Dragonback 06 Dragon and Liberator (26 page)

"What do you want me to say?" Harper countered. Of all of those in
the office, he seemed the calmest. "I already told you the Patri
Chookoock had his doubts about some of his people. Obviously, he was
right."

"I don't want you to
say
anything," Neverlin told him "I
want you to point the traitors out to me so that Colonel Frost can
throw them out the airlock."

Neverlin looked back at the lieutenant. "And while he's thinking
up names, I want to hear about our former StarForce Wing Sergeant
Langston."

The lieutenant's eyes nicked to Frost. "There's not much to tell,
sir," he said. His voice, if anything, had gone a little stiffer.

"Really?" Neverlin asked, looking at Frost again. "I understand he
was off his post in the starboard weapons bay when Morgan and the K'da
killed everyone else in there. Coincidence?"

"He'd left his post to try to contact the control complex," the
lieutenant said. "He thought the one in the weapons bay had failed. He
was on the intercom in fire control when the attack took place."

"Lucky for him," Neverlin said. "I also understand he walked right
past Morgan when he first sneaked aboard without recognizing him. Was
he looking for a working intercom then, too?"

"I've read that report," Frost spoke up before the lieutenant
could answer. "It looks like he was simply preoccupied with other
matters and never actually focused on Morgan."

"He didn't
focus
on him?"

"Morgan's KK-29 had already been cleared," Frost said. "There was
no reason—"

"Cleared by
your
men."

"No reason for him to expect an enemy to pop out of the thing,"
Frost finished stubbornly. "
And
bear in mind a couple of dozen
Brummgas passed him, too, and didn't think anything of it."

"Brummgas are incompetents," Neverlin growled. "I expect something
more from Malison Ring mercenaries."

"We have Langston under confinement while we investigate his
performance," Frost said. "If it turns out he's acted improperly, we'll
deal with him."

"And if it turns out he's acting with Morgan?"

Frost's face darkened. "Then we'll
definitely
deal with
him."

"Very commendable of you," Neverlin said acidly "Considering it
was you who brought him aboard in the first place."

"And it was Harper's friend the Patri Chookoock who brought the
Brummgas aboard," Frost countered. "And
you
who brought the
Valahgua aboard. If we're going to start passing out blame for this
fiasco, I think there's more than enough to go around."

Neverlin's eyes flicked to the lieutenant, as if he suddenly
realized their quarrel had an audience. "You're dismissed, Lieutenant,"
he growled. "Return to the
Foxwolf
. And
find Morgan and the
K'da
!"

"Yes, sir." Turning to Frost, the lieutenant threw him a crisp
salute. Then he turned and strode out of the office.

The door closed behind him, and for a moment there was silence.
"Well, gentlemen," Neverlin said, sitting down at last in his desk
chair. "Suggestions?"

"Obviously, the first thing we need to do is get the rotten apples
out of there," Frost said. "Starting with Morgan and his friend."

"And how exactly do you intend to do that?" Harper asked.
"Lieutenant Pickering's already tried the sensor route without getting
anywhere. You really want to send your men into that hull-gap area to
hunt for them?"

"I was thinking more of sending in some serious firepower," Frost
countered. "If it didn't kill them it would at least keep them pinned
down."

"I understand Pickering and the Brummgas tried that, too," Harper
said. "The problem is that the K'da knows the ship far better than we
do."

"So what do
you
suggest?" Neverlin asked him.

"Maybe we can draw them out some other way," Harper said. "I could
try my Virgil Morgan impression, see if I can get Jack to show himself.
At least maneuver him into a trap where we can grab him."

"Grab?" Neverlin asked, raising his eyebrows. "Not kill?"

"Grab," Harper said firmly. "If the K'da's not with him, we'll
need a live hostage to draw him out." He smiled tightly. "Besides, the
Patri Chookoock still wants to talk to Jack about his friend Alison
Kayna."

"Does he, now," Neverlin said, his voice suddenly thoughtful. "Did
I ever mention that I called the Patri a few days ago, after we went on
ECHO?"

Harper shrugged. "You'd said you were going to."

"And I did," Neverlin said. "Would you like to know what he told
me?"

It seemed to Taneem that a hint of a frown crossed Harper's face.
"I assume he confirmed my story."

"Actually, I never talked to him," Neverlin said. "Somehow, the
communications to the Chookoock family estate were always out."

Harper grunted. "That's Brummgan efficiency for you."

"Perhaps." Neverlin lifted a finger.

And suddenly there was a gun in Frost's hand.

Pointed squarely at Harper.

"Or perhaps it was someone else's efficiency," Neverlin went on
quietly. "Someone with the resources of, say, Braxton Universis. So
Braxton sent you to track me down, did he?"

For a moment Harper studied Neverlin's face, as if he was trying
to decide what to say. Then, he gave a small shrug of his shoulders.
"Actually, my job was to locate Alison Kayna. He has a whole army of
other people working on you."

"I'm flattered," Neverlin said. "What's Alison Kayna to him?"

"A corporate thief," Harper said. "She stole an especially
important trade secret. He wants it back."

"Of course he does," Neverlin said, in a tone that suggested that
he didn't believe a word of it. "Well, we'll see. Colonel?"

Keeping his eyes and gun on Harper, Frost reached over to
Neverlin's desk and touched a button on the intercom. "This is Frost,"
he said. "Close and drop ship."

"Wait a minute," Harper said, the first signs of concern or
uncertainty crossing his face. "What are you doing?"

"If you're fronting for Braxton, he must have a way of tracking
you," Neverlin said. "That's why we just spent six days chasing our
tails through hyperspace, actually. Now we say good-bye to your ship
and head for the rendezvous point."

"This isn't it?" Harper asked. This time, there was no doubt about
the concern in his face.

"You didn't really think I'd take you anywhere important on
nothing but your word, did you?" Neverlin asked scornfully. "I hope
Braxton's people bring enough supplies to have themselves a party.
That's all they're going to get here."

"
Essenay
closed," a voice came from the intercom. "Confirm
drop."

"Drop confirmed," Frost said.

Taneem didn't hear anything, but she felt the duct around her give
a slight lurch. "
Essenay
away," the intercom said. "Drifting
free and clear."

"Acknowledged," Frost said. He touched another intercom button.
"All ships: you're cleared to proceed to rendezvous point. Repeat: all
ships to rendezvous point. Go on ECHO when ready."

There were a dozen acknowledgments from a dozen different voices.
"May I ask what you intend to do with me?" Harper asked as Frost shut
down the intercom.

"That's entirely up to you," Neverlin said. "If you behave
yourself, you might even live through all this."

Harper lifted his eyebrows. "Really."

"Really," Neverlin assured him. "You know a great deal about
Braxton's security setup, knowledge that could come in handy when I'm
ready to make my move against him."

"You really think I'll give any of that up?"

"I'm sure you will," Neverlin said casually. "With the proper
persuasion, of course."

There was a beep from the intercom. "Mr. Neverlin, all ships
except our fighter escort have gone on ECHO," the
Advocatus Diaboli
's
captain reported.

"Thank you, Captain," Neverlin said. "Signal the escort to follow,
and take us out."

He clicked off the intercom. "And now it's time for you to go back
into storage," he added, gesturing to Harper. "The guards outside will
escort you to your stateroom."

"As you wish," Harper said, standing up. "You realize, of course,
that this little maneuver has just given Morgan and Draycos more time
to sabotage the
Foxwolf
."

"Hardly," Neverlin said. "It's only another two hours from here to
the rendezvous point. I doubt even they can do much damage in that
short a time."

"Not to mention that they've already done as much as they can,"
Frost said. He smiled. "Though not nearly as much as they
think
they have."

"But that's not your concern," Neverlin said. "Good-bye, Mr.
Harper."

"Good-bye, Mr. Neverlin," Harper said. Inclining his head briefly
to both Neverlin and Frost, he turned to the door and keyed it open.
Peering through the grille, Taneem caught a glimpse of several armed
humans waiting outside in the corridor.

The door closed behind him. "You think he'll behave?" Frost asked,
putting away his gun.

"I doubt it," Neverlin said. "But he hasn't got the time or
resources to make the kind of trouble he'd like to."

"You should let me kill him now."

"We'll wait," Neverlin said firmly. "An interrogation would be
useful, and it might provide us an opportunity of seeing how the
Valahgua handle such matters."

"As you wish." Frost made a face. "In the meantime, we still have
Morgan and his K'da to worry about."

"Yes," Neverlin said, stroking his cheek. "A shame we didn't bring
one of the other K'da/Shontine ships along. We could have transferred
the
Foxwolf
's personnel to it and then given our new ships some
target practice."

"That would have been nice," Frost agreed. "But we
can
still have half of it. Once we're at the rendezvous, we could transfer
everyone to the troop carrier and then open the
Foxwolf
to
vacuum. That should do the trick."

"Eventually," Neverlin said, a bit doubtfully. "Remember that the
K'da knows the ship. If there are vac suits or safe rooms anywhere
aboard, he'll know where to find them."

"A temporary fix only," Frost assured him. "We've already removed
all the
Foxwolf
's lifepods, and any other oxygen supply they
find isn't likely to last more than a few hours."

"Will that give us time for the refitting?" Neverlin asked.

"If necessary, the Brummgas can start the job in vac suits," Frost
said.

"Assuming we
want
the Brummgas handling that job."

"What, Harper's story about traitors in the ranks?" Frost scoffed.

"Someone did apparently try to get into my office," Neverlin
reminded him. "Mrishpaw or someone else."

"Fine—my men can do it," Frost said, starting for the door. "I'll
go clear the plan change with the Lordhighest."

"But don't tell him why," Neverlin said. "We don't want our guests
thinking we're not all friendly trusting allies together."

"Right." With a tight smile, Frost left the room.

Taneem waited another minute, wondering if Neverlin would use the
intercom to give any more orders. But he merely pulled out some papers
and began to study them. Backing away from the grille, she found a
place where it was safe to talk. "Alison?" she whispered.

"Yes, I heard," Alison said. "Get back here as quickly as you can.
We need to get ready."

Taneem felt her muscles tense up. "We're going to battle to save
Jack and Draycos?"

"We're going to save them," Alison said. "Hopefully, without a
battle."

"How?"

"You'll see," Alison said. "Trust me." She paused. "Trust me," she
said again, very softly.

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.