Dragonback 06 Dragon and Liberator (18 page)

Frost's shoulder twitched, and suddenly his other hand was
pressing a gun against Harper's side. "Big mistake, friend," Frost said
softly.

"Actually, the mistakes are all on your side," Harper said, his
voice still calm. "What Mr. Neverlin failed to mention—because Mr.
Neverlin doesn't know—is that I'm not actually working
for
Braxton anymore."

"Meaning?" Frost asked.

"Meaning that in all your grand and detailed planning for this
operation, you never once thought about putting a spy on Braxton
himself," Harper said, his voice suddenly hard. "Did you actually think
he was just going to go about his business and forget about you?"

"Let me guess," Neverlin said. "You're volunteering for the job?"

"Don't be absurd," Harper said contemptuously. "The time for that
is long over. Fortunately for you, someone else had the foresight to
approach me months ago with an offer I decided was worth the risk."

"Does this person have a name?" Frost demanded.

"Yes, a name you know quite well," Harper assured him. "The Patri
Chookoock."

Frost snorted. "And you expect us to just believe that?"

"Of course not," Harper said. "By all means, call him and ask." He
eyed Frost over his shoulder. "Only be sure none of his Brummgas are
within eavesdropping distance of the InterWorld transmitter when you
do."

"Meaning?" Frost asked.

"Meaning you've been infiltrated," Harper said bluntly. "One of
the Brummgas, possibly more than one, has been suborned."

"By whom?" Neverlin asked. "Braxton?"

"Worse—the Malison Ring." Harper looked at Frost again. "Possibly
General Davi himself."

A shadow seemed to cross Frost's face. "That's ridiculous," he
insisted. "Davi has no idea what's going on here."

"Like he had no idea you were holed up on the Chookoock estate?"
Harper asked pointedly.

"That had nothing to do with Davi," Frost growled. "It was some
con Morgan stirred up. Morgan, or the Kayna girl."

"Speaking of Morgan," Neverlin said, "if you're really working for
the Patri, why this Virgil Morgan masquerade?"

"With all due respect, Mr. Neverlin, kindly start using your
brain," Harper said. "Our conversation out there could have been picked
up by anyone in your fleet. Would you really have wanted me to simply
announce my true identity and mission to the Malison Ring's spies?"

"A good point," Neverlin said. "Again, why Virgil Morgan?"

"Because everyone here knows you've been trying to find Morgan to
get him to open the K'da/Shontine safes for you," Harper said
patiently. "He's the one person who could show up without raising
anyone's suspicions."

"So how exactly do
you
know about any of this?" Frost
asked. "If your job was to keep tabs on Braxton, how do you know what
General Davi and the Malison Ring are up to?"

"Because Davi and Braxton have had several long conversations
together over the past couple of weeks," Harper said. "Sharing their
various pieces of the puzzle, as it were." He raised his eyebrows. "And
Davi in particular sounded like he's been getting a steady stream of
new pieces."

There was a short silence. Taneem wondered if Neverlin and Frost
were thinking about Mrishpaw and his supposed attempt to open the K'da
safe.

Probably. If Taneem could put those pieces together, surely
Neverlin and Frost could.

"All right, you're off the hook," Neverlin said at last. "For the
moment. But we
are
going to call the Patri."

"Fine," Harper said. "As I said, just make sure the Brummgas are
out of earshot."

"Easily done, since there aren't any aboard the
Advocatus
Diaboli
anymore," Neverlin said. "They're all on the troop carrier
and the
Foxwolf
."

"Good," Harper said. "Well, that's all I have. The Patri just
wanted me to get out here and alert you to the infiltration." He cocked
his head. "You have any other questions? It's been a long day, and I
want to go back to the
Essenay
and rest a bit before dinner."

"I'm afraid you won't be going back to the
Essenay
any
time soon," Neverlin told him. "At least, not until we've cleared your
story with the Patri. But I'm sure you'll find our accommodations
adequate."

"Just one more question," Frost said. His gun. Taneem noted, was
still pressed against Harper's side. "If you're working for the Patri,
why did you blast out of the Ponocce City Police Station with Jack
Morgan instead of just taking him back to the Chookoock estate?"

"Because I needed to find out if Morgan had also been in contact
with Braxton or the Malison Ring," Harper said. "To do that, I needed
to gain his trust. I also needed his ship if I was going to pull off
this Virgil Morgan charade. Too many of the Brummgas had seen the
Essenay
and might be suspicious if I showed up flying an entirely different
ship."

"And part of the trust building was to kill three of the Patri's
Brummgas?" Frost demanded, digging the muzzle of his gun a little
harder into Harper's side.

Harper didn't even flinch. "I told you the Chookoock family had
been infiltrated," he said mildly. "I never said all the traitors were
here in your fleet."

There was another short silence. "We'll be sure to ask the Patri
about that when we talk to him," Neverlin said, his voice neutral.
"Where's Jack now?"

"
And
his dragon," Frost added.

"Yes; his K'da," Harper said, shaking his head. "Damnedest thing I
ever saw. Actually, I didn't do anything with either of them. I didn't
have to. They went off somewhere, brought me back a roommate, then
disappeared again."

"You didn't ask where they were going?"

"I didn't care where they were going," Harper said. "All I needed
was his ship, and he was handing that to me on a platinum platter. I
waited until he was gone, popped my cuffs, and plugged in the Point Two
coordinates the Patri Chookoock had given me."

"This roommate you mentioned," Frost said. "What was his name?"

"No idea," Harper said. "We were never introduced, and the only
times he opened his mouth were to be loud or insulting. Or both. I
dumped him with the local cops just to get rid of him."

"What did he look like?" Frost asked, his voice gone suddenly
dark. "And where exactly did Morgan pick him up?"

Harper shrugged. "Medium height, slender build, rusty brown hair,
thin face, and we were in the middle of nowhere on Bentre. Why?"

Frost snarled a curse. "Chiggers."

"Who?" Harper asked, frowning.

"That's impossible," Neverlin said, ignoring the question. "He was
seen boarding the—" He broke off. "
Wasn't
he seen boarding the
Foxwolf
?"

"You tell me," Frost said, stepping around Harper and heading for
Neverlin's desk. He got two steps before he abruptly stopped. "
Frunge
it all. We can't even call over and check."

"Who's Chiggers?" Harper asked again.

"One of our pilots," Neverlin said grimly. "He got separated from
the group picking up those KK-29 patrol ships you probably saw on your
way in." He looked at Frost. "We
thought
he'd made it back
safely."

"Blasted kid," Frost bit out. "Sir, we have
got
to get
word to the
Foxwolf
right away."

"How?" Neverlin countered. "Besides, it's probably way too late to
sound an alarm now. Morgan and the K'da have undoubtedly already made
their presence known."

Frost swore viciously. "And six days before we can even get help
to them."

"Six
days
?" Harper demanded. "Where are we going,
Ghossta's End?"

"We're doing an evasive to our next rendezvous point," Neverlin
told him. "We thought it would be a useful distraction for anyone who
might be monitoring you."

"Terrific," Harper said heavily. "How big a force is the
Foxwolf
carrying?"

"Three hundred eighteen Brummgas, plus five of my men and a new
recruit we're not entirely sure of," Frost said. "Plus nine Valahgua."

"Against a fourteen-year-old boy and a K'da." Harper pursed his
lips. "Not too bad."

"You haven't seen the K'da in action," Frost said grimly. "I have.
They'll have their work cut out for them."

"Still, they do have those nine Valahgua," Neverlin added. "One
would think that after all these years they'd have
some
idea of
how to deal with K'da."

"I guess we'll find out," Harper said.

"I guess we will," Neverlin said. "And we can always make do with
a few less Brummgas if we have to."

He waved a hand. "But I'm forgetting my manners, and you
did
say something about wanting to rest before dinner. Colonel, would you
escort Mr. Harper to his stateroom? There's an empty one forward that
he can use."

"Certainly." Frost gestured back toward the office door. "Mr.
Harper?"

Carefully, Taneem eased back from the grille and backed her way
along the duct. This time, she waited until she was two turns away from
the office before speaking. "Alison?" she whispered. "Did you hear all
that?"

"Yes," the girl's voice whispered back. "Interesting."

"Did you know all of this when you made it look like Mrishpaw had
broken into Neverlin's office?"

"I'd never heard a word of it," Alison told her. "It's beautifully
convenient, though."

"I suppose." Taneem hesitated. "Do you think Jack and Draycos are
really over in that other ship?"

"I don't know," Alison said, her voice tight. "But it sounds like
the sort of crazy stunt they'd pull."

"Is there anything we can do to help them?"

"You heard Neverlin," Alison said. "As long as we're in
hyperspace, we're cut off from the rest of the ships."

"Then what do we do?"

"The only thing we can," Alison said. "We keep an eye on things
here and try to plan what we'll do when we reach Point Three.
And
we keep stirring the fire beneath Neverlin and Frost and see if we can
get this alliance to implode."

"To what?"

"To fall apart," Alison explained. "To self-destruct."

"Oh," Taneem said. "What do you want me to do now?"

There was a soft, thoughtful hiss from the comm clip. "See if you
can find out where Neverlin and Frost have put Harper," she said. "If
he's really working for the Patri Chookoock, we'll want to see about
pointing some of Neverlin's suspicions in his direction."

"You think he might not be?"

"Might not be what?"

"Working for the Patri Chookoock."

"Who knows?" Alison said. "If he's not, coming aboard like this
would be a pretty crazy thing to do. On the other hand, Cornelius
Braxton is famous for pulling crazy stunts."

"It sounds like he and Jack would get along very well," Taneem
suggested.

"Probably," Alison agreed. "Off you go now. But be careful."

"I will." Getting her bearings, Taneem turned toward the bow and
headed for the forward group of staterooms.

As always, Taneem took her rime, checking each grille as she
passed. As always, her excessive caution proved largely unnecessary.
Now that the
Essenay
had been docked and the immediate crisis
was over, both crew and passengers were relaxing again. Certainly none
of them seemed to have the slightest interest in the air ducts running
along above their heads.

During her most recent investigation of the ship, just after she
and Alison had escaped from the safe, Taneem had noted that most of the
forward cabins were occupied by Brummgas, usually four to a room. Now,
with all the aliens having been sent to the
Foxwolf
, their
places had been taken by human Malison Bang soldiers.

Still, even through the confusing mix of other human scents
wafting through the ducts, it didn't take her long to find Harper's new
home.

Back in the office, both Harper and Neverlin had mentioned
Harper's desire to rest. But as Taneem eased an eye around the edge of
the grille, she discovered he wasn't resting at all. Instead, he was
walking slowly around the room, his hands running gen-tly over the
walls and furnishings, his head moving back and forth as he looked
closely at everything.

His movements seemed strangely familiar. Taneem frowned, trying to
figure out why.

And then it hit her. Just as Alison had done on their very first
visit to this ship a month ago, Harper was searching for hidden
microphones and other spy devices.

Carefully, Taneem settled down into a comfortable position inside
the tight fit of the duct. This would, she knew, take some time.

It didn't take as long as she'd expected. Within fifteen minutes
Harper had finished his sweep. Still looking around as if making sure
he hadn't missed anything, he took off the white uniform jacket he'd
been given and sat down on the edge of the bed.

But he didn't lie down. Instead, he rolled up his shirtsleeves
past his elbows, exposing his forearms. Holding his left arm close to
his eyes, he placed the fingernails of his right hand against the
inside of his left wrist.

For a moment nothing happened. Harper held the pose, his
fingertips making small movements against the skin as if he were
scratching some delicate itch.

And then, to Taneem's horrified astonishment, he peeled the skin
straight back off his arm.

Taneem gasped, her tail twitching violently in reaction. The tip
hit the inside of the duct, giving off a muffled metallic clang.

Harper's head jerked up, his right hand still gripping the flap of
skin. His eyes darted around the room, his face suddenly grim and
deadly.

Taneem froze, afraid to breathe. For a long minute Harper
continued his visual sweep. Then, to her relief, he lowered his eyes
again to his forearm. Resettling his grip on the flap of skin, he
continued pulling it away from his arm.