Versions of Diplomacy

It occurred to Langley, about five blocks into the city, that she really had no idea how she was going to find Ajiin.  It was a Stormrider trait to be rash and to charge into things without thinking them through first.  This came in handy in nice, straightforward circumstances; such as boarding a pirate ship intending to kill any poor soul that got in the Stormrider's way.  It didn't come in quite as handy in situations that required subtlety, planning, or heaven forbid: thinking.  That's not to say that Stormriders weren't very good at thinky-things – it just clashed with their genetics.  Badly.

However, as there wasn't any ready commotion to point her in the correct direction, Langley was forced to halt her determined march down the street and consider what it was she was hoping to accomplish and how she was going to do it.  She slipped off to the side of the street, where the traffic was light, and tried to sort things through in her head.  She had her hand on Sword's hilt and it felt like it was purring under her touch and she made a note to be concerned about this later.  For now, she could use its bloodthirsty rage.  Possibly.  If she found someone to unleash it on.

There was a chance that Ajiin had come this way.  It was a fairly direct route into the city and it was a busy street he could slip into the crowd and vanish on.  He was good at that.  If he had done that then there was a chance that someone had seen him.  She nodded to herself and moved over to the nearest outdoors stall, an older lady selling fruit.

"Pardon me, ma'am," Langley said, "I'm wondering if you saw a friend-"

"Buy?" the woman interrupted, pointing at her fruit, "Good!  You buy?"

"No, no, I'm looking for-"

"Buy!"  She settled back in her chair and looked quite happy, waiting for Langley to make up her mind about what fruit she wanted and give her the money.  After a moment the Stormrider swore, picked up something that was hopefully related to the apple, and handed over some money.  She kept a small amount of Swerthian currency on her, but only a small amount.  The woman made change and Langley pocketed it and tried again.

"Now, I need to find a friend…"

And this time the woman gave her a confused look and repeated, "Buy?"

"Oh," she said, "You don't speak Alannian.  Right."

And she walked off and bit into the apple thing, finding that no, it wasn't related to the apple but it still tasted pretty good anyway.  It occurred to her that perhaps she should have taken a different language in Academy, something a bit more useful.  High Elven was the most difficult language to learn but it had been useful in that it gave her and Sabreur bragging rights and a seemingly endless well of resentment from other students that they could use as provocation whenever they were bored.  However, in the real world, it didn't have much use.  At first the two had thought they could use it as a way to communicate without anyone knowing what they were saying but then they realized that no one understood them in Alannian.  

Still, it was good to swear in.  Very poetic.  And that's what Langley did.  Loudly.  Causing quite a few people to turn and stare.

Perhaps if she knew more about Ajiin she could guess as to where he'd gone and how to find him.  But he was so close-mouthed, so secretive, so non-communicative… and HOW had he gotten that slave-mark anyway?

"You're making a scene, darling," someone said and then a hand closed around her wrist and started dragging her off down the street, towards a small dip in the buildings where a clear space resided.  She dug her heels in and the man outdistanced her by a pace but didn't release her wrist.

"I-I'll!" she snarled, scrambling to attempt drawing Sword with her off-hand and failing.

"Relax, I just want to talk.  Besides, I speak Alannian.  Isn't that a nice change?"

He finished hauling her to the secluded enclave and let go.  She looked around nervously and straightened her jacket before turning the full force of her affronted Stormrider glare on him.  He was taller than her by at least a half-foot and had enough of a tan to appear Swerthian.  The red in his otherwise brown hair and the complete lack of a Swerthian accent gave him away, however.

"Nice sword," he commented, "Draw it and I'll kill you.  I can smell the necromancy on it."

"You-"

"Spare me the insults."  He leaned up against a wall and didn't even bother to hide the fact that he was sizing her up with a disinterested look on his face.  Finally he sniffed and scratched at his wiry goatee.

"Fine, you'll do," he announced, "Langley Stormrider, correct?"

"How-"

"Oh, I have my sources," he said lazily, "Name's Sino.  Cadre officer but no one is supposed to know that."  He flipped something out of his pocket for half a second – the badge of an officer – before continuing.  "I'm here on a covert operation.  I'd like you and your brother to help."

He grinned and there was a dangerous glint in his eyes.  Langley stared at him warily for a moment.  It wasn't often she found someone who could get in their bluff before she even got a chance.  Dog was one of them.  Grandma Stormrider was another.  Mihos.  And that nice girl that ran Liqua'mancy back at the Academy.  She decided that she didn't like Sino for it.

"What kind of operation and why do you want me?" she asked.  He was Cadre.  Nothing good ever came out of them.

"You know the Cadre has been putting pressure on Swerthia for some time about the slave market?" he asked.

"Yeah and that sure has done a lot of good."  Sino accepted the sarcasm.

"Which is why I'm here.  There's all sorts of different methods of diplomacy in our organization and I've been given the pleasure of enlisting a version that you, a Stormrider, may find quite appealing."

He fairly bounced off the wall and rubbed his hands together gleefully before leaning in close to Langley's ear.

"You know.  The kind that involves massive property damage and inconvenient dead bodies."

Property damage Sabreur could do.  Dead bodies she could do.  Working with the Cadre – maybe not so much.

"I've got other problems to worry about," she said, giving him one last disgusted look before turning to go.

"Yes, your missing first mate.  I know.  I saw him head off and then waited for you to follow.  I've been trailing you since the warehouse.  Didn't even have to work too hard at it either – you're awful at noticing what's going on around you."

Definitely not going to be able to work with a Cadre officer.  Langley grit her teeth and curled her hand around Sword's hilt, waiting to feel the bloodlust well up in response.  Instead, all she got was curiosity.  Apparently it had been curious since the mention of dead bodies.

"Thanks," Langley muttered under her breath at the weapon, "Big help you are."  And it purred again.

"Well?" Sino prompted, "It's a good deal all around.  You just… go do whatever it was you were planning to, except with a bit more guidance from someone that has the ability to think ahead.  You get your first mate back safe and sound."

"You make it sound like you're going to be in charge," Langley said, still keeping her back to the officer like she was on the verge of leaving.

She was going to create a scene over this no matter what happened and it really didn't appeal to her to have a Cadre officer involved.

"Of course," he replied smoothly, "I have goals, you understand.  Things that need to be accomplished.  They just happen to be beneficial to you as well… besides, it's not like this will be the first time Stormriders have cooperated with the Cadre."

She shifted uncomfortably, unable to deny that one.  It was true.  Sadly, unfortunately, true.  Some Stormriders had even joined the Cadre and that had caused an incredible headache for the branches that they belonged to during and even after their time as officers.  In other instances they'd worked side-by-side, usually to achieve a mutual goal.  However…

"You're not in charge," she said, spinning and jabbing a finger at him.  He was closer than she thought and it landed in the middle of his chest.  That worked too.  "Got it?  I'll listen to what you know and if your plan sounds good I'll consider it.  But you don't get to order me around."

"Oh no, of course not," he replied quietly, "I don't think I could."

"Alright then.  We've got a deal."  Langley took a deep breath.  "So long as that's clear."

"Perfectly.  Now, before we return to your skimmer to meet your twin and start planning I have a question… what language were you swearing in?  On the street?"

"High Elven."

And for some reason he put his hand to his brow and massaged it like he had an impending headache and groaned.

"So much book smarts, so little common sense," he sighed, "There's something wrong with your family."

And Langley could only think of an entire list of things that were wrong with the Cadre but she bit her tongue on those, resolving to save them for later.  He was too quick on the uptake and she didn't have the advantage in verbal sparring right now.  Maybe later, after he'd seen Sabreur's reaction to the phrase ‘property damage.'  That was enough to throw most sane individuals off-balance.  She turned quickly to hide her grin and started walking back down the street towards the warehouse.  Sino followed, also grinning, his eyes roaming casually around the area of Langley's waist and legs.  Not bad.  Not bad a deal at all.

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