"Not this group, no," Alison said. "But they certainly aren't Davi's first experience with mercenaries. He worked for two other groups, and was one of the commanding officers of a third before he started his own."
The K'da cocked her head, an odd-looking gesture as she lay flattened against Alison's skin. "You seem to know a great deal about them."
"Not really," Alison said. This was starting to drift toward dangerous territory. "Everything I just told you is public record."
"Is General Davi's voiceprint also public record?"
Alison grimaced. She'd hoped Taneem had forgotten that part of the trick she and Uncle Virge had pulled on Frost and the Chookoock family. "Like I told Uncle Virge, my dad got that for me. The voiceprints and tonal patterns of important people can come in handy."
"As we saw," Taneem agreed.
"But that's neither here nor there," Alison said, training her light on the inside of the safe door. "Let's get out of here, shall we?"
There were, as she'd noted earlier, several small holes in the inner sheet metal. In the single hurried glance she'd had before shutting them inside the safe, it had looked like the holes would give her access to the lock mechanism.
It took her less than a minute to discover that they didn't.
Don't panic, she ordered herself firmly as she probed around inside with her fingers. The holes had to be there for some reason, after all. If she couldn't manipulate the lock itself, perhaps there was an emergency release back there somewhere. All human-designed safes this big had such releases, in case someone accidentally got locked inside.
But she couldn't find any such switch.
"Is there trouble?" Taneem asked softly.
"I can't find a way to spring the lock mechanism," Alison told her. "We're going to have to try something else. Something a bit risky."
The K'da shifted position on her skin. "I'm ready."
Alison grimaced. It was more than just a little risky, she knew. But with their air running out, it was all she could think of. "You remember that trick Draycos has where he can lean over a wall, like you did just now, only then fall all the way over and come out the other side?"
"Yes, of course," Taneem said cautiously. "He also said no other K'da in history has ever had such an ability."
"I know," Alison said. "But I think you can do it."
"I can't," Taneem said, an edge of fear starting to creep into her voice. "I'll fall off and—I'll die, Alison."
"You won't die," Alison said firmly. "You can do this as well as he can."
"I can't," Taneem insisted. "Draycos is a powerful poet-warrior. I'm not."
"It has nothing to do with Draycos's warrior training," Alison said. "It has to do with you and me. You as K'da, and me as human."
"I don't understand."
Alison wrinkled her nose. This was hardly the time and place she'd planned on springing this on either of the two K'da. But under the circumstances, Alison didn't have much choice. "I know Draycos has been walking you through the encyclopedia section of the Essenay's computer," she said. "Has he shown you the drawings and paintings of dragons from Earth legends?"
"I've seen some of them, yes."
"Didn't it strike you as odd that we would have so many legends of that sort?" Alison asked. "Especially from so many different cultures and peoples?"
Taneem had gone very still. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Alison took a deep breath. "I'm saying that I think the K'da originally came from Earth."
"That can't be," Taneem said. "Draycos told me his people are coming here from a far distant world in a very different part of the galaxy."
"And so they are," Alison agreed. "But he also says the whole group of them were kidnapped from their home world by passing slavers thousands of years ago. I think they just don't realize how far they traveled before they were able to fight their way free."
"And what of my own people?" Taneem asked. "The Phookas living on Rho Scorvi?"
Alison grimaced. Those Phookas weren't living on Rho Scorvi anymore, she knew. She and her associates had made sure of that. "You were probably survivors of one of the battles the slavers used you for," she said. "You found the Erassvas—or they found you—before your time limit was up and discovered they could serve as hosts."
There was a rhythmic tapping against Alison's leg as Taneem twitched her tail restlessly. "No," she said. "This can't be. You're just guessing."
"There is some guesswork involved, yes," Alison agreed. "But I've got at least one bit of evidence on my side. Do you happen to remember the name Draycos said their original hosts were called?"
"The Dhghem."
"That's right," Alison said, vaguely surprised that Taneem would remember such a jaw-cracker of a word. "A while back, just for fun, I looked it up. Turns out it's the old Indo-European root word for human."
Taneem didn't say anything but just kept tapping her tail against Alison's leg. "I'm not the only one thinking along these lines, either," Alison went on. "A couple of nights ago, while we were waiting for Frost to start moving the Brummgan mercenaries, I caught Jack in the dayroom looking through some of the old Earth dragon legends."
"But how can this be?" Taneem asked at last. "We aren't like any other Earth creatures."
"You aren't like any other creatures, period," Alison said. "I'm just saying it looks more and more like you were originally designed to be companions and friends to human beings. Specifically to human beings, in fact. That's why Draycos can do things with Jack that he couldn't do with the Shontine. Certainly things you and the other Phookas couldn't do with the Erassvas. With a human host, you're finally becoming the way K'da were truly meant to be."
"You say we were designed," Taneem said. "Designed by whom?"
"No idea," Alison said. "Passing aliens, some ancient human civilization's genetic engineers, God Himself. Take your pick. The point is that you and I are the same human/K'da team that Jack and Draycos are. If Draycos can drop safely off Jack's back over a wall, so can you."
"Perhaps," Taneem said. "But whether you're right or wrong, we have no choice, do we?"
"Not that I can see," Alison admitted. "I'm sorry."
The tapping tail slowed and then stopped. "Then I will do it."
"Thank you," Alison said. "All right. You remember that it was the third and fourth indentations. The combination is three-seven-twelve-nine-twenty. You line up the little diamond on the rotator with the right place around the rim, push the center of the rotator until it clicks, then go on to the next one."
"I understand," Taneem said. "Twelve is the one and two, correct?"
"Right, but the dial isn't marked with human numbers," Alison said, feeling a fresh layer of sweat ooze out onto her forehead. She'd worked with safes for so long that she didn't even think anymore about the fact that most of them used entirely different number systems. "When I say twelve I mean the twelfth symbol around from the top. I think it's a squiggle with a short line angled through it. The very top symbol is what I call twenty, the symbol just to its right is one, the next is two, and so on."
"I see," Taneem said. "I should have realized that. I'm sorry."
"No problem," Alison said. "You ready?"
"Third and fourth indentations; three, seven, twelve, nine, twenty," Taneem said. "Yes, I'm ready."
"Then let's go for it," Alison said, pressing her back firmly against the metal again. "Good luck."
She felt Taneem move into position, peering over the wall. There was a moment of anticipation that reminded Alison somehow of her first experience gazing down from the end of the swimming pool's high-dive board.