Dragon and Liberator

Neverlin snorted gently. "The original plan was to swing by Bentre after I'd dropped you and your men off at Driftline and have the Brummgas collect the ships and fly them to Point Two. Now, with this Mrishpaw thing, I may not want all of your men leaving my ship just now."

Alison pricked up her ears. Point Two. The ambush location?

"Don't worry, we won't need to use anyone from the Advocates Diaboli," Frost said. "I've already sent a group of my fighter pilots to Bentre in one of the other shuttles."

"Have you, now," Neverlin said, and there was a sudden edge of caution in his voice. "And they're already on their way?"

"If not, they will be soon," Frost said. "They were to leave as soon as the troop carrier signaled that it was safely on its way to Point One. They should reach Bentre in four days, at which point they'll pick up the 29s and fly them directly to Point Two."

"Yes," Neverlin murmured. "That should make everything so much more convenient."

"Meanwhile, Sergeant Chapman and a team are on their way to Driftline to see about those Rhino-10s," Frost continued. "By the time we're ready to move to Point Three, we should have all the ships we need."

Alison grimaced. So much for Point Two being the end of the line.

"Excellent," Neverlin murmured. "You do still mean we, correct?"

Frost chuckled. "Relax, Mr. Neverlin," he said. "As you said, we need all of us to make this work."

"I'm relieved to hear it," Neverlin said, back on balance again. "Langston isn't with either raiding party, is he?"

"Don't worry," Frost assured him grimly. "He's at Point One getting drilled in proper Malison Ring combat technique." He paused, and Alison could imagine his thin smile. "And he's under the impression that Point Two is the actual rendezvous point. If he does have a knife up his sleeve, whoever he tries to 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.