Dragon and Herdsman

All of them wanted the K'da and Shontine dead. And unless Draycos and Jack could find out where the refugee fleet was supposed to rendezvous with the now-destroyed advance team, the Valahgua and their allies were going to get their wish.

In the distance down the street, a pair of headlights winked into view. "Here we go," Jack said. "Uncle Virge?"

"Ready at this end, Jack lad," the computerized voice replied from the comm clip fastened out of sight beneath the boy's shirt collar. Uncle Virge didn't sound exactly happy, but he sounded much less frustrated than he had for most of the past three months. He hadn't liked Jack signing up to be a soldier with the Whinyard's Edge mercenary group. He'd absolutely hated the boy's brief taste of slavery.

This time, Jack was only going to have to be a thief. For him, that would be like a walk in the park.

"Draycos?" Jack asked.

Again, the K'da shifted around on Jack's skin, slithering down his right leg. He touched the two items stuffed into the boy's sock, confirmed they were ready to grab and throw. "Set," he said.

"When I tap my toe," Jack reminded him, getting a little unsteadily to his feet. Maneuvering himself to where he could peek out from beneath the right-leg cuff of Jack's slacks, Draycos saw the approaching car come to a halt in front of the Malison Ring office. Still moving like someone weak from hunger, Jack headed across the street.

The two men saw him coming, of course. "Oh, great," Draycos heard one of them mutter.

"Spare coins, mister?" Jack asked as he reached them.

"Listen, kid—"

Inside his low boot, Jack tapped his toe.

Lifting one front paw slightly from Jack's ankle, Draycos plucked the money clip from its hiding place inside Jack's sock. He flicked it outward from beneath the cuff, sending it to land in the grass beside the mercenary office door.

"—if you don't get out of my sight in the next two seconds—"

"Holy—" Jack broke off in a strangled gasp and started to duck around behind the men.

He didn't get far. He'd barely made it around one man's side when there was the sound of a hand on cloth and the boy was jerked to an abrupt halt. "Hey, hey, hey," the mercenary growled. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Hey, Chips," the other man said. "Look."

"I saw it first!" Jack snarled, and from the movement of his arms Draycos could tell he was beating his fists weakly against his captor's shoulder. "Get away. I saw it first."

"How much is in there?" Chips asked, ignoring both Jack's protests and his attack as he dragged the boy over to where the other man was examining the money clip.

"Gotta be at least three hundred," the other said. "Make that four hundred."

"It's mine," Jack insisted. "Come on—I saw it first."

"Don't be ridiculous," Chips said severely. "Four hundred auzes? Somebody's gotta be missing this."

"It's got an ID plate," the other man said. "Shouldn't be any trouble to get it back to its proper owner."

Draycos felt a surge of disgust. There was no ID on the money clip, which meant the mercenaries had no intention of giving the lost money to anyone. A quiet fifty-fifty split, and they would go about their business with no feeling other than satisfaction over their unexpected bonus.

"But I saw it first," Jack repeated plaintively. Shifting his stance, he moved his right leg right beside the door and tapped his toe.

Again lifting his front paw from Jack's skin, Draycos plucked the small button-shaped sensor from inside Jack's sock. With the mercenaries' full attention on the money clip, the K'da risked pushing his paw out from beneath the cuff. A flick of his claws, and the sensor sailed upward.

Because he was listening for it, he heard the soft clink as the sensor's magnet connected it solidly to the lower part of the door.

"Get lost," Chips ordered. There was the sound of a light slap, and Jack staggered back a couple of steps. "Or I'll tell the cops you were the one who stole it in the first place."

"It's not fair," Jack muttered as he shuffled away. "Not fair."

He crossed the street again and headed toward his doorway. But instead of settling back down for what was left of the night, he continued on along the street. "Uncle Virge?" he asked softy. "Did you get it?"

"I got it," Uncle Virge said with dark satisfaction. "Even with Draycos's sensor a little lower than where I'd wanted it."

Draycos grimaced. That was Uncle Virge, all right. He never missed a chance to try to make the K'da look bad in Jack's presence. "The low weight of the sensor makes it difficult to throw very far," Draycos pointed out stiffly.

"And I'm sure Uncle Virge was able to compensate," Jack soothed. Fortunately, he'd long since figured out what the other was trying to do. "Right, Uncle Virge?"

"I already told you I got it."

"Good," Jack said. "And for the record, Draycos, that money clip toss was perfect. Right where I wanted it."

"Thank you," Draycos said, feeling somewhat mollified. "Where exactly did you put the third sensor, if I may ask?"