Dragon and Liberator

CHAPTER 22

Jack had just unwrapped a ration bar when he heard a crackling sound through the deck above the crawl space where he and Draycos had taken up temporary residence. "Attention, Jack Morgan," a familiar voice called, the tone muffled by the deck. "This is Arthur Neverlin."

He's not actually there, Draycos said into Jack's mind. He's speaking through the ship's intercom.

Jack nodded. He'd already figured that one out.

"Jack, I know you can hear me," Neverlin continued. "I have something here that I believe belongs to you."

There was a short pause. "Jack?" a new voice called.

It was Alison.

Jack felt his heart seize up. Oh no.

"I'm sorry, Jack," Alison said. Even through the deck Jack could hear a slight quavering in her voice. "They—I couldn't—aah!"

Involuntarily, Jack twitched. The pain in her voice right then—

"Don't worry, Jack," Neverlin said. "She's not seriously hurt. Yet. But that could change."

Steady, Jack, Draycos cautioned. He's trying to draw us into the open.

Jack grimaced. He knew that. But knowing it didn't help his tight muscles in the slightest.

And if Alison was being tortured, what had happened to Taneem? Surely this time Neverlin and Frost couldn't possibly have missed finding the K'da riding on her skin.

"Believe it or not, though, you're in a more serious position than she is," Neverlin went on. "You see, now that the fleet has reassembled, all my ships are available to me. Including the troop carrier, with plenty of passenger space aboard. I presume you understand the full ramifications of that."

Do we? Jack asked.

Unfortunately, we do, Draycos answered grimly. He can now take all the crew and passengers off this ship, put them in the carrier, and open our ship to vacuum.

Terrific, Jack replied, glancing around the crawl space. I don't suppose you know where some vac suits are stashed?

Even if there are any still aboard, it would be a futile gesture, Draycos said. Vac suit oxygen supplies are limited to a few hours at the most, while Neverlin can leave the Brummgas in the carrier almost until the K'da/Shontine fleet is due to arrive.

Which is, what, another ten days?

Unless they're ahead of schedule, Draycos said. Call it somewhere between four and ten days. We can't possibly hold out here that long.

Aren't there any spare oxygen tanks?

Only a limited supply, Draycos said. And most of them are in five centralized locations. Neverlin could easily destroy them before the crew was evacuated.

"So it's up to you," Neverlin went on. "I'd actually prefer to have you alive, and if you come out now and surrender peacefully I give you my word you won't be harmed. But bear in mind that this is a limited-time offer." With another crackle, the intercom went silent.

Okay, Jack said, trying to think. If we can't hold out, what are our other options? Assuming we can find a vac suit, can we sneak outside and float our way to one of the other ships? Or could we even take over the Foxwolf itself and fly it somewhere?

I doubt either plan would work, Draycos said reluctantly. The other ships will surely be too far away for us to make a quick transfer, and of course there's no practical way to hide either our departure or our crossing. As for taking command of this ship, Neverlin will surely be prepared for us to try that.

Jack swallowed. Suddenly, the crawl space seemed a lot tighter than it had before. So what are we going to do?

For a moment Draycos was silent, his background thoughts rushing past Jack's mind like the rapids of a mountain stream. We surrender, the K'da said at last. If all he wanted was our deaths, he could simply have removed all the Brummgas and suffocated us as he threatened without giving us a warning.

So if he doesn't want us dead, what does he want?

I don't know, Draycos admitted. But if we stay here, we'll surely die. Alive, even in Neverlin's hands, there's always hope.

Jack took a deep breath, eleven years' worth of Uncle Virgil's warnings and counsel flowing through his mind. Run away. Protect yourself. Don't stick your neck out for anyone. Run away.

Run away. . . .

But he couldn't run away. Not this time.

Okay, he said with a sigh. Let's go.

Even with Neverlin's promise, Jack half-expected them to be gunned down as soon as they emerged from the tween gap. Certainly there were enough armed Brummgas waiting to have made quick work of them.

But apparently for once Neverlin had been telling the truth. "Okay I'm here," Jack said, trying to sound as if stepping into a circle of guns was something he did every day.

"So we see," a tall human said as he pushed his way through the wall of glowering Brummgas. "Lieutenant Pickering, captain of the Foxwolf." His eyes flicked up and down Jack's form. "I trust your friend is with you?"

"I'm here," Draycos confirmed, lifting the top of his head from Jack's shoulder.

Pickering didn't take a step backward, but Jack had the feeling that he very much wanted to. "Yes, I see." He lifted a finger and beckoned.

And to Jack's surprise, Langston stepped into view. "Hello, Jack," the other said darkly. "Nice to actually see you this time."

"Hey, it's not my fault you can't walk and read at the same time," Jack countered, picking up instantly on the cue. Langston must have played Frost the same scenario he'd pretended to play for Jack, that he'd been too busy studying his notepad to focus on the pilot who came out of that KK-29 patrol ship. "Come on; let's get this over with."

Langston jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "This way."

They walked in silence to the docking bay. Brummgas lined the whole route, most of them fidgeting with their guns. Langston stepped to the side of the open hatchway and gestured Jack to go in.

Jack did so, and found himself in the KK-29 he'd borrowed from Chiggers back on Bentre. "I would have thought they have moved it by now," he commented.

"They did," Langston said, coming in and closing the hatch. "Frost had it brought back for the occasion. Come on—you might as well sit up front."

They headed forward to the cockpit. The ship was all powered up, Jack saw as he sat down in the copilot's seat. So were the weapons boards, he noted with interest. "A functional ship with functional weapons," he pointed out as Langston took the pilot's seat. "You'd think they wanted us to make a run for it."

"It does look that way, doesn't it?" Langston agreed. He checked his displays and hit the release control, and the patrol ship floated free. "Maybe they do. Maybe all this is just more of Frost's fine-weave rope."

"Could be," Jack conceded. "He's probably hoping we'll try something and he'll have an excuse to blast us to dust."

"I don't think so," Langston said as he eased in the drive, moving them away from the Foxwolf. "See those Djinn-90s over there?"

Jack peered out the canopy where the other was pointing. In the distance he could see three of the heavy fighters, drifting silently along. "Look like they're minding their own business, don't they?"

"That's the point—they are minding their own business," Langston said. "So is everyone else. If we made a break for it now, we'd be on ECHO before anyone could stop us."

Jack frowned, searching the sky. He didn't know nearly as much as Langston did about military ships and tactics, but he was willing to trust the other's judgment. "So what's the scam?" he asked. "They want some practice with the Death?"

"What Death?" Langston countered. "The only one left is on the Advocatus Diaboli, and it's way out of position to hit us back here."

"Then maybe we're booby-trapped," Jack suggested.

Langston shook his head. "I already ran a check on the air system and did a quick visual," he said. "There's nothing aboard they could use to gas us. And they sure aren't going to blow up one of their ships just to take us out. They need all of them they've got."

Jack chewed at the inside of his cheek. "Draycos?" he asked. "What do you think?"

"I agree with Sergeant Langston," the K'da said from his shoulder. "The entire setup is strange."

"So what do we do?"

"We continue on to the Advocatus Diaboli," Draycos said.

"Because of Alison, I suppose?" Langston said.

"In part," Draycos said.

"Yeah," Langston muttered. "I don't know, Draycos. Something about her seems fishy to me."

"Join the club," Jack said dryly. "But you know how stubborn K'da poet-warriors can get when they're being noble."

"I suppose." Langston looked sideways at Jack, a crooked smile on his lips. "Lucky for me."

"Jack?" a whispered voice came from Jack's comm clip.

Jack jerked in surprise. Had Alison gotten free?

"Who's that?" Langston asked, frowning at him.

And then Jack's brain caught up with him. "It's Taneem," he said. "Taneem? Are you all right?"

"For now, yes," Taneem said. Even in a whisper Jack could hear the misery in her voice. "Jack, she lied to us. She lied to all of us."

"Calm down, Taneem," Draycos said, gently but firmly "Tell us what she lied about."

"Everything," Taneem said. "She's not a thief. She's General Aram Davi's daughter. I heard her say so."

Jack frowned. Why did that name sound familiar?

"The Malison Ring's commander?" Langston demanded, sounding stunned.

And then it clicked. "Oh, boy," Jack muttered.

"No wonder she had his voice pattern on the Essenay's computer," Taneem continued. "No wonder she had such wonderful burglary equipment."

"Okay, calm down," Jack said. "Given Frost's shenanigans with Malison Ring men and equipment, having Davi's daughter in the game may not be such a bad thing."

"You don't understand," Taneem said. "She's gone over to them. She and her father both. She's not in danger—she just pretended to be to get you and Draycos out of hiding."

Jack felt his stomach tighten. "Then Neverlin wasn't going to pull the Brummgas off the Foxwolf and try to kill us?"

"He couldn't," Taneem said. "Alison wrecked the troop carrier."

"I'll be swiggled," Langston said, peering at one of his displays. "She's right. There's a great big air-leaking dent in its side."

"Okay," Jack said. He was rather surprised at how calm his voice sounded. "We're definitely butter side down now. What do you think, Draycos? Now do we make a run for it?"

For a few seconds there was nothing but the rapid flow of Draycos's thoughts against his mind. "No," the K'da said. "For one thing, Sergeant Langston's observations and conclusions haven't changed. If Neverlin truly hopes we'll try to escape, we must definitely not do so."

"So we just walk into this other trap instead?"

"If it is, in fact, a trap," Draycos said. "Taneem, where are you right now?"

"In one of the ducts near Neverlin's office," Taneem said. "Not close enough for him to hear us."

"How much of the conversation did you hear where Alison revealed her true identity?"

"All of it, I think," Taneem said. "They didn't believe her at first, but she had something hidden in her sleeve that proved it."

"I'm sure she did," Draycos said. "Question: did she ever mention you?"

There was a short pause. "No, she didn't," Taneem said. "She said her father wanted you alive so they could learn the secret of how you can go onto people's skin."

"But she never mentioned you?" Draycos persisted.

"No, not that I heard."

"So what does that prove?" Langston asked, frowning.

"It proves she's still playing games," Jack told him, some of the weight lifting off his lungs. "And not just with us."

"What do you mean?" Taneem asked. "Is she not General Davi's daughter, then?"

"I don't know who she is," Jack said. "Not that I ever did, come to think of it. But if she'd really betrayed us, she should have betrayed you, too."

"She did tell Neverlin you'd been a useful ally while your goals weren't bumping heads," Taneem said. "Maybe they still aren't."

"Maybe," Jack said. "Draycos?"

"I'm willing to trust her a while longer," Draycos said.

"That's good enough for me," Jack said. It was almost the truth, too. "Meanwhile, Taneem, you stay hidden. Listen in as much as you can, but stay hidden."

"What about my six-hour limit?" Taneem asked. "Over half of that has already passed."

And Alison was probably going to be cooped up with Neverlin and Frost for the rest of it, Jack suspected. "That's okay—you and Draycos can take turns on me," he said. "Just track us down after they lock us up."

"All right," Taneem said. "Be careful. I hope you're right about Alison."

"We will, and we hope so, too," Jack said. "We'll talk to you later."

The transmission clicked off. "That assumes they'll put you some place where she can get to you," Langston warned.

"And that we're not under constant surveillance," Jack said grimly. "I know. But I don't know what else to do."

"Maybe I can find an excuse to go aboard later," Langston suggested. "Do you still have that spare comm clip I lent Draycos?"

"Right here," Jack said, digging it out of his pocket and handing it to the other. "It's still set on our frequency."

"Good," Langston said, slipping it into his own pocket. "If I can get back in time, I'll give her a call and arrange a rendezvous."

"But don't take any unnecessary risks," Draycos warned. "At the moment we want you alive and with as much freedom of movement as possible."

"He's right," Jack seconded. "Don't worry about Taneem. Between Alison and me, we should be able to cover her."

"Okay," Langston said. "You two watch yourselves. Whatever Neverlin's got up his sleeve, I'm guessing you're not going to like it."