Dragonback 05 Dragon and Judge Read Online Free PDF

parents," Draycos said.
"Fortunately, they seem to hold Jupas in great esteem."
    "Only I'm not a Jupa," Jack reminded him.
    "Perhaps there is some task your parents were attempting when they
died," Draycos suggested. "They may hope you'll complete it."
    "I hope they don't want me to reopen the mine," Jack muttered, a
sudden lump rising into his throat. "I don't know the first thing about
mining."
    "Yet you learn quickly," Draycos pointed out.
    Jack snorted. "I hate to tell you, symby, but a hundred feet
underground is no place to start learning a trade. Mining is a lot
trickier than it looks."
    "We'll take it slow and easy," Draycos assured him. "And we'll do
it together."
    "Terrific," Jack countered. "How much do you know about
mining?"
    The whiplike tail arched thoughtfully. "It involves digging," he
said helpfully.
    "Thanks," Jack said dryly. " That much I knew." Sitting up,
he twisted his left shoe around and prodded at the molded rubber of the
sole. The secret compartment popped open, and he dug out his spare comm
clip. "First things first. Let's see if the cavalry was paying
attention back there." He clicked on the device. "Uncle Virge?" he
called. "Uncle Virge? Alison? Anyone home?"
    There was no reply. "We'll have only limited range surrounded by
this much rock," Draycos pointed out.
    "I know," Jack said. Getting up, he went out of the bedroom and
crossed the living room to the exit door. The crowd had dispersed, the
Golvins having apparently gone back to tending various parts of the
cropland. Looking more closely, Jack could now see that there was an
intricate and efficient-looking irrigation system leading off from the
river. Maybe these people weren't as simpleminded as he'd first
thought. "Uncle Virge?" he called again quietly.
    Still no response. With a sigh, Jack shut off the comm clip and
went back to the bedroom.
    Draycos was by one of the white stones, peering up between the
walls. "The gap is quite spacious," he said. "It would be easily
passable."
    "And it probably conducts sound like crazy," Jack warned, crossing
to his side.
    "Perhaps, but not between apartments," Draycos said. "These shafts
appear to lead only to this particular set of rooms. There may be other
shafts extending downward to other apartments."
    Jack craned his neck and looked up. The entire shaft seemed to be
made of white stone glowing in the reflected light from the sky above.
The shimmer made it difficult to see more than a few dozen feet, but
there were certainly no other openings within that distance. "Took a
heck of a lot of digging to open these up," he commented.
    "True, if they burrowed these rooms and shafts from preexisting
stone columns," Draycos agreed. "But having watched them build the
bridge, I suspect they constructed the pillars themselves. In that
case, they simply designed the structures with these double walls."
    "That's almost worse," Jack said, wrinkling his nose as an odd
scent drifted down between the two walls. "There must be almost forty
of these things scattered around the canyon."
    "They have clearly been at this a long time," Draycos agreed.
    Jack shook his head as he eased his way out of the shaft. "I don't
know," he said. "If push comes to shove, I think I'd rather take my
chances holding on to your tail while you climb up the outside."
    "For three hundred feet?"
    "You're right," Jack agreed. "I may have to tie a knot in it
first."
    The dragon tilted his head warningly. "What?" he rumbled.
    "Kidding," Jack hastened to assure him.
    "Good," Draycos said. "I find it interesting that the other Jupas
seemed to have had no problem reaching this apartment."
    "Probably had climbing gear or lift belts," Jack said.
"Unfortunately, all that stuff's back aboard the Essenay ."
    "They'll come for us," Draycos assured him quietly. "Uncle Virge
will not abandon you. He and Alison will somehow learn where we are."
    "Or maybe he already knows," Jack said, frowning as a sudden
thought struck him. "If this is where my parents