Dragon and Liberator

"Should I have hidden the other comm clip better?" Draycos asked. "It is muted, so they can't listen in."

"No, that's okay," Jack said. "Actually . . . yes, actually, that could turn out to be useful."

"I gather you have a plan?" Langston asked.

"Yes, I think so," Jack said. "How are you doing, Langston?"

"They don't trust me, but they're being good enough to give me plenty of rope with which to hang myself," Langston said.

"Sounds like Neverlin's style," Jack said. "How game are you to wrap some of that rope around your neck?"

"I'll do whatever's necessary," Langston said, his voice calm but deadly serious. "I'm a warrior." He looked sideways down at Draycos's face pressed against his shoulder. "Draycos understands."

"I think I'm starting to, too," Jack said. "Okay, here's the scheme."

Quickly, concisely, he laid it out for them. "Going to take some careful timing," Langston commented when he'd finished.

"Yes, but with three comm clips I think we can pull it off," Jack said. "My biggest question is for Draycos."

"Don't worry about me," Draycos told him, ignoring the creeping feeling shivering across his scales. No, he certainly didn't want to do this. Not this way.

But he could see no other way to do what had to be done. "As Sergeant Langston said, we're warriors. We do whatever is necessary."

"You also do what's right," Jack reminded him. "Is this going to conflict with that?"

"I do not kill without need," Draycos said. "Not even enemies. But this is a war of survival. I'll do whatever is necessary."

"Especially given what's at stake," Langston murmured.

"Yes," Draycos said. "Let's get on with it."

"Okay, then," Jack said. There was still some lingering doubt in the boy's voice, but he clearly knew better than to press the issue. "Get into the ducts and confirm the other Death is actually there. Langston, you get back to your station. Don't forget to pick up a drink on the way—that was your excuse for leaving, remember."

"Right," Langston said. "You need a hand, Draycos?"

"No, thank you." Draycos leaped out of Langston's collar, landing on one of the relief station's dividers. Balancing there, he got a claw under the corner of the ventilation grille and popped the hidden catch. "Ready."

"Good luck," Langston said, holding out his hand.

Reaching down, Draycos touched the outstretched hand with his paw. "And to you," he said. Turning, he swung the grille open and crawled inside.

I'll do whatever is necessary, the words echoed through his mind as he started toward the power substation. Whatever is necessary.

CHAPTER 19

Two minutes later, as Jack finished setting up his additional sabotage, the word came through.

"It's here," Draycos's voice murmured from his comm clip. "Eight guards on duty, all Brummgas, with another bank of video displays showing the approaches and the other weapon's room."

"Any humans or Valahgua in sight?" Jack asked.

"Neither here nor in the corridor," Draycos confirmed. "And the weapon is definitely pointed at the other one."

Jack smiled grimly. He'd called it, all right. Langston's Death weapon was the bait, and this one was the hunter.

Only the Valahgua had been smart enough to hedge their bets in the other direction. If Draycos went for the more obvious bait, fine. But if he somehow sniffed out the location of this one, the result would be the same. The minute he appeared at either end of the shooting gallery, the other end would open fire.

No doubt the Valahgua had given clear and explicit instructions to the Brummgas manning the weapons. Though they'd possibly neglected to mention the fact that each group was in the other's sights.

But plans and instructions had a bad tendency to change in midstream. The Valahgua, clearly uninterested in risking their own precious skins, had pulled back to a cautious distance and left the front lines to the Brummgas.

That mistake was going to cost them.

"Okay," Jack said, working his way back to his original spot and the power line switch he'd wired into—now—three different consoles. "Touch-off in fifteen seconds, with diversion kicking in probably three minutes later. Listen for the signal, and don't go to sleep on me."

"Don't worry," Draycos said dryly. "And be careful."

"You, too."

Jack checked his pockets, making sure he had the two wire-wrapped bottles he'd managed to rig in the past few minutes. There was nothing but water in them, but the Valahgua leaning over their monitors wouldn't know that. Then, opening his flight suit collar to midchest level, he crossed his fingers and flipped his switch.

It was reasonably spectacular, as such things went. There was a multiple flash of muted sparks from the various sets of rigged wires, though most of the action was taking place up inside the consoles where he couldn't get much of a view. There was a soft hiss from one of the consoles, accompanied by the acrid stink of burned insulation and electronics.