and was working it up along the back of the
boy's leg. So far neither Harper nor the Brummgas seemed to have
noticed anything. "Do you suppose your friends back there could point
those guns somewhere else?" he added.
"Sorry" Harper said, smiling faintly. "After what happened to
Slavemaster Gazen a couple of weeks ago, they feel it would be wise to
keep you under guard at all times."
Jack looked sharply at the glowering aliens. Those were Chookoock family Brummgas?
"Yes, we're from the Patri Chookoock, Mr. Macavity," Harper said,
correctly interpreting Jack's sudden change of expression. He raised
his eyebrows slightly. "Correction: Mr. Morgan ."
A shiver ran up Jack's skin. Uh-oh .
Steady , Draycos calmed him.
"You've caused us a great deal of trouble, Mr. Morgan," Harper
went on. "Luckily for you, the Patri Chookoock is prepared to be
lenient."
"In exchange for what?" Jack asked, the words coming out with
difficulty. If Harper was working with the Chookoock family, it meant
he must actually be one of Neverlin's men.
Or it could be even worse. It could be that Neverlin and Braxton
had patched up their differences and Braxton was now a full partner in
the plot to kill Draycos's people.
Either way, everyone in the room right now knew about Draycos.
Calm yourself, Jack , Draycos's cool thought whispered
through his sudden surge of panic. They want something, or they
would have killed us already .
Jack's heart was thudding hard enough for him to hear. We
can't take that chance , he thought back.
We have no choice , Draycos said firmly. They're too
widely separated for an attack. Stay calm and watch for an opportunity .
Jack had been trying to keep his swirl of emotion out of his face.
But Harper wasn't fooled. "Relax," he said, smiling faintly. "There's
still a chance you can walk away from this with your life. I understand
you know a young lady named Alison Kayna."
For a split second Jack thought about denying it. But there didn't
seem to be much point to that. "We've chatted once or twice," he
admitted.
"That's good," Harper said. "Because the Patri Chookoock is even
more annoyed with her than he is with you."
"Yeah, I'm not surprised," Jack said. The comm clip pressed
against the waistband of his jeans, and he pulled in his stomach a
little to let Draycos keep it moving.
"Ah, so you know about her little rampage through his estate,"
Harper said. "Excellent. That means you've been in contact with her
since then. Tell us where she is and you can go free."
Briefly, Jack wondered what Harper's reaction would be if he told
him Alison was settled in somewhere aboard the Advocatus Diaboli .
"Hard to say," Jack told him instead. "The girl's always on the move."
Harper's smile hardened a little. "But you would be
willing to help us find her?"
"Well, she's not in here ," Jack said, half-turning both
directions as if checking the room's corners behind him. The movement,
he hoped, would hide the slight rippling of his shirt as Draycos slid
the comm clip the rest of the way to his neck and attached it to the
inside of his collar. "Afraid I can't help you look anywhere else just
now."
"I think we can fix that," Harper assured him. "In about fifteen
minutes a private shuttle will land on the roof of this building. You,
I, and our three friends will take the elevator up there, get in, and
take a ride to the Chookoock estate."
His face hardened. "Where you'll tell us everything the Patri
Chookoock wants to know. One way or another. Guaranteed." Stay
calm, Jack , Draycos said again.
Jack took a deep breath. He'd had all he could take from the
Chookoock family during the month he'd been their slave. And most of that had been just their casual day-to-day cruelty, the sort they would
inflict on any of the helpless beings under their control. The thought
of the kind of focused torture Harper was hinting at chilled him
straight to the bone.
But Draycos was right. Panic would gain him nothing but a frozen
brain.
Besides, even
boy's leg. So far neither Harper nor the Brummgas seemed to have
noticed anything. "Do you suppose your friends back there could point
those guns somewhere else?" he added.
"Sorry" Harper said, smiling faintly. "After what happened to
Slavemaster Gazen a couple of weeks ago, they feel it would be wise to
keep you under guard at all times."
Jack looked sharply at the glowering aliens. Those were Chookoock family Brummgas?
"Yes, we're from the Patri Chookoock, Mr. Macavity," Harper said,
correctly interpreting Jack's sudden change of expression. He raised
his eyebrows slightly. "Correction: Mr. Morgan ."
A shiver ran up Jack's skin. Uh-oh .
Steady , Draycos calmed him.
"You've caused us a great deal of trouble, Mr. Morgan," Harper
went on. "Luckily for you, the Patri Chookoock is prepared to be
lenient."
"In exchange for what?" Jack asked, the words coming out with
difficulty. If Harper was working with the Chookoock family, it meant
he must actually be one of Neverlin's men.
Or it could be even worse. It could be that Neverlin and Braxton
had patched up their differences and Braxton was now a full partner in
the plot to kill Draycos's people.
Either way, everyone in the room right now knew about Draycos.
Calm yourself, Jack , Draycos's cool thought whispered
through his sudden surge of panic. They want something, or they
would have killed us already .
Jack's heart was thudding hard enough for him to hear. We
can't take that chance , he thought back.
We have no choice , Draycos said firmly. They're too
widely separated for an attack. Stay calm and watch for an opportunity .
Jack had been trying to keep his swirl of emotion out of his face.
But Harper wasn't fooled. "Relax," he said, smiling faintly. "There's
still a chance you can walk away from this with your life. I understand
you know a young lady named Alison Kayna."
For a split second Jack thought about denying it. But there didn't
seem to be much point to that. "We've chatted once or twice," he
admitted.
"That's good," Harper said. "Because the Patri Chookoock is even
more annoyed with her than he is with you."
"Yeah, I'm not surprised," Jack said. The comm clip pressed
against the waistband of his jeans, and he pulled in his stomach a
little to let Draycos keep it moving.
"Ah, so you know about her little rampage through his estate,"
Harper said. "Excellent. That means you've been in contact with her
since then. Tell us where she is and you can go free."
Briefly, Jack wondered what Harper's reaction would be if he told
him Alison was settled in somewhere aboard the Advocatus Diaboli .
"Hard to say," Jack told him instead. "The girl's always on the move."
Harper's smile hardened a little. "But you would be
willing to help us find her?"
"Well, she's not in here ," Jack said, half-turning both
directions as if checking the room's corners behind him. The movement,
he hoped, would hide the slight rippling of his shirt as Draycos slid
the comm clip the rest of the way to his neck and attached it to the
inside of his collar. "Afraid I can't help you look anywhere else just
now."
"I think we can fix that," Harper assured him. "In about fifteen
minutes a private shuttle will land on the roof of this building. You,
I, and our three friends will take the elevator up there, get in, and
take a ride to the Chookoock estate."
His face hardened. "Where you'll tell us everything the Patri
Chookoock wants to know. One way or another. Guaranteed." Stay
calm, Jack , Draycos said again.
Jack took a deep breath. He'd had all he could take from the
Chookoock family during the month he'd been their slave. And most of that had been just their casual day-to-day cruelty, the sort they would
inflict on any of the helpless beings under their control. The thought
of the kind of focused torture Harper was hinting at chilled him
straight to the bone.
But Draycos was right. Panic would gain him nothing but a frozen
brain.
Besides, even
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