Free Dragonback 01 Dragon and Thief by Timothy Zahn

that matter."
    "You are certain the cargo disappeared?" Draycos asked.
    "On Vagran, the crate weighed a hundred pounds," Jack said. "On
Cordolane, it weighed ten. You said there were three possibilities?"
    "Yes," Draycos said. "The third is that you are lying to me."
    His long neck seemed to stretch, and even though he was still
lying on the dayroom floor he suddenly seemed a lot taller. "You would
not lie to me, would you, Jack Morgan?"
    Jack swallowed. "This is the truth, Draycos. I swear it."
    "That's why the lad can't go shouting your story from the
rooftops," Uncle Virge said. "By now, Braxton Universis will have a
warrant out for his arrest. With his, shall we say, somewhat checkered
history, no one will believe his story about disappearing cargo."
    "Ducking local cops isn't that much of a problem," Jack added.
"They're usually overworked, and I know how to play them. But Braxton
has their own security unit, and they're way better than everything out
there except maybe Internes Police."
    "What is Internes Police?" Draycos asked.
    "That's the overall law enforcement unit of the Internes," Uncle
Virge explained. "The Internes itself is the confederation of Earth and
the various human colonies. There's also the Orion Trade Association,
which includes humans and the thirty-two other intelligent alien
species in the Orion Arm. And, of course, each colony and nation has
its own government. Makes for quite a patchwork of laws and
regulations."
    "We can fill him in on local politics later," Jack said. "The
point is that even if the local cops don't have time to look for me,
Braxton Security does. I barely got off Cordolane ahead of them, and
nearly got nailed when I tried to sneak onto Sakklif."
    "That's why we were sitting on Iota Klestis when you were
attacked," Uncle Virge said. "We wanted some place away from
civilization where we could sit back and try to think this out."
    "For which I owe you my life," Draycos said, ducking his head in
an odd sort of bowing motion. "I thank you."
    "Yesterday's thanks are tomorrow's cold porridge," Uncle Virge
said with a sniff. "If you really want to show your thanks, you'll help
us figure out what happened to the cargo."
    "Of course," Draycos said, as if there had never been any doubt.
"I intend to do exactly that."

CHAPTER 8

    Jack blinked. It was about the last thing he would have expected
the dragon to say. "You what?" he asked, just to make sure he'd heard
it right.
    "I need your assistance to find my attackers, Jack Morgan,"
Draycos said. "For you to move freely, we must first erase the false
accusation against you. Does this not make sense?"
    "It makes wonderful sense," Uncle Virge said. "And just how, may I
ask, do you propose to do that?"
    "We will start at the scene of the crime," Draycos said. "How long
will it take to return to the Vagran Colony?"
    "Not very," Jack said, touching a switch on the underside of the
narrow dayroom table his fizzy-soda was sitting on. Beneath the glass,
the surface changed from wood grain to a set of displays and status
monitors. "Let's see . . ."
    Uncle Virge, naturally, got there first. "At standard cruising
speed we can be there in five days," he said. "If we kick up to full
power, we can cut that to twenty hours. Very expensive on fuel, though."
    "And it's already been over two weeks," Jack added. "Seems to me
that if there were any clues there, they're long gone by now."
    "Perhaps," Draycos said. "Perhaps not. All the more reason why we
should return as quickly as we can."
    "What won't be gone is Braxton Security," Uncle Virge
pointed out. "If you walk in there, you might have trouble walking out
again."
    "You said they were moving that operation," Draycos reminded him.
"Will they not all be gone?"
    "There are bound to be a few still around tying up loose ends,"
Uncle Virge said.
    "Anyway, the cargo was fine when I left there," Jack pointed out.
    "It is still the place to start," Draycos said.
    "Jack?" Uncle Virge prompted. "It's your