Dragon and Liberator

There was no reason to laugh. No reason whatsoever.

"Fine; so he's alone," Frost said impatiently. Apparently, he wasn't as impressed or intimidated by the Valahgua as Neverlin was. "Can we get on with this before the entire StarForce comes roaring down on us?"

"Calm yourself, Colonel," Neverlin said. He gestured to one of the men at the control board. "Go ahead, Captain."

The other man nodded and tapped a switch. "This is Arthur Neverlin," Neverlin called. "Who is this?"

"Hello, Mr. Neverlin," a voice came over the bridge speaker. "This is Virgil Morgan. I understand you need me."

Taneem felt her crest stiffen. It was Uncle Virge's voice, all right. Which meant that the person they'd detected aboard had to be Jack.

But what in the whole rainbow did he think he was doing, marching up to Neverlin's front door this way? And if the Valahgua was right about Draycos not being in there with him, where was he?

The last time she and Alison had heard from Uncle Virge, Jack had been in jail on Brum-a-dum. Had something happened during their prison break?

Was Draycos dead?

The thought sent an icy flood of fear and horror through her. If Draycos was gone—if it was just her and Alison and Jack now—

She took a careful breath. Panic freezes the will, Draycos's words whispered through her mind.

She would not panic. Whatever happened, whatever had happened, she would not panic. Draycos would want it that way.

"Your information is a bit out-of-date, Mr. Morgan," Neverlin said. "Your safecracking skills are no longer required."

"I didn't say you needed my safecracking skills," Uncle Virge said. "I said you needed me. Tell me, how secure is this transmission?"

Neverlin glanced at Frost. "Secure enough. Why?"

"Obviously, because what I have to say is highly private," Uncle Virge said. "Let me lay it out for you. You've come into possession of one or more safes previously owned by a pair of symbiotic species. For convenience, let's call them, oh, the K'da and Shontine. Inside that safe or safes are supposed to be coordinates showing where a fleet of these beings will be coming into the Orion Arm. You with me so far?"

"Very much so," Neverlin assured him, his voice gone cool. "And not supposed to be. The coordinates are inside."

"What's inside are a set of numbers," Uncle Virge corrected. "No one said they were the actual coordinates."

The Valahgua made a strange gurgling sound. The tentacles around his mouth were writhing like startled stumpgrubs suddenly brought into the sunlight. "In fact, our friends here do say that," Neverlin countered. "Are you suggesting they're wrong?"

"I'm saying, not suggesting, that the K'da and Shontine were smarter than you realized," Uncle Virge said. "Turns out there's a modifier that has to be factored into the coordinates you found."

"An interesting story," Neverlin said. "Where exactly did it come from?"

"A little bird told me," Uncle Virge said. "A gold-plated, sharp-toothed bird named Draycos."

"And you came all this way just to give us this information?"

"I came all this way to sell you the information," Uncle Virge corrected. "More precisely, I came to sell you the location of the modifier data."

"Which is where?"

"Don't worry, it's close at hand," Uncle Virge said. "It's hidden in that impressive-looking ship you've got lying off your port-side bow."

"Of course it is," Neverlin said. "And you'd like us to all go aboard so you can show us?"

"You don't have to go if you don't want to," Uncle Virge said. "Give me an escort and I'll find it myself."

"Very generous of you," Neverlin said. "Tell me something, Mr. Morgan. After six months of dodging us, why are you suddenly being so cooperative?"

"Because I've come to the conclusion that you're going to win," Uncle Virge said. "I like being on the winning side."

"It pays better?"

"Absolutely," Uncle Virge agreed. "On the other hand, you're only going to win if you actually locate the fleet."

"Of course," Neverlin said. "Would you care to tell us how you found us?"

"And where exactly your nephew and his K'da friend are?" Frost put in.

"Who's that, Colonel Frost?" Uncle Virge asked. "Hello, Colonel. Don't worry about Jack and Draycos. I've sent them off on a wild-goose chase that should keep them out of the way until it's all over. As for telling you how I knew about Point Two, I'd be happy to. But only face-to-face."

"You can speak freely," Neverlin assured him. "I trust my associates completely."

"That's nice," Uncle Virge said. "Unfortunately, I don't. So do I get an audience with the new soon-to-be Master of the Universe? Or do I turn around and fly home?"

"Leaving us to wait for the refugees at the wrong spot?"

"Something like that."

Neverlin's lip twisted. "One moment."

He gestured, and the uniformed man touched the comm switch. "Colonel?" Neverlin invited.

"It's a trick," Frost said flatly. "He's up to something."

"I agree," Neverlin said. "The question is, what?"