"Lost things have a way of washing up on the Tangled Shore." —The Spider
Sending the coordinates to the Spider had given Meren a fleeting rush. Emboldened in the moment, she braced herself for his impending reply. The response was slow in coming, and the seven cycles of waiting that followed proved to be one of the most boring weeks of Meren's life.
Returning to the Prison had been absolutely out of the question. While Variks had begrudgingly granted her access to the Spider's encrypted network, she wasn't ready to face the Warden again. Not yet, anyway. If there was any potential for salvaging that mess, she would worry about it later.
She had visited the Vestian Outpost and Pallas Falls. After a trip to the razed space station Amethyst, Meren had wallowed away an entire cycle talking with Guardians at a seedy Reef bar called Outer Orbit. Still, no reply came. On the seventh cycle, she had retraced her steps with Petra to gaze out on the Dreaming City. Throughout all her wanderings the Corsairs had been infinitely patient.
Meren was dead asleep when the Spider's dreaded reply finally arrived. Opening her bleary eyes to a soft chime from her datapad, her first instinct was to make the noise stop. She pawed at it and tried to silence the device before noticing that the message had come through the channel House Spider/. Still half asleep - her vision barely focused - she made out a message on the screen.
/Bay 14. Slip 17ST. Meet Olu Alderdice. You have one hour/
That woke her up. Meren rolled over abruptly, checking the chron. Any intentions of drifting back to sleep had instantly vanished. She didn't know anyone by the name of Alderdice, but she dreaded the repercussions of ignoring the message's command.
Clothing was hastily thrown on as she attempted to pull herself together. Meren's mind felt a fuzzy mess, but there was no time for coffee. Once her boots were on, she grabbed her satchel, and threw a cloak over herself before stepping out the door.
No sooner had the door opened, than her escort was right there waiting. Meren hadn't expected any different.
"Going somewhere?" the Corsair inquired.
"I'm going to meet a friend," Meren lied, "a Guardian at the Outpost."
"At this hour?" Velia's voice was incredulous.
"I don't know what hour it is," Meren replied, "it's pretty easy to lose track of time out here."
Velia nodded slowly. "Fine. But if I find you skulking around the Prison later-"
"You won't."
Meren turned on her heel and made for Bay 14. Thankfully the Corsair didn't try to follow. She had 42 minutes left.
Meren arrived at the Vestian Outpost's hanger with ten minutes to spare. The text on the signage overhead read Bay 14. This was the right place.
Meren made her way past the rows of docked ships to Slip 17ST. It was at the very end of the bay where a hooded figure dressed in black stood waiting. She slowed her pace to allow for a moment of scrutiny.
The stranger had an obvious feminine form, Meren could tell that much. They had to be either Human or Awoken, then. This was definitely not an Eliksni. Meren recognized the cloak and armor for what it was - the woman was a Guardian, and a Hunter at that. She had meant to lie to Velia, but somehow it had ended up being the truth.
Meren pulled back the hood of her own cloak as she came to a stop before the mysterious Guardian.
"You are not what I expected at all, darling." the Hunter spoke first.
Meren was caught completely off guard. "What's that supposed to mean?"
The other woman merely shook her head in reply. "You must be either very brave or very stupid…"
"Are you Olu Alderdice?"
"Very stupid, it is," Olu muttered to herself. She grabbed Meren by the shoulder and dragged her up against the ship. "There are ears everywhere. Remember that."
Meren finally got a glimpse of the other woman's face as she wrenched her shoulder from Olu's grip. A red, metallic eye peered back at her from under the Hunter's hood.
"Get in the ship," Olu growled as her left hand fell to her sidearm.
Meren didn't need any further convincing. She didn't dare to ask where they were going, either. Climbing up and into the modified blockade runner, Meren found her seat.
The women didn't exchange pleasantries as Meren strapped in. Reaching overhead to flick some switches, the Hunter brought the ship to life. The rumble of the ship's engine filled Meren with dread.
"Word of advice," Olu offered, unprompted, "Keep your mouth shut, and let him do the talking."
Meren didn't need to ask who he was. It was exactly as she'd feared. She was headed back to the Tangled Shore to face the Spider.
The Hunter's ship set down in the same spot where Meren and Heavy had landed weeks before. Without preamble, Olu handed Meren a respirator helmet and opened the cockpit.
"Out," she commanded.
Meren climbed gracelessly from the ship. No sooner had her boots hit the alien rock, than Olu had a gun to her back. Meren didn't think it necessary, but took the hint.
"Move." Olu's voice was emotionless.
Meren moved. Down and into the twisting caves, she retraced the path her Eliksni guides had shown her the last time. When they reached the doors to the audience chamber, Olu holstered her gun and Meren pulled off her helmet.
The Hunter raised her hand to the door and knocked. In an instant, the chamber's doors parted for them. Olu grabbed Meren's shoulder and dragged her inside.
In the dim light of the cavern, all Meren could make out was the glow of Eliksni eyes. As everything came into focus she saw the Spider reclining in his imposing chair. His pair of guards peered silently at her.
Something was different, Meren noticed. She didn't remember the Spider's henchmen being so spiney. And she certainly would have remembered the SUROS crates piled up in all corners of the room.
"That will be all for now, Lady Alderdice," the Spider rumbled.
The Hunter gave a jaunty courtesy and left the audience chamber the same way she'd come. The door slammed shut behind her.
Meren let her eyes fall closed for a second, before raising her head to meet the Baron's gaze.
"You." the Spider growled, "You have some nerve."
His claws were steepled as he glared down at her.
"Hacking into my encrypted network," he hissed, "and telling me to retrieve the Servitor myself."
Meren briefly considered Olu's advice to keep her mouth shut, but quickly decided against it.
"I meant no-"
"Disrespect?," he grated out, "Oh, it's too late for that. In fact, I'm quite offended."
"That wasn't my intention," she tried to defend herself. "I gave you very precise coordinates. I just thought that someone such as yourself would surely have the means-"
"That wasn't part of our agreement." His fist crashed down on the arm of his chair.
Meren inhaled sharply. "As I recall, the wording of the agreement was somewhat ambiguous..."
The Spider's claws twitched in annoyance as she spoke.
"...Maybe something got lost in translation." She tried desperately not to sound smug.
"Gah! Nothing was lost in translation," he recoiled in his chair, Meren's words hitting a nerve, "You would dare to insult me in my own home? Variks was right about you. You are an irritating little thing."
Meren glowered back at him. She would have to remember to thank Variks for his kind assessment of her character.
"Do you want to continue to trade insults or do you want to talk business?" She pressed.
"Your part of the deal was a complete blunder." He waved a dismissive hand at her. "What more is there to talk about?"
If she was going to stand here and take this abuse, he could at least satisfy her curiosity. "Did you recover the Servitor or not?"
The Spider fumed silently for a moment, before he acknowledged her question.
When he finally spoke, his tone had eased, "Arrha here took a long trip into your Earth mountains."
One of the guards, who must have been Arrha, chirped at the mention of his name.
"He managed to bring it back in one piece," the Spider grumbled.
"And it's functional?" Meren asked.
"You gave me coordinates," he snarled, "and you didn't even know if it worked?"
So much for diffusing the situation, thought Meren.
She blinked back at him. "There was no reason to assume otherwise."
"You're lucky." he snapped, "I had half a mind to send you to retrieve it yourself! Your fleshy body wouldn't have lasted an hour in the cold. Then I would have lost out on both my Servitor and a valuable human asset."
Meren didn't like the sound of "human asset" one bit. "You have your Servitor then, Baron. That means my part of the deal is settled."
He chuckled darkly in response and Meren felt her heart drop into her stomach.
"Your debt will be settled when I say it's settled." He folded his claws across his stomach. "Until then, you still owe me."
It wasn't fair. What more could she possibly have to offer? Meren floundered for the right words. For anything.
The Spider's glowing eyes were on her. "Careful with your next words, Professor."
Meren's mind was blank, and her time was running out. The Spider was impatient, even by Eliksni standards.
She pulled back her cloak and grabbed her satchel. Arrha bristled and brandished his arc spear at her movement. Prying the bag open, Meren pulled something from its depths.
Ignoring Arrha and his raised weapon, Meren took three steps forward and held a book out to the Spider. She stood there for a long moment with both arms extended as she proffered the leather bound text to him.
Leaning forward, his eyes glittered as he considered her gift. He extended a hand and gingerly took it from her grasp. Meren let her hands fall limply to her sides, she had expected him to snatch it away in a fit of rage.
She watched as the Spider stroked the leather binding almost lovingly. Her eyebrows rose as he turned War and Peace over in his claws before opening the cover.
"What is this?" he rumbled. His eyes were no longer fixed on Meren.
"It's a book."
"I know what a book is," he bit back.
"War and Peace. A novel by a human named Tolstoy. It was written before the Golden Age, before the Collapse." Meren suddenly felt too close to him and moved to take a step back, but Arrha stopped her. "You strike me as someone of culture."
The Spider eyed her then as he clung to his prize.
"I apologize for my poor behavior last time, Baron." she spread her arms in a gesture of supplication.
"You think this is going to get you off the hook?"
"No," Meren replied, acknowledging the human phrase, "I have no delusions about that. You make the rules."
The Spider chuckled at that. "Perhaps you're not so dim after all."
Meren desperately wanted to go back to Earth. Back to where everyone didn't think she was so stupid. She was so caught up in the thought that she didn't notice as the Spider reached behind himself and produced a cylindrical, metal object.
Without warning, he tossed it to her. Meren barely had time to react and nearly dropped the thing. She turned it over, examining it. It was the first fruits of the Palamon Servitor. The canister of Ether felt like ice against her hands.
She peered curiously up at him. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Meren had no interest in the recreational use of Ether. Huffing the stuff wasn't exactly pleasant. She had heard enough stories - ones with unhappy endings - when it came to human consumption of the Eliksni's demiurge.
"You'll think of something, I'm sure." He had finally calmed down - the book consumed most of his focus now.
Nothing came immediately to mind, and she tucked the cold thing away in her bag.
The Spider spoke again. "Arrha. Escort the Professor back to Lady Alderdice. She's free to go. For now."
Arrha was no longer at Meren's back, and she took a few steps to distance herself from the huge Eliksni. Meren knew she had pressed her luck once already today, but dared to pose a final question.
"I have little use for Ether, Baron. What about your part of the bargain?"
"You won't quit while you're ahead, will you?" the Spider looked up from his prize and growled in annoyance, "You still owe me."
Meren stood her ground and kept her eyes fixed on his. He stared back with a look of grudging respect.
"Fine." He flicked a claw at her in irritation. "Go ahead, Professor. Have your fun with the Eliksni. Scratch your itch, or... whatever it is that you're trying to do."
Still unsatisfied with his answer, Meren tried not to let her impatience show.
"That's all?"
The Spider fixed his glowing gaze on her and leaned forward. He loomed over her as he spoke.
"If any one of them gives you trouble, tell them who you are. Meren Hale, the Professor," his eyes glittered, "and that you belong to the House of Spider."
AN: Thank you to Keltoi for the edits
