The Brummgan response was faster than he had expected. He had just reached the concealed sentry post when he heard the distinctive sound of lifters from behind him. He ducked under the edge of the bushes just as a group of six Clax-7 patrol planes shot past, heading for the wall.
The Clax-7s had reached their goal by the time Draycos finished with this latest group. One of the aircraft was visible just inside the wall, hovering guard above the burning glider. The others were out of sight, probably on the ground with their crews examining the wreckage for bodies.
There was one sentry post left, this one disguised as a large wooden equipment box at the back corner of the sports field grandstand beside the western flagpole. Draycos was running silently toward on it when the sky again lit up with the flash of laser fire.
His claws dug into the ground as he twisted around, fully expecting to see the hovering Clax-7 firing at Fleck or, worse, at Jack and the rest of the escaping slaves. To his surprise, though, it was the hovering airfighter itself that had been hit, trailing fiery smoke as it spun to the ground out of sight.
And taking its place in the sky, only hovering just outside the wall instead of inside it, was the Essenay.
Draycos turned away, mentally shaking his head. Whatever he might think about Uncle Virge's ethics, the computerized personality definitely had a talent for making grand entrances.
He reached the equipment box without incident. Slicing through the locking bar, he flung the door open. Once again, he'd caught the Brummgas with their backs to him. Once again, they never knew what hit them.
The Essenay was still firing as Draycos pushed the door closed behind him.
Firing downward, he noticed, over the wall into the estate.
Was he shooting at the other Clax-7s? But the laser blasts seemed to be low-power ones, too weak for cutting through air-fighter armor. Was he shooting at the Brummgan searchers, then? But there was far too much firing for that.
Curiosity got the better of him. Climbing up the back of the grandstand, he jumped to the flagpole. It was made of metal, but the material was soft enough for his claws to handle. Digging in, he headed up.
And from the very top, he could see that Uncle Virge wasn't shooting at either the Clax-7s or their crews. Instead, he was laying down a line of laser fire between the airfighters and the Brummgas, trapping them back against their own defensive wall.
"Clever," Draycos murmured, mentally flicking his claws in admiration. In the same act, Uncle Virge had both created a diversion and neutralized a sizeable portion of the enemy force. And he'd accomplished both without unnecessary killing.
The escaping slaves were in sight now, a ragged line of people hurrying across the sports field in the direction of the house and the mercenary transports that would take them to freedom. Shifting around on the flagpole, Draycos turned to look that direction.
The transports were gone.
CHAPTER 33
It was quiet, Jack thought as he led the way past the grandstand. Almost too quiet, especially considering all the noise going on back at the wall.
Between the Essenay and the Brummgas' Clax-7s, there was quite a show going on over there. He just hoped Uncle Virge was following his instructions and was pinning down the guards without killing them.
Still, sooner or later, Gazen was bound to pull his head out of the clouds and wonder what the show was for. At that point, one would expect him to check that his slaves were tucked away in their beds and not strolling around Chookoock family property without permission.
On the other hand, maybe the fact that there were no Brummgas charging at them from the house meant that Gazen thought his hidden guards were still keeping him safe. The fact that those guards weren't doing their job meant that Draycos had done his.
More impressive yet, he'd done it in silence. Jack had been listening hard ever since they'd gotten within sight of the hedge and hadn't heard so much as a gurgle.
Uncle Virge had never really believed Draycos was as good as he claimed. Up to now, Jack really hadn't had any way to prove him wrong.
After tonight, he would.
"Where are we going?" Maerlynn puffed from behind him. "We're not going to the house, are we?"
"No, just around the side," Jack told her. "Remember those transports I told you about? With luck, we'll be out before anyone in the house even knows about it."
"Hey!" Noy said, grabbing at Jack's sleeve and pointing toward the grandstand.
"Over there. What's that?"
"Where?" Jack asked, peering into the darkness.
"Over there," Noy said, pointing harder. "I saw two little green lights."
K'da eyes? "I'll check it out," Jack said briskly. "Maerlynn, keep them moving.
I'll catch up in a minute." He headed toward the grandstand at a quick jog, slowing to a walk as he reached the structure. "Draycos?" he whispered.
"Here," the dragon called back. From behind a large wooden box two glowing green eyes appeared.
"You're lucky we even noticed you back there," Jack commented, stepping close and sticking out his hand. "Noy must have really good eyes."
"In actual fact, I was staring at you for over a minute," the dragon said.
Putting a paw on Jack's hand, he slithered up his sleeve. "If you had not seen me, I would have moved farther along your path and tried again."
"I was hoping you'd come up with some clever way to reconnect," Jack said, starting back toward the group. "What do you think of Uncle Virge's light show?"
"Most impressive," Draycos said. "Jack, we have a problem. The military transports are gone."
Jack nearly tripped over his own feet. "What?"
"Most of those who came for the auction have left," the dragon said. "The only vehicle still there is a single civilian craft. I suspect it belongs to Arthur Neverlin."
Jack hissed between his teeth. If he hadn't stopped to go back and check on Noy...
He shook the thought away. "So Neverlin's still here," he said. "Makes sense.
He's probably in there raining fire and brimstone on Gazen over my disappearance."
"Very likely," Draycos said. "However, our problem still remains. From the view I had of his vehicle, I do not believe it will be strong enough to destroy the gate."
"Even if it was, we'd be left with no way to get out ourselves afterward,"
Jack agreed grimly. "Unless we walked, and there are a whole bunch of Brummgan guard posts along the way."
"And most likely better protected than those I eliminated near the slave areas,"
Draycos said. "They would of course be alerted now, as well."
"So a stroll down the driveway is out," Jack said, slowing down. They'd better work this through before they rejoined the rest of the group. Reaching to his left collar, he tapped his comm clip. "Uncle Virge? How's it going?"
"Just fine, Jack lad, just fine," Uncle Virge's voice came back. "I've got them pinned down nicely. And with this overhang, they can't even shoot back."
"How many are there?" Draycos asked.
"Twenty-five," Uncle Virge said. "Mostly Brummgas, though I spotted three humans in the group."
"And you are certain they are still there?"
Jack felt his lip twitch. "Oh, boy," he muttered.
"What?" Uncle Virge demanded. "What is it?"
"The overhang," Jack told him. "Sure, they can't see you; but you also can't see them. They could be sidling their way along the wall back to the house right now."
"Or are moving toward the gate to cut off our escape," Draycos added. Uncle Virge muttered a very rude word. "I will be—"
"It's too late to worry about it now," Jack cut him off. "Anyway, you're still keeping them away from the Clax-7s. That's worth a lot."
"The value may be about to drop," Uncle Virge said, his voice suddenly tight.
"I'm picking up a signal from the mansion. Gazen is ordering two Djinn-90 fighters to lift from Ponocce Spaceport."
Jack squeezed a hand into a fist. "How soon till they get here?"