Chapter 58

 

"So this is where you work," Lowell said as he walked through the open door.

Will Smythe looked up from his reports. The last two weeks had almost been a vacation. With the ship underway he hadn't received any new updates. He was almost caught up on the backlog from before. It was temporary and he knew it. He pushed the report aside, turning it face down on his desk.

"Who let you in?" he asked with a smile.

"Your secretary," Lowell answered. He pushed his hands into his pockets. "She's really quite charming."

"And old enough I didn't think I had to worry about her succumbing to flattery," Will answered.

Lowell grinned. "But I'm a professional."

Will laughed and leaned back in his chair. "Have a seat and tell me why you came to see me."

Lowell pulled up a chair and straddled it. He watched Will for a long moment. "You aren't going to arrest me?"

"Why would I want to do that?" Will's voice was bland, giving nothing away.

"Because I used to work for the enemy. Because I know more than I should about you and the Empire and a lot of shady dealings on the border."

"Are you trying to give me a reason, Lowell?"

Lowell shrugged. "The Empire would probably pay you a fortune for me, dead or alive. I'd prefer dead."

Will shook his head. "They have bigger problems than the whereabouts of their former High Commander. They don't have the money or the men to hunt you down."

"Then why haven't you made me an offer? I could tell you almost anything you want to know."

"I have my reasons. First of all, I have agents on Linas-Drias and elsewhere who keep me very well informed. And secondly, your current boss would probably skin me alive if I stole part of her crew."

Lowell stared blankly at Will for a long moment.

"Jasyn would be glad to get rid of me," he said bluntly.

"Is that what you think?" Will sat back up and fished a sheet of paper off his desk and handed it to Lowell. "Then why is she threatening me with various forms of dismemberment if I mess with her crew?"

Lowell read the paper and chuckled. "Very colorful but I don't think she meant me."

"You're listed on the crew manifest, although I'd love to know how you convinced her to do that."

"I didn't ask," Lowell answered, touched despite himself.

"She also listed you as a member of Shellfinder Clan. I touch you or anyone else on that list and the Gypsies will declare war on me."

Lowell slid the paper back onto Will's messy desk. "She's good, Will. She's got you on a string."

"Don't remind me," Will said, pulling a face. "Roland's all over my case to get her back to Tebros and in the Council sessions. We'll be there in another four days."

"Maybe I can help," Lowell said. "What is it you need?"

"Trade regulations, for a start," Will answered. "The Gypsies have done nothing but argue and dig up old feuds since she left."

"The Council dissolved her clan. Were you aware of that?"

"I heard the rumor, yes. Most of the ship crews rebelled when that particular one hit the circuits. It's a mess."

"And if it isn't straightened out soon, things get ugly?"

"The whole smuggling network you set up would crash. It's the only thing keeping trade flowing. Without trade, we have maybe five years, no more. The Empire has a few months, if that."

"And what about the independent nations?" Lowell asked. "Cygnus, Altairus Protectorate, Sectorius Major. Do you want me to continue?"

"So you're well informed. I'm not surprised."

"How many are there?"

"That haven't joined the Federation? At least fifteen that we know about. Three of them are openly controlled by the crime syndicates. Five others we suspect are heavily influenced. The other seven are trying to be independent. Cygnus is the only one with enough firepower to stay that way."

"And the willpower. They wouldn't agree to your terms?"

"We're still in negotiation."

"And what is it about the Empire you are trying to avoid telling me?" Lowell shifted on his chair.

"I'm not hiding anything," Will said. He watched Lowell for any betrayal of knowledge. "You really don't know?"

"If I did, would I be sitting here waiting for you to tell me?"

"You used to be a lot more subtle, Lowell."

"Subtle isn't going to get me what I want."

"You don't have any power here."

"Quite the contrary," Lowell said with a grin. "You told me that yourself. How about you tell me your secrets and in exchange I'll help you solve your problems. I'm quite good at it."

"Are you begging for a job?"

Lowell sobered. "How long do you think Jasyn's going to keep me around? Really? Besides, if I ever step foot on Imperial soil again, I'll be shot on sight. My future is out here."

"And you want in on the top?" Will shook his head.

"No, that's your job. I want to help advise you. Although you're doing quite well by yourself. I would recommend you learn to delegate more, though."

"I've been telling him that for years," Roland said behind them.

"Don't do that!" Will exploded. "Stop sneaking up on me, Roland."

Roland grinned unrepentantly and shut the door.

Will shot glances between Roland and Lowell. "Why are you two setting me up?"

"Roland invited me here," Lowell said. "He didn't say why."

"But you can guess." Will was still grumbling.

Roland dragged another chair to the desk and sat, tucking his brown robe around his knees. "I wanted his opinion," he said to Will.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Will said, exasperation plain on his face.

"I did. At least five times. I believe you ignored the messages I sent."

"Something's happened in the Empire," Lowell said.

"You could say that," Will hedged.

"You don't know?" Roland asked Lowell.

Lowell didn't answer.

"He isn't as omniscient as you think, Roland."

"Be quiet, Will. I still value his assessment of the situation. And he has been rather preoccupied with other problems lately." Roland may have looked silly in the worn robe, but his face commanded respect. It was not hard to see how he'd built the Federation, reforming planets wholesale, in just the last few years. Lowell made a note never to underestimate Roland.

"The Emperor has disappeared," Will said to Lowell, giving in to Roland. "There are rumors he's dead. No one's seen him for at least a month. His son, Maximillius the Fourteenth, has assumed his duties although he hasn't been crowned. Yet."

"Tell him the rest of the story," Roland instructed.

"There's a woman with him. No one knows who she is. She wears a veil."

"The Lady, the Ice Queen," Lowell broke in. "I've heard of her. Scholar was closing in on her identity when he disappeared."

"Then who is she?" Will asked.

Lowell shook his head. "She's young. I suspect she's tied to one of the Houses of Illerion but I don't know. She has contacts at the highest levels and she is ruthless in using them. At least two of the High Command are in her pay."

"The rumor is that she's angling to be the Emperor's consort." Will leaned back again.

"The rumor is that she's already in his bed," Roland added. "She's supposed to have contacts with the drug trade."

"We don't know if she's a buyer or a seller," Will said. "There are rumors she uses drugs to keep her people in line. Maximillius certainly is exhibiting erratic behavior."

"That's normal for him," Lowell said. "What files do you have? Maybe there is something in there that I can connect for you."

"I'll have them sent next door," Will said glancing at Roland.

The monk grinned. "Pay up, Will. I told you he'd accept."

"All right, you can take it."

Roland grinned and bounced out of his chair. He pulled a framed photo of Dariana Grace off the wall. "I love her signature. Don't you?"

"Roland set up the office next door for you as soon as he learned you were on his ship," Will explained. "He bet me you would accept a job as soon as we offered."

"Maybe I'll turn you down," Lowell said.

"Not when you see the files," Will said fatalistically. "Things are bad. The Empire is down to twenty three of the Inner Worlds. It's a mess. There are over a hundred worlds we can't get to in time. We don't have the resources. The Empire does, but it's shoved them out without a word. The syndicates are too busy drooling over the richer worlds to bother with the others."

"What are you proposing?" Lowell asked.

"One quick shove and the whole thing topples," Will said.

"And we move in to pick up the pieces and put it all back together," Roland said. "It avoids a messy war and years of struggling to rebuild."

"And you get to dictate the new terms of governance?" Lowell asked.

Roland shrugged. "We get to suggest and guide."

"And your ships keep the peace and keep trade flowing," Lowell added. "It is beginning to make sense now. I wondered how you played into the picture."

"We aren't planning to take over," Roland objected. "Every system that has joined us did so of their own free will. No one forced them into the Federation."

"What about Trythia?" Lowell asked bluntly.

"They were given a choice. They could join under our terms or they would be left cut off, confined to their own world and left to fight it out themselves. You were the one who destroyed their space flight capabilities." Roland's voice was flat, stating fact.

"You saw what they did in the breeding pens?" Lowell asked. "And you still gave them a choice?"

"The only slaves left on their planet are those who chose to stay as slaves," Will said. "We have thousands of advisors and colonists on their world, watching every move they make."

"You were there," Lowell said, looking at Will. It was a guess on his part.

"For almost a year," Will acknowledged. "Another two weeks and the Federation would have liberated us. Dace just moved faster."

"That's where you got their medical techniques," Lowell said.

"And that's what kept Dace alive. Without their equipment, she wouldn't have made it."

"What kind of life does she have now?" Lowell demanded. "I've seen the medical reports on her."

"Snooping again?"

"Does it matter?"

"Then you know they have a treatment that should cure her, given enough time."

"It's experimental. The Trythians never used it on humans."

"Except for Dace. As far as we know, she's the only one who's been able to access their computer systems. She's been under their medscans before." Will shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "We will do everything we can for her."

"Because you're planning on using her," Lowell said angrily. "I won't be any part of this."

"Please, Commander Lowell," Roland said, laying his hand on Lowell's shoulder. "Hear us out. Dace is critical to our plan."

"What are you going to ask her to do?" Lowell objected. "She will never agree."

"We need her to go to Linas-Drias, as Ambassador for the Federation. She has the contacts. She knows the people. We need her to figure out what is really going on."

"You need her to shove the Empire into chaos, something she's very good at doing," Lowell said. "She'll never agree."

"She's the only person we can send. She knows the Emperor's son. She knows the Speaker to the Council of Worlds."

"She can bring back Scholar, if anyone can," Roland said.

"I'm not going to ask her for you," Lowell said.

"No, that's my job," Will said. "We want you to help plan this so she has a chance of succeeding. Look at the files, tell us what you think is really going on."

"You are going to send her in alone."

"No," Will answered again. "We'll send her in with whoever she wants to take. You can go if you like."

"Without her help, the Empire will end in civil war." Roland held the picture, stroking the wooden frame with one hand. "It will take centuries to recover. The syndicates will rise to power. No one will be safe. This is our chance to remove the head. This is our chance to build a brighter future for everyone."

"You can't wipe out crime, Roland," Will said. "We've been over this before. Many times."

"We can still try," Roland answered. "We can push them back. Get several steps ahead instead of behind. Isn't that what you said?"

"Why Dace?" Lowell asked.

"As I said before, she knows the people at the top. And they know her."

"And if she refuses?" Lowell asked.

"Then we find another way," Roland said simply. "She's our best hope, not our only hope."

"Look, Lowell," Will said, "we wouldn't ask her if we didn't feel it was necessary. Believe me when I say I don't want to involve her in anything more than helping Jasyn figure out trade regulations and keeping the Gypsies in line. But we can't. We need her."

"She will go with Myrln's blessing," Roland said.

"Let me look at those files," Lowell said. "And I'll tell you what I think. On one condition," he added.

"What?" they both asked simultaneously.

"That you tell me why she laughs about sticker bushes and Roland. That wasn't in her official report."

Will laughed.

Roland turned red. "You'll have to ask her about that," he said stiffly.

"You tell me or no deal," Lowell said, standing up from the chair. "Tell you what, you buy me dinner tonight and tell me and I'll be happy to work with you."

"Have you been taking lessons from Leon?" Will asked.

"He isn't anywhere near my class," Lowell said, leaning over the desk. "Although he's pretty good. For a lawyer." He stood, heading for the door. "You know where to find me when you have an answer." He grinned and waved on his way out the door.

"Cursed sticker bush story," Roland grumbled.