Chapter 9 #3
"Do you know who erased the record?" Calise bit her lip.
Her mother leaned forward. “She was previously referred to as the Goddess of Peace, Akagi Tudei.
Where she is today, I'm unsure. However, the previous scattered leadership of the kikai has been troublingly quiet since they pulled back from the federation.
" Her mother's expression darkened. "It stinks of a change in leadership, and we know those don't go so peacefully. Now do they, Daughter?"
"They do not," Calise said, folding her hands. "But if the erasure of records was requested by her, then the chances of this kikai being important are high."
"Downright assured," her mother corrected.
"My concern is how much support she might have from existing leadership.
I'm unsure what connections she herself may have collected.
She's likely either adrift without allies, living as a slave as a form of hiding, or she was sent there to spy on the baron and baroness for reasons we cannot yet glean.
And it is just my suggestion, but too often those who are corrupt make wonderful targets for espionage.
They have too much to hide and become easily manipulable. "
"I'm afraid, Mother, you have not solved any of my concerns. You have only raised new ones." Calise glared through the video.
"What it seems, dear daughter, is that your fiancé-to-be has a very eclectic crew. One that might actually have benefits beyond keeping him alive."
"Does this change our approach?" Calise asked, and her mother hesitated.
"I think this calls for a more nuanced operation. In fact, I think it might be in our best interest for me to get personally involved in checking the books. Meanwhile, you need to determine where exactly they have travelled." Her mother leaned forward, and Calise knew better than to fail her.
"They jumped into the system to participate in the fight here at Wolf's Cave, only to escape at the last minute and remain powered down until their JACK drive was ready. They then booted up and left the system," her mother recounted.
"Correct." Calise nodded. "However, after some firm prodding, we have a likely target of their JACK destination. It seems while he was here on the station, he did work to obtain a star chart."
Her mother's eyes went wide. "You mean to say he possessed a JACK drive but no star charts to use it on?
" She paused, then frowned, leaning forward and touching her fingertips together thoughtfully.
"That is strange. And we know that they found the ship derelict, which means that whatever happened on that ship caused them to wipe their data. "
"Those are my thoughts exactly," Calise agreed.
"But the ship's outfit leans towards mercenaries.
So our question remains. What would cause them to cleanse their systems…
unless it was automated?" The duchess tapped her chin.
"There are so few situations in which that would happen.
Check for logs of this unknown species." Her mother tapped a finger on the table.
"Determine whether she was recruited at Wolf's Cave. "
"There's been no indication of that so far," Calise reported quickly.
"Double check. Because if she didn't come from the VDF or Wolf's Cave… where did she come from, Daughter?"
Calise frowned at her mother's question, because that had simply been the same mystery she had been trying to figure out herself and had thus far been unable to get a clean answer to resolve.
"You must have thoughts, Mother," Calise probed.
"Chances are, given her combat abilities and the situation of the ship that the young baron found, she is responsible for killing everyone on board.
That means they wiped the drives to prevent her from using the ship after boarding them.
An unknown species boarding your ship is certainly reason enough to remove all information.
In fact, it is the kind of thing you would expect from a bunch of petty mercenaries. "
"Even so, that does little to tell us about her." Calise nodded.
"No, it gives us enough. It gives us plenty. We just need to figure out why exactly she wanted the ship and offer it to her ourselves." Her mother smiled, suddenly very pleased with herself, leaving Calise little option but to bow her head and acknowledge her mother's wisdom.
"Of course. Then I will endeavor to gain communication with any or all parties on his ship.
Perhaps they can be negotiated with to return my fiancé.
" Calise smiled, and her mother mirrored it.
"Or perhaps we create a problem that we are able to solve ourselves. Informing the empire of the problem with the barony’s finances and then offering up the young baron on a silver platter. "
"Yes." Her mother grinned. "That is the kind of offer the emperor rewards heavily."
Her mother seemed happy enough that Calise knew exactly what the new plan was going to be moving forward. The young duchess could only nod, smile, and prepare as her mother wished.