Dragon and Liberator

"I doubt it," Neverlin said. "But he hasn't got the time or resources to make the kind of trouble he'd like to."

"You should let me kill him now."

"We'll wait," Neverlin said firmly. "An interrogation would be useful, and it might provide us an opportunity of seeing how the Valahgua handle such matters."

"As you wish." Frost made a face. "In the meantime, we still have Morgan and his K'da to worry about."

"Yes," Neverlin said, stroking his cheek. "A shame we didn't bring one of the other K'da/Shontine ships along. We could have transferred the Foxwolf's personnel to it and then given our new ships some target practice."

"That would have been nice," Frost agreed. "But we can still have half of it. Once we're at the rendezvous, we could transfer everyone to the troop carrier and then open the Foxwolf to vacuum. That should do the trick."

"Eventually," Neverlin said, a bit doubtfully. "Remember that the K'da knows the ship. If there are vac suits or safe rooms anywhere aboard, he'll know where to find them."

"A temporary fix only," Frost assured him. "We've already removed all the Foxwolf's lifepods, and any other oxygen supply they find isn't likely to last more than a few hours."

"Will that give us time for the refitting?" Neverlin asked.

"If necessary, the Brummgas can start the job in vac suits," Frost said.

"Assuming we want the Brummgas handling that job."

"What, Harper's story about traitors in the ranks?" Frost scoffed.

"Someone did apparently try to get into my office," Neverlin reminded him. "Mrishpaw or someone else."

"Fine—my men can do it," Frost said, starting for the door. "I'll go clear the plan change with the Lordhighest."

"But don't tell him why," Neverlin said. "We don't want our guests thinking we're not all friendly trusting allies together."

"Right." With a tight smile, Frost left the room.

Taneem waited another minute, wondering if Neverlin would use the intercom to give any more orders. But he merely pulled out some papers and began to study them. Backing away from the grille, she found a place where it was safe to talk. "Alison?" she whispered.

"Yes, I heard," Alison said. "Get back here as quickly as you can. We need to get ready."

Taneem felt her muscles tense up. "We're going to battle to save Jack and Draycos?"

"We're going to save them," Alison said. "Hopefully, without a battle."

"How?"

"You'll see," Alison said. "Trust me." She paused. "Trust me," she said again, very softly.

CHAPTER 21

Two hours later, the Advocatus Diaboli came off ECHO in the midst of the rest of the fleet waiting at the rendezvous point.

And Alison was ready.

"We'll be leaving?" Taneem asked timidly from inside Alison's shirt.

"Yes," Alison said, sparing a moment from the lifepod's controls to glance down at the flat dragon head gazing up at her through her collar. Despite Alison's explanation, the K'da probably didn't really grasp what it was they were about to do.

Or else she knew full well what they were about to do and was wondering how they were going to live through it. "You'll leave before I will, though," Alison added. "In about a minute, you're going back into the ducts and getting as far away from this side of the ship as you can."

"Because when the lifepod leaves the ship, the ducts here will be closed off," Taneem said.

At least she'd gotten that part clear. "Because of the hole we melted in the duct, yes," Alison confirmed. "Popping the lifepod will open the duct to vacuum, and the system will react by isolating this area."

"But then how will you escape?"

"I'll already be out in the corridor," Alison said, feeling a flicker of impatience. They'd already been over this part of the plan twice. "There will still be air out there."

"But you'll also be isolated from the rest of the ship," Taneem said. "You'll be trapped here."

Alison grimaced. So Taneem did understand what they were going to do. "You have to trust me, Taneem," she said. "You just concentrate on getting yourself to safety."

"And then find you afterward?"

"Yes, but don't push your luck on that," Alison said. "You've got six hours—plenty of time for us to touch base again. You get yourself safe, and leave everything else to me."

She felt Taneem's tail flick against her leg. "I have been honored to be your friend, Alison," the K'da said quietly. "If we don't survive . . ."

"We'll survive, Taneem," Alison assured her.

Alison looked back at the lifepod's navigational display. The troop carrier was maneuvering close to the Foxwolf now, getting ready for Neverlin's planned transfer of the K'da/Shontine ship's crew and passengers. The Advocatus Diaboli itself was moving into the third point of the triangle, driven no doubt by Neverlin's usual desire to supervise everything.

Alison smiled to herself. Frost probably figured that removing the Foxwolf 's lifepods had eliminated the last obstacle to his plan for asphyxiating Jack and Draycos.

He was about to find out otherwise.