Read Dragonback 06 Dragon and Liberator for Free Online

Alison had helped
her back through the opening. "I saw only two humans seated in the main
control rooms."
    "The bridge," Alison identified it. "Probably Neverlin's
night-shift crew. Any passengers out and about?"
    "The ducts carry the smell of many Brummgas," Taneem said, a brief
shiver running through her. "I think there are also a few other humans."
    "Frost and some of his men," Alison said. "At least now we know
where we stand. Which is more than Frost can say right now."
    "What do you mean?"
    "I mean I found out why he was almost on my side for a while
during our little vacation on Brum-a-dum." Alison held up the
interesting paper she'd found. "I helped him find out that Neverlin's
trying to do an end run around him."
    "What's an end run?"
    "Actually, in this case it's more of a double cross," Alison said.
"Remember that we figured out earlier how Neverlin was going to get the
ships he needed for his attack? That Frost was going to steal them from
one of the planets where the Malison Ring is fighting one of their
wars?"
    "Yes," Taneem said. "Only it was you who figured that out,
not us ."
    "Oh," Alison said, momentarily thrown off-track. "Yes, I suppose
it was. But it doesn't really matter who came up with the idea."
    "Yes, it does," Taneem said, a bit primly. "Draycos says a person
must always give proper credit for cleverness and resourceful thinking.
Especially if that same person is equally quick to assign blame."
    Alison grimaced. "Let me guess. Jack was grousing again about me
opening the other safe for Neverlin?"
    "Actually, at the time I believe they were discussing your plan
for getting through Frost's security cordon into the Chookoock hangar
back at the Ponocce Spaceport," Taneem said. "Jack thought your Trojan
Horse idea was very clever."
    Alison felt her eyebrows crawling up her forehead. " Jack actually paid me a compliment ?"
    "And Draycos agreed." Taneem twitched her tail. "Is that so hard
to believe?"
    "From Draycos, no," Alison said. "From Jack, yes. But never mind
that." She tapped the paper. "The point is that Neverlin has contracted
with a Compfrin company to buy a dozen surplus KK-29 system patrol
ships."
    "Those are fighting craft?"
    "Very much so," Alison said. "Probably not as powerful as the
ships Frost could get from a Malison Ring base. But they'll be plenty
good enough."
    "Draycos has told me that the refugee ships are well armed."
    "Which won't matter a twig against the Valahgua's Death weapon,
will it?" Alison countered. "Which is why Neverlin can get away with a
relatively small attack force. All he needs is to keep the defenders
busy while the ships carrying the Death slip inside the perimeter and
start killing everyone."
    Taneem's eyes flicked around the room. "Do you think any of the
Death weapons might be aboard this ship?"
    "I'd sure keep one close to hand if I was Neverlin,"
Alison said. "You didn't happen to smell anything besides humans and
Brummgas, did you?"
    "I don't think so," Taneem said. "But there were cooking aromas
that might have disguised other scents."
    "And of course, you don't know what a Valahgua smells like,"
Alison pointed out. "Well, we can look into that later. In the
meantime, we've got work to do."
    "Finding a way out of here?"
    "Actually, that shouldn't be a problem," Alison assured her. "I
was referring to the need to share this little news flash with Jack and
Draycos."
    "How do we do that?"
    "You'll see." Putting the papers and data tubes back in the safe,
Alison resealed the door. "Come on—the link's in the other room."
    The Advocatus Diaboli 's InterWorld transmitter, she found
as she settled into the nook's comfortable armchair, was already set on
standby. Either someone had been sending or receiving messages earlier
or else someone was planning to do so in the near future.
    Either could mean there was someone paying attention to the
bridge's InterWorld control station. If so, that someone might notice a
transmission coming from a supposedly empty office,