bird or bat-like something flapping past overhead. Up above the trees he could still see the sky, but here at ground level it was already night.
And then, suddenly, something big and heavy landed on the back of his neck.
He jerked away with a gasp, his hand reaching automatically to swat it away, even as he realized it was just Draycos popping out from his jacket collar. 'Geez!' he hissed. 'Don't do that.'
'Do not do what?' Draycos asked, landing on the leaves beside him with a soft crunch.
'Never mind,' Jack growled, feeling like an idiot. 'You startled me, that's all.'
The dragon cocked his head. 'You do not like it out here,' he declared.
Jack snorted. 'No kidding, Sherlock.'
'Pardon?'
'Skip it.' Shaking away the introspective thoughts, Jack stepped over to the Argus monitors for a closer look. There were two filters on each, he saw, either of which could be slid over the image. Experimentally, he tried one.
The image didn't change much. He tried the other, and suddenly, the darkness was pockmarked with scattered bits of light. 'Ah-ha,' he said, feeling about as pleased as he could under the circumstances. 'That's the infrared. The other one must be deep UV.'
'Pardon?'
' 'UV' is short for ultraviolet,' Jack explained, sliding the infrared filters over the rest of the monitors. 'It's a kind of light we can't see directly, but there are some species and some kinds of equipment that show up real well with it.'
'And infrared?'
'Infrared is heat,' Jack told him, peering at each of the monitors in turn. Nothing but small animals and birds, at least as far as he could see. 'Anything warm gives that off. Those thugs who were looking for us back on Vagran were using IR detectors. Back when we were hiding out on that Wistawki balcony, remember?'
'Yes,' Draycos said. 'I was somewhat surprised at the time that they did not locate us.'
Jack shrugged. 'You probably don't look like anything anyone's ever seen before. Matter of fact, you might not even look alive—we'd have to do a heat profile on you to know for sure. Either way, I guarantee you don't look like a human.'
'That could be useful.'
'It already has been,' Jack pointed out.
'True.' Draycos studied the monitors. 'The images are not very clear.'
'They sure aren't,' Jack agreed. 'I guess that's the best you can do without electronics and power sources.'
The dragon hopped up onto a nearby stump and craned his neck. 'Perhaps I should explore the perimeter.'
'Oh, no,' Jack said quickly. 'Forget it. You just stay put, right here.'
Draycos twisted his head around to look back at him. 'You do not need to be afraid, Jack,' he said, his voice low and soothing. 'I am a poet-warrior of the K'da. I will protect you.'
'I appreciate your confidence,' Jack said. 'But Good Intention Highway isn't one I want to travel just yet.'
The tip of Draycos's tail twitched. 'Do you refer to the saying, 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions'?'
Jack frowned. 'Yeah. Where did you hear that?'
'Uncle Virge quoted it to me,' the dragon said. From his stump he jumped up onto the side of one of the trees and clung there by his claws, gazing out into the night.
'During one of your late-night poetry sessions?'
'Yes. He has many such sayings with which to illustrate his points.'
Jack felt his mouth twist. 'Let me guess. His main point is that he wants you to go away and leave us alone.'
'That is the core of it,' Draycos confirmed. 'He does not feel that the survival of my people should be any concern of yours.'
Somewhere ahead, a twig suddenly snapped. Jack jerked, snatching up his Gompers and pointing it into the darkness. 'Do not be afraid,' Draycos assured him quickly. 'It was merely a small animal obtaining a meal.'
Jack lowered the flash rifle, letting his breath out silently. 'Okay,' he said.
Draycos pushed off the tree trunk and dropped back down to Jack's side. 'I do not understand your fear,' he said, looking up at Jack's face. 'I would have thought that in your previous profession you must have faced danger many times.'
'Not like this,' Jack said, shaking his head. 'I was always a kid before. Even when we were breaking into bank vaults, I knew the police weren't going to shoot unless I pointed a gun at them or tried to get away.'
He plucked at a fold of his uniform jacket. 'Here, it's all different. Here, I'm a target. Not because I'm breaking any laws, but because I'm wearing this uniform. Just because I'm wearing this uniform.'
'That is the way of the soldier,' Draycos reminded him. 'Part of your task is to draw danger away from the weak and powerless.'
Jack snorted. 'Just what I always wanted.'
Draycos cocked his head. 'It is an honorable profession, Jack.'
'Maybe where you come from it is,' Jack retorted.
'It is not so here?'
'How would I know?' Jack sighed. 'All right, yeah, I suppose it is,' he conceded. 'At least most of the time. But we sure don't seem very popular here on Sunright.'
'I do not understand.'
'You saw the people on the march through town today,' Jack said. 'Well, no, probably you didn't. The point is that they weren't exactly cheering us on.'
'One does not usually cheer in the middle of an attack.'
'This was before the attack,' Jack told him. 'They were just staring at us, watching us march. Like we were invaders instead of protectors.' He snorted. 'After the attack, it was even worse. Then, they were afraid to even get near us.'
Draycos was silent a moment. 'You are mercenaries, not regular soldiers,' he pointed out. 'Perhaps that is the difference.'
'Maybe,' Jack said. 'I don't know. But according to Uncle Virge's history lessons, people sometimes treated regular soldiers the same way when they were in a war the people didn't like.'
'That is wrong,' Draycos said firmly. 'The soldiers deserve the respect and honor of the people they defend. If the war is wrong or misguided, the people's objections should be directed at the leaders.'
'Hey, I'm just telling you how it is,' Jack said. 'I don't write the history, I just report it.'
'I understand,' Draycos murmured.
