Dragonback 06 Dragon and Liberator

by Timothy Zahn

  It took Draycos another second to find his own voice. "Impressive," he said. "I had no idea you could do something like that."

  "You like it?" Jack asked, getting a grip on the control yoke and turning them a few degrees to the left. "A little trick Uncle Virgil taught me."

  "More than just a single trick," Draycos said. "It was as if you'd actually become the man."

  "That's the best way to imitate someone," Jack said. "Body, mind, attitude, voice. Everything." He shrugged. "If you can do it. Most people can't. At least, not very well."

  "Obviously, you're one of the few who can," Draycos said. "And all that after having heard only a few sentences from the man."

  "Yet another useless talent for a reformed con man and thief." Jack shook his head sharply. Okay, I think my brain's ready to go with the telepathy thing again, the thought whispered across Draycos's mind. Next job is to actually make it aboard the ship.

  Draycos turned his head to look out the canopy through Jack's collar. While they'd been talking, Jack had shifted their course toward the Gatekeeper. Isn't the next trick to figure out which ship is the Foxwolf? Draycos asked. Going to the wrong one would be a dead giveaway that you aren't Chiggers.

  Not a problem, Jack said. If you scratch the Advocatus Diaboli, the only ships big enough to dock this thing are your Gatekeeper, the fueler, and the troop carrier. Troop carriers and fuelers, if you'll recall from all that reading we had to do when I was in the Whinyard's Edge, are usually numbered, not named.

  Neverlin might have made an exception.

  He didn't, Jack assured him. Now that we know Frost's plan, Foxwolf is a perfect name for the Gatekeeper. It'll start out looking like it's running for its life, like the fox in a foxhunt. Once it's past the main defenses, it'll suddenly turn into a wolf and start ravaging its way through the fleet.

  Draycos felt his tail twitch. With his mind occupied with Jack's performance, he hadn't yet spotted the most important implication of the Gatekeeper's presence here. Which also means that's where the Valahgua will have mounted their Death weapons.

  Or at least most of them, Jack agreed. I'm guessing Neverlin has at least one aboard the Advocatus Diaboli, just to make sure his own skin is safe.

  And if they could get aboard the Gatekeeper and disable those weapons . . . Tell me about this calozyne you mentioned, Draycos said. What exactly is it? And there isn't any actual leak, is there?

  Believe me, buddy, if there was you'd know it, Jack said dryly. It's a heat-exchange fluid for the laser chargers, and it stinks to high heaven.

  Odd, Draycos said. Our heat-exchange fluids are odorless.

  Actually, calozyne smells the way it does on purpose, Jack said. It's a safety feature, so that you know right away if you've got a leak. Firing lasers without being able to dump the heat is generally considered a very bad idea.

  Agreed, Draycos said. But won't those aboard the Gatekeeper then know immediately that we have no leak?

  The minute they get close enough to get a good whiff, Jack confirmed. That's why we'll have to hit first and fast and then go to ground. I hope you know somewhere aboard where we can do that.

  There are several such hiding places, Draycos assured him, gazing out at the Gatekeeper and forcing his brain to work. So far Jack had been carrying the burden of planning here. It was about time Draycos picked up his share of the load. If we haven't got a leak, can we make one?

  Sure, but what's the point? Jack asked. The minute the mercenaries in there see me, the game will be up.

  Unless those who meet us are Brummgas, Draycos said. I doubt they'll be nearly so good at distinguishing one of Frost's mercenaries from another.

  Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jack frown down at him. Probably not, the boy agreed cautiously. But we don't even know if there are any Brummgas aboard. Let alone that Frost will let them play reception committee.

  Actually, aside from the Valahgua manning the Death weapons, I expect nearly all aboard will be Brummgas, Draycos told him. Very likely all those we watched being brought from the Chookoock estate, in fact.

  Okay, buddy, you've now officially lost me, Jack said. I thought we'd just decided the Gatekeeper was their primary attack ship. Neverlin's certainly not going to leave that part of the scheme in Brummgan hands.

  They aren't here to handle the attack, Draycos said. They're here to create the proper illusion. As I said earlier, the Valahgua can imitate Shontine voices well enough to fool the fleet's warriors. What they can't imitate is the heat signature of five hundred K'da and Shontine crew members aboard ship.

  He caught Jack's flicker of understanding. So Frost has loaded the ship with warm Brummgan bodies?

  Exactly, Draycos said. The refugee fleet's sensors can't read individual heat emissions through the hull but only the sum total. Three hundred Brummgas should be just about right.

  And the spectrum from a living being probably looks different from ordinary heaters or anything else Neverlin might have used, Jack said.

  Exactly, Draycos said. I'm sure Neverlin would have preferred to use humans, but I'm guessing neither he nor Frost had access to the necessary numbers.

  Hence the whole deal with the Patri Chookoock, Jack said slowly. So if we can avoid the handful of Malison Ring mercenaries Frost has watching over the Valahgua and Brummgas, we may be able to push our own game a little longer.

  As long as we can, Draycos said. The more quiet time we have to seek out and sabotage the Death weapons, the better.

  Ahead, the marker lights came on beside one of the Gatekeeper's hatches. There—that's our target hatch, he told Jack, flicking out his tongue toward the lights.

  I see it, Jack said. Hop off, will you? I've got a job for you.

  What job? Draycos asked as he leaped out of Jack's collar to land on the deck behind him.

  "Go to the nearest weapons blister and get under the control board," Jack said. "Right up against the inside wall there should be one or more blue-striped tubes labeled coolant."

  "Understood," Draycos said. Turning, he headed aft.

  "And hold your nose," Jack's voice wafted down the corridor after him. "I wasn't kidding about the smell."

  Five minutes later, with the stench of calozyne curling his nostrils, Jack brought the patrol ship to a smooth docking alongside the Gatekeeper.

  Draycos was waiting for him at the hatch. "You were right about the smell," the K'da said as he laid his paw on Jack's hand and slithered up onto his skin. What's our plan?

  We stay with the Chiggers story as long as possible, Jack told him. He started to take a deep breath, instantly changed his mind. He straightened the collar of his flight suit, checked that his tangler was riding loose in Chiggers's holster, and touched the hatch release.

  The hatch slid open. Beyond the docking collar was a medium-sized bay with the same light tan walls and deck Jack had seen in the wreckage of the Havenseeker, back on that fateful day when he and Draycos had first met. Squaring his shoulders, trying to act as if he owned the place, he stepped through the hatchway into enemy territory.

  But for the moment, anyway, the enemy seemed to be unaware they'd been invaded. The only other occupants of the bay were a pair of Brummgas working at an open access panel, and their only reaction was a curling of their own nostrils against the smell leaking out into their world.

  Like I own the place, Jack reminded himself. "Hey—you," he called toward them. "Get me a sealant tube, will you?"

  One of the Brummgas half-turned, his cheeks wrinkling in disgust. "Get it yourself," he said, pointing a thick finger at a tool chest along the wall. Turning his back on the insolent human, he returned to his work.

  Smiling to himself, Jack headed for the toolbox. Do we need to take the time to fix the leak? Draycos asked.

  Unfortunately, yes, Jack said. The idea is that Chiggers came aboard, did his repairs, and then made himself scarce before anyone could find him and give him some other job to do. Vanishing without fixing the leak would look suspicious.<
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  Understood, Draycos replied. The K'da's tongue flicked briefly through the air beneath Jack's chin. But be careful. I can taste a hint of human scent beneath the smell of the Brummgas.

  Plus a few Valahgua?

  He sensed a darkening of Draycos's mood. Yes.

  No problem, Jack said, trying to hide his sudden twinge of fear. A people who had defeated K'da warriors weren't a group he really wanted to run into. Even if their Death weapon was sort of cheating. We'll just have to be a little extra careful, that's all.

  The toolbox contained two different tubes of sealant. Jack wasn't sure which would work better for a calozyne pipe, but for the length of time the repair needed to hold it probably didn't matter. Selecting the more expensive-looking tube, he headed back to the patrol ship.

  The hole Draycos had sliced in the pipe was small and easy to get to. Jack squeezed a generous portion of sealant across it and watched a minute to make sure it was solidifying properly. Then, capping the tube, he went back into the docking bay and returned it to the toolbox. Which way? he asked Draycos as he straightened up again.

  Take the door to your left, Draycos told him. The Death weapons will most likely be mounted in the bow. Probably in the weapons bays, where they'll have an ample source of power.

  Sounds reasonable. Just point the way.

  He was halfway across the bay when a figure stepped through the door ahead of him. It was a human figure, dressed in a Malison Ring uniform, peering down at a notepad in his hand.

  Only it wasn't just one of Frost's men, a man who would know Chiggers at a glance. It was far worse . . . and it was the last person Jack had expected to see here.

  It was StarForce Wing Sergeant Jonathan Langston. The man who'd helped him escape from Semaline.

  A man Jack had thought was dead.

  CHAPTER 11

  In that single frozen heartbeat. Jack felt his mental camouflage being stripped away like the wrapper off a ration bar. Not only would Langston know Chiggers by sight; he was possibly one of the few aboard who would also instantly recognize Jack himself.

  And with that, the quiet game Draycos had hoped for had come to an abrupt end. The minute Langston spotted Jack and squawked his name, the two Brummgas poking at their access panel would be on to him.

  Jack and Draycos had to take all three of them out before that happened.

  Jack dropped his hand casually to his holstered tangler. I may not be able to get than all before someone yells, he warned Draycos. As soon as I start shooting, you'd better head forward by yourself to deal with the Death weapons.

  What about you?

  I'll be all right, Jack told him, knowing full well it was a lie. A single squawk out of any of the three would draw the whole ship down on him. If they didn't kill him outright, they would haul him back to the Advocatus Diaboli and give him to Neverlin, which would pretty much amount to the same thing.

  But that didn't matter. All that mattered was that he give Draycos as much time as possible to find and destroy the Death weapons. On three, he said. One, two—

  Wait, Draycos cut him off, an odd tone to the texture of his thoughts.

  Jack flicked his eyes around the room, wondering what had caught the K'da's attention. There was nothing Jack could see that could possibly help them. He looked back at Langston, bracing himself.

  Only Langston wasn't staring at him, his eyes wide, his mouth open, a shout of warning boiling out of his throat.

  In fact, he wasn't looking at Jack at all. He was still gazing intently down at his notepad.

  And he wasn't walking straight toward Jack anymore, either. Instead, he was angling across the bay toward the patrol ship. "Hey, Chiggers," he called casually, still not looking up. "Good trip?"

  Answer him, Draycos prompted.

  It took Jack another half second to put his Chiggers face and voice back in place. "I lived through it," he growled. "What's been happening here?"

  "Not a thing," Langston said. He raised his eyes from his notepad, but now they were focused on the hatchway leading into Jack's patrol ship. "Looking forward to the big battle, though."

  "I'm looking forward to the loot at the end of it," Jack countered.

  "That'll be nice, too," Langston agreed. "See you later."

  With that, he stepped through the hatchway and disappeared into the ship. Move, Draycos urged.

  Abruptly, Jack realized he was standing still, staring at the hatchway where Langston had disappeared. Now, that was just plain unreal, he told Draycos as he got his feet moving again.

  Not unreal, Draycos said grimly. Deliberate.

  What are you talking about? Jack asked. You saw the uniform. He's gone over to Neverlin's side.

  He most certainly has not, Draycos said, his tone leaving no room for argument. There's no possible way he could have failed to see and recognize you. He deliberately gave you a pass. Gave us a pass.

  Jack grimaced. The K'da was right. He had to be.

  Which meant that, somehow, Langston had talked his way into Frost's crew in order to help save the incoming refugees.

  It also meant he was going to be in serious trouble when the balloon went up. Very serious trouble indeed.

  I know that, Draycos said, answering Jack's unvoiced thought. So does he.

  A shiver ran up Jack's back as he stepped through the door into a long corridor. Once before, he'd thought Langston had gone to his death to protect Jack and Draycos. Now Jack knew the man had lived through that particular ordeal.

  Only to now be facing death for a second time. And again for Jack and Draycos.

  He is a true warrior, Draycos said. He has made his decision, and his sacrifice. It's up to us to make sure that sacrifice is not in vain.

  You got it, buddy, Jack said grimly. It was, he decided, about time he showed some of that determination and ruthlessness Uncle Virgil had hammered into him over their long years together. Let's go find us some Death weapons.

  For the first few days of their time together in the lifepod, Alison and Taneem had done little but talk.

  Most of the talking at the beginning was on Alison's side as she turned their forced idleness into an impromptu school. She taught Taneem everything she knew about the Advocatus Diaboli, about Neverlin and Frost and the Malison Ring, and more about Brummgas than anyone in the Orion Arm probably wanted to know. The lifepod they were in had some limited flight capability, and she spent one entire afternoon drilling Taneem on the theory and practice of space flight.

  After that had come lectures on skulking, information gathering, and combat. Most of what Alison knew about the latter didn't directly apply to K'da, but she'd seen Draycos in action enough times to have some idea how he would deal with various combat situations.

  Taneem didn't especially like that set of lessons. She didn't say anything, but Alison could tell. Taneem didn't like fighting, and the thought of possibly having to kill again made her sick.

  But she also knew what was at stake. Whatever it took to save the K'da and Shontine refugees, she would do it.

  Around the sixth day the lessons had mostly ended. Alison couldn't think of anything else to teach, and both of them were getting pretty tired of the seminars anyway.

  After that, their conversations shifted to more personal matters. Alison told Taneem about her life growing up, while Taneem gave what little she could remember about her life as a Phooka.

  By the ninth day, they'd run out of even minor things to talk about. Fortunately, the lifepod's equipment included a deck of cards, and Alison spent several relaxing hours teaching Taneem some of the games she and her parents and grandparents had enjoyed when she was a girl.

  It was on the tenth day, and she was trying to come up with a way to modify the cards for some of the more specialized games she knew, when she heard the faint warbling of the ship's emergency alarm.

  "What's that?" Taneem asked, bounding to her feet.

  "Emergency alarm," Alison said grimly, stepping to the door and pressing her ear ag
ainst the cold metal. She could hear the alarm itself more clearly, but there was no sign of the automated instructions that usually accompanied such an alert. "I don't hear any abandon-ship announcements," she told Taneem, digging out her receiver and turning it on. "Maybe Neverlin's got something to say on the subject."

  She stuck the receiver into her ear as Taneem slithered up her sleeve onto her skin. "—want to get up here right away," Frost's voice came, soft and distant. Probably coming from the intercom on Neverlin's desk. "The Essenay has just come off ECHO outside our sentry ring."

  "Morgan?" Neverlin demanded. "How in blazes did he find us?"

  "I don't know," Frost said grimly. "And it's not Jack Morgan. It's Virgil."

  Alison frowned down at Taneem's head lying across her shoulder. Jack had told them that his uncle Virgil was dead.

  "Really," Neverlin said. "After all these months of looking for him, he finally surfaces. And at the most awkward time and place possible. Interesting. What does he want?"

  "He wants to talk to you," Frost said. "Shall I blow him out of the sky and be done with it?"

  "By no means," Neverlin said, and Alison heard the soft creak of a chair. "Certainly not until we know how he found us. I'll be right there." There was the sound of a door opening and closing, and then silence.

  "Blast," Alison muttered, pulling the receiver out of her ear. With the conversation shifting to the Advocates Diaboli's bridge, she and Taneem were now out of it.

  "It can't really be Virgil Morgan, can it?" Taneem asked hesitantly.

  "Not unless Jack lied to us," Alison said, gazing at the door. "Which I'm sure he'd do in a heartbeat if he thought it was necessary."

  Taneem lifted her head from Alison's shoulder. "We need to listen in on that conversation."

  "I dearly wish we could," Alison said. "Problem is, if we leave the lifepod now we're not getting back in without everyone knowing about it. Remember the seal on the door?"