The civilian pleasure liner shuddered briefly as the inertial dampeners struggled against the gravitational forces of a forced warp collapse. Camilla started from her contemplation as attendants began calmly moving towards the respective emergency posts, to find out the reason for the unexpected stop. Unplanned stops for runaway slaves were common on a ship this close to empire borders. If this was what they were being stopped for, then it was yet another delay while the ship was scanned and sent back on their way. They had already had so many stops at several planets and pleasure hubs that one more stop was beginning to vex her.
She wasn’t here for pleasure, the mere thought repulsed her. So much sin and wanton gluttony was not seemly for any respectable Amarr citizen. She had been getting closer to finding the man she was looking for though. Her idea had proven fruitful; he did tend to associate with the shadier side of things. At first she had stuck out like a sore thumb, her neat blonde hair done up proper and tightly bound. She was the picture of Amarr morality just a few weeks ago. She reddened to think what transformations she had to undergo just to fit in, let alone get a single word about her prey. She would have a lot of praying to do to make up for it, but that didn’t matter now. She was so close; one more delay was beginning to break her composure.
She glanced out a port hole, waiting to see the familiar web of light that indicated a return to warp. Scans for runaway slaves didn’t normally take long, but after several minutes they were still stopped. She began to worry that this might not be why they stopped. A wave of panic began to surge as she thought of the possibility of pirates. She quickly put it out of her mind. It couldn’t be pirates. There was nothing of value on board; at least she didn’t think so.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if it were pirates? After all, she was out here looking for one, the one man who might know where her traitor of a husband had run off to.
Soon a female voice, likely the ship’s computer, came on the loud speakers, “Camilla Leisan, please report to the nearest information terminal!” Her heart skipped a beat. She steadied herself for a moment. No one here knew her by the name Leisan. Her name was Marheel here. The computer wouldn’t make that mistake. That name was used on purpose, to get her attention, and alert her to just what was happening. It also would explain just who it was that might be behind the unexpected stop. Her traitor husband had some uses after all. She wouldn’t have gotten as far without the weight that name carried. It was also one of the reasons she wanted him found. That name now drew too much attention from the underground, and may tarnish her family name as well.
After making her way to the terminal and receiving instructions of where she was directed to go, she decided to make a little detour to her apartments to activate the message transmission. There was no turning back now. She knew where this path might take her, and she also knew that she might never be coming back once she started upon it. She hoped that her brother would get the message that she had left for him, and that he would understand enough of it to find her and bring her back to her family.
“Camilla, my dear, so good to see you,” her shock at seeing him here after she had arrived at the rotunda broke her composure only momentarily.
“I can hardly imagine it is at all, Jezri,” she replied somewhat crossly and with a composure that surprised even her.
“Well, no. You are right, you have been causing quite a stir for me these last few weeks with all of your questions. I could hardly let you continue, now could I?”
“You are not an easy man to find, after all. You left nothing but your name.”
“Yes, well, lessons learned. You should have known that it was dangerous to come looking for me.” Turning aside, he glanced up and spoke into the air, “Capitan, we thank you for your cooperation. We will be leaving now.” Again, looking downward and apparently addressing his ship and crew this time, “Jori, begin transfer now please.”
Once aboard the smaller vessel she found the mood to be more subdued, with darker earthy tones, more for functionality rather than form. It was apparently a destroyer class ship, and rather more advanced in design then many of the empire vessels she had seen. She felt more confined after the more civilized accommodations on the pleasure freighter. Her single room was a closet compared to what she was used to. She was afraid she would have to get used to much worse in the days to come, if she managed to retain her citizenship after this it would be a miracle. The alternative was a practical death sentence, as well as permanent slavery for her family. She knew that this must be done.
A short time later, she was paged on the view screen. It was the image of the Capitan of the little vessel, Jezri, which finally appeared, “I trust that you are settled in now? I took the liberty of having your things transferred. Unfortunately, much of what you had brought will not be necessary where we are going. I suggest you go through it all and take only what you can carry.”
She began to feel that she was losing control far too quickly. She needed to be stronger, for her to make this work, “You will listen carefully to what I have to say,
Capitan,” she said curtly, “I will brook no nonsense from you, nor your crew. The accommodations are to be expected from one of your kind. I have powerful friends in the empire. If it weren’t for the need for discretion, I would not have come personally. I will need your word as a friend of the family that you will help me.”
“Make no mistake
Mrs. Leisan, I intend to help you, by all means. Your husband has been more than a little trouble for me as well. I don’t know if I
can find him after all that has happened.”
So, he knows, or suspects her mission, “Yes, well, I suppose you
do understand the importance of this pilgrimage of mine.” He was a more clever man then she had suspected. This just might work after all.
“I have some agents within the Khanid Kingdom which may be of some help, links to perhaps gaining the unwitting help of some capsuleers.”
“…someone within the Darkonnen, you mean, Captain.”
“Camilla, I’m hurt,” he tried to hide it but, his face did register a note of pride for a brief moment. So, he was an informant with the Darkonnen, there was no doubt about it. “You shouldn’t think such things about your husband’s former friends, but yes,” he admitted,” they are Darkonnen agents, but for all public appearances, they are legitimate.”
Admitting this connection further solidified her fears that she would never be able to return to the empire, at least not without much effort. She felt resigned to her fate now. She knew now more than ever that there was no way she would make it out of this completely unscathed. She secretly hoped her brother would be able to find her in time. They were close growing up. He wouldn’t stop until she was found. She knew he had the sense to not interfere with her plot, but he always took his time about things, and she feared he may not find her until it was too late.
“This is rather fortunate for you, that I require your assistance. I know where to find your estranged husband, but I cannot contact him without drawing suspicion from unwanted eyes. There are certain of those within our organization who would kill me should they find me connected to him in anyway. Your use of that name has been, shall we say, troublesome for me. You might have put us in great danger. If someone within the Khanid Kingdom had made the connection between him and me I would be very dead by now. I cannot stress enough for you not to mention him to the wrong people.”
What had he gotten himself into? She knew that he was a traitor for dealing with the federation, but if he was only involved with the Darkonnen it couldn’t be that bad, but to discover that even a Darkonnen operative had disassociated himself with her husband for what he was doing made her feel even more desperate to find and eliminate her estranged husband, before he could cause irreparable harm to her family.
“Listen, I don’t mean to alarm you, Camilla. I need your help but, I have to trust you first. You have the motivation, but do you have the political and diplomatic skills to do this?”
She had to work hard to control her building rage, “I will do whatever is necessary, Capitan! I will see him dead, and I don’t care what it will take to do it!” That didn’t come out the way she had expected, she was more upset then she realized. She steadied herself, and from the smirk on his face he knew he had pushed the right button. The man was infuriating with that self congratulatory smile of his. She felt woefully inadequate, but she would be patient, and learn what she needed to know to get the job done.
“One more thing, Capitan, you do realize that we will be going to need a certain level of anonymity and stealth, if we are to be successful. Your ship should be fitted with a cloaking device.”
“Of course, only specially designed hulls can use them. I have my connections as well, Camilla. You will have everything that you need. Like I said, pack small. We will be moving to a frigate class ship soon, and yes, it does have a stolen cloak prototype installed. How do you think the Darkonnen survived after the fall of Adonnis? Anyway, we will be arriving shortly, so I will leave you to your packing.”
Over the next few months her training in diplomacy, and negotiation were nearing capsuleer level competency. She had also been using those new found skills on some of the crew members, to effect whatever contingency she may encounter. It never hurt to be prepared.
They had been honest up until now, but the Capitan would never say more than he had that first day on the subject. The fact that her husband may be a drug runner was bad enough but, that he may be involved in something far worse was yet another.
Finally the time had come for her to begin the painful process of ferreting out the information she needed. There would be the need to contact powerful people, in the underground, people who made it their life to live under the radar of the empire. She would be given names of people she would need to contact and arrange private meetings with, and some people she would need to steal information from. It almost seemed random at first, but after a while she began to see the web and weave of the network that she was involved with now. She had made some powerful friends, and more than a few enemies.
After a hard day and hours of pouring over intercepted correspondence, she finally found it. “Computer, get the captain on the line please.”
In a few moments, the expectant and now familiar face of the Captain appeared. “This last batch has to have something. Tell me you found what we are looking for.”
“Not only have we found him again Captain, but we know where he will be, and we are close this time.”
“Okay, send me the communiqué and I will get it to our agent. The empire will gladly send a capsuleer after him, and at the same time protect ourselves from incrimination. Good work!”
What she did not mention is that she now knew for a fact what she had suspected from the beginning, that he was involved with Minmatar sympathizers. Not just a little but, actually helping slaves to escape the empire. She had already made arrangements for her husband’s quiet elimination, weeks ago, but it wouldn’t happen until this last operation.
***
Joreth Leisan, knew that this latest operation had too many hands in it to be entirely safe. He just felt that he must do this regardless, or these poor people would remain in slavery. He had fallen too far to go back now. It was their last desperate hope to escape, and he just had to help. He suspected anyone and everyone, and he had to lie, even to his beloved wife. She would never understand. She was from a wealthy family, but despite that, she had accepted him. He was pained to think that he had even mentioned the Federation in his letter to her. She would think him a traitor, now that he thought about it, but he knew she was too much of a coward to try to find him on her own. She was too proud to tell anyone, not even her brother. He knew that any connection to him now would harm her family, and he knew that she would never allow that.
There is nothing more powerful than a woman scorned. Yet it was still dangerous to underestimate Camilla. He never let anyone close after that, and trusted no one, but even then, she was a terrible player of the game. She was strong, but easy to read and manipulate. That could work against him, either way, he realized.
After this last haul he would be away for good and away from the reaches of the empire forever. If this operation didn’t go south, that is. If that happened, he was a dead man, and he knew that this time it would be permanent.
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Topic: [Fiction Contest] A Woman Scorned (Read 1481 times)