Chapter 4

D ALDEN SMILED AT TEDRA . SHE WAS HIS MOTHER , BUT HE was a Sha-Ka'an warrior full-grown, which made all decisions his own to make, and she knew that. She could make her objections known to him, but in the end the decision was still his.

"I have no choice in this matter," he told her. "You wondered how the High King could have had knowledge of the rods before he came here for them? That knowledge came directly from me."

"How?" she demanded, "and when? You weren't even home, had left with Falon to fetch Shani back. And Sha-Ka'an closed down to visitors again right after the competitions."

"All did return to their respective planets—except Jorran. He was still at the Visitors' Center when we returned. It was necessary that I go there as well, to ne gotiate with the Catrateri on Falon's behalf. They were still eager to trade for the gold from his country."

"But how did you end up having anything to do with Jorran, after what he tried to pull at the competitions? I would have thought you would have ignored him like the insect he proved to be."

"And I would have, but a man with such a high opinion of himself as Jorran has cannot comprehend that someone might dislike him or not want to be ‘honored' by his attention. There was a dinner for a newly arrived ambassador. The Catrateri had been invited to it and insisted that we could continue our negotiations over fine food. Jorran invited himself, and of course the head of the Center would not think to insult him by asking him to leave."

"No, Mr. Rampon is the administrator there because he's about as diplomatic as they come. I doubt he even knows how to insult someone. It's just not in his genes."

"I could wish that it were not in mine."

This was said in such a tone that it brought an immediate blush to Tedra. Challen didn't insult people, after all, so Dalden certainly wasn't talking about the genes he had gotten from his father.

"Let's stick to specifics," she grumbled. "How did you happen to have words with Jorran? The dining hall at the Center is huge. You could have gone through the entire evening without getting within forty feet of that Centurian jerk."

"Except that he sought me out specifically, to question me about Falon. He did not pretend indifference, nor hide his underlying anger over the subject of his interest."

"Don't tell me his nose was bent out of shape figuratively, after Falon bent it out of shape literally? It's really too bad the meditech unit corrected that."

"I gathered the same, that he was still at the Center for no other reason than he had waited for Falon to return, with some sort of revenge in mind. Falon was unaware of this, or he might well have obliged him. But he had gone straight home to Ba-Har-an with Shanelle when we returned, and no visitors could get to his country, so the High King was forced to give up and go home, which he was scheduled to do the next rising."

"So mention of the rods occurred when he grilled you about Falon?"

Dalden shook his head, even sighed. "I would not speak of Falon with him, other than to give Jorran no doubt that Falon was beyond his reach. Speaking to him at all put a foul taste in my mouth that I tried to wash away with Mieda wine."

"You should have just left."

"I am aware of that."

"How did the rods get mentioned, then?"

"It was toward the end of the dinner. I spoke no more with Jorran, but I made sure I was close enough to hear anything he might say. He was talking with the people at his end of the table about the tedious process of mind control in Century III prisons, to rehabilitate their lawbreakers and make them useful members of their realm again. I mentioned that even a low-tech people like the Sunderans had mind control down to a fine art, and instantaneous, at that. It was a deliberate attempt at subtle insult of which I am ashamed."

That Dalden would have used phrases like low-tech and fine art, words he gained from having a "visitor" for a mother, not words a warrior would use, showed just how drunk he had been that night. And he probably didn't even realize that whatever means Jorran's people would use for mind control was probably gained from offworlders; they weren't even low-tech, they were no-tech at all. Not that any of that mattered when the damage had already been done.

"Martha, did you know what Dalden had done that night?" Tedra asked.

"Sure did. You kept me on the Rover at the time, if you'll remember, so I could keep tabs on Shanelle. And after what Jorran tried to pull during the competitions, he was on my personal list of ‘keep under surveillance' as well."

" Why didn't you mention this sooner?"

"Because Jorran's intention was to return to his world, which he did. Despite the fact that he left us furious, he had few options that might cause you trouble. His learning about the Altering Rods did set off alarms in my circuits, but when he gave absolutely no indication that it was something he felt he could take advantage of, I crossed him off my ‘endangered species' list."

Tedra rolled her eyes. Martha's "endangered species" crack was her way of describing anyone she saw as a threat to Tedra's well-being. She was programmed against killing things herself, though she was rather good at threatening to do so, and she could defend and render harmless as needed. Tedra, on the other hand, wouldn't think twice about demolishing someone who threatened her life or that of any of her family.

"But there's no reason for Dalden to get involved, is there, aside from guilt? This can be handled by the League, right?"

"In time to stop Jorran, no," Martha replied. "In time to prevent him from taking over more than one planet, you betcha. But that won't help the people who get forced to worship him as their new king."

Since that wasn't what Tedra was hoping to hear, it wasn't surprising that she slammed her palm down angrily on the link-unit so she wouldn't have to hear any more of Martha's less than supportive commentary.

"That isn't going to work," Shanelle pointed out.

"No, but after nearly two weeks on the ship where there is no shutting her up, since she has complete control of the farden thing, being able to do so now is a luxury I won't deny myself," Tedra replied.

"She can still hear you."

"Of course she can, but she can't reply."

"Wanna bet?" boomed out of the heavens.

Shanelle blinked, noticed the complete look of shock on Tedra's face, and then started laughing. "Droda help us, half the people on this planet are going to think their God just spoke to them." She fell to the grass and held her stomach as another round of laughter ensued.

Tedra wasn't amused, slammed the button on the unit again and growled into it, "You misbegotten metal nightmare, you know better than to cause global panic! You're in meltdown, right? You've totally lost it?"

"Relax, doll." Martha's voice came through the unit again in purring mode. "General Ferrill doesn't take chances with visitors anymore; he makes worldwide announcements warning his people to expect the bizarre and unusual for the duration. And since we've been let inside their global shield this time, we're pretty hard to miss."

Tedra glared up at the two spaceships hovering in the sky above them. "Beside the point."

"Actually, that was the point," Martha said, using her tone that was laden with amusement. "Much as I might get a kick out of being mistaken for a god, that isn't going to happen here, when the Rover is in plain view for anyone who heard me on this side of the planet. And I have information that you require before you can make an informed decision, so shall we proceed?"

Tedra hated it when Martha dropped carrots like that. She would have preferred to tell her circuited friend to stuff it, but couldn't now.

"Proceed," she grumbled.

"I made a point of finding out all I could about Jorran when he became a contender for Shanelle. He's indeed a High King of Century III, but what isn't common knowledge is that he's a king without a kingdom. Probables tell me he had hoped to find a kingdom in Sha-Ka'an, through Shanelle. He's apparently been looking for one for quite a while now."

"Backtrack, old girl," Tedra said. "How'd he lose his kingdom?"

"He never had one."

"Then how does he hold the title?"

"That answer requires a bit of information about Century III."

"The brief version, if you don't mind."

"You got it. Century III isn't just the name of their main planet, but also of their star system. There are twelve planets in all, but only six are habitable, and only the main planet had developed to the point of intelligence and world governance, ruled by one family that give themselves the titles of High Kings. The current family possesses seven High Kings. The planet used to be divided among the family, but that wasn't working out well with this last crop of seven, probably because they didn't have enough countries to go around. When they were discovered by the League and learned of space travel, they decided to divide up the planets in their system just as they had previously done with the countries."

"But they still came up one short?"

"Exactly. Now, the rest of the family are perfectly willing to share with Jorran, to give him anything he wants, but it's just not the same as having an entire people revere you as their only king. It seems to be a serious disgruntlement for him, and one he is finally taking steps to correct. His first option was to marry into a ruling family that would offer complete takeover eventually. He doesn't command a large army after all, nothing of the sort needed to go in and take what he wants by force. So this was his only option—until he learned about the Altering Rods."

"He learned about them eight months ago. Did it take them that long to find Sunder?"

"No, my guess is it took that long for Jorran to call in favors to get his own ship. He didn't have one when he came to Sha-Ka'an. They came with the Century III ambassador, which is how they returned home as well."

"Call in favors? Does he lack wealth as well as a kingdom?"

"Not at all, but keep in mind they don't produce their own ships, nor are their people trained to fly them, nor are they likely to possess a Mock II capable of making crews obsolete. And they don't get ambassadors arriving from every known planet like Sha-Ka'an does, since they don't possess anything remotely as in demand as gaali stones are. They're on a few trade routes, but they're more a tourist attraction than a stopover for necessities. I'm frankly surprised it didn't take longer for Jorran to acquire his own ship and crew for this expedition."

"What type of ship did he get?"

"Your basic run-of-the-mill Trader, large cargo space, a few weapons to ward off pirates, good speed to outrun bigger ships, designed for long hauls."

"What kind of speed are we talking about?"

"A bit faster than the Rover, but about the same as that overpowered war machine that accompanied us."

"I take it you're not talking about Brock?" Shanelle couldn't resist saying, which got the expected snort out of Martha.

Brock and Martha got along much better than they used to, but there were still times when their objectives clashed, and this could well be one of them if Tedra decided to head out after Jorran herself. Brock would side with Tedra's original insistence of wanting to get her home with all speed, since getting her home and back into Challen's arms would be his main concern, ultimately insuring Challen's peace of mind. Martha, however, would know that Tedra was torn at the moment, wanting to help, but too worried about Challen's worry to be able to devote her full attention to helping.

Dalden was actually offering an alternative that both Mock IIs would be able to support. Tedra hadn't reached that point of acceptance yet, though, and was still in questioning mode.

"From their current course, any idea which planet they have in mind for takeover?" she asked Martha.

"They are heading into uncharted space."

This surprised all of them. "You mean they're hoping to find a new, undiscovered planet out there?" Tedra concluded. "That seems like a rather stupid plan."

"No, actually, it's rather smart of them. That sector of space is uncharted, but there are solar systems in it, and there are rumors of at least one planet that's inhabited. But one planet in an entire solar system isn't worth putting them on a trade route when their system is so far off the beaten track, so no official World Discoverer has bothered to head over that way to verify or discount the rumors. But Jorran would want a target that is very far out of the way. This would pretty much assure him that no other off-worlders would be coming around to mess up his plans."

"Just how far off the beaten track are we talking about?" Tedra asked.

"Unknown data."

That was too abrupt, even for Martha, reminding Tedra that Martha based her probables on known facts, and rumors didn't fall even remotely close into that category. Martha hated being wrong about anything, after all, and rumors could be proven false.

So Tedra rephrased her question. "What's the general speculation, based on the rumor?"

"Three months for a Trader, five months for a World Discoverer."

"Three months even under gaali speed? One way? No one travels that far anymore without several stops along the way. Fuel isn't needed, but world communication is. Wars can be fought and won in three months, entire worlds can disappear in three months. No one likes being gone so long that when they come back, nothing is as they left it."

"World Discoverers are a spoiled lot, Tedra, and you know it. The Centura League would never have been formed if the old school thought like that, because the old school didn't have such high speed available to them. A year, two years was nothing to them, if it meant discovering a new world. Three months away would have been considered a short trip. Of course, today's three months is equivalent to more than a few years of travel back when space was first explored, but there's no need for a history lesson you're already familiar with."

"Three months— six months round trip." Tedra was looking at Dalden now and shaking her head. "You realize that's just travel time, doesn't count the time it will take to stop Jorran, reverse any damage he does if he can't be stopped before doing any, and find and destroy all the rods? This could conceivably take a year or more. You aren't going, and that's my final word on the subject."