Dragonback 03 Dragon and Slave (25 page)

He also avoided two more booby-traps that Gazen had added to areas
of the rug Jack had already cleared. A rather cheap trick, in his
opinion, but one he'd sort of expected the slavemaster to pull.

As near as he could read his audience, that success alone made as
much of an impression as all the rest of it put together.

The sky was beginning to darken outside the windows by the time
Gazen called a halt. "Thank you all for coming," he said as Jack
returned his tools to the table. "You have until nine o'clock tomorrow
morning to submit your bids. In the meantime, the hospitality of the
Chookoock family is at your disposal."

There was a general murmuring and creaking of chairs as the buyers
started to gather their notes and other items. "You—come with me,"
Gazen said to Jack. "You—" he added to one of the Brummgan guards,
pointing to the equipment table "—put those away. And make sure he
didn't steal anything."

He set off across the banquet room floor. Jack followed, the
inevitable Brummgan guards thudding stolidly along behind him.

Midway to the door, he managed to quietly lose the lockpick he'd
palmed.

He'd expected Gazen to take him back to the kitchen for a third
try at stuffing squatter poison down his throat. Instead, the
slavemaster led the way toward his office.

Toward it, but not to it. Circling past the door, he went into the
small conference room around the corner from it.

The same conference room where Jack and Draycos had hidden their
stolen recorder.

Gazen opened the door and went in. "Sit," he ordered, jabbing a
finger at a chair near the back of the room. "There's someone who wants
to meet you."

"Oh?" Jack asked, glancing around the empty room as he crossed to
the seats. "Where is he?"

"He'll be along in a moment," Gazen promised. "You did very well
today. Very well indeed. Even I was impressed."

"Thank you," Jack said, the hairs on the back of his neck tingling
unpleasantly as he sat down. What was the slavemaster up to this time?

"You particularly impressed one of our visitors, as well," Gazen
went on. "So much so that he asked for a private meeting." Behind him
the door opened, and one of the civilian bodyguards who'd been sitting
in front of Dumbarton stepped in. He glanced around, then nodded back
toward the door. A moment later, his two companions from the
demonstration joined him, first the hawk-nosed, middle-aged man, then
the second bodyguard.

And there was something in the older man's eyes that sent a shiver
up Jack's back.

"Here they are now," Gazen said, a strange sort of sinister
amusement lurking in his tone. "This, gentlemen, is Jack McCoy. Say
hello, Jack."

"Hello," Jack said cautiously.

"And now say hello to Jack," Gazen invited.

The hawk-nosed man took half a step forward. "Hello, Jack Morgan,"
he said quietly.

Jack felt the breath freeze in his lungs. He'd heard this voice
before. Twice before. The first time was through Dumbarton's comm clip
as he stood in the hot dirt of Iota Klestis. The second time was from
behind glaring lights in the luxury office aboard the
Advocatus
Diaboli
.

It was the man he'd called Snake Voice. The man who had framed him
for robbery, and then for murder, and then had forced him into his plan
to kill Cornelius Braxton.

A man who'd also been present when Draycos's advance team was
slaughtered by the Valahgua.

"Well, well," Jack said as calmly as he could. "Mr. Arthur
Neverlin. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, sir."

Neverlin's face didn't even twitch. But Gazen's did. Rather
strongly, in fact. "I thought you said he didn't know you," he said,
flashing a glare at Neverlin.

"I said he'd never seen me," Neverlin corrected. "We have met,
though, after a fashion."

"Of course we've met," Jack said, with a heartiness he didn't
especially feel. So there it was, the connection he and Draycos had
been searching for all this time: Arthur Neverlin, the Chookoock
family, and the Malison Ring, an unholy alliance tied together with the
Valahgua. "Didn't he tell you,
Panjan
Gazen? He tried to kill
Cornelius Braxton and take over Braxton Universis. That's why he's on
the run now, from Braxton and most of the law enforcement agencies in
the Orion Arm."

"As you can see, he's also been listening to Braxton's lies about
me," Neverlin said, lifting his eyebrows at Jack. "I don't suppose he
bothered to mention that I've been his chief troubleshooter for over
twenty years. Or that I've pulled Braxton Universis out of trouble more
times than you could count or that he could remember."

He leveled an accusing finger at Jack's face. "And while I'm
slaving away running
his
empire,
he
's spending his time
dabbling in his little charities and getting his picture taken with
Internes politicians.
I'm
the one who keeps the company
running.
I'm
the one who does the work. Why
shouldn't
I
have the title and the authority?"

"Gee, I don't know," Jack said. "Maybe because it isn't yours?"

"That's rich, coming from a professional thief," Neverlin said
scornfully. "You've got a lot to learn about how the real world
operates."

Jack grimaced. "You sound like Uncle Virge."

"No doubt," Neverlin said, turning to Gazen. "Speaking of whom,
you say he's sitting on the ground at Ponocce Spaceport?"

"That's where their ship is, anyway," Gazen bit out, glaring
blackly at Jack. "I
knew
there was something bent about this
whole thing. What do you think they're up to?"

"No idea," Neverlin said. "But we can figure that out later. Right
now, the trick will be to actually get hold of the man. He's as
slippery as greased ice."

"Why don't I send some Brummgas over there, backed up by some
Djinn-90s?" Gazen suggested. "He'll either come quietly, or he'll have
his ship turned into Christmas tinsel around him."

Neverlin shook his head. "I want him alive and in one piece, not
scattered across the Brum-a-dum landscape."

"He'll surrender," Gazen insisted. "What other choice will he
have?"

"I don't know," Neverlin said. "But it's not wise to underestimate
Virgil Morgan. I did that a couple of months ago, to my regret."

He shrugged. "Still, the game goes on. And we do hold an important
pawn. You said he's been treated?"

Gazen looked at Jack. "Actually, we're not sure," he said
carefully. "The, uh—"

"If you're talking about the poisoned food, the answer is no,"
Jack offered. "I didn't eat any of it."

Gazen's eyes narrowed. Neverlin merely smiled. "As I said,
slippery. Both of them."

He lifted a finger, and one of the two bodyguards stepped forward.
"But the time for subtlety is past," Neverlin went on. "We'll pour some
of it down his throat, then call his uncle and have a little chat."

"Wait a second," Jack said hurriedly as the bodyguard got a
none-too-gentle grip on his upper arm and hauled him to his feet. "You
don't have to do this. Let me call Uncle Virge and tell him what you're
planning. I'm sure he'll be happy to talk with you."

Neverlin smiled thinly. "Thank you for the kind offer. But I've
already seen what happens when I let you set the terms of a deal." He
gestured, and the bodyguard started toward the door, pulling Jack
behind him. "No, you're the sort of untrained puppy who does best with
a good solid leash attached."

The second bodyguard pulled the door open. "These two are going to
the medical suite," Gazen informed the two Brummgas waiting outside the
room, gesturing at Jack and the bodyguard. "You'll escort them there.
I'll call the doctor and give him his instructions."

"And when he's ready, take him to my shuttle," Neverlin put in.

"Just a minute," Gazen said, holding out a hand. "I'm sorry, Mr.
Neverlin, but you can't do that."

"Morgan won't just meekly give in," Neverlin said patiently.
"He'll attempt a rescue or some other equally insane thing. We don't
want him to know exactly where the boy is."

"Then we'll hide him somewhere on the grounds," Gazen said firmly.
"He's still Chookoock family property."

"Fine," Neverlin said disgustedly. "Then I'll just buy him. All
right?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that, either," Gazen said. He
looked uncomfortable, but his voice was firm. "We've offered him for
sale and asked for bids. I can't sell him—to you or anyone else—without
giving an equal chance to
all
those bidding. It's strict
Chookoock family policy."

"Then the Chookoock family had better learn when to make
exceptions," Neverlin warned. His voice was quiet, but there was a dark
menace sliding beneath it like a shark in murky waters. "Or had you
forgotten what's at stake here?"

"Maybe he's just wondering if your side is really the smart one to
bet on," Jack murmured.

Neverlin favored him with a tight smile. "How little you know," he
said softly. "But you'll learn. As will the rest of the Orion Arm." He
looked back at Gazen. "Remind your superiors of the power they stand to
gain. And then I
will
take the boy out of here."

Gazen's lip twitched. "I'll give them the message," he said. "But
that's all I can do."

Neverlin snorted. "Underlings," he said contemptuously. "Fine;
I
will talk to them. Take me there."

"As you wish." Gazen threw a dark look at the Brummgas. "What are
you waiting for? I told you what to do. Do it."

"Yes,
Panjan
Gazen," one of them said. "Come, humans."

The Brummgas led the way back across the entryway chamber. "And
here we go," Jack commented, glancing part way over his shoulder. The
bodyguard was following behind him, staying a cautious three steps
back. Too far away for Draycos to get to, at least not without being
seen. "It might not be a bad idea for
you
to think about which
side you're on, either," he suggested.

"I'm on the right side," the bodyguard countered calmly. "You will
be, too, in a couple of minutes."

They reached the far side of the chamber and headed into a
deserted corridor Jack had never been down. "I just thought you might
want to reconsider," he went on, glancing over his shoulder again.
Aside from their little group, he couldn't see anyone else in either
direction. This was probably the best chance he and Draycos would have.
"You too, of course," he added, turning around to look at the Brummgas
on either side of him. "Lucky for you, the Chookoock family isn't the
only one hiring on Brum-a-dum."

"He's a talky one, isn't he?" the bodyguard grunted.

"All you humans are talky," one of the Brummgas growled. "He is
one of you. You keep him quiet."

"You hear that?" the bodyguard said. Jack held his breath; from
the sound of the voice, he could tell the man was moving forward,
closing the gap between them. "Shut it off, or we'll do it for you."

"Oh, come on," Jack argued. "Freedom of speech comes right after
the preamble in the Internes Constitution—"

"I said
shut up
," the bodyguard snarled. He stepped up
behind Jack and gave him a hard slap across the side of the head for
emphasis—

And Jack was shoved forward as Draycos boiled up out of the back
of his shirt. Even as he tried to catch his balance there was a
crack
of K'da scales against human skin from behind him. An instant later,
out of the corner of his eye, he saw the dragon arcing overhead toward
the two Brummgas.

And as the bodyguard landed on the floor with a thud, Draycos
caught the Brummgas' heads between his forepaws and slammed them
together. The two aliens collapsed, sprawling into an untidy heap.

"Easy," Jack warned, glancing quickly around. Just ahead on the
right was a door marked
Storage
. "Those helmets of theirs
aren't all
that
strong."

"I needed to make certain they were unconscious," Draycos said
grimly, crouching low to the floor. "Besides, one of them helped whip
the other slaves. I could smell Wistawki blood on him."

"Ah," Jack said, trying the storage room door. It was unlocked.
"Is revenge part of the K'da warrior ethic?"

"We are authorized to deliver justice," Draycos said, hooking one
of the Brummgas by the tunic and dragging him into the storage room.

"I know that," Jack said, crouching beside the Brummga and
starting to unfasten his jacket. "So was this one justice or revenge?"

"Perhaps a combination of both," Draycos conceded, going back for
the other Brummga. "Odd. I have never felt the desire for revenge
before."

Jack frowned as he dumped the Brummga alongside his companion.
"Not even with the Valahgua slaughtering your people?"

"I have felt fear, and courage, and resolve," Draycos said, the
tip of his tail making slow circles in the air as he added the
bodyguard to the pile of unconscious bodies. "But I have never acted so
strongly from revenge before."

"Probably too much time spent with us emotionally impulsive
humans," Jack grunted, pulling off the first Brummga's jacket. It was
heavier than it looked. "Or with Uncle Virge. Revenge and profit were
Uncle Virgil's two main reasons for doing anything. Help me get this
on, will you?"

"Wearing this will not allow you to masquerade as a Brummga,"
Draycos warned as he took most of the weight of the jacket on his
forepaws.

"Not in here, no," Jack said. "But outside in the dark it might be
good enough. Especially while I'm sitting in one of those cars they use
to move slaves around."

"We do not need a car," Draycos pointed out. "Remember the
military transports. We can send one to crash into the gate, then
follow in a second."

"Sounds like a plan," Jack agreed, unfastening the Brummga's
helmet and pulling it off. "But first I want to check and see if Noy's
all right."