Free Dragonback 03 Dragon and Slave by Timothy Zahn

said. "And thanks for the warning."
    "No problem," Noy said, moving away. "See you later."
    He wandered off toward another spot in the tangle of bushes,
stopping every few feet to check the nearest branches. "That was
awfully nice of Fleck, wasn't that?" Jack muttered toward his shoulder
as he turned back to his work.
    "Perhaps there was no malice intended," Draycos suggested. "He may
merely have forgotten to tell you."
    "You don't even believe that one yourself," Jack said. "The guy
just thought it would be funny for me to listen to my stomach growl all
night."
    He stopped short, a jolt of conscience suddenly hitting him.
"Which reminds me . . . I didn't save you any of my food last night. I'm
sorry."
    "That is all right," Draycos assured him. "There was no practical
way you could have done so with Maerlynn and the others watching."
    "I know, but . . ." Jack ran out of words.
    "Do not worry about me, Jack," Draycos said into the awkward
silence. "I am a poet-warrior of the K'da. I am accustomed to hardship
in the line of duty. You must not worry about me, but keep your full
attention on the task at hand. Agreed?"
    Jack sighed. "Agreed."
    "Good," Draycos said. "I am working on a plan that I believe will
allow us to move undetected into the Chookoock family grounds. From
that point, it will be up to you."
    "Okay," Jack said. He'd finished the upper branches of this
particular bush; kneeling down on the soft ground, he started checking
the lower ones. "From that I assume the hedge is wired?"
    "Yes," Draycos said. "The gap we were brought through has many
sensors attached. How did you know?"
    "Because an open gap like that is about as obvious as an elephant
at an anteaters' tea party," Jack said with sniff. "These Brummgas are
not exactly mental giants. I hope you aren't going to try to disarm
them by yourself."
    "I am not going to disarm them at all," Draycos said. "I have
begun carving a tunnel through the base of the hedge at a secluded
location."
    "There'll still be all the rest of the grounds to get though after
that," Jack pointed out.
    "True," Draycos said. "As I said, that part is up to you."
    Jack snorted. "Thanks. Loads."

CHAPTER 9

    There were two breaks that morning, each one a big fat five
minutes long. Most of the slaves took the opportunity to sit down and
stretch tired muscles. Jack, in contrast, worked straight through both.
    A longer, twenty-minute break came at noon, accompanied by a cup
of what Maerlynn called nutrient broth. To Jack, it seemed more like
flavored water with delusions of souphood. But it tasted all right, and
he had to admit he felt better after drinking it.
    He worked through most of that break, too, holding his soup cup
with one hand and sipping from it as he picked.
    It was midafternoon, and Fleck had just called another five-minute
break, when he first heard the music.
    He paused and looked around. It was a delicate sound, clear and
precise and clean. Ethereal, even, if he was remembering that word
right. The kind of music that would fit perfectly with a movie scene of
a tropical paradise.
    Which made its presence in the middle of a slave colony like a
sweetly smiling kick in the teeth.
    "Where is that music coming from?" Draycos murmured.
    "I don't know," Jack said, straightening up and looking around.
    And then, an old man came into view from around a curve in the
bushes. He walked slowly, as if his knees were tired or stiff or both,
and on his head he wore an amazingly wide-brimmed hat.
    And in his hands he carried a musical instrument like nothing Jack
had ever seen before.
    Jack blinked, wiping the sweat off his forehead. The instrument
was mostly metal; that much he could tell from the glints of sunlight
off its surface. Sections of it looked familiar, too, as if the old man
had put it together from pieces of a half dozen other instruments. The
part he was blowing into seemed to have come from a flute, but there
were also valves from a trumpet and possibly a tuba. Other parts