Give and Take (L 2.2)

Location: The Drowned Rat
Time: Evening



Litch,

You enter the Drowned Rat for the parley with Lucky Strike - he's brought a half-dozen Sipps, but he's sitting alone at a table near the back like a single stone cutting a raging river. The music and people surge around you as they hop and dance to the chaotic music. It's incredibly loud here, the kind of noise that makes your jaw hurt from clenching.

What Talons, if any, did you bring along for this little chat?

What do you do?

Like the first time at the Drowned Rat, I only bring a pair of Talons with me, because two are needed. Shrike - who is worth then Sipps on her own - walks by my side, shoving patrons out of the way of my path. Kestrel entered ahead of us, walking both the perimeter and through the sea of people to scout ahead. I would have liked to bring Mynah along, her level head would have an emotional balm. But she and Jackdaw hadn't yet returned from their mission to the Towers when we left the Roost.

I easily spot Lucky sitting at a table, waiting for me to join him. Instead, I direct Shrike and Kestrel to another table near the Sippian leader. He chose the venue; I choose the stage. And I have his pet.

Odd. I didn't expect him to regard her with...feeling. "The girl is fine, Lucky. Why don't you come over here and sit with me? My birds will fetch drinks for us." I beckon to and empty chair. With a hand gesture, I signal to both Talons to leave the table. I lean over to Kestrel and whisper in her ear before she leaves. "Get a glass of whatever piss-water they serve here for him. I don't need anything. And make sure his goons don't cause us any trouble."

I turn back to look over at Lucky Strike and beckon to and empty chair.

"She did." I reply, answering his question, but offering nothing more. "Helix will be well cared for, if that's your concern. She did ask me to retrieve her personal items from you. A backpack with some clothes, makeup and a few leeches. Can you have that delivered to the Roost for her?"

"Not good odds for you, Lucky. Probably why you haven't tried." I lean forward myself, closing the gap even further. "Why do you care so much about her, lad? I was there the night you took her, remember? Why did your advisor tell me she was your slave?" I watch him closely: his eyes, the corners of his mouth, the set of his shoulders. What will his body tell me that his voice disguises?

Lucky doesn't press the issue and I don't lord it over him. I surmise that it's the pain he's in that made him lash out verbally. "A name? Is that what she was doing with the Vaulters? Seeking this name for you?" Helix had mentioned someone named 'Wells' who was with Lucky when she was taken and might come after her. That's either the name of another Sippian I've not heard of, or it belongs to the Vaulter kingpin. I'm banking on the latter. "If so, then it seems you might have your answer or at least a lead. Is that not explicit enough?"

I nod, verifying that I do understand. While it's necessary that I project strength and control in front of Lucky Strike, I don't want to make the Sippians into enemies. Hard Strike and I shared a cordial rivalry and I would like to continue that legacy with her son, if possible. If all he wants from Helix is a name, I don't see him as an obstacle to my own purpose with her. She might be holding on to the knowledge as some kind of leverage over him, but I doubt she would refuse him if she knew someone at the Belly would take her place. I file that piece of information for my own use, should the girl prove stubborn in the future.

"I understand, Lucky. I'll get the name for you and you can deliver her things to the Roost. In person, if you like. We don't dispose of every body that walks through our doors." I grin, making light of the rumor about our reputation. "You're doing a fine job, lad." I throw him a bone. "She'd be proud of you." I murmur in a low, private tone.

I nod my agreement. Hard Strike's assassination must indeed be avenged. Lucky has my support in spirit, though the path is his alone to walk. Any intervention would rob him of his destiny. My wings carry me along a different route. That went well. Though I might still have to deal with her other suitor. "Did Wells Fargo survive, Lucky?"

Never asked. Why would Helix hang onto that bit of information, when it could have elevated her status from serf to strategist? Was she selling out that name to Wells? Is she playing at a bigger game? If she is, then she is a greater dissembler than I would have realized. She might be pretending to be a pawn when she's really the queen.

I nod for the girls to return to the table. "Meeting's over. All he wants is information that only Helix can give. Something about a name. I'm guessing it has to do with who murdered Hard Strike, based on what he revealed." I confide to my Talons. "Did either of you learn anything interesting?"

I take in the intelligence they've scraped from around the bar. Benson and Hedges piloting the Sippians would not normally give me a great deal of concern. It'd be a shame to lose a potential quasi-ally in Lucky Strike, but under the helm of those two deck-dolts, the Sippians would quickly crash and burn and someone else would take over. But with a large, sea-going vessel in their control? They could wreck some real damage. Or have leverage to take whatever they want.

"Good work. Both of you. I think we may have to help young Lucky see that the Talons are his best allies. Kestrel, any idea where Hedges likes to spend his evenings? I don't suppose it's here, is it?" If only we could get so lucky. I huff a short laugh to myself as I realize the irony.