Read Online Dragonback 05 Dragon and Judge by Timothy Zahn - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Timothy Zahn
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of cleaned plates.
Later, with Taneem again riding her skin, she pulled out her array
of gadgets and began double-checking all of them. Her life was riding
on this job, not to mention the lives of all those K'da and Shontine
out there. Whatever it took, she was going to succeed.
If only to see the look on Jack's face afterward.
CHAPTER 7
The Great Assembly Hall turned out to be the long structure
straddling the river that Draycos had noticed on their flight into the
canyon earlier that day. A good two hundred feet long and thirty wide,
with open sides and a wood-and-weave roof, it was supported by a set of
wide, ten-foot-high stone pylons sunk deep into the edges of the river.
The positioning of the Hall puzzled him for a while until he
remembered that with the high canyon walls, the crops spread out along
the floor would receive only limited sunlight each day. Whatever land
lay beneath the Hall would receive none at all. The Golvins had
therefore built the structure over the river, which couldn't be farmed
anyway.
Dinner was a crowded and noisy affair, with at least two hundred
of the aliens present. Jack was seated at the One's table, laid out
just beneath a tall thronelike chair at the northern end of the Hall.
From the flurry of one- and two-syllable names being tossed around the
table, Draycos concluded that the boy had been seated among the very
top crust of the canyon's social structure.
But while the Golvins chattered and laughed through the meal, Jack
himself was uncharacteristically quiet. He was polite enough, answering
any questions put to him, and smiled and nodded "when appropriate. But
his heart clearly wasn't in any of it.
Draycos's chance came late in the meal, when local custom
apparently required the diners to get up and mingle with those of
different rank. Jack left his seat as well, but instead of milling
around he went to the side of the Hall. Leaning his elbows on the
waist-high wall, he gazed out at the moonlit canyon around them.
"Jack?" Draycos called tentatively from his shoulder.
"Right here," the boy said, his voice sounding as distant as the
rest of him.
"I need to check out the shuttle," Draycos told him, trying
without success to read the boy's face. "Is the area clear?"
Jack took a deep breath, as if forcing himself out of distant
thoughts, and glanced around. "Looks okay," he said. Turning a little,
he stretched his right arm over the wall and let it dangle downward.
Draycos slithered down the boy's arm and popped out of his sleeve.
A quick snap of his front legs, and he had caught the outside of the
wall with his claws. For a moment he hung there, confirming for himself
that the area was clear of observers. Then, with a last look at Jack's
troubled face, he let go and dropped onto the edge of the cropland
below.
There were at least eight different plant species being cultivated
in the canyon, Draycos had noted during Jack's walk that afternoon.
Generally, there were two to four different types in each of the plots
marked off by the narrow irrigation channels.
The farmers probably saw the arrangement as an efficient way of
using the different needs of the different plants. A poet-warrior like
Draycos saw instead the possibilities of having differently sized
plants to move through. Flicking out his tongue every couple of breaths
to sample the subtle odors of the area, he headed downstream toward the
landing pit and the shuttle.
He was halfway there when he spotted a lone Golvin on the far side
of the river moving along the walkways between the crop plots, heading
the same direction Draycos was.
Draycos froze, crouching down beside a wide stand of wheat-like
plants, frowning to himself. The alien wasn't carrying any tools, so he
probably wasn't going out to work in the fields. He probably wasn't
simply going for a stroll, either—he was behaving far too furtively for
that.
And aside from the crops and a couple of the apartment pillars,
the only thing in this direction was the
Later, with Taneem again riding her skin, she pulled out her array
of gadgets and began double-checking all of them. Her life was riding
on this job, not to mention the lives of all those K'da and Shontine
out there. Whatever it took, she was going to succeed.
If only to see the look on Jack's face afterward.
CHAPTER 7
The Great Assembly Hall turned out to be the long structure
straddling the river that Draycos had noticed on their flight into the
canyon earlier that day. A good two hundred feet long and thirty wide,
with open sides and a wood-and-weave roof, it was supported by a set of
wide, ten-foot-high stone pylons sunk deep into the edges of the river.
The positioning of the Hall puzzled him for a while until he
remembered that with the high canyon walls, the crops spread out along
the floor would receive only limited sunlight each day. Whatever land
lay beneath the Hall would receive none at all. The Golvins had
therefore built the structure over the river, which couldn't be farmed
anyway.
Dinner was a crowded and noisy affair, with at least two hundred
of the aliens present. Jack was seated at the One's table, laid out
just beneath a tall thronelike chair at the northern end of the Hall.
From the flurry of one- and two-syllable names being tossed around the
table, Draycos concluded that the boy had been seated among the very
top crust of the canyon's social structure.
But while the Golvins chattered and laughed through the meal, Jack
himself was uncharacteristically quiet. He was polite enough, answering
any questions put to him, and smiled and nodded "when appropriate. But
his heart clearly wasn't in any of it.
Draycos's chance came late in the meal, when local custom
apparently required the diners to get up and mingle with those of
different rank. Jack left his seat as well, but instead of milling
around he went to the side of the Hall. Leaning his elbows on the
waist-high wall, he gazed out at the moonlit canyon around them.
"Jack?" Draycos called tentatively from his shoulder.
"Right here," the boy said, his voice sounding as distant as the
rest of him.
"I need to check out the shuttle," Draycos told him, trying
without success to read the boy's face. "Is the area clear?"
Jack took a deep breath, as if forcing himself out of distant
thoughts, and glanced around. "Looks okay," he said. Turning a little,
he stretched his right arm over the wall and let it dangle downward.
Draycos slithered down the boy's arm and popped out of his sleeve.
A quick snap of his front legs, and he had caught the outside of the
wall with his claws. For a moment he hung there, confirming for himself
that the area was clear of observers. Then, with a last look at Jack's
troubled face, he let go and dropped onto the edge of the cropland
below.
There were at least eight different plant species being cultivated
in the canyon, Draycos had noted during Jack's walk that afternoon.
Generally, there were two to four different types in each of the plots
marked off by the narrow irrigation channels.
The farmers probably saw the arrangement as an efficient way of
using the different needs of the different plants. A poet-warrior like
Draycos saw instead the possibilities of having differently sized
plants to move through. Flicking out his tongue every couple of breaths
to sample the subtle odors of the area, he headed downstream toward the
landing pit and the shuttle.
He was halfway there when he spotted a lone Golvin on the far side
of the river moving along the walkways between the crop plots, heading
the same direction Draycos was.
Draycos froze, crouching down beside a wide stand of wheat-like
plants, frowning to himself. The alien wasn't carrying any tools, so he
probably wasn't going out to work in the fields. He probably wasn't
simply going for a stroll, either—he was behaving far too furtively for
that.
And aside from the crops and a couple of the apartment pillars,
the only thing in this direction was the
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