There was less of a problem with homeless children and hunger on Kyeros, but Dav had his own frustrations. His report that, according to an informant, Eshotiret, the last Ciardei the Alliance had known by name, had died in Kib?, had raised concerns that Kronval’s claim that the planet was in anarchy might be justified. Even if the civil unrest and rebellions were greatly exaggerated—or even promoted—by the Kron, no legitimate Ciardei meant that technically at least the planet had no recognized leadership.

  Both because he made the report and because he was somewhat more successful communicating with local people than other agents, Dav found himself assigned primarily to investigate the situation regarding the Jaraidan leadership, especially as it connected to the Ciardei. It had not been going well.

  Questions about the Jaraidan government were a sure way to end an otherwise productive conversation, Dav had found. A merchant in the Omik stonework might be happy to chat about how “the present crisis” was affecting the planet, how it affected trade, how Jaraidans felt that Kronval was misrepresenting the situation on their planet and more along the same lines—but the minute Dav asked specifically about how they knew that there was a Ciardei or what they knew of the present government, the merchant would start speaking vaguely and, if pressed, refused to say any more.

  Other agents reported the same experience. Asked anything about the Jaraidan government, the Tavi, or more specifically the Ciardei, even the most promising informant would either change the subject or state that they “were not at liberty to discuss the Ciardei.”

  Dav found it a strangely pompous phrase, especially when uttered by children. Even teeners whose Mehland was so thick with slang Dav could hardly follow—would say it when questioned. He assumed it was what they had been directed to say, by the authorities—whoever they were—by parents, perhaps by some of those priests that some Jaraidans clearly took very seriously. He really needed to learn more about the religion of Jaraida, he thought.

  Some people described Jaraida as a theocracy because the Code of Jaraida was both a religious document and a constitution. However, priests did not seem to have any political standing, and the Ciardei, though he was venerated as the people’s link to The Power, was a constitutional monarch, restricted in what he could do by the Council of Elders. He wished the collapse of the Jaraidan locnet did not make it impossible for him to research Jaraidan beliefs, the sects that Taasi’s guardian had spoken of.

  He had asked Ista about those sects, and she had confirmed that they existed, but she dismissed most of those who were so preoccupied with words that they missed the “real meaning” of the Code. As far as Ista was concerned, the moral essence of the Code was simple: You did not eat warm blooded animals, you did not have transplants or implants, and you treated other people fairly. Everyone who wanted to make much more of it, was wasting time. She was not interested in the nuances of the Code, and she thought those who argued about them were foolish.

  He found a few Jaraidans in the Omik stonework who had a bit more to say, and even a bookseller, who provided a book—in Jarand, unfortunately—that discussed the different sects, so he hoped to learn more about the religion as he had time. He had a theory that if there were religious sects, the disagreements among them might account for at least some of the unrest that the Kron claimed were signs of civil war.

  However, he did not have much time to pursue this research. Besides his work as an interpreter, his ongoing research on current Jaraidan culture, his regular duties at the medicenter and his turns in the rescue teams, he had been told the most important thing he should be doing was chasing down information about the Ciardei. He feared it was a hopeless task. No matter how he or others approached it, Jaraidans were not going to disclose anything about the government, the Ciardei, or the Tavi—including Gin’va Adeni. Merleth, who the Directors had hoped would have better luck because of her prior relationship with Gin’va, was encountering the same problems—or worse, because there was no Omik stonework in Trinar, and in any case, she was restricted in where she could go because she was still a “trainee.” The poor girl, he thought, had been given an impossible assignment, and her supervisors were not as supportive as they could be.

  *****

  Besides the “no unnecessary contact” decree, Dav suspected, there had been another decree against sharing information about the Jaraidan government in general and the Ciardei in particular. He just wished he could get someone to explain why the government, if there was a legitimate government, did not reach out to PASS instead of hiding.

  Jaraidans complained that the Kron were using the excuse that their planet was without leadership in order to take over the planet, but they offered no proof that all the possible heirs to the Ciardeitat could were not dead, nor would they even provide a way to contact the Council of Elders. They blamed the plant blights, the poisoning of the water in some areas, the spread of disease such as the cinder pox on the Kron, but they had no proof to offer.

  “Everybody knows that,” was not a useful answer.

  Though he wanted to believe Taasi and Ista and others who insisted that there was a Ciardei, the absence of a name and his place in the line of succession, he could not tell his superiors that he believed them completely. Besides, who were his sources? Taasi was a teenager he had met a couple of times. Ista was the owner of an eatery that he frequented. Of the two, Taasi might be the better source, despite her youth, because his research suggested that she had family connections among the Tavi. However, he had not seen Taasi in almost a forten, and had no idea how he could contact her.

  Asking questions of the occasional Jaraidan kid he met gathering erthrop and the merchants in the Omik stonework did give him some information.

  One time, Janut, a dealer in greenstone carvings, once went so far as to say that the Ciardei was “in a safe location.” Another time, he disclosed that and that the Council met regularly in spite of The Troubles. When Dav asked if he meant the Council of Elders, that included representatives from all the Jaraidan kinships, the seller had confirmed that he meant the Council of Elders as opposed to the “local” councils.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  “Are all the local councils still meeting?” Dav had asked.

  “As far as I know,” Janut, had replied. “The council in Kyeros is doing a good job, anyway.”

  “Who is on the Kyeros council?” Dav had pushed. It would be useful to have names to contact in the city, people who might be persuaded to work with PASS. But the man would give no names, only that the council consisted of representatives from each stonework.

  Dav had tried to get more information, but even though he was a good customer who had bought several things from him, the merchant would say no more.

  *****

  “And that is all you know so far?” asked Senior Hakis during a rare face-to-face meeting.

  Dav nodded.

  She would have read all his reports and notes. The question was surely rhetorical.

  “We need more information,” she said.

  Dav explained that he had been getting as much information as he could, consulting other agents’ reports, communicating with Merleth Caruth since she had arrived in Trinar, asking questions of any Jaraidan who would talk to him.

  “That woman who spoke Panlex fluently, did the AI match her with anyone on The List?”

  There was no need to specify which list. The list of a couple of hundred Jaraidans that PASS was trying to locate.

  “No. Masked helmets make facial analysis difficult, as you know. I had the AI create a still and remove the mask, but it was not clear enough. Even with her approximate height, the probability that she had studied mediscience at the University or Hoans, and searching for psi-healing and telepathy as special talents, she could be any one of a dozen Jaraidans known to have been off-world.”

  “What about the girl, ‘Taasi’ wasn’t it?”

  “Now Taasi, we do know a bit about,” Dav said, glad to have something positive to report.

  “She is on the preliminary exams list for the Academy as Bataasi Adeni Manandi with very high scores. She told the truth that she had the go-ahead to apply when she reached the admission age. Her parents are listed as Benot Manandi and Fanta Adeni, but there is no other information.”

  “There wouldn’t be,” Senior Hakis agreed, “For a preliminary exam. What else do you know about her?”

  “Nothing other than what the girl herself told me, which you saw in my report. The scores confirm she is fluent in both Panlex and Alspik. She admitted to some telepathy, as one must before an exam, but no other ability is mentioned.”

  Everything he was answering had been in his reports. Since Hakis would have read them, he assumed she was only questioning him so they could go through what he knew in the hope either one of them would have an idea.

  “Woudn’t Taasi’s mother, be related to Gin’va Adeni? The one we have everyone asking about, who used to be friends with Trainee Caruth and Junior Scholar Rionan?”

  This was something he had not addressed in his report, but which he had discussed with Merleth.

  “I would think so,” Dav said. “Trainee Caruth and I have discussed the different possibilities, but although she thinks she met Taasi’s mother briefly during one of her visits, she has no idea how closely related she might be to Gin’va. They could have been anything from half-sisters to distant cousins—or aunt and niece, even, though that is less likely.”

  “These polygamous marriages do make the family trees complicated,” agreed Hakis.

  “Has anyone else in the field got information that I could use?” he asked.

  “Nothing new,” Hakis replied. “You’ll have seen some reports that support what you have heard, especially about the local councils still being in control in most areas. No specifics, however, and even less information about the planetary government.

  “There was one interesting report, however, accusing Kronval of responsibility for the Sidar valley floods. A medical team offering cinder pox inoculations to villages in the valley heard more than one Jaraidan claiming, as though it were a fact, that the dam that failed near Athus up north after sabotage by Kron agents.”

  Dav said he had seen the report—and could anticipate the Kron response, if they were ever challenged. It was never Kron agents but Jaraidan revolutionaries or anarchists.

  “Without proof and without the Jaraidan government asking for Alliance help, there is not much we can do,” Hakis continued. “But it raises new areas for investigation.”

  Dav agreed. There was a lot to investigate, and it was frustrating that Jaraidans would not trust PASS.

  “If they have a legitimate government, as most of them claim, they are making a mistake not coming forward and asking for our help,” Hakis said. “Even if the legitimate Ciardei was killed and there is no one to replace him, if they have a substitute, a leader acceptable to their Council and to the people, PASS would help.”

  Dav had known this, but not heard it stated in so many words before. Was this why Hakis had wanted to meet in person? To keep this discussion off the records?

  “Has anything happened recently?” he asked. “Has there been an incident that hasn’t been publicized that might make us … readier to assist Jaraidans establish a legitimate government?”

  “Nothing you haven’t heard of,” she said. “But there is a concern that Kronval is pushing the ‘rival factions’ argument too hard when there is no evidence that there is even one faction—and no sign of anarchy either.”

  “If there were rival factions,” Dav remarked, “We would have had at least one of them presenting itself as the legitimate government and trying to get our support against the others—as well as against Kronval. Instead, the central government is in hiding, and governments at the local level seem to be working just fine, even in places as badly hit as Trinar.”

  Hakis nodded agreement.

  “That is one of the arguments that has been made at . . . higher levels,” she said.

  After a pause during which Dav wondered what would come next, Hakis added, “We need you to make a priority to discover more about whatever central government the Jaraidans have. We have been hoping that contact with some of the Jaraidans who have been educated or lived off-world would help, but it is becoming more urgent to identify who is in charge on this planet and work with them.”

  “Even if they are not the legitimate government according to their Code?” Dav asked.

  “We would need to be sure that there was indeed no legitimate Ciardei, and that the Council of Elders accepted this substitute in place of the Ciardei—but if we were, and if the Council backed this person, our job would be to assist Jaraida.”

  She did not say, “Against the encroaching Kron,” aloud, but she thought it, and Dav guessed she deliberately let him see the thought.

  Dav nodded understanding.

  “You have done well so far,” Hakis went on. “Keep doing what you do, but shift the focus a bit. If we are going to chase after people in hiding, let’s put our efforts into finding the Ciardei—if there is one—and the Council.”

  “That will be more difficult than asking about Gin’va Adeni and others like her,” Dav pointed out.

  “Will it really? There must be hundreds of Jaraidans who know nothing about the people who were off-world before the destruction of Thualat. However, there is a good chance that the average Jaraidan will know something about their government.”