Dragon and Liberator

Neverlin looked at Alison. "And once it's back together, have them disconnect the emergency beacon system," he added.

"Do not fear the friends of our enemies," the Valahgua said. "If any come, they will die as surely as will the K'da and Shontine."

"Let's just hope your K'da and Shontine are on time," Frost put in darkly. "If they're late, we could end up being caught between two different groups of enemies. That's generally considered a bad idea."

"Do not lecture me on military truths," the Valahgua said stiffly. "And do not concern yourself with such matters. If our enemies arrive together, they will die together."

"I'm sure they will," Neverlin said before Frost could answer. "Meanwhile, we have our final few ships to deploy."

"Not yet," the Valahgua said. "You have tracked the lifepod that carried the traitor?"

"I don't know," Neverlin said. "Captain?"

"Yes, sir, we have its trajectory," the captain said, peering at his displays.

"You will retrieve it," the Valahgua said. "Send your ships now."

"Lordhighest, all we have available right now are the five Djinn-90s of the Backstop group," Frost reminded him. "Everyone else is over a thousand miles behind us at the three Hammerfall start points."

"If you're worried about the refugee fleet spotting it, we can simply destroy it," Neverlin offered.

"You will retrieve it intact," the Valahgua said. "We have never before used the Death on a human. I wish to study exactly how its effect has been."

Neverlin looked at Frost, and Alison could sense a sudden uneasiness in both men. "There's no need to make a full investigation," Neverlin said, his voice studiously casual. "You told me you and your colleagues would be leaving as soon as the K'da and Shontine were destroyed."

"There is science to be done, Neverlin," the Valahgua said. "The science will be done. Retrieve the lifepod and the body."

Neverlin's lip twitched, but he nodded to Frost. "Go ahead, Colonel," he said, again working at sounding casual. "I'm sure your pilots can figure out some way to grab the lifepod."

For a half-dozen heartbeats Frost continued to glower at the Valahgua. Then, with clear reluctance, he gestured to the captain. "Feed Backstop Leader the lifepod's trajectory and order him to retrieve it," he said shortly. He looked back at Neverlin. "Anything else?"

"No, that will be all." Neverlin turned to Alison. "Would you care to sit in on the autopsy?"

"No, thank you," Alison said. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go back to my stateroom for a while and get some rest."

"Good idea," Neverlin said, his eyes suddenly thoughtful as he gazed at her. "Yes. A very good idea."

As always, Alison gave her stateroom a quick sweep with her sensor as soon as she was inside. As usual, she found they'd planted another bug while she'd been out. Dealing with it, she lay down on the bed.

And let her heartache wash over her.

It was all going wrong. All of it. Spectacularly and devastatingly wrong. Taneem was probably dead, drifting off into that strange fourth-dimensional world, all because Alison hadn't been able to break free from Neverlin and Frost in time. Jack and Draycos didn't seem to have made any move to take over the troop carrier, like she'd expected them to. Maybe Neverlin had changed his mind and they were dead, too.

And Harper was dead. Killed quickly, quietly, and efficiently by the Valahgua and their monstrous Death weapon.

It was all coming apart.

And it was all her fault.

What in space had ever made her think she could pull off something like this, anyway?

She didn't know how long she lay there, staring at the ceiling and condemning herself and her failures. All she knew was that she was suddenly startled out of a light doze by a soft scratching at the ventilation grille.

She bounded off the bed onto her feet, staggering a little as the blood level in her brain dropped briefly before her heart got up to speed again. "Taneem?" she called softly, afraid to hope.

But for once, hope hadn't abandoned her. "Yes," the K'da's familiar voice came back. "May I come in?"

"Of course, of course," Alison said, grabbing the desk chair and pulling it over to the grille. "I don't suppose you still have the screwdrivers we borrowed from Harper?"

"Yes, I've had everything waiting right here," Taneem said. A thin piece of plastic slid into view through one of the openings in the duct. "Here."

Alison took it and set feverishly to work. It was the flat-head screwdriver, not exactly suited to the crosshead bolts the grille was fastened with.

But it was good enough, and Alison was inspired, and within two minutes she had the grille open far enough for her to wedge her hand up into the duct.

Two seconds after that, Taneem was once again nestled against her skin.

"Thank God," Alison murmured as she refastened the grille. "Thank God. I was hoping you'd found a safe haven."

"I couldn't get to you," Taneem murmured back. "You were with Neverlin and Frost the whole time."