Jane Yolen Pit Dragon 02 Heart's Blood

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still paying a debt for the sins of our ancestors.
Jakkin spun away and stared at the wall, seeing again the stewman wiping the
smear of blood across his mouth, hearing again the fading yellow landscape
flickering out as S Blood died. Something sour rose in his throat.
You see, Dr. Henkky said, it ll be easy for you. You will not have to do
much pretending. You re sick at the thought.
But why pretend at all? Why wait? Golden has it set up to get me directly in
touch with the rebels.
Dr. Henkky put her hands up, palms together, as if in prayer. Believe me when
I tell you not to trust
Golden. I know him very well.
Jakkin nodded.
Ask yourself how a man who is a senator, a master, can be so well connected
to the rebels.
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The scarred face of Ardru came instantly to Jakkin s mind.
Ask yourself what a man who has been offplanet and reared on a Federation
ship hopes to gain. If we stay a Protectorate-even with a bond system-the
Federation has a perfect planet for its crews to play at bloody-mindedness. If
we become a Federation state, it will be the end of the dragon Pits as we know
them. Either way the Federation gains something-a playpen or a member state
paying taxes and trade.
But if the rebels take over, the Federation has nothingno more Pits, no state
to tax, no land to plunder and mine.
Jakkin thought for a minute. But then what does Golden have to do with the
rebels?
Think, Jakkin, think. By its own laws the Federation cannot come legally,
openly into our world and break up a homegrown rebellion, but it needs a
stable world here. So someone like Golden must be found, an Austarian by birth
but a Federation man by upbringing. He can track the rebels and push them into
stupid enough acts so that we re forced to come down on them ourselves.
Jakkin suddenly shivered. What kinds of stupid acts?
Murder perhaps.
Of a master s daughter? Jakkin whispered.
Dr. Henkky did not answer but restlessly pushed her fingers through her hair,
then rubbed the back of one hand with the other.
Do you really think that? Jakkin asked.
I don t know, Dr. Henkky said. Golden uses everyone and doesn t even
realize it. Even with me&
She stopped, drew in a breath. He s not really one of us, though his
ancestors may have been born here. He s an offworlder, not an Austarian.
And you are, said Jakkin.
I am. And you are. And Akki. We re what is best in Austar. We want to save
and build, not break down things like the rebels or play with things, like the
Federation and like Golden.
Jakkin s hand went again to the bondbag. Dr. Henkky, all I ve ever wanted to
be is a dragon master, not a master of men. I hate politics. I don t enjoy the
games that people seem to play. Give me a great worm to run in the Pit-even
with cleaning the dust and the fewmets-and I m happy. He shook his head.
But if you re right, then I guess it s politics time-not dragon time-that is
now.
She laughed abruptly, and her face underwent a change of such magnitude that
Jakkin realized with a shock that she was a beautiful woman. No, Jakkin,
there you re wrong. Politics is a waiting game, and you ll have to get used to
that. I know how hard it is for someone your age to wait, so listen to me and
do this: Go home now. Think about all I ve said about the stewmen and the
blood thirst now. Work with your worm now. The moment I have real word of
Akki s whereabouts-and I think I can find it out from
Golden-I ll send word through Bekka to you.
Jakkin stared at her. But what will Golden do when I don t meet& he began.
I ll tell him that you were brought here to me with a bump on the head. Here
a bandage will help our story. Her competent hands quickly affixed a large
bandage on his forehead as she spoke. You see, it wasn t your fault that you
were set upon in an alley as you wandered unhappily after your trip to the
Stews.
But that s a lie, said Jakkin.
Believe me, Golden understands lies. Don t be so naive, my young friend. She
finished the bandage and patted his head.
Jakkin moved away from her and went to the door. With his hand on the latch,
he turned again to look at the doctor. Her eyes were glittering like those of
a trainer whose dragon was running well in the Pit.
Jakkin felt uneasy.
No, he said, don t send Bekka to me. I won t trust Golden, but I don t
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trust you either. I fill my bag myself He tore the bandage from his forehead,
wincing as the tape pulled some hair. I won t play the political waiting
game.
Henkky s eyes were suddenly opaque. She shrugged. Unfortunately politics
plays people as much as people play politics, she warned. There are times
when no amount of wishing will speed things along.
Jakkin stared angrily at her. I don t need any more advice, Doctor. After
all, I m not sick. He opened the door and found his way back down the hall
and stairs. Once out on the street, he managed to get a bearing on the
light-filled dome of the Pit and started to thread his way slowly, and with
much backtracking, through the maze. But though it took him hours, no one with
Golden s name found him, and he had to concede the period of Dark After and
sleep it away in the underpit stalls.
chapter 29
WITHOUT THE HEAVY dragon in the back of the truck, the return trip to the
nursery was swift, but the two men barely spoke to each other. What Sarkkhan
was thinking Jakkin didn t know. His own thoughts, like a takk pot at full
boil, bubbled furiously.
He didn t know whether to believe Dr. Henkky or Golden or neither, and he
wished he understood the animosity between them. He wondered what Golden had
concluded when he d missed the meeting with the rebel. Some spy, he thought
bitterly. Then, remembering S Blood s guttering yellow flame, he thought: Some
trainer. Finally, as the miles between the truck and The Rokk grew greater, he
had a final anguished thought: Some man.
The landscape was dull, as if a grey wash had been painted over everything:
grey roads, grey sand, grey trees. Only the mountains stood out, dark and
brooding against the slate-colored sky. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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