Hopefully having to do with changing our oxygen tank every couple of hours, Jack said. What sort of room is it?
It appears to be a preparation room, Draycos said. There are two racks of vac suits, plus oxygen tanks, maneuvering units, and tool cabinets like the one they used to attach your suit to the wall.
Perfect, Jack said.
How exactly is it perfect? Draycos asked.
There's air over there, and it looks like the whole crew is Brummgas, Jack explained. Knowing Neverlin, he would have given his orders to humans if there were any aboard.
He smiled tightly. And what none of them know is that you can fall over that wall any time you want to.
Yes, Draycos agreed thoughtfully. So Alison is indeed still on our side.
Never doubted it for a minute, Jack said. The only question now is when exactly we want to make our move.
Not soon, I'm afraid, Draycos said. We don't know how many crew are aboard, or the deck plan, or what sort of flight and combat capabilities the ship has.
And we're not likely to get any of that, either, Jack said with a grimace. Unless you go on a little search on your own. But there's no way you'd be able to get back in here without them knowing something had happened.
Then I'm afraid our best strategy will be to wait until the operation has begun, Draycos said. That may mean some of my people will die, but we'll need the chaos and distraction to take over the ship.
And if it turns out the blasted thing can't fight, we won't be able to do anyone any good, Jack said heavily. But I suppose you're right. I just hope we'll know when—
Shh! Draycos cut him off. Do you feel that?
Jack frowned. There was an odd vibration rumbling through the deck beneath his feet. He cocked his head, trying to listen.
And suddenly, he got it. It's a dual-stage ECHO system coming up to speed, he told Draycos. That's the kind that's used in some larger military ships.
I see, Draycos said, suddenly thoughtful. So that's why Neverlin didn't seem worried about us escaping on the flight from the Gatekeeper to the Advocatus Diaboli.
Because we weren't actually at the rendezvous point, Jack said, nodding as he understood. Guy's full of tricks, isn't he?
Circles within circles, wheels within wheels, Draycos agreed. Still, it's often the case that a clever man outsmarts himself.
Let's hope Neverlin's one of those, Jack agreed. So what do we do until your people arrive?
We do what surveillance we can, Draycos said. Your back to the wall please. I'd like to spend some time studying the preparation room behind us.
CHAPTER 24
The latest trip had been made, this one much shorter than the previous ones. Though there were two men on duty on the bridge, most of the rest of the Advocatus Diaboli's crew and passengers seemed to have retired to their staterooms for ship's night.
But not Neverlin, Frost, or Alison. The three of them were still in Neverlin's office. The two men seemed to still have a lot of questions for Alison concerning her father, General Davi, and his work.
Watching them through the ventilation grille, Taneem wondered what it would be like to die.
She didn't know. But she would soon find out. The end of her time limit was rapidly approaching, when she needed to go two-dimensional on a host's body or disappear into death.
But she had no host. Jack had been taken off somewhere and hadn't returned. Langston had been refused permission to come aboard the Advocatus Diaboli to pick up some specialized tools.
And Alison was with Neverlin and Frost, with no sign that their conversation would be ending any time soon.
Silently, Taneem backed away from the grille and set off through the Advocatus Diaboli's maze of air ducts. She did't really have any place to go, but she couldn't bear to stay by Neverlin's office any longer.
She didn't want to die within sight of her host, the human girl she'd grown to know and love over the two short months they'd been together.
The ducts were vibrant with an ever-shifting mix of aromas. The smell of human and Valahguan bodies combined with a blend of cooking and engine lubricant and a dozen other scents. She sniffed at the air as she worked her way through the ducts, wondering if it all smelled richer now than it had earlier. Draycos had told her of legends that said K'da senses grew sharper as death approached. But she couldn't tell if that was happening or not.
And then, suddenly, one particular aroma seemed to leap out at her from the mixture. A very individual, very familiar human scent.
Harper.
She frowned, looking around her. Sure enough, her aimless wanderings had brought her to the part of the ship where Harper had been locked up. With nowhere else to go, she headed for the duct that would take her by his stateroom. Reaching the junction, she turned the corner.
And stopped short. Five paces ahead was the opening that led into Harper's room.
Only the grille was no longer fastened the way it was supposed to be. It was instead hanging at an angle, held in place by a single corner bolt.
Cautiously, Taneem moved forward. Had he been putting more items into the duct and been caught? But he was still in the room—the scent whispering past her snout and tongue showed that much. She reached the duct and eased an eye around the corner.
Harper was there, all right. He was lying on his side in his bed, the blanket pulled up to his shoulders, his right arm half tucked beneath his pillow.
His bare right arm . . .
It was insane, Taneem knew. Completely insane. Even if Harper managed to sleep through it, he would spot her as soon as he opened his eyes.
But if she waited here, she was dead.
She had nothing at all to lose.
Keeping her eyes on Harper, she eased around the edge of the hanging grille and dropped into the room. There was no reaction. Padding over to the bed, she gingerly touched his forearm and slid up onto his skin.
It was like the first sip of cold water from a mountain-fed stream after hours of wandering through the forest with nothing but warm and stagnant tree stump water to drink. Taneem closed her eyes, feeling the tension and fear and hopelessness draining out of her as peace and strength flowed in to take its place.
Yes, this would work. An hour on Harper's skin and she could go back for another six hours in the ducts. Surely before those hours were up Neverlin and Frost would tire of asking their questions and send Alison off to her own room to sleep.
She would just have to make sure she was gone before Harper woke up. Easy enough to do. Readjusting herself on the man's skin, she settled down to wait.
Ten minutes later, she was fast asleep.
She awoke with a start, her heart thudding with the awful feeling that something was wrong.
It was dark, for one thing. Darker than it had been when she'd come into Harper's room.
And then, to her relief, she understood. While she'd been asleep Harper had merely pulled the blankets all the way up over his shoulders. Carefully, stealthily, she shifted around on his skin, trying t0 find a place where she could see the clock by the side of the bed.