Dragon and Judge

The ship was hovering above Jack's pillar, its hatch open, before the transport and starfighters below seemed to catch on to the fact that their quarry was slipping from their grasp. But by then, it was too late. The pillar itself blocked most of their frantic laser fire, and the gap they'd cut for themselves in the aerial obstacles was clear down at the other end of the canyon.

Five minutes later, with the Djinn-90s still trying desperately to close the gap, Jack keyed in the stardrive.

Eight men in Malison Ring uniforms were standing guard at the main gate as Alison led her party across the neatly trimmed lawn toward them. "That's close enough," the sergeant in charge warned, taking a step toward her. His shoulder-slung machine gun, she noted, wasn't quite pointed in her direction. "What do you want?"

"I have a group of slaves here," Alison said, taking another step and then likewise stopping. Behind her, she sensed Stronlo and the others doing the same. "All they want is to leave."

The sergeant shook his head. "Sorry. The Patri Chookoock was kind enough to open his gates and his estate for us. I don't think letting his slaves walk out the front door would be a proper way to repay his courtesy."

"Was it courtesy, or was it bowing to the inevitable?" Alison countered. "I saw the force you brought with you. You could have knocked your own hole in his wall if you'd had to."

In the light from the driveway markers she saw his eyes narrow. "You're not a slave," he said. "Who are you?"

"My name's Alison Kayna," Alison told him. "I'm sort of a negotiator."

"For slaves?"

Alison shrugged. "Slaves need someone to speak for them as much as anyone else. Probably more so."

"Probably," the sergeant conceded, his eyes flicking to the mixed group of aliens standing silently behind her. "Sorry, Kayna, but my orders are to keep the place bottled up until the major finishes his search. That means nobody leaves."

"But these aren't anybody," Alison reminded him. "By Brum-a-dum law, they're property."

Behind the sergeant, one of his men stirred. The other mercenaries didn't look all that comfortable, either. "Yeah, I know," the sergeant said, his voice darkening with contempt. "But we didn't come here to free a bunch of slaves."

"You're not here to keep them in, either," Alison countered. "Or did the Patri Chookoock hire you to do that?"

"Hardly," the sergeant said sourly. "In fact, he may be looking down the barrel of some real trouble right now, depending on what the major finds."

"Then you don't owe him anything. Right?"

The sergeant's face pinched uncertainly. "Well . . ."

"Sergeant?" the soldier who had reacted called. "Do we need to keep this gate closed? It's feeling kind of stuffy over here."

For a long minute the sergeant studied Alison's face. Then, his lip quirked. "Go ahead and open it," he ordered.

"The gate squad might object," one of the other mercenaries warned.

"Make sure they don't," the sergeant said flatly. "Janus formation—we don't want anyone sneaking in behind us."

He motioned Alison forward. "You wouldn't mind marching your livestock past my men, would you?" he asked. "Just to make sure the guy we're looking for isn't tucked away in the crowd."

"No problem," Alison assured him, gesturing in turn to Stronlo. The Eytra lined up his people and led them toward the waiting soldiers.

Shoofteelee, the house slave, was the last in line. His face was rippling with Wistawk emotion, his eyes already gleaming dreamily with the glow of freedom.

Alison waited until they had all cleared the gate before stepping forward herself. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"Like you said, they're property," the sergeant reminded her. "You have someplace to take them?"

Alison nodded. "I understand the Daughters of Harriet Tub man have a station nearby."

The sergeant nodded back. "Good luck."

And a minute later, for the first time in nearly a month, Alison found herself breathing free air again.

She'd almost forgotten how good that felt.

Stronlo was standing nearby, waiting silently with his newly freed compatriots. "Well, come on," Alison said briskly, heading down the entry drive toward the public street and the city beyond. "Your future's waiting."

CHAPTER 30

"There were forty-five in all," Alison commented as she sat down across the dayroom table from Jack. "And did I mention they got Gazen along the way?"

"Yes, you mentioned it," Jack said, his eyes on Draycos and Taneem lying side by side on the dayroom floor, talking together in low voices. "I'm glad for you," he added.

"Thank you." Alison gestured. "You always make sandwiches just so you can ignore them?"

Jack looked down at his plate. There was a sandwich there, all right, with two bites missing. He'd forgotten all about it. "I guess I'm not hungry."

Alison sighed. "Look, Jack. This self-condemnation isn't doing you any good. It's tearing you up inside, not to mention making Taneem, Draycos, and me walk on eggs whenever you're around. You've got to snap out of it."