Without a Front: The Warrior's Challenge (Chronicles of Alsea Book 3)

by Fletcher DeLancey

  “I would have tossed you into the wash right along with the sheets,” Tal said. “You were a problem child!”

  “That’s not the half of it. Mother and Father weren’t that upset about the dirt. They were upset about the smell.”

  “What smell? It was just field compost, wasn’t it?”

  “Oh, no. That was the special compost bin. The one where we process what the fanten leave behind.”

  Tal roared with laughter, then gasped, “Did the sheets grow after you fertilized them?”

  Salomen broke up too, and they sat helplessly in their chairs, clutching their stomachs.

  “Goddess, don’t make me laugh so hard right after I’ve eaten!” Salomen snorted again, then groaned. “Ow. My sides hurt.”

  “Mine too.” Tal wiped a tear from her eye. “I can just see you toddling up the stairs with fanten glop falling off you at every step.”

  Salomen laughed again. “That compost bin magically sprouted a child-proof cover the very next day.”

  “I don’t doubt it.” Tal’s chuckles dwindled to a sigh when her vidcom unit chimed. “Well, that’s the end of our morning. I thought Aldirk might have the decency to leave us alone, but it appears he couldn’t resist.” She pushed back her chair and walked over to activate the wall screen. The face that filled it was not Aldirk’s.

  “Good morning, Lancer Tal,” said Colonel Razine. “I apologize for disturbing you so early, but this could not wait.”

  “Is it about Herot or one of our other investigations?”

  Razine glanced over Tal’s shoulder. “It’s about Herot Opah.”

  “Have you found him?”

  A chair scraped back, and Salomen arrived beside her.

  “No. But he made contact with Hol-Opah a few ticks ago. The message was sent on a two-day time delay from Napoline.”

  “Has my family seen it?” Salomen asked.

  “They’re most likely viewing it right now. A copy has been downloaded to your unit, Lancer Tal. I’m available to discuss it whenever you wish.”

  “Thank you, Colonel. I’ll be in contact.”

  Razine nodded once before the screen went dark.

  Tal turned to Salomen, who was already tense with dread. “Are you ready?”

  “No.” Salomen tried to muster a smile. “But that doesn’t matter.”

  “Then let’s see what he has to say.” She wrapped her arm around Salomen’s waist and activated the file.

  Herot’s face appeared, stress showing in every line and in the dark circles under his eyes. He was in a vidcom stall with significant background noise; Tal guessed it was in Napoline’s public transit station, where the high traffic flow would give him anonymity. He looked as if he hadn’t taken a shower since the night of the assassination attempt.

  “Hello, Father,” he said in a hoarse voice. “Salomen, Nikin, Jaros…before anything else, I need to say I’m sorry. Really, really sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I was stupid and a fool, and if I could have five ticks with that fantenshekken Cullom, I’d tear his throat out. It was just talk, for Fahla’s sake! It wasn’t real. I mean—”

  He paused at a loud knock. “Occupied!” he called, then turned back to the screen. “I went home that night, but before I even got to the river, the medical transport flew past me. It scared the dokshin out of me—I thought something had happened to Father. I chased after it and saw it landing in our yard…and then I saw the plasma glow. I’ve never felt so sick in my life. I thought she was dead. You have no idea how glad I was to see the news report that it was only a minor injury. Shek, I may not have liked her, but I never wished her dead! Please, you have to believe that. I know that dokker Gordense has been blaming me too, but it wasn’t a plot. I was just angry…about everything, I guess, and she was a good target. Cullom was angry too. He and his family were looking like fools now that public opinion was turning back to her, and he believed everything Gordense said about her destroying our caste. So yes, we were both angry, and drunk, and saying stupid things, but it didn’t mean anything! It was just—” He took a shuddering breath. “My face is all over the news. I don’t know how much longer I can hide. But I can’t go back. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t mean for this to happen; I told Cullom how to kill the Lancer and he tried to do it. I’m not going to the Pit. I can’t. I’d rather die.”

  Another knock sounded. “Shek off!” he shouted in sudden fury.

  Tal watched carefully, recognizing a man who was in deeper than he could wade and very close to drowning.

  “I wish I could see you all again,” he said. “I know I’ve been an ass, and I’m sorry about that too. You’d be amazed at how clear everything became all of a sudden. I thought I lost everything when Mother died, but you were all right there, waiting for me to notice I still had a family, and I never did. And now—” His face twisted into a bitter smile. “Now I’m glad Mother went to her Return. I’m glad she’s not here to see this. It would have broken her heart, and that’s the worst thing of all, knowing I’ve broken your hearts.”

  A more insistent knock made him close his eyes. “Dammit. I have to go.” He looked as if he wanted to say something else, then shook his head. The screen went dark.

  The tension in Salomen’s body had climbed with every word, and now she was almost humming with suppressed energy. “I need to sit down,” she said faintly.

  “I know.” Tal projected calm as they walked to the living area. Salomen sat stiffly, staring straight out the window. As Tal lowered herself onto the cushion next to her, she reflected that only a few ticks ago this same woman had been helpless with laughter.

  “It’s the best news we could have heard,” she said. “When we find him and corroborate his story with an empathic scan, the charge will be direct enabling, not attempted assassination. He won’t go to the Pit.”

  Salomen looked haunted. “But he’ll still go to prison.”

  “Yes, he will. But the sentence will be far less.”

  “I can’t think of Herot in prison. I was praying so hard that he hadn’t done it intentionally, but I never let myself think beyond that.”

  There was nothing Tal could say. She couldn’t help Salomen because she couldn’t help Herot. He had well and truly put himself beyond aid.

  They sat in uncomfortable silence, Salomen’s body still rigid while her emotions roiled both of their minds. Tal rested a hand on her thigh, occasionally stroking it, letting her know she was there through the most unthreatening physical touch she could think of.

  “I hope you won’t think less of me for saying this,” Salomen said. “But I want Colonel Razine to be unsuccessful for a good long time.”

  “I don’t think less of you. I think you love your brother.”

  Salomen slumped back, put her face in her hands, and wept at last.

  PART TWO:

  SPINNER IN THE WEB

  CHAPTER 15:

  Investigations

  Tal felt like a traitor when she met with Colonel Razine later that morning. She had reluctantly left Salomen in her quarters, having called off their challenge for a day, and spent the morning catching up. So far she had spoken with Miltorin about the latest media coverage, met with her economic advisors about the market impact of the last moon and specifically the assassination attempt, and was now seated opposite Colonel Razine at her conference table. And it was only hantick ten.

  “Raiz Opah must have been tremendously relieved,” Razine said. “Assuming Herot is speaking the truth.”

  “I think he is. Everything he said tracks with what I know of him—a selfish young man who acts without thinking of the consequences.”

  Razine made a hum of agreement. “After watching that vid, I’m more convinced than ever that he cannot be doing this on his own. That was the demeanor of a man who knows he will soon be
caught. Yet he’s vanished with the ease of a well-trained covert investigator. Something is not adding up. At this point I would not be surprised if he made that appearance in Napoline just to throw us off the trail, and has now backtracked north again.”

  Tal rubbed her forehead. “I really did not need any more mysteries. Did you get anything from that Granelle merchant?”

  “Unfortunately, no. He’s a low-level tool. He was very cooperative, but it didn’t help much. All of his communication with Spinner was done via messages sent to a temporary account based in Redmoon. His last message is still sitting there, uncollected. We have a trace on it now, but I doubt Spinner will ever access that account again.”

  “So it’s a stone wall. Great. Do you have any good news for me?”

  “In fact, I do. Last night our smuggler friend Hallwell finally met someone worthwhile.”

  “In Whitemoon?” Tal sat up straight, all attention.

  “Barely. He went to a dirty little inn on the outskirts of the city. The sort of place where blindness can be bought. Fortunately, it was only a temporary affliction, easily cured with a handful of cinteks.”

  “What did we buy?”

  “A room number. To a top-floor room with no direct line of sight into the window.”

  “Someone is experienced at avoiding observation,” Tal said.

  “Yes, but most observers don’t have the latest cambot. My team sent one to the window and watched the vid feed. I wish we had sound, too, but at least we enjoyed an excellent look at Hallwell’s contact. And we thought it very interesting to watch a smuggler meeting with a warrior from the Anti-Corruption Task Force.”

  Anger coiled in her stomach. “So now we have both a merchant and a warrior using their task force positions to pick up some extra credit. This just keeps getting better. Who is it?”

  “Her name is Alanor Salir.” Razine pushed her reader card toward Tal, its screen showing an image of a warrior who looked to be around Herot’s age.

  Tal examined the image and the data beneath it. “She’s not our target. Too young and not enough power.”

  “Agreed. But she’s sworn to Councilor Ehron. May I?” She tapped the reader card, changing the image to one of a much older warrior.

  “Ehron…” Tal muttered, staring at the face. “He’s been on the Council for what, three cycles? I don’t know him well. He’s not one of the shouters.” She scanned the data below. “Almost four cycles now. Fairly undistinguished career; he’s not on any of the powerful committees. Well, if this is our target, he’s done an admirable job of hiding his ambition.”

  “We’re doing a search on his financial records right now, and I have a team following both him and Salir. I wish we could bring Ehron in for an empathic scan and save ourselves the time and trouble, but if he’s not the one, that would put the investigation right down the sewage pipe.”

  Tal drummed her fingers on the table. “I could ask him to meet with me. Some sort of new program I’m implementing, of getting to know the Councilors I don’t ordinarily interact with. All it would take would be the right question.”

  “That seems a bit transparent.”

  “You’re right.” Tal drummed her fingers more rapidly, then stopped. “However…I just happen to have a producer on site who is famous for having the horns to challenge me. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for me to want to introduce her to a cross-section of Councilors.”

  A slow smile spread across Razine’s face. “No, I don’t believe that would be out of the ordinary at all.”

  CHAPTER 16:

  The whole truth

  Just before midmeal, Tal finally found a spare moment to make the call. The pad notified her that the Phoenix had received her communication, and she waited longer than usual before Ekatya finally appeared. One look at her robe and disarrayed hair and Tal felt like an idiot.

  “It’s the middle of the night there, isn’t it? I’m sorry. I forgot to check the time converter.”

  Ekatya looked at her silently for a moment, then smiled. “Stars and Shippers, it’s good to see you. And I don’t care what time it is. I’ve been waiting for seven days, Andira. What took you so long?”

  “It’s been five and a half of my days, and most of that time I spent in the healing center. They just released me yesterday afternoon. Then it was nonstop obligations until evenmeal, and after that…well. You’re my closest friend besides Micah, and I’ve been wanting to talk to you for the last moon, but not even for you would I have interrupted last night.”

  Ekatya’s smile turned knowing. “A little coming-home gift? Then I guess you’re fully healed.”

  “I am. And it was our first time.”

  “Really? Colonel Micah said you’d been bonded for less than a day, but I thought…well, Lhyn said…” She trailed off.

  “Normally, we would have. You have no idea how much we wanted to. But a joining would have killed us.”

  Ekatya leaned an elbow on the desk and rested her head on her fist. “Tell me everything. How did you learn she was your tyree? I always thought you would just…know, somehow, the moment you met the right person.”

  “Maybe that’s how it works for others. Apparently, I’m stubborn. I look back now and there were so many clues, but I was a grainbird.” Tal started at the beginning of the challenge, and in the telling it sounded almost too fantastical to believe. Ekatya interrupted frequently, asking for clarification, and on several occasions her questions set them both laughing.

  “I can’t even imagine what that must have been like. Every time you linked Lhyn and me, it stayed with us for hanticks afterward. The sex was incredible. And for you it’s built in. How are you even walking today?”

  “With difficulty,” Tal said, setting off another round of chuckles. “Only Salomen could make me want to climb back in bed after spending five days and nights wishing I could get out of it.”

  “I’m so happy for you,” Ekatya said warmly. “You’ve no idea how much I wished for something like this. Well, not exactly like this—I had something a bit less stressful in mind. But you’re special to both of us. It always hurt to think of you just being the Lancer, with no one to see who you really are.”

  “Salomen sees me more clearly than I do. Sometimes it’s a little alarming.”

  “Good. That’s what you need.” Her expression shifted. “Colonel Micah told me what happened after we left.”

  “Micah wags his tongue like a bored merchant.”

  “I pushed him. He was trying to find a diplomatic way to warn me off, but I wasn’t having it. At first I wanted to apologize to you. Then I realized you’d have done it even if you knew the risk. Then I got mad at you.”

  Tal crossed her arms and waited.

  “I’m already in debt to you, and you managed to increase it from four sectors away. I hate being in debt.”

  “You are not—”

  “You suffered for moons because of something I asked you to do. Don’t tell me I’m not in debt. Yes, you offered the first time. But we asked after that. Now, what’s going on with your missing slime worm of a bondbrother, and how can we help?”

  “You can’t pay off your imaginary debt that way. It’s internal, and I am not going to be seen running to the Protectorate for something so trivial. Besides, we received a message from Herot this morning. He says he didn’t mean for it to happen, and I believe him. Which means he’s already done all the damage he can do to me.”

  “I’m going to ask you the same thing I asked Colonel Micah. Are you certain about that?”

  “The worst that can happen if we don’t find him is that my administration will look incompetent. If the Protectorate sends its newest warship out to help, we’ll look even more incompetent.”

  Ekatya didn’t seem happy, but she nodded. “All right.”

 
“As for that debt—I wanted to do it. It was the closest I’d ever come to touching the face of Fahla, and I thought I’d never have another chance. And I wasn’t entirely honest with you when I did it.”

  “That’s because you’re a master of lying by omission. You would think I’d learn. But I notice that regardless of your feelings, you kept yourself out of it until the last time, when we specifically asked you to come in with us. We have to do something about that self-sacrificing kink of yours.”

  “I’m a warrior,” Tal said with a snort of laughter. “We don’t think sacrifice is a kink.”

  “Ask Salomen how she feels about you sacrificing yourself to save her.”

  “I don’t have to. She told me just this morning. She feels safe…and loved.”

  After a long pause, Ekatya said quietly, “So did I.”

  Tal looked into her eyes and wished once again that they weren’t speaking over a quantum com. She missed being able to feel the richness of Ekatya’s emotions.

  “I haven’t told her the whole truth about you. She knows what you were to me, but…she doesn’t know about the Sharings and what they did. It shouldn’t be that threatening, because what I absorbed from you and Lhyn was a small dose compared to what I have with her, but I can’t even begin to imagine how I could start that conversation.”

  “Then don’t.”

  “I have to at some point. We based this relationship on honesty.”

  “So be honest. But that doesn’t mean you have to be the one to bring it up, and why would you want to? She recently lost her mother, and now she has effectively lost her brother. And her tyree is the one hunting him. Her family is in flux, and she’s only just bonded with you. Do you really think she needs to hear about me and Lhyn right now?”