Dragon and Judge

"That is the last case for the day," Thonsifi said, closing down her notebook as Foeinatw headed for the door. "It has been an honor to serve with you, Jupa Jack. I look forward to doing so again tomorrow."

"As do I," Jack said, standing up and stretching his shoulders. "How badly was the flying transport damaged, by the way?"

"Not badly," Thonsifi assured him. "Merely some torn cloth. It has been taken to the Fabric-Makers' shop for repair."

"Ah," Jack said. And as long as it was there, presumably, it wouldn't be available for Foeinatw to borrow again, which was good.

Unfortunately, it also wouldn't be available for Jack and Draycos to borrow should the need arise. That wasn't so good. "I trust it will be repaired soon," he added.

"Sooner than we will find Foeinatw's assailants, I expect," Thonsifi said, a hint of her earlier disapproval coloring her voice.

"I take it you don't think much of him?" Jack suggested.

Thonsifi's ears stretched out briefly. A shrug? "He is not one of the uprights," she said. "Far from it. I will say no more."

"I suppose every place has a few scoundrels," Jack said, a part of him noting the irony. A few months earlier, he would have qualified as one of the scoundrels himself. "If they didn't, we wouldn't need Judge-Paladins."

Thonsifi bowed her head to him. "And we are most grateful for your service and wisdom."

"You're welcome," Jack said, suppressing his automatic impulse to downplay his so-called wisdom. "Speaking of service, how many cases did we serve today?"

"Forty-one," Thonsifi said. "An excellent start."

"How many cases are left?"

She consulted her notebook. "Seven hundred ninety-two."

Jack suppressed a groan. Great. "I guess we won't be running out of work anytime soon, then," he said as cheerfully as he could manage. "Good night, Thonsifi. Good night, One Among Many," he added, looking at the One.

"Good evening to you, Jupa Jack," the One said gravely. "Your evening food is waiting in your apartment."

"Thank you," Jack said. He was, he suddenly realized, ravenously hungry. And he would bet that Draycos was even more so.

"Sleep well and peacefully," the One added. "I will see you tomorrow."

CHAPTER 9

Taneem had changed a great deal in the past couple of weeks, in many ways, as if having awakened from a long dream. Her former life on Rho Scorvi was like a vague and distant memory. There had been little to do back there beneath the edges of the great forest except hunt for berries and grubs and small animals, or to perform the little dances the Erassvas had taught them, or to sleep against her host's large, soft body.

Sometimes there had been a little more excitement. A small predator might arrive and need to be driven off, or a low-flying bird could be snatched from midair and eaten. But for the most part, life there had been slow and lazy, comfortable and rather boring.

Still, she was quite sure it hadn't been nearly as boring as this.

Alison wouldn't let her get very far away, for one thing. That was reasonable, Taneem supposed, since they didn't know when any of the bad people aboard might decide to come into their room. But it meant she had to either rest on Alison's skin or else follow the girl around like a baby linzling.

Alison didn't talk to her very much either. Partly, again, that was because she didn't want anyone suddenly opening the door to hear her talking to a room that was supposed to be empty. Taneem could understand that, too. But mostly it was because Alison was spending most of her time with her pack of tools and with the pieces of paper from the bag she'd brought from the safe on Semaline.

Sometimes Taneem tried looking over Alison's shoulder as she studied the papers. But most of the written ones were in a type of writing Draycos hadn't yet taught her, while the pictures were of places and people of which she had no knowledge.

It didn't seem as if Alison understood much of it, either. All she ever did was scowl at the notes and pictures or lay them out on different parts of the room's low table. Sometimes she gathered them all together again and sorted them out into a different order.

It was on the fifth night of their journey when the routine suddenly changed.

Alison had been asleep for nearly two hours, and Taneem was dozing lightly against her skin, when across the room the door quietly slid open.

Instantly Taneem went still, as Draycos and Jack and Alison had all warned her to do whenever others were around. The blankets were pulled up around Alison's chin, blocking any chance for Taneem to see what was happening.

But she could hear just fine . . . and as Alison's slow breathing continued unchanged she heard two of the bad people go across the room to the table. There was a soft shuffling of papers, and then they went back to the door again. It closed behind them, and they were gone.