Dragon and Liberator

Neverlin looked sharply at her. "What in space are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about General Aram Davi," Alison said icily, "Founder and supreme commander of the Malison Ring. And father of one Alison Lorelei Kayna Davi."

She drew herself up. "Me."

For a long minute the entire bridge seemed to go silent. Alison looked around the room, her eyes pausing an extra fraction of a second on each of the men wearing Malison Ring uniforms. "You can prove this, of course?" Frost asked at last.

In answer, Alison dug into the sleeve of her shirt and pulled out a long white strip not much thicker than a cat's whisker. "Micro-etched, with an internal codex core for confirmation," she said, holding it out toward Frost.

Frost glanced at Neverlin, then stepped forward and took it from her. "Is that a codex-four?"

"It has a four, a five, and a six," Alison said. "Feel free to run it through the whole checklist."

"Trust me, we will," Neverlin said as Frost stepped back. "Of course, if you're telling the truth, it's all the more reason for us to make sure you disappear quietly."

"It might, if Dad was mad at you," Alison said. "Actually, he's more intrigued than angry."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning all sorts of interesting things." Alison looked significantly around the bridge. "But I think we might want a little more privacy before we discuss them."

"My office," Neverlin said. He started to point toward the door Alison had come in by, then dropped his arm. "But you already know where it is, don't you?"

"Of course," Alison said. "And maybe we can also get something to eat. Seventeen days on lifepod rations gets pretty tiresome."

"I'll have something brought in," Neverlin said. There was still a fair amount of sarcasm in his tone, she noted.

But she also noted that the sarcasm was now edged with a little caution. As well it might be. "Good," Alison said, gesturing him forward. "After you."

"Let's start with the obvious," Neverlin said when he, Frost, and Alison were seated together in his office. "How did you get aboard this ship?"

"Inside the K'da safe, of course," Alison said. "Another one you really should have figured out, given that you know I know how to open them."

"So you're working with Jack Morgan?" Neverlin asked, a hint of threat beneath his voice.

"He was a useful ally as long as our goals weren't bumping heads," Alison said. "He and that highly interesting poet-warrior friend of his."

"Who's already played havoc with our attack plan," Frost said accusingly.

"Don't look at me," Alison countered. "You were the ones who let him come in. And the ones who didn't have anything but a bunch of incompetent Brummgas standing in his way."

"You sound like another of our uninvited guests," Neverlin said.

"Who, Harper?" Alison snorted. "The man has chutzpah; I'll give him that."

"Wait a minute," Frost growled. "How do you know about Harper?"

"How do you think?" Getting up from her chair, Alison squatted down and retrieved the needle microphone from under the desk. "You really should sweep your personal areas for bugs more often," she said, setting the needle onto the desktop in front of Neverlin.

"So it was you who decoyed my men away from their posts," Frost said. "And then framed Mrishpaw for it."

Alison shrugged. "What can I say, except that Brummgas pretty much invite that sort of thing."

"I gather General Davi doesn't think much of Brummgas?" Neverlin asked.

"Do you?" Alison countered. "I certainly don't. Especially not after this last fiasco."

"The general doesn't think much of most non-humans, actually," Frost said.

"And for good reason," Alison said. "Draycos, though, is one alien he's very interested in."

"What does he want to do, recruit him?" Frost asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Alison said. "The K'da ability to attach themselves to humans has all sorts of interesting possibilities. But without a subject to study, the bioweapons labs aren't going to be able to coax out that secret."

"So you came to plead for the refugee fleet?" Neverlin asked.

"Hardly," Alison assured him. "All Dad wants from that part of the operation is a fair cut."

"A fair cut?" Frost demanded. "What kind of cut does he think he deserves?"

"The kind of cut due a new partner," Alison said calmly. "Especially a new partner who can free you from the burden of ever again having to rely on the Patri Chookoock and his brain-dead muscleheads. From now on, if and when you need manpower, the Malison Ring will provide it."

"If the general is feeling so accommodating, why didn't he simply direct the Driftline commandant to give us the extra ships we wanted?" Frost asked, his tone still suspicious. "It would have been considerably easier on Sergeant Chapman and his team."

"He would have if he'd known where you were planning your raid," Alison explained patiently. "This isn't exactly something you put on the Malison Ring newslist."

"That's his excuse," Neverlin spoke up. "What's yours?"

"What's my what?"