Dragon and Judge

"Yeah, so did the One," Jack agreed grimly. "I don't think we're getting out of here anytime soon. Not without a fight, anyway."

Draycos twitched his tail again. "I don't wish to fight these people."

"You think I do?" Jack retorted. "I wasn't just spinning soap dust when I said they were victims. But we can't help them—or ourselves—if we're stuck in here."

"Agreed," Draycos said. "Still, despite their weapons, these are not a warrior people. A few uneventful days, I think, and their vigilance will fade into routine and boredom."

Jack glanced out the doorway at the landing pit. "Though they'll probably stash Bolo's aircar out of sight before then," he warned.

"We'll find it," Draycos assured him. "In a few days we should be able to make our move."

And while they sat here doing nothing, the K'da and Shontine refugees were moving ever closer to their destruction. "I'm sorry, Draycos," he said, dropping wearily onto the couch. "I should have gone straight to Langston's cave, picked him up, and headed straight out again."

"In hindsight, perhaps you should have," Draycos agreed. "But any blame must be shared between us. I also didn't expect such a strong reaction from the One."

"The real irony is that he's probably jumping at shadows," Jack said. "He thinks there's a whole army out there ready to come charging in to avenge Bolo's death."

"You don't believe that will happen?"

"I'm sure of it," Jack said. "You don't share a secret like a double Judge-Paladin murder with any more people than you absolutely have to. I'm guessing that with Bolo gone, the only one who knows anything about this is whoever it was who hired him in the first place."

"Who you believe may have been Cornelius Braxton?"

Jack made a face. "I thought you couldn't read my mind long distance."

"I can't," Draycos confirmed. "But your reaction in the tunnel when Bolo named Braxton Universis wasn't difficult to interpret. And I know that you've never fully trusted the man."

"Do you trust him?" Jack countered.

"I have no reason to distrust him," Draycos said. Which wasn't exactly the same thing, Jack noted privately. "I also see this as more likely the work of Neverlin. It certainly would close the last puzzling links in the chain."

"Which chain is that?"

"How Neverlin knew where our advance team would be arriving," Draycos said. "Our contact group had talked to the Chitac Nomads about buying Iota Klestis for our peoples. The Nomads apparently consulted with Triost, which Uncle Virge said still owned the planet. If Neverlin was in close contact with someone in Triost—"

"Like, say, someone he'd pulled off a double murder with?"

"Exactly," Draycos said. "It would then be reasonable for this person to pass the news about us on to him."

"I suppose," Jack conceded. "That still doesn't let Braxton entirely off the hook, though. In fact, maybe he and Neverlin planned this genocide thing together."

"Neverlin tried to kill him."

"Maybe they had a falling out."

For a moment Draycos didn't respond. "I don't believe Braxton is involved," he said at last. "But you're right, I have no proof. And as you suggest, until we have such proof, it would be prudent to assume all around us are enemies. Or at least potential enemies."

"Yeah," Jack said. "What still gets me is why they were murdered in the first place. If someone was worried Triost was going to lose control of the mine—"

He broke off as the truth suddenly slapped him across the face. "No," he breathed, sitting bolt upright. "They weren't worried about Triost losing the mine. They were worried about them getting it."

Draycos cocked his head in a frown. "I don't understand."

"That's because you're an honorable poet-warrior and not a sleazy-minded corporate thief," Jack said bitterly. "Look. Braxton Universis wants to buy Triost Mining. But they don't want to spend any more money on the deal than they absolutely have to."

He waved a hand upward in the direction of the mine. "But in the middle of their negotiations they find out there's this little mine out in the middle of nowhere that's tied up in a dispute with the locals. They also find out that a pair of Judge-Paladins have been called in to settle the issue."

Draycos's neck arched. "And if the Judge-Paladins ruled for Triost, the company's value would have gone up."

"And so would its price," Jack said, his stomach churning with anger and disgust. Was this all his parents had died for? "So someone decided to make sure there wouldn't be any ruling until after the deal had gone through."

Draycos lashed his tail. "But to commit murder? Weren't they afraid there would be an investigation?"

"Maybe they thought they could cover it up," Jack said. "Besides, even if there was, who would the investigators look at? Not Triost. You heard Bolo—the ruling eventually rolled over in their favor."

"I assumed he was lying about that."

"I assumed so, too, but maybe not," Jack said. "Triost got the mine, Braxton got Triost, and everyone's happy."