Dragon and Liberator

And we're not likely to get any of that, either, Jack said with a grimace. Unless you go on a little search on your own. But there's no way you'd be able to get back in here without them knowing something had happened.

Then I'm afraid our best strategy will be to wait until the operation has begun, Draycos said. That may mean some of my people will die, but we'll need the chaos and distraction to take over the ship.

And if it turns out the blasted thing can't fight, we won't be able to do anyone any good, Jack said heavily. But I suppose you're right. I just hope we'll know when—

Shh! Draycos cut him off. Do you feel that?

Jack frowned. There was an odd vibration rumbling through the deck beneath his feet. He cocked his head, trying to listen.

And suddenly, he got it. It's a dual-stage ECHO system coming up to speed, he told Draycos. That's the kind that's used in some larger military ships.

I see, Draycos said, suddenly thoughtful. So that's why Neverlin didn't seem worried about us escaping on the flight from the Gatekeeper to the Advocatus Diaboli.

Because we weren't actually at the rendezvous point, Jack said, nodding as he understood. Guy's full of tricks, isn't he?

Circles within circles, wheels within wheels, Draycos agreed. Still, it's often the case that a clever man outsmarts himself.

Let's hope Neverlin's one of those, Jack agreed. So what do we do until your people arrive?

We do what surveillance we can, Draycos said. Your back to the wall please. I'd like to spend some time studying the preparation room behind us.

CHAPTER 24

The latest trip had been made, this one much shorter than the previous ones. Though there were two men on duty on the bridge, most of the rest of the Advocatus Diaboli's crew and passengers seemed to have retired to their staterooms for ship's night.

But not Neverlin, Frost, or Alison. The three of them were still in Neverlin's office. The two men seemed to still have a lot of questions for Alison concerning her father, General Davi, and his work.

Watching them through the ventilation grille, Taneem wondered what it would be like to die.

She didn't know. But she would soon find out. The end of her time limit was rapidly approaching, when she needed to go two-dimensional on a host's body or disappear into death.

But she had no host. Jack had been taken off somewhere and hadn't returned. Langston had been refused permission to come aboard the Advocatus Diaboli to pick up some specialized tools.

And Alison was with Neverlin and Frost, with no sign that their conversation would be ending any time soon.

Silently, Taneem backed away from the grille and set off through the Advocatus Diaboli's maze of air ducts. She did't really have any place to go, but she couldn't bear to stay by Neverlin's office any longer.

She didn't want to die within sight of her host, the human girl she'd grown to know and love over the two short months they'd been together.

The ducts were vibrant with an ever-shifting mix of aromas. The smell of human and Valahguan bodies combined with a blend of cooking and engine lubricant and a dozen other scents. She sniffed at the air as she worked her way through the ducts, wondering if it all smelled richer now than it had earlier. Draycos had told her of legends that said K'da senses grew sharper as death approached. But she couldn't tell if that was happening or not.

And then, suddenly, one particular aroma seemed to leap out at her from the mixture. A very individual, very familiar human scent.

Harper.

She frowned, looking around her. Sure enough, her aimless wanderings had brought her to the part of the ship where Harper had been locked up. With nowhere else to go, she headed for the duct that would take her by his stateroom. Reaching the junction, she turned the corner.