'You guess? You do not know?'
'I was only three,' Jack repeated patiently. 'I remember them wearing some kind of funny hats, and I remember that there was a big explosion. But that's about it. I wouldn't even know they'd been miners if Uncle Virgil hadn't told me.'
'He told you this after he had adopted you?'
'Sort of adopted me, anyway,' Jack corrected. 'As far as I know, there was never anything formal about it. He came in after the accident and brought me to live aboard his ship.'
'As his assistant in dishonesty.'
'Mostly,' Jack admitted. 'Don't get me wrong. He was all the family I had, and he took care of me. And I do mostly miss him. But... yeah, mostly I was just his assistant.'
'I am sorry for your misfortune.'
'Save it,' Jack bit out. He wasn't used to apologies, and he sure wasn't used to people feeling sorry for him. 'I don't need your sympathy.'
'And you also do not need anyone else?'
'I did all right before you got here,' Jack said stubbornly. 'I'll do all right long after you're gone, too.'
'When I am gone?'
'Skip it,' Jack growled. Now that they'd solved the problem of the missing cargo, Uncle Virge would probably push for him to dump Draycos off on someone else for this Valahgua hunting expedition of his. But he hadn't intended to let that slip to Draycos. 'So where's this brother of yours? Coming in with that big fleet?'
'My sisters are with the fleet,' Draycos said quietly. 'But my brother is gone. He died in battle against the Valahgua.'
Jack grimaced. 'Oh. Sorry.'
'There is no need to apologize,' Draycos assured him. 'It was long ago, and he was properly mourned.'
'Mm,' Jack said, not knowing what else to say. 'So I guess you wanting to save the fleet isn't just your job as a warrior. It's also something personal.'
The dragon shifted slightly against his skin. 'The K'da and Shontine are my people,' he said, 'and I would willingly die in the defense of any one of them. But yes, it is also personal.'
Jack grimaced. And would he also willingly give his current companion's life to defend these umpteen million people of his? That was something he really ought to get nailed down before they went much farther with this whole thing.
He was trying to think of a polite way to phrase the question when a shadow detached itself from a nearby wall and jammed a gun into the side of his neck.
'Nice and cool, now, Morgan,' a familiar voice breathed in his ear.
Jack felt his throat go rigid. Oh, no. 'Why, Lieutenant Raven,' he said as casually as he could manage. 'Nice to see you again.'
'The feeling is mutual,' Raven said. 'Now. We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. Your choice.'
Under his shirt, Jack could feel Draycos sliding into position for a leap. 'Uh-uh,' Jack warned under his breath.
'Uh-uh what?' Raven demanded. 'Uh-uh to the easy way?'
'No, just plain uh-uh,' Jack said. Draycos subsided; clearly, he'd gotten the message. Though on second thought, maybe he should just let the dragon deal with it his own way.
A second later, he was glad he'd held Draycos back. Halfway down the block, two more shadows pushed away from different walls, one of them the wide bulk of Raven's pet Brummga. Even Draycos couldn't have taken all three of them, not with them spread out that way.
'So the little blinker did find a hole to hide in, huh?' Drabs sneered as they converged on Jack and Raven. 'Good little blinker.'
'You're in a mess of trouble, Morgan,' Raven said, reaching around Jack's left side and removing the tangler from its holster. 'You know that?'
'Grand theft,' Drabs said, still sneering. 'That molecular stress-gauge transducer you stole was worth three million dollars.'
'Wow,' Jack said, letting his mouth drop open in feigned astonishment. 'That old white stuff's really getting expensive.'
Drabs frowned. 'What old white stuff?'
'Dry ice,' Jack said blandly. 'Imagine ninety pounds being worth a whole three million.'
The expression that spread across Drabs's face was priceless. 'Hey,' he said. 'Lieutenant?'
'He has solved it,' the Brummga rumbled in disgust. 'I said that he would.'
'Yes, yes, you were brilliant,' Raven said, sounding as disgusted as the Brummga. He jabbed his gun again into Jack's neck. 'Clever little blinker, aren't you?'
'I try,' Jack said modestly.
'And the uncle's gone,' Drabs pointed out, starting to sound worried. 'What do we do now?'
'What do we do now?' Raven echoed. 'We find something else to pin him to the floor with, that's what.'
