Dragon and Liberator

"Jack's right," Alison said. "But in this case, we also had General Davi himself ready to back up my story if Neverlin decided to check up on me. After I called his forces in on the Patri Chookoock last month, Dad had to tell him the whole story to keep him from launching a full investigation and maybe knocking over my personal applecart in the process."

"I'll bet he was thrilled," Jack murmured.

"He was several miles north of furious," Alison agreed. "Not at us, but at what Frost had done with his men and equipment. He agreed on the spot to cooperate with us."

"Hence the Malison Ring contingent your grandfather brought in with him," Jack said dryly. "Probably the main reason Frost switched sides there at the end. He knew he'd lost, and figured he'd better surrender to your grandfather before Davi got to him."

"Something like that." Alison shook her head. "I just wish we could have persuaded the Patri Chookoock to cooperate, too. But he wouldn't. All Dad could do at that point was block his communications so that he couldn't bring the hammer down on Harper."

"Though Neverlin still guessed the truth," Taneem said.

Alison sighed. "Yes."

"So why didn't you just tell me from the start who you were?" Jack asked. "It would have made things a lot easier."

Alison shrugged uncomfortably. "In the beginning, because we weren't sure whether we could trust you," she said. "You or Draycos."

"Oh, that's nice," Jack growled.

"No, she's right, Jack," Draycos said. "She had only my side of the story, after all. There was no way for her to know we weren't a group of invaders planning a conquest of the Orion Arm."

"At least not until I got to know him," Alison agreed. "By then—" She grimaced. "You'd gotten it into your head that Grandfather might have been involved with your parents' death. At that point, I didn't dare tell you the truth."

"You don't still think that, do you, Jack?" Taneem asked.

"Not really," Jack assured her. "Besides, if Alison can accept the whole K'da race based on Draycos's character, I suppose I can accept Mr. Braxton based on hers."

"Which makes him a good man?" Taneem suggested.

"It certainly makes him a conniving man," Jack said blandly. "Also smart-mouthed, underhanded—"

"Hey!" Alison protested.

"—but probably not a murderer," Jack finished. He turned innocent eyes on Alison. "You say something?"

"Listen, buddy-boy," she said, leveling a finger at him, "if you want to talk about conniving—"

"Please," Taneem interrupted anxiously. "Please don't fight."

"They're not fighting," Draycos soothed her. "This is a rather silly game humans sometimes like to play together."

"You'll get used to it," Alison assured her, sending Jack's innocent look right back at him.

Jack felt his stomach tighten. "Yeah," he muttered.

"What, you don't think she will?" Alison asked, frowning.

"I don't think she'll have a chance," Jack told her. "As soon as—"

He broke off at the sound of a footstep down the corridor. "Hello?" he called.

"It's just me," Braxton's voice came back. "Where are you?"

"Second cabin," Alison called back. "Down the corridor aft."

There were more footsteps, and Braxton appeared in the cabin doorway. "There you are," he said, crossing over to the bunk and sitting down. "You ready, Alison?"

"Almost," Alison said. "Is the battle over?"

"Actually, the battle never got started," Braxton said, looking thoughtfully around the room. "We were able to get through to the Brummgas on the Foxwolf—" He looked at Draycos. "Excuse me: the Gatekeeper," he corrected himself. "They decided there was no sense in throwing their lives away and mutinied against the Valahgua."

"Lucky for them," Alison said.

"Not for all of them," Braxton said soberly. "The Valahgua turned the Death weapons around and killed over a hundred before they were finally overwhelmed."

The room went quiet. Jack glanced at Draycos, seeing his own revulsion and regret in the K'da's expression. Even big, dumb lummoxes like the Brummgas didn't deserve to die that way. "Rotten losers, aren't they?" he murmured.

"Yes," Draycos said, his voice dark. "They are."

"Well, they'd better get used to it," Alison said. "Now that you're back where you belong, they're done for."

"Yes," Braxton agreed. He finished his survey of the room and turned to Jack. "Speaking of being back where they belong, Jack, you and I need to discuss your future."

"What future?" Jack said sourly. "Now that everyone knows Uncle Virgil's dead, some Internos bureaucrat's bound to take the Essenay away from me. Then they'll put me in school, or with some strangers—"

He broke off. "Sorry," he apologized. "I suppose I should just be happy I'm still alive."

"Yes, you should," Braxton said. "But I think we can do a little better than your rather unappetizing scenario."

He gestured to Draycos. "You see, as it happens, Braxton Universis still owns Iota Klestis."

Jack eyed him suspiciously. "And?"