Lady Lure

by Speer, Flora

  Kalina could only hope that, despite the precautions the Hierarchy had taken, Jyrit, Dysia, and the rest of her group would be able to gather a crumb of information here, or a vague hint there, so that, when the little they had learned was put together, it would provide a bit of hope that Halvo still survived and some idea as to where he was.

  Kalina was seated between the Chief Hierarch and his fair-haired, solemn-faced son-in-law. The rest of her people were scattered along the table in descending order of rank, each of them surrounded by the Regulan Hierarchs and their families. When the Chief Hierarch turned to speak to the woman on his left side and to Jyrit, who sat next to the woman, Kalina gave her full attention to her youthful companion.

  “I have met so many people today,” Kalina said with a self-deprecating laugh, “that I regret I cannot recall your name, sir.”

  “I am not surprised.” Though the actual eating and drinking had barely begun, the young man swallowed the entire contents of his large wine goblet and held it out to a servant to be refilled. “I am Elyr. This lady beside me is my wife, Thori. Since we are but newly wed, we were seated together.”

  “Congratulations to you both,” Kalina said, smiling.

  “I have never been to a state banquet before.” Thori leaned forward toward Kalina, but her eyes were on Elyr’s face. There was adoration in her gaze and – was that a hint of fear?

  “How long have you been married?” Kalina asked, her interest in the pair sharpened by what she thought she perceived in Thori’s face.

  “Only six days.” Thori blushed. She was a pretty girl with reddish brown hair worn in braids and a bright blue gown.

  “Now, as I understand Regulan custom,” Kalina said in a friendly way, “you have been betrothed since your ninth birthday and living in Elyr’s household since that day. I consider that a very sensible arrangement. Boys and girls should know each other well before they marry.”

  “Oh, no,” Thori cried. “I hardly know Elyr at all. We were only betrothed for ten days before the marriage ceremony.”

  “I beg your pardon for my mistake.” Kalina extended her smile from Thori to Elyr. She did not miss the fact that he looked decidedly pale and was on his third goblet of wine. “Obviously, I am not as conversant with Regulan customs as I imagined.”

  “No, Lady Kalina, you did not make a mistake. Elyr was betrothed to someone else first,” Thori said, as if she were eager to tell someone about her unusual marital arrangements. “The silly girl stole a spaceship and ran away. Can you believe anyone would do something like that? It caused such a scandal!”

  Plainly, Thori meant that she could not understand how anyone could run away from Elyr, but Kalina, who knew how women were treated on Regula, found herself wondering instead how a girl kept in virtual ignorance of the world outside the home of her betrothed could have learned to pilot a spaceship. Kalina decided it might be enlightening to learn more about Elyr’s former wife-to-be.

  “I am sorry,” Kalina said to Elyr. “I owe you another apology. When I meet young people, I am so interested in learning about their lives that my questions sometimes overstep the boundaries of good manners. I did not mean to intrude into your personal unhappiness.”

  “I am not unhappy.” Elyr’s words were just a bit slurred. “Perri was an irritating, stupid girl. I am well rid of her. Thori is much more to my liking.”

  “You may be sure, dearest Elyr,” Thori said blushing again at her husband’s compliment, “that I will never run away as Perri did.”

  “I am sure you will not.” Kalina smiled at her. “You appear to be a sensible girl, so I am certain that, when differences arise between you and your husband, you will find a way to settle those little arguments to your mutual advantage. As a wife of many years who loves her husband dearly, I can tell you that husbands and wives do quarrel on occasion.”

  “They do?” Thori’s eyes went wide with surprise as she contemplated the novel idea.

  “It is the sign of a healthy relationship. I never hesitate to speak my mind to my husband.”

  “Oh.” Thori appeared to be thinking about that.

  “My wife will never disagree with me.” Elyr spoke with all the assurance of a Regulan male.

  Thori looked from her husband to Kalina and back to Elyr again. Kalina was fully aware that she had just planted the seed of future dissent. She hoped Thori would be strong enough to nourish its growth.·

  “Ah, Lady Kalina,” the Chief Hierarch murmured, returning his attention from his other dinner partner to her, “I fear you have been subjected to my daughter’s overexcited version of the story of her marriage.”

  “Who is the dreadful girl who stole a spaceship?” Kalina asked.

  “Oh, dear,” the Chief Hierarch murmured, looking sorrowful. “I had originally planned to tell you about the incident after the pleasantries of the banquet were over. I have no wish to spoil this delightful repast for the sake of so slight an indicator.”

  “What indicator? Has this thief, Perri, anything to do with my son’s disappearance?” Kalina raised her voice by half a notch and allowed a threatening note to creep into it. “Tell me now, Chief Hierarch.”

  “You have explained to us that your son was abducted aboard a small ship which you believe was crewed by pirates,” the Chief Hierarch said.

  “Yes.” Kalina waited, barely daring to hope that the Chief Hierarch had some news of Halvo and that he would tell her honestly what that news was instead of engaging in a typical Regulan intrigue.

  “Perri did indeed steal a small ship,” the Chief Hierarch said, “and several days after the date on which Capt. Jyrit reports your son was taken, she reappeared in Regulan space. We do not know what she intended to do next. Perhaps she planned to return home. What we do know is that several Regulan patrol ships approached the Space Dragon, promising Perri she would not be harmed. She seemed agreeable to their escort back to the surface of Regula. But then, suddenly, her ship exploded. Perri was certainly killed, and dear Lady Kalina, if your son was aboard, he must have been killed also.”

  Kalina did not cry out or faint or burst into tears. She was a well-trained diplomat in her own right, so she was able to keep her emotions in check while under close scrutiny by possible enemies, even when she had been dealt a blow that would break any mother’s heart. Furthermore, though she recognized the name of the spaceship upon which Halvo had been abducted, she did not entirely believe what the Chief Hierarch had just told her. Nor could she determine what his motives might be for making such a terrible revelation at a public banquet.

  Regulan intrigue, she said to herself. It is not true. My son is not dead. If Halvo were dead, I would know it in my heart.

  “Do you have a place where women may retire for a few minutes to refresh themselves?” she said aloud to the Chief Hierarch in a voice that was almost normal.

  “Of course.” He was all sorrowful sympathy. “Lady Kalina, shall I end the banquet in deference to your grief?”

  “Certainly not. I will return shortly.” Kalina rose.

  “Cynri will show you the way,” the Chief Hierarch said, motioning to a gray-haired woman who sat several places down the table.

  The ladies’ retiring room was small and windowless. It might have provided the few minutes of privacy that Kalina needed, but Cynri persisted in hovering around her on the excuse of helping until Kalina was sorely tempted to be rude to the woman. But then Cynri’s fluttering, inane remarks took an interesting turn.

  “Lady Kalina, we all know why you have come to Regula,” Cynri said. “I, more than most people, hope you will find your son.”

  “Thank you for your kind wishes, Cynri.”

  “I hope you also find that appalling girl, Perri, and see to it that she is severely punished for what she has done to my son.”

  Kalina had been smoothing down her wiry bronze hair so she could settle her gold circlet more securely upon her brow. At the other woman’s words she paused, her fingers still on her hair and circle
t, and stared at Cynri in the mirror. The woman’s eyes did not meet hers, but shifted here and there. A warning sounded in Kalina’s mind.

  “Would your son be Elyr?” Kalina asked, feeling very much as if she were wading through a bog filled with quicksand.

  “Isn’t he handsome? And such a good son, always so thoughtful of me.” It was the kind of thing a loving mother would say, but to Kalina it sounded overdone.

  “I am happy to hear it. Cynri, the Chief Hierarch has told me that this Perri creature died when her ship exploded. Why do you think I will find her alive?”

  “She’s not dead. Not that one!” Cynri drew nearer. “We can understand each other, can’t we, Lady Kalina? Both the mothers of sons, both devoted to our boys, both willing to do anything to protect our darlings. As you fear for your son’s life, so do I fear for Elyr’s. Lady Kalina, may I speak freely?”

  “Of course,” Kalina said. “Whatever you say will remain strictly between us.”

  “I never liked that girl.”

  “You mean Perri?” Kalina was beginning to wonder if Cynri’s wits were scrambled. Cynri’s slightly disheveled appearance and her furtive manner suggested that might be the case. Or was this conversation a clever ploy of some kind? One could never be sure with the Regulans.

  “Of course I mean Perri!” Cynri said. “For thirteen years, day and night, the impertinent creature never stopped asking questions. It was exhausting.”

  “I am sure it was,” Kalina said.

  “Then, on that last day, she went to see the Chief Hierarch.”

  “Did she? Do you know why?” Kalina asked.

  “Why else but to tell him what she had learned from asking all those questions? And then she ran off to be a pirate. The thing is” – Cynri drew closer still to Kalina – ”the men are always plotting together.”

  “So I have heard,” Kalina said.

  “And they never tell the women what they are planning, which makes it difficult to arrange mealtimes or household chores. If I were in charge, things would be different.”

  “I am sure that is true.” Kalina tried to sound sympathetic. “Cynri, to return to the subject of Perri -” She paused, hoping Cynri would say something useful.

  “I’m afraid the Chief Hierarch and Perri together have drawn my poor, innocent boy into some terrible scheme,” Cynri whispered. “I know Elyr has been frightened in recent days.”

  “Really?” By now, Kalina did not know what to believe about the woman. She could not decide whether Cynri was mad or extremely clever and devious.

  “And then there are the pirates.”

  “Pirates,” Kalina said.

  “Of course. There are always pirates,” Cynri said.

  “I wasn’t aware that there were any in this particular sector of the galaxy,” Kalina said.

  “We can’t get rid of them.” Her pale watery-green eyes darting here and there but never resting on Kalina’s face, Cynri added, “Pirates are dangerous.”

  “They certainly are,” Kalina agreed. She began to edge toward the door. Their conversation was going nowhere and Cynri was not making much sense. Kalina was sure she could learn more by talking with the Chief Hierarch.

  “I don’t want my boy to come to harm,” Cynri said, sounding desperate. “And you want your boy safe, too. So if you do find Perri, you know what to do.”

  “If I find her, I will know exactly what to do.” Kalina paused at the door.

  “And don’t believe a word she says. She’s a liar, too.” With that, Cynri pushed past Kalina and disappeared in the direction of the banquet hall.

  * * * * *

  “At least we now know the official Regulan line on the matter,” Jyrit said. He, Kalina, and Armaments Officer Dysia were once again in the captain’s reception room aboard the Krontar. The other members of their party who had gone to the planet’s surface had made their reports before being dismissed for the night. “As we have just heard, all of our people were told basically the same story. This Perri girl stole the Space Dragon. How she did it on this planet where females are kept away from all but the simplest machinery, we do not know. Then, for a reason we are not clear about yet, Perri used the ship to kidnap Halvo. As she returned to Regula, the Space Dragon suddenly exploded, killing both of them. End of story, according to the Regulans, and all of Regula regrets the incident. I need not point out the obvious inconsistencies in this tale. Have either of you anything to add?” Jyrit looked from Kalina to Dysia.

  “I met the Chief Hierarch’s new son-in-law. And the young man’s mother.” Quickly, Kalina reported both conversations. “Cynri appears to believe that Perri and the Chief Hierarch were working together, that Perri was spying on Elyr’s household, and that the girl has somehow drawn Elyr into a major intrigue that puts his life in danger.”

  “Do you believe this?” Jyrit asked.

  “I am not sure how much of what she said was true.” Kalina shook her head. “I do believe that Cynri was deliberately letting bits of information slip out—or perhaps it was misinformation. Whether she was told to do so or did it on her own in hope of protecting her son, I could not discern.

  “I can understand Cynri’s desire to protect Elyr. I would do the same for either of my sons. Jyrit, after today I am more certain than ever that Halvo is not dead. But how do we get to the truth of this particular Regulan intrigue? More importantly, how do we find Halvo?”

  “I may have information that will help.” Dysia leaned forward in her chair, her face alight with interest and excitement. “As that party on Regula was breaking up this evening, I overheard a conversation. Now, I do not discount the possibility that I was meant to hear what I did, but still, what I learned may be useful.

  “The Chief Hierarch was talking to Elyr,” Dysia said. “Elyr appeared to be openly upset and acted as if he had been drinking heavily. There was a lot of repetition in their conversation but this was the gist of it. The Chief Hierarch told Elyr that he shouldn’t worry, that there was no trace of the Space Dragon left for anyone to find, and that if the Regulans, knowing the Space Dragon’s last position exactly, could not locate evidence, then the Jugarian captain will never discover a clue to its apparent destruction.”

  “Apparent destruction?” Jyrit said.

  “Those were his exact words, sir.” Dysia grinned with a touch of mischief in her manner. “Also, it just so happens that during that interminable banquet I was seated next to a knowledgeable fellow who is a high-ranking officer in the Regulan police. I will admit I fluttered my eyelashes at him a few times and perhaps gave him the wrong impression about my degree of interest in him. But I did learn the approximate location of the Space Dragon at the time when it supposedly blew up.

  “As soon as we returned to the Krontar,” Dysia said, “I ordered a thorough scan of that area. Even at this late date there ought to be lingering traces of the explosion that destroyed the Space Dragon. Our scan discovered nothing except a few molecules that indicate the use of Starthruster.”

  “Good work, Dysia.” Jyrit made a hand motion that, on his native Jugaria, signified hearty approval.

  “You are suggesting that the Space Dragon escaped from Regulan space,” Kalina said.

  “Only that they may have escaped,” Dysia said. “I am compelled to point out that the Starthruster traces we found could have come from a Regulan ship using the device while on legitimate business. All we know for certain is that the Space Dragon did not explode where and as the Regulans claim.”

  “It is possible,” Kalina said, “that everything we think we have learned today is false, that the Chief Hierarch meant for us to uncover these clues. I am particularly disturbed by Cynri’s mention of pirates.”

  “Piracy is a scourge difficult to put down,” Jyrit said. “Destroy one pirate base and before long another appears somewhere else. We knew that even as Halvo led us to victory against those pirates gathered near Styxia.”

  “I have worried since I first heard of his abduction that a pirate,
or a group of pirates, wanted revenge against Halvo.” Kalina looked at Jyrit. “What shall we do now?”

  “We let the Regulans think we believe them.” Jyrit rose from his chair and the two women stood, too. “We leave orbit within the hour. We will continue the search, Lady Kalina, and we will be even more thorough than we have been so far. If the Space Dragon was damaged instead of destroyed, Halvo would want to head for a good shipyard for repairs. We know that Perri is not an experienced pilot, so she just might decide to take Halvo’s advice. We will start with planets or space stations known for making the best repairs to spaceships. If nothing else, the maneuver will confuse the Regulans and perhaps make them think we have a problem with the Krontar. And we will ask a lot of questions on worlds where the inhabitants are more honest than the Regulans.”

  “I have every confidence in you, Jyrit. And in you, Lt Dysia.” For the first time in that long and trying day Kalina broke into an honest smile. “I know you will find my son for me. Find that despicable girl, Perri, too. I want to talk to her. “

  When Kalina had left them, Dysia looked at Jyrit and said, “I could almost feel sorry for this Perri creature.”

  “Save your sympathy,” Jyrit said with more than a touch of Jugarian harshness. “Perri is a criminal and Lady Kalina will see to it that she feels the full weight of Jurisdiction justice.”

  * * * * *

  “The Krontar has gone,” Elyr said, reporting to the Chief Hierarch early the next morning.

  “I knew they would,” the Chief Hierarch said, frowning. “There was no reason for you to worry. You must learn better self-control, my son. I tell you once again, my schemes always work. Now, I am going to visit my dear Thori. Will you join me, Elyr?”

  “Just as soon as I finish my day’s work, sir. My duty to Regula supersedes my personal desires, though I must confess I miss Thori every moment that I am apart from her.”