Colemenoport
Offices of the
Tree-and-Dragon Trade Mission
Neither Majel ziaGorn nor Portmaster krogerSlyte had returned her calls. Padi frowned and went to the qe’andra’s office.
“Nothing,” she said, sitting on the edge of the conference table. “Dare I hope that you have had a better result?”
Mar Tyn lifted his hands, palms up and empty.
“I called all of the possibles yesterday afternoon, begging that they contact Qe’andra dea’Tolin at their earliest convenience, and stating that the completion of the whole port inventory was essential in determining Colemeno’s future as a Tree-and-Dragon hub.”
“Did you actually speak to anyone?” Padi asked.
“I did speak to three, and left messages for the rest,” Mar Tyn said. “My lack of notoriety served me. It was interesting that the three I spoke to pled an unexpected influx of work, which prevented them from participating in the inventory.”
“Interesting in what way?” Padi wondered.
Mar Tyn moved his shoulders, and met her eyes.
“They all said exactly the same thing, using the same words, and the same inflection, as if it were a poem they had by heart.”
“In the interests of completeness,” Jes said, “I note that no one with whom Mar Tyn left a message has—thus far!—contacted me.”
“And we don’t expect them to,” Padi said. “Do the Guild guidelines give us any leeway? Might we, for instance, employ more port-based accountants to perform the secondary tasks?”
Jes sighed.
“We might attempt it, citing a lack of competent professionals divorced from port business. Such things have been done, in the past, but it is a variation which must pass beneath additional scrutiny by the Guild. As this trade mission already encompasses several irregularities, none of them individually fatal to the master trader’s hopes—”
“But if we keep adding to the pile, it will eventually fall over. I understand.”
Padi frowned.
“I suppose there’s nothing for it but to confront Zandir kezlBlythe.”
“Is that the advice from our liaison?” asked Dyoli.
“Our liaison remains out of touch,” Padi said. “Nor could I reach the portmaster. I suppose we might seek advice from the market manager, but he is a man who likes to share his news widely, and I believe we ought to favor discretion.”
“I agree,” Jes said.
“I do not like the idea of confronting this person,” Dyoli said. “While I didn’t See the violence she did to Padi’s shields, violence was certainly done, and her subsequent actions strongly suggest that she intended to influence Padi to do her will. This is not how ethical persons conduct themselves.”
She looked at Padi, eyebrows up.
“To state the obvious: A confrontation will only give her an opportunity to do more violence.”
“But we are forewarned,” Padi pointed out.
Dyoli flicked her fingers.
“If you know that there is a sniper on a roof somewhere along your route, does that knowledge give you protection?”
Padi blinked at her.
“No,” she admitted, “it does not.”
She sighed.
“My next call with the master trader is in six hours,” Padi said. “I will put the problem before him. Jes, please give me a document, listing out what has happened with those who were initially interested in working with us, and also outlining any alternatives we may have, under the Guild’s guidelines.”
“Yes,” Jes said.
Padi nodded.
“Now. Is there anything we can do while we are in this wait-state to— No!”
Rage swept through her, red edged in gold, and Tekelia—Tekelia—
Padi threw herself into the ambient.