The door opened, and Jack leaned around the edge. "Catch!" he called, tossing his tangler in a high arc into the room. Several of the mercenaries instinctively looked upward toward the flying weapon, before suddenly spotting the cart roaring through the door toward them.
The soldiers directly in front of it scrambled to get out of its way. As they did so, Jack lifted his left hand and fired both shots of Harper's tangler.
The cartridges hit the side of one of the oxygen tanks and burst open, their milky white threads snagging the nearest of the kneeling mercenaries and anchoring him solidly to the careening cart. The sudden drag sent the cart pivoting sharply to the side, changing its course and bouncing it into and across more of the mercenaries.
And as it careened through their neat double line, Draycos leaped out of Jack's sleeve.
He landed in front of the nearest mercenary just as the other got clear of the cart and started to bring his gun back around toward his attacker. The K'da got there first, slapping his paw against the man's gun hand and deflecting it to the side.
But instead of leaping to the next soldier in line, the K'da simply vanished up the first man's sleeve.
Someone gasped a curse. But before anyone could move, Draycos was back, bounding out of the back of the man's collar toward the soldier behind him. Again his outstretched paws caught the man's hand and he slid out of sight up his sleeve, his tail managing to slap across the head of the next man in line before he vanished.
"Now!" Neverlin bellowed over the chaos. "Shoot them!"
Draycos leaped out of the mercenary's collar, headed for a man a couple of steps farther back on the right-hand side of the group. Beyond him, a pair of Valahgua heaved the long Death weapon cylinder off its mount and swiveled it around toward Jack.
And as it started its turn, the end erupted with the familiar sickly yellow flash and the violet light of the Death. Cutting through the soldiers to Jack's left, it swept ponderously toward him.
There was nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide. Instinctively, Jack leaped forward into the room, diving for the deck. His last glimpse before the struggling soldiers blocked his view was that of Alison breaking free from Neverlin's grip and throwing her body at the side of the weapon in a desperate attempt to slow it down.
But it was a futile gesture, and Jack knew it. Even with her interference, he had no more than a second before the beam would sweep over him. Alison could do no more; Draycos was already an eternity too far away. Jack hit the deck chest-first, the impact knocking half the wind out of him, and prepared himself to die.
And then, the rest of the air was knocked out of him as something hard and heavy slammed into his shoulders and the back of his neck. The sudden weight vanished as suddenly as it had appeared—
The violet beam swept over him, and he felt the by now familiar tingle. The tingle, and nothing else. He heard the hum of the weapon change pitch slightly as it halted its swing and came back toward him to try again.
And then, the hum was drowned out by the thunder of a pair of gunshots.
The hum vanished, and the room fell abruptly silent. Cautiously, Jack raised his head.
The mercenaries who had been standing in front of him were lying crumpled on the deck. All dead. The Death weapon itself was lying on the deck, too, as were the two Valahgua who had been holding it. A third Valahgua was still standing, something that looked like a weapon in his hand and pointed down at Alison, who was sprawled frozen on the deck looking up at him.
To Jack's right, Draycos was crouched on the deck, poised to spring. His green eyes glittered as he stared unblinkingly at the Valahgua. Pressed against the curved bulkhead, as far back as they could get, were Neverlin and six white-clad crewmen.
And standing between Draycos and the Valahgua, no more than a step back out of their line of sight, was Frost. His gun was in his hand.
Pointed at the Valahgua.
"Lower the weapon," Frost told the alien. "You hear me?"
"They must die," the Valahgua insisted, his voice sounding utterly alien. "They must all die."
"There's no point," Frost said. "It's over. It's all over. Surrender, and you can still live."
The Valahgua snarled something in his own language. "Do not mock me!"
"He isn't mocking you," Draycos said. His voice was low and bitter and deadly. "If you surrender, you will be allowed to return with a message."
"What message, K'da?" the Valahgua spat.
"That the power of the Valahgua is broken," Draycos said. "That if you ever come again to this region of space, you will be destroyed." His tail flicked. "But you will only live to carry that message if you lower your weapon."
"Better take him up on the offer," Jack advised, standing up and taking a couple of steps toward the standoff. A risky move, he knew, but giving the Valahgua one more target to choose from might give Draycos the opening he needed. "You don't want your people always wondering what happened out here, do you?"
The Valahgua flashed Jack an unreadable look. "Come on," Jack cajoled. "You don't want to die, do you?"
The Valahgua looked down at Alison. "Don't do it," Jack warned.
And with a scream that seemed to shake Jack's teeth, Taneem leaped out of his collar. The Valahgua twisted his arm up and around, trying to bring his weapon to bear on this sudden new threat.
He never made it. Before the gun was even halfway to its target, Draycos leaped across the open gap and buried his claws in the Valahgua's throat.
The gun went off, sizzling a blast of blue-white energy into the ceiling, then dropped to the deck.
"Now," Draycos said, "it is over."
Jack took a deep breath. "I guess they'll never know what happened now, will they?" he said.
"Perhaps not," Draycos said, turning to face Frost.
Frost, whose gun was still pointed at the dead Valahgua. Only now, Jack realized suddenly, it was pointed at Draycos.
Neverlin spotted it, too. "Do it," he muttered urgently, taking a step forward.
Without even looking at him, Frost swiveled his gun away from Draycos and pointed it at Neverlin. "As he said, sir. It's over." He looked at Jack. "Give Braxton a call," he said. "Tell him I want to make a deal with him. And only with him."
"Sure, no problem," Jack said. Picking his way through the sprawled Malison Ring bodies, he stopped in front of Frost and held out his hand. The other hesitated, then turned the gun around and handed it to Jack. "The keys to Alison's cuffs would be nice, too," Jack suggested as Alison got awkwardly back to her feet.
Frost shook his head. "I don't have them. Not sure who does."
"Allow me," Draycos said. Inserting one claw into the handcuff chain, he sliced through it.
"Thanks," Alison said, wincing as she brought her hands back around again. "That's hard on the shoulders," she commented. "You all right?"
"I'm fine," Jack assured her.
"Yes, I can see that," Alison said dryly. "I was talking to Taneem."
"I'm also fine," Taneem said. Somewhat hesitantly, she moved forward. "I know you told me to hide, but I couldn't leave you alone. I hope I did all right."
"You did more than all right, Taneem," Alison assured her, reaching over to stroke her head. "I'm sure Jack and Draycos agree."
"And then some," Jack agreed. "Thanks for saving my life."
"You did the same for me on Rho Scorvi," Taneem said simply. "I'm glad I was able to repay you."
Jack cleared his throat. "Speaking of payments and paybacks, we'd better get Braxton on the radio." He eyed Alison. "Did you know he came all the way out here personally to find you?"
Alison shrugged. "I thought he might."