two months earlier Charlie had purchased the station for a hundredth of what it had originally cost to build, with the transaction brokered by one of Sague’s lieutenants, and Charlie’s connection hidden in layer after layer of corporate ownership. Since then Sague had been sending out people and supplies to reactivate the station. Aziz, through Hart & Delorm, had supplied armaments, both for the station’s defenses, and for supplies and repairs for warships that couldn’t contract for such in normal ports-of-call. In another month it would be fully operational as a station, and in another three as a fully functional shipyard. Though, as both Sague and Aziz were wont to remind Charlie, the cost of such an operation was stretching his financial resources to the limit. To which he replied, “What good is the money if we’re not alive or free to spend it?”
Roger, Seth, and Darmczek were already on Toellan getting armaments fitted to Charlie’s personal ship and the converted freighter. When Charlie caught up with them he was pleased to learn that, while the freighter would require a couple more months of work, his personal ship was nearing completion. It looked old and outdated, both inside and out, but was, in fact, filled with the most advanced and up-to-date systems, and Aziz had given it some serious teeth, turning it into the equivalent of a midsized destroyer. When she was finished Charlie christened her The Thirteenth Man. He ordered Darmczek to command The Headsman and take it to Andyne-Borregga, while he took The Thirteenth Man to the meeting of the Ten.
Charlie’s return to Turnlee wasn’t much different from his exit three months earlier. Syndonese disguised as customs officials boarded The Thirteenth Man under the pretense of a standard customs inspection. They didn’t look closely at anything, merely harassed Charlie and his crew for a few hours before allowing them to proceed. However, in Almsburg he was given a suite of rooms that, while not the grandest, were still acceptable. Someone had helped Lucius understand that none of the Ten would appreciate seeing one of their peers treated inappropriately.
While Charlie’s servants were unpacking he sent a page with a note to Delilah requesting an audience. It was time for him to do some serious apologizing. The page returned in short order, the note unopened. “She refused to accept it, Your Grace.” He sent the page back, and again the page returned with the note unopened.
He used a different page the third time, and told him to say the note was from Dieter. The page returned with a note from Delilah. It had one word on it, a simple No.
Charlie wrote another note, carefully explaining how he’d mistaken her motives on Tachaann and apologizing for the mistake. He got another page and sent him along with instructions to say the note was from Rierma. The page returned in short order with another note from Delilah. It had one sentence on it. He read it and had to rack his brain for a moment to remember that the last sentence on his note had been, I was a fool, because it was clearly that which Del’s one-sentence reply was in response to:
Yes, you are.
Charlie went to see her. Two pretty young women met him at the entrance to her apartments. He was relieved when they offered him a seat in an elegant sitting room, and told him that the princess would be with him shortly. So he sat there and waited—for two hours he sat there and waited—while a constant parade of pretty, young women came to him at regular intervals to offer him a drink, or a pastry, or anything Your Grace might desire, and to tell him that Her Highness will be with you shortly. It took him all afternoon to realize she wasn’t going to be with him shortly, or any time soon, for that matter. He left, calling himself an idiot, realizing he’d gotten what he deserved.
It was a reception for the Ten, all of whom were finally present. There were perhaps two hundred people, sipping at glasses of wine and nibbling on finger food, jockeying for royal position, cutting deals, and cutting political throats. The one-hundred-day waiting period was now over, and the first meeting of the Ten would occur on the following day.
Charlie, Telka, Harrimo, and Rierma were discussing the unrest on Aagerbanne when Chelko joined them. Chelko was Faggan’s son and heir, newly occupying the de Jupttar ducal seat. Rierma had warned Charlie that,