CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEEN
May 13, 2000, 12:45 a.m.
Eagle Rock Military Base
"Samuels," Pierce ordered briskly, "fetch a wheelchair."
Agent Samuels blinked. "A wheelchair?"
"Yes, a wheelchair. You know, a chair with wheels? If the Lieutenant needs a picture to jog her memory, what better picture than the one downstairs? Go on," Pierce ordered when Samuels didn't move. "I haven't got all night."
A wheelchair appeared and they set off down the long main hallway with Yvonne wondering if they planned to bump her down the stairs. But the refit of the compound had apparently included an elevator which hadn't been there in her day. It was carved into a wall where it shouldn't be, and as it opened near the basement stairwell, she felt the hair on her arms beginning to rise. She'd last been here with Stephen a good ten years ago right after the hybrids emerged, and the place had been a wreck. The decorating committee had been hard at work down here, harder than upstairs, which had received a more utilitarian facelift. They passed the corridor with Pierce's lab, the one which held her old room, and came at last to the one which had housed Jaddo's cell. But they walled that up, she thought as they rounded the corner. Had Pierce found it?
He had. Pierce wheeled her into the observation room, the window occupying one entire wall made of microperforations which had been cutting edge at the time. Major Lewis had been so fond of that room, so proud of it. And he'd be proud of it now if he could see it because the room was once again occupied by a lone figure, this time in a leather jacket and jeans, frantically pounding on the featureless white walls. Good Lord, Yvonne thought despairingly. This was worse than seeing Jaddo in there. Jaddo was a Warder; Max was just a boy.
"Do you remember this, Lieutenant?" Pierce asked eagerly as the agent stationed in the room looked her up and down. "You used to work here. There was an alien prisoner in that cell just like there is now. Do you remember?"
Yvonne stared fixedly ahead as Max thumped by, banging on what looked like a wall to him, the window invisible from his side. It was just a cube in there, just a white box, featureless, even the door hidden. So different from Jaddo's first cell where he'd been allowed furniture, books, clothing, the accoutrements of human civilization. Lewis and Pierce had stripped him of everything human by arguing that he wasn't human.
"Lieutenant, what do I do?" Pierce pressed. "What did my father do? What was the first thing my father did after he found his prisoner? Jesus Christ," he muttered when Yvonne didn't answer. "Where's Dr. March? I told you to call everyone in."
"I did," Samuels answered. "He couldn't leave right away, not without attracting attention. He'll be here tomorrow morning."
"Tomorrow morning?" Pierce echoed in exasperation. "What the hell am I supposed to do with it until then?"
It. Yvonne's hands clenched on the arms of her wheelchair. Cavitt had always referred to Jaddo as "it", and so had Lewis; Pierce had taken a more nuanced approach although he certainly felt the same way. It was an ugly word which betrayed an ugly mindset, especially when applied to a child who had no idea what was going on. History was repeating itself in so many awful ways, she was losing count.
"What's with the Q-tip?" the observation room agent murmured to Agent Morgan, looking sideways at Yvonne as Pierce and Samuels argued.
"Addled," Morgan said in a bored tone. "But she worked with his father, and you know how he gets about his father."
"Can't think straight," the other agent agreed.
"...but his team is here, and they're ready to start the tests," Samuels was saying. "Just say the word. Just give the word," he insisted as Pierce continued huffing. "March doesn't have to be here, he sent detailed instructions on how to proceed..."
I'll bet he did, Yvonne thought darkly. Whoever this "Dr. March" was, he probably viewed this as no more than experimenting on a mouse. It was downright nauseating to think of what he might have dreamed up from his hospital office or academic cubbyhole. Time to enter the fray and put what she'd learned to good use.
"Sleep."
It was only a single word, but it brought conversation in the observation room to an abrupt halt. Four pairs of eyes stared at her, two with surprise, one with suspicion...and one with hope.
"Lieutenant?" Pierce said. "Did you say something?"
Yvonne kept her eyes focused on the window. "Sleep," she repeated. "He needs sleep."
" 'He'?" Samuels said skeptically. "Do we even know if it's a 'he' or a 'she'? How do we know—"
"No, no, I read about this," Pierce broke in. "My father wrote that Lieutenant White insisted on referring to the prisoner as 'he' even when everyone else used 'it'. My father started calling it 'him' to humor her."
"Right, because this is all about humoring her," Samuels said in disgust. "We captured an alien, Danny! And now some fossil wants us to tuck it in and read it a bedtime story? Why are you even trying to talk to her? We know she's a sympathizer. Why would we listen to a word she says?"
"Because my father had the utmost respect for her," Pierce retorted. "Because she was there for the last one from beginning to end. And did I mention my father had the utmost respect for her?"
"Your father isn't here," Samuels shot back. "We're here, and we're running out of time. Someone knows about us, and we can't afford to wait until morning."
"You look like him," Yvonne said.
Samuels rolled his eyes as Pierce's head swung around. "I do?" he whispered.
"So much like him," Yvonne said. "Just like him."
"You aren't actually buying this, are you?" Samuels objected when Pierce knelt beside her as though before an altar. "Can't you see she's playing you?"
"Or she's coming back," Morgan interjected. "Like my grandmother did. I told you she—"
"Oh, will you shut up about your fucking grandmother!" Samuels snapped. "You can't come back if you've never left! She's—"
"Quiet!" Pierce ordered, silencing Samuels, who grunted in frustration. "Lieutenant," he said to her, taking her hand as she braced herself not to flinch, "tell me...what did my father do? What would my father do?"
"Let him sleep," Yvonne said, patting Pierce's hand like a grandmother. "He's no good without sleep."
"Is that what my father did?" Pierce pressed.
Yvonne nodded. "Yes. Can't tell you anything without sleep."
"Oh, for Christ's sake," Samuels began.
"No, it makes sense," Pierce said, sounding suddenly confident. "We want information, reliable information, and we're unlikely to get it while it's frantic. Let it sleep."
" 'Him'," Yvonne said firmly. "Let him sleep."
A phone rang; Agent Morgan answered it. "They want to know when you'd like to start the tests," he reported.
Pierce gazed through the observation room window where Max was still frantically circling. "Tomorrow morning," he answered. "Let him get some sleep."
"Yes, sir, Agent Pierce," Morgan answered.
"So you're just going to give her everything she wants?" Samuels said furiously. "Tuck it in, call it 'him', wait for hours we don't have?"
"My father was brilliant, Brian," Pierce said. "If it was good enough for him, it's good enough for me. If she was good enough for him, she's good enough for me."
"Danny—"
"Take the Lieutenant to her room," Pierce interrupted. "Morgan, you do it," he clarified as Samuels reddened. "Take her to her old room, the one with the bathroom attached. Make sure she's comfortable; get her anything she needs. Stay outside the door in case she needs something during the night."
"Yes, sir," Agent Morgan answered.
Pierce smiled at her as Morgan wheeled her away, and Yvonne managed to conjure a return smile. She'd bought Max some time, precious time for Brivari to sabotage from the inside, for Jaddo to get in from the outside. It wasn't much, but it would have to do for the moment.
The last thing she saw as she was wheeled into the hallway was Max slumping to the floor with his head on his knees.
*****************************************************
Proctor residence
Dee jerked awake, startled by the sound of someone crashing around downstairs. Her first thought, ironically, was not of who had invaded her home, but one of surprise that she'd managed to fall asleep at all given how much she'd been fretting after her aborted phone call with Isabel. As for the invader, their identity didn't much matter; whoever it was had picked the worst possible time to mess with her. She retrieved the baseball bat from the closet, stashed there years ago by her parents after a rash of break-ins in the neighborhood, and crept down the stairs.
She needn't have bothered with the creeping. The lights were on, and her visitor wasn't making even the slightest effort to be quiet. Puzzled, she walked slowly toward the dining room to find Jaddo busily deconstructing a radio which had sat on the dining room sideboard ever since she could remember.
"What in the name of God are you doing?" Dee demanded.
"Making a tracking device," Jaddo answered without looking up. "Are you going to use that?"
It took her a moment to realize he was referring to the bat. "Depends," she said warily, lowering it. "What happened?"
"What happened is that I need a tracking device."
"But why do you need a tracking device—"
"Are you going to help me, or are you going to slow me down? Because, trust me, it's in everyone's best interests to do the former, not the latter."
Dee's lips set in a thin line; whatever the answer to her question, it obviously wasn't a good one. "What do you need?" she asked tersely.
"Technology," Jaddo answered, waving at the radio in pieces. "For parts."
"But what kind of technology?" Dee persisted. "Do you want—"
"Any kind," Jaddo interrupted. "All kinds. It's all the same on this planet, all incredibly primitive, which fortunately makes it incredibly hackable. Get me anything that plugs in or takes a battery."
" 'Anything'?" Dee repeated.
"Yes, anything," Jaddo said impatiently. "I said 'anything', didn't I?"
Without another word, Dee went into the kitchen, returned to the dining room, and slapped the electric can opener on the dining room table. "Will this do?"
Jaddo gave her what must be the Antarian equivalent of the evil eye. "I'd prefer something with a circuit board," he said, sounding pained. "Or at least some transistors."
"Oh, so, not just 'anything'? Because Anthony's got an electric nose hair trimmer upstairs that's only gently used. And I've got an eyelash curler, ghastly looking thing, but it plugs in—"
"Radios," Jaddo interrupted. "Telephones. Televisions. Calculators, GPS's—"
"Computers?" Dee suggested. "Laptops?"
"No," Jaddo said. "Believe it or not, they might actually trace that."
"So there's 'primitive' and there's 'primitive'," Dee said with mock gravity as Jaddo rolled his eyes. "Let me see if I can come up with just the right level of 'primitive'. Oh, and when you're done," she added, fixing him with a gimlit eye, "you're going to spill, or I'll invite Pierce for dinner and serve you as the main course."
Jaddo looked daggers at her, but she ignored him and set about rounding up all the gadgets she could find which fit the current description of 'primitive'. She must have gotten the equation right because each one set upon the dining room table was dismantled and stripped of its parts, which were promptly repurposed in the oddest looking contraption Dee had seen yet. It was like a living, breathing version of a scene from E.T., only with a large, grumpy alien instead of the small, cute variety. This one better have a happy ending, she thought darkly as she waited with growing impatience for an explanation. Finally Jaddo pulled out his cellphone, hooked it to his creation with what looked like a charging cable, and stared at the screen for a very long time.
"What exactly are you doing?" Dee asked, unable to contain herself any longer.
"Pinging a signal off cell phone towers and satellites," Jaddo answered. "Hush." She did, albeit with difficulty, until he leaned back with a sigh, wearing a very pensive expression.
"Well?" Dee pressed.
"Well," Jaddo replied, tapping the phone, "the good news is I found him."
"Him?"
"Brivari. I haven't been able to reach him for hours now. The bad news is, he's in the compound."
"But...shouldn't he be? I mean, one of you should be because I assume that's where they took Yvonne."
"And that's why he went there," Jaddo agreed. "But he's still there, and it's locked down tight now. He's trapped." He paused. "Which could be good."
" 'Good'?" Dee repeated in astonishment. "How is that 'good'?"
"He's on the inside, I'm on the outside," Jaddo replied. "Which will make it much easier to get him out."
"You're not making any sense," Dee said peevishly. "How does his being on the inside make it easier to get him out? Don't you mean 'her'?"
The expression on his face this time sent chills down her spine. "What happened?" Dee demanded. "And don't you dare put me off, or I'll reconsider that bat."
Jaddo cocked an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
"Answer me!"
Jaddo dropped the phone on the table in frustration and laced his fingers together. "Pierce has Zan."
The silence which followed was complete, total, paralyzing. Nothing moved, no one spoke. Dee's chest constricted as Jaddo kept his eyes on the table as though unwilling to look at her.
"Did you just tell me," she said slowly, "that Pierce has my grandson?"
Jaddo's eyes remained on the table. "Yes."
Slowly, Dee lowered herself into a chair, no longer certain of her legs. Even worse than the answer was the fact that he wasn't arguing with her, wasn't telling her that Max really wasn't her grandson like he always did. "How?" she whispered.
"It wasn't supposed to happen like this," Jaddo insisted. "I never intended—"
"Of course it wasn't supposed to 'happen like this'!" Dee interrupted in exasperation. "Get to the part where it happened anyway!"
Jaddo was quiet for a moment. "When you called and told us the Healer had been taken, Brivari and I split up: He went after the Healer, while I implemented a plan we had talked about earlier, namely to lead Pierce into a trap and remove him from the equation."
"You mean kill him," Dee clarified. "Lead him how, exactly?"
"I took Zan's shape. He wanted Zan, so he followed me."
"You took Max's shape?" Dee said in disbelief. "That's disturbing on so many levels, I don't know where to start, so let's not. What happened?"
"What happened is that Pierce wasn't the only one following the trail. Zan followed it too; they all did, even Ava. Pierce grabbed him instead of me."
"Wait...Max?" Dee said, puzzled. "Why would he follow a trail you left for Pierce? They couldn't be out Nasedo-hunting; they'd already found you."
"No, they were out Parker girl hunting," Jaddo said in disgust.
"Liz? What was she doing there?"
"She was there because I brought her there," Jaddo answered.
Dee's eyes widened. "You 'brought'...brought her where? Why? Wait," she commanded suddenly, a horrible thought occurring to her. "Do you mean to tell me that you fooled her into coming with you by impersonating Max?"
Jaddo snorted softly. "You don't really think she would have come any other way, do you? He figured out what happened sooner than I anticipated, but I never expected him to follow her. Why in blazes would he do that?"
Dee gaped at him in stunned silence, at a loss for words. "And then he showed up, and there were two of him," Jaddo continued sourly. "Pierce grabbed the wrong one. Or the right one, if you look at it from his perspective. I had him—I had him—and Zan blundered right in there over a female. Can you believe it? He got himself captured over a female! What a waste of—"
The hand Dee slammed down on the dining room table to silence him did its job, cutting off the flow of invective mid-sentence. "You blithering idiot!" she exclaimed, at a loss for words no longer. "I know you're socially challenged, but this one takes the cake! Why would he follow her? Good Lord, why wouldn't he? He's in love with her, you moron! Of course he followed her, especially when the big bad murderer, Nasedo, threw her over his shoulder and carried her off! What did you expect him to do? Sit by and wait to see what happened?"
"I expected he wouldn't know about it until it was all over," Jaddo retorted, "when Pierce would be safely dead and his shadow Unit unveiled. No doubt she'd tell him some tale of woe, but it would be irrelevant because they'd be safe. Instead he comes riding in on his charger to rescue the princess who isn't a princess while his queen blunders around trying to find him, putting herself in as much danger as he was—"
"As you put her in," Dee interrupted hotly. "You did this. You orchestrated this entire mess, and for what? What was the point in dragging Liz Parker along?"
"She was my insurance policy," Jaddo argued. "If something went wrong, Pierce would be interested in her too."
"I don't believe I'm hearing this!" Dee said furiously. "You'd throw her to the wolves, just like that? Like you wanted to throw me to the wolves years ago, wanted to let me die because that was more convenient? You honestly don't care about anyone, do you? Not anyone!"
Jaddo's expression darkened dangerously. "How dare you?" he ground out with barely controlled rage. "How dare you accuse me of not caring? I care about him. I care about them. They're all I care about, all I think about every waking minute of every interminable day on this Godforsaken rock. I will do whatever it takes, sacrifice whomever it takes, to keep them safe. It's my job, Deanna. It's my reason for being. No one is more important than they are, no one. I will get them home and the king back on his throne, or die trying."
"Well, congratulations, you're doing a bang up job," Dee said sarcastically. "You went to remove an enemy and wound up getting your king captured. A+! Gold medal! And bonus points for putting an ally in harm's way for no reason at all!"
"There was a reason," Jaddo protested. "Zan wasn't supposed to be anywhere near us, remember? He wasn't part of the equation because he wasn't even supposed to know about it until it was all over. The Parker girl was a consolation prize for Pierce if, and only if, one was needed. She's always blathering on about 'loving him' so much, I would think she'd have no objection to playing a part in removing his deadliest enemy."
"What in the name of God are you talking about?" Dee demanded. "What possible part could she have to play? I don't believe this!"
"Believe it," Jaddo shot back. "Better her than him. Better..." He paused, his jaw tightening. "Better her than me."
Silence. Dee stared at him, putting it all together for the first time. Zan wasn't supposed to be anywhere near us... So if anything went wrong, it wouldn't have been Max who would have been captured, it would have been...Jaddo. Jaddo, who had already been captive at the hands of a Pierce, who had already spent three years as a "guest" of the U.S. military. If anything went wrong he wanted an escape route, a bone to distract the hounds. Liz Parker would have been that bone, and if he'd had to toss it, he would have.
"Brivari said he'd get me out," Jaddo said, his voice tight. "He promised that if they managed to capture me, it wouldn't be three years this time. But that's a promise he can't keep. I'm not going back in there. Not again."
The doorbell rang. Dee arrived at the door just as Anthony came down the stairs. "Did I hear shouting?" he asked, tying his bathrobe. "And who's at the door—"
He stopped short as Dee opened it; Michael and Isabel stood on the front porch, the latter in tears. "Grandma," she whispered, clutching Dee as though she were a life raft.
"We've got some...stuff...going on," Michael said awkwardly. "She doesn't want to go home, and I told her she could stay with me, but..."
"Stop right there," Dee said, holding a shaking Isabel. "Come in, both of you. You too," she said firmly to Michael. "Whatever it is, you shouldn't be alone either."
Michael hesitated for only a second before capitulating, a testament to just how bad things were. "Anthony, would you take over, please?" Dee said. "They'll be spending the night. I'll put some coffee on. Later," she added when he gave her a what-in-blazes-is-going-on look. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
She left Anthony settling a shaking Isabel on the couch and marched grimly into the kitchen. Jaddo was there, in the dark, silhouetted against the little window over the sink, his back to her. He didn't turn around when she came in.
"I know you were caught off guard when they grabbed Yvonne," Dee began. "I know you had to improvise. I also know what you risked by making yourself the bait. While you were in there for three years, I was out here watching everyone trying to get you out. It wasn't easy then, and it would be a lot harder now. I get it." She paused. "But you screwed up, Jaddo," she went on when he didn't say anything. "If you want to protect him, you have to realize how he thinks even if you don't share those thoughts. You took someone he loved and put them in harm's way, so of course he tried to stop that. Any king worth his salt would. And you risked an ally, something I know you're not supposed to do, and it wasn't all about not wanting to be captured. Look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't have been glad to get rid of her. Look me in the eye and tell me that it wouldn't be one hell of a lot more convenient to get him and Tess together if Liz were out of the way."
She paused again, but Jaddo remained motionless in the dark kitchen, a mere shape against the window. "Make no mistake about it—you did this," Dee went on firmly. "This was your mistake. Max wouldn't have been anywhere near you if you hadn't taken Liz, something I'm sure you'll have to answer for when you get him out. And you haven't done yourself any favors because you're going to have to do the one thing you were most afraid of—go back inside the compound. That's where he is, so that's where you'll have to go. Even with Brivari inside, you'll both have to work your tails off to get him out. This isn't 1947; I doubt they'll be doing the 'question/answer' bit these days or using anything as primitive as a shoe fitter. You not only got him captured, you put yourself in more danger than you were before. This is a total FUBAR all the way around. 'Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition'," she clarified when his head moved slightly. "This has to qualify as the all time definition for that acronym."
Sounds of sobbing came from the living room, followed by soothing male voices. "Now, get out of here," Dee said roughly. "Don't come back until you've got my grandson, alive and well. And Jaddo? If you don't get him, don't come back at all. If you don't fix this...we're through."
There was a brief pause before the shape in front of the window simply melted away.
*****************************************************
Eagle Rock Military Base
"So what's the word?" Agent Rooney asked. "Are they aliens, or not?"
Agent Morgan shrugged as he helped himself to a cup of coffee in the makeshift break room. "Looks like a kid and an old lady to me, but what do I know? Supposedly they can look like anybody, so..." He paused, cocking an ear toward the door. "Well, whatdya know," he said with a smile. "There's trouble in paradise. Again."
"What are they arguing about now?" Rooney asked, glancing down the hall to where Samuels and Pierce were engaged in a hot debate.
"Cliff's Notes version? Pierce trusts Grandma, Samuels doesn't," Morgan answered. "The old lady was pretty out of it tonight. Samuels thinks she's faking."
"Could be," Rooney said doubtfully. "But my grandmother used to do the same thing. She'd be fine during the day, then kind of lose it at night."
"Same with mine," Morgan agreed. "This one perked up once we brought her downstairs, but Samuels wasn't buying it. Grandma told Pierce to lay off the prisoner until tomorrow morning, and he agreed, which pissed off Samuels. He thinks we're about to be boarded."
"Seems unlikely. If someone knew we were here, wouldn't they have been here by now?"
Two heads turned toward Brivari, who had been listening to this conversation in the guise of Agent Emerson. "Good point," Morgan allowed. "Can't wait to see the rest of the fireworks. I've got old lady duty, so I'm front and center. What about you, Rooney?"
"I've got scanner duty," Rooney said glumly. "Samuels wants a doorman in case anyone shows up who shouldn't."
"I'll switch with you," Brivari offered.
Rooney's eyes widened. "Really? Gee, thanks, man! I hate to miss the show."
"It's only fair," Morgan noted. "Emerson's the newbie."
Another tidbit, Brivari thought as Morgan and Rooney hurried away, eager to watch the conflict. The Healer had been right—impersonating someone for any length of time was dangerous business, and this time was more dangerous than most given the dearth of information on the human whose shape he'd taken. Usually one had sources like the human's dwelling, their vehicle, personnel records, something. But hidden as they were in a place where they weren't supposed to be, there was nothing here to tell him thing one about Agent Emerson save for what he could glean from the conversation of others. It was fortunate that Emerson was "the newbie", meaning that few knew him well, and that he'd managed to score a position away from the pack where he was likely to encounter few or no others. It was unlikely anyone else would be coming in tonight. Let's hope so, he thought grimly as he approached the barrier. Far too many had already come in. The gate loomed before him, reinforced with depleted uranium and linked to a scanner far more sophisticated than the shoe fitters of old. Though still primitive by Antarian standards, it remained an obstacle which was impenetrable without setting off a host of alarms, while blowing a hole through the compound's walls would cause too much noise and attract far too much attention. Just like last time, Brivari thought bitterly. Human technology may be primitive, but it was annoyingly effective.
*Brivari? Are you alone?*
Brivari glanced quickly around, but no one was nearby. *Yes. Where are you?*
Jaddo stepped from the shadows on the other side of the barrier. "It's easy to get this far," he reported. "There's no one outside."
"Because they're all in here arguing over their toy," Brivari said darkly. "What the hell happened?"
Jaddo sighed and leaned against the gate. "I attempted to lure Pierce out by showing him the one thing he wanted most—Zan. And then Zan showed up. Pierce grabbed him instead of me, and...here we are. You?"
"I had to wait for a break in security to get past this," Brivari answered, eyeing the bars between them. "I was on my way out with the Healer when they brought Zan in. She insisted on staying to do what she could."
"Of course she did," Jaddo said quietly. "How is the king?"
"Unmolested, for the moment. The Healer bought them both some time by convincing Pierce to wait until morning. He's apparently enamored of his 'father's nurse' to the point where he listened, although that's causing dissension in the ranks."
"Clever girl," Jaddo murmured.
"Hardly a girl at this point," Brivari noted.
"I know," Jaddo allowed. "But she was. The last time we were here, she was so young..." He paused, his eyes on the ground. "I'm sorry about this, Brivari. It wasn't supposed to happen this way."
"Really?" Brivari said dryly. "And here I thought this was just another ploy to get Rath on the throne. Kidding," he clarified when Jaddo's eyes flashed. "I'm on the wrong side of the gate, so I get to kid if I want to."
They stared at each other for a moment before Jaddo looked away, the years he'd spent here in captivity written on his face. "I see you're an agent now," he said, changing the subject.
"Agent 'Emerson'," Brivari said, brandishing his badge. "The Healer's jailer until he and I met. There's little information available about him, but on the plus side he's new, and everyone's busy with their prisoner. I might get out of this yet." He paused. "You're going to have to bring the hybrids into this, Jaddo. You know that, don't you?"
"And risk the rest of them being captured? Are you serious?"
"Dead serious," Brivari answered. "We're going to need all the help we can get to pull this one off. We've got two to rescue, and we need a human body to get past this scanner, which is armed on both sides now, by the way; I only had to get past it on the way in before, not the way out, and that took time. We don't have time."
"We'll have even less if we wind up with more hostages," Jaddo noted.
"It can't be helped," Brivari argued. "And why try? Ava showed them the book; they know who you are, or who you're posing as at the moment. Either bring them into it, or wait for them to blunder in on their own. You know as well as I do that Rath won't merely sit on his hands while his king is captive."
"Yes, well, 'blundering' is what they do best," Jaddo muttered.
"What do you mean?" Brivari asked. "Has something else happened?"
Jaddo shook his head. "No. Nothing, I...I just feel like I'm the one who got you both into this, so I'm the one who should get you out, without risking anyone else."
"You had no choice," Brivari said gently. "We had to do something, and that comes with risk. So does not doing something. It's just spectacularly bad luck. It happens."
Jaddo's eyes dropped. "Right. Well...I'll figure out how to get in here. You keep him alive until I do. And no three years this time. I promise."
"I certainly hope not," Brivari whispered. "Now get out of here before we both start getting sappy."
Jaddo's mouth twitched in the hint of a smile, but he backed away from the gate, never taking his eyes off him until he rounded a corner. Brivari watched him until he was out of sight before settling down beside the scanner, consoling himself that if one of them had to be trapped with the King, it was better it be him; there was no telling how Jaddo would react were he to find himself a captive in this place again. At least all of them were safe for the next several hours, or as safe as they could be under the circumstances. But Jaddo had better hurry.
Imagine Pierce's glee were he to discover he'd captured two aliens instead of one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'll post Chapter 119 next Sunday.
