"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."

CHAPTER 35

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?"