It had been about three years since Yuki Des'Salucin II had last seen Cameron Piper, right before Bishop Drag had assigned him to move to Pritt and seek employment in LandOrder's branch there. And that had only been the second time Yuki and Cameron had ever met. The first time was during the war, five years ago, shortly after what had since come to be known as the Battle of Elves' Ambush. Yuki was sure he'd always hate that name, but he supposed it was apt. Mostly, he hated how it reminded him of the part he himself had played in the battle, but he further supposed that his regrets would be no less, regardless of what the battle was called. Nor could he blame any of the ex-Sorreters, formerly known as the Protestant Sorreters, for hating all the elves who took part in the battle, including himself. A few of them seemed to have forgiven him, including Bishop Drag and Lorraine, but probably they were civil toward him simply because he had become a useful tool. Well, a 'field op,' as Drag's spies were technically called, but he dared not use the term for himself, for fear of offending any of the other spies. No, himself he always referred to as a 'tool,' nothing more. Still, he hadn't given up hope of someday earning true redemption, and in the meantime, he didn't think it would serve any purpose to remind his fellow operatives of his past sins. So, whenever he had occasion to speak with one, he did his best to adopt a veneer of esprit de corps. Ever since Lorraine had called to tell him to expect a call from her brother, he'd been psyching himself up for the impending conversation, and trying to think exactly how to play it. "Hey, Cam, how's my second favorite Piper?" he thought of asking, in a jocular tone. He immediately thought better of it. Most likely, the only way to avoid antagonizing Cameron would be to be strictly business. Formality was the way to go, and yet, he still intended to try not to be too formal. At least, he didn't want to be somber of tone, because that, he thought, would surely make Cameron think about why Yuki might be somber. With that in mind, he waited for the call.
Meanwhile, Cameron had been dreading making that call, and put it off as long as he could. While collecting their things from the inn, Ginger had filled the others in on Cameron's plan to go to Pritt, whether by wagon or by translocation. She also told them he was leaving it up to each of them whether to join him or to stay in Sorret. They'd all immediately agreed to go with him. When they left, Cameron once again took it upon himself to pilot the wagon; this time, it was Tino who joined him as co-pilot.
"Everyone's eager to talk to you," said Tino, "but we all know you're probably not ready, quite yet. And we all agreed that I'm the best at not talking." With a grin, he added, "Though I was a bit surprised Star didn't nominate himself for that distinction." Cameron merely grunted, and Tino got serious. "Well, not surprised, really... oddly enough, I think he's sometimes more comfortable being silent when he's among others who aren't so silent, rather than being silent together. Or maybe..." he trailed off, unwilling to share his latest thought. After a bit, he sighed and said, "Anyway, I'm shutting up, now. Just let me know if you want me to relieve you, so you can get some rest."
Cameron grunted again.
After that, they flew on in silence for about eight hours, landing shortly before dawn and making camp just outside Sorret Forest. Cameron promised them he'd explain everything and answer any questions after getting a few hours' sleep. He felt bad about leaving them in the dark any longer, but they'd all had a long day and night. It was about noon when he awoke, and joined his friends around the campfire, for lunch.
They all waited patiently for him to begin his story, but he delayed by focusing on his beans and coffee. When he finally did speak, he eased into it by saying, "Well... I reckon we made about six hundred miles, last night. Which leaves about four thousand to go. Depending on how many hours per day we fly, and how fast, the trip could take anywhere from two to five days. We should make a decision about that, like whether we'll be making camp every day, or taking shifts flying. Although first I should call my contact and find out just how urgently my presence is required... it could be that I end up having to translocate, after all." He sighed. "But before I talk to him, I think I owe it to all of you to explain myself. Although really, all of us have been fairly secretive about our respective pasts. Well, except Ginger. I doubt she has any big secrets, though even she doesn't like to talk very often about... certain things. Anyway, I digress. And by the way, I'm not making excuses for myself or trying to shame anyone for their own secrecy. So, here goes..." He took a deep breath, and began:
"At the age of thirteen, I was apprenticed to a master-adept Sorreter named Jinno. At that point, my older sister, Lorraine, was still apprenticed to Bishop Drag, who was then Grand Sorreter. That was in 901. It was the next year that Ginger's father started the Protestant Movement, to oppose the Plan, or what would be called the Coming of the Order. However, Drag himself had already been opposed to the Plan, ever since it was first revealed to select Sorreters at the Pilgrimage of 898. Even so, he and those who were of like mind chose not to go public with their knowledge of the Plan's existence, until Therman founded the Protestant Movement in 902. It was then that Drag and Lorrie and a lot of other Sorreters joined the Protestants and shared their knowledge of the Plan with them. But when Lorrie told me about all that, I thought joining the Protestants was a bad idea. It's not that I was in favor of the Plan; rather, I didn't care much about it one way or the other. I just thought people should let whatever happens, happen. But the reason I objected to Lorrie's involvement with the Protestants was that I thought by joining them, she was putting herself in pointless danger over an issue that really wasn't that important. Over the next year, our relationship became increasingly strained. And my parents were no help, because they had ties to the Protestant Movement, as well, though they weren't nearly as passionate about it as Lorrie was. Eventually, they decided to leave the Movement, even though they still basically believed in its cause. But in spite of this... they were killed by an agent of the Order; or rather, an agent of the Planners.
"That was what made me change my mind, and I joined the Protestants, myself, around the time the war began, in the summer of 903. Jinno was against my decision, but he couldn't convince me to stay in Sorret and continue my studies. I left with Drag and Lorrie and their other followers, and spent a couple of months fighting. But after the Battle of Elves' Ambush, Lorrie ordered me to return home, and after all the death I'd seen, I was in no mood to argue. So, I resumed my studies with Jinno. But a few months later, at the Battle of Triscot, all the Protestant Sorreters suddenly vanished. Since then, where the so-called 'ex-Sorreters' disappeared to has been a great mystery, to the rest of the world. But Lorrie had told me of their plan beforehand... it wasn't a plan they were sure they'd ever feel the need to enact, but something happened during that battle that made Drag decide it was necessary. Lorrie contacted me, and at the same time they all translocated away from the battlefield in Triscot, I translocated away from my classroom in Sorret. Later still, after the war, when Demos became king, he declared amnesty for all who had fought against the Coming of the Order, but we knew that wouldn't apply to us. Officially it would, of course, but there were those who would never allow us to live, if we returned. Most especially Durell, who had been the leader of the Sorreters that supported the Plan, and who succeeded Drag as Grand Sorreter. He wanted Drag dead not just because they'd been enemies in the war, but also because he harbored an old, preposterous grudge against Drag, the origins of which aren't even worth going into. Believe me. And ever since we vanished, Durell and his people have been searching for us. Meanwhile, Drag has sent a number of agents of his own out into the world. Sometimes we just keep an eye on the general state of affairs, and sometimes he contacts us with specific missions. As I told Ginger, last night. And... our hope- that is, the hope of all ex-Sorreters, not just Drag's spies- is that someday, somehow, it will become possible to undo at least some of the changes that were brought about by the Coming." He stopped, and looked around at his friends. Then, while he waited for someone to say something, he refilled his coffee cup.
No one spoke for awhile, until finally Ginger looked to her left and right. She could read Tino like a book: he was obviously thinking of one of those ridiculous jokes of his that no one ever got, but mercifully, he must have realized this wasn't the time for it, so he said nothing. Star was usually harder to read, not just for Ginger, but for all of them. But she wasn't surprised to see a pensive look in his eyes; whenever something triggered that look- usually anything about the war, or else about certain unspoken aspects of his past- he always became even more reticent than usual. So, she decided it was up to her to break the silence. Turning her gaze back to Cameron, she said, "Well, I think I speak for all of us when I say, how can we help?"
"Hear! Hear!" exclaimed Tino. Cameron looked at him quizzically, and Tino said, "Uh, I mean she's correct to assume I'd like to help, too, also."
Cameron smiled at him, just a little weakly, then turned to Alecstar. For his part, Star merely nodded.
"Well, then," said Cameron, "as to that... I'm not quite sure, just yet. First, I just want to say what a relief it is to finally be completely honest with all of you about all of this. I mean, it was an easy enough secret to keep at first, but... after two years of traveling together, I've come to think of you all as good friends, even sort of as family. And it's not at all pleasant keeping something like that from family. Or friends. Or... whatever. The point is I'm glad I'm not lying anymore. Even by omission. As to the long-term goal of my people, I wouldn't dream of asking you to help with that. Though certainly I can understand if Ginger, at least, has just as much desire for revenge as I do. But I want to be perfectly clear that I'm never going to expect any of you to join me in fighting a new war. As for my current mission... I couldn't possibly say, because as yet I don't even know what the mission is. And on that note-" he set his cup down, and stood up, "you'll have to excuse me. I've a call to make. I won't be using magic to hide, as I normally do, but I trust you'll respect my privacy."
"Of course," said Ginger immediately. The others nodded.
Cameron wandered off into the woods, and when he felt he'd gone far enough, he took out a t-mail bubble. Then he remembered some other business he had to attend to, put the bubble away, and took it out again a couple of centhours later. "Field op Cam for field op Yuki."
The answer came almost immediately. "Ah, Cam! I mean, Agent Piper. Or, um... greetings. I, uh, thought you'd have called sooner."
"I hope the delay hasn't caused any irreparable harm to the situation."
"The situation? No, but I didn't get any sleep last night."
"Glad to hear it." Cameron thought for a moment of clarifying that he meant about the situation, but he suddenly realized he wasn't upset to hear about Yuki's lack of sleep, either, so he left the statement as it was. "Now, tell me about the mission. I'm already en route to Pritt, and should arrive within the week."
"The week? I rather assumed you'd just translocate. I don't mean to tell you your business-"
"Good instinct." Cameron paused a few seconds, then sighed. "But if you really need me there sooner..."
"Oh... I guess not. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure when anything will happen that will require your intervention, or what exactly... you might actually do. Most likely matters will come to a head- well, by month's end, I would guess. So a week should give you plenty of time to spare. I can always call you, if the time table accelerates. Sir."
"Very good. But again I ask, what are the details of the mission?"
"Right. Sorry. So... here's the thing. About a month and a half ago, my boss- Faye Mireille is her name, in case you've forgotten- got a call from an acquaintance of hers, a businessman from Frinn, named Marlowe Gateman. Over the past several years, she's occasionally provided him with spell devices that he didn't want to obtain through normal suppliers, you see. Anyway, Gateman recently had an idea, and he decided to ask Faye whether it might be feasible, and if so, whether she could help... make it happen."
"What kind of idea?"
"T-mail hacking."
"Not exactly a novel idea. I hardly see how this is of concern to us."
Yuki shook his head, though of course Cameron couldn't see that. "I don't mean normal, run-of-the-mill hacking. I mean, rather... a sort of systemic hacking."
"What do you mean, 'systemic'?"
"I mean... Gateman wanted to know if it would be possible to devise a means of... not just listening in on specific individual calls, but of... a sort of world-wide auto-hack. A system that would automatically and surreptitiously listen in on and record every t-mail call anyone ever made. Anywhere."
Cameron was aghast. "You mean... anywhere? Like, even calls that use bittrickle? Like this call we're on right now?"
"Yes. But don't worry, the project is nowhere near that stage, yet."
"So, do you think this could be meant as a way to find us? Why would Gateman even care?"
"I don't think his idea had anything to do with finding the ex-Sorreters, though that would certainly be a dreadful potential byproduct of his plan. I'm not really sure what he wants to use this system for. It could be for corporate espionage, or maybe even something political. He has ties to many prominent people in the government, including Demos Royal himself. Whatever the case may be, it struck me as the sort of thing Bishop Drag would want to know about."
"Indeed. So, how far along is the project?"
"Well, luckily it hit a snag right off the bat. It seems an InterGang don named Seth Manager got wind of the idea, and wanted to claim the project for them, instead of LandOrder. Apparently, this guy has spies everywhere, not just in his own village. From what I've heard, he even has people spying on the other branches of InterGang. Honestly, I don't even know why capo Mysshroudedtery keeps him around. If I were her, I'd have had him killed years ago. But anyway, he does have powerful friends, including Durell Turner. And when he found out about the project, he put in a call to Durell, demanding- or requesting- that he order Faye to turn the project over to him."
"To him personally? Or do you mean his own sorretry department?"
"The latter. This Manager guy, of course he's not a Sorreter, himself. Anyway, it was Durell's wife who had been Faye's master, when she was learning magic herself. And of course it was Durell who sent Faye to Pritt in 900, to help found the local branch of LandOrder. Obviously, Durell has no preference for one gang over another, he has allies in both gangs. I'm not really sure why he'd feel compelled to acquiesce to Manager's request; my best guess is it's because InterGang has their own bittrickle network, as do the ex-Sorreters, but LandOrder doesn't. And a Sorreter with knowledge of how that worked would be useful to this project. But whatever the reason, Durell did acquiesce. Sort of. He didn't want to steal the project away from Faye, but he did call her and ask her to work with a Sorreter that Manager would send to Pritt. Faye agreed to share the project, reluctantly, but she insisted that they work on it elsewhere, so that no one from LandOrder would learn that she was working with someone from InterGang. So they've been meeting in Kurok, and this Sorreter, whose name is Ford Inspector, has been playing at having talks with a local independent gang called the Rapscallions. Just in case anyone found out he was in town, he wanted a cover story, which is that he's trying to recruit them to join InterGang. Meanwhile, Faye brought me with her, as I am one of the few people she trusts, at least to that degree... and she wanted to be sure she had an advantage over Inspector, in case he tries to double cross her. Two against one, see? Anyway, she's also been playing at recruiting the Rapscallions for LandOrder, in case anyone finds out she's in Kurok. I almost feel bad for the Rapscallions; they must be feeling pretty important right now, to have the two biggest gangs in the world fighting over them, when in fact neither of us really cares about them at all. But it's a dangerous game, because our own don, Garrison Finger, doesn't know what Faye's up to. I mean, not even the cover story. She could say she was hoping to surprise him, if he finds out about our trips, but there's no telling whether he'd actually believe that."
"Hmmm."
"Hmmm?"
"Yes, 'hmmm'. Do you mind if I take a centhour to absorb all this?"
"No, of course not. Sorry."
Cameron took a centhour. Then he said, "So, that's an interesting snag. Or set of snags. But I don't expect it took too long for them to sort it all out, and actually get the project started?"
"No, not too long. About a week, all told. So we've been working on it for a little over a month, now. I'm afraid I've had no choice but to do my best to help the project along. I've tried to think of some way of slowing our progress without raising suspicion, but-"
"Don't worry, I'm sure you've done the best you could. Having you on the inside is worth it."
"Oh. Well, thanks." Yuki was genuinely cheered; that was surely the nicest thing Cam had ever said to him.
"Anyway, I'm sure the whole Rapscallion ruse has taken up a lot of time, as well."
"Quite a lot, yes. And when I mentioned month's end, earlier, of course I wasn't talking about having a global system up and running so soon. That would likely take... I don't know, at least a year, maybe a few years, depending on how many Sorreters get brought in on the project, after a successful trial run, in the Kurok-Pritt area. That's what I meant would be happening by the end of the month, and it wouldn't even be surveilling every call in these two villages. But enough to demonstrate that Inspector's theory is sound."
"Oh, he's the one who devised the system, then?"
"The basic premise, yes. Honestly, Faye and I had been brainstorming ideas before Durell forced him on us, and at first we assumed he'd just join in on the brainstorming, but the first time we met him, he already had the foundation of an idea. I could explain it, if you like-"
"No need, at the moment. We can talk more, later. For now, I'll get back to my journey. I'm traveling with friends, by the way, and they may be of some help to us... or perhaps they'll stay out of our way and find something to distract themselves." He made a mental note to call Drag or Lorrie and let them know he'd told his friends the truth, and why. "Meanwhile, I should think we'll arrive in Pritt sooner, rather than later. Perhaps three days? That should give me time to think about the situation, and try to devise a counterplan. Unless you have one, already? No, no, you said you didn't know what I could do. But actually, it might be simpler for you to just obtain evidence of what's going on, which you could pass on to me, and I could pass on to the press, or the police."
"I've thought of that, but again, there's the danger of my arousing suspicion. If I were caught trying to make a visual recording of our work, for example, I'd blow my cover, and then I'd be of no use to you or Drag."
"Also you'd be dead."
"There is that. It seemed the lesser tragedy, though."
Cameron couldn't help smiling at that, but he was glad the call was audio-only. As much as he wanted to avoid prejudice, he also didn't want to give Yuki the idea that he actually liked him. Even for a moment. In his most businesslike voice, he said, "Of course. Well, it is best, after all, to wait for specific instructions, rather than take matters into your own hands. There's a protocol to these things. I think. Anyway... I'll be in touch. Close."
He returned to the campsite, and found that the fire had been extinguished and the cooking utensils repacked. "Ready to go, are we?" he asked.
"In a few centhours," said Ginger, as she headed off into the woods, herself. Alecstar also entered the woods, heading in a different direction.
Tino grinned at Cameron. "They've got business of their own, but wanted to wait til you were done. Didn't want to chance accidentally interrupting your call."
"What about you? You've got no business?"
"Nah, I'm good."
"Sure? You're not gonna ask to stop half an hour after we're airborne, are you?"
"Promise."
It occurred to Cameron that on the infrequent occasions when Tino did travel with the Band, rather than making his own arrangements, he was never the one to suggest they make a rest stop. But he immediately dismissed the thought as irrelevant. Soon the others returned, and the journey continued.