duty,” Carl confirmed; then he grinned, the smile lighting up his narrow, sharp face. “We didn’t just hide out in the Embassy, either. I did go to another Challenge—two minor factions contesting over some offense—with Selpa’a’At.” She nodded; one couldn’t easily forget the strange spidery Swordmaster First of the Vengeance. “There’s more than a professional interest there—Selpa’s obviously a fan of the Challenges as sport, so I learned a lot about Challenges listening to him. Recorded, of course—I’ll give you all that.”
“Good work, Carl,” DuQuesne said. “We’re walking a fine, fine line here, and anything that gives us better relationships with the other factions without giving away the store is great.”
“Thanks, but honestly, I didn’t need much arm-twisting to go. It’s a dozen sports all in one, with real stuff at stake.” He looked over at Ariane. “I wasn’t your main mechanic in the Unlimited just for the tech challenge, after all.”
“Can’t blame you,” Gabrielle said. “Though I could sure do without any more heart-in-my-mouth Challenges like the one that almost got Ariane killed.”
“Yeah,” agreed Carl. “So anyway, that’s about it—we’ve talked with some of the others off and on but nothing of substance.” He raised an eyebrow. “So…what now?”
Everyone was looking at her now. You’re the Leader of the Faction, Captain Austin. You don’t like it, you don’t want it—even less now—but it’s your job for now, so suck it up and get moving. Though she would much rather have left it to DuQuesne or someone else, Ariane straightened and tried to look properly captain-like.
“Honestly, I had hoped to return with a lot more people to help us get things done here. Instead, as Carl points out, I seem to have managed to return with no more people but a lot more problems. We need to address all of those problems, and the others we already knew about.” She looked at Simon. “Dr. Sandrisson, in your best estimation, how long will it be until the Duta and Mr. Naraj’s people join us here in the Arena?”
Simon frowned, pushed the round-lensed glasses that were one of his affectations up his nose slightly, then leaned back, obviously thinking. “It’s somewhat difficult to say; the Duta is a larger vessel and the design is quite different when compared to the Grail , and they will be getting their own cargo together. However, they have many more people working on this…” Another pause. “No less than three days, no more than a week, I would say.”
Damn. I had hoped for more than that . “All right. So we need to decide how we’ll deal with them when they arrive. Our other problems… Dr. DuQuesne, how would you rank them?”
“Hard to say, Captain. Leaving aside Naraj, Ni Deng, and whoever they bring with them—and let me just say that even if they only bring one or two, that’s going to be a royal pain to watch with only eight of us—our other major problems are the Molothos, possibly the Blessed, getting ourselves ready to defend our Sphere, figuring out how to expand our territory—we have got to get at least one more Sphere—and of course our unexpected visitor Maria-Susanna.” He paused, a brooding expression on his face, before continuing. “We’ve got to increase our ability to project our presence in the Arena, which means we have to get those Sky Gates they talk about up and running. We need ships that will work in the Arena proper; I think the Duta is being designed with that in mind, but…”
“But,” Ariane finished, “we can’t build or buy them here without resources.” She looked around. “We may have to send one or two of us back to get some kind of ship built back home that we can use.”
DuQuesne winced, and she shrugged. “I know, Marc. I hate the idea myself—we honestly can’t spare any of us. If I have to I’d probably have to send Steve and Tom—Steve oversaw the Holy Grail ’s construction,
“Good work, Carl,” DuQuesne said. “We’re walking a fine, fine line here, and anything that gives us better relationships with the other factions without giving away the store is great.”
“Thanks, but honestly, I didn’t need much arm-twisting to go. It’s a dozen sports all in one, with real stuff at stake.” He looked over at Ariane. “I wasn’t your main mechanic in the Unlimited just for the tech challenge, after all.”
“Can’t blame you,” Gabrielle said. “Though I could sure do without any more heart-in-my-mouth Challenges like the one that almost got Ariane killed.”
“Yeah,” agreed Carl. “So anyway, that’s about it—we’ve talked with some of the others off and on but nothing of substance.” He raised an eyebrow. “So…what now?”
Everyone was looking at her now. You’re the Leader of the Faction, Captain Austin. You don’t like it, you don’t want it—even less now—but it’s your job for now, so suck it up and get moving. Though she would much rather have left it to DuQuesne or someone else, Ariane straightened and tried to look properly captain-like.
“Honestly, I had hoped to return with a lot more people to help us get things done here. Instead, as Carl points out, I seem to have managed to return with no more people but a lot more problems. We need to address all of those problems, and the others we already knew about.” She looked at Simon. “Dr. Sandrisson, in your best estimation, how long will it be until the Duta and Mr. Naraj’s people join us here in the Arena?”
Simon frowned, pushed the round-lensed glasses that were one of his affectations up his nose slightly, then leaned back, obviously thinking. “It’s somewhat difficult to say; the Duta is a larger vessel and the design is quite different when compared to the Grail , and they will be getting their own cargo together. However, they have many more people working on this…” Another pause. “No less than three days, no more than a week, I would say.”
Damn. I had hoped for more than that . “All right. So we need to decide how we’ll deal with them when they arrive. Our other problems… Dr. DuQuesne, how would you rank them?”
“Hard to say, Captain. Leaving aside Naraj, Ni Deng, and whoever they bring with them—and let me just say that even if they only bring one or two, that’s going to be a royal pain to watch with only eight of us—our other major problems are the Molothos, possibly the Blessed, getting ourselves ready to defend our Sphere, figuring out how to expand our territory—we have got to get at least one more Sphere—and of course our unexpected visitor Maria-Susanna.” He paused, a brooding expression on his face, before continuing. “We’ve got to increase our ability to project our presence in the Arena, which means we have to get those Sky Gates they talk about up and running. We need ships that will work in the Arena proper; I think the Duta is being designed with that in mind, but…”
“But,” Ariane finished, “we can’t build or buy them here without resources.” She looked around. “We may have to send one or two of us back to get some kind of ship built back home that we can use.”
DuQuesne winced, and she shrugged. “I know, Marc. I hate the idea myself—we honestly can’t spare any of us. If I have to I’d probably have to send Steve and Tom—Steve oversaw the Holy Grail ’s construction,
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