their destination to spring it.
He was still holding firmly to that idea fifteen minutes later when the transport settled into a landing.
'Let's go, puppies,' Lieutenant Cue Ball said, stepping to the hatchway and waving his gun toward it. 'Don't forget about your collars.'
Jack was third in line out the door. He glanced first at the sky, to see if the Edge fighters were on their way.
They weren't. Trying hard to keep his hopes up, he lowered his gaze to the area around them.
And with that all of his secret hopes dropped straight into his boots, chewed their way through the soles, and disappeared into the ground beneath him. If this was a secret military base, then he was Draycos's maiden Aunt Matilda.
For starters, the place wasn't even remotely secret. It was completely out in the open, without any large trees, overhanging cliffs, or even camouflage screens to protect it. The Edge training camp on Carrion would have been harder to spot than this place.
It was also very definitely not a military base. The only vehicles in sight were two more Flying Turtles, neither of which looked even slightly armed. A couple of human-style buildings squatted at the edge of the landing area, probably service areas for the transports, probably courtesy of the Shamshir. The rest of the town seemed to be composed entirely of mud huts of various sizes.
'Welcome to Dahtill City,' Lieutenant Cue Ball announced as the prisoners looked around them. 'Regional capital of this part of Agrist territory, and where this whole thing started.'
He smiled, possibly the most unfriendly smile Jack had ever seen. 'And for you, puppies,' he added, 'where it's all going to end.'
Chapter 18
The mud hut Lieutenant Cue Ball led them to was larger than most of the ones around it, with wide, fan-shaped leaves stuck into its sides at various spots. The doorway was low, and all of them except Rogan had to duck to keep from hitting their heads.
Experimentally, Jack brushed his hand against the outer wall as he went through the doorway. It might look like fresh mud, but it was as hard and unyielding as stone.
A single room took up the entire interior of the hut. There were three aliens seated behind a table in the center: short, pale, hairless beings with round but hollow faces and bright silvery eyes. Agri, Jack decided, though he'd never actually seen any of this particular species up close before. Two of them were wearing the same camouflage military clothing as the Shamshir mercenaries, while the third was dressed in a long white robe with narrow red stripes.
The robe, in Jack's opinion, definitely suited them better. The ones playing soldier looked ridiculous.
'Then tell me what it is this time,' the robed Agrist said. His voice was a lot more melodious than Jack would have guessed from the almost skull-like face. 'Yet another crushing defeat against the thieves? Another step toward total victory against our oppressors?'
Jack frowned, taking another look. Even given that he didn't know the first thing about reading Agrist faces, the robed guy did not seem very happy. In fact, from the tone of the comments, he seemed downright angry. Not exactly the attitude he would have expected.
Unlike Jack, Lieutenant Cue Ball didn't seem surprised by the tone. 'I don't blame you for being skeptical, Your Honorest,' he said, his voice calm and earnest. 'But this time, we have the key.'
'These are children,' one of the uniformed Agri said harshly. 'Human children. Did you think we would not know?'
'Even children can fight, Defense Master,' Lieutenant Cue Ball pointed out. 'In the hands of capable soldiers like those of the Whinyard's Edge, they can be molded into mighty warriors indeed.'
Out of the corner of his eye Jack saw Alison stir. Probably thinking about their ten whole days of training, he decided, and wanting very much to say something sarcastic. But she remained silent.
'But that's not why these particular prisoners are important,' Lieutenant Cue Ball went on. 'These six are far more valuable than mere warriors. They've been trained in Whin-yard's Edge communications and computer access codes. And we've also taken their computers intact. Soon we'll be able to break both their real-time tactical data and also learn their long-term plans.'
'And this will gain us what?' the robed Agrist asked.
Lieutenant Cue Ball seemed taken aback. 'Why, victory, of course, Your Honorest.'
'Will it?' His Honorest asked. 'Will it really?'
He turned his silvery eyes on Jack. 'Will it force the Whinyard's Edge to abandon their attacks on our mine? Will it persuade the Parprins to accept the ruling of the courts that our mine is indeed ours? Will it finally persuade the Trade Association to send a Judge-Paladin to confirm and enforce that ruling?'
Jack felt a funny tingling at the pit of his stomach. Lieutenant Basht had told them that it was the Agri who had jumped the Parprins' mining claims. But according to this Agrist, it was the other way around.
Which was none of his business, of course. He had no particular interest in local politics, or what exactly was going on with a small-time mine that probably no one else in the whole Orion Arm cared about. The only reason he was here was to try to collect information on Djinn-90s, so that he could find out who had attacked Draycos's ships, so that eventually he could get Draycos off his back.
Unfortunately, Draycos wasn't likely to see things quite that simply. Draycos and his K'da warrior ethic were going to be very unhappy if it turned out that they were fighting on the wrong side of this war.
Sure enough, he could feel the dragon moving softly along his skin. That was a sign that usually meant he was uncomfortable or annoyed.
Jack could only hope he would keep his annoyance to himself long enough for them to get out of this mess.
'The only reason the Parprins are still pushing this is because the Edge is backing them,' Lieutenant Cue Ball said. 'And the only reason they're still on Sunright is that they don't think we can beat them.'
'You told us this afternoon's attack in Mer'seb would persuade them to leave,' His Honorest said.
'I said it would be the first step,' Lieutenant Cue Ball corrected. 'What we
