Dragon and Judge

But she'd assumed Virgil Morgan had conned or stolen the ship from some minor official or else bought it on the black market from a corrupt diplomat. For it to have been stolen from a Judge-Paladin, let alone two of them—

"I know what you're thinking," Uncle Virge cut into her thoughts. "But it wasn't like that."

"Whatever it was like, it can wait," Alison said. "How do they know where Jack is right now?"

"Because he's probably at the scene of his parents' murder—"

"Their murder?" Alison cut him off. "I thought Jack said they were killed in an accident."

"Because he wasn't ready for the truth yet," Uncle Virge said. "Besides, there was still the little matter of assembling evidence to identify their killers."

Alison felt cold all over. Was that the little problem on Semaline Neverlin had mentioned earlier?

And if so, did he know who Jack really was?

"Anyway, I think some of the residents of the area must have recognized him as the Palmers' son and taken him back there," Uncle Virge went on.

"Why?"

"Probably to judge their disputes for them," Uncle Virge said. "They're all alone out in the middle of nowhere—"

"Okay, okay—not important," Alison interrupted. "What's important is that we get Jack and Draycos out of there, and fast. How soon can you get back to Semaline?"

"I can do it in four days if I really run the fuel tanks," Uncle Virge said. "That'll get me there about the same time as Frost's ships. Maybe a couple of hours sooner."

"Sooner would be nice," Alison said.

"Tell me about it," Uncle Virge said with a grunt. "Problem is, pushing it that hard will drain our credit balance. We might end up stranded there."

"Don't worry about that," Alison assured him. "There are a bunch of fuel credits in my cabin. You and Jack can use those when you come back to pick me up."

"Wait a second," Uncle Virge warned. "If you're counting on Jack to get you out of there—"

"Don't worry, I'm not," Alison assured him. "But I'll need you to send an InterWorld message for me before you take off."

"Who to?"

"The nearest Malison Ring Class One base," Alison said. "I think the one on Tristram Four is the closest, but you can check."

There was a brief silence. "The Malison Ring," Uncle Virge said, his voice gone flat. "Frost's friends."

"Not exactly," Alison said. "You're going to send the message using the voice of General Aram Davi, the Malison Ring's commander in chief."

"What?" Uncle Virge demanded. "Who do you think I am, girl?"

"I think you're a computer," Alison said. "And the voice-print and tonal patterns you'll need are already installed in one of the files Jack set up for me to use."

There was another brief pause as Uncle Virge accessed the file. "You must be out of your apple-buttered mind," he said, sounding as flabbergasted as Alison had ever heard him. "Where in space did you get all these?"

"My dad's a collector, okay?" Alison said briefly. "You never know when someone else's voice might come in handy. So can you do it, or can't you?"

"I can do it," Uncle Virge said, still sounding a little floored. "What's the message?"

Alison grinned in the darkness. Frost was going to love this. "Tell them that Colonel Frost is being held prisoner at the Chookoock family estate on Brum-a-dum," she said. "Order them to scramble a force to rescue him."

"I was right the first time," Uncle Virge said. "You are insane."

"Not at all," Alison said. "They won't question an order coming from General Davi. Especially since you'll also be giving them one of his authorization codes."

"Where am I—oh," Uncle Virge said. "I will be dipped in butter. You have his security codes, too?"

"I had access to a Malison Ring computer system a •while back," Alison said. "I got in a little deeper than anyone thought."

"And then what?" Uncle Virge asked. "All Frost has to do is tell them he wasn't kidnapped and they'll go home."

"He can't, and that's the real beauty of this," Alison said, smiling again. "They won't accept any response while he's still inside the house—he could be talking with a gun to his head."

"Then he comes out and shows them he's all right."

"He can't do that, either," Alison said. "He's been using Malison Ring troops and equipment for his own private scheme, remember? For all he knows, this kidnapping story could be nothing but a ruse to lure him out into the open so that they can nab him."

"I like it," Uncle Virge said approvingly. "Anyone ever tell you you had the makings of a very devious person?"

"That's high praise, coming from you," Alison said dryly. "Send the message, do what you can to make sure they've bought it, then hightail it back to Semaline."

"All right," Uncle Virge said. "But look, even if they buy it, Tristram Four is a good three to four days away from here. Are you going to be all right that long?"

"If I say no, what are you going to do about it?" Alison countered. "Right; that's what I thought. Don't worry, I think I know a place where we can hide for a while. You just concentrate on Jack and Draycos."