Dragon and Liberator

"I'll be all right," Alison said, hoping fervently that that was true. "And by cavalry I mean Jack and Draycos."

"They're aboard?"

"Not yet," Alison said. "But they will be."

"How do you know?"

"Because they know we're here," Alison said. "And I know Draycos." She paused. "And I know Jack, too. Now scoot."

Taking a deep breath, she stepped back through the door into the office.

The Malison Ring soldiers were just charging in, guns ready in their hands. "Easy," Alison called, holding her hands up, palms outward, as the weapons swiveled in her direction.

From outside in the corridor, Neverlin pushed his way between two of the soldiers. His face was carved from stone, his eyes blazing with barely controlled fury. "So here we are," he said, his voice deathly quiet.

"Here we are," Alison agreed, rather surprised at how calm she sounded. "It's still not too late to call this whole thing off."

His lip twitched in a sardonic half smile. "Don't be ridiculous, child. You think your pathetic little effort has made any difference?"

"The fleet's been alerted," Alison pointed out. "You're not going to be able to split up the defenders now the way you hoped."

"I never thought that trick would work in the first place," Neverlin said casually. "Frankly, I was surprised they fell for it at all. No, my dear Alison whoever-you-really-are, that was simply our most optimistic Plan A. Plan B has already been implemented."

Alison gazed into his eyes. If the man was lying or bluffing, she couldn't see it. "You're still way outnumbered," she said.

He barked a short laugh. "You still don't understand, do you? We were monitoring your call. We heard everything you managed to get out before we cut you off."

Alison felt her pulse pounding in her ears. What had he heard that she'd missed? "And?" she asked carefully.

Neverlin smiled, the smile stopping halfway to his eyes. "You were so busy trying to convince them to listen to your poem," he said softly, "that you never got around to mentioning the Valahgua. Or the Death."

Alison felt her chest tighten. He was right. Mother of God, he was right.

"And so the defenders will regroup to cautiously intercept us and escort us into a protected place away from the main fleet while they try to figure out which of us is telling the truth," Neverlin went on. "And when we have them all neatly bunched up, we'll kill them. All of them."

He held out a hand to her. "Come," he said. "You'll have a much better view of the slaughter from the bridge."

"Thanks," Alison said through dry lips. "I'll pass."

"The Lordhighest insists," Neverlin said, his hand still stretched toward her. "I've promised the Valahgua they could have you to deal with as they see fit after this is all over."

He raised his eyebrows slightly. "I trust General Davi won't mind his daughter being tortured to death?"

"Would it matter if he did?" Alison asked.

"Not really," Neverlin said. "But then, General Davi has never even heard of you, has he? Come. The K'da and Shontine are waiting."

CHAPTER 28

"Something's happening," Uncle Virge called over the roar of the Essenay's drive. "The K'da/Shontine warships seem to be changing formation."

"Let me see," Draycos said, raising his head from Jack's collar for a better look at the displays.

The computer was right. The K'da/Shontine defenders were definitely reconfiguring.

"Maybe Alison got through to them," Jack suggested. "If the Advocatus Diaboli's radio is set up to transmit through the bubble, she might have gotten to it and clued them in."

Draycos didn't answer, his eyes on the Essenay's display. The defenders finished their maneuvering. . . .

"No," he told Jack. "She didn't get through. At least, not enough."

"What do you mean?" Uncle Virge asked.

"That's an intercept-and-capture formation," Draycos said, flicking his tongue toward the display. "Not the pattern they would use if they knew they were facing the Death."

"Great," Jack muttered. "You sure? I mean—no offense."

"None taken," Draycos assured him. The boy's question had no implied insult to it, he knew. "A Deathguard formation cannot be mistaken for anything else."

"I didn't think so," Jack said.

Draycos lowered his head back flat onto Jack's shoulder, feeling the dark stream of his host's thoughts. No, there hadn't been any insult in Jack's question.

Because there hadn't even been a real question there. Jack's words had been little more than sound designed to fill an empty space that would otherwise have held a terrible truth, and a dark conclusion.

A conclusion Draycos himself had already come to.

"More movement," Uncle Virge said. "This time it's those three crowds of Neverlin's ships angled out behind us. They've put on a burst of speed."

"How soon before they catch up with the Advocatus Diaboli?" Jack asked.

"At current speeds, roughly the same time the Advocatus Diaboli and Foxwolf reach the defenders."