Dragon and Liberator

A deathly silence settled onto the bridge. Alison looked around the room: at Neverlin, at Frost, at the other Malison Ring soldiers. All looked stunned, or worried, or quietly but helplessly furious.

And finally, she turned to the Valahgua. "So that's the secret," she said. "That's the reason you came all the way across the galaxy to the Orion Arm just to kill the K'da. You knew, maybe from the beginning. You knew the K'da originally came from Earth."

"They came from Earth?" Frost echoed.

"That is only a theory," the Valahgua rumbled. "It has not been proven."

"Oh, it has now," Alison told him. "That's why Draycos has been picking up new abilities over the past six months. With Jack as his host, he's found a part of himself he hadn't even realized was missing."

More and more of those on the bridge, she noticed, were starting to transfer their attention from the silenced radio speaker to the Valahgua.

And some of those stunned expressions were starting to give way to anger. The Valahgua had kept a vital secret from them, and all of them knew how disastrous that could be in the middle of a battle.

"You didn't dare take the risk that the K'da would find us and figure this out for themselves," Alison continued. "So you came to Neverlin and dangled big rewards in his face and got him to—"

"Enough," Neverlin said.

Alison stopped, a sudden chill running up her back. There was nothing of the growing sense of outrage or betrayal in Neverlin's own voice or expression. There was nothing there but a dark and deadly determination. "This is all very interesting," he said quietly. "But it changes nothing. There's only one human/K'da combination in the galaxy, and it won't be around much longer."

He looked at Frost. "Meanwhile, we still have the Death, and we have solid Valahguan tactics with which to use it against both the invaders and Braxton."

"And those other Malison Ring ships, too?" Frost asked, an odd edge to his voice.

"Did General Davi develop immortality for his men when I wasn't looking?" Neverlin retorted. "Of course those other Malison Ring ships, too."

"I was thinking of the possible future consequences," Frost persisted. "Those Shrikes wouldn't be here if General Davi didn't already know what was going on."

"But he doesn't know what's going on," Neverlin reminded him smoothly. "He has only Braxton's version of events, a version that won't survive beyond the next few hours. Don't worry, Colonel. Our story is the only one that will ever leave this place."

He turned back to the Valahgua. "The mission is still on, Lordhighest. Order your people to continue as planned."

"They will continue until death," the Valahgua promised. "What of Morgan and the K'da?"

"As I said, they won't be around much longer," Neverlin assured him. "Since Morgan was kind enough to warn Braxton about the Death, I notice his ships have scattered out of their attack clusters. While they're trying to figure out how to regroup to face us, we'll have the Backstop force come back and deal with the Essenay. Colonel?"

Frost pursed his lips but nodded. "Yes, sir," he said. "I'll give the order."

CHAPTER 30

"Oh, for crying out loud," Jack growled as, for the third time, the Advocatus Diaboli veered sharply away just as the Essenay was getting close. "Hold still, will you?"

"So that you can dock and get aboard?" Uncle Virge said. "Not likely."

Do you want me to try? Draycos offered. I know some maneuvers Neverlin won't be expecting.

Thanks, but I'd rather have you riding my skin in case they try the Death on us again, Jack said. Don't worry—he can't outrun us forever.

"Movement," Uncle Virge said. "Those five Djinn-90s ahead of us are looping back."

Jack looked at the display. The fighters were curving around, all right, heading back toward the Advocatus Diaboli and Essenay.

And meanwhile, the Advocatus Diaboli had just straightened out again. Straightened out very invitingly, in fact.

Draycos spotted it, too. He's trying to lure you onto a path that will give the Djinn-90s a clear shot, the K'da warned.

Just means I have to finish this before they get in range, Jack said.

But that was easier said than done. The Advocatus Diaboli kept backing away as Jack tried to get the Essenay close enough for a crash-dock. He kept half an eye on the bigger ship, the other half on the ranging data for the Djinn-90s scrolling across the navigational screen.

It was going to be close.

"Wait a minute," Uncle Virge said, sounding puzzled. "Something's wrong. Three of the Braxton ships have started in toward us again. On full power, too."

"Which three?" Jack asked.