Dragon and Liberator

In that single frozen heartbeat. Jack felt his mental camouflage being stripped away like the wrapper off a ration bar. Not only would Langston know Chiggers by sight; he was possibly one of the few aboard who would also instantly recognize Jack himself.

And with that, the quiet game Draycos had hoped for had come to an abrupt end. The minute Langston spotted Jack and squawked his name, the two Brummgas poking at their access panel would be on to him.

Jack and Draycos had to take all three of them out before that happened.

Jack dropped his hand casually to his holstered tangler. I may not be able to get than all before someone yells, he warned Draycos. As soon as I start shooting, you'd better head forward by yourself to deal with the Death weapons.

What about you?

I'll be all right, Jack told him, knowing full well it was a lie. A single squawk out of any of the three would draw the whole ship down on him. If they didn't kill him outright, they would haul him back to the Advocatus Diaboli and give him to Neverlin, which would pretty much amount to the same thing.

But that didn't matter. All that mattered was that he give Draycos as much time as possible to find and destroy the Death weapons. On three, he said. One, two—

Wait, Draycos cut him off, an odd tone to the texture of his thoughts.

Jack flicked his eyes around the room, wondering what had caught the K'da's attention. There was nothing Jack could see that could possibly help them. He looked back at Langston, bracing himself.

Only Langston wasn't staring at him, his eyes wide, his mouth open, a shout of warning boiling out of his throat.

In fact, he wasn't looking at Jack at all. He was still gazing intently down at his notepad.

And he wasn't walking straight toward Jack anymore, either. Instead, he was angling across the bay toward the patrol ship. "Hey, Chiggers," he called casually, still not looking up. "Good trip?"

Answer him, Draycos prompted.

It took Jack another half second to put his Chiggers face and voice back in place. "I lived through it," he growled. "What's been happening here?"

"Not a thing," Langston said. He raised his eyes from his notepad, but now they were focused on the hatchway leading into Jack's patrol ship. "Looking forward to the big battle, though."

"I'm looking forward to the loot at the end of it," Jack countered.

"That'll be nice, too," Langston agreed. "See you later."

With that, he stepped through the hatchway and disappeared into the ship. Move, Draycos urged.

Abruptly, Jack realized he was standing still, staring at the hatchway where Langston had disappeared. Now, that was just plain unreal, he told Draycos as he got his feet moving again.

Not unreal, Draycos said grimly. Deliberate.

What are you talking about? Jack asked. You saw the uniform. He's gone over to Neverlin's side.

He most certainly has not, Draycos said, his tone leaving no room for argument. There's no possible way he could have failed to see and recognize you. He deliberately gave you a pass. Gave us a pass.

Jack grimaced. The K'da was right. He had to be.

Which meant that, somehow, Langston had talked his way into Frost's crew in order to help save the incoming refugees.

It also meant he was going to be in serious trouble when the balloon went up. Very serious trouble indeed.

I know that, Draycos said, answering Jack's unvoiced thought. So does he.

A shiver ran up Jack's back as he stepped through the door into a long corridor. Once before, he'd thought Langston had gone to his death to protect Jack and Draycos. Now Jack knew the man had lived through that particular ordeal.

Only to now be facing death for a second time. And again for Jack and Draycos.

He is a true warrior, Draycos said. He has made his decision, and his sacrifice. It's up to us to make sure that sacrifice is not in vain.

You got it, buddy, Jack said grimly. It was, he decided, about time he showed some of that determination and ruthlessness Uncle Virgil had hammered into him over their long years together. Let's go find us some Death weapons.

For the first few days of their time together in the lifepod, Alison and Taneem had done little but talk.