Dragon and Liberator

"Meaning that in all your grand and detailed planning for this operation, you never once thought about putting a spy on Braxton himself," Harper said, his voice suddenly hard. "Did you actually think he was just going to go about his business and forget about you?"

"Let me guess," Neverlin said. "You're volunteering for the job?"

"Don't be absurd," Harper said contemptuously. "The time for that is long over. Fortunately for you, someone else had the foresight to approach me months ago with an offer I decided was worth the risk."

"Does this person have a name?" Frost demanded.

"Yes, a name you know quite well," Harper assured him. "The Patri Chookoock."

Frost snorted. "And you expect us to just believe that?"

"Of course not," Harper said. "By all means, call him and ask." He eyed Frost over his shoulder. "Only be sure none of his Brummgas are within eavesdropping distance of the InterWorld transmitter when you do."

"Meaning?" Frost asked.

"Meaning you've been infiltrated," Harper said bluntly. "One of the Brummgas, possibly more than one, has been suborned."

"By whom?" Neverlin asked. "Braxton?"

"Worse—the Malison Ring." Harper looked at Frost again. "Possibly General Davi himself."

A shadow seemed to cross Frost's face. "That's ridiculous," he insisted. "Davi has no idea what's going on here."

"Like he had no idea you were holed up on the Chookoock estate?" Harper asked pointedly.

"That had nothing to do with Davi," Frost growled. "It was some con Morgan stirred up. Morgan, or the Kayna girl."

"Speaking of Morgan," Neverlin said, "if you're really working for the Patri, why this Virgil Morgan masquerade?"

"With all due respect, Mr. Neverlin, kindly start using your brain," Harper said. "Our conversation out there could have been picked up by anyone in your fleet. Would you really have wanted me to simply announce my true identity and mission to the Malison Ring's spies?"

"A good point," Neverlin said. "Again, why Virgil Morgan?"

"Because everyone here knows you've been trying to find Morgan to get him to open the K'da/Shontine safes for you," Harper said patiently. "He's the one person who could show up without raising anyone's suspicions."

"So how exactly do you know about any of this?" Frost asked. "If your job was to keep tabs on Braxton, how do you know what General Davi and the Malison Ring are up to?"

"Because Davi and Braxton have had several long conversations together over the past couple of weeks," Harper said. "Sharing their various pieces of the puzzle, as it were." He raised his eyebrows. "And Davi in particular sounded like he's been getting a steady stream of new pieces."

There was a short silence. Taneem wondered if Neverlin and Frost were thinking about Mrishpaw and his supposed attempt to open the K'da safe.

Probably. If Taneem could put those pieces together, surely Neverlin and Frost could.

"All right, you're off the hook," Neverlin said at last. "For the moment. But we are going to call the Patri."

"Fine," Harper said. "As I said, just make sure the Brummgas are out of earshot."

"Easily done, since there aren't any aboard the Advocatus Diaboli anymore," Neverlin said. "They're all on the troop carrier and the Foxwolf."

"Good," Harper said. "Well, that's all I have. The Patri just wanted me to get out here and alert you to the infiltration." He cocked his head. "You have any other questions? It's been a long day, and I want to go back to the Essenay and rest a bit before dinner."

"I'm afraid you won't be going back to the Essenay any time soon," Neverlin told him. "At least, not until we've cleared your story with the Patri. But I'm sure you'll find our accommodations adequate."

"Just one more question," Frost said. His gun. Taneem noted, was still pressed against Harper's side. "If you're working for the Patri, why did you blast out of the Ponocce City Police Station with Jack Morgan instead of just taking him back to the Chookoock estate?"

"Because I needed to find out if Morgan had also been in contact with Braxton or the Malison Ring," Harper said. "To do that, I needed to gain his trust. I also needed his ship if I was going to pull off this Virgil Morgan charade. Too many of the Brummgas had seen the Essenay and might be suspicious if I showed up flying an entirely different ship."

"And part of the trust building was to kill three of the Patri's Brummgas?" Frost demanded, digging the muzzle of his gun a little harder into Harper's side.

Harper didn't even flinch. "I told you the Chookoock family had been infiltrated," he said mildly. "I never said all the traitors were here in your fleet."

There was another short silence. "We'll be sure to ask the Patri about that when we talk to him," Neverlin said, his voice neutral. "Where's Jack now?"

"And his dragon," Frost added.