Lowell sauntered into the afternoon light. The weather on Hawkmoor tended to lots of clouds but not too much rain. The temperature stayed fairly warm and pleasant without getting hot and muggy.
It was interesting, he thought. It was almost a standoff between the port authority and the Phoenix's crew. They took turns standing guard outside the ship, one at the back, another near the hatch. The officials pretended not to notice but the number of armed guards patrolling the port was much higher than it should have been. He hadn't been able to get anyone to tell him exactly how it had happened, but knowing Jasyn and the Gypsy connection here, he could guess.
He scratched his ear, thinking. It was an interesting situation. It was going to get even more interesting the longer they avoided the Gypsy Council. They wanted Jasyn, at least long enough so they could depose her as head. He wasn't certain of that, though. He was guessing blindly because no one would tell him anything. They either avoided his questions or had no answers to give, depending on who he talked to.
Jasyn was determined to find Dace and the Gypsy Council would just have to wait until she was ready to return. The part that worried Lowell was knowing the Council wouldn't wait much longer. They were ready to force the issue if necessary. He'd found more information here than he'd had for the last months on Linas-Drias. Most of it was buried in the Phoenix's library. Clark had stolen a lot more than he realized. Lowell knew enough override codes to open most of the files.
So far none of them had yielded the information they really wanted. None of them had information on a certain pirate by the name of Ren Matthias. None of them had records of illegal purchases at an arms bazaar run by more pirates. They were grounded here until they dug up something more useful.
He stopped near the back of the ship. Ginni sat on the lip by the cargo bay doors. The rifle across her lap looked too big. She handled it more than competently, he knew. He'd seen her scores from the Academy. She was almost as good as Dace with a rifle. He deliberately made loud noises and gave her plenty of warning. He paused until she looked over at him.
"Do you mind if I join you?" he asked.
She shrugged and resettled the rifle in her lap. He walked into the shade of the ship and leaned one hip against the lip where she sat. A breeze ruffled his hair.
"Peaceful out here," he said after a moment watching clouds.
"That's why I'm here," she answered. "At least partly. How much longer are we going to sit here arguing?"
"We don't know where to go," he said.
"Ananda knows. Beat it out of her."
"Clark's pushing her right now. You aren't the only one impatient to be going. Beryn says he'll have the thruster system back online by tomorrow. Jasyn's arguing with the parts supplier for the last bits even as we speak."
She glanced sideways at him. "I thought you knew everything."
"I used to, until my people started disappearing." He shifted and the light caught on the green shipsuit he wore. He ran his finger down the sleeve. No more uniforms, at least not silver ones.
"Why go after Dace?" Ginni asked. "She wasn't doing anything."
"No, she was doing what she's best at. Getting into trouble without even trying."
"Why sell her at an arms bazaar? It doesn't make sense." Ginni's dark eyes looked troubled.
"That part makes perfect sense. Dace has a lot of enemies and I can't protect her anymore. Someone figured it out. If you'd gone straight back to Tebros, to the Federation, no one would have dared to lay a finger on her. Out here, where the syndicates rule, she was vulnerable."
Ginni bristled. "You're saying it's our fault?"
"No, it's probably mine. I promised her she'd be safe. You couldn't have known."
"Jasyn thought she needed time."
"Jasyn didn't want to face the Gypsy Council until she couldn't avoid them any longer. I believe they'll try to force the issue soon."
Ginni looked at the port guards patrolling not too far away. "They can try."
"And more people will get hurt," Lowell said. "That isn't the way to resolve it."
"You're saying we should go to Tebros."
It was Lowell's turn to shrug.
"We'll be stuck there for months," Ginni argued. "They barely let us go last time."
"Claim the same excuse," Lowell said. "One of your clan is in deep trouble. That preempts any claim the Council has over you."
Ginni shook her head. "Jasyn says they've declared most of Shellfinder nonexistent. We weren't born Gypsies, so we aren't really Gypsies. Or clan. That was the latest argument they tried yesterday."
"Blood debt doesn't matter anymore?"
Ginni turned to look fully at him. "What does that mean?"
"The Gypsies owe blood debt to Dace. As far as I could determine, she's saved over three hundred of them. At least. And that was only the ones she was directly responsible for returning to their clans."
"Lowell, what have you been smoking? If you're talking about Vallius, that was years ago. They claim that debt has been repaid."
"I'm talking about Trythia. Or didn't they ever recognize her for that one?"
"Trythia? Dace refused to talk about it. She mentioned the name once."
"It was where the colonists on Vallius came from. Without Dace, none of the people held there would ever have escaped."
"Did you have to make her enlist over it?"
His face twisted in a grimace, part pain and part guilt. "I couldn't stop her. I tried, Ginni. If you want to hurt someone over that, hit Paltronis. It was her idea."
"I wouldn't dare. She could flatten me with both hands and feet tied." Her look sobered. "You didn't have to take advantage of her. How could you send her to Tivor?"
"I was trying to keep her alive, believe it or not. There were others involved in sending her there. They used me as much as I used her. I had little choice. She had to go to Tivor."
"Paltronis said it was horrible, for all of them. What did you do with Scholar?"
Lowell shook his head. "I can't find him. No one can. He was on Linas-Drias to help Dace. His last report was waiting for me when I finally got there. I haven't found a trace of him for over four months. And nothing you say will make me feel more guilty."
Ginni didn't answer, not in words. She leaned back against the door of the cargo bay and shifted the rifle in her lap. Lowell got the subtle message. He wasn't the enemy any longer, at least not for Ginni. He sighed and pushed his hands into his pockets.
"You did what you thought was best for everyone, not just us," Ginni said after a long stretch of quiet.
"I was trying to keep the Empire in one piece."
"One person," Ginni said and grinned. "A bit presumptuous of you, wasn't it?"
Lowell grinned back. "Probably. I'll settle for keeping just the crew of this ship in one piece. The Empire isn't my responsibility any more."
"Do you miss it?"
"Not really."
"Don't lie, Lowell."
"So I miss some of it. Like having unlimited resources. And all the information I want. That hasn't been true for quite some time now, not since Roderick framed me for treason." His grin faded. "I don't miss having people die because I sent them somewhere."
"We may all end up dead." Ginni ran her hand down the rifle. "But it won't be your fault. We chose this."
Lowell didn't answer. He squinted out into the sunshine. The clouds were finally breaking apart, spilling light across the landscape.
"Maybe Everett will find what we need," Lowell said, breaking the silence. "We'll know in a week."
"I still say we should beat the information out of Ananda. Then leave her behind. She's going to sell us out. As soon as she gets the opportunity."
"She might prove useful."
"I doubt that. She's a weasel."
"And we know it. We've got the advantage."
Ginni shook her head. "This isn't your game."
"It never really was." He sighed. "She's a calculated risk. We may need her."
Paltronis rounded the end of the ship, another one of the rifles slung over her shoulder. She eyed the two of them, sitting on the lip under the door.
"Jasyn wants your advice," she told Lowell. "She wants to know how to start a war."
Lowell raised both eyebrows. "Who is she declaring war on? Everyone?"
"Not quite," Paltronis answered.
Lowell walked away, shaking his head.
The inside of the ship was noisy. Louie sat on the floor, banging his blocks and shouting swear words. Twyla tried to keep him quiet. She wasn't very successful. Jasyn glared at Clark over the table. Darus and Beryn banged pipes and shouted at each other in the engine room. The thugs Paltronis had recruited were outside, standing watch. Sikura, the medic, and Linnea were hiding in the cockpit.
"Don't tell me how to handle them," Jasyn shouted at Clark.
"Then be reasonable," Clark shouted back. "Starting a clan war between the Gypsies won't solve anything."
"It will get me removed from the Council," she answered.
"Which you really don't want," Lowell interjected. "Trust me on this, Jasyn," he added when she turned her glare on him.
"Last time I trusted you—" she started.
"Then why did you send Paltronis for me?"
"I didn't."
"Jasyn, sit down and tell me what you're planning. I can help."
"I don't want your help, Lowell."
"Then why did you let me stay on the ship? Why give me status as crew?"
"Because I felt sorry for you." Jasyn sighed and dropped into a chair. She rubbed her hands over her face. "Tell me how to solve this. Tell me how to get Dace back. Again."
Louie repeated words he'd heard Darus and Beryn say. Clark scooped him up.
"Use soap this time," Jasyn called as he hauled their son into his nursery.
Lowell grinned. "He's showing signs of becoming a great engineer."
Jasyn shook her head, but she was smiling.
"Who are you starting a war with?" Lowell asked. "And why?"
"I received official notice today that my presence is required at Council. And this." She flipped a piece of paper across the table.
Lowell picked it up and read through it. His grin faded completely. He placed the paper on the table when he finished, squaring it up carefully with the edge of the table.
"Now you see my problem?" Jasyn asked.
"The Federation isn't behind this," Lowell said. "Will and Roland would never ask you to make that choice."
She studied his face, her violet eyes troubled. "How well do you know them? And how do you know the president of the Federation and his shadow?"
"Dace knows them better." Lowell sighed. "Roland was a monk on Dadilan when Dace was there. She's probably the one who gave him ideas of starting his own country. Willet Smythe worked undercover there, but not for me, whatever he may think."
"What happened on Dadilan?" Jasyn asked. "Dace never said much about it, except in her sleep. Everything seems to keep coming back to that connection."
Lowell looked up sharply at her comment, struck by a sudden thought. "There are times I really miss being High Command."
"What, Lowell?" Jasyn demanded, leaning forward over the table.
"Prison records," he said. "I need to check the status of some prisoners."
"And you can't do it here," she said. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Dace put several high profile people in prison," Lowell said. "It was her word against everyone else. They believed her, mostly because of me. Considering what has happened the last few years, those people are most likely not in prison anymore."
"They want revenge? On Dace?"
"It makes more sense than any other explanation. Someone put her up for sale knowing there were quite a few people who would pay a lot for the privilege of getting revenge."
"You promised the syndicates wouldn't touch her," Jasyn objected.
"They didn't, not until they knocked my power base away from me. There wasn't any way I could protect her. The Federation would have, if you'd made it that far."
"So you can guess who might have bought her."
"One of dozens of people. I hope Everett comes through with the information I asked him to find."
"This might change his mind," Jasyn said, tapping the sheet of paper in front of Lowell.
"Ask him where his loyalties lie before you say that," Lowell answered.
"I will, when we see him again. If he's waiting for us on Zik'taura."
"He'll be there, Jasyn."
"Despite a Council edict?" She slammed her hand down on the paper.
"They want you back."
"So they can disown me again and throw me out, just like they've done to everyone else here."
"Jasyn."
"Don't patronize me, Lowell. I'm not in the mood."
He shifted the paper and read it again. The Gypsy Council had decreed that the only members of Shellfinder clan were those with Gypsy blood. Jasyn, her brother Jerimon, and Beryn were the only ones with that qualification. And they were all adopted into the clan by Lady Rina. The Council had voided that adoption. Shellfinder clan, as far as the Gypsies were concerned, had died with Lady Rina.
"Jasyn." He tried again.
"It doesn't matter, Lowell. It never really did."
"You're underestimating people again. This is just the Council. How many ship captains will support you or help you? Like Everett?"
"None of them," Jasyn answered. "The Council will disown them and shame their clans if they do."
"You can challenge this. You're the head of the Council. Until they hold an official session and tell you, to your face, that you are no longer Gypsy."
She frowned, studying his face while she thought through his statement. "Do you think it will do any good?"
"I think you'll find there are more Gypsies loyal to you than to them." He flicked his finger over the paper.
"That might work. It will tear the clans apart. You want me to start a clan war."
"I don't want you to start anything. This is your decision. I'm just offering advice."
"And if I follow it, the Gypsies will be fighting each other. Just like everyone else in the galaxy." She looked away, impatiently brushing her loose hair behind one ear. "How is this supposed to help me find Dace?"
"Everett will help. There are a lot of people who will help. We are just going to have to be very careful who we ask."
"What are you really saying?"
"Dace is a hero, a legend. The Patrol tells stories about her. There are a lot of people who will be more than willing to help us find her."
"They aren't the ones at the top," Jasyn said.
"And that doesn't matter anymore. It never really did. It's the people supporting the top that get the work done. Let them help you."
Jasyn shook her head, her dark hair rippling like silk. She didn't believe him.
She didn't realize how famous they were. Dace was a legend. And so was the Phoenix Rising. And so were the rest of the crew. He wasn't sure it would help their cause. But at this point, not much could hurt it. It was already almost lost. He wasn't about to say it, though.
Jasyn wouldn't give up until she was dead. And neither would the rest of the crew.