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Dragon and Liberator: The Sixth Dragonback Adventure

Dragon and Liberator: The Sixth Dragonback Adventure
By Timothy Zahn

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Product Description

In this exciting space adventure, fourteen-year-old Jack Morgan and Draycos, a poet/warrior K'da dragon who can hide himself as a tattoo on Jack's back, have their backs to the wall. Brought together by a twist of fate, these two have been through a lot of scrapes, risking death and imprisonment on worlds far and wide, seeking justice for Jack and information that might save Draycos's people from a genocidal ambush. But now, Neverlin, the man who killed Jack's parents and destroyed the scout fleet of which Draycos was the sole survivor, is about to ambush millions of K'da refugees, and kill them with a Death weapon that kills any living being within its range. To prevent Neverlin from eradicating the K'da race, Jack and Draycos must somehow disable the Death.

But for Jack and Draycos, things never seem to go the way they should. When Jack's friend Alison is captured, Jack gives himself up to keep her from being harmed. Neverlin, with Jack and Draycos as his prisoners, holds all the cards. But desperate times call for desperate measures, as time is running out, not just for our young heroes, but also for the millions of K'da who face annihilation, and resourceful Jack and his remarkable ally will fine a way . . . or die trying.
 
A powerful, thrilling conclusion to this terrific Young Adult six-book series. Fun for readers 10 and older.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #65634 in Books
  • Published on: 2009-06-02
  • Released on: 2009-06-02
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Mass Market Paperback
  • 368 pages

Features

  • ISBN13: 9780765352781
  • Condition: NEW
  • Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Tim Zahn is a master of tactics and puts his own edge on complex hard-SF thrillers.” —Kevin J. Anderson
 
“Zahn has always managed to tell an enthralling story in the past, and this one is no exception.” —Science Fiction Chronicle on Dragon and Slave
 
“This is a great read whatever your age.” — Science Fiction Chronicle on Dragon and Soldier
 
“These are good, old-fashioned, SF thrillers aimed at teenagers but recommended to readers of all ages looking for a fast, suspenseful romp.” —Vector on the Dragonback Series

About the Author

Timothy Zahn is the Hugo Award–winning author of more than thirty SF novels, including the first five Dragonback novels, as well as Night Train to Rigel, The Third Lynx, and Blackcollar: The Judas Solution. He has also written the all-time bestselling Star Wars spinoff novel, Heir to the Empire, and other Star Wars novels, including the recent Allegiance. He lives in Oregon.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One

One month.

The words echoed through Draycos’s mind as he lay in his two-dimensional form against Jack Morgan’s back, arms, and  legs.
One month.

One month left until the refugee fleet carrying the remainder of his K’da people and their Shontine symbionts arrived here in
the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy. One month until their long,wearying journey would be over.

One month until they flew into the ambush that Arthur Neverlin and the Valahgua were preparing for them.

Or perhaps even less than that. After two years in hyperspace, they could easily be a week or two early for their rendezvous.

Draycos raised his head a little from Jack’s shoulder, his eyebrow ridges and spiny crest pressing up against the boy’s
shirt. Through the windshield of the car Jack had borrowed from a used-vehicle lot, he could see the Brummgan town of Ponocce
City laid out in front of them. Its ugly color scheme, thankfully, was shrouded by the darkness of night and the city’s
mediocre streetlight system. Three miles straight ahead, its lights reflected against the low clouds, was the spaceport where
some of the enemy forces were even now being gathered together.

Draycos swiveled his head around, lifting his eyes over the back of Jack’s shirt. Directly behind the car, rising over the
low houses around it like a breaking ocean wave, was the tall ceramic wall that surrounded the Chookoock family estate.

There were some very unpleasant memories tied up with that wall and the evil people who hid behind it. Draycos could imagine
how Jack must be feeling right now as the memories of his brief time as a Chookoock slave were forced back upon him.

Draycos? Jack’s thought flowed into the K’da’s mind along the strange telepathic link the two of them had somehow developed.
You okay?

Yes, Draycos replied. Why do you ask?

You’re twitching your tail against the back of my knee, Jack told him. I thought maybe you were nervous.

Draycos hadn’t even realized he’d been doing that. My apologies, he said, bringing his tail to a halt.

No problem, Jack assured him. It tickled, that’s all.

In the distance behind them, Draycos caught a flicker of reflected streetlight from the gate set into the white wall. “The
gate’s opening again,” he said aloud.

“Got it,” Jack said, picking up the portable sensor he’d brought from the Essenay and pressing it against the side window.
“Geez, how many soldiers have they got in there, anyway?”

“Well, we’ve had around three hundred come through here, if that helps any,” Alison Kayna’s voice came from the comm clip
attached to Jack’s left shirt collar.

“Yes, thank you, I can do basic math,” Jack growled. “You want to keep it down?”

“Relax—they can’t possibly hear me,” Alison said. Her tone managed somehow to be reassuring and sarcastic at the same time.
“We’re all the way up at the top of the hangar on one of the loading-crane supports.”

“Good,” Jack said tartly. “Keep it down anyway.”

They’ll be all right, Draycos assured him.

I know, Jack said.

But the boy’s words couldn’t hide his tension. Especially since it was the same tension Draycos himself was feeling.

Because it should be him and Jack skulking around the Chookoock family’s main shuttle hangar. It should be him and Jack
watching the Brummgan mercenaries gathering for transport to the ambush point. It shouldn’t be Alison and Taneem.

Especially not Taneem. The young female K’da was intelligent and likable, and she’d certainly shown herself willing to put
herself at risk for Draycos and his people.

But she’d spent most of her life as little more than an animal. Her transformation to full, sentient being was less than two
months old. She still needed more learning and experience before she would be ready for even a normal K’da life.

And the circumstances she and Alison were in right now were anything but normal.

Restlessly, Draycos lashed his tail. He should have put all four feet down right from the start and insisted that he and Jack
take this part of the plan.

The problem was that Alison was just as stubborn as Draycos was. And, unfortunately, she’d also had logic on her side. She
and Taneem had already successfully opened one of the K’da/Shontine safes, and that experience was worth more than any
coaching that Alison could give Jack. Even Jack had admitted that. And to be fair, she had proved she was capable of handling
herself.

But all the logic in the universe didn’t help. Draycos’s emotional core was still tied up in knots of frustration and
concern.

“Here they come,” Jack said. “Looks like just three vans in this convoy. Uncle Virge?”

“Ready, Jack lad,” the voice of the Essenay’s computerized personality came from the comm clip.

The first van reached their position. Jack held the sensor steady against the window as it rolled past, followed closely by
its two companions. “Okay,” he reported as the vehicles’ taillights continued down the dimly lit street. “Uncle Virge?”

“First one seems to be all personnel,” Uncle Virge said slowly as the computer sifted through the data Jack’s sensor had sent
it. “Looks like our standard fifteen armed Brummgas.”

Draycos grimaced. Alison’s theory was that the Patri Chookoock’s role in this conspiracy was to supply Brummgan soldiers to
crew the ships that would be attacking the K’da and Shontine refugees. Apparently, she’d been correct.

The Patri Chookoock was donating the soldiers and crews. Arthur Neverlin, once chairman of the board of the megacorporation
Braxton Universis, was supplying the planning. Later,when the K’da and Shontine were all dead, he would probably also provide
the marketing system they would use to sell the technology from the looted refugee ships. The Valahgua, deadly enemies from
the K’da and Shontine’s own far distant part of the galaxy, were providing their horrible and unstoppable Death weapon.

That left only the attack ships themselves. Presumably, Colonel Maximus Frost of the Malison Ring mercenaries would be
supplying those.

And all that the unsuspecting refugees had standing between them and genocide were Jack, Draycos,Alison, and Taneem. Two
young humans, and two K’da.

And a single month of time.

“Bingo,” Uncle Virge’s voice cut into Draycos’s thoughts. “Second van has five armed Brummgas, plus one very big chunk of
metal.”

Draycos felt Jack’s muscles tighten beneath him. “How big?” the boy asked.

“A little shorter than you and quite a bit wider,” Uncle Virge said. “And I’m getting an unknown on the particular alloy.”

“That’s it,” Alison said positively. “That’s the safe.”

Draycos lifted his head again to look at the vans’ retreating taillights. Each of his advance team’s four ships had had one
of those safes aboard, a safe that had contained the location of their planned rendezvous with the incoming refugee fleet.

But Neverlin’s ambush of the team had killed all the K’da and Shontine except Draycos, leaving all four safes in his hands.
Two had been wrecked when Neverlin’s men attempted to open hem. Alison, under threat to her life, had opened the third for
them.

Three safes down. One still left.

And the final safe had at last been brought out from behind the protection of the white wall and was heading toward the
hangar where Alison and Taneem were waiting.

“Don’t sound too eager,” Uncle Virge warned. “The third van has another fifteen Brummgas.”

“Not a problem,” Alison said. “I’ve got enough sopor mist canisters planted to blanket the whole hangar. I just need to make
sure all three vans are inside before I trigger them.”

“Just make sure they don’t have gas masks on before you do it,” Jack warned.

“You want to walk me through it, just to make sure I do it right?” Alison asked tartly. “Relax, will you? I know what I’m
doing.”

“I hope so,” Jack muttered as he set the sensor on the seat beside him and started the car.

They’ll be all right, Draycos reassured him as the boy pulled out into the Ponocce City traffic.We’ll be only a few minutes
behind this last group. If there’s trouble, we’ll be in position to help.

Sure, Jack said. Help me watch for cops, will you? I’m going to see if I can get a little more speed out of this crate.
 
There was a distant, muted thunk. Across the hangar from where Taneem and Alison crouched on the wide crane supports, the
large doors on the north wall...

Customer Reviews

exhilarating young adult science fiction saga5
Fourteen-year-old space pilot Jack Morgan and poet-warrior Draycos continue their symbiotic quest to bring the human closure following the murders of his family and a way to save the K'da dragon's race from genocide. They have survived much, but neither feels they have made any meaningful progress towards achieving either stretch goal and time is running out at least for the K'da Dragons. Still they work together as Draycos hides as a tattoo on Jack's back.

Neverlin, the human killer of Jack's parents and the fleet in which Draycos was the only survivor, has obtained a Death machine. He plans to use it in conjunction with his allies to eradicate millions of K'da refugees. Only Jack and Draycos stand in his way, but what can a teen and a tattoo do to prevent the holocaust.

Although obviously similar in tone to the previous five books in this exhilarating young adult saga, the final Dragonback adventure is a great finish as the suspense grows to extraordinary levels with the heroes literally having their backs against the wall. The story line is faster than a K'da scout ship never slowing down with the readers wondering if the heroes are going to lose. Although targeting middle school, science fiction fans of all ages will appreciate this strong series as the dragon and human have battled against impossible odds in search of justice for themselves and others.

Harriet Klausner

Dragon and Liberator5
Dragon and liberator
The conclusion of any book series is to be celebrated. With Timothy Zahn, and the Dragonback saga, it is bittersweet. "Dragon and Liberator" not only concludes the saga satisfactorally, but also makes you realize how amazingly good an author he is.
"Dragon and Liberator" takes readers into the lives of Jack Morgan and his poet/warrior dragon, K'da directly into the cross hairs of Neverlin,the man who killed Jack's parents so many years before. Jack and Draycos weave and bob as their lives are endangered time and time again by a death weapon at the hands of a madman with a personal vendetta. Fans of the series previous 5 books, familiar with the plot lines, will experience `a ha' as threads are explained and concluded. The rapid pulse staccato style of Zahn keeps readers guessing and page turning right up to page 384.
If this is your first exposure to the Dragonback series, pick up the first 5, and sit by your favorite fireplace. Start at book one. By the time you reach "Dragon and Liberator", you will be appreciate an epic struggle for survival, revenge, and closure, and the work of a master author-craftsman.
[...]
Tim Lasiuta

The Final Adventure5
Dragon and Liberator (2008) is the sixth SF novel in the Dragonback Adventures series, following Dragon and Judge. In the previous volume, Jack learned the truth about his parents and the Essenay on Semaline. He also freed Langston from captivity.

Alison and Taneem confused the Patri Chookoock on Brum-a-dum. They cooperated with the slaves and attacked the Brummgas. Then Malison Ring troops appeared and took over the compound.

In this novel, Jack Morgan had been a con artist with his own ship. Then he met Draycos and acquired a mission.

Draycos is a K'da, an alien symbiote who must return to his host within six hours or disintegrate into nothing. Draycos often rides Jack's skin as a two dimensional shape like a tattoo. The two are trying to warn the Shontine/K'da refugees of a forthcoming ambush by their Valahgua enemies.

Alison Kayna is an associate of Jack. She is almost a close friend, but has her own agenda. Jack does not fully trust her.

Taneem is a Phooka, an uneducated K'da from Rho Scorvi. She has taken Alison as her host.

Uncle Virge is a simulated personality within the computer on Jack's ship. He is a copy of the mind of Jack's Uncle Virgil.

Arthur Neverlin is a former Braxton Universis executive who allied with the Valahgua enemies of the Shontine/K'da. He has been trying to kill or capture Jack and K'da for months.

Maximus Frost is a Colonel within the Malison Ring mercenaries. He is a rogue, on the payroll of Neverlin. He apparently arranged the ambush of the Shontine/K'da advance party.

Harper is a bodyguard for Braxton Universis. He works directly for Braxton himself.

Langston is a StarForce Wing-sergeant. After his escape on Sematine, he was retaken by Frost and is now working for them.

In this story, the Malison Ring troops have left, but Alison is still trying to open the last Shontine safe. Jack and Draycos track a convoy taking the safe toward the spaceport while Alison and Taneem wait within the hangar. When the Brummgas arrive, Alison releases sopor gas and puts them to sleep.

Alison and Taneem enter the middle van and crack the safe combination. Alison sweeps up the data cubes and puts them in her pocket. She is about to leave when four more cars arrive at the hangar with Neverlin, Frost and Malison Ring troops.

Since there is not much time, Alison and Taneem enter the safe and shut the door. Alison's airmask will keep them alive for six hours while the troops take the safe to their ship. There it is placed within Neverlin's office on the Advocatus Diaboli.

Alison and Taneem open the safe and the Phooka goes into the air ducts to scout the enemy. Alison checks the office suite, then cracks the desk safe and scans the contents. She uses the InterWorld transmitter to send a message to Uncle Virge and another to a different party.

Afterward, Alison uses the desk computer terminal to send a message to the guards outside the door and then slips out when they leave. Alison and Taneem hide within a nearby lifepod while the ship heads somewhere. During the journey, Taneem eavesdrops on Neverlin and Frost from the air ducts and keeps Alison informed.

Meanwhile, Jack is trying to reach the Essenay, but wrecks his stolen car. The police take him to Ponocee City Police Station and put him into a cell. Jack still has Draycos and his spare comm clip, so he could organize a breakout, but his cell is much too deep within the building.

Later, Jack is taken from his cell and escorted to the tenth floor. There he is confronted by Harper and two Brummgas. Jack contacts Uncle Virge and the Essenay blows out the windows.

Harper shoots the two Brummgas and asks to be taken along. Jack agrees to take him, but he doesn't trust the man. Then Uncle Virge takes them toward Bentre.

This tale has Alison playing several roles as she directly confronts Neverlin and Frost. Jack runs into Langston again. Then the Valahgua are frustrated by Jack and Draycos.

This is the last novel in the series. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Zahn fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of corporate intrigue, covert operations, and very close friendships.

-Arthur W. Jordin