Taylor shook his head. “Well, congratulations. Your plan worked. That still doesn’t explain why you sent me to face Akoya in your stead.”
“I needed a merc I could trust to stay calm,” Japhara said. “Someone who would view the situation through all possible angles then make logical choices. What I did not need, as is commonplace these days on Karma, was a wildcard gunslinger who would get my people killed.”
“What a crock of horse shit.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” Taylor said. “I’ve always known your kind are jerks, Japhara. That’s one of the worst kept secrets in the Union. What I didn’t know was that in addition to being jerks, you’re also cowards.”
The alien’s nostrils flared through his trunks. “How dare you!”
“How dare you, Japhara!” Taylor shouted back. “You used me, man! You used all of us! What’s worse is, it didn’t have to be that way! We’ve got history, you and me. I would’ve helped you if you’d only come to me first and asked.”
Japhara shook his head. “I couldn’t risk that you’d say no.”
“Bullshit,” Taylor snapped. “You were too chicken, and a good man paid the price for it with his life. A good man with a family who’ll miss him like hell now that he’s gone. We all will. And for what? So the Cartography Guild could quell some decades-old internal beef with a renegade gate master?” He spat. “Go to hell, Japhara.”
The massive alien launched to his feet. “He had my daughter!”
Taylor did a double take. “What?”
“He had…my daughter, Van Zant.” Japhara settled back onto his stool, still shaking. “She was part of a crew that was taken prisoner in the Dynar system three months ago.”
Taylor swallowed. “Was she…”
“Yes.” Japhara finished the other’s thought. “She was among the refugees you brought back with Master Haju on the Osyrys.”
Taylor was speechless. “I’m sorry, Japhara. I had no idea you were a parent.”
“No one does,” Japhara said. “Nalah’s mother and I have kept her true parentage a secret for quite some time now.”
“But…why?” Taylor asked.
“You’re good at connecting the dots of a situation,” Japhara said. “Here’s a hint. Nalah had just celebrated her 16th birthday when she was abducted.”
Sixteen. Taylor ran the math using what little he knew of the Sumatozou reproductive process, which took years instead of months. His eyes widened. “She was born after the Krulig took you prisoner to get the transit atlas.”
Japhara acknowledged with a look. “The night before I deployed for Kash-Kah, my mate, Zendala, saw fit to bless me with the greatest news of my life, that she was with child. I was going to be a father, Van Zant. Me.” He paused, smiling briefly at the memory. “After my abduction, Zendala searched the Union to find me, but without success. Eventually, the Vergola Council notified her that I’d officially been designated as ‘killed in action’ and she was free to proceed with my memorial service. She had no idea I was alive until last year, when you and I returned from Rukoria.”
Taylor chewed is lip. “Your mate moved on with another Sumatozou.”
Japhara gave a small nod. “Raynoth is a good man. He’s taken exquisite care of Zendala in my absence, and he took it upon himself to raise Nalah as his own daughter.”
“Yeah, but she’s not his daughter,” Taylor said. “She’s yours. Take it from a guy who lost his own father at 10. She’s got a right to know you.”
“This is true,” Japhara said, “and in time, perhaps she will. Nevertheless, Nalah has already lost one iteration of her family, whether she knows it or not. I will not be responsible for ruining this one as well by making her circumstances any more complicated than they already are.”
Taylor blew out a sigh and clasped his hands on top of his desk. “So what now? Akoya’s been captured, the abductions have stopped. Where do we go from here?”
“Back to the Cartography Guild, I expect,” Japhara said. “I must report my findings to the Council so they know the threat to their gate masters has ended.”
“I thought you said they don’t care,” Taylor noted.
“I said they didn’t care enough to investigate my people’s disappearances,” Japhara said. “I’m still a grand latura. There are protocols to follow.”
Taylor grunted. “So just like that, it’s back to business as usual, huh?”
“And the wheels on the bus go round and round,” Japhara said. “For now.”
In a different place and time, Taylor might’ve been dumbfounded by the other’s use of such a human expression. Today, however, it was the cryptic nature of the Sumatozou’s last statement that had Taylor’s attention.
“Well, then.” Japhara rose from his stool to go.
“There’s just one more thing I need to know,” Taylor added. “Akoya made it pretty clear on Droxis that somebody else was behind the mine. I don’t suppose your expansive network of contacts knows who that is?”
“I couldn’t say.”
“Couldn’t or won’t?”
“Why does it matter?” Japhara asked. “You and your people are home now. Akoya’s employers are not your concern. Not yet, anyway.”
Taylor’s gaze narrowed. “Me and my company just put our asses on the line to clean up your people’s mess…again. I don’t give a damn if this concerns me or not. I’ve got a right to know. Indulge me.”
Japhara took a long moment to consider the request. “We won’t know for certain until we’ve interrogated Akoya, but all signs seem to suggest the Merchant Guild was bankrolling the red diamond mine on Droxis.”
Taylor’s jaw would’ve hit the floor had it not been attached to his face. Holy fargin shit.
“My ship departs for the stargate in just under two hours,” Japhara said. “With your permission, I
