Dragonback 06 Dragon and Liberator (30 page)

"Because once the K'da and Shontine are dead, what's to stop
them?" Jack cut in, raising his voice. "What's to keep them from
turning on you and the Malison Ring and the Patri Chookoock—?"

Neverlin stepped up to Jack, glowering behind his faceplate, and
with a flick of his finger cut off Jack's radio.
Good-bye, Jack
,
he mouthed in the sudden silence.

Gesturing to Alison, he crossed to the airlock. Alison gave Jack a
single unreadable glance and then followed. They stepped inside, and
Jack felt the bulkhead behind him vibrate as the pumps once again
started shifting air around.
I think you annoyed our host
,
Draycos said dryly.

All part of the grand plan, buddy
, Jack assured him.
He
wouldn't have been so quick to cut off my ranting if there weren't
other people who could hear it. That tells us there's still someone
aboard
.

The damage didn't seem all that great
, Draycos agreed.
It's
probably still flyable
.

And if there are people aboard, then all the other amenities of
life should be, too
. Pulling on his wrist straps, Jack pressed his
back firmly against the bulkhead.
Take a peek and see what you can
see
.

Draycos slid around on his skin, and Jack felt the K'da lean his
fourth-dimensional way over the wall behind them. He held the pose for
a few seconds, then came fully back onto Jack's skin.
Neverlin and
Alison are removing their suits
, he reported.
There are also
two Brummgas there—Neverlin appears to be giving them some instructions
.

Hopefully having to do with changing our oxygen tank every
couple of hours
, Jack said.
What sort of room is it
?

It appears to be a preparation room
, Draycos said.
There
are two racks of vac suits, plus oxygen tanks, maneuvering units, and
tool cabinets like the one they used to attach your suit to the wall
.

Perfect
, Jack said.

How exactly is it perfect
? Draycos asked.

There's air over there, and it looks like the whole crew is
Brummgas
, Jack explained.
Knowing Neverlin, he would have given
his orders to humans if there were any aboard
.

He smiled tightly.
And what none of them know is that you can
fall over that wall any time you want to
.

Yes
, Draycos agreed thoughtfully.
So Alison is indeed
still on our side
.

Never doubted it for a minute
, Jack said.
The only
question now is when exactly we want to make our move
.

Not soon, I'm afraid
, Draycos said.
We don't know how
many crew are aboard, or the deck plan, or what sort of flight and
combat capabilities the ship has
.

And we're not likely to get any of that, either
, Jack said
with a grimace.
Unless you go on a little search on your own. But
there's no way you'd be able to get back in here without them knowing
something had happened
.

Then I'm afraid our best strategy will be to wait until the
operation has begun
, Draycos said.
That may mean some of my
people will die, but we'll need the chaos and distraction to take over
the ship
.

And if it turns out the blasted thing can't fight, we won't be
able to do anyone any good
, Jack said heavily.
But I suppose
you're right. I just hope we'll know when
—

Shh
! Draycos cut him off.
Do you feel that
?

Jack frowned. There was an odd vibration rumbling through the deck
beneath his feet. He cocked his head, trying to listen.

And suddenly, he got it.
It's a dual-stage ECHO system coming
up to speed
, he told Draycos.
That's the kind that's used in
some larger military ships
.

I see
, Draycos said, suddenly thoughtful.
So that's why
Neverlin didn't seem worried about us escaping on the flight from the
Gatekeeper
to the
Advocatus Diaboli.

Because we weren't actually at the rendezvous point
, Jack
said, nodding as he understood.
Guy's full of tricks, isn't he
?

Circles within circles, wheels within wheels
, Draycos
agreed.
Still
,
it's often the case that a clever man
outsmarts himself
.

Let's hope Neverlin's one of those
, Jack agreed.
So
what do we do until your people arrive
?

We do what surveillance we can
, Draycos said.
Your back
to the wall please. I'd like to spend some time studying the
preparation room behind us
.

The latest trip had been made, this one much shorter than the
previous ones. Though there were two men on duty on the bridge, most of
the rest of the
Advocatus Diaboli
's crew and passengers seemed
to have retired to their staterooms for ship's night.

But not Neverlin, Frost, or Alison. The three of them were still
in Neverlin's office. The two men seemed to still have a lot of
questions for Alison concerning her father, General Davi, and his work.

Watching them through the ventilation grille, Taneem wondered what
it would be like to die.

She didn't know. But she would soon find out. The end of her time
limit was rapidly approaching, when she needed to go two-dimensional on
a host's body or disappear into death.

But she had no host. Jack had been taken off somewhere and hadn't
returned. Langston had been refused permission to come aboard the
Advocatus
Diaboli
to pick up some specialized tools.

And Alison was with Neverlin and Frost, with no sign that their
conversation would be ending any time soon.

Silently, Taneem backed away from the grille and set off through
the
Advocatus Diaboli
's maze of air ducts. She did't really
have any place to go, but she couldn't bear to stay by Neverlin's
office any longer.

She didn't want to die within sight of her host, the human girl
she'd grown to know and love over the two short months they'd been
together.

The ducts were vibrant with an ever-shifting mix of aromas. The
smell of human and Valahguan bodies combined with a blend of cooking
and engine lubricant and a dozen other scents. She sniffed at the air
as she worked her way through the ducts, wondering if it all smelled
richer now than it had earlier. Draycos had told her of legends that
said K'da senses grew sharper as death approached. But she couldn't
tell if that was happening or not.

And then, suddenly, one particular aroma seemed to leap out at her
from the mixture. A very individual, very familiar human scent.

Harper.

She frowned, looking around her. Sure enough, her aimless
wanderings had brought her to the part of the ship where Harper had
been locked up. With nowhere else to go, she headed for the duct that
would take her by his stateroom. Reaching the junction, she turned the
corner.

And stopped short. Five paces ahead was the opening that led into
Harper's room.

Only the grille was no longer fastened the way it was supposed to
be. It was instead hanging at an angle, held in place by a single
corner bolt.

Cautiously, Taneem moved forward. Had he been putting more items
into the duct and been caught? But he was still in the room—the scent
whispering past her snout and tongue showed that much. She reached the
duct and eased an eye around the corner.

Harper was there, all right. He was lying on his side in his bed,
the blanket pulled up to his shoulders, his right arm half tucked
beneath his pillow.

His
bare
right arm . . .

It was insane, Taneem knew. Completely insane. Even if Harper
managed to sleep through it, he would spot her as soon as he opened his
eyes.

But if she waited here, she was dead.

She had nothing at all to lose.

Keeping her eyes on Harper, she eased around the edge of the
hanging grille and dropped into the room. There was no reaction.
Padding over to the bed, she gingerly touched his forearm and slid up
onto his skin.

It was like the first sip of cold water from a mountain-fed stream
after hours of wandering through the forest with nothing but warm and
stagnant tree stump water to drink. Taneem closed her eyes, feeling the
tension and fear and hopelessness draining out of her as peace and
strength flowed in to take its place.

Yes, this would work. An hour on Harper's skin and she could go
back for another six hours in the ducts. Surely before those hours were
up Neverlin and Frost would tire of asking their questions and send
Alison off to her own room to sleep.

She would just have to make sure she was gone before Harper woke
up. Easy enough to do. Readjusting herself on the man's skin, she
settled down to wait.

Ten minutes later, she was fast asleep.

She awoke with a start, her heart thudding with the awful feeling
that something was wrong.

It was dark, for one thing. Darker than it had been when she'd
come into Harper's room.

And then, to her relief, she understood. While she'd been asleep
Harper had merely pulled the blankets all the way up over his
shoulders. Carefully, stealthily, she shifted around on his skin,
trying t0 find a place where she could see the clock by the side of the
bed.

"Good morning," Harper said softly.

Taneem froze. Had he been talking to
her
? Or was there
someone else in the room?

She flicked her tongue out a bit. Aside from her and Harper, the
room was empty.

"Come on; I know you're awake," Harper went on in the same quiet
voice. "Cat got your tongue?" With a sweep of his arm, he flung back
the blankets.

And to her horror, Taneem found herself looking up at his fully
awake face.

She reacted instantly, hurling herself backward off his skin and
landing in a crouch on the deck past the end of the bed. She glanced up
at the grille, preparing to leap into the opening and escape.

Only the grille was no longer hanging by a single bolt. It was
back in its proper place, secured at all four corners.

"You must really have been tired," Harper commented. He'd made no
move to follow her, but was still lying in bed propped up on one elbow.
"You didn't even wake up when I put the grille back."

With an effort, Taneem found her voice. "What do you want?" she
asked. She had hoped to sound as strong and commanding as Draycos, but
the words came out sounding merely weak and scared.

"I want to help you," Harper said. "Why do you think I left the
back door open for you in the first place?"

Taneem flicked another glance at the grille. "Was it a back door?
Or was it a trap?"

"You've been here for over five hours," Harper pointed out. "If I
wanted to turn you over to Neverlin, I could have done so long before
now."

It all seemed reasonable, Taneem had to admit. But there was still
something odd about it. "Why do you care what happens to me at all?"

"Lots of reasons," Harper said. "You ever hear the expression 'the
enemy of my enemy is my friend'?"

"No."

"Basically, it means that if Neverlin is fighting against both of
us, we have some common ground to join forces against him," Harper
explained.

"And against Alison, too?" Taneem asked.

"You still trust Alison?" Harper countered.

"She didn't betray me to Neverlin," Taneem said. "I don't know who
she is anymore, but I know she's still my friend."

"Good enough," Harper said, nodding. "And by that same logic, I'm
your friend, too."

Taneem flicked her tongue out, wishing again that she knew how to
read human emotions from the changes in their scents. "But you lied to
Neverlin," she said. "How do I know you're not lying now?"

"I don't know how to answer that, Taneem," Harper said, his voice
low and earnest. "I can't prove anything I'm telling you. All you have
is the fact I didn't turn you over to Neverlin and Frost."

"That's not very much," Taneem said. "You could just be protecting
me so that you can take me back to Braxton Universis with you and learn
how to turn my abilities into a weapon. Just like General Davi wants to
do."

"That's not what I want," Harper assured her. "But even if I did,
you'd still do better to stay with me. Mr. Braxton is a much better
person to deal with than General Davi."

Taneem flicked her tail in frustration. "I don't know what to do,"
she whispered. "I don't understand any of this."

"I know," Harper said sympathetically. "It's a crazy business,
keeping up with us humans. All you can do is hold on to the fact that
Alison's still your friend, and that I'm your friend, and trust us to
protect you as best we can."

Taneem looked back at the grille. "Maybe I should go and see if
Alison's all right."

"I wouldn't," Harper said. "In fact, I'd stay away from her
completely for the next few days. Neverlin's going to be keeping her
close from now until the refugee fleet arrives. We don't want him or
any of the others spotting you."

"Whereas no one's going to look at you?"

Harper smiled. "Exactly," he said. "Sometimes it pays to be a
prisoner."

He pointed toward the small bathroom. "But you should probably go
hide in the bathroom for a bit," he said. "They'll be delivering my
breakfast soon, and we don't want the delivery boy to see you."

"Very well," Taneem said, padding toward the door. Suddenly, she
realized how long it had been since her last meal. "Is there any chance
I might be able to take a little of your food?"

"Every chance in the galaxy," Harper assured her. "From now on,
what's mine is yours."

He smiled again. "And while we eat," he added, "perhaps you'll
tell me more about yourself. And about Jack, and Alison, and Draycos."