Dragonback 04 Dragon and Herdsman Read Free Page A

toward the door.
The guards along the walls began to file out, adjusting their exit so
that three of them ended up walking in front of Jack and his keepers
while the other three walked behind them. Even with their prisoner in
handcuffs, they kept their guns handy.
    There was a tall man standing alone in the middle of the large
room when Jack emerged from the office. His Malison Ring uniform was a
lot flashier than those of the rest of the soldiers, with two rows of
colored bars across his upper chest. "He's clean?" he asked as Jack and
his three keepers approached.
    "Yes, Commandant," the sergeant said. "Looks like he was trying to
break into your computer."
    The commandant turned cold fish eyes on Jack. "So desertion wasn't
enough for you, eh?" he demanded.
    Jack blinked. Desertion ? "I'm not a deserter," he
protested.
    "No, of course not," the other said darkly. "Colonel Frost put out
a blanket alert on a perfect stranger just for the fun of it. Sergeant,
put him in the tombs while I call the colonel and see what he wants me
to do with him."
    "Yes, sir." The sergeant gestured, the two soldiers holding Jack's
arms gave him a shove, and the whole group continued on across the room
to an unmarked double door.
    The double door led to a long corridor with another set of double
doors at the far end. The sergeant unlocked one of them and led the way
through, and Jack found himself in a smaller version of the big room
they'd just left. Most of the doors here were the normal wooden
variety, but the one all the way across the room from the double doors
was made instead of thin, crisscrossed metal bars. The sergeant walked
the group over to the latter door and swung it open. "In here," he said.
    Jack obeyed. The sergeant stopped him at the door, removed his
handcuffs, and gave him a final shove into the cell. With a
solid-sounding thunk the door slammed shut behind him. "Smit,
Gargan—you're on watch," the sergeant said, gesturing the rest of the
group back to the double doors. They filed back out, leaving two of the
mercenaries standing guard on opposite sides of the exit where they
could watch Jack's every move.
    Taking a deep breath, feeling thoroughly disgusted with himself.
Jack walked to the cot at the back of the cell and sat down.
    Secret plots being what they were, he'd been pretty sure that
Neverlin and his fellow conspirators wouldn't have shared the details
of their scheme with the entire Malison Ring. But he really should have expected them to come up with a cover story that would get
everyone in the group hunting for him.
    Jack Morgan, Malison Ring deserter. So obvious.
    "Jack?" Draycos murmured from his shoulder.
    "Just a second," Jack murmured back, giving the cell a quick
check. No obvious cameras or microphones, and the guards were too far
away to eavesdrop. "Clear enough," he said. "Sorry, Draycos. After what
happened on Brum-a-dum, I should have expected Neverlin to turn the
whole hornets' nest loose on us."
    "No apology needed," Draycos assured him. "Do you want me to
eliminate the guards?"
    Jack measured the distance across the room with his eyes. "I don't
know," he said doubtfully. "There's an awful lot of ground to cover. We
need a diversion of some sort."
    "What do you suggest?"
    Jack chewed the inside of his cheek. It would be dangerous, he
knew. But then, what wasn't dangerous these days? "The room
next door seems to be just a normal office," he said. "If you were able
to slide off my back through the wall, you could maybe make some noise
and see if they would come close enough for you to jump them."
    Draycos didn't reply. "I know it's dangerous," Jack went on. "But
right now I can't think of anything else to try. If you'd rather, I'm
willing to wait a bit and see if we come up with something else."
    "No," the dragon said. "If we are to make our escape, we must do
so at once. Neverlin already knows about me, though it would appear he
hasn't passed that knowledge on to the rest of the Malison Ring."
    "But if