The flyer was old, antiquated, a cheap rental. It landed heavily on the landing pad. Sylena watched it woodenly, her face displaying no emotion. Mayguena exited the craft. The driver piled her luggage beside her. Five large cases, it looked as if Mayguena had brought everything she owned. Mayguena paid off the driver and stepped back as the flyer took off in a cloud of blue tinged smoke. Sylena stepped out of the shelter of the porch roof.
"This was not our plan," she told the younger woman.
"Des Tuarik became suspicious," Mayguena answered. "Lilliasa will still do her part."
"I do not trust her. She is too sharp. She sees too clearly."
"Lilliasa?" Mayguena made a derisive noise. "She is a puppet. She cares more for fashion than politics. I used her because she was handy. She served my purposes."
"Or so she led you to think. Do not underestimate her. Or her ambitions."
Mayguena's mouth tightened into a hard line. "She will do as she agreed. We will make our move at High Festival. As planned."
"Who's plan, Mayguena? Yours? Mine? Lilliasa's?"
"Or perhaps Bradoc's?"
Sylena's eyes widened in surprise.
"Des Tuarik's son plots against him," Mayguena said. "He thinks to steal his father's position from his older brothers."
"They all plot against each other," Sylena said dismissively. "It means nothing."
"Bradoc cannot afford Tuarik finding out about his hobbies," Mayguena said. "He would be disgraced, disowned, and outlawed, banished to the most primitive mining settlement. He has a taste for female slaves."
Sylena frowned thoughtfully. "We could use that to our advantage. Do you have proof?"
"Of course."
"And what of Dace? What of Lilliasa's pet?"
"She is weak," Mayguena said. "We cannot depend on her."
"Quite the contrary," Sylena said quietly. "Humans are not as we are."
"She clings to that male. She shows her fallibility."
Sylena took Mayguena's arm and led her inside, away from the slaves who arrived to gather Mayguena's luggage before the afternoon rains began.
"Humans form emotional bonds," Sylena said. "Do not let your own bitterness blind you. And not all Trythians marry because of dictates of the genetics council."
"You cared for your husband?" Mayguena asked incredulously.
"I grew to care for him," Sylena admitted. "He could have put me aside when it became clear that I could not give him children. The doctors never could find a reason. It did not matter to Rheaven. He cared for me, as a person, as his wife."
"He was not like the others."
"For which I am very glad," Sylena said with a sad smile. "He opened my eyes to so much. He studied the slaves we owned as people in their own right. He wanted to know where they came from, who their people were, what their worlds were like. He trusted them."
"No one trusted him. Which is why he was banished to this jungle. He could treat his slaves as he pleased without infecting the others with his ideas."
Sylena's face hardened. "And because no one else wanted it when he died, I was allowed to keep his estate. You think this has been easy for me? To exist here, in virtual exile? Your visit two weeks ago was the first contact I've had with anyone for almost two years. I am as much a slave and prisoner as the humans that work for me."
"Then we must change that," Mayguena said. "It was only talk before. All those years."
"But now we have a weapon," Sylena said with a tight smile. "I have the trust of these humans. They will be our army, our weapons."
"And Lilliasa?" Mayguena asked.
"Our diversion, to hide our true purpose. She has made her own plans. She thinks we do not suspect her. She believes she is being clever."
"But you have your own plans."
"Of course. And I have a part for you, if you wish it."
"Tuarik has sent me away," Mayguena admitted. "I no longer have access to his household. We will need someone else to plant the explosives at Festival."
"I have already petitioned for the right to attend. I claimed I was seeking a new husband and would submit to their decision."
Mayguena studied the older woman, seeking answers in the smooth face. Sylena gave nothing away. "Then you will be there."
"And so will you, as my new housemistress. If you will take the position?"
"Of course."
"I have already thought of new plans. Bradoc can plant the explosives. He will be in attendance, he will have access to the chamber. No one will suspect him of more than trying to listen to conclave. Your proof of his indiscretions will serve nicely as insurance that he will do as we ask."
"And a promise of power in the new regime," Mayguena said.
Sylena shot her a suspicious look. "We will keep what promises we make."
"Then we ensure that he does not live to collect his promised reward."
Sylena stared at her in shock.
"We must be ruthless, Sylena. We must strike quickly, and thoroughly. Or we will lose. We must take chances."
"You have changed, Mayguena, but you speak the truth. We move quickly and keep the fighting to a minimum. I have no desire to bathe in blood."
Mayguena wisely left her desires unspoken.
"I will gather the humans," Sylena said. "It is time you learned of the rest of our plans."
It was Mayguena's turn to be surprised.
"These humans are very intelligent. It's a pity they can't access our files or we might have lost to them a long time ago."
"You believe in Dace's Empire? Thousands of worlds? Trillions of humans?"
"Oh, yes. I have spent years talking with them, learning about them, gaining their trust. She speaks the truth."
Mayguena's face went white. "Lilliasa will have Dace try to steal one of our spaceships."
"She cannot fly it. It would be a brilliant plan, but no human can fly our starships. They must be able to interface with our computers to do that."
"Dace can," Mayguena said.
It was Sylena's turn to pale. But only for a moment. Then she smiled again, a wicked smile. "Then we just might win."
"What do you plan?"
"I have humans who can fly the transport flyers. During the Festival they will steal flyers and rescue their kind from estates across the world. We will build our army in the south, in the mountains."
"Too far away."
Sylena cut Mayguena's protest short. "We do not need control of the port, or of the main city, or of any estate but my own. Don't you see, Mayguena? We show it is possible to make changes and the slaves will do the rest."
"It will be a massacre," Mayguena said.
"Only of the rulers, those they hate. We stay safe, we stay protected with our army. And then we move in and pick up the pieces. Lilliasa buys us time."
"It is risky."
"All rebellion is."
"We have made contact with most slaves."
"And I have ways to expand that contact. I export flowers from my estate here. My slaves are sent with each shipment to guarantee its quality. And I have others who will help."
"You have no contact."
"With the high class, no. But I have those who make deliveries, those who service my home. They have a vision of a new world, a new Code, where all are counted equal. Where even the poorest and lowest may rise."
"The old legends and stories?"
"They have meetings, they have a prophet who speaks of a bright future for all. The human slaves have only added to their vision with their own tales of an Empire where all are equal, human or not."
Mayguena slowly smiled.
"They are ready for a revolution," Sylena said quietly. "A new world, a shining new future."
"A new Triad," Mayguena suggested.
"Exactly," Sylena agreed.