The Lady And the Order [Sunsinger Chronicles Book 4] Read online

  Mogran found his voice again. He praised the dessert with overflowing, grandiose words. Bain didn't understand half of them, but he still laughed with the rest. Mogran didn't look insulted—he beamed and bowed to the other five at the table and raised his tea cup high to salute Marnya.

  Bain realized then that Mogran talked in such big, fancy words for the same reason Lin growled and pretended to be angry when she wasn't. It stopped people and made them think, and disarmed potential enemies. Lin's way made them hesitate to attack. Mogran's way made them laugh so they couldn't hold onto their anger or their nasty plans.

  “Sister Marnya?” The woman's voice came over the intercom, hanging on the wall over the desk.

  “Yes, Vaysa?” Marnya raised her hand, gesturing for silence. She stood and stepped across the room to her desk.

  “Master Sergeant Sharkin would like to speak with you. He has news about the attack on you.” The woman's voice rose a little at the end, clearly asking for information.

  “She didn't tell anyone, did she?” Bain whispered to Lin.

  “She has a bad habit of doing that,” Jax whispered back from across the table.

  “Is he here?” Sister Marnya said, after gesturing for Bain and Jax to be quiet.

  Lin and Captain Arliss traded glances and grins. Jax shook his head and muffled his chuckle behind his hand. Bain squirmed in his seat and looked at Mogran. The odd little man leaned forward, ignoring everyone else to listen to Sister Marnya's conversation.

  “No, Sister. He's calling from the security headquarters. He wants to know if we have a secured channel."

  “I don't think it's necessary to keep that a secret. Confirm, please, and patch him through.” She waited through five short beeps. “Sergeant Sharkin?"

  “Sister Marnya, thank you for speaking to me.” The sergeant didn't sound half as gruff as he did when questioning Bain.

  “Have you run into a problem? I didn't expect you to need to talk to me until tomorrow at the earliest.” Sister Marnya sat down in front of her desk.

  “A problem ... that's a good way of putting it, Sister. Those four boys confessed after only a short time of questioning. They were hired to attack you, specifically."

  “Me? Who was it?” She sat perfectly still, perfectly straight in her chair.

  Jax and Arliss leaped from their chairs at the table and hurried to stand by Marnya. Jax stood behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. Arliss knelt in front of her and held her hand.

  “They don't know.” Sharkin's frustration made his voice rough. “They were hired by a man in a long cloak and hood and didn't see his face in the shadows. All they cared about was the bag of coins he gave them. He promised them another bag after the job was done and they had brought him the ring you wear on a silver chain around your neck."

  “That's a telling point,” Jax said. Marnya nodded.

  “Does that help at all, Sister?” the sergeant asked.

  “It narrows the list of suspects. Did the boys tell you where they were supposed to meet this man?"

  “I have men waiting. Do you know how many men wear long dark cloaks on Nofac?” His voice cracked.

  “I can imagine. Sergeant, if I could tell you anything that would help ... let me assure you that it is Order business and we have agents to research and resolve the problem. You don't have to worry about this happening again here, because I and my ship will leave tomorrow. My business here is done."

  “Will you be pressing charges?"

  “If it will help with your investigation and with future enforcement."

  “Thank you, Sister. It does help. I'm surprised you understand.” His voice lightened a little. If anything, Bain thought the gruff officer sounded relieved.

  “I've had quite a few relatives and friends in the military, Sergeant. Leniency isn't always prudent in the long view.” She rubbed at her eyes. For a moment, her shoulders drooped. Lines appeared around her mouth and shadows made dark smears under her eyes. “We've had a warning, and I supposed we should be grateful for that."

  “Yes, Sister. I suppose so.” He cleared his throat. “Sister, those boys were supposed to kill you."

  “Really? I'm not that easy to kill.” Marnya traded a thin, sour smile with Jax.

  “They didn't know they were supposed to kill you. They were given spray injectors full of poison, and told they were only supposed to drug you and drag you off somewhere so you couldn't be found—and then rob you down to your underclothes."

  “That's original,” Arliss muttered.

  “I've had my chief scientist analyzing the poison. He's never seen anything like it. It's corrosive, so it'll eat you up from the inside after it kills you. It only reacts to organic tissue, not to ceramic or glass or metal. Someone went to a great deal of trouble to create this poison."

  “The Order goes to a great deal of trouble to protect all people, Sergeant. Our enemies have to work even harder to outdo us.” Marnya closed her eyes. Her voice sounded cooler and more controlled than ever.

  “Sister Marnya, if there is anything I can do to help, tell me."

  “You've warned me, Sergeant. That's more than enough.” She opened her eyes now and looked at her guests, still sitting at the table. “Have you tried to contact Captain Fieran and Bain Kern?"

  “They're next on my list."

  “They're here as my guests. Lin?” Marnya stood and gestured for Lin to take her place at the desk.

  “Are you all right?” Bain whispered, as Marnya came back to the table and sat down.

  “More sad than surprised, I think.” She gave him a lopsided smile and stirred through the melting remains of her cream and two pieces of gisreg still in her bowl.

  “Do you know who the man is?"

  “No. Not a name, just a group."

  In the background, Lin talked with the sergeant, answering and asking questions about the attack. In only a few minutes, they were finished. Bain was a little disappointed the sergeant didn't want to talk to him.

  “I suggest you leave Nofac as soon as possible, Lin,” Marnya said, when they were all seated around the table again. Their desserts had cooled and melted into a soggy mess. She studied the contents of her bowl with unseeing eyes.

  “You think the man who hired those boys will come after Bain, for interfering?” Lin asked, a slightly disbelieving smile on her face.

  “It's a matter of pride,” Jax growled. “Our enemies would consider it justified punishment—punishing you for getting in the way of their grand scheme."

  “I think some explanations are due."

  “Agreed.” Marnya sat up straight and took a deep breath and became all seriousness and control again. “But you three must understand, this doesn't go beyond this room. If the Commonwealth were to find out there was dissension within the ranks of the Order ... it could spread damage throughout the Commonwealth as easily as a stone spreads ripples through a pond."

  “Agreed. Silence,” Lin said.

  “Silence,” Bain echoed.

  “Not a word, ever,” Mogran whispered.

  “The Order's worst enemies are the people who were once members of the Order,” Marnya began slowly. “We call them Shadows, because they hide their identities and strike from the darkness, and once we thought they were part of us. We are fairly sure that some members of the Shadows are still working and living among us in the Order, spying and trying to recruit more of us and weaken us.

  “The Shadows have split away because they want to use the accumulated wisdom and wealth of the Order to rule the Commonwealth, instead of helping all Humans as Kilvordi mandated when he established us. Everything they want is a twisting of Kilvordi's dream, his ethics, his beliefs and his dedication to Fi'in. We, the leaders of the Order, have pledged our lives to make sure that Kilvordi's dream is followed faithfully. The Shadows are just as determined to take our lives if we will not convert to their agenda."

  “And you don't know who they are?” Lin said. “If they were once part of the Order, you o
ught to know names and faces."

  “The Order is very adept at creating new names and faces and histories, to help refugees hide from their enemies. The Shadows have that skill. We might know their former names, when they lived among us. We don't know their new names and faces or where their power center is. We don't even know who their leader is."

  “We can guess, though,” Jax said. “Someone who was once close to you, Sister. Someone who knows about the ring on the chain around your neck."

  “My ring.” She nodded and swallowed hard enough to be audible. Marnya pressed her hand around her neck. The collar of her tunic was high, almost touching her jaw, and revealed none of her neck. “Whoever he is, the man who hired those boys to kill me knew I would fight to the death to keep that ring. If they could take it from me, then I would most certainly be dead."

  “Is it really important?” Bain asked.

  “Bain,” Lin half-whispered, scolding.

  “No, it's all right,” Marnya said. “He's earned the right to ask.” She slid two fingers inside her collar and drew out a thin chain of multiple links, interwoven so the chain was like a thin, delicate cable. At the end dangled a gold band with sapphire chips embedded around the center. “My husband made a matched set for our vows. We were only together for a year. When he was murdered, I took this ring off and swore I would never wear another ring as long as I lived."

  “This enemy must hate you very much, and know you very well, to want that ring,” Arliss said.

  “Those of us who serve Kilvordi's dream know what is at stake. Our enemies, who were once part of our family, know how precious it is to us. They hate Kilvordi as much as they once loved him. It broke his heart when he realized there were traitors among us. It broke his heart again when they wouldn't repent, and he had to punish them and cast them out."

  “Broke his heart?” Bain blurted. “But Kilvordi's been dead for centuries."

  “Oh—of course.” Marnya nodded, blushing a little. “Many of his successors have taken the name, Kilvordi. I'm talking about the last Kilvordi. I served with him. He was like a father to me. To all of us."

  * * *

  Chapter Four

  “She talked like she knew the first Kilvordi,” Bain said. His voice, though little more than a whisper, sounded loud in the silence of the darkened spaceport.

  Overhead, a thick streamer of stars arched across the night sky, punctuated with two of Nofac's five moons, low on the horizon. No traffic was scheduled to come in until morning, so the landing beacons and floodlights were turned off, and all the field crews were in bed, or resting in their barracks beyond the sloped fire wall.

  “Hmm?” Lin said. “Oh, Sister Marnya? I noticed.” She shook her head. “She talked about him as if she knew him personally and loved him, not just the things he taught and the dreams he built into reality."

  “What do you think it's like in the Order? Besides a lot of studying and traveling and helping people, I mean."

  “I think ... Fi'in gives everyone different talents and dreams and inclinations. I think in an organization that truly serves Fi'in, every gift will be used. If you or I joined them, we would still be Spacers."

  “Like Captain Arliss?"

  “Maybe.” She chuckled as she reached up to tap her collar link. “Ganfer, we're home."

  “It's about time,” the ship-brain responded. “There's a lot of work to do if you plan on launching in the morning."

  “We'll worry about that in the morning."

  “If we joined, we wouldn't have to give up Sunsinger, would we?"

  “Give up Sunsinger?” Lin paused, and waited for the hatch into the cargo hold to swing open. “You wouldn't want a huge, new ship like Kilvordi's Dream?"

  “This is our home.” Bain suspected Lin was teasing him, so he didn't let her words upset him. Lin would never commit treason against Sunsinger and Ganfer by taking on a new ship.

  “It certainly is. The Order is Marnya's home. You can hear it in her voice when she talks about Kilvordi, and how the Order helps people in need, and her years of study.” The hatch swung open and pale golden light spilled out into the night. “It must be a wonderful place—now that they have most of the traitors weeded out."

  “A big family, she said."

  “That's true.” She stepped up through the hatch. Bain followed a few steps behind. “Kilvordi—the first Kilvordi—is called the Father of the Order. If they all consider themselves family, and not a hierarchy of people fighting for power, it's no wonder the Order is so good, and so effective."

  “Would you ever join them?” Bain followed her up the access hatch to the bridge.

  “I don't know. I've never felt the urge."

  “What if they asked you?"

  “Maybe.” She chuckled. “Why are you asking?"

  “I don't know. Just the way you watched Sister Marnya and how you looked at everything in the ship. Like you were really glad to be there and you didn't really want to leave."

  “You got that impression?” Lin gave him a wide-eyed, innocent stare.

  “Lin...."

  They stepped through the hatch onto the bridge. For a moment, everything was dark, lit only by spots of colored lights from all the working instrument panels. Then Ganfer turned the lights on. They paused a moment, rubbing their eyes and blinking at the brightness.

  “It's been a very good day, Bain. Good, despite being worried you were going to be beaten to a pulp.” She reached over and tousled his hair. “You made me very proud today. You know that, don't you?"

  “I try.” Bain suddenly knew, this was the perfect moment to give Lin her gift. “Was it a really good day?"

  “Perfect. I've always wanted to meet someone high up in the Order, and see an Order ship. And see Mogran Haeffer knocked speechless for all of ten seconds.” She chuckled and turned to head to her cubicle.

  “It was a good birthday, then?"

  “Birthday?” She stopped short and paused for five heartbeats before turning back. Lin scowled when Bain held out the paper-wrapped packet of music. “I thought I managed to keep the date hidden."

  “You taught me to find anything,” he said with a smirk. “Happy birthday, Lin.” He handed her the packet.

  “You rascal. Nothing is safe on this ship, is that what you're telling me?” Lin gingerly took the packet, holding it between two fingers in each hand. She blinked rapidly, and her eyes were bright with wetness. Then abruptly she reached out and wrapped her arms around Bain in a short, strong hug. “I'm never going to let you leave Sunsinger now, you realize that, don't you?"

  “She doesn't want you to let anyone else know what her birthday or her age is,” Ganfer drawled.

  “You, O Bucket of Bolts, can be replaced with a nice music disk,” Lin growled. She stumbled over to the galley booth and sat down. Her hands shook just the slightest bit as she opened the glued flap of the packet and slid the music out. “Oh, my...."

  “Do you like it?” Bain wrapped his arms hard around himself, watching her face.

  “I love it.” She swallowed hard and wiped at her eyes. “It's going to take me forever to learn. Whoever helped you pick out this music is a sadist."

  “I'm sure Chryssa will be delighted with your assessment,” Ganfer said.

  “Chryssa? I should have known.” Lin chuckled. “Thank you, Bain. And you too, Bucket of Bolts. You were probably in on this from the beginning."

  “He did say you had all your flute music down perfect,” Bain said. “If you know it by heart, what fun is it anymore?"

  “True.” She brushed her fingertips over the plastic sheets of printed music. “What an extraordinary day this certainly has been."

  * * * *

  An hour later, Bain was just starting to drop off to sleep when he heard the first tentative, gentle toots and squeaks as Lin fumbled her way through the first piece of music. Grinning into his pillow, Bain rolled over and closed his eyes.

  It had been an extraordinary day, indeed.

  * * * * />
  Three weeks later, Bain and Lin landed on the planet called Mekker. It was a quick stop; land, unload supplies, and launch within five hours. They didn't have to do any of the work to unload the cargo bay. Two squadrons of soldiers climbed into the cargo hold and carried everything out while Lin and Bain stayed on the bridge. The hatch into the cargo bay and the hatch into the bridge and all the other air locks and hatches stayed shut and sealed. When the soldiers finished unloading, they sprayed the cargo hold to decontaminate it. They wore isolation suits while they worked, and carried their own air supplies in canisters on their backs.

  The Mashrami had poisoned Mekker with plague bombs that fouled the atmosphere, nearly the whole planet over. Plants were unaffected, and the simpler forms of birds and fish and reptiles. The more complex forms, and all mammals, however, died from breathing the gas generated by the plague bombs. Scientists working on the clean-up operation on Mekker estimated it would take six generations before the plants and food animals would no longer contain the poison in their tissues, and the ground would be cleansed so it would not poison the air after every good rain. Children might never be able to run barefoot on Mekker—if Humans ever returned to settle.

  The soldiers were there for the clean-up operation, as well as using the planet as a watching post for Mashrami activities. If the aliens didn't know Humans were still entrenched on the planet, they might act with less caution when passing through nearby space.

  Sunsinger made four trips, carrying cargo to the military base on Mekker. When they were finished, Lin had Ganfer set course for another solar system.

  “I don't want to be anywhere near anything that smells of decontamination solution,” Lin grumbled after giving Ganfer the coordinates. “It's almost worse than the poison it destroys.” She shuddered dramatically, then glanced over at Bain and burst out laughing.

  “What are we going to do in that sector?” he asked. “It's Conclave territory, isn't it?"

  “I think we've earned some free time. There's a nice little planet I know of, where they have a bazaar that runs all day, every day. Not as big as the marketplaces by the spaceports, but it has its own charm. And there's an old friend there.... I like to stop in and see how he's doing every few years. Just to catch up on old times."