Sondra spun violently in her seat to face Lucretia. “You…. I… we trusted you!”
Lucretia turned to her and calmly replied, “And, somehow, you survived, which would not have happened without my help.”
During that minor exchange, all eyes turned to CJ to gauge her reaction. Lippy held her plasma-dagger under the table while various blasters lay loose in their holsters. Instead of the expected firestorm, CJ merely asked, “You’re feeling brave all of a sudden. Why?”
Lucretia shrugged. “At this point, I’m already in for a pound. Listen. The way I figure it, if I don’t tell you now and you find out anyway, I have brand new enemies on my trail. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain by being honest. Besides, all I did was answer her question and gave you the background you needed to believe me. The Mentaths knew that the relic was missing and who had it.”
“Which explains some of the intel I’ve received regarding Mentath and the Commerce Guild’s merchant cruiser fleet,” Mirage added. Gesturing in space, the holo-map reappeared with numerous green dots spread throughout the galaxy. “These are the locations of every ship in their fleet as of last week, right before the excitement in Dinara City. Now, I will play a video showing the tracks of these ships in the days since.” As everyone watched, nearly every green dot changed course toward Mentath-III. The ones that didn’t were furthest away and changed course directly away. “As you can see, the events on Proteus-VI triggered a fleet-wide redistribution of their ships. Fully half of those ships contained cargo that had already been purchased from the Mentaths. For them to ignore the legal consequences of such actions is unthinkable.”
With another gesture, the holo-map was replaced by a series of holo-screens spread around the table, all showing video feeds of the Mentath home world. They were a collage of various news reports from around the planet showing mass evacuations of their cities. “This began four days ago and is probably the most organized and orderly mass evacuation in any planet’s history. First, personal belongings were collected and transported somewhere. Then, the civilians began leaving their homes and heading for their temples. Once they arrive, they disappear. Thousands, millions enter, no one leaves.” After another gesture, the screens disappeared.
“Obviously, they’re scared, and they knew this day was coming.”
“But what specifically are they afraid of?” asked Lippy.
“Well, you’ve just seen the vids from Proteus-VI,” Sondra said. “And believe me. It was much worse than what they showed.”
“No. I mean specifically. Mirage? Do we know what specific orders those ships received?” CJ asked.
“No,” Mirage replied. “We could try to get that, but it’ll take some time.”
“Do it, please. Those fleet movements looks suspiciously like a they’re preparing for a last stand with the furthest ones acting as forlorn hope colonizers. They are fully expecting to die.”
“One thing that would help us,” Cel offered, “would be to get a grasp on Mentath mythology. Knowing the story behind the relic might give us a clue on what to expect.”
“Or how to fight back,” Lippy added.
“Or how to get Solara back,” Bern finished.
After a somber pause, Budo said, “As far as the mythology is concerned, I was able to link the relic to a goddess named Relia. Unlike a lot of polydeist mythology found on various worlds, the gods and goddesses of Mentath were defined by geography, not function. This alone formed the basis of my Talisman Guard supposition. I will do more research to identify the form and function of this Relia.”
Mirage continued, “I can try and get the text of the orders and/or plan that the Mentaths are following. I’ll also keep an eye on the events around Proteus-VI. Until then, we’ll need to train and work on all of our skills. The storm is coming. Let’s be prepared.”
With those final words, the meeting adjourned. As everyone left, CJ approached Lucretia and said, “You and I need to talk. Now.”