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attaching itself to the railing with sharp pitons that bit deeply into the metal. Two more
hooks followed the first. This was not good.  Try to cut them or throw them off!
Waroun was the first to reach the hooks, but though he tried desperately to dislodge them,
they wouldn t budge. Teke had armed himself with a knife the size of a short sword and
began using it to hack at the ropes, but whatever they were made of was tougher than the
knife. Ava screamed as three Aquerei began to climb aboard. Dax knew she was tougher
than that, and wasn t a bit surprised to see that she d already drawn her pulse pistol.
Taking aim, she stunned one of them before Joss intervened.
 Hold your fire! he shouted.  These are my men from the base.
 How the hell can you tell? Waroun snapped.  They all look the same to me.
 Trust me, I can tell, Joss yelled back.
 We saw you land, one of the men gasped as he slid onto the deck,  but couldn t reach
you in time. We ve been hiding in the depths for days. It s bad, Joss. Really bad.
Two more Aquerei swarmed over the side, dragging the one Ava had stunned along with
them. Dax hoped there weren t any more of them, for the Juleta only had seating for
twelve, aside from the pilot. Any more than that would put them over the weight limit,
and sinking would become a definite possibility.
Dax swore as three more scrambled up the ropes. The controls spiked as the Juleta tipped
dangerously to starboard.  Some of you get over here on this side, he bellowed.  We re
going to flip over if you don t!
The Kitnocks and the Drell were quick to follow orders. Ava pulled Waroun back from
the side, and Joss and two of the men dragged the unconscious man to an open space
behind the seats. The others clambered into seats, the water still sluicing from their
streamlined bodies. Essentially nude except for their seaweed loincloths, they looked like
the day s catch spilling onto the deck of a fishing boat.
 What can you tell me about those ships up ahead?
 They re bound to be Opps, a green-tentacled man replied.  They ran us off the base.
Turning to Joss, he went on,  They knew you were coming. They just weren t sure
when.
 How the hell could they know that? Waroun demanded.  And why would they think
we would land here? We didn t know that until just a little while ago ourselves.
 But there were all those Aquerei on Rhylos, Ava said.  They must have been tailing us
the whole time. They saw us with Joss and did the math.
 But why would they just follow us? Waroun asked.  They could have stolen that rock
from you anytime or just killed us all.
 Could be that you guys are more intimidating than you realize remember when the
Cylopean tried it? Ava shrugged.  Who knows? I mean, if we can t tell which side
anyone is on, maybe they can t either.
If Joss s bleak expression was any indication, that was probably true. Dax was playing
scenarios through his head. Surrender to the approaching ships, hand over the stone and
go home, evade them and thus add even more distance to their journey, or pretend to be
on their side whichever side it was or stand and fight a hopeless battle and probably all be
killed. Then there was the other option: He hadn t brought along a magician for nothing.
 Hey, Threld, what have you got?
 Decoy drones, Threldigan replied.  But 
Waroun rolled his eyes.  What the devil is a decoy drone?
 They make duplicate images of an original.
This sounded interesting.  Can they float?
 Never tried using them on water, Threldigan replied.
 No time like the present, said Dax.  Toss one out.
Threldigan reached into his bag and pulled out a small shiny cube.  The only problem is
that it won t keep up with us as we move forward.
 Then maybe we should stay put. Dax cut back the throttle, and the Juleta slowed to a
crawl, the repulsors keeping them hovering just above the water.  Good thing the sea is
calm today. The thought of huge waves swallowing them up didn t set well with him at
all.
 So, Threldy, Waroun began.  Just how do these things work?
Dax chuckled to himself, knowing that Threldigan would never tell, and Waroun should
have known better than to ask.
Threldigan gave him a crooked smile.  Magic. With that, he threw the cube overboard. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]