Versions of Diplomacy

Langley was on the main deck when Sino found her.  She had been in a good mood that morning.  Now she was annoyed when he came walking up to her.  The nice, quiet truce they had going was a good thing, she thought.  He stayed out of the way.  She fought with her brother and repaired the shift generator.  Ajiin kept an eye out for pursuit, which would have been a welcome diversion, and Sparrow kept the Ark headed back for Alannis capital.  Apparently Sino wanted to break this nice peace they had though.  And that annoyed Langley.

"I know you Stormriders don't think things through much," he said, putting his arms on the railing beside her and looking out across the ocean, "but I really do believe you should put some more thought into that Crystal."

"She's part of the crew," Langley growled.  Here it was.  One of the many things Sino was going to cause difficulties on.

When he had demanded that she extract him from Swerthia as part of the deal Langley had almost called the entire thing off.  Almost.  But she figured she'd think up something when the time came to explain Crystal and Sword and so many other oddities about the Ark.  Now that it was time, well.

"Please don't push me overboard to drown," Sino said.

"Huh?"

"You look like you just swallowed a very sour lemon and I imagine that was the first plan going through your head.  Stormriders don't think things through, do they?"

"Actually, I was thinking of summoning Mihos and seeing if he'd do me the favor of ripping out your soul.  I think he owes me that much," Langley admitted.

And Sino just nodded sagely.

"Yes, well, he beat you to it, I'm afraid."

"Wha-huh?  He ripped out your soul?"

"Threatened to."

Langley just stared at Sino while Sino stared out at the ocean, hands folded and in quiet contemplation.  He wore his own rapiers now, twin ones for the same fighting style that Langley employed.  He'd been kind enough to return her borrowed ones shortly after they made their escape from Swerthia and Langley had kept them close to her ever since.

After a moment Langley realized that the nearby crew was staring.  And that one was cracking his knuckles and trying to catch Langley's eye for a signal.  So Langley turned to stare out at the ocean as well and sighed deeply.

"He made the same threat to me when I first met Crystal."

"Which is why you need to think things through," Sino said and there was a note of urgency in his voice, "Why is an avatar so protective of this girl?  Do you have any idea as to why?"

"Have you actually talked to her, Sino?  Or you just making assumptions cause she's a necromancer?"

She rolled to face him, rocking her weight to her heels.  She tilted her head a bit so that the brim of her hat cast a shadow across her face.

"Seriously.  Just talk to her.  You're her best friend and she'll have no clue as to who the hell you are.  I could tell her you're Cadre and she'll still love you just because that's how she is.  You honestly think you could turn someone that innocent over?"

"Necromancer."

"That's what I thought too, when I went hunting for her.  Could have got a writ of merit from the government.  I got Crystal instead.  I like it that way."

"Fine," Sino said and there was exasperation in his voice.  Langley found that interesting.  "I'm not going to do a thing about the girl.  The Cadre decided that the Avatars are to be left alone – that's why we never investigated when Tremanis at the Academy killed someone.  Avatar business.  We don't interfere.  But isn't it odd that your Crystal is Avatar business?"

"Mihos likes her, I suppose."

"There's plenty of innocents and I'm sure Mihos escorts their souls to the Underworld daily."

He was like a dog.  Latched on to something and not letting go.  Langley shifted uncomfortably and saw the crew again, offering to beat him up for her.  She shook her head softly and they all slumped, crestfallen.  She had said nothing to them but somehow they'd picked up on her dislike for the Cadre officer.  And were willing to act on it.  Well, that was fine with her.  It'd keep Sino paranoid for the rest of the voyage.  Hopefully.

"What, you have a theory?"

"No.  You don't?"

"Well…"

There'd been some avenues to explore.  She just hadn't taken them yet.

"I could look into it, I suppose," Langley finally said.  Then, to make sure he didn't think he'd won this argument, added, "Don't really see a reason to."

"How about this for a reason?" Sino drawled, lazily, "There's plenty of things I could report you for.  That sword you carried – the necromantic one.  It may be grandfather-claused into your possession but I can pull enough strings so that it won't matter.  I can get someone to search your hold – I'm sure an honest skimmer captain wouldn't have any ‘mancy in there.  Of course, you're Stormriders.  That may make a difference.  Then there's this shift generator… experimental ammo… all sorts of things."

"And I could have you thrown overboard in the middle of the night and no one would bat an eye."

"I figured on that.  My superiors know I'm returning to headquarters onboard the Langley's Ark.  See, this is why you should really consider thinking ahead."

There was a long, strained silence between them.  Not so much on Sino's part.  He had given some thought to what Mihos had said – some – and found it much too uncomfortable for now.  Mostly he wanted answers as to why an Avatar would take interest in a necromancer like this.  Then, perhaps, all those other things he'd said would make more sense.

Langley was just contemplating how she could make him suffer without getting into trouble for it.  After all, she was a Stormrider.  Stormriders had an aversion to authority.  Especially Cadre authority.

Maybe she could drop some words to Grandma and make Pinnacle and its surrounding area a very unfriendly place for Alannis authority for a while.

"Is this blackmail?" she finally asked.

"One of the many tools in the Cadre arsenal, so yes."

"I try and figure out why Mihos is so protective of Crystal."

"And report it to me."


"So you can tell your bosses?"

"Nope.  Personal curiosity.  That's all."

"Really?"

"Yeah.  And in the bargain I'll be nice for the rest of the voyage.  Stay out of your way.  Promise."

Langley was silent for a long time, doing what she disliked doing.  Taking Sino's advice.  Thinking things through.

"You're scared of her, aren't you?" Langley finally asked.  And Sino only got a funny look on his face in response, similar to the one Sabreur had the first time he saw an undead penguin.  That explained enough.  "Or, perhaps, you're scared of Mihos."

"You aren't?" he asked softly.

And Langley only chuckled in response and walked away.  Things were back to normal now.  Sino watched her go, running a hand through his hair absently, as if to clear away the confusion in his mind.  The way she had laughed… not indicative of any setup she had with the avatar that would give her the upper hand.  Just.  A smug, contented little laugh, as if somehow she'd figured something out that he didn't.

Langley found her twin up on the top deck where he was enjoying the sun.  There wasn't much of it as the day was overcast gray but that was his favorite time to be out in the open air.  Less sunburn.  Langley flipped her jacket out from under her and sat down next to him.

"I think I've figured our passenger out," she said.

"About time."

"He's had a run-in with Mihos."

"Again, about time."

"We keep him guessing about everything that goes on around here and he'll be confused all the way to Alannis.  He had control over Swerthia because he knew more and because he had resources and planning.  But this is the Ark.  We're in control here."

She chuckled gleefully and rubbed her hands together.  The ultimate trump card was in effect.  He couldn't do a thing about Crystal without Mihos intervening and so Langley could now allow the necromancer to run rampant across the Ark as she usually did.  And oh so many other things that the crew of her skimmer considered normal.  The best part was that if he dared order an inspection of the Ark, well, he'd have to explain Crystal.  The thought of that one just made her chuckle again, a little laugh of enjoyment of seeing what was done onto her done to others.  At last, Mihos had come in handy.

"Sabreur," she said, taking a deep breath, "You can continue your experiments on voidbombs.  Feel free to test them at seagulls again."

There was a sharp intake of breath from her brother.  His eyes grew wide.  Then, he softly whispered, "Oh joyous day."

Blackmail her, would he?  Fine.  She'd give him so much that he wouldn't know what to do with it all.  

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