dropping
lightly onto the floor beside Jack's cot. "I will need your watch."
    Jack handed it over. "They said reveille would be at four-thirty,"
he warned the dragon. "Don't pull a Cinderella on me."
    "Pardon?"
    "Skip it," Jack said, resettling the blankets over his shoulders
and rolling onto his side. It had been a long day, and he suddenly
realized he was very tired indeed. "Just don't be late. And try not to
wake me up when you get home."

CHAPTER 5

    Reveille came precisely at four-thirty, a raucous trumpet blare
that sent bunks jerking all through the barracks. Thirty seconds later,
Sergeant Grisko himself came striding through the door, bellowing for
all the greasy maggot-infested sacks of lard to get their hind ends out
of bed and stand at attention.
    "Sloppy, maggots," he growled when the teens were standing stiffly
at the ends of their bunks. "What do you think this is, summer camp?
Well, it's not. Who do you think I am, your mother? Well, I'm not ."
    He stomped slowly down the room between