Chapter 39: Merc-y Waters

Lapis pressed her nose against the small oval window and stared at the treetops below, uncaring that poofy, low grey clouds hid much of the landscape from view, uncaring that the Swift was small, and that squeezing seven onto the purple-hued, padded benches that swung into place from the sleek silver walls made for a too-warm experience. She flew!

The sky, clear and crisp and a light morning blue, spread out above the puffs, the sun a beacon of bright to the east. The Jiy haze did not drown the beauty about her, and delighted awe spread through her chest.

Ciaran’s amusement did not phase her; luckily he sat behind her, so she did not have to witness his smirk. Her childhood obsession now bore fruit, and she refused to miss a moment of this first flight by glaring at him. Cassa and Caitria grinned, and she gratefully thanked them for allowing her to sit on the left side of the bench, where she could peer out a window. Faelan glanced back from his seat next to their beaming uncle, trying hard not to chuckle.

She still did not think it a good idea for him to accompany the small group to Cassa’s lab, but he possessed the charisma and the authority to speak with Gredy about the return of his men and the bodies. While Vali had taken out the second khentauree with a swipe of her claw, she arrived after the mercs suffered casualties.

The tales from the camp fighters who saw the attack worried her. The mercs, with powerful tech weapons, did not cause enough damage to the chassis that it stopped working. That did not bode well for their infiltration of Ambercaast, as they would not have Vali to intercede if they came upon another machine, take its hits, and smash its head. Cassa said terrons had a substance they secreted when threatened, which filled their scales and made them impervious to sharp-clawed attacks, and while meant for protection against each other, the shell had the additional benefit of mitigating tech and blade damage.

Patch’s keen interest in the secretions surprised Cassa, and while he wished for further information, he had to leave. Lapis did not know how many metgals he promised the Minq to take him to Sils’s border workshop so he could get his tech fixed, and then get him back to the camp in time to hunt Hoyt, but by their satisfied grins, he made it lucrative.

What kind of craft did they have, to fly him to another country and back so quickly? A Swift?

“So tell me more about Gredy,” Faelan said, his gaze drifting to Cassa.

She nodded and folded her hands, as if she expected questions. “He and his men appeared a week after Doctor Lovent disappeared. They blocked off access to the city center, set up patrols, and harassed terrons and humans alike. We tried to avoid them as much as possible; Gredy’s been involved in nasty merc business for years, some of which landed him in a federal jail in Meergevenis. He’ll do anything for the right price, and he hasn’t much cared who gets hurt in the process.”

“Wonderful,” Ciaran grumbled.

“Whoever hired him knew about the terrons in the Depths, but he treated them like well-trained dogs rather than intellectual equals. It didn’t go over well. He didn’t realize the Bawik Institute and a Mawai Scientific workstation were here, which seems odd if he knew about the terrons. That’s all inconsequential, I suppose. What he’s really interested in is finding aquatheerdaal.”

“Why does he think the mines are viable?” Faelan asked.

“I doubt he does, but you see, the large mines in Sondercane and Ceethland haven’t produced a load of aquatheerdaal in years, and the smaller ones on Siindlenorth and Pelthine are nearly dry. This is terrible news for all the industries that rely on it as the basis for their tech.” She pursed her lips and shook her head. “Decades ago, scientists started warning governments, corporations and civic leadership about exhausting the known beds without a new power source, but the industries that use it didn’t want to spend the money on researching other means to power their tech. For them, it’s cheaper to send people to abandoned mines to see if modern techniques can discover veins the previous tech missed.”

“So we really should have grabbed a handful of the stuff,” Ciaran said. Cassa smiled slightly.

“Yes. You’d be rich rich.” She tugged at one of her braids. “The thing is, Gredy isn’t here on behalf of government entities or industries. Someone else is paying him, someone who has access to a lot of funding. His people are well-equipped and tech-heavy.”

“So a third party has seen an opportunity for untold wealth and hired mercs to protect their interests,” Faelan said.

“I believe so. It’s why he wants a terron to sniff out the aquatheerdaal. He brought in electronic devices that are supposed to highlight veins, but they don’t work anywhere near the mines. He didn’t want to melt rock and see if any of the mineral bubbled to the surface, so after a couple of months, he started trying to force terrons to sniff for it, and they refused. Ghinka cut off access to the Depths in response.” She twisted her braid around her finger. “Around that time, merc scouting expeditions disappeared, and Gredy blamed the terrons. Badger thought to take advantage of merc fear and offered to help Gredy as long as he helped Badger become the terron leader in return.”

Lapis turned from the window, her pleasure turning to numbness; she hated the fact that talking lizards, which seemed so mythical and special, held the same political arguments and resentments that humans possessed. Did the lust for power corrupt them as it corrupted monarchies and Lords’ Councils? How sad.

“So why haven’t you sold the aquatheerdaal in the train cars?” Caitria asked.

“It belongs to the terrons,” Cassa said firmly. “They don’t want to sell, so it won’t be sold.” She half-smiled. “And, well, I think I’m the only human who knows about the cars, because of Tovi.” She held up her index finger and made a circle. “Nearly all of them are in tunnels that the terrons blocked off years ago. The inland greens were trying to get in and make nests, and they didn’t want them taking up residence, so they closed the Taangis tech doors. Without shelter, the lizards couldn’t survive the cold months, so migrated to warmer climes. Some of them made the Pit their home. I’m not certain whether they chose to live there, or if Dentheria and the Jilvaynan court decided that captured inland greens would make good . . . carrion lizards.” She swallowed. “It isn’t natural for them, you know. They prefer to hunt. But they need to eat, and . . .” She shook her head and closed her eyes.

“So terrons can detect aquatheerdaal?” Caitria asked, a distraction.

“Oh. Yes. It smells like a mineral they need that helps them create their secretion shells. Meergevenis, the Republic of Alleurs and Meurgeld, and other eastern Siindlenorth countries have used them for centuries to discover aquatheerdaal and related minerals. It’s only been in the last two hundred years that governments have seen them as thinking beings and protected them by law throughout the continent. Some Siindlesouth countries still see them as mere animals, though.”

“If they’re as large and strong as Vali and they have armored skin, how did humans keep them caged?” Lapis asked.

“They kidnapped the very young. Terrons who are Tovi’s age can’t produce secretions yet.” Cassa’s voice took on a melancholy note. “There are chemicals that interfere with the hardening process, so once enslaved, their owners forced them to ingest a concoction to keep them vulnerable. Some, like Vali, were old enough they didn’t respond to the mixtures, and they escaped.”

Questions swirled through Lapis. She had so many. How did Vali survive the contamination from the Pit? Why go on Jiy walkabouts? Why not just live with the rest of the terrons in The Depths? How had she learned the hand signs? How did the lizards natively communicate? How large could one of her kind grow? Were their teenage years anything like what humans experienced? Tovi certainly acted like an authority-resentful teen.

“We have a welcoming party,” Rodas said, interrupting her thoughts.

“Probably Kathandra Duwein and her assistant. She sounded very worried when I got in contact with her this morning,” Cassa said.

“And a couple of men dressed in black fatigues.”

“Make sure your buckles are tight,” her uncle said. “We’re landing.”

Was that a good idea?