Three Card Monte (The Martian Alliance) (10 page)

We passed through the Spillway and went through customs via the Respite section. The clerk barely looked at us.

Once in the Space Center, we headed to the Swampland Zoo. “Why are we going here?” Ciarissa asked quietly.

“You know.”

“You know I don’t…access…anyone on the crew without their permission. Some strong thoughts reach me, yes, but I don’t search for them. Speaking and reading are not the same things.”

“I know.” I paid to get in and headed us to the Wild Nature of Polliworld section. It was crowded with beings from all over. Good. I noted where the exits were, as well as which door said Employees Only. “So, we’re going to admire the wild nature and you’re going to tell me the nature of your relationship with Longdaddy.” I watched her out of the corner of my eye. “Girl to girl.”

There were enough people around, and we were speaking softly enough that it was unlikely we’d be overheard. Longdaddy had assured me that this section of the Swampland Zoo had its surveillance curtailed regularly.

“Ah. What do you think you know?”

“You’re the one who told him about us.”

“This is true.” She moved off a few steps, as if we were honestly here to enjoy the exhibit. “He is trustworthy,” she said when I was beside her again.

“I guessed. I don’t think you’re a traitor, because we’d all be dead already.”

“No. I fight for what all of you fight for. He does as well.”

“Yeah, I picked that up. How did you meet?”

“The usual way, I suppose.”

“There are no usual ways anymore.”

She chuckled. “True enough. I met him in the same way you met Roy. I was in over my head and he helped me.”

“He’s why you haven’t given Doven the remotest go-ahead sign, isn’t he?”

It was a rare thing, but I did get to bear witness to Ciarissa blushing. “In a way. We are only close friends.”

“You and Longdaddy or you and Doven?”

“Both. While I would wish that circumstances were different, Longdaddy, as you call him, needs to ensure that his line, his pure line, continues. We both accepted that a long time ago.”

“And Doven?”

“Why is this relevant?”

“Because it’s the only time I’m ever going to get to ask without Roy or Doven or someone else overhearing. Because he’s worried about you being worked too hard, but Roy’s dismissed the idea, meaning that Roy doesn’t think he’s overtaxing you. But Doven feels you’re overtaxed. Meaning you’re keeping at least one being not on our crew advised of our activities and it’s draining your strength.” I looked straight at her. “I want to be sure of who you’re telling what, when, and why.”

She didn’t turn toward me. “Much goes on while you are on assignment. The stirrings of what you and I are both trying to fix began well before your trip to Andromeda.”

“How are you talking to Longdaddy when we’re out of this solar system?”

“There are…ways.” Now she did turn to me, and I could see the exhaustion in her eyes. I was sure Doven had seen this, and I was equally sure no one else had, because both Roy and Dr. Wufren would have put Ciarissa onto medical rest if they’d caught a whiff of this. “They can be quite…taxing.”

“How many others are involved in those ways?”

“Fewer than you would think. It would be easier if there were more, but we are very spread out. All trustworthy. For the same reasons you are trustworthy.”

“I want more than your word. I want the full explanation. I’m sorry, but under the circumstances, I can’t trust you like I once did.”

Ciarissa nodded sadly. “I understand. Once trust is lost…” She heaved a sigh. “Espen was spared destruction during the Purge because we have always taken the side of noninterference, of neutrality.”

“You have laws about it, yeah. And, I’d assume, the Espen government has some way to control all of you.”

“It does, other telepaths screening for overt activities mostly. But there are some of us who do not feel noninvolvement is always the ethical choice. During the Purge, we worked with many resistance fighters, trying to help them. For the most part, we failed.”

“For the most part, everyone failed. But, how did you avoid anyone knowing about your involvement? Especially the Espen government?”

“The same way we avoid detection now. Longdaddy has some very advanced scientists who are quite loyal to him. They created a living organism that combined organically with those of us who continue to strive against the Diamante Families. The tad-biotic enhances our powers exponentially. It allows us to reach each other across the vast distances of space while helping to mask our activities and mental trails.”

I’d seen Longdaddy’s living computer system. It wasn’t hard to believe that the beings responsible for that could create an organism that did what Ciarissa described. “Doctor Wufren, is he part of this, too?”

She shook her head. “Fren opposes the Diamante Families for the same reasons the rest of you do, but he was never a part of the Espen Resistance. He self-exiled from Espen well before the Purge.”

Interesting. Yet another fact I hadn’t known. Roy might not know, either. “How many of you are there?”

“Not enough, but we do what we can. We are placed within certain organizations, on specific planets, within groups where our assistance is most needed.”

The light dawned. “That’s why you fly with us.”

She smiled. “I would fly with you even if I was not part of the Espen Resistance. I requested to be given the chance to join with Roy and his loyal retainers.” Her expression saddened. “I have lost many things because of the Purge and my planet’s refusal to help fight against obvious evil. I don’t want to lose your trust, or lose the family I have joined and love.”

Had to give one thing to the Diamante Families—they really brought a galaxy together, united under the banners of loathing, hatred, and revenge.

Maybe I should have continued to be suspicious, but I’d known Ciarissa a long time now. Having met Longdaddy, it was clear that we were all on the same side. Besides, I didn’t want to lose anyone or anything else because of the Diamante Families.

I hugged her. “I understand.”

Her body relaxed against mine, and Ciarissa hugged me back tightly. “I would prefer not to tell the others about any of what we have discussed.”

“Let’s get out of this situation first, and then worry about who gets to know what.”

“What situation are we in, exactly?”

Either she was faking it really well, or Ciarissa truly hadn’t been reading me and Bullfrog while we were gone, other than at a very high level. While I was ready to forgive her, there was information I needed to have in order to ensure our crew’s long term health and happiness.

“We’re here to save the day again. Per my intel, it should pay well.
If
we can pull it off. But we’re not going to pull it off until you tell me if Doven’s interest in you really is or isn’t returned.”

Ciarissa stared at me for a few long moments. “You would endanger an entire world for this information?”

“Yeah, I would. But I don’t think you would.”

She shook her head. “That is not like you.”

“Based on what I’ve learned today, you aren’t like you. Not the you we thought you were. So why does it surprise you that I might be different than you’ve thought?”

“Because I’ve seen your true heart, as I’ve seen the true hearts of all who fly with us. It is
why
I fly with all of you. And because of this, I know you will not risk the lives of innocents on a whim.”

“It’s not a whim. Doven and Roy are fighting because of you, and we can’t afford to have that. I need to know, right now, where your loyalties—romantic and otherwise—really lie.”

“My loyalties are with the Martian Alliance. I believe bringing back the true galactic emperor, especially as personified in Roy, will be what the galaxy truly needs. The Espen Resistance agrees with this—they want a return to the former rulerships, kingdoms, democracies, theocracies, and such that existed before the Diamante Families took over.”

“Good to know. And your romantic loyalty—is it to Doven, Longdaddy, someone else, or no one else?”

“Ah. You fly with the man you love, so you need to know if it’s the same for me?”

I rolled my eyes. “I’d fly with Roy even if I didn’t love him, and vice versa. You’re stalling, waiting for someone to come and interrupt us. But I have a guarantee of privacy, because Longdaddy understands what my price for participation is. So, stop dancing around the question and answer me—do you have romantic feelings for Doven like he has for you?”

She looked straight into my eyes. “No.”

“Fair enough.” I stepped closer to the Employees Only door.

Ciarissa joined me. “That’s it? No protests, no pushing me to give Doven a chance? No coercion in any way?”

“No. I just wanted to know. So I won’t encourage him to actually bird up and ask you out. I thought he was reading you wrong, but I guess he’s right—his love is unrequited.”

A quick look around showed that no one was really paying attention to us. I went to the Employees Only door. As promised, it opened right up. I stepped through, motioning to Ciarissa to follow me.

She did and we started down a hallway that looked a lot like the hallway in the Polliwog Palace that led to Monte’s office.

Ciarissa put her hand onto my arm. “You misunderstand me. I answered your specific question. I don’t have romantic feelings for Doven like he has for me. Our differences mean we can never feel exactly the same way about each other.”

“Oh, good grief. Stop being coy. I need to focus. Do you want to date and potentially mate with Doven or not?”

“I…would be willing.”

“Great.” There was supposed to be a hidden entrance somewhere around here. It was really well hidden. “Then, when we’re done with this, make the first move. He’s never going to. I realize you’ve probably been waiting for him to actually talk to you about this. I also realize, having met Mister I Advertise, that Longdaddy undoubtedly made a move within the first five minutes of meeting you. Doven’s not like that. He’s got all that rigid morality up in his feathers and he’s convinced himself you’re not interested. He’s as likely to make a move on you as I am to come on to Monte.”

“Oh. Uh, thank you.”

“Any time. We’ll worry about how to get you more rest so Doven stops stressing out about your exhaustion later. Right now, we need to roll on our part of the latest plan I wanted no part of, and I can’t get us out of this stupid hallway. There’s a hidden door around here. Any guess as to where it is?”

“Yes.” Ciarissa walked us a few more feet and then pointed down. “There is a stairway here.” She pushed what looked like a screw, and a portion of the floor raised just enough to be able to lift it.

“Of course there is. What a world, what a world.”

Ciarissa headed down the dark stairs. I went after her, ensuring the trapdoor was securely closed behind us.

“How many times have you used this path?” I asked.

“Never. I just knew what to look for.”

We reached the bottom. This walk wasn’t nearly as long or steep as those Bullfrog and I had taken during our Swamp Walk. I was going to sleep for a week once this caper was over. And demand that Roy give me leg rubs…So, maybe I wouldn’t sleep the entire time.

We came to a three-way fork in the path. A small arsenal was piled onto a wheelbarrow. Per what Longdaddy had told me, I knew to take the rightmost path. The curiosity to see where the other paths led almost overwhelmed me. Then I remembered that all roads led to either flies or Longdaddy’s lair, my legs hurt in any form I shifted into, and I didn’t want to stay on Polliworld any longer than we had to. I grabbed the wheelbarrow and made the hard right.

When we came to the next set of steps leading up, I shifted again. This time, I ensured that I was very recognizable.

Ciarissa’s eyes, like mine, had adjusted to the dark; I knew because she jumped. “Is this a wise gambit?”

“Yes. It helps that you’re disguised to look like you’re from Convent. We need to have someone to blame, and that blame can’t come back on any of us, on Longdaddy or Polliworld, and not on Monte, either. This is the best option.” Plus, I was fairly sure Monte was betting on us using this gambit or something close to it. He wasn’t a stupid being in any way, and he knew us pretty darned well.

“They’re going to try to kill us the moment they see you.”

“That’s why you’re along. Feel free to exhaust yourself. I can carry you back to the ship if needed.”

“I didn’t hide my past relationship to keep something from you or Roy or the others. Roy doesn’t announce who he truly is and what organization he supports to just anyone, either. But until one of you met Longdaddy, there was no reason to advise that another monarch was closer to his throne than the Diamante Families might realize.”

“I’m not upset with you.” Anymore.

Ciarissa shook her head. “Yes, you still are, at least a little bit. I thought we’d already made our peace.” She sounded sad and worried.

“We have.” I sighed. “I need to be angry, because it’s going to help me stay in character. So, let me stay angry with you for right now, because it’s a fresh anger, so it’s easier to tap into and maintain. Once we’re back on the
Stingray
, I’ll be back to me. In all ways. Deal?”