Dragon and Liberator

CHAPTER 21

Two hours later, the Advocatus Diaboli came off ECHO in the midst of the rest of the fleet waiting at the rendezvous point.

And Alison was ready.

"We'll be leaving?" Taneem asked timidly from inside Alison's shirt.

"Yes," Alison said, sparing a moment from the lifepod's controls to glance down at the flat dragon head gazing up at her through her collar. Despite Alison's explanation, the K'da probably didn't really grasp what it was they were about to do.

Or else she knew full well what they were about to do and was wondering how they were going to live through it. "You'll leave before I will, though," Alison added. "In about a minute, you're going back into the ducts and getting as far away from this side of the ship as you can."

"Because when the lifepod leaves the ship, the ducts here will be closed off," Taneem said.

At least she'd gotten that part clear. "Because of the hole we melted in the duct, yes," Alison confirmed. "Popping the lifepod will open the duct to vacuum, and the system will react by isolating this area."

"But then how will you escape?"

"I'll already be out in the corridor," Alison said, feeling a flicker of impatience. They'd already been over this part of the plan twice. "There will still be air out there."

"But you'll also be isolated from the rest of the ship," Taneem said. "You'll be trapped here."

Alison grimaced. So Taneem did understand what they were going to do. "You have to trust me, Taneem," she said. "You just concentrate on getting yourself to safety."

"And then find you afterward?"

"Yes, but don't push your luck on that," Alison said. "You've got six hours—plenty of time for us to touch base again. You get yourself safe, and leave everything else to me."

She felt Taneem's tail flick against her leg. "I have been honored to be your friend, Alison," the K'da said quietly. "If we don't survive . . ."

"We'll survive, Taneem," Alison assured her.

Alison looked back at the lifepod's navigational display. The troop carrier was maneuvering close to the Foxwolf now, getting ready for Neverlin's planned transfer of the K'da/Shontine ship's crew and passengers. The Advocatus Diaboli itself was moving into the third point of the triangle, driven no doubt by Neverlin's usual desire to supervise everything.

Alison smiled to herself. Frost probably figured that removing the Foxwolf 's lifepods had eliminated the last obstacle to his plan for asphyxiating Jack and Draycos.

He was about to find out otherwise.

"Here we go," she said, lifting her hand to the hole in the duct.

With a surge of weight on her hand, Taneem slid off into the duct. "Hang on," Alison said, crossing to the packet she'd made of her comm clip and the equipment they'd borrowed from inside Harper's ventilation grille. Heading back to the duct, she maneuvered it through the hole. "Remember, as far across the ship as you can get," she reminded the K'da. "All the way on the far side would be best. And don't stop by any of the red-edged sections of duct—those are the emergency seals."

"Which could cut me in half," Taneem said. "Yes, I remember. Alison—"

"Be careful, and I'll see you soon," Alison cut her off. "Now scoot."

For a moment Alison could see a hint of gray scales in the gloom. Then, the scales stirred and were gone.

Alison returned to the lifepod's helm and sat down, giving her program one last check. All was ready. She counted out ninety seconds to let Taneem get some distance, then flipped up the protective cover on the drive control. "Incoming," she muttered, and threw the switch.

Instantly, the raucous clamoring of the separation alarm filled the lifepod. Getting up, she crossed to the door and slapped the release. It slid open, and she ducked out into the corridor.

The door slid closed. Three seconds later there was the multiple thud of explosive bolts as the lifepod blew free of the hull.

The decompression alarm hooted, and from all directions came the sound of multiple thuds as emergency seals slid into place across the various corridors around her. Over the alarm's bellowing Alison could hear the sudden hiss as her section was flooded with oxygen.

The hissing ended quickly as the damaged duct was sealed off and the sensors realized the corridor itself wasn't leaking air. Alison thought about sitting down, decided she'd rather meet Frost's men on her feet, and settled in to wait.

She didn't have to wait very long. Three minutes later, with another set of somewhat softer thuds, the emergency seals slid back into their slots.

And waiting behind them, their weapons drawn and ready, were a half-dozen men in Malison Ring uniforms. They spotted her, and at least three jaws dropped in expressions of stunned disbelief.

"Hello, Dumbarton," Alison said, nodding to the owner of one of those jaws. "Come on; come on. Frisk me or whatever you have to do, and then take me to Frost and Neverlin. They'll want to see me."

"Oh yes," Dumbarton said. His look of astonishment, she noted uneasily, was rapidly turning into one of malicious anticipation. "I'm sure they will."

She had thought they might take her to Neverlin's office for a more private chat. Instead, Dumbarton and his team escorted her to the Advocatus Diaboli's bridge.

After frisking her for weapons, of course, rather more roughly than they really had to.

They reached the bridge to find Neverlin and Frost with their angry faces already in place. Alison expected Frost to get in the first word, and she wasn't disappointed. "Well, well," he said, his voice darkly sarcastic. "Why am I not surprised to see you?"

"Oh, come on, now—be honest," Alison chided him. "There's no way you aren't surprised to find me on your ship."

"Fine. I'm surprised." Frost nodded his head toward Neverlin. "Shall we just kill her now?"

"She certainly deserves it," Neverlin agreed. His voice, unlike Frost's, was utterly calm and cool.

Alison focused past Neverlin's shoulder on the main ship's display. He was right, she had to admit. By his and Frost's standards, she probably did deserve to die.

The troop carrier was a mess. The deep dent her lifepod had made when it rammed into the ship's side was trailing tendrils of smoke and debris from a dozen different cracks in the hull. Through some of those cracks she could see a fiery glow, showing that some of the interior oxygen seals hadn't quite done their job.

"What I actually deserve is thanks," she said, looking back at Neverlin. "If I'd let you continue with this bonehead plan to kill Morgan's pet K'da, both of you would have ended up roasting over a slow fire."

"Really," Neverlin said. "And who, pray tell, was going to set up this roasting pit?"

"Don't tell us—let me guess," Frost said sarcastically. "You're working for the Patri Chookoock, right?"

"Hardly," Alison said, putting as much contempt into her voice as she could. "You know, you two are incredibly dense. Especially you, Colonel. You at least knew I'd been poking around one of the Malison Ring training centers."

"Is that what you call it?" Frost countered. "Poking around?"

"Also known as gathering evidence of misconduct by the base's commandant," Alison said. "But even without that, my name should have been enough for you. Alison? Malison?"

"Lock her up," Neverlin said, signaling to Dumbarton. We'll decide what to do with her after—"

"You blithering fools," Alison cut him off, glaring back and forth between them. "You still don't understand, do you? The Malison Ring was named for me."

Neverlin looked sharply at her. "What in space are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about General Aram Davi," Alison said icily, "Founder and supreme commander of the Malison Ring. And father of one Alison Lorelei Kayna Davi."

She drew herself up. "Me."

For a long minute the entire bridge seemed to go silent. Alison looked around the room, her eyes pausing an extra fraction of a second on each of the men wearing Malison Ring uniforms. "You can prove this, of course?" Frost asked at last.

In answer, Alison dug into the sleeve of her shirt and pulled out a long white strip not much thicker than a cat's whisker. "Micro-etched, with an internal codex core for confirmation," she said, holding it out toward Frost.

Frost glanced at Neverlin, then stepped forward and took it from her. "Is that a codex-four?"

"It has a four, a five, and a six," Alison said. "Feel free to run it through the whole checklist."

"Trust me, we will," Neverlin said as Frost stepped back. "Of course, if you're telling the truth, it's all the more reason for us to make sure you disappear quietly."

"It might, if Dad was mad at you," Alison said. "Actually, he's more intrigued than angry."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning all sorts of interesting things." Alison looked significantly around the bridge. "But I think we might want a little more privacy before we discuss them."

"My office," Neverlin said. He started to point toward the door Alison had come in by, then dropped his arm. "But you already know where it is, don't you?"

"Of course," Alison said. "And maybe we can also get something to eat. Seventeen days on lifepod rations gets pretty tiresome."

"I'll have something brought in," Neverlin said. There was still a fair amount of sarcasm in his tone, she noted.

But she also noted that the sarcasm was now edged with a little caution. As well it might be. "Good," Alison said, gesturing him forward. "After you."

"Let's start with the obvious," Neverlin said when he, Frost, and Alison were seated together in his office. "How did you get aboard this ship?"

"Inside the K'da safe, of course," Alison said. "Another one you really should have figured out, given that you know I know how to open them."

"So you're working with Jack Morgan?" Neverlin asked, a hint of threat beneath his voice.

"He was a useful ally as long as our goals weren't bumping heads," Alison said. "He and that highly interesting poet-warrior friend of his."

"Who's already played havoc with our attack plan," Frost said accusingly.

"Don't look at me," Alison countered. "You were the ones who let him come in. And the ones who didn't have anything but a bunch of incompetent Brummgas standing in his way."

"You sound like another of our uninvited guests," Neverlin said.

"Who, Harper?" Alison snorted. "The man has chutzpah; I'll give him that."

"Wait a minute," Frost growled. "How do you know about Harper?"

"How do you think?" Getting up from her chair, Alison squatted down and retrieved the needle microphone from under the desk. "You really should sweep your personal areas for bugs more often," she said, setting the needle onto the desktop in front of Neverlin.

"So it was you who decoyed my men away from their posts," Frost said. "And then framed Mrishpaw for it."

Alison shrugged. "What can I say, except that Brummgas pretty much invite that sort of thing."

"I gather General Davi doesn't think much of Brummgas?" Neverlin asked.

"Do you?" Alison countered. "I certainly don't. Especially not after this last fiasco."

"The general doesn't think much of most non-humans, actually," Frost said.

"And for good reason," Alison said. "Draycos, though, is one alien he's very interested in."

"What does he want to do, recruit him?" Frost asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Alison said. "The K'da ability to attach themselves to humans has all sorts of interesting possibilities. But without a subject to study, the bioweapons labs aren't going to be able to coax out that secret."

"So you came to plead for the refugee fleet?" Neverlin asked.

"Hardly," Alison assured him. "All Dad wants from that part of the operation is a fair cut."

"A fair cut?" Frost demanded. "What kind of cut does he think he deserves?"

"The kind of cut due a new partner," Alison said calmly. "Especially a new partner who can free you from the burden of ever again having to rely on the Patri Chookoock and his brain-dead muscleheads. From now on, if and when you need manpower, the Malison Ring will provide it."

"If the general is feeling so accommodating, why didn't he simply direct the Driftline commandant to give us the extra ships we wanted?" Frost asked, his tone still suspicious. "It would have been considerably easier on Sergeant Chapman and his team."

"He would have if he'd known where you were planning your raid," Alison explained patiently. "This isn't exactly something you put on the Malison Ring newslist."

"That's his excuse," Neverlin spoke up. "What's yours?"

"What's my what?"

"Your excuse," Neverlin said. "You sit around quietly in a lifepod for seventeen days, and then your first word of greeting is to wreck our troop carrier?"

"I thought you or Colonel Frost might put up a fight over whether or not we try to keep Draycos alive," Alison said. "This way, the point is moot. You don't have enough spare room among the rest of your ships to accommodate that many Brummgas while you open the Foxwolf to space." She shrugged. "Besides, the carrier is probably more use to you wrecked than it is whole."

"How do you figure that?" Neverlin asked.

"I presume the plan is for you and the Foxwolf to go running to the refugee fleet as soon as it arrives, claiming the big bad wolf is behind you and pleading for protection. Am I close?"

"Go on," Neverlin said.

"So now you've got a ship with genuine damage that you can show them," Alison said. "It'll also make a good place to stash Morgan and the K'da while we deal with the rest of the fleet."

"Assuming we can coax them out of hiding," Neverlin said. "Or did you have a plan for that, too?"

"Of course I do," Alison said scornfully. "Jack and I are buddies, remember? All you have to do is have the Foxwolf put you on their intercom system and announce you've captured me. I moan a few pitiful words about being alone and scared and tortured, and he'll fall all over himself trying to rescue me."

"Oh, please," Frost said with a snort. "Even if Morgan's stupid enough to fall for that, I hardly think the K'da will."

"Of course he won't," Alison said. "But that doesn't matter. Draycos is noble to the point of practically being a cartoon figure. He'll figure that he'll be able to rescue me no matter what the odds or the situation."

"Not a chance," Frost said flatly. "He's a soldier in a war. He's not going to give up a strong, defensible position just because the enemy asks him to."

"Then he gives it up because he doesn't have any other choice," Alison said. "Because you'll also threaten to pull the Brummgas and Valahgua off and open the Foxwolf to vacuum." She shrugged. "After all, he doesn't know I wrecked the troop carrier."

Frost looked at Neverlin. "What do you think?"

"Actually, it might just work," Neverlin said thoughtfully, his eyes steady on Alison. "It may also give us a chance to kill a second bird with the one stone."

"I hope you meant that figuratively," Alison warned. "Dad wants them alive and unharmed."

"Purely a figure of speech," Neverlin assured her with a genteel smile.

There was a beep from his intercom, and he leaned forward to touch the switch. "Yes?"

"Dumbarton, sir," Dumbarton's voice came. "Ms. Davi's ID checks out."

Alison felt a quiet flicker of relief. Ms. Davi, he'd called her. And he'd said it with the proper tone of respect. So they were indeed convinced.

And everyone in the Malison Ring knew General Aram Davi's reputation for ruthlessness. If Neverlin and Frost decided they wanted her dead, they'd now have to work over, around, or through the rest of the Malison Ring soldiers aboard to make her that way.

But if any of those thoughts were running through Neverlin's mind, they didn't show in his face. "Thank you, Sergeant," he said, and switched off the intercom.

"Well?" Alison prompted.

"We'll try it," Neverlin said. "If Morgan and the K'da take the bait, I want a proper reception ready for them. Colonel?"

"I'll make the arrangements," Frost said, starting for the door.

"One other thing first," Neverlin said, motioning for Frost to stop. "One other question."

"Yes?" Alison asked.

"What exactly did you steal from Braxton Universis?"

"Who says I stole anything?" Alison asked evenly.

Neverlin didn't reply, but merely continued to stare at her. Alison stared back a few seconds, then shrugged. "Fine," she said. "It was one of those high-tech ship tracers you used to follow the Essenay to Rho Scorvi. Dad had heard rumors, and decided he wanted one for himself."

She smiled tightly. "If we'd known you'd already made off with one of them, I wouldn't have bothered."

"They're very useful devices, aren't they?" Neverlin agreed. "At least now we know why Harper was so interested in tracking you down."

"And why I was so interested in getting away," Alison said.

"Yes," Neverlin murmured. "I gather, then, that it was you who were on Rho Scorvi with Jack Morgan." His face suddenly darkened. "You who were shooting at Colonel Frost's men."

"Colonel Frost's men were shooting at me first," Alison countered stiffly. "Besides, at that point they were technically deserters." Deliberately, she turned to Frost. "As were you, Colonel. I had a perfect right to execute any of you if the opportunity arose."

"I'm so glad we're on the same side now," Frost murmured.

"If I were you, I wouldn't be too flippant," Alison warned. "You may have heard that the commandant of the training center I was at was arrested right after I had that run at his computers. As far as Dad's concerned, you're still very much on probation."

"I'll keep that in mind," Frost said.

"Good," Alison said. "Then get busy and set up that reception we discussed."

She looked at Neverlin. "And while he attends to that," she added, "maybe we can finally get that decent meal."