“Now we know that either Oran or Selene is the Master Gardener. How does that help us?” Janco asked.
I considered. “We could kidnap Oran and find out where all the other glass hothouses are located. Cutting off the Cartel’s supply of Theobroma would be a major blow.”
“Would he tell us?” Onora asked.
“Unless he’s immune to goo-goo juice, he should.”
Onora crinkled her nose at the mention of the juice.
Janco rubbed the scar where the lower half of his ear used to be. “Wouldn’t that tip the Cartel off to what we’re doing? If it was me, and one of my expert green thumbs disappeared, I’d triple the guards around all those hothouses and Theobroma factories.”
He had a point. I borrowed one of Valek’s tactics. “What do you suggest?”
“I found that complex by following the delivery wagon from the garrison. We could send teams to all the garrisons and locate all the hothouses and factories.”
We already knew who supplied the Greenblade garrison, so that left ten garrisons, requiring twenty people. Fisk could probably provide the manpower. Could we locate and destroy them in time? We had guessed the Cartel and the Commander would complete the takeover of Sitia by the middle of the hot season. The Theobroma took at least seven days to wear off. To be on the safe side, all the Theobroma would need to be destroyed by the beginning of the hot season, which was sixty-six days away. It should be enough time, but what if we missed one of the factories?
I voiced my concerns to the others.
“Fisk’s kids are good for surveillance, but I wouldn’t ask them to attack professional soldiers,” Ari said. “Plus, as soon as we hit one compound, all the others will be alerted. We don’t have enough people to strike all the hothouses at one time.”
Another good point.
Esau squirmed in his seat and ran a hand through his gray hair. He had a pained expression that I’d learned to recognize. “Do you have a suggestion, Father?” I asked.
Unhappy, he dragged his gaze to mine. “I might have a way we can kill off the Theobroma trees without tipping off the Cartel.”
Janco glanced at him in surprise. “Why do you look so glum? That’s fantastic news!”
“There’s a strong chance it would destroy all the Theobroma trees in Sitia. Every one.”
I understood his reluctance. To Esau, plants, trees and flowers were almost as precious as people.
“Good riddance,” Janco said. “It has brought nothing but trouble. In my mind, it’s just as bad as magic.”
“It counters the effects of Curare,” Esau said.
“Until the Theobroma-resistant Curare is ready,” Janco shot back.
“That won’t be for another three or four years.”
“That’s based on the plants in this hothouse and the one in Broken Bridge,” I said. “Owen’s people had more time. There’s a possibility that it’s ready now.” A sobering thought. “What’s your idea, Father?”
He stared at his hands, then picked up a twig from the ground. Using the broken end, he cleaned the dirt from under his nails.
“Father?”
Esau sighed. “There’s a fungus that grows in the Illiais Jungle. It’s called Frosty Pod because it resembles snow. It causes the pods on the Theobroma trees to rot. I’ve isolated it to one part of the jungle and have been working on a fungicide. But if we were to harvest the spores and spread them, then it would damage all the pods and appear natural.”
“Spread them how?” Ari asked.
“With the wind. We’d need to be upwind on a windy day.”
“And be in the perfect spot,” Janco said. “And hope the wind is strong enough to carry the spores throughout Sitia.”
Undeterred, Esau said, “We can travel from city to city, starting at the Illiais Market, then to Booruby and farther north.”
“What about through the glass walls of the hothouses?” Janco’s good mood soured and he stabbed a stick into the fire. “Besides, we can’t control the weather.”
Excitement shot through me. “No. But Zethan and the Stormdancers can. Would seeding rain clouds with the spores work as well?” I asked Esau.
“Fungus loves moisture.”
“Can the spores get inside the hothouses?” Ari asked.
“There are small holes in the glass panels in the ceiling that allow the smoke from the burning coals to escape,” Esau said. “Plus those spores will stick to boots and clothing, so when a worker enters the house, he’ll drag them in with him.”
“How long until the pods rot?” Ari leaned forward.