An Indecent Proposal

by Jaleta Clegg

  Clark took her hand, squeezing it gently.

  "I have to hear her say it," Jasyn repeated.

  "I know. Which is why we're going to stop at Tebros and convince someone else to finish hauling our cargo. And this time, no one's going to stop us from finding her. Not even Lowell."

  "He promised me she'd be on Besht." Jasyn's face hardened. "He promised me she wouldn't be gone more than a few weeks."

  "I'll hold him while you kick him." Clark cocked his head to the side. "Do you think Paltronis will try to help us or stop us? She does work for him."

  "I think she'll help us this time," Jasyn answered. "She was furious with him when I talked to her last. She was there, on Tivor, with Dace. She knows what they did to her."

  She slipped her hand free from his only to knot it together with her other hand in her lap. Paltronis was also the one who had warned them that Dace wasn't the same person who had left their ship for Serrimonia. She wouldn't say how Dace had changed, only that she wasn't the same. The only information they had been able to get was that Dace may have suffered brain damage when she was shot. Only time would tell how bad it was.

  "How could she do that to Tayvis?" Jasyn asked after a strained silence. "She loved him."

  Clark didn't know how to answer that.

  "When I first met her, she had nightmares. She was in love with him way back then, even if she wouldn't admit it to herself. She said his name in her sleep." She looked up at Clark. "Do you know anything about Vance Shiropi?"

  "He was a bit of a jerk when he came to pick her up, but Lowell trusted him. I don't know anything about him, Jasyn."

  "If she's playing some kind of game." Her voice trailed off. She stared down at her controls. "Lowell's behind it, I know it. I want to know what he did to her on Tivor."

  "I'll help you beat it out of him." Clark clicked the com button. "How's the repair coming?" he asked when Twyla answered.

  "Another ten minutes and we should have it," his sister told him.

  "I'll start preflight," he said, to both her and Jasyn.

  Jasyn didn't answer. She sat still, her arms wrapped around herself as if she were cold. Her eyes stared into the distance at something only she could see. It hurt him to see her that way. She loved Dace, they were closer than sisters. He didn't understand what could possibly have happened to keep Dace away from Jasyn. He was going to find out, though, no matter what it took. He wanted his wife to smile again.

  Chapter 14

  I paced restlessly. Three days of resting left me tense and irritable. My side was much better. The sealant was beginning to flake and peel. I tried not to scratch. I rubbed instead. The skin underneath was ridged with scar tissue and it was tender. I rubbed, but not too hard.

  Hester had taken me shopping. I hadn't paid much attention to what I bought. I had clothing that I assumed would be appropriate. Hester had chosen it for me. I was too distracted and upset by my visit to the Patrol offices. I still wasn't quite sure how I'd come to agree to spy for them. The thought of spying on the Speaker to the Council made me queasy. How could Max possibly be plotting against his father? Max would inherit the Emperor's throne someday. Who would want it in the first place? If I were Max, I'd be plotting a way to keep the Emperor alive as long as possible. None of it made sense. I wanted out of the whole mess. I wanted to find Tayvis and do whatever was necessary to get him to listen to me. I wanted to beat Vance senseless for putting me into this situation in the first place. The more I paced, the more I realized I didn't really know what I wanted besides out.

  I was alone in my rooms. It was still hard to believe I was staying in the mansion of the Speaker to the Council of Worlds. How had I ever come to this? How had a nobody orphan from Tivor ended up here, on Linas-Drias, involved with those who made the rules for the rest?

  From a distance, the Emperor and the Speaker and the others were glittering figures, larger than life. It was easy to believe they were mythical. Up close, they were people. They had to use the bathroom like everyone else. I'd had a lot of illusions ripped rudely apart in the last few days. Even though I'd been here, alone in my room most of that time, I'd learned enough to know life wasn't the way I'd assumed it was.

  Iniuri was busy with a crisis. He'd sent his apologies that he was unable to entertain me the way a host should. I really didn't mind. Vance stopped by to see me once. Hester sent him away. I didn't trust myself not to kill him at the time.

  I had to figure out what I had agreed to do for Commander Leighton and Commander Maharta. I did my own sneaky checking on them once I got back. They did indeed work for Lowell. Whether he actually trusted them or not was still in question.

  I hated politics. I hated intrigue. I had no idea what I was doing. I was playing way out of my league. And I had little choice. Their arguments made too much sense. I was privileged now. I had access to people at social levels they never would. I'd made a very public scene as I left the Patrol offices that had made it into the daily news vids. Nobody had any doubts that I still worked for Lowell or the Patrol. At least that was the plan. The official story was that I'd stopped by the Patrol offices to finalize my discharge papers. And to make it clear that I was through with Lowell and his schemes. The reality was that I was in deeper than ever.

  I was happy to be interrupted from the circling of my thoughts by a knock at the door.

  It was Olin, Iniuri's other personal assistant. He was more like a butler, but that term was unfashionable. He studied me as he bowed.

  "Are you feeling better, miss?" he asked, using the archaic form of address. I found it charming.

  "Much, Olin, thank you."

  "Miss Hester sends her apologies," he continued after eying me to make sure I wasn't lying. "She has been very occupied with urgent matters today and regrets being unable to accompany you."

  "I needed time alone anyway." I was uncomfortable around Olin. I couldn't figure out what he was thinking.

  "Very good, miss. Dr. Himus would like to see you tomorrow, if that is convenient for you." He waited for me to answer.

  "I don't have anything else on my schedule. Or is there something I don't know about?"

  "Speaker Shiropi would like you to dine with him tonight. He also sends his apologies for not attending you before tonight."

  "I know, urgent business." I was beginning to wonder if it was really urgent or if it was an excuse to avoid an awkward social encounter. Or was I projecting my own feelings on his behavior? I didn't know anymore. I was still not sure who I was, deep inside, where it really counted. How much had the Hrissia'noru changed me? How much had Trythia and Tivor? I didn't know if I'd ever find the answers to those questions.

  "Was there anything else?" I asked Olin when he kept standing in the doorway.

  "A message for you, miss." He held out a very thin sheet, a transcript from a subspace message beacon. "I hope I was not being presumptuous in having it transcribed for you. It was in a rather obscure code."

  "How—" I started to ask and then thought better of it. I didn't want to know how Olin had managed to decipher whatever message it was. I wanted to know who had sent it. Maybe it was Tayvis. I reached for the paper when Olin handed it to me.

  He stayed in the doorway, watching me as I scanned through the message. It was from Lowell. He hadn't signed it, but he was the only one who could possibly have dictated it. Scholar had sent it, I recognized his touches in the wording. It wasn't from Tayvis, the disappointment was physical. I didn't want Lowell's apologies for what he was asking from me. I crumpled the paper in my fist.

  "Bad news?" Olin asked sympathetically.

  "You read it, you should know," I said, more bitterly than I meant to. It wasn't Olin's fault that my life was ruined. It was Lowell's. Again. "I'm sorry, Olin. It isn't anything to do with you."

  "Then what is it about, miss? If you don't mind my asking."

  "Nothing important, not now." My life depended on my secrets being kept. Everyone had to believe I was serious about marrying Vance
, even those closest to him. Especially those closest around me.

  "If you say so, miss." Olin wasn't buying my story.

  "Commander Lowell sent it. He wants me to reconsider my resignation from the Patrol."

  "And will you, miss?"

  I shook my head. "I'm through with it. I'm through with him." There was enough venom in my voice to convince anyone that I was serious.

  "Very good," Olin said in his professional butler voice. "Will there be anything else?"

  "Yes," I said on impulse. "Do you play cards?"

  He stopped, as if my request took a moment for him to process and understand. "No one has asked me that before," he said as he slowly smiled. "I do know a few variations of Comets, but I haven't played in years. I believe there is a deck in the library."

  I hesitated. Maybe he had other duties. "Are you sure you aren't busy? That I'm not interrupting anything?" I blurted it out awkwardly.

  Olin's smile grew wider. "Not a thing, miss. I was wondering myself how I was going to pass the afternoon."

  "One more thing, Olin," I said as he turned away. "My name is Dace, not miss."

  He studied me a long moment, his smile wide and genuine. "Do you wish to play here or in the library? I believe the chairs there are quite comfortable."

  "I'd love to get out of this room for a while," I said sincerely.

  "Very good, miss. This way, please." His smile turned into a grin. "Dace," he added. He waved down the hallway.

  I went with him to the library. He pulled a dusty deck of cards from a bottom drawer. They had seen a lot of heavy usage, but not for a long time. I settled myself in a very comfortable chair at a table carved from a solid slab of wood and polished to a dark gloss. Olin handled the cards like a professional. He quickly sorted them out, making sure all of the cards were there.

  "Wait a moment." I picked three cards at random and inspected them. "These are marked."

  Olin raised one eyebrow. "Were you planning on cheating?"

  "Were you?"

  He only chuckled as he gathered the cards.

  "I won't cheat if you promise not to cheat either," I said.

  "That sounds acceptable." He was still planning to cheat, I could read it in his face. Two could play at that game.

  He dealt the cards and we started playing.

  He knew more variations of Comets than anyone I'd ever met, excepting the sergeant at the Academy where I'd gone. He also cheated outrageously. I matched him, point for point, and cheated just as badly. It was the most enjoyable afternoon I'd spent in longer than I cared to remember.

  "I think, Miss Dace," Olin said, "you know more about cheating than I suspected. I believed Admirals to be more upright and law abiding."

  "Don't try to teach a spacer about cards. I was cheating at Comets long before I was an admiral." I didn't say anything about his form of addressing me. Miss Dace was the compromise between his formally correct manners and my need to hear someone call me by my name.

  "I was curious about that," Olin admitted. "How did you come to be an admiral in the Enforcers? Begging your pardon, but you do not fit their usual mold."

  "Lowell forced me into it. He didn't give me a choice."

  "I believe that is a double comet, with a triple score bonus and a half eclipse," Olin said, smoothly changing the subject back to cards.

  We played another hand. I had to find new ways to cheat to keep from losing miserably.

  "How did you meet Master Vance?" he asked.

  I lowered my cards and watched his face. "Did his father put you up to this?"

  His mouth worked for a moment while he thought up a plausible lie. "No, it was my own curiosity. Although, his Lordship is very curious himself. Another reason he wishes to talk with you tonight. The news vids are rife with rumors. He wishes to know the truth of it."

  "My version? Not Vance's?"

  "He is well aware of his son's propensity for exaggeration," Olin said primly. "And you must admit the circumstances surrounding his announcement were rather strained."

  "That's a delicate way of saying I was surprised and angry enough to kill him on the spot. He could have had the decency to ask me what I thought before he announced it to the entire galaxy."

  "I find your primitive violent tendencies most refreshing," Olin said with a grin. "I believe I have you cornered. Triple comet." He laid a card down with a flourish.

  I picked a card from my hand and laid it on top of his. I'd been waiting for him to play that combination. "Reversal. Triple comet is mine, and all of the bonus points accumulated for the entire round."

  "Outrageous," he said in a fake shocked voice. "The odds of that happening are millions to one."

  "Not if you cheat right."

  He laughed as he gathered the cards, pushing them in my direction. "Your deal, cheater," he said, dropping the stiffly formal tone.

  I shuffled and flipped the cards together. "Where did you learn to play?"

  "I was a Patrol marine, ground squadron, for five years."

  I raised my eyebrow. I'd been practicing.

  "You look ridiculous," he told me.

  "No worse than you do when you do it. How did you come to be personal assistant to the Speaker to the Council of Worlds?"

  "The usual way, I inherited the position." He picked up his cards and sorted them. "My family has been serving the Speaker for over five hundred years, ever since the uprising of Hirugoshi. My ancestor saved Speaker Shiropi's ancestor. The position is an honor, and a great trust."

  I couldn't help but think of Commander Leighton's accusations. Someone high up was plotting against the Emperor, perhaps the Speaker himself. Maybe it wasn't the Speaker, maybe it was his household staff. I hated being so suspicious, but I couldn't shake the feeling.

  "And what of your loyalties to the Empire?"

  "This conversation has gone beyond the light banter I was hoping to achieve," he said levelly, no trace of annoyance or threat in his voice.

  "You started it," I pointed out.

  "So I did." He put his cards on the table, stacked neatly face down. "You, Admiral Dace, are more dangerous than you appear. Much more dangerous. I would advise you to be very careful questioning loyalties to the Empire. There are those who, unlike me, would take great offense. There are others who would be very threatened by such questions. Those who are afraid are apt to act unpredictably and possibly violently."

  He was warning me. Was I treading on dangerous ground with him? How far could I read between the lines he gave me?

  "And are you one of those?" I asked point blank.

  He smiled, this time showing me teeth instead of good humor. "I only pass on a warning. Be very careful what you ask for. You may get much more than you anticipated." He picked up his cards, fanning them in front of his face. "And to answer your question, my loyalty to the Empire and the Emperor remain firm. As firm as they were when I served with a blast rifle instead of a butler's uniform."

  "It's my job to ask, Olin. I apologize if I offended you."

  "You are still working for Commander Lowell."

  "And if anyone else figures it out, I'm dead."

  "Do you usually play such dangerous games?"

  "You saw my scars, you answer the question." I waited for him to open the hand. He lowered his cards instead.

  "Who else knows what you are doing?"

  "Commander Lowell's people." I had to trust someone. Anyone who could cheat as flamboyantly at cards as Olin did had to be trustworthy.

  "And Vance?"

  I shrugged. "I wasn't working for Lowell until Vance handed them the golden opportunity. He put me in the position I'm in. Lowell's people are only taking advantage of it."

  "And what do you get in return? Money? Power? Recognition?" His eyes were hard.

  "I get my life back," I said flatly.

  He waited for me to explain. I sorted my cards. My life was my life. I wasn't required to explain it or justify to anyone. Not even to Lowell.

  "Malcolm Ta
yvis?" Olin asked. "The man you asked Hester to help you locate?"

  "She can't find him. She told me this morning. He's left the planet."

  "You are willing to risk your life uncovering treason for him?"

  "Why I do what I do is not your concern."

  We locked stares over the table, the cards and the game forgotten. It had been easy to underestimate Olin. It was too easy to see only the clothes he wore, the position he held in the household, and judge him as nothing more than a piece of furniture. I'd also learned that people tended to underestimate me as well. Neither of us backed down.

  "Be very careful, Admiral. I respect you, what I know of you so far. And I understand what you are attempting to accomplish. Be very careful."

  "Thanks for the warning."

  He picked up his cards and fanned them, as if nothing had just happened. He pulled a card from his hand and placed it on the table.

  "The opening gambit is the most important move in Comets," he said, his tone light. His eyes were still deadly serious, though.

  I glanced down at his card. He'd played a three. It was a risky move. I could easily play a double comet off a three. Or I could just as easily lose everything with the wrong card. His message was clear. This wasn't about cards, this was about treason, at the highest levels. This was about danger, not the kind I could shoot, but the kind that crept insidiously into the most casual conversation. I was out of my depth and I knew it.

  Olin waited for me to play a card.

  "It's easier with a marked deck," I said lightly, matching his tone. "It's much harder playing when you don't know what cards your opponents are holding."

  "So true," he agreed.

  I placed a seven on his three. Another risky move. I was counting on him playing a ten or a four. Any other card left me with a secure double comet. He very carefully laid an eleven on my seven. He'd given me a guaranteed triple comet with bonuses.

  "Be careful who you trust," he said.

  "Am I wrong to trust you?" I asked bluntly.