Dragon and Liberator

CHAPTER 20

After only two months of being fully awake, as Alison sometimes referred to it, Taneem didn't consider herself very good at reading human expressions. But after these last few days aboard the Advocatus Diaboli, she was getting reasonably good at identifying anger.

And Neverlin was angry. Probably as angry as she'd ever seen a human being get.

"Unacceptable, Lieutenant," he ground out. He was standing behind his desk, glaring across the polished surface at the young man standing stiffly in front of him. "Completely unacceptable."

"I agree, sir," the other said, his voice as stiff as his body. "The conduct and performance of the Brummgas and Valahgua left a great deal to be desired."

"That's not what I meant." Neverlin glared at Frost, who was standing silently at the other side of Neverlin's desk, then shifted the glare to Harper, standing a little ways to Frost's right. "But as long as we're on the subject. Harper?"

"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.