Dragon and Judge

The other bellowed, his shout almost covering up the soft crack as a shot whistled past Jack's ear and shattered bits of rock from the tunnel floor. Jack was already on the move, sprinting forward and ducking down the left-hand tunnel, the one he and Draycos had taken on their last visit. Another shot smashed into the wall at the intersection as he passed, dusting him with rock powder.

Clenching his teeth, Jack kept going. The next intersection turn was only fifty feet away, and he got into the left-hand tunnel and out of Bolo's line of fire before any more shots came. Now what? Draycos's words came in his mind.

"We try to find a defensible spot where we can talk to him," Jack muttered back, his mind too busy with thoughts of tactics and survival to focus on this new telepathy thing. "Suggestions welcome."

There. Out of the corner of his eye Jack saw the K'da's tongue rise from his shoulder and point at a small curve in the tunnel just ahead. "Not much room back there," Jack warned.

There is enough, Draycos promised. I will hold the tunnel. Continue ahead and find me more rocks to throw.

Jack ducked around the curve, and with a surge of weight Draycos leaped up through the back of his collar.

Jack slowed, shining his light on the floor. There were some rocks down there, but only a few big enough to make good weapons. He half turned, opening his mouth to point that out.

And flinched back as the K'da slashed his claws into the side wall, cutting out a shower of rocks and slivers and dust. "Go," he murmured to Jack as he picked up one of the larger rocks and curved his tail around it. Glancing out around the edge of the curve, he whipped his tail like a sling, hurling the rock back down the tunnel.

There was a thud, a snarled curse, and another shot blew a pit in the opposite wall. "I'll hold him here," Draycos murmured to Jack, scooping up another rock. "Go gather more ammunition."

Jack nodded and continued down the tunnel, hoping Bolo wouldn't hear his footsteps and wonder just who it was who was holding him off. Though between the shots and the thudding of the stones, that didn't seem likely.

He'd gone only twenty feet when he came upon a section where part of the tunnel wall had splintered beneath the slurry pipe. Along the floor by the break were a dozen of the kind of rocks Draycos needed. Pulling the front of his shirt out of his jeans, Jack held it like a basket and loaded in the stones.

The leisurely battle was still going on when he returned. "How's it going?" he whispered as he unloaded his prizes onto the floor where Draycos could reach them.

"He's taken shelter in the right-hand tunnel," Draycos murmured back as he whipped another rock around the corner. "At the moment, we're in something of a stalemate."

"At least we're not in a quick slaughter." Jack filled his lungs with dusty air. "Hey, Bolo," he called. "How's it going?"

"It's going okay," Bolo's voice came back. "You got a good arm there, boy."

"Thanks," Jack said. "You do realize, don't you, that killing a Judge-Paladin is a death-sentence offense?"

"What, you?" the other said contemptuously. "Don't make me laugh."

"I didn't mean me," Jack corrected. "I was talking about my parents. You know—Stuart and Ariel?"

For a moment Bolo didn't speak. "I'll be frunged," he said at last, his tone oddly changed. "You're the Palmers' kid?"

"That's right," Jack said, a shiver running through him. Palmer. So that was his real last name. "I take it you're the one who murdered them?"

"Hey, I offered them a chance to be smart," Bolo said. The strangeness in his voice was gone, and he was all business again. "Just like I did for you a minute ago. They didn't take me up on it, either."

"I guess it runs in the family," Jack gritted out, forcing back a sudden flood of rage. He couldn't afford to let his emotions color his thinking. Not now. "Maybe you should have put it as a percentage of the mine. Is there really enough stuff in here to take that kind of risk?"

"I have no idea," Bolo said. "But it must have been worth it to someone in the Triost boardroom. Or maybe to one of the bidders. No one told me, and I didn't ask."

Jack frowned. "What bidders?"

"The companies trying to buy us up," Bolo said. "I suppose you want to know which one won?"

"Unless you want to let me out for a couple of hours to do my own research."

Bolo gave a low chuckle. "Sorry. Maybe you should just wait and ask your parents. You'll be joining them soon enough."

A painful knot formed in the pit of Jack's stomach. "Maybe; maybe not," he said as calmly as he could. "I figure you'll run out of bullets before I run out of rocks. And don't forget the Golvins know where I am."

Bolo snorted. "I wouldn't count on them if I were you."

"Why not?" Jack asked. "Do they understand bribes better than I do?"