Dragonback 02 Dragon and Soldier Read Online Free Page B

ruined
everything. Draycos's secret was gone, announced to the whole Orion Arm
from a grubby mercenary changing room.
    And as Draycos's secret crumbled, so did any hope for his people.
Their enemies would silence him with ease now; and in five months the
K'da and Shontine refugee fleet would arrive at their new home only to
find a deadly ambush waiting.
    They were dead. They were all dead. And Jack was the one who had
killed them.
    "Wow!" the kid beside Jack said, his eyes wide.
    Jack focused on him. "You like my dragon?" he asked. The words
came out with difficulty, his voice sounding in his ears like it was
coming from deep inside a well.
    "It's cool," the kid said. "I've never seen a tattoo that big
before."
    For a long heartbeat Jack just stared at him. And then, as
abruptly as it had crumbled to dust, the whole thing uncrumbled itself
back together again.
    He'd gotten used to Draycos riding his skin, all right. So used to
it that he'd also forgotten what the K'da looked like stretched out
back there. "Biggest one in the Orion Arm," he bragged. His voice
sounded just fine now. "At least, that's what the guy said."
    The kid shook his head in wonder, leaning forward for a better
look. "How long did it take him to do it?" he asked.
    "Couple of months," Jack improvised, hoping that wasn't a
ridiculous number. He didn't have the faintest idea how long it took to
put on a tattoo. "He did part of it every day until it was done."
    The kid shook his head again. "Cool."
    Jack frowned at him. The kid was a good head shorter than he was,
with a wide, round face and ears that stuck out to the sides. Like a
hot-air balloon with twin air scoops attached, he decided. "I'm Jack
Montana," he introduced himself.
    "Rogan Mbusu," the other said.
    "Uh-huh," Jack said. "How old are you, Rogan?"
    The kid drew back a little. "I'm fourteen," he said, a little
defiantly. "I'll be fifteen on my next birthday."
    "Yeah, that's the way birthdays usually work," Jack said,
frowning. No way the kid was fourteen. Even twelve would be pushing it.
"Fourteen, huh?"
    Rogan's eyes drifted away. "Sure," he said. Turning back to his
own section of the bench, he resumed changing into his new uniform.
    Jack looked back around the room. A few of the boys were still
staring at him, but most had had their fill of the show and were going
about their business again. Turning his back to them, Jack did likewise.
    A few minutes later he was finished. Folding his civilian clothing
into the footlocker, he pulled the "dog-collar" wristband from its
pouch inside the lid and closed it, making sure all the locks were
fastened. He slid the wristband around his right wrist and headed
toward the line of uniformed kids at the wide exit door. The
footlocker, following the signal from his wristband, rolled along at
his side like an obedient puppy.
    On the far side of the exit door was another supply counter. There
Jack picked up a combat vest with a dozen pockets, a condensation
canteen, a shirt nameplate, and the results of the medical scan they'd
done on him at the other end of the line.
    Last of all, he was issued his weapons.
    "Moray pistol and Gompers flash rifle," the supply man identified
the handgun and snub-nosed rifle as he slid them across the counter.
His voice had the bored tone of someone who's been saying the same
thing once a minute since breakfast. "Holster's in the side trouser
pocket—pick either left- or right-handed. Rifle goes over the shoulder,
barrel down, grip back."
    "Uh—" Jack frowned at the guns as he picked them up. They were a
lot heavier than he'd expected. "Grip how?"
    "Come on, come on, move along," the man snapped, already pushing
the next recruit's weapons across the counter.
    Fumbling the guns into an awkward grip, Jack moved away. At the
end of the room ahead was one final door, with glimpses of daylight
shining through each time one of the new recruits went out. He looped
the rifle sling over one shoulder, just to get it out of the way, and
slid