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

by Fletcher DeLancey

  Shantu must have known about Herot’s rescue, then. Periso had probably told him. And now he had gone underground.

  The head of the coup was free to organize his followers.

  Leaving Vellmar surrounded by Guards trying to establish their place in the lineup, Tal tapped Gehrain’s shoulder and led him over to a window.

  “We need to talk,” she said.

  PART FOUR:

  ENDGAME

  CHAPTER 42:

  Loyalty test

  Aldirk spent the entire flight to Redmoon staring out the window and calculating possibilities. His political success depended on staying one step ahead of Lancer Tal, ready to provide or maneuver before she herself knew what she was going to do. For her to yank him out of Blacksun on the very night that Parser had been neutralized, and put him on a public transport where he had no access to his usual sources, spoke of an urgency that might not be explained by Colonel Micah’s injury. If that urgency had to do with Parser’s plan, then Aldirk had just been taken out of the game. He did not like to consider what that might mean.

  His agitation was exacerbated by the indignity of his current mode of travel. How did anyone fly this way? The seats were narrow, the food was disgusting, and someone nearby had not bathed in far too long. Lancer Tal was going to get an earful when he arrived. “Offense before defense” was not just a warrior creed.

  He was somewhat mollified, upon exiting that foul-smelling mobile crate, to find that the Lancer had at least sent her highest-ranked Guard to meet him. Head Guardian Gehrain was waiting at the bottom of the transport ramp, his uniform causing nearly every passenger to look at him while trying to appear nonchalant.

  Aldirk marched up and deposited his gear bag in Gehrain’s hands. “Please tell me you have a military transport for the rest of this trip. I have no desire to cross Redmoon on some public magtran that stinks of old fanten.”

  “Yes, Chief Counselor. Please follow me.” Gehrain turned smartly and led him around the nose of the large transport, revealing the much smaller craft behind it. They walked up the ramp and into the familiar confines of a military short-range craft, with its wide seats, large windows, and—best of all—complete lack of people.

  Settling into the first seat, Aldirk let out a grateful sigh. “Thank Fahla, breathable air.”

  Gehrain closed the door and stored the gear bag. “We’ll be at Redmoon Base in ten ticks,” he said. “The Lancer is waiting for you.”

  “Yes, I’d rather imagine she is, since she put me on that damnable flight in the middle of the night. Does the woman never sleep?”

  Gehrain paused, then turned toward the pilot’s cabin. “Make yourself comfortable, Chief Counselor.” The pilot’s door shut behind him. Barely a tick later, the craft rose and the enormous transport station fell away beneath them.

  Redmoon was an attractive city, Aldirk had to admit. Particularly now, with all of the domes flushed a light pink in the sunrise. The Telano River looked like a lava flow as it wound through the center of the city, and boats of all sizes were carving its waters, their wakes sparkling. The fisher craft were easy to spot with their gear and brilliant colors, each painted with the unique crest of its family. Ponderous cargo carriers shoved through the current to the docks, and tiny sporting boats dashed in all directions, full of people out for their morning exercise.

  He had little time to observe this before the city was behind them, which was the main reason he could never live here. Redmoon was too small for his tastes and much too far from the center of power.

  They followed the river downstream, leaving all of the sporting boats and most of the cargo carriers behind. Then Gehrain banked the transport, and Aldirk caught a glimpse of the vast bay as they began their descent toward the landing pad at Redmoon Base. Looking down, he had no trouble picking out the Lancer’s long-distance transport from the rest. Beside it was another transport with Blacksun markings—the one he had missed by a bare hantick, thus consigning him to the horror of a public flight.

  They settled to the ground, and with excellent efficiency Gehrain was out of the pilot’s cabin, picking up Aldirk’s bag and escorting him down the ramp. To Aldirk’s surprise, he was led directly to the Lancer’s transport rather than the guest officer quarters on the base.

  It was cool, dim, and empty inside. This was not among the scenarios Aldirk had envisioned, but before he could ask, Gehrain led him down the short corridor to the Lancer’s private cabin, rapped on the door twice, and opened it.

  “Lancer Tal, Chief Counselor Aldirk is here.”

  “Good. Bring him in.”

  Aldirk stepped past Gehrain and found the Lancer sitting at her conference table, facing the door. “I’ve come as ordered, though I must protest the manner of transport I was forced to take. You would not believe—”

  “Sit down, Aldirk.”

  He closed his mouth and sat across from her. Her front was perfect as usual, but her expression was disturbing. Not for what it showed, but for the careful lack of showing anything at all. She simply watched him, and in the uncomfortable silence he heard Gehrain moving into the room behind him. With a quiet whisper, the door slid shut.

  “I have an unusual request to ask of you,” she said at last. “I would like you to submit to an empathic scan.”

  He gaped at her. Criminals submitted to empathic scans, not law-abiding citizens. He had been scanned only twice in his life: once when he became a member of the Council and was being given his clearances, and again when Lancer Tal had named him her Chief Counselor, requiring new clearances. The only reason she could possibly have to ask him for another submission was if she suspected him of criminal activity.

  “I don’t understand,” he said. “I’ve done nothing.” Suddenly, the silent, empty transport felt threatening. He was locked in here with two people who could make him disappear.

  “I wish I could take you at your word. I cannot tell you why I’m asking, Aldirk. I can only ask. Will you submit?”

  “What am I accused of? I have a right to know.”

  “Will. You. Submit.”

  It was no longer a polite question, and for the first time in his association with her, he saw a ruthless warrior under the Lancer’s uniform. The chilling blue of her eyes sent a shiver down his spine.

  “I will submit,” he said. “But only because it appears that I won’t be leaving this transport unless I do.”

  She made no response other than to narrow her eyes slightly, and he felt the intrusion. Not just her probe, but the Head Guardian’s as well. Instinctively he blocked them, causing an instant headache as they pushed against his defenses.

  “Aldirk.” Her voice was nearly a growl.

  “I’m trying!” He took a calming breath, let it out, and forced himself to drop his blocks.

  Their probes punched through with too much force, the sudden lack of resistance surprising both Lancer Tal and Gehrain. Aldirk clutched his head, panting through the pain, and was grateful to feel them pulling back to a safer level. They didn’t trust him, but at least they hadn’t actually meant to hurt him.

  Yet.

  “Where do your loyalties lie?” Lancer Tal asked.

  He dropped his hands and straightened, frowning at the last question he had expected. “With you, of course. Why would you doubt it?”

  “Are you working for or providing information to anyone else?”

  “No! I have never betrayed you. What is—”

  “Did you mention anything, to anyone other than Colonel Razine, regarding our mission yesterday?”

  “Yes, I spoke of it with Guard Varsi. She was very distressed to have been left behind.”

  “What do you know about the relationship between Parser and Shantu?”

  He blinked at her. “You mean besides working together on the Anti-Corruption Task Force?
They have no relationship beyond that. At least not that I know of.”

  She watched him for several pipticks, then sat back with a sigh and rubbed her temples. “Let him go, Gehrain.”

  They retreated, Gehrain swiftly and Lancer Tal with more care. Only then did Aldirk realize that the majority of the pressure in his head was from the Lancer’s probe. Had she pulled out as abruptly as she had pushed in, he would have been reeling from the pain.

  The moment they were out, he slammed his blocks back into place and sagged with relief. Then he stiffened, anger bolstering his courage. “Do you mind telling me what that was about? Did I pass your loyalty test?”

  Her face, which had been so cold moments before, now looked weary. “Yes, you did. Please accept my apologies. I never thought I would be in the position of questioning your loyalty, but it’s been a difficult day and a worse night. Gehrain, have a seat.”

  Gehrain came around to the Lancer’s side of the table and sat beside her. “I apologize as well, Chief Counselor. It was necessary.”

  A retort was on the tip of Aldirk’s tongue, but another look at Lancer Tal’s obvious weariness stopped him. “You haven’t slept, have you?”

  “Not more than a couple of hanticks.” She gave him a tiny smile. “You have no idea how glad I am that you’re on my side.”

  “I didn’t realize there were sides.” A sudden suspicion blossomed. “Parser and Shantu?”

  “Shantu is planning a caste coup. He’s the one who was holding Herot Opah, not Parser, though they’re working together. And he was fully prepared to kill Herot and frame me for the murder, in order to expose me as a leader bent on personal revenge. We’ve upset his plans by extracting Herot, but he’s gone underground now and I don’t know what his next step will be. I assume it will be to contact his supporters and initiate action. Since there’s a warrant out on him, he can no longer afford to wait. He needs to get me out of my position so the criminal charges can be conveniently dropped.”

  Aldirk shook his head, trying to come to terms with the impossibility of it. “Are you certain of all this? Because if he’s truly planning a caste coup, it’s the quietest one I ever heard of.”

  Her gaze sharpened. “You haven’t heard anything?”

  “Absolutely nothing. If Parser and Shantu are working together, they’re showing no sign of it at the State House or at social functions in Blacksun. The only time they’re together is when they’re working on the task force. And if Shantu has been rounding up support on the Council and among Blacksun warriors, then he’s found a way to do it without raising even a breath of gossip. I find that especially difficult to believe. When the warrior caste was preparing to unseat Tordax, I knew about it nearly three ninedays prior to the event. And I was only a Councilor then; I have more sources now as Chief Counselor. Nothing is happening. I would stake my good name on it.”

  She looked from him to Gehrain. “Maybe I’ve overestimated his timeline. Maybe he hasn’t gotten support yet.”

  “He doesn’t have the political capital for it now,” Aldirk said. “If you hadn’t turned around public opinion on the matter printers, he would have. But you recovered from that. He needs you to make a public stumble that he can pounce on, and you haven’t stumbled.”

  “Great Goddess,” she said, a light dawning on her face. “Is something going to go right at last? I may faint from the shock of it.”

  “Herot was your public stumble,” said Gehrain. “We pulled out his most valuable source of political capital.”

  “I would advise an emergency Council session.” Aldirk was already strategizing. “We can eliminate what political capital he has by laying everything out in front of the Council. The Councilors will wake up this morning and find that the Prime Warrior is now pursued by the AIF and the Prime Merchant is already in custody; that will be the biggest news since the Voloth invasion. If we follow that up with the details of Shantu’s plan regarding Herot Opah—perhaps even have Herot testify before the Council—we can make it impossible for Shantu to find support. No one wants to associate with a known criminal. An unknown one, perhaps, but not a known one.”

  “Hm.” Lancer Tal rested her head on the back of her chair and gazed at the ceiling. “There’s one piece missing, and I don’t like it.” Raising her head again, she looked from Aldirk to Gehrain. “Parser’s plan. Given the way he covered all possibilities, I cannot believe he wouldn’t have planned for the possibility of losing Herot.”

  “He may have,” Gehrain said, “but he probably didn’t plan for the possibility of losing Shantu as well. Even the Chief Counselor didn’t know of their association outside the task force. The only reason we know is because we collected two prisoners along with Herot, and how could Parser possibly have planned for that? As you said, that was Shantu’s show. Parser didn’t even know where Herot was being held.”

  “It’s not likely,” she conceded. “But I’m still not comfortable. I don’t want to make a move until Razine has her warrant and takes Parser apart.”

  Aldirk felt ill. “Empathic force?”

  She nodded. “I need to know what he knows. We should have the information before midmeal today.”

  Aldirk had no great love for Parser, but he wouldn’t wish empathic force on anyone other than the Voloth. Even in the hands of highly trained interrogators, things could go wrong. He had heard stories of Alseans who never fully recovered from it. “That’s a nasty procedure,” he said.

  “Yes, it is.” Her eyes chilled again. “And I’ve learned that Parser is a rather nasty person. He brought this on himself. It’s not as if he made a single bad decision. He planned all of this, far in advance. Herot Opah nearly died, simply because he was a tile for Parser to play. And if it hadn’t been Herot, it would have been Jaros.”

  “What!”

  They looked at Gehrain, who was embarrassed by his outburst. “You didn’t mention that in my briefing,” he said.

  “Put it down to a lack of sleep. Yes, Parser made sure to tell me, when he thought he’d won the first time, that his original target was Jaros. It was a message.”

  “A very pointed message,” Aldirk said. “None of the Opahs would be safe unless you turned a blind eye to him.”

  Gehrain’s face darkened. “Now I’m sorry I can’t be there to personally assist in his questioning.”

  “Perhaps you can personally escort him to the Pit.” Lancer Tal looked at Aldirk thoughtfully. “I like the idea of Herot testifying before the Council. Putting a face and a personal story to the situation will make matters even worse for both Parser and Shantu.”

  “Are you sure you want to do that?” Gehrain asked. “Can we be certain Herot won’t damage you as much as they have?”

  Aldirk had to concede his point. “This is the man who nearly got you killed. Perhaps my idea was ill considered.”

  “I think Herot can be motivated to do the right thing.” She drummed her fingers on the table. “I need to speak with him anyway. And the prisoner transport is ready to leave, so I suppose now is the time. Aldirk, when the hantick is more reasonable, see if you can find out anything about Shantu without letting anyone know why you’re asking. And depending on what Colonel Razine gets from Parser, I may be asking you to assemble that emergency Council session. I’ll let you know as soon as I can. In the meantime, we have accommodations ready for you on base.” She smiled briefly. “The guest officer quarters, not the detention block. I was hoping for this outcome for more than just my own peace of mind. Gehrain, please escort the Chief Counselor to his quarters. I’ll be on the other transport.”

  Gehrain stood immediately. “Whenever you’re ready, Chief Counselor.”

  Aldirk pushed his chair back and looked around for his bag.

  “Aldirk.”

  Somehow Lancer Tal was standing next to him. He hadn’t even heard her chair mov
e.

  She held up her hand. “I truly am sorry for the necessity of scanning you. And even more so for the discomfort we caused.”

  He touched their palms together, feeling for himself the sincerity of her apology. “As Head Guardian Gehrain said, it was necessary. I cannot say I enjoyed the experience, but I understand why you had to do it.”

  “Do you?” she asked. “Do you realize that of all the people in the State House, you’re the one Shantu should have recruited? He overlooked the best resource in Blacksun.”

  He smiled. “Shantu is not a fool. Had he tried to recruit me, his caste coup would have been over before it began.”

  There was appreciation and respect in her touch as she returned his smile. She stooped to pick up his bag and handed it to Gehrain. “Get a few hanticks of sleep while you can.”

  “You should take your own advice.”

  He walked out the door ahead of Gehrain and thought that the transport seemed rather peaceful in the early morning light.

  CHAPTER 43:

  Herot’s education

  Tal nodded at Nilsinian and Dewar as she entered the military transport. While Razine’s warriors were taking a break, her own Guards were continuing their watch over the prisoners. They would rotate out when the others returned, but Tal was not about to leave Herot alone with anyone but her own people. She had chosen the two best-rested of her team to accompany the transport back to Blacksun, with orders not to let Herot out of their sight until they were relieved by fresh Guards from the State House.

  “Any trouble over here?” she asked.

  “No, Lancer. It’s been very quiet.” Dewar yawned and turned red. “My apologies.”

  Tal shook her head. “People who draw the dawn rotation shouldn’t be holding all-night vigils at healing centers. And yes, I know that’s the knife calling the sword a blade.”