Alliance: Book Three of The Channel Riders

Chapter 1

Elena fought hard to maintain a stoic calm as she looked around the table. She hoped her polite smile had not hardened into a grimace as she looked at Therese's scowl.

'Her expression is identical to Aunt Elizabeth's, ' Elena thought glancing from Therese to her mother. She was unsurprised by the reaction, but it did make the family solidarity her grandfather craved seem like a distant dream. Beside her, Alexandro was practically beaming as he told the gathered family of Elena's new venture. He was standing behind his empty plate for the announcement, a sign Elena took to mean the dinner was mostly over. She found great relief in that fact.

"And this new enterprise will benefit us all, " her grandfather said. "It not only opens an entirely new trade route, but will help formerly afflicted pilots regain their status and therefore increase the productivity of the Guild." Alexandro glanced down at Elena and smiled. She returned the smile automatically. "It is good to know that the future of the family is assured." Elena looked away wincing. Therese and Elizabeth deepened their matching scowls.

Inwardly, Elena sighed. Elizabeth always viewed herself as her father's natural successor, with Therese following behind as the heir apparent. Neither woman was likely to look too kindly on Alexandro's looking to her. Elena looked left where she could see her Aunt Catherine rolling her eyes at her sister and niece's behavior. Elena smiled and looked away before the amusement showed too much. Next to Catherine was her husband Tomas. Tomas, as was usual when the Calabrese family gathered, was paying more attention to his plate than the family politics; a fact Elena had always considered a sign of superior wisdom.

'Uncle Tomas would be a lot happier left on his ship with take-out, ' Elena thought. She knew her grandfather thought him weak and he and Catherine fought over her choice of husband. Elena mentally shrugged. Her uncle stayed out of politics and let Alexandro run things. She knew he loved her Aunt fiercely though and Elena thought he had to have a great deal of inner strength to weather Alexandro's attempts to get rid of him. Her grandfather was not an easy man to ignore. She was also fairly sure her grandfather knew that as well. Elena let her eyes move around the circle as Alexandro resumed his seat and ordered the coffee course to be served. To her uncle's right sat Nate and his fiancé.

'Truth be told Nate would rather follow his father in the ways of politics, ' Elena thought. She could easily see them splitting an order of sweet and sour pork shipboard while the rest of the family gathered. Elena had yet to make up her mind about where Nate's future wife stood. Elena shrugged and thanked the waiter who set the coffee cup in front of her.

'I really wish Mateo was here, ' she thought stirring in cream and sugar into her coffee. Her cousin would have come up with some way to mock Therese and break up the building tension at the table, even if it did irk their grandfather. Mateo, however, was quite far away at the moment. He was heading up the research team on the new planet.

'No, ' Elena mentally corrected herself. 'Planet RJ457.' Elena shifted in her seat and felt the council papers crinkle with the movement. Three hours earlier when the Council gave her trading rights on the newly opened planet they named it as well for the official records. Personally, she thought it was a bit of an industrial name to give a planet, but as she wasn't quite sure how one went about naming a planet she kept her opinion to herself.

The new channel she opened with the abilities the Calling gave her also gotten an official name. Tradition held that all channels were named after the first pilot known to sail through them. It was thought to be a reward for bravery since that pilot was essentially sailing into the unknown so that later pilots would enjoy a greater safety. Elena supposed it was a complement, but having a channel named after her didn't make her feel brave, it just made punch lines to bad jokes circle in the back of her head. She had the feeling she would not be comfortable with it for a long time.

'If ever, ' she thought. Elena smiled and put down her coffee cup to thank the latest round of people to walk up to the table to offer congratulations. 'Word travels fast, ' she thought. She had the feeling that her grandfather helped that word spread, but he was looking so pleased that she didn't have the heart to deflate him with accusatory questions.

"Besides, " she thought stealing another glance at her cousin Therese, "It is nice to have someone proud of me." Thankfully dinner was winding to a close and Elena was able to escape. Once out of Grazos she sighed with relief. The relief however was short lived. She may have escaped her Aunt and cousin's matching scowls, but the trip back to her rooms was anything but quiet.

Her footsteps took her through the market place where merchants called out to her, not with the sales pitch for whatever they were selling, but with thoughts of partnerships for whatever goods her new trade routes brought. Some sought to buy merchandise crafted by her artisans, others were looking for raw materials. She kept a polite smile on her face giving all of them the same line.

"Research has just begun. When more information is gathered my House will determine what path to take. Until then I can't make any trade agreements." She repeated the sentiment many times before breaking free. Usually it was followed with an agreement for consideration, should her trade take a turn in the merchant or manufacturer's direction. She thought about her erstwhile partner in the venture and wondered how she was faring.

'Somehow I can't see anyone calling out to Council member Inoue Riko like that.' Elena's smile became a bit more genuine as the thought played out in her head. She pictured the sharp eyed, china doll looking councilor in her head and played merchant's requests, substituting Riko's name. All of the calls died under the imagined gaze of the elder councilor.

'I may be popular at the moment, but I am nowhere near as scary as Riko, ' Elena thought. 'Of course I wouldn't really want to be. Nor would I want to do the types of things she did to be that scary.' While tales of Peter Baranov, her partner in business, were harsh and bloody, earning him the well-deserved name Black Pete, there was a sort of swift justice about the stories.

A man who stole from Peter had the tendons in his thumbs sliced. A spy in the family had his eyes plucked out. It was brutal and nasty and gave Elena the cold shivers when she thought too much about it, but it at least had some sort of logic to it, even if it wasn't one she particularly liked. People only crossed Peter once. Riko was someone people only crossed once as well.

"Although personally I don't know anyone stupid enough to even try that once, " Elena muttered under her breath. Riko was known to be vindictive if crossed, but unlike Peter, she tended towards the cat and mouse variety of retribution. Punishment could last a long time with Riko. She had the feeling that while Peter simply did what was needed, Riko did what she enjoyed.

'And I get to work with them both, ' Elena thought smiling politely to those she passed and thanking them as they offered congratulations. 'I am obviously insane. Maybe I'll at least get to figure out why they hate each other.' Through various interactions with them she learned they had some animosity between them and at the moment her greatest ambition was to not be the bone they fought over in their constant wrangling.

Once through the market and into the corridors, things quieted down a bit and Elena was able to breathe a little more freely. The warm buttery light of the inset corridor lights was somewhat soothing after the bright lights and multi-colored hues of the market square.

"Three hours, " she muttered to herself as she moved. She rubbed her neck hoping to release some of the tension. A little more than three hours had passed and already things were getting crazy. She knew it was part and parcel of being the Head of a House. She was no longer just a pilot who made the trade runs and outran the Matrovean raiders. She had to be the one making the deals for trade. Finding merchant's to carry the wares her House created and finding manufacturers to turn the raw materials her people came across into finished products was now part of her job description. Elena shook her head as she walked.

"My artisans, " she muttered to herself incredulously. So far the planet only yielded possibilities not actualities. She knew however that the bulk of what was found would probably not make its way back to Earth. It would probably stay in the interstellar trade.

"That means I had better get used to this sort of thing, " she told herself. She frowned. "I'd rather deal with the Matroveans."

"Surely it can't be that bad, " a gently chiding voice responded. Elena looked up to find an amused Evan Greggs smiling at her. The gray haired man with deep wrinkles bracketing his eyes was wearing a shirt emblazoned with the official crest of the Librarians. They were viewed not only as a House unto themselves, but were the only House whose power rivaled that of the united Council. Not that the Council was ever really united on anything. Elena smiled.

'And I get to work with them too.' She thought. It was scary in a different way from Riko and Peter. Working with the councilors was scary in a tightrope way; Working with the Librarians was more like dealing with a force of nature. She had a brief flash of herself trying to wrangle a tornado, but let the image disintegrate before it took hold.

"Senior Librarian Greggs, how lovely to see you this evening." Elena replied formally. She agreed to work with the Librarians as a means of establishing some sort of check on Riko, a fact Evan Greggs found amusing, but it was still a partnership that made her a little tense.

"Captain Calabrese, " Evan replied in the same polite tone she used. "I was wondering if I might have a word."

"Of course sir, " Elena replied. "My quarters are not far, if that would suit." She suggested knowing that even though traffic in this corridor was light at this time of evening he would not wish to speak in public.

"That would be lovely, " he said. The senior librarian fell into step beside Elena and they continued towards her quarters, albeit at a statelier pace then she had been walking alone. She noticed however that people tended to shift out of their way with a differential air and no one called out to her. Even friends she had known most of her life simply nodded and moved past.

Elena couldn't blame them. The Librarians tended to keep to themselves unless their knowledge was needed to settle some dispute or another. Even then they would leave their quarters, pronounce judgment and then leave again. Their judgment was usually the final word. You could always argue with the Council and conduct political wrangling to get a better deal.

No one argued with the Librarians. While they maintained a digital library on the Docking Facility the bulk of their archives were kept on a fleet of ships large enough to dwarf any channel rider. They circled the various galaxies the channel riders encountered, gathering knowledge. Elena liked to think of them as sharks, always circling, never stopping.

'Of course now they may be stopping, ' she thought as they walked. If all worked well, the Librarians would establish a permanent base for their knowledge. Even though she was a part of it, she still found the concept hard to grasp. The fact that Evan Greggs, Senior Librarian and her contact with their House, looked a lot like someone's venerable old grandfather dulled some of the fear his House brought.

'Which is probably why they chose him to deal with me, ' Elena thought. She may have hated politics, but she was getting better at recognizing its benefits.

"So the merchants are worse than the Matrovean?" Evan asked.

"Not worse exactly, just different. And I am more accustomed to dealing with the Matrovean."

"Dealing with them or outmaneuvering them?"

"Outmaneuvering them, " Elena confirmed with a smile. She looked over to him. "Are there people that deal with them?"

"One would assume so, otherwise what would they do with all of the goods they gather while raiding?"

"Huh, " Elena said. "I hadn't really thought of that."

"Few do."

"So who do they deal with?"

"That is the question isn't it?"

"You don't know?"

"There are some things that the Librarians have yet to figure out."

"Don't worry, " she said. "I won't tell anyone." Evan chuckled to himself.

At the door to her quarters Elena pulled the electronic key from her pocket. It looked a little like a flash drive. In fact it was designed so that someone could plug it into a computer if they wanted to. Of course the disk would read full and the one file it looked like it contained would not be able to be either opened or deleted, but the camouflage would hold, or had so far. On contact the door slid open.

Elena stood to the side, allowing Evan to enter first. They stepped into the central area of her quarters. Since much of the business of the Guild was conducted through personal connections, all of the Heads of Houses had suites containing a semi-public meeting room complete with a small kitchenette. Her personal quarters were further back, along with the other available quarters for her family. At the moment the only other room occupied in her wing had been for Mateo, and even that had only been used twice.

"May I get you something to drink?" Elena asked as the door slid shut behind them. "I have tea, coffee and water."

"This deep into the season I am amazed to be offered options, " Evan said with a laugh. "Water would be fine."

"In all fairness, I only have about four tea bags and one pot's worth of grounds left, " Elena said with a smile. She took the pitcher of water from the small fridge and poured two glasses.

"This is your last trip to the Docking Facility this season then?" Evan asked politely.

"It is, " she replied walking back towards the seating area. She handed Evan his glass and they both took seats.

"I figured as much. You will be heading out soon?"

"In the morning. I need to pick up the team I left on planet and make it through the Marta before the Channel closes for the season."

"That will be close to season's end won't it?"

"Yes, " Elena replied. "It gives us about a week before the season shallows out the Marta beyond use." Evan nodded and sipped his water.

"And during the off season? You will be earthside?"

"Yes, there is a lot to do earthside. It should be a very busy off season. The team has collected various samples and they will spend the off-season studying and planning."

"As will we, " Evan said. He took a long draw of water. "The measurements you gave us of the exteriors of the four main buildings in the cross roads will be enough to get started with our plans. We will of course need more details of the interiors." He tapped his forehead. "The brief glance I managed, while helpful, will need to be augmented by our architects. After we gather as much information about the building's prior existence as possible, of course."

"Of course, " Elena agreed with a smile. "One of the people heading up my team is an archaeologist, and while Kiera does tend to concentrate more on plants, she should be able to assist in that capacity."

"Really?" Evan said. His eyes were sparkling with amusement. Elena sighed.

"And of course you have your own archaeologists, " she said. "My apologies. But she will be reviewing the data over the off season and have a preliminary report to your people before the first ships go through the channel."

"A distinct help, " Evan said, smiling. "And it is good that you have your own archaeologist. Very rare in a commercial enterprise of this nature."

Elena laughed. "How many commercial enterprises of this nature have you been involved in?" she asked.

"Well none actually, " Evan confessed. "It is a rather unique experience. But many of the Guild favor a 'commerce at the expense of anything else' approach to their ventures."

"True, " Elena conceded, thinking of Riko.

"Speaking of which, have you done much thinking about Councilmember Inoue Riko's participation in this venture of yours?" Evan said, echoing Elena's thoughts.

"I have, " she answered. "And I have no desire to let her pillage a planet just because she thinks she can."

"A bold statement, " Evan said.

"And a scary one to make, " Elena confessed. "I spoke to her about the dense growth hardwoods found in many of the areas we have investigated. I know that we are going to have to clear some out around the habitation areas and we will be doing so in such a way as to make the lumber usable. Once that is used up we will then look at more sustainable harvesting with the areas cleared being replanted."

"You got her to agree to this?" Evan said with a surprised look on his face. Elena nodded, it was an accomplishment of which she was quite proud.

"I pointed out that not taking care of the forests that produce wood that could be used to create channel riders caused part of the current shortage we are facing earthside. I also pointed out that the more ships built, over time would dramatically increase her profits, but that quickly built ships, no matter how well made, would flood the market and drop the price." Elena paused and took a sip of water. "I may also have played into her vanity of being the one to ensure that future generations would have channel riding ships, " She confessed. Evan snickered.

"Profit and the eternal thanks of future Guild members. That, I could see working."

"Besides, " Elena added. "I think she is also a bit scared of the Librarians and I know that she knows you will be interested in the history of the place."

"This is true, " Evan said. "Although I'm sure scared is not the appropriate name for the emotion our dear councilor feels." Elena looked at Evan and realized the older man didn't much care for Riko. She wondered if it was personal or just a general dislike for the way she conducted business.

'Either way it doesn't have nearly the amount of heat Peter's dislike of Riko has, ' she thought.

"May I ask you a question?" Evan asked. "One I have no right to ask of course and I will take no exception should you refuse to answer."

"Well in that case, you can ask but I do reserve the right not to answer."

"Fair enough. What exactly are you getting out of the deal with Riko?"

"Honestly?" she asked. Evan nodded.

"After I started the business with my grandfather and Peter, Riko became interested in working with me. She has a way of showing disappointment that I don't care for and at the time I didn't really think the venture would become something profitable enough for her to want to get involved. I thought it was just a way to deal with the Calling. You know, treating it like an ability rather than a disease."

Evan nodded at the statement. For generations the Calling was viewed as a disease that struck the strongest pilots, grounding them for the safety of others. It was an embarrassment and viewed as a personal shame to have contracted it. Elena was grounded with it and found that it wasn't a disease at all, but an evolution in ability allowing her to open new channels instead of just riding the existing ones. It was through this ability that planet RJ457 was found and opened for trade.

"Well, " Elena continued. "I realized not only would Riko be after my hide if she was not allowed to be involved, but that I might need the extra help with the Council."

"Oh, " Evan asked. "And why is that?" His voice was tilted just a little too much towards the innocent side to be believable. She tilted her head and frowned at Evan. He shrugged.

"One can guess, " he said, dropping the innocent act. "That if you have developed these skills other pilots grounded by the Calling have the potential to do so as well."

"Exactly, " Elena said. "It could end up shifting the trade."

"Especially if the new routes can avoid raiders such as the Matrovean."

"That would be a benefit."

"And as many of the grounded pilots have joined your House in an effort to learn to control the Calling, your House will dominate the new trade routes. Especially in the beginning, setting precedent and in a large part determining the future of the Guild." Elena frowned at Evan's words.

"I'm hoping it will take the Council a little while to think that through, " Elena replied. The uneasiness in her stomach was a nearly constant presence at this point and she ignored it as well as she could. "And trade wasn't the reason they left their houses."

"I know, " Evan said solemnly. "Once grounded, a pilot is of little use to the Guild. The Guild has a long history of only treasuring what is useful."

"Exactly, " Elena said. "And I now have business ventures with three of the seven councilors."

"Which will help you not only in trade, but in protection, should they realize you have now surpassed your mother's qualifications." Elena swallowed hard and frowned at Evan.

"I'm hoping they won't think of that, " she said. Fear danced in her belly mingling with the general unease in a demented tango that made her nauseous. Three days after her mother was pronounced eligible for a Council seat; the first seat ever to be held by a pilot born of the Americas, both of her parents died in a rather suspicious accident. Being thought of in that light was not a healthy prospect. "I'm also hoping if they do think of that then the fact that despite my strengths I still seek some Council protection may help me."

"It may." Elena could tell from Evan's tone that he didn't think it likely. They drank their water in silence for a few moments.

"I also get a discount on ships for the pilots of my House, " Elena told him. "That was the concrete part of the deal."

"Ah, I had wondered what went down on paper." He said with a smile. He finished his water and set the empty glass down on one of the coasters thrown randomly about on the coffee table. He reached into a vest pocket and pulled out a flash drive. He held it out to Elena who took it.

"That has the details of what we are planning and looking towards. If you could keep that in mind as you work with the raw data it would be appreciated."

"Of course, " Elena said. Evan stood and she followed suit, following him as he walked towards the door.

"Thank you for the conversation and the honesty of it as well, " he said as the door slid open. "I will see you when the seasons once again open the channels."

"Good journey, " she said in parting.

"Good journey, " he replied, turned and began walking down the corridor towards the Librarian's hall. Elena let the door slide closed and looked at the flash drive in her hand. She wondered about the wisdom of being so honest with the senior librarian.

"No hope for it now, " she said to herself. "What's done is done."