Dragon and Soldier: The Second Dragonback Adventure

Dragon and Soldier: The Second Dragonback Adventure by Zahn, Timothy. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780765350176.

Dragon and Thief, the first novel in the Dragonback series, was named an American Library Association Best Book For Young Adults. The second novel, Dragon and Soldier is another fast-paced, compulsively readable SF adventure featuring an odd couple of reluctant partners on an unusual quest. Draycos, a golden-scaled draconic Kda poet-warrior, was on a scout fleet ship when it was attacked, with him the lone survivor. Forced to find a new symbiotic humanoid host, he found Jack Morgan. Jack has been on his own, making his way by shipping interstellar cargo on the ship hes inherited from his Uncle Virgil, a con-man and thief who met with a fatal accident. Draycos has vowed to uncover those behind a vast conspiracy to wipe out his people, while Jack is determined to find out who framed him for a crime he didnt commit. Virgil, who survives as "Uncle Virge" in the ships computer, is against their plan. But Draycos once saved Jacks life, so Jack feels an obligation to this strange creature who can slip onto the boys skin, pressing against it like a living tattoo. Knowing that mercenaries were involved in the ambush that killed Draycoss fleet, Jack enlists in a mercenary outfit that practically enslaves adolescent recruits. But the soldiers life isnt exactly what Jack had bargained for, especially when a mysterious girl is recruited into his group. Strange things are happening, and people and events are not always as they seem.