Dinner that evening was a simple affair.
It was simple for Jack, anyway. It was somewhat hit-or-miss for Draycos. The dragon had never sampled human fare before, and even with the Essenay's food synthesizer churning out small test samples at its usual speed and efficiency, the process took quite awhile.
Fortunately, basic nutrition wasn't going to be a problem. According to Draycos, the K'da body could synthesize all the vitamins he needed from the basic proteins and carbohydrates of a standard human diet. The trick was more a matter of finding something he wouldn't turn up his pointy snout at.
They finally hit on a combination of hamburger and tuna fish, mixed together with chocolate sauce and a dash of light-grade motor oil from the Essenay's engine room. Draycos ate dog-style, scooping the meal up with teeth and tongue from a soup bowl at one end of the short galley table.
Jack sat at the other end, eating his cheeseburger and trying hard not to think about the weird combination the dragon was chomping down.
When dinner was over, it was time to retire to the dayroom with a glass of fizzy-soda for Jack and a bowl of orange-flavored water for Draycos. For a long, hard discussion.
'I'm sorry,' Jack said after the dragon had related his version of the battle. 'I know you want to get back at the people who killed your friends. But I really can't help you.'
'You misunderstand me, Jack Morgan,' Draycos said. He was lying on the dayroom floor on his stomach, his posture halfway between that of a dog and a cat. 'I do not seek revenge. I do not even seek justice.'
'Then what do you want?' Jack asked.
'I have told you already,' Draycos said. 'I must find those who used the Death against us.'
'But if you don't want revenge—'
'Tell us more about this Death weapon,' Uncle Virge's voice came from the intercom speaker. 'You say it kills other beings besides K'da and Shontine. How do you know?'
'We have seen it used against others,' Draycos said, the tip of his tail lashing restlessly through the air behind him. 'The Valahgua are a vicious people who seek total domination of our region of space. They have already destroyed one species and scattered two others who stood in the way of that goal. The K'da and Shontine are only their most recent victims. Why do you not believe me?'
The intercom gave a soft sigh. 'We find it hard to believe for the simple fact that it sounds unbelievable,' Uncle Virge said candidly. 'I mean, come on. A weapon that goes straight through a ship's hull without damaging it, yet kills everyone inside? How can that be possible?'
'I do not know the science,' Draycos said. 'It is said that the Death is a vibration of space itself, which seeks out the center core of all living beings and destroys that connection and their harmony with the universe.'
'That must be the poet part of the poet-warrior coming out,' Jack murmured, sipping his fizzy-soda.
'I do not know the proper words,' Draycos said impatiently. 'I know only the reality. If the Death has come to this region of space, your people are in great danger. Why can you not understand that?'
'We understand just fine,' Uncle Virge said quietly. 'Trouble is, there's something you're holding back. Something important that you're not telling us.'
For a moment Draycos lay as unmoving as a statue. Then, the tip of his tail twitched again. 'Very well,' he said. 'Let us trade secrets.'
His tongue flicked out between his teeth. 'You may start, Jack Morgan. Tell me why you pretend there is another human aboard this ship.'
Jack felt his throat tighten. 'What are you talking about?' he asked, the automatic caution of long habit kicking in. 'I already explained that Uncle Virge is an invalid and can't leave his cabin.'
'Do not lie to me,' Draycos warned. 'All beings, whether K'da or Shontine or human, leave traces of their scent in the air. There is no second human here.'
'Oh, really?' Uncle Virge said huffily. 'Let me tell you, my gold-scaled friend. You have a lot to learn about us humans—'
'No,' Jack cut him off. After a year of deception, he was suddenly tired of the lies. Tired of all the lies. 'No, it's all right. He's got us. I mean, he's got me.'
'Jack, lad—'
'No,' Jack said firmly. 'He saved my life. He deserves to know.'
He turned to Draycos. 'Uncle Virge is a computer program,' he told the dragon. 'It's the standard ship's computer interface; only before he died, my Uncle Virgil imprinted it with his own voice and speech mannerisms.'
'Interesting,' Draycos murmured. 'Is it alive?'
'Not like us, no,' Jack said. 'He can mimic a person when he talks, and he can think and reason a little. But not very much, and not outside his programming.'
'I see.' Draycos was silent a moment. 'How long have you lived this way?'
'About a year,' Jack said. 'Uncle Virgil died in a... well, it was sort of an accident.'
'And you have been alone ever since?' Jack shrugged. 'It's not so bad. I don't get lonely much. Anyway, it wasn't like he had a lot of time for me even before that.'
Draycos's ears twitched. 'And why is it important that this be kept a secret?'
'Because I'm only fourteen years old,' Jack said, hearing the old bitterness creeping into his voice. 'According to the all-wise, all-knowing Internes fusspots, that's too young for someone to be flying alone out here. If they found out, they'd take the Essenay away from me and put me in some group home somewhere.'
