“So it’s true, then,” Vrenna said, to her father and brother. “The Flow is collapsing.”
“The Flow is the Flow,” Jamies said. “It doesn’t do anything. Our access to it, on the other hand, is definitely going away. The unusual stability of the Flow streams that have allowed the development of the Interdependency is coming to an end. One by one, the streams are going to dry up. One by one, the systems of the Interdependency are going to find themselves alone. For a long time. Possibly forever.”
“How long do we have?” Vrenna asked.
“Ten years,” Marce said. “At the outside.” He glanced over to his father. “If Dad’s models are perfectly accurate, less than that. Probably closer to seven or eight years before all the local Flow streams are gone. Most of them will be gone before then.”
Jamies turned toward his son. “And that’s why you must go.”
“Wait, what?” Marce said.
“You have to go,” Jamies repeated.
“Where?”
“To Hub, of course. You have to take this data to the emperox.”
“I thought you were sending regular updates to the emperox,” Vrenna said, to her father.
“I have been, obviously. The data is encrypted and sent monthly via outgoing ships.”
“So send this the same way,” Marce said.
Jamies shook his head. “You don’t understand. It’s one thing to keep the emperox updated when I’m just crunching through the data and refining the model. It’s another thing entirely when the model is verified, and real, and a threat to the Interdependency. He’s going to need someone to walk him through it all. And then walk everyone else through it. And then argue with everyone from scientists to politicians who want to poke holes in it for their own purposes. Someone needs to go.”
“I agree,” Marce said. “And that person should be you.”
Jamies opened his mouth but then Doung Xavos, the count’s secretary, poked his head into the room. “My lord, Lord Ghreni Nohamapetan is here to see you. He says he comes at the request of the duke.”
“Bring him,” Jamies said, and looked at his children.
“Should we go?” Vrenna asked.
“I’d rather you stayed.” Jamies gestured at the monitor spilling out the news of the revolution; it switched itself off. Jamies sat at his desk and encouraged his children to sit as well. They did.
Lord Ghreni Nohamapetan entered the room, clad in black, and Marce watched as the noble went to greet his father. Ghreni and the Claremont siblings were of an age, but the two of them had never socialized extensively with the Nohamapetan scion; he’d arrived to End only a few years prior to handle his house’s interests. They’d seen him once or twice at functions at the duke’s palace and had once been formally introduced to him. Marce recalled Ghreni scanning the both of them quickly, to see if there was any political advantage in knowing either, and when the apparent answer was “no,” politely ignoring them from there on out. Marce was still mildly annoyed by this; Vrenna found it amusing, because of course she would.
“Count Claremont,” Ghreni Nohamapetan said, bowing.
“Lord Ghreni,” Jamies said. “A pleasure.” He gestured toward Marce and Vrenna, who stood. “You remember my children, no doubt.”
“Of course. Lord Marce, Lady Vrenna.” Ghreni gave a head nod to each, which they returned before sitting again. Formalities thus satisfied, he turned his attention back to their father. “My lord, my duke has sent me on a mission of some delicacy, and I wonder if it might be better if we spoke alone.”
“My children are my foremost advisors and I don’t keep secrets from them. You may speak to me in front of them with the same assurance of confidentiality as you would if we spoke alone.”
Ghreni paused for a moment and Marce was certain he was going to insist on speaking alone with their father. He glanced over at Vrenna, who had a wry smile on her face. Then he nodded. “Yes, very well.”
“What is your business, Lord Ghreni?”
“As you are no doubt aware, the duke is facing a serious challenge with the rebels.”
Vrenna snorted at this. “You mean to say he’s on the verge of losing his dukedom, my lord,” she said.
“The duke is somewhat more optimistic than your daughter,” Ghreni said, to Jamies. “Nevertheless, the challenge is real and the duke is now looking for ways to increase his tactical advantages.”
“Such as?”
“Weapons, my lord.”
“I have an antique bolt thrower left here by the previous count,” Jamies said. “And I believe Vrenna carries a sidearm at all times. Other than that I don’t believe we have any weapons.”
“The duke is aware that you don’t have weapons, my lord. But you do have money.”
“Not really. The title ‘Count of Claremont’ comes with remarkably little rentable land and no local or larger monopolies. It’s largely a courtesy title. I have my salary as chief auditor and an upkeep allowance for the palace. I recently sold some properties, but it’s still not a lot.”
Ghreni laughed. “Not your money, my lord. The emperox’s. We want to use it to buy the weapons the duke needs.”
Jamies’s expression darkened at this. “Explain yourself, sir.”
“The duke is aware that in your role as chief auditor, all imperial taxes and levies run through your office before they are sent forward to the treasury at Xi’an.”
“My office doesn’t send them forward. That’s the role of the chief of the imperial bank here on End.”
“Of course. And we have spoken to Chief Han, and she is willing to assist the duke in this endeavor. Chief Han also informed us that any transfer of imperial taxes or levies outside of their usual route to Xi’an must also be approved by your office.”
“That’s correct but simplistically presented. I may approve direct application of taxes and levies to imperially approved projects, like construction or infrastructure. Things that those taxes would go to anyway. That saves time, rather than sending the money away and then bringing it back.”
“Yes. And if you consult your records, you’ll see that two years ago, when this current uprising began, the duke asked for, and the imperial parliament approved, funding for the purchase of weapons to help suppress the uprising.”
“I don’t need to consult the records, Lord Ghreni, to be aware that the funds for those purchases were already allocated and the weapons purchased and shipped.”
“Then you’re also no doubt aware that the ship carrying those weapons, the Tell Me Another One, was attacked by pirates and boarded when it came out of the Flow. Its captain and crew fought valiantly to repel the attack but in the end many of the crew died, including the executive officer, security officer, and the owner’s representative, and the ship’s cargo was taken. The Tell Me barely limped into port intact.”
“I’m aware of the Tell Me,” Jamies said.
“The point is that the weapons are now in the hands of pirates. Pirates who intended to sell them to the rebels but who can be persuaded to sell them to the duke.”