Chap. 127 Baiting the Trap

Chap. 127  Baiting The Trap

The dining hall was fairly crowded. Small and provided with trestle tables, one ate almost always elbow to elbow with others.

They'd sat down at the end of one of the tables, hoping to have it for themselves, but  almost immediately, a group of men-obviously seamen-took up the remaining spots on the bench seats. The team ignored them as they were strangers. But they could also hear the seamen's conversations amongst themselves. One man, in particular, seemed to take pains to sit close to Greta. Despite coming with the crew, he didn't engage in conversation with them. 

D'nis had finished his dinner and got up to take his plates. 

"I'm off, then. I'd like to get our data shipped tonight, so as to have a clean slate tomorrow," he said. D'mitran got up, as well. 

"I'd planned to do that anyway. Just needed something in the stomach, sir," He swooped up his plates. "Besides, I have a dragon who needs an oiling. That will take a while. You two coming?" he said, to K'ndar and Greta.

"I'm not quite done yet, we'll see you at the quarters," she said. 

K'ndar was about to leave as well when Greta gave a quick shake of her head. Then she inclined it to her right, indicating the seaman sitting not three feet from her.

Earth says Greta wants you to 'play along' with whatever she says Raventh said.

K'ndar nodded at Greta.

She says for you to open using T'ovar's name. She says, only use it once. She says, do not say Toric's name, either. What is this about?

I have no idea, but I understand. She has something planned.

He looked at her. What a wonderful thing, to be able to communicate via dragon, with no one able to overhear. 

"Any idea what happened to T'ovar? He's been gone for over a week."

"Ssssssssshhhhhhhh!" Greta hissed.

The man sitting next to her flinched but continued eating as if he was in his own world.  

"Not so loud," she said. K'ndar wasn't sure if that was meant really for him, or just part of the game he realized she was playing. 

She says the man sitting next to her strikes her as a spy. Maybe the same one who went through the bags.

Ah….

"Okay," he said, in a softer tone, "but I'm confused."

"I am too," she said. "I was waiting for him to come back, he left so suddenly, he said he was going to Landing. I've never seen a man so excited. You know what? I think he found an artifact." 

"Really?? He didn't tell US!"

Greta grinned, appreciating that K'ndar could play. 

"He didn't tell ANYBODY. Not on our team, anyway, or even Rahman. He just left."

The spy next to her flinched again. This time, as K'ndar was sitting across from Greta, he saw it happen. 

Tell Earth the man next to Greta is definitely listening, and he flinched when she said the word 'artifact'. 

She's listening, too.  What does 'flinch' mean?

I will teach you later

"Yes, I remember, now, he was acting strange. What kind of teammate keeps a secret from his team? Doesn't tell what he's found? You're right, he just left. Didn't even tell the boss. That pissed me off.  But I do remember the folks at Landing telling him all artifacts are to be turned into them.  And Rahman repeated it to him when he got here. So he knows. Did he go to Landing?" K'ndar said. 

"I don't know. He was so excited, said it was vitally important that he leave immediately. Now we've not seen him in a week. Not that I mind, he's a lazy jerk. I don't trust him. But, now I remember him telling one of the Sea Dragon's crew, our first or second day at Tillek, that he knew a couple people who might 'compensate' him well for 'anything' he might show to them."

"Meaning 'artifacts'?"

"Well, I doubt a rich man is going to buy a bunch of dead flowers, or dusty old rocks," she said, giggling.

"That's not right. He's supposed to turn any artifacts into Landing."

"I bet he didn't. He was pretty smug, always trying to impress me, you know? Men do that a lot, they think us girls are stupid, so they flash money. Or pretend to have "influence". That's what he was implying when he was boasting, that he had 'friends', rich ones.  I just thought it was all gas and ash from him, but now I know what he meant."

"What does it mean?"

"I'm just guessing, but I bet some rich man has already paid him, in advance, to get any artifacts he might find."

"Who do you think would do this? Buy an artifact?" although he knew very well who.

"I don't know, certainly I don't know anyone who would do such a thing." She tapped her fingers on the table, pretending to think. 

"He said something, something….oh!! NOW I understand what he meant, when he said that, by 'cut you in on the deal," she said.

K'ndar was floundering a bit, but played anyway.

"I…I've heard that phrase, but I didn't know what it meant."

"It means, he meant, if you or I found an artifact, to give it to him without telling anyone else, and any money he made from it, he'd give us some. Like a finder's fee, and he'd charge the buyer extra."

"But if he did find an artifact, he didn't tell you. Or me. So that means, he had no intentions on cutting anyone in on anything. Bet he still charges the buyer extra, though."

"Oh ho!! Hadn't thought of that!" she crowed.

"I tell you, though, I don't want any part of his 'deal'. It's theft. It's theft, it is. It's wrong, and even if he comes in with money in hand, I won't take a bit of it, and I'll report him. Artifacts belong to everyone on Pern, not some rich man." K'ndar said, getting heated.

"I'm with you. I hope he never comes back. He's a thief and a liar, and whoever is paying him for artifacts is, too."

A thought hit him.

Wanting to keep thieves and poachers away from the interior as far as possible, he asked,

"You're right. Although, I have to say, I don't think there's anything of any value out there.   We've certainly not seen a thing that says humans have ever been in the interior. Or even on Western Island. It's like they say, the Western Continent is nothing but sand and tunnel snakes.  Honestly, this whole survey has been pretty much a waste of time."

He winked at the girl.  

"Do you remember where he was when he found it? Because he left so quickly I never really heard where."

Now she was confused. Quick, Greta, quick. Think. Where would you direct a bunch of thieves looking for valuable artifacts, a spot where the only thing they could do is get dirty?

Ah.

"I do! It's hard to believe, but I saw him by the old latrine, the one they found had been dug before they built this observatory. I know how excavations work over the years. Things work their way out of the dirt if there's nothing to cover it. It's been unused for a long time, I know that. Maybe he used it, maybe he was just lucky, but maybe he found it in that old latrine. Because that's when he left, just like that, without explanation. Right afterwards."

 K'ndar laughed. "Well that settles it for me. I'm not digging up a latrine just on the hope there might be something other than shit in the bottom of it."

"Me, neither, but it tells you, doesn't it, just how much money an artifact can bring? That he'd actually go climbing down into a latrine, maybe even dig down a few meters or more, just on the hope of finding something?"

"Tells a lot about his character, doesn't it. All bad. Are you done?" he asked. 

She smirked. 

"I am. Come on, I have a lot of cataloging to do," she said, getting up.

They left the hall, but Greta pulled K'ndar aside into a corner of the building where one could see people leaving it. 

"Wait. I want to follow them when they come out, to see where he goes. We'll have to keep him from seeing us, though," she said.

K'ndar grinned. "I've a better idea," he said.

He called Siskin. 

The blue arrived, chittering. 

The seamen exited the dining hall, chattering away. The spy was behind them, a bit separate from the rest of the group. His body language suggested that, despite being with them, he  wasn't really a member of the crew. He looked around him, suspiciously, but didn't see them. 

K'ndar pushed an image of the man's face into Siskin's mind.

"Siskin. Follow that man."

Siskin LOVED this game. He chipped and whirred away.

"Quick, show me how to teach Roany that," Greta said.

"Push an image of the man into his mind. Tell him to follow the man. Siskin will show him, if need be, but Roany is just as quick as Siskin. Or have Earth explain it to him, but I don't think that's necessary. They're pretty smart creatures," he said. 

 Roany whickered, understanding immediately, then raced off to follow Siskin. 

"Won't they see them?" she asked.

"Hasn't happened so far. Humans seldom look UP, and Siskin stays far enough overhead that they don't hear him."

"This is going to be fun. You'll have to teach us how to do tricks."

"I can do that."

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Siskin and Roany reported that the man followed the crew onto a supply ship. 

She was the Stella Maris.