Dragon and Herdsman

"Positive," Jack said. "I saw one of them back on the Star of Wonder. His name's Harper, and he's one of Cornelius Braxton's more trusted bodyguards."

"Are you suggesting Braxton is interested in this girl?" Uncle Virge asked.

"If not him, then it's someone else high up in the corporation."

"Or they could merely be interested in Alison's friends," Draycos suggested. "The ones she said she was riding with."

Jack shook his head. "There aren't any friends. That ship is hers."

"Are you certain?"

"Trust me, I know a lie when I hear it," Jack said. "The point is that if Braxton is interested in her, maybe we should be interested, too."

"Seems to me it's just one more reason to cut her loose at the first stop," Uncle Virge said darkly. "Or had it occurred to you that there's just one person at the top of Braxton's interest list right now?"

"Arthur Neverlin," Jack agreed. "But if Alison is working for him, why did she spring me just now?"

"Maybe he wants to give us some rope," Uncle Virge suggested. "A little running room to see how much we know. It just seems to me that the timing of this little rescue is awfully convenient."

"True," Jack had to admit. "Still, if she did overhear them yesterday, it wouldn't have taken her any time at all to put something like this together. We know she's partial to sopor mist—she probably had everything she needed already aboard her ship."

"I still think she's here to worm out your secrets," Uncle Virge insisted.

"Or perhaps she hopes you'll lead her to your uncle," Draycos put in thoughtfully. "Recall that on Brum-a-dum they were still trying to use you to get to him."

"They were, weren't they?" Jack said slowly, thinking back to that conversation. Unless they just wanted revenge . . . but Neverlin didn't seem the type to waste time with revenge. Not his own time, anyway. "Granted, Alison could be all of that. Even so, I think our best bet is to hold on to her, at least for a while. How does that saying go? Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?"

"That's the one," Uncle Virge said with a sniff. "And if you ask me, it's a very stupid saying. I say keep your enemies as far away from you as you can."

"And your friends?" Draycos asked.

"Better to make do without them," Uncle Virge retorted.

Jack sighed. In Uncle Virgil's world, people had always fallen into one of two categories: the ones he could use, and the ones he couldn't. "Friendship," "affection," "trust"—those might as well have been alien words as far as he was concerned.

Maybe Jack himself had been an exception. Then again, maybe he hadn't.

But things were different now, he reminded himself firmly. He did have a friend—Draycos—and he was going to make that friendship work.

And part of that process was for him to earn the dragon's respect, which meant keeping his promises. "No one's suggesting we have to become Alison's best friends," he told Uncle Virge. "But we are going to take her to Rho Scorvi. Period."

"Whatever you say, Jack lad," Uncle Virge said with a theatrical sigh. "Would it strain the duties of a proper host if I at least kept an eye on her?"

"Of course not," Jack said.

"I agree," Draycos seconded. "Keeping a promise does not require one to abandon caution."

"Then we're in agreement," Uncle Virge said with false cheerfulness. "How wonderful for us all."

"Don't be snide," Jack admonished him, climbing out of the pilot's seat. "And while you're being all vigilant, I'm going to get some sleep."

"Fine," Uncle Virge said. "Incidentally, I trust you realize there's one other option."

"About . . .?"

"About those Braxton Universis men," Uncle Virge said, his voice going a bit darker. "It could be they were looking for you."

"Why would they seek him?" Draycos asked.

"Because he's crossed paths twice now with Arthur Neverlin," Uncle Virge reminded him.

"And both times Neverlin has come out the worse for the exchange," Draycos reminded him.

"True, but Braxton may not realize that," Uncle Virge said. "If I were him, and I saw two people keep running into each other, I'd wonder if there were dots that needed to be connected. At the very least, he might want to borrow Jack for a nice cozy chat somewhere."

"Which I really don't want to do right now," Jack said. "Actually, Uncle Virge, that had occurred to me. But I don't see much I can do about it."

"I just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page," Uncle Virge said soothingly. "Good night, Jack. Sleep well."

CHAPTER 5

The trip, including fueling stops, took eight days.

It wasn't nearly as bad as Jack had expected it to be. Alison kept mostly to herself, coming out of her cabin for meals and sometimes to play games on the dayroom computer terminal. Other than that she spent most of her time sleeping or writing in a small notebook she always kept with her.

She didn't poke or pry around the ship in the middle of the night, either. Jack had half-expected her to try that. Uncle Virge was clearly annoyed that she didn't.