“Lakooni doesn’t know anything about this,” Lakuviv reminded her.
“Maybe it’s time she did.”
Lakuviv clenched his teeth. Unfortunately, she was right. Without the Patriel’s approval, he wouldn’t even be able to get another patrol ship to send to the Agbui, let alone the dormant frigate or one of the cruisers.
Not that any of the warships would do much good anyway. Without full crews, they were really only useful for the cruisers’ current job as defensive weapons platforms.
Still, even a couple of patrol ships would be better than nothing. At least that would give the Xodlak some claim to the mines and their output when they eventually brought this to the Syndicure. “Fine,” he said with a sigh as he keyed the comm again.
The Patriel didn’t have nearly as many layers of screening as the Patriarch, and there were far fewer officials below her clamoring for her attention. Ten minutes after Lakuviv initiated the call, Lakooni was on.
“I should inform you right up front,” Lakooni said after the standard greetings, “that I’ve already heard from the Patriarch’s office. I am not pleased you went over my authority that way.”
“I’m sorry if you feel slighted,” Lakuviv said, working hard to hold on to what was left of his temper. No concern for anything but rigid structure and her own petty authority. “But a situation has unexpectedly arisen, one that could either bring great profit and renown to the Xodlak or mean disaster for the entire Ascendancy.”
“I also don’t appreciate theatrics, Councilor,” Lakooni growled. “Fine. You have two minutes to tell me what’s going on.”
“It concerns the Agbui cultural nomads who arrived in Redhill province a month ago,” Lakuviv said. “I can’t say more than that on the comm.”
“This is a secure connection.”
“We can’t rely on that,” Lakuviv countered. “I need you to come to Redhill Hall, where I can give you the full story.”
“Are you insane?” Lakooni demanded. “If you want a face-to-face, you can come here.”
“There are reports and resources here that I can’t bring with me,” Lakuviv said. “Resources that rival family representatives in Brickwalk might notice and wonder about.”
“So let them gawk,” Lakooni said impatiently. “What could they possibly see that would be a problem?”
Lakuviv clenched his hands into fists. Could she not even take a hint when it was dropped straight in front of her? “I told you this is something that could bring renown to the Xodlak,” he said. “It would bring equal renown to any other family that got to it first. And to whoever the liaison was who brought it to that family’s attention.”
There was a brief silence. “You thought this was worth taking directly to the Patriarch,” Lakooni said. “Taking past me to the Patriarch.”
“Only because the timing here is critical,” Lakuviv said. “If we don’t get moving quickly, we may not be able to move at all.”
Another silence, a longer one this time. Lakooni knew even better than he did how family rivalries swirled through the upper echelons of Ascendancy life. “Fine,” she said reluctantly. “Whatever it is, I still think you’re way off vector here. But fine. I was going to head to Fissure Lake tomorrow for a few days anyway. I’ll leave now instead and swing by Redhill on my way.”
“Thank you, Patriel,” Lakuviv said, breathing a silent sigh of relief. If he could convince Lakooni, maybe together they could get the Patriarch moving in time to get some ships out there and take possession of the mines. “You won’t be disappointed.”
“I had better not be,” Lakooni warned. “I’ll be there in three hours. Be ready to amaze me.”
She broke the connection. Lakuviv gazed at the display another moment, then looked across the desk at Lakjiip. “She’s coming,” he said.
“So I gathered,” Lakjiip said. “Whether she’ll agree to take it to the Patriarch is a different question.”
“She will,” Lakuviv said. “She’s quite predictable when she thinks there’s something in it for her.”
“Putting her in a special class with—well, with almost everyone else,” Lakjiip said. “Are you going to keep Haplif and Yoponek in the hall until she arrives?”
“We have to keep Haplif, anyway,” Lakuviv said, standing up. Once again, he’d almost forgotten the Coduyo boy was even here. “If Yoponek wants to go back to the Agbui ship, we’ll have someone take him.”
They found Haplif and Yoponek in one of the conference rooms, talking earnestly over the remains of the meal that had been sent in to them. “Ah—Councilor Lakuviv,” Haplif said brightly as he spotted the newcomers. “And Senior Aide Lakjiip. Do you bring good news?”
“I hope so,” Lakuviv said. “I’ve persuaded Patriel Lakooni to come here and discuss the matter with me. She may have some questions for you, as well, so I trust you’re still willing to stay?”
“Absolutely,” Haplif said. “If she approves of your request for Xodlak family assistance, what will be the next step?”
“We go to the Patriarch and ask him to authorize military action,” Lakuviv said. “The Xodlak family still has a small fleet from our time as one of the Ruling Families, though the major warships are understaffed and have been repurposed as planetary defense platforms.”
“Like the warships circling Celwis?” Haplif asked.
“The light cruisers, yes,” Lakuviv said, nodding. “There’s also a frigate in the system that’s essentially dormant. At any rate, if the Patriarch agrees the next step will be to gather Xodlak reservists from our various worlds to fully crew whatever ships he decides to send.”
Yoponek cleared his throat. “That sounds like it will take time,” he said.
“Everything takes time, Yoponek,” Lakuviv said, pinning the midager with a glare. What was the boy interrupting for? None of this had anything to do with him or the Coduyo family. “Would you prefer waiting for the next class of graduates from Taharim Academy?”
“Well …” Yoponek looked at Haplif.
“Go ahead,” the Agbui urged. “It was your thought and insight.”
“All right.” Yoponek turned back to Lakuviv. “Unless the Xodlak work differently from everyone else in the Ascendancy, you could declare a family emergency and bring some officers and warriors directly from the Expansionary Defense Fleet.”
Lakuviv stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about bringing in people from the fleet,” Yoponek repeated. “I mean real officers and warriors, not reservists like you were talking about. I mean, reservists might not have been aboard a ship for years. You can call up as many as—let’s see; I think it’s—”
“Never mind the numbers,” Lakuviv interrupted. “What do you mean by a family emergency?”
“It’s something any of the Forty can do if they were ever one of the Ruling Families and have an undercrewed family fleet,” Yoponek said. “I studied this a while back—thought the whole concept was fascinating. It was, oh, about thirty years ago that some breakaway alien sect was threatening to move in on Coduyo holdings on Massoss. The family declared an emergency, but the Defense Force was busy with something somewhere else and couldn’t spare us any ships. So we got some of our family members off their ships—”
“Yes, yes, I get the gist,” Lakuviv interrupted, looking at Lakjiip. “Senior Aide?”
“Found it,” Lakjiip said, peering at her questis. “It was thirty-two years ago. The Coduyo had an old—a very old—light cruiser at Massoss—”
“It was a hundred years since we’d been one of the Ruling Families, so of course it was old,” Yoponek interjected.