They were about fifteen minutes and Kim came out looking chagrined.

  When she appeared with Mara behind her, I said, “How much trouble am I in?”

  Kim looked at me, “I am not sure. How much did he see of you?”

  “He felt my aura; he knows I am a small Leonid, and once he has talked to the others, he will know about Kai and Ardisia. If he caught Rob and Mike then he knows everything. I assume at least one of them was caught, so we are both compromised.”

  “I will reach out through my contacts and offer to pay for restoration,” Kim said.

  “I doubt that will work or that you could afford it,” I said.

  “Why? What did you do?” she asked.

  “There is at least one dead body, possibly two. In addition, I am pretty sure I hurt that silver ranker pretty bad.”

  Mara raised her eyebrows at that.

  Kim said, “How did you hurt Knot? Like how bad?” she was looking further and further depressed.

  “I estimate I took down half his health. I escaped from his search and took his key prisoner away, foiling his future plans for locking you down as his unwilling employee. What do you think that is worth to him and his reputation?”

  She was looking really worried now. Until now, I had only ever seen Kim as a confident and assertive Celestine. This was a huge change.

  “He was going to trap her into working for him?” Mara asked.

  I nodded. “I heard it myself. That or death. I would assume all three of us are now on his kill-slowly list. Can that be paid off with coins?”

  Kim was shaking her head.

  “Do you have someone to make him back off?” Mara asked. “We would probably need Gold rank backing.”

  Kim replied, “I thought my company would be enough, but they won’t back me this far.”

  “How big is this guy? How much influence does he have?” I asked.

  “He's big around the lake,” Kim replied. That is his home base, but he works a lot in Stillwater and down on the coast, but he has competition in both places.” She stopped and looked at us. “I am sorry. I didn’t realise what I was getting into. I have put all our lives on the line. We can’t stay here.”

  “I can’t fly properly yet,” Mara said.

  “I can get a loan and buy the bronze rank air stones for you,” Kim said.

  “And how long will that take to pay off?” Mara asked. “And we will have to pay to recharge them regularly.”

  Kim shrugged.

  “That means we are just working for another boss and always in debt,” Mara said, “Plus, we need crew - reliable crew and cargo.”

  “You haven’t said anything, Theo. Would you come with us?” Kim asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I will have to consult. I am actually in Stillwater, trying to get in touch with a friend. She has been very hard to find, but it can’t be much longer before word gets to her and she meets me.”

  “We do need crew,” Mara said.

  “She comes with a bond mount. That will add to the general weight onboard.”

  Mara frowned, “We can keep to the coast and cut down on flying.”

  “I do want to travel, but being with you will make me a bigger target,” I said.

  “If you come, we will have double looting working for us,” Kim said.

  “Why would I take a share of the debt if I am just paid crew?” I asked. “Looting is a personal essence ability.”

  Mara said, “You pulled her ass out from under a silver ranker. We are talking about a partnership with the three of us.”

  I looked at Kim, “Then I was to see some figures before I decide. How much for these air things, and how much to recharge? Crew costs and running costs. What will it take to make a profit, and what are we each contributing?”

  Kim perked up, “Give me two days in port, and I will have it for you.”

  “Ok. We will meet two days after docking,” I agreed.

  “I can start the preliminaries now,” and she went below.

  “Do you think you might join us?” Mara asked after she left.

  “I don’t know. I really do have to consult.”

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  The trip back was uneventful—relatively uneventful. When we docked, we would need to report the silver rank lake monster to the adventure society so they could send a team to deal with it. It is a good thing Mara can fly this ship.

  When we docked Mara secured the Cog, and Kim went to make the report to the Adventure Society. She was then going to the shipping company to explain why we had stranded their employees at the other end of the lake. At least we completed their contract, but I am sure the coins will be docked.

  I went to my shed and packed the latest experiments and equipment into my Hunter Pack. It was a pain to have to set up the equipment all the time, so I usually left it set up. In the shed. I wanted to be ready for a quick escape if needed.

  I sent a message to Nia and would meet her the following night when she had a chance to find out more.

  It looked like my time in Stillwater was coming to an end. Nia could make Knot back off, but I am not sure that was what I wanted. Mara and Kim would definitely find out I worked for the church. That was going to come out sooner or later anyway. The Church could also finance our group. That was a possibility I held in reserve for now. I wanted to see what Kim came up with first. I also wanted to know more about her and Mara.

  I set about trapping the residential space, leaving the downstairs free of traps.

  “Kimberly Zafra,” Nia said, “is not in a good position with her superiors at the Crystal Consortium. She is known as having great potential as a merchant but is squandering her potential by refusing monster cores and restricting her growth. Her membership in the Adventure Society is also a negative as it takes her away from her business and involves unnecessary risks, in their opinion.”

  “Do we know why she is doing this?” I asked.

  “No. She argued that she should remain an Adventure Society member because of the connections it makes, but there are others in the Consortium with a membership who don’t go out fighting and help from the back during monster surges. They have the connections without the risk. It is probably personal. Her parents are successful Artefact Merchants in Vitesse. She has a younger brother working for them and an older brother who was an adventurer and died fighting against the undead. Her Adventuring is not popular with her parents either.”

  “Why would she try dealing with this Knot person?” I mused.

  “No idea. Knot’s real name is Kenneth Fisher. He has grown both legitimate and semi-legal businesses around the lake. He has interests in many businesses and is known to provide loans when the merchant houses refuse them. He was caught running with the gangs as a teen and punished in a correctional labour camp. Since then, he has had no further arrests. He is a self-made man and very proud of that.”

  “I don’t know what she sold him,” I said, “She may tell me. Mara?”

  “Mara Lewis, daughter of a fisherman, Frank Lewis, and a Cloth Merchant, Meaghan Giles here in Stillwater. Her mother died when she was a child, and her father raised her fishing on the lake. Her father died when he was caught out on the lake in the last monster surge while she was away learning her trade as a shipbuilder. She has no other siblings. You are thinking of joining these people?”

  “I am considering it. Mara’s boat, Freedom, is a great means of travel. I really want to talk to Olivia first.”

  “Good news there. She should be making her way here. I had word from the temple in Stocksend. She was there a week ago. That is a month for a caravan, but she and Nkwe could travel it in under two weeks.”

  “I still don’t know what to do about Kekie and the Moon Temple. Hopefully, she can give me some insight.”

  Nia shrugged, “I suggest you pray about it.”

  I nodded. “Is the temple open to providing a loan to some young travelling merchants?”

  The next day I met Kim and Mara in Mara’s cabin on Freedom.

  “So those are the figures and the suggested contributions by the three of us,” she looked at me. I am guessing she and Mara had already talked.

  “So the shortfall needs to come via a loan,” I said.

  “Yes. That is the tricky part. We have no security acceptable to the merchant houses, so we are too big a risk. The private lenders I have tried are closed to us.” She didn’t say anything, but I am sure that is Knot’s influence.

  “What would be my role, if I was to join,” I asked.

  “Mara would be Captain, of course, and I would be the Trader.” Kim said. “We were hoping you would be in charge of Security.”

  “Security,” I repeated. “If I am going to do this, I need to know what the risks are in the trading that happens from this ship, both official and unofficial,” I said, looking at Kim. She nodded. “Very well,” I said, “then tell me about your dealings with Kenneth Fisher.”

  Mara looked confused at the name, and Kim was mildly surprised I knew the name. “That’s Knot,” she informed Mara. “I traded minor artefacts through intermediaries here in Stillwater. This was different. It was a ritual diagram, and he wanted to deal directly. I … I thought I could handle it. Obviously, I couldn’t.”

  “What was the ritual?” I asked.

  “I don’t actually know. It came via a trader… OK, let's be honest. The trader smuggled it out of Vitesse, and now that I think about it, they used me as the intermediary to stay away from Knot. I have learned a lot.”

  I growled a low Leonid growl.

  “Sorry,” she continued. “Knot is already coming for us. He has shut off all funding. I …” she paused. “I have been fired from the Crystal Consortium.”

  Mara looked surprised at that, so either that was new, or she was holding it back.

  She looked up at us. “I am not going to get another job around here. The Merchants that used to extend me credit are calling it in. I can clear my debts, but I don’t have much to contribute, and trading around here is going to be difficult.” She looked like her world was collapsing around her. “The Consortium would not hold the Air Stones for me until we get the coin. Knot is likely to buy them out from under us if he finds out we need them.” She took a breath. “This is worse than I thought, and it will get worse. The only thing I could think about was leaving and starting again elsewhere. I wouldn’t partner with me, so if you guys want me out, I understand.”

  I looked at Mara. A lot of this seemed to be new to her. “You have known her a lot longer than me,” I said to her. “What are your thoughts.”

  “She is a good trader and has been a good friend. I am not in the habit of abandoning my friends because of one mistake.” Mara said.

  “So you two are going to do this regardless?” I asked, pointing to the partnership paper.

  They both nodded.

  “So why do you want me? How do you know I won’t sell you out to Fisher for my freedom?” I asked.

  “You didn’t hesitate to take on a silver ranker to get me out,” Kim said, “Yes, I know we had an agreement, but most people would have backed out against a silver ranker and four bronze rankers.”

  That many opponents was news to Mara. “You got her away from that many?” she said in surprise. “How? We definitely want you. I want you on this ship.”

  “I have more questions,” I said. “This ship needs at least two more crew. A Security Officer definitely has a say in hiring new crew. Where are we looking for crew?”

  Kim’s face fell again. “The Shipping Guild has grey-listed us because Rob and Mike have disappeared without adequate explanation. We may end up being black-listed. Stranding the other company employees down the lake didn’t help either.”

  The trouble was just mounting up.