Dragonback 06 Dragon and Liberator (27 page)

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.