Losing Mars (Saving Mars Series-3) (16 page)

Cameron laughed softly. “Well, we start on common ground, then, do we not?”

“From what I can tell,” said Jessamyn, “you know pretty much everything already.”

“I don’t know what ye’re doing here,” said Cameron, leaning forward. “Marsians. Here on Earth. Between our agreed-upon intervals of trade.”

Kipper spoke up. “She came back to rescue the Raiders.” Under her breath she muttered, “Impulsive rule-breaker that she is.”

Jess flushed.

“And that’s all?” asked Cameron.

Jessamyn considered her father’s oft-repeated phrase:
the truth is the most eloquent persuader of all
. But Jess couldn’t be sure Cameron was someone Mei Lo would entrust with her secrets. “It’s all I’m authorized to tell,” said Jess at last.

“Jaarda!” hissed Kipper.

“Nae, cousin,” said Cameron. “Don’t reprimand her.” The clan chief turned to regard Jessamyn. “I’ve a sense just here,” she pointed to her gut, “that ye are no teller of lies. So I’ll ask ye directly, does your world mean to cause harm to me clan with whatever else ye’re up to out there in the desert with Brian?”

“No,” said Jessamyn. “It’s like I said already. We just want to be left to ourselves. Well, most of us, I think. And once Kip has her say about Cavanaugh, I think it will be all of us wanting to be left alone.”

“And coming here twice in the space of two months accomplishes that,
how
, exactly?” demanded Cameron.

Jess frowned. “I did what I felt I had to do.”

“I see,” said Cameron. “Allow me to voice the clan’s true concern. I thought it odd three months back when none of the Mars Raiders spoke of the next time ye’d be coming to collect rations. Odd and disturbing. Are we finished then, Clan Wallace and MCC?”

“Well,” said Jessamyn, “Given that the goal of the current government is independence, I’d say we might not be back come forty years’ time. We
hope
to be self-sufficient by then, certainly. But I don’t think anyone on Mars knows for sure when that will happen.”

“I see,” said Cameron, rising. “It would seem I have much to consider. And the two of ye might prefer to be alone as well. Shall we meet again in three hours?”

“Yes,” said Kipper. “A chance to confer with my crew member would be most welcome.”

Jess didn’t think it would be all that nice, but she nodded her agreement as well.

“Jamie, if ye’d see the young ladies to the Rose Suite, please?” said Cameron, exiting the great hall.

“Jessamyn,” said Kipper, as the two followed Jamie down a long, curving hallway, “when they build a cell to hold my brother, they ought to build another one for you. Without a key.”

27

SCOTLAND THE BRAVE

Jessamyn and her former captain found several things to argue about, chief of which was that none of the Mars Raiders had any right to expect to see home again.

“We knew this was a possibility,” said Kipper. “All of us agreed to risk our own lives for the sake of Mars. You should never have come back for us, and you will
not
bargain on behalf of MCC in order to obtain transport back to Mars.”

“I don’t intend to bargain on behalf of anyone other than myself,” snapped Jessamyn.

“You’re mighty free with your ‘Mars-wants-this’ and ‘Mars-will-do-that’ then, aren’t you? Jessamyn, you are a Mars Raider, not an ambassador representing Mei Lo or the citizens of Mars.”

Jessamyn held her silence, wishing she’d never rescued Kipper.

No, that wasn’t how she felt. She admired Kip and was glad to have her free. Jess just didn’t like hanging around her former captain. And while Jessamyn didn’t believe she’d overstepped any boundaries yet, she couldn’t say she wouldn’t be willing to do so in the future in order to secure a Mars-class transport capable of making the return journey.

Kipper sighed in exasperation. “You will confine your remarks to those you can make as an individual and not as a self-appointed representative of our home world. That’s an order, First Officer.”

A sudden screeching noise outside the deeply set windows of the suite forestalled any answer.

“What in the name of Ares is that?” demanded Kipper, clutching her head in pain.

Jessamyn moved to the window. Outside, in the castle forecourt, she saw a man wearing a plaid skirt and carrying what looked like a pillow with sticks poking out of it. The noise was emanating from the pillow. Removing a mini-wafer from her jacket, Jess held the device outward to face the strange noise and the individual making it. Then she pulled the wafer back to where she could ask a question.

“What is that?”

The wafer returned several answers.

1. An individual PIPER performing upon an instrument known as a bagpipe, traditionally associated with ancient Scotland.

2. The instrument known as a BAGPIPE.

3. A DIRGE, or song played in times of mourning, whether for the loss of an individual or the mourning of a larger disaster.

Once Kip had recovered from her attack, Jessamyn offered a mash-up explanation to her captain’s question. “It’s a piper playing the bagpipes. It’s a Scottish tradition.”

“It sounds like someone’s being murdered,” muttered Kip as she rubbed a spot on her temple.

Jess shrugged. “Someone may have been. The song’s a dirge, my wafer claims. I think it’s rather a nice sound. In a mournful sort of way.”

“Ugh,” called Kipper.

A series of light raps sounded upon the door, followed by the appearance of the person who’d shown them to their rooms earlier.

“If you’ll follow me, the chieftain would like to entertain you for the evening meal,” said Jamie.

“No unauthorized bargaining, Jaarda,” murmured Kip as she rose and exited the suite.

Jessamyn threw her shoulders back and tilted her chin up, but she also made a silent promise to ask herself the question, “What would Harpreet do?” prior to making any requests or deals.

“Well,” said Cameron, as the pair entered the great hall once more, “It’s a sad day for all of us in Madeira, as ye’ll doubtless have noted from the peeps.”

“The, er, bagpipes?” asked Jessamyn. “Is the music a … dirge?”

“Aye. Juan Bautista Flores de Santiago has been reported dead, following decompression sickness.” Cameron snorted in disdain. “Decompression sickness, my grandmother’s knickers. Boy was born with a dive table tattooed on his brain. Seventh-generation diver, mind, lasses. Ah, well.” Cameron took a moment to compose herself. “Thanks for joining me for supper.”

Jessamyn looked about in hopes of pizza, but seeing none, she took a small portion of fish.

“I’m not saying it’s your fault, now,” Cameron said, looking at Jessamyn. “Boy made up his own mind in spite of me warnings. But it stings nonetheless. If that boy died of the bends, then I don’t know my head from my—” The clan chief stopped herself. “Forgive me. I’m that upset about it.”

“In my experience,” said Jess, “when someone says ‘it’s not your fault,’ it’s because something
is
my fault.”

Cameron sighed heavily. “Well, the Chancellor has laid claim to that broken ship of yers and all its contents. The problem being, the contents are located some five hundred to a thousand feet—er, that’ll be two to three hundred meters—underwater at present. So she’s had to gather a crew of experienced divers, hasn’t she?”

“Who know how to keep secrets, one would presume,” added Jessamyn.

“Aye, lass. Juan signed on to remove or disable underwater mines in the area. The Chancellor’ll not risk the word getting out about the largest find of tellurium in history.”

“Underwater mines?” asked Kipper.

“It’s a reasonable lie,” said Cameron. “The area could easily have been mined against invasion by the nation of Japan a few hundred years back. And neighboring sea beds are farmed for sea urchins. Brezhnaya just had to claim government assistance was needed to make the area safe for farming. I warned Juan it was likely to be the tellurium. And he went anyway.”

Cameron looked close to tears, and the three ate quietly for the space of several minutes. The baleful strains of the piper floated into the castle alongside the clicking of forks on plates.

Cameron spoke again. “The truth is that while I warned Juan, I was also very eager for intelligence from the operation. And now he’s dead. I’ll never know if he died because his reports to me were intercepted or if Lucca just decided he’d seen too much. But I know he didn’t die of decompression sickness.”

“We’re so sorry,” said Kipper, making Jessamyn wish she’d said it first.

Jess had never once worried about the impact of abandoning a ship full of tellurium. But it was her fault, this death. Would others follow?

“I’m beholden to you, then,” said Jessamyn to Cameron. “You’ve lost a friend and your own wealth has been decimated, both because of choices I made.”

Kip looked at her first officer with her brows drawn sharply together, but she said nothing.

“What’s done is done,” said Cameron. She dabbed at her lips and then eyes with a large square of fabric. “If we’re to chase the trail of blame back we must include Cavanaugh and probably some Wallace somewhere who married someone, producing Cavanaugh’s great-great-grandmother. We’re in this together, lass, however much I might like to shift blame.”

“So Lucca is bringing the tellurium up from … the bottom of the ocean?” asked Jess.

“Aye. Unfortunately not quite the ocean bottom. That, even she would find nigh impossible. But there’s an extended underwater plain off the coast where the
Galleon
landed. It’s called the continental shelf, and the water’s relatively shallow there. A pity the ship didn’t land a few knots further out to sea.”

“I see,” said Jessamyn. “And once Lucca brings up this tellurium, your own holdings—which you can’t trade now—will be worth next to nothing.”

“Obviously,” murmured Kipper.

“Well,” said Cameron, “me own reserves, spread out fine amongst us, might keep the clan afloat, but I don’t like to risk any of them being hauled in as inciters. Lucca’s got me by the short and—hmm, pardon me. My extensive conversations with nautical persons has somewhat roughened a few of my expressions. What I mean to say is the Chancellor’s got me well in her grip and she likely knows it.”

“So why not steal the tellurium yourself?” asked Jessamyn.

Kipper made a choking sort of noise. “Theft is not the answer to every problem, Jaarda.”

“Don’t be angry with her,” Cameron said softly. “I’d considered such a theft, of course. And poor Juan’s paid the price for gathering the intelligence I needed.” Cameron turned to Jessamyn. “The problem is that the Chancellor’s got the proper equipment to haul things up, and I, alas, do not. She’ll have that wreckage hauled up within the next week or so, if Juan had things right.”

“I wonder if Lucca plans to tell the world of her great find or keep it secret?” asked Jessamyn.

“It won’t make a difference to Cameron’s plight,” replied Kipper. “The government won’t need Clan Wallace’s tellurium in either case.”

“It may not matter to Clan Wallace as a whole, but it will matter a great deal to individual divers like Juan,” countered Jess. “If they see something Lucca wants to keep hidden, they’ll all suffer his fate.”

“Too likely,” said Cameron, gloomily.

“The Chancellor won’t want anyone who can spread stories left alive,” agreed Kipper. “I think that much is clear. Her own Red Squadron will be safe, but if she’s hired divers like your friend to do the actual dirty work, it’s a safe bet they’ll all expire from accidents once the
Galleon
’s been raised.”

“That’s horrible,” murmured Jessamyn, pushing her plate back. She felt a wave of nausea for the chain of events she’d set in motion. “They should be warned,” she said at last.

Cameron shrugged. “The workers are on a barge out at sea. And Red Squadron Forces patrol the barge round the clock. The workers can’t likely swim to safety, not one in ten of ‘em.”

“You have Red Squadron uniforms,” said Jessamyn.

“Lass, I agree it is terrible to consider the probable loss of life in the next weeks, but I dare not send me own military up against Lucca’s Red Squadron for a handful of persons,” said Cameron softly. “I’ve the entire clan to think of. Nearly a million persons look to me for safety, for employment, for steady leadership. The risk isn’t worth the reward.”

“Not even for all that tellurium? If you could get it?”

Cameron shook her head. “If ye’re thinking I could simply abscond with the tellurium, think again. Lucca would declare an all-out war against the clan. Or simply pin us as the inciters who’ve taken the world’s tellurium. That way, she’d not need to do the work of destroying us herself. Ordinary folk would do it for her, like as not.”

Jessamyn frowned. “What if you didn’t steal the tellurium? What if you took control of the barge and towed it out to the deep, dropped it to sink, and then got out of there?”

“Like what the Rasmussen family did with their supposed recycling service,” said Kipper, nodding.

“Exactly!” said Jess, grinning at her captain. “And you could take as many divers with you to freedom as possible.”

“Beg pardon,” said Cameron. “But I’m not familiar with the, em, Rasmussens.”

Jessamyn explained. “There was a family charging exorbitant rates to haul off recyclables, but people paid because recycling is the Marsian way. Then it turned out this family simply shoved the trash off the edge of the Valles Marineris—a very deep canyon—making it impossible to recover the items as well as polluting a beloved landmark.”

“Oh?” said Cameron. “How very … interesting.”

“Exactly! There’s your solution!” exclaimed Jessamyn. “You said the tellurium couldn’t have been salvaged if the
Galleon
had landed a bit farther out. So, you push the stuff off into the Valles Marineris. As it were.”

Cameron rose and began pacing the length of the great hall, muttering to herself as she measured the length of the great hall in long-legged strides. “Jamie?” she called after a minute. “Would ye ask the piper to play something a bit brighter? ‘Scotland the Brave,’ perhaps?”

Jamie nodded and left the room.