"I suspect it will be." Storm sobered. "Versha wouldn't wake us this early unless it was something important." He headed for the small kitchen attached to the suite. "I'll start drinks. Swankee for everyone?" He gathered the nods and began to spoon the powder into mugs. They heard Versha run up the stairs as he passed around the steaming drinks.
"Up and awake. Good. That swankee? Great. Give me a cup, sit down, and I'll tell you a few things." She was all quick movement, her eyes glowing as she accepted the swankee and spread papers on the small table. The others sat and allowed her to begin as they sipped the hot chocolate-tasting drink quietly.
"First thing. Those tigerbat samples that Logan got us, Lereyne contacted me directly about them a couple of hours ago. The pair checked were definitely obtained illegally. Samples indicated that the animals are the offspring of two of the tigerbats held in the reserve. The reserve people say that their records list when the animals went missing. At the time it was feared they had strayed somehow from the reserve.
"As you may know, the reserve there is in mountain foothills. An apparently natural break in the force-field fence was found and the reserve staff thought the young tigerbats had escaped and vanished into the mountains. They could find no trace of them but hoped they'd turn up when they matured sexually and came back to look for a swarm. It looks instead as if the pair were darted and stolen. Possibly the swarm was sleep-gassed and this pair chosen to order. Lereyne wants them back. If Dedran can prove he purchased them legally from the thieves without knowing the beasts were stolen, then he'll be compensated."
"If he didn't and we march in, they'll guess somebody's talked. I don't want Laris blamed." Logan was worried.
Versha grinned. "Quite true and I have no wish to get the girl into trouble. I'll go. You can be there already just visiting. But I have the readout for the tigerbats DNA records from Lereyne. I plan to say that Lereyne has heard of the tigerbats, insists on DNA matching because tigerbats have been stolen, and that I'll have all of them cross-matched on patrol authority. I shall be very official when this pair show up as matching reserve records."
"Is that it?"
"No, I'm afraid it isn't." She sat fingering a sheaf of papers. "Storm, you were a beast master, and Tani, you were involved at the beast master breeding and recuperation center to some extent before you left Terra. Do either of you remember a man called Jason Regan? He was a beast master whose team was killed by the Xiks. He returned to Terran Beast Master Command but at the time they were short of beasts for new teams. They said he would have to wait but apparently he didn't want to do that." She snorted in exasperation.
"Instead the idiot convinced a trainee to try some trick called meshing. It was supposed to enable both humans to control the one team. They failed, the trainee died, and Regan's abilities were partially burned out. Regan was court-martialed but the court decided that the trainee had acted as he did of his own free will, and there wasn't any specific law to prevent Regan from doing as he'd done. However he was discharged, he left the service, and disappeared."
Tani wrinkled her forehead. "I remember hearing talk when I was small about what a dangerous thing it was to do that. I don't think I ever heard that name."
"Storm?"
He nodded reluctantly. "I didn't have much to do with him. He was older. Like Tani's father. They took beast masters where they could find them during the Xik war and there were never many with the beast master abilities. I did hear about Regan though. There was a rumor at the time that meshing could open you right up. Give you a team channel which was twice as good. Someone was supposed to have done it and got that result, so this pair tried and Regan was burned out."
"What does that mean exactly?"
"They weren't sure," Storm said slowly. "At the time it meant that Regan couldn't touch any of the beasts mentally. He couldn't keep working as a beast master. They thought that the channel might heal in time. You have to know, Versha. All this was experimental. It was war, they couldn't keep him and hope that in five or ten years he might be useful again. They offered him a commission in another unit. He refused. There was talk that he'd suffered some brain damage in the memory areas. He resigned from the unit and before they could conscript him somewhere else or order treatment he was gone." He waved at her papers. "Do they have any more?"
"Yes, and it's interesting. They finally discovered that he's been with Dedran's circus most of the time. Calling himself Jas Cregar. The surnames are just similar-sounding enough that he'd learn to reply quickly. Not give himself away. The few family records we've accessed from his time in the unit say that he came from Ishan. His grandparents emigrated there from Britain with the third settler wave.
"His parents had a daughter about ten years younger than Regan. No record of what happened to the family but they're all likely dead. As you know, Ishan was overrun by Xiks about fourteen years back. Most of the men and a lot of the single women died holding off the Xiks to get the other women and kids clear. The remaining defenders died when Ishan was incinerated. So this Regan probably has no family we can use to appeal to him to help." She grimaced.
"We may need help. I've talked to patrol HQ. They've had a man in the guild this last couple of years. We've likely lost him now. He's gone silent. But before that he was able to reports rumors in the guild that a patron called Nhara has a scam going. What it is he's never found out but there have been hints the guild initially expected great things from it and it involves animals."
"The circus," Tani said. "They have illegal animals. They have a burned-out beast master. Logan says Laris told him Dedran could get fake papers for any animal if he wanted them. Is there anything else which could point to the circus?" Versha picked out a paper with care and handed it to her. Tani read and handed it on so that Storm and Logan read it, heads together. Then they all looked at Versha.
"It isn't proof, my Arzoran friends. But yes. They found a tiny scrap of Terevian peavine on Baris's clothing. And the only place we could find that is currently using that is the circus. They use it as animal bedding because it's lighter than many other forms of bedding and it's edible for the animals in an emergency. Of course there's nothing to say Baris and Ideena weren't animal lovers, or fond of the circus and went to watch the show. But it's another clue."
Logan was thinking furiously. They had more than clues. Laris had told him she believed a guild patron was involved with Dedran and the circus. Dedran had her and Prauo burgling for him. And she'd opened up further about that the next night, once she'd seen he didn't condemn her. It looked as if Dedran was into stealing industrial secrets for resale. If the description of some of the items he'd had Laris and Prauo steal for him was accurate, such thefts could also tie into the guild. He didn't want to hurt or betray Laris, but this could be a chance for her and Prauo to get away. He spoke quietly.
"It's more than a clue. Laris talked to me after I told her her parent's names. Versha, she's terrified Dedran would manage to hold title to her cat. That he'd use the chance to kill it and punish her if he even suspected she'd talk. He's been using her to commit crimes by threatening to torture and kill Prauo in front of her. If you can get her clear with the cat and get her clear title to the beast she could give you a lot."
"Would she come in and talk to me?"
"No, not unless she was sure Prauo was safe first."
Versha sat thinking. "I was going to raid the circus for the tigerbats. What if, as an apparent afterthought, we collect the girl and her cat as well? Anders could say that we want to check her and the cat because there had been a minor outbreak of disease elsewhere which may have been started by a similar animal. Once we have her clear we should be able to sort something out. If she talks and her information's good we can hit the circus again with a full-scale raid. Anders would be happy to supply the men." She chuckled.