Free Dragonback 06 Dragon and Liberator by Timothy Zahn Page A

call will show up in the
wrong place."
    "Let's just make sure he doesn't have a chance to make any such
calls," Neverlin said.
    "No problem," Frost said. "I've got him aboard the Foxwolf .
No InterWorld transmitter there ."
    Neverlin grunted. "As far as we know."
    "The Valahgua supposedly know what their enemies' long-range
transmitters look like," Frost reminded him.
    "Supposedly," Neverlin said. "How many of your men are on the Foxwolf at the moment?"
    "Seventeen," Frost said. "Three shifts each at command, helm,
engineering, hyperdrive, and monitor room, plus two swing crewers. Plus
Langston."
    "Do we have Brummgas who can handle those jobs?"
    "Yes," Frost said, and Alison could hear a frown in his tone. "Do
we want Brummgas handling those jobs?"
    "The question is whether I want any Brummgas aboard the Advocatus
Diaboli ," Neverlin said tartly. "And right now, I'm thinking I
don't. As soon as we reach Point Two you'll swap them off to the Foxwolf for twelve of your men."
    "I'd strongly recommend against that, sir," Frost said, his voice
suddenly formal. "The Foxwolf is the key to this whole
operation."
    "Don't worry; your men will still be in command," Neverlin said.
"And we can certainly swap them back before we reach the rendezvous.
But for the moment I want the Brummgas as far away from me as possible. And from my InterWorld transmitter."
    "As you wish," Frost said. "I still think it's a mistake. Brummgas
make good soldiers, but they're not built for thinking."
    "There won't be any serious thinking to be done until the attack,"
Neverlin said. "By then, we'll have your men back aboard." He paused,
and Alison heard the sound of footsteps as he headed for the door. "I'm
going back to bed. Let me know if anything else happens."
    A second set of footsteps joined the first. There was the sound of
a door opening and closing, and then silence. Alison waited a minute,
just to make sure, then pulled the receiver from her ear.
    "Four days," Taneem murmured.
    "What?" Alison asked.
    "He said four days until his soldiers reach Bentre," the K'da
said. "He also said Jack was no longer in jail."
    And Alison had left a message with Uncle Virge urging Jack to also
head directly to Bentre. "Yes, I know."
    "Do you think Jack might be able to get there before they arrive?"
Taneem asked hopefully.
    Alison tried to visualize the map of the Orion Arm.
"Theoretically, yes," she said. "But knowing Jack, he'll want to skulk
around a bit first. Make sure everything looks okay before he goes in."
    "So he and the mercenaries will arrive at the same time."
    Alison grimaced. "Probably."
    For a minute neither of them spoke. Alison ran the scenario over
and over in her mind, trying to think of a way to warn him.
    But she couldn't come up with one. The only way out of the lifepod
now would break the seal, which would alert everyone aboard that they
had a stowaway.
    She couldn't afford for them to know that. Not yet.
    "And Langston is here," Taneem murmured into the silence.
    "So it would seem," Alison said, wincing. The StarForce wing
sergeant Jack had sprung from unjust imprisonment on Semaline.
    Jack had thought Langston died when the Malison Ring mercenaries
raided the canyon where Jack had been imprisoned. Clearly, the other
man had lived through the experience. And not only had he survived, but
he'd apparently made a deal with Frost.
    The question was, was it a genuine deal? Or was Langston playing
some game of his own?
    "It'll be all right," Taneem said. "Jack has Draycos with him.
They'll be all right."
    "I know," Alison said. She looked down at her hands, only now
remembering the ration bars she was holding. "Here," she said, giving
one to Taneem. "Eat up, and then we'd better get some sleep."

CHAPTER 7

    "Interesting," Harper said when Jack had finished his story. "And
you say there's a whole fleet of these K'da things on its way?" He
looked over at Draycos, who was lying on the dayroom floor to his
right. "No offense," he added. "I didn't mean