Dragonback 03 Dragon and Slave (30 page)

It was over almost before Jack could catch his breath. Certainly
it was over before he could move. The last Brummga slammed backward to
the deck; and with a final spin and leap, Draycos again shot past
overhead. Jack spun around, suddenly remembering Gazen and Neverlin.

He needn't have worried. Both men were still by the door, frozen
in place like a pair of well-formed ice sculptures. Draycos was
standing on the deck in front of Gazen, stretched up on his hind paws
with his head so close to the slavemaster's that his snout nearly
touched the other's nose.

One set of claws pressed against the side of Gazen's neck.

Jack cleared his throat. In the sudden deadly silence, the noise
sounded like distant thunder. "If I were you, gentlemen," he advised,
"I'd be real careful right now."

"Mother of . . ." Neverlin whispered, the words trailing off as he
stared at Draycos. His eyes flicked to Jack, back to the K'da. "But
it's . . ."

"It's a poet-warrior of the K'da," Jack confirmed. Stepping over
to Castan's limp body, he pulled out the bodyguard's gun. "You and the
Valahgua missed one."

Neverlin twitched violently at the name
Valahgua
. He threw
another look at Jack, then focused again on Draycos.

And suddenly, the stunned and disbelieving panic vanished. "So it
was
you
," he said, his voice almost calm again. "
You
were the boy who escaped us on Iota Klestis."

"Right again," Jack said, stepping up and pressing his borrowed
gun into Neverlin's stomach. "Either of you carrying any weapons? Or
shall I ask Draycos to search you?"

"What
is
this?" Gazen hissed. Unlike Neverlin, he was
trembling visibly.

But then, Neverlin didn't have K'da claws pressing against his
throat. "This is your life in your hands," Jack told him, taking the
slavemaster's extendable slapstick from its holster. "How badly do you
want to live today?"

Gazen swallowed hard. "What do you want?"

"Let's start by telling your snipers to back off," Jack said. "I
want those slaves out there free to join me without getting shot."

Slowly, Gazen reached toward the comm clip on his shoulder. He
stopped short as Draycos gave a soft warning growl. "It's all right,
Draycos," Jack soothed. "Gazen wouldn't try to pull a fast one by using
code words or anything like that. He'll give the right order, and all
the Brummgas will go away, and everyone will live through this. Isn't
that right, Gazen?"

The slavemaster's eyes flicked past Draycos to the Brummgas lying
in crumpled heaps on the deck. "Yes," he whispered.

"There, you see?" Jack said. "Okay, Gazen, go ahead. Oh, and you
will
make it sound like everything's all right out here, won't you? Like
this is just a simple, minor change in the plan?"

Gazen took a deep breath. "Of course."

The performance was not exactly up to Stellar Award standards. But
it was probably good enough. Especially since most of those on the far
end would be Brummgas.

"Good," Jack said after he'd shut off Gazen's comm clip and
slipped it into his own pocket. "Now, I guess the question is what
exactly to do with you."

Beside him, Draycos's ears twitched. "Listen," he said.

Jack strained his ears. "What is it?"

"The sound of weapons fire," Draycos said grimly. "The fighters
have arrived."

Like the rest of the shuttle, the cockpit was a miniature version
of a larger spaceship's flight deck. It was a three-seater, too, with
copilot and system monitor stations in addition to the usual pilot's
chair.

"Have a seat," Jack ordered his two prisoners as he closed the
cockpit door halfway and slid into the pilot's station. "This'll only
take a minute."

"You really think you have that long?" Neverlin asked.

Jack peered out the canopy, a tight knot in the pit of his
stomach. The two Djinn-90s had indeed arrived, and were engaged in
combat with the
Essenay
.

And for all the
Essenay
's speed and Uncle Virge's
computerized skill, it was clear the ship was fighting for its life. It
wove and dodged madly through the sky, trying to stay out of the
fighters' sights while at the same time having to keep from straying
over the deadly wall.

And for the moment, at least, there was nothing Jack could do to
help. Tearing his eyes away from the view, he started keying in the
sewer-rat program.

"I say we let them take him out," Gazen said blackly. "The kid and
his uncle have become way more trouble than they're worth. There has to
be another safecracker somewhere you can use for this job."

"I'm sure there is," Neverlin agreed. "But I have no intention of
letting Virgil Morgan die before he's told us who else knows about
this."

"What do we need Morgan for?" Gazen argued. "We've got the kid,
right?"

"You've got a really strange definition of ownership," Jack put
in, keying the last part of the sequence. Now it was simply a matter of
waiting for the program to do its job.

"You can't escape, you know," Gazen warned. "Sooner or later,
they'll come out here and close you down."

"Like your other Brummgas did?" Jack asked pointedly.

"Sheer weight of numbers will eventually take you down," Neverlin
said calmly. "Even a K'da warrior can only do so much."

"You might be surprised," Jack said, trying to match the other's
confidence. The computer locking system was starting to waver now under
the sewer-rat's attack. Should be any minute. "But no matter what
happens here, you're still in big trouble."

"Really," Neverlin said. "How do you figure that?"

"Because your bid to grab control of Braxton Universis has gone
smokers," Jack told him. "That means that when you go up against the
main K'da and Shontine refugee fleet, you won't have the Braxton
security forces to draw on."

He nodded toward the mansion. "Or do you think the Chookoock
family and their ten-thumbed Brummgas can do the job all by themselves?"

Gazen snorted. "Look, kid—"

"What's your point?" Neverlin cut him off.

"My point is that you're finished," Jack said flatly. "You're a
sinking ship; and
you
, Gazen, are going to go down with him if
you're not careful. But if you call off those Djinn-90s and open the
gate, that'll be the end of it. StarForce never has to know you were
ever involved with this."

Neverlin actually laughed out loud. "
StarForce
? You expect
us to believe Virgil Morgan would go to
StarForce
for help?"

"Gazen?" Jack asked, ignoring him. "Last chance to join the
winning side."

"
Your
last chance to surrender and maybe live through
this," Gazen countered.

Abruptly, Draycos's head twitched toward the half-open door.
"Footsteps," he warned.

Jack nodded. "And that ends the negotiations," he said, pulling
out the slapstick he'd taken from Gazen and keying it to full power.
Whether the newcomers were Maerlynn's group or more Brummgas, he didn't
want his prisoners blurting out anything about Draycos. "Nighty-night."

He flicked the tip at Gazen, then at Neverlin. A pair of brilliant
sparks later, both men were down for the count.

Draycos touched Jack's hand as he retracted the slapstick, sliding
up his arm out of sight. Jack could hear the pounding feet now in the
corridor. Hiding the slapstick behind his back, he waited.

The door slid the rest of the way open, and Fleck burst into the
cockpit, a laser rifle gripped in his hands. "Easy, Fleck," Jack said
hurriedly. "It's under control."

"I guess so," Fleck said, his voice sounding a little strangled.
He threw an odd look at the sleeping prisoners, then another one at
Jack. "That pile of Brummgas back there. Your work?"

"I had help," Jack told him. "Where's the rest of the group?"

"I told them to strap in," Fleck said, slinging the rifle over his
right shoulder.

"Wow!" Noy breathed from the doorway as he peeked in. "You really
know how to fly this?"

"If he doesn't, we're crushed berries," Fleck said. "At least
we've got a couple of hostages now. You want me to move them back into
the main cabin?"

"Yes, thanks," Jack said. "And be sure to strap them in."

"If we've got enough seats," Fleck said, grunting as he hoisted
Neverlin over his shoulder. "We've picked up a few extra passengers. A
Wistawk named Heetoorieef and a few of his buddies were waiting outside
when I came by."

"Really," Jack said, frowning as he turned to the control board
and keyed in the startup sequence. The main controls looked pretty
standard. But where were the weapons controls? "How did he even know
anything was up?"

"He said word had gotten out that you were missing and that the
Brummgas thought you were trying to escape," Fleck said. "He pulled
together all the household slaves who would come and sneaked them
outside. I hope that was okay."

Jack shrugged. "The more the merrier."

"And I have to tell you that that private army you've got running
blocks is really something," Fleck added. "I was falling over sleeping
Brummgas every other step out there."

"We aim to please," Jack said. "That where you picked up the
rifle?"

"Thought it might come in handy," Fleck said. "I guess I didn't
have to bother."

He disappeared out the door, Neverlin's dangling feet clunking
against the corridor as he headed aft. "What are we going to do about
the wall?" Noy asked, coming up to Jack's side.

"Don't worry, we'll get through," Jack promised. "Go back and
strap in, okay?"

"Okay," Noy said. He took one more lingering look at the controls
and left.

"Blast it, where are the weapons?" Jack muttered, still searching
the control board. "This is one of Neverlin's ships. It
has
to
be armed."

Draycos leaped from his collar and landed beside the copilot's
seat. "They are here," he said, bounding up into the chair and flicking
his tongue toward a section of the control board. "What do you wish
done?"

Jack peered out the canopy at the running battle. "The Djinn-90s
aren't expecting an attack from inside the wall," he said. "If we can
nail one of them, that'll give Uncle Virge a better chance."

"Understood," Draycos said. He arched his back over the board, his
claws skating delicately over the controls.

"Holy
fra—
?" came a gasp from behind them.

Jack spun around to see Fleck trying to fumble the rifle off his
shoulder. "It's all right," he said quickly. "He's a friend."

Fleck took a shuddering breath, his hands freezing on the rifle
sling. "A friend," he said as if trying the word on for size.

"And an ally," Draycos added, swiveling his long neck to stare
back at him.

"And it talks, too," Fleck muttered. "You the one who took out all
the Brummgas?"

"Every one of them," Jack said. "And we're a little busy right
now. Just get Gazen out of here, okay?"

"Sure," Fleck said. "Okay. What do you want me to do then?"

"Stand by the hatchway with that weapon," Draycos said. "There may
be a way of opening it from the outside, and they may try to rush us as
we lift."

Fleck looked questioningly at Jack. "Do it," Jack confirmed.
"Trust me, he's the military expert on this team."

"If you say so," Fleck said, hoisting Gazen over his shoulder.
"Good luck."

"And don't say anything to the others," Jack added, nodding toward
Draycos. "We're sort of trying to keep him a secret."

"Yeah, I figured that," Fleck said dryly. "Don't worry."

He left, this time shutting the door behind him. "I am ready,"
Draycos said. "When shall I fire?"

"The minute you get a clear shot," Jack told him, peering back at
his own board. "I don't want to risk tipping them off by lifting until
you've—"

He broke off as a triplet of brilliant blue sparks flashed out
from the shuttle's nose. He jerked his head up, just in time to see one
of the Djinn-90s buck violently to the side. Trailing a plume of smoke,
it rolled away from its pursuit of the
Essenay
, dropping like
an injured duck.

"Was that what you wanted?" Draycos asked calmly.

With an effort, Jack found his voice. "Yeah, that should do it,"
he managed. Crabbing sideways, the damaged Djinn-90 dropped over the
wall into the slave area and disappeared behind the trees. A second
later, there was a second burst of fire, and a fresh red glow added its
bit to the light from the glider fire.

Jack caught his breath. The fighter had gone
over
the
wall, without drawing any fire from the hidden weaponry. "Did you see
that?" he asked.

"Yes," Draycos said. "Do you think they have shut down the wall
defenses?"

"Not with a battle going on," Jack said, thinking hard. "It must
be a localized thing, probably running off transponders in the
fighters. The wall senses when a Chookoock vehicle is heading across,
and holds its fire."

"The Clax-7s," Draycos said, his neck arching suddenly. "They are
still on the ground by the wall."

"And they should have the same transponders," Jack said, feeling a
surge of excitement as he threw power to the lifters. "That's our way
out. Come on, let's get this thing moving."

Gazen hadn't been bluffing about the snipers at the windows. Even
as Jack lifted the shuttle off the ground, the hull began rattling with
the impact of rapid-fire machine-gun bullets. He twisted the vehicle up
and away from the mansion, folding the landing skids in against the
shuttle's underside to protect them and hoping Neverlin had gone as
heavy on the hull's armor plating as he had on the shock absorbers.
Turning toward the glow of the burning glider, he tapped his comm clip.
"Uncle Virge?" he called, searching the sky. Wherever the
Essenay
was, it was somewhere out of his line of sight.