Dragonback 06 Dragon and Liberator

  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."

  Jack exhaled in a long hiss. "So the scam part is officially over," he said. "They've switched to your basic full frontal assault."

  "So it would seem," Draycos agreed.

  "Blast it all, why don't they just run?" Uncle Virge asked tensely. "I mean the K'da and Shontine. Why don't they just turn the fleet around and run?"

  "They can't," Draycos said. "Our hyperdrives need time to cool down and reset before they can be used again. They won't be able to escape into hyperspace for at least eight hours."

  "By which time they'll all be dead," Jack murmured.

  Draycos studied Jack's face out of the corner of his eye. The boy had seen the truth, all right, and had come to the same decision Draycos had. The only decision possible for a K'da warrior. "As things stand now, yes," he confirmed.

  "So what do we do?" Uncle Virge asked.

  Jack took a deep breath. Draycos?

  I understand, Draycos said. But you don't have to do this. You could eject in the Essenay's lifepod. Someone might arrive to rescue you before the air ran out.

  Someone besides Neverlin's goons? Jack countered. Thanks, buddy, but I'd rather go out with you than with them.

  "So what do we do?" Uncle Virge asked again. "Draycos?"

  "We can't get through the bubble fast enough to alert the refugees," Jack told him. "Not forward, and not sideways. At least, not before Neverlin calls in one of those outriding Djinn-90s to blow us to bits. So we're going to do something else."

  "Such as?"

  Draycos felt Jack brace himself. "We're going to attack the Advocatus Diaboli and try to knock out its Death weapon."

  "We're what?" Uncle Virge demanded. "Jack lad, in case you hadn't checked the weapons board lately, we're out of missiles. I used them all getting you off that troop carrier."

  "I did notice, thanks," Jack said. "I also know our meteor-defense lasers and particle beam probably won't even scratch Neverlin's paint."

  "So how do you intend to attack?"

  "The only way we can," Jack said quietly. "We're going to ram him."

  "Oh no," Uncle Virge said, his voice horrified. "No, no, no. Jack lad, you can't—Draycos, please. Talk him out of it."

  "It has to be done, Uncle Virge," Draycos said gently. "I've already offered Jack the option of ejecting before then."

  "And I've already refused it," Jack said.

  "It won't work," Uncle Virge insisted. "Langston said Harper rammed, too, remember? Neverlin won't risk that happening again, especially not with a ship this size. He'll use the Death on you, just as he did on Harper."

  "Which will accomplish the same thing," Jack said. His voice and thoughts, Draycos noted, had gone strangely calm. The same calm he'd seen many times in fellow warriors preparing to face death. "If Neverlin uses the Death on us, the K'da and Shontine will see it and know what they're up against. Either way, we win."

  "You'll also die."

  Jack looked down at Draycos. "It's sometimes a warrior's duty to die for his people," he said. Isn't it, Draycos?

  It is, Draycos assured him, feeling a stirring of emotion he hadn't felt in a long, long time. I knew from the first, Jack, that you were more than you seemed. Far more than your uncle Virgil had allowed you to become. I'm so very gratified to see that I was right.

  I'm kind of surprised myself, Jack replied dryly, giving Draycos a somewhat forced smile. Let's do it.

  Draycos lifted his head again to look out the Essenay's canopy at the drive glows of the Advocatus Diaboli and Gatekeeper in the near distance.

  And beyond them, at the last hope of his people. Yes, he confirmed. Let's.

  This time, they made sure to handcuff Alison's wrists behind her.

  The bridge hadn't changed much since she'd last been there, she noted as she was led through the door, a burly Malison Ring mercenary on either side keeping a cautious grip on her upper arms. Even with the handcuffs, Neverlin had finally learned not to take chances with her.

  "There you are," Frost greeted her, as calmly as if she'd just been out getting the mail. "I understand we've been a busy girl. Again."

  "Not as busy as I would have liked," Alison admitted, studying his face. He seemed way too calm for someone who'd been taken in by her con as thoroughly as he and Neverlin had.

  But then, Frost could afford to be calm. Certainly calmer than Neverlin. With the collapse of her Alison Davi soap bubble, Frost's own position in this group was suddenly back to normal again. "Well, we'll be making up for that soon," he said. "Let me see; what's been happening since you left? The Lordhighest informs me the K'da/Shontine warships are now poised to intercept and detain us, still with no idea that we have the Death waiting for them. The rest of our attack force has abandoned the original game and is speeding to join us in a straight-up battlefront configuration."

  He gave her an evil smile. "And your friend Jack Morgan has just put on a burst of speed, apparently in hopes of getting past us and out of the bubble in time to warn his K'da friends."

  Alison looked over at the tactical, her mouth going dry. Frost was right—the Essenay was charging straight up the Advocatus Diaboli's drive trail. "He can't possibly make it in time," she said. "You can just ignore them."

  "It does look that way, doesn't it?" Frost agreed. "But I think it's a little late to start taking unnecessary chances. Especially now." His eyes flicked over Alison's shoulder to Neverlin. "Especially with this particular boy and K'da."

  "The story I spun you before wasn't completely bogus," Alison persisted. "A live K'da would bring an astronomical price at any bioweapons lab."

  "And I thank you for suggesting it," Neverlin said, coming up beside her. "But there will be plenty of safer specimens for us to choose from later." He waved toward the display. "Right now, I'm rather looking forward to watching Jack and his K'da die."

  Alison swallowed hard. "You'll be using the Death on him, I suppose?"

  "I think he's counting on that, actually," Neverlin said. "Our use of the Death would finally alert the refugee fleet to the surprise we have aboard." He smiled at Alison. "But only if they see us use it."

  Alison frowned, looking again at the tactical display. What was Neverlin up to now?

  And this time she saw it. "You're letting the Foxwolf pull ahead," she said. "You're going to lure the Essenay in close, where the Foxwolf's bulk will block the refugees' view when you fire the Death."

  "Very good," Neverlin said approvingly. "You really could have been General Davi's daughter, couldn't you?" He smiled. "Of course, there are a few details you don't know."

  "It
won't work," Alison said, trying one last time. "It can't work. There's no way you can use the Death against enough of them before they realize what's going on."

  "We'll see," Neverlin said calmly. "In the meantime, we have Jack and his K'da to deal with."

  At the sensor station, one of the displays began beeping urgently. "Sir, we have incoming spacecraft," the captain snapped, swiveling in his seat and keying some switches. "Thirty of them, approximately eight hundred miles aft. All craft accelerating in our direction."

  "Identify" Frost ordered, moving up behind him.

  "ID coming up now," the other said. "Sixteen are Malison Ring Shrike fast-attack fighters. Thirteen register as Braxton Universis Security cruisers. The thirtieth—"

  He swiveled around to face Neverlin, his eyes wide. "It's the Angelside," he breathed.

  Alison felt her breath catch in her throat. The Angelside? Cornelius Braxton's personal yacht was here?

  This was not good. Not good at all.

  "Interesting," Frost said, his voice glacially calm. "Signal Hammerfall One that we have some fresh targets. He's to split Outriders Two and Three from his group and send them back to deal with the intruders."

  "Belay that order," Neverlin said. His voice, too, was calm, but there was a simmering hatred beneath it that froze Alison's blood. "Hammerfall One will continue its mission to support the Foxwolf's attack. Backstop will turn back to intercept the intruders."

  "Sir, five Djinn-90s can't take on two wings of Shrikes," Frost said urgently.

  "Don't worry, Colonel; they'll have all the help they need," Neverlin assured him. "As soon as we've dealt with the Essenay, we'll be circling back to join them."

  He half-turned, and it seemed to Alison that he was looking straight at her. "I'm going to deal with Mr. Braxton personally. Captain, what's the Essenay's status?"

  "Coming up fast, sir," the captain said. "Another thirty seconds and he'll be alongside us."

  "And the Foxwolf?"

  "In position and ready," Frost assured him. "The enemy ships won't see a thing."

  Neverlin nodded. "Good. Lordhighest, contact your operators." He looked again at Alison. "Tell them to prepare to fire."

  The Essenay was nearly to the Advocatus Diaboli's stern now. "Steady on," Jack said aloud. They were empty words, he knew, said for no better reason than to fill the empty space around him. In less than a minute the Essenay would be alongside Neverlin's ship.

  And with a push of an alien's hand on a button, Jack and Draycos would die.

  There is no shame in being afraid, Draycos's thoughts came through the pounding of Jack's heart.

  I know, Jack said. But he couldn't help but feel some shame anyway. Some shame, some fear, and a lot of regret.

  He didn't want to die. But then, he didn't suppose anyone ever really wanted to die.

  Careful, Jack, Draycos warned. The Gatekeeper has positioned itself directly in front of us. Its drive glow may mask the refugees' view of the Advocatus Diaboli as it fires.

  Already spotted that, Jack assured him. In his own ham-handed way, he thought with dark amusement, Neverlin was still trying to outthink him and Draycos. You just watch and—

  He broke off the thought. No, Draycos wouldn't watch and learn. Very soon now, neither he nor Draycos would ever learn anything again. Here we go, Jack said instead. Twisting the control yoke completely around, he sent the Essenay spiraling into a half circle around the Advocatus Diaboli, coming out on the far side of the ship and well clear of the Foxwolf's blockage.

  And it was time. It's been an honor to know you, Draycos, he told the K'da, reaching down to stroke the K'da's head as it lay flat against his right shoulder. Strangely enough, the words didn't sound corny to him, as he'd been afraid they would.

  And an honor to know you, as well, Jack, Draycos replied. Good-bye, my friend.

  Good-bye. Taking a deep breath, Jack threw full emergency power to the Essenay's drive, sending the ship jumping forward and outward along the Advocatus Diaboli's, side.

  He had just enough time to see the burst of debris and dust and compressed air that exploded from the Foxwolf's side, swirling blackly directly in his path and completely blocking the view of the distant K'da/Shontine defenders.

  And then, the violet cone of the Death cut across space in front of him, slicing across his view of both the Foxwolf and the masking cloud of debris.

  He twisted the control yoke again, trying to pull the Essenay out of the beam's path.

  But it was too late. Before he could do more than gasp, the violet cone swept back toward him, passed unhindered though the canopy—

  And cut through him like a tingling knife.

  CHAPTER 29

  The voices were still murmuring around Alison, murmuring like a mountain brook in the distance. There were words there, too, she knew.

  But with her head bowed, her eyes closed, and her heart aching, she hardly heard any of it.

  Jack and Draycos were dead.

  Vaguely, distantly, she heard someone calling her name. Blinking the tears out of her eyes, she looked up. "What?" she asked.

  "I was just telling you not to take it so hard," Neverlin said. "After all, you'll be joining them soon enough."

  Alison took a deep breath. This was no time to fall apart. "As will you and Frost and the Valahgua," she said. "I know Cornelius Braxton, and you're not going to find him an easy nut to crack."

  Neverlin shook his head. "You still don't get it, do you, Alison? Even having seen it demonstrated right in front of you, you still don't get it. The Death is literally the ultimate weapon. It doesn't matter how many people Braxton brought with him. He's dead, and so is everyone with him."

  "Sir, the Essenay's gone into a half-powered drift," the captain reported.

  "Very good, Captain," Neverlin said. "Swing us around and bring us up behind Backstop. No rush—give them time to reform into their attack cluster."

  "Yes, sir."

  "It's a shame we couldn't be on the same side, Alison," Neverlin went on, his voice lowered. "You're obviously a girl of many talents."

  Alison flicked her tongue across her upper lip. There was only one chance left for her now. "What if I told you I was ready to join up with you?" she asked.

  Neverlin smiled. "You really think I'd believe you?"

  "I could pay for my life," Alison offered. "I still have a few secrets. Things I know that would be very valuable to you."

  "What sort of secrets?"

  "The sort that would be very valuable to you," Alison repeated. "Or to anyone else who knew them."

  For a moment Neverlin eyed her closely. Then, he looked at the two Malison Ring mercenaries still holding on to her upper arms. "Three paces back and wait," he ordered them.

  One of the soldiers glanced at the other. "Sir, Colonel Frost said—"

  "Three paces back," Neverlin repeated.

  "Yes, sir." Letting go of Alison's arms, the two men stepped back as ordered.

  "Now," Neverlin said, his eyes back on Alison. "Go on."

  "Your side of the bargain first," Alison said. "I want in on the deal with you and Frost. I especially want in on anything the weapons labs turn up out of all this."

  Neverlin smiled thinly. "You have a particular interest in weapons?"

  "My father does, yes," Alison said. "And of course, I want to not be turned over to the Valahgua."

  "That might be difficult," Neverlin warned. "You've cost them a great deal of time and trouble."

  "You're helping them get what they want," Alison countered. "I think they can afford to concede a point or two."

  "Sir?" the captain called. "The Essenay's on the move again."

  "It's just the ship's computer flailing around," Neverlin called back. "Ignore it."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Well?" Alison asked.

  "All right, I'll play," Neverlin said, inclining his head to her. "If these supposed secrets are actually worthwhile, you have a deal."

  Alison took a deep br
eath. Taneem would understand, she told herself. Surely Taneem would understand. "Okay," she said. "Here it is. . . ."

  Before Jack could do more than gasp, the violet cone swept back toward him, passed unhindered through the canopy, and cut through him like a tingling knife.

  Nothing happened.

  Carefully, Jack opened his eyes, only then realizing that he'd even shut them. Draycos? he asked warily.

  I'm here, Draycos said, just as warily. What happened?

  You tell me, buddy, Jack countered, looking down at his chest. Draycos's gold-scaled head was visible through the open collar, one green eye looking up at him. I thought the Death killed everything it hit.

  It does, Draycos said, sounding as puzzled as Jack felt. It always does.

  Well, it didn't this time, Jack said. Not unless incredibly grubby flight suits are allowed into the afterlife.

  Could they have missed? Draycos suggested doubtfully. That tingle felt rather like a near miss.

  That was no miss, near or otherwise, Jack said firmly. I saw it go through me. I felt it go through me.

  Then I have no idea, Draycos conceded.

  "Jack?" Uncle Virge asked tentatively. "Are you all right, lad?"

  "Apparently so, Uncle Virge," Jack assured him. He blinked once, shook his head to clear it, and for the first time since the Death had passed through him he focused on the view through the Essenay's canopy.

  Not surprisingly, he'd let go of the yoke when the Death hit. As a result, the Essenay was more or less in drift mode, its nose angling off its original course, its engines backed off to half speed. The drive glows of the Foxwolf and Advocatus Diaboli were already a good distance ahead, still heading for the refugee fleet.

  And then, as he watched, the Advocatus Diaboli detached itself from the larger ship and started an almost leisurely curve to the side. "Neverlin's pulling away," he announced.

  Weight came onto his shoulder as Draycos raised his head for a look. "What do you think?" Jack asked. "Mechanical trouble?"