Behind Closed Doors [Azh]

Nemeth made no further comment as Unath told her to follow them. She took no note of the control Q'sis held over Unath, partly because she didn't sense it. Even if she could, she would approve his strength in keeping an otherwise dim-witted dragon in line. Sometimes that's how she felt with a rider like S'in. But he held his purposes. He had initiative, if nothing else. It was this initiative that she honored in bringing him up to Q'sis and Unath's weyr. His methods weren't exactly far from reproach, but she humored him. The ends might justify his means, after all, so she waited for her judgment.

Unath landed on the ledge of her weyr and Nemeth waited for her to be settled before she landed, too, her wings pushing away from her body far less wind than the large tan's had. She landed rather well, with grace and with dignity, and she dipped her head to Q'sis and Unath in respect--nothing more. They had done nothing wrong, so her thoughts for them were otherwise nonexistent. It wasn't until Q'sis acknowledged her by name that she formed some opinion of him: he was respectable. His failure to acknowledge her rider's name left little impression on her. Despite the mental bond they shared, she held no strong emotional ties to S'in. They were business partners. If she was respected greater than he was there was little she could or would do about it.

"Evening, Q'sis, tanrider." S'in did not refer to Q'sis' dragon nor his weyrling rank. As far as he was concerned, Q'sis was a full rider and a tanrider at that. S'in wasn't quite sure how he felt about this man that rode a subqueen--a dragon meant for girls--but from what he had seen from his observations Q'sis was a strong man. He may not be of royal blood, as S'in knew himself to be, but he built himself up and was unperturbed by whatever his life had seemed to throw at him. Perhaps it was some convoluted form of curiosity that pushed S'in to keep tabs on the tanrider. Nonetheless, he knew of Q'sis and of his reputation of having a strong, leading personality. At least, that was how the greenrider saw it. Q'sis would be a powerful ally.

S'in dismounted shortly after Q'sis and felt the full effect of the overwhelming height of the much taller man. He didn't let it bother him. With his head held high and his posture straight, he crossed the gap between them and offered a strong handshake. "My name is S'in and I'm here to discuss something of delicacy..." He let his statement take root before he raised his eyebrows and looked into the interior of the weyr Q'sis and Unath shared. "Would you mind if we came in?" He had made sure to offer his name strongly and decisively, showing no weakness despite the older man's larger frame. Nemeth, in a rare moment, approved. S'in was firm and went straight to the point. He didn't dance around elegantly or lie or imply more than was necessary.

"Sure."

S'in nodded to Q'sis' response. If the man wanted to be stern and silent, he would follow suit. Nemeth had ingrained on him the importance of not insulting their host before he had made his plans known. Even still, he felt her presence in his mind, guiding him with her stern mentality to not do anything stupid. As he followed Q'sis into the room, Nemeth moved so that she was under the overhang where Unath spent her time. The green nodded in thanks to the tan, but was otherwise silent. Her mind was with S'in, in the room adjacent. She had little time to waste on pleasantries when she was attempting to keep her clearly immature rider from messing up an opportunity that could be good for them both. Rooting out injustice was what they were supposed to be doing--or, rather, something Nemeth felt they should be doing. And, in this particular occasion, she smelled a rat. S'in smelled it too, which further emphasized that, after all this time of training him, she really had chosen the right partner.

"Thank you for seeing me," S'in began, trying not to let the fact that Q'sis had a seat and he didn't get to him. Standing to the side of the desk made the greenrider feel like a messenger boy; he hated that. Nemeth mentally nudged him, focusing him to get on with it. His pride was important, but this was no time for his stupid pleas of arrogance. He blinked, trying to rid his mind of the derisive comments that he felt simmering behind the thin membrane of their mental connection, then continued, "I mean no offense, but I've noticed you've not been promoted with the rest of your class..."

Tread carefully, S'in. Nemeth guided from her place in the next room, looking through S'in's eyes to judge Q'sis' reaction. She didn't like the way S'in had phrased things, but there was still room for him to redeem his speech.

"Which struck me as odd--struck us as odd," S'in referenced Nemeth, respectfully, "For, as far as we could tell, you had done nothing wrong. You're clearly a man of dedication and honor, so your being held back didn't really seem to make sense." Now he was starting to turn to eloquence again. There he was, the two-legged, spinning his stories. Nemeth hated stories. She hated beating around the bush. He had best get his intentions out and be done with it. Her seething burst through the delicate membrane that separated their two consciousnesses, ordering him to get on with it. S'in paused, waited for the waves of condescension to subside, then with his last strands of patience finally made his position known.

"Here's the bottom line. I sense there is something foul going on with this Weyr. And, while it may be my current home, I don't always agree with the way it's been led. So let me ask you this, which you may choose not to answer... Is there an unbiased reason for your lack of promotion, or did someone in a plush chair decide they just didn't like you for the job?" At this he leaned in, bold, supporting himself with a hand on Q'sis' desk as he gazed unafraid into the larger man's eye. Then, to give him space, he retreated to leaning coolly against the wall.

"No decision is made without bias." S'in could not agree more. He smirked, liking this man more and more as their discussion went on. He was even more pleased when Q'sis confirmed his concerns that something unseemly was going on. The fact he had only narrowly escaped the tanrider's ill favor did not even catch his eye. He waited patiently, his composure regained with Q'sis' favor of his analysis. Nemeth, too, seemed content and patient again. She listened through S'in's ears to hear Q'sis' side of the story.

The Weyrwoman. S'in nodded, understanding. What little encounters he had had with Weyrwoman Fajra had not been to his liking. He didn't like her. It was plain to see. Whatever she may have done for Dalibor before he got there, she was coasting on previous glory. She was arrogant. From what he and Nemeth had seen her decisions had been made entirely from initial emotional responses. She had created a relationship between Fort and Dalibor that was strained. She had alienated a Holder, alienated most of the other Weyrs, and had taken control of more internal affairs than she should really have her hands on. Such things could be tolerated if Fajra or Kalith were on their deathbeds... but they remained. They remained and the only queens to take over were the moderate Callistath and the wherry-brained Couineth.

Q'sis' statements only confirmed his suspicions.

Nemeth and S'in conferred with what they had heard and what they knew to tell the tanrider. S'in tried to organize his words at least a moderate amount, and then he spoke. His voice started in a level tone, but increased in zealous attitude as he went on. In more than words he would be clear: neither he nor Nemeth liked the way the Weyrwoman ran her politics.

"Although your analysis is bad enough if it were the only truth, there are other matters at hand. We've watched carefully and have found the Weyrwoman has been irrational about more than just internal politics. There are long-standing feuds between Weyrwoman Fajra and the Weyrwoman at Fort, which Fajra refuses to take steps to remedy. As you have said, she seems to have a hand in every aspect of the Weyr, and not just the bits she's supposed to take charge of. There's the issue with the recent Alphahandler take-over: Instead of allowing the whers and their leadership to sort out how to elect a new member, Fajra instantly made her personal friend the new Alphahandler. While that might be forgivable, she furthermore spent unknown amounts of the Weyr's assets to secure a new gold egg and then only allowed those candidates she deemed acceptable stand... And who knows what her criteria were.

"They Weyrwoman is controlling to the point of recklessness. It was her actions that pushed the dragon war over the edge. I'm sure if we looked deeper we'd find it was her actions that stimulated the feud between Dalibor and Fort. She has alienated the rest of Pern to the point where someone has seen fit to send assassins our way, killing several members of our own weyrling class." Nemeth and S'in paused and looked back on the day with ire at the injustice. Someone had to pay. Maybe now they would be able to find out who, after all these turns. Maybe now justice could be dealt. "The only conclusion Nemeth and I have come to is this: Something must be done. We cannot sit by idly anymore and watch as things at Dalibor go to between. Yet, what should be done is less certain... and that's where we hope you'll fill in the blanks."

Nemeth could not pretend that she did not like Unath’s new attentions she was receiving. The nibbling did not serve to endear the dragon to her. Her eyes went from a calm blue to a yellow, ever moving toward the red end of the scale. She bided her time, though. After all, while this beast was not particularly smart she was much larger than Nemeth. So the green merely scooted a little farther from the tan, keeping her mental ears and eyes in the room with S’in. She was not here to cuddle or play. She was here for business. This was a business transaction and nothing more. No creature would receive any cuddling from her. Not now. Not ever.

S’in did his best to make himself comfortable with listening. The importance of the information he was receiving made the feat not too difficult, but it did not change the fact that more often than not he was used to talking not being talked to. He liked what Q’sis was saying, though. Especially the bit about the young copper who had died. She had died at the hands of a red, nonetheless. So she had killed a few of the lesser colors? So be it. Reds seemed to have no place in the Weyr. They were dumber and more volatile than any wher, without the same use. A copper would have at the very least been useful.

He grimaced at Q’sis’ reprimand, a scowl forming iconically on his still boyish face. S’in didn’t like being told he was wrong. He didn’t like being insulted. Nemeth insulted him far enough for his tastes, but he was stuck with her. She was useful. So he bore it. The fact she could kill him easily now helped keep his mouth shut sometimes, although the connection between their minds made it hard for him to hide his distaste. And so wounded ego was beginning to strike up again. He wanted to scream and kick. He wanted to fight his way out. Nemeth came hissing into his mind, though, with a warning, Don’t ruin this with your childish ways, S’in. He can help us find justice. He grimaced further, but held his tongue as his dragon reigned him in.

”I’ve no quarrel with the new beta-handler,” his voice managed to remain steady, ”And there is no weight to Fort’s hatred. All I am accusing is that, while the beta-handler may be highly satisfactory, the process for her choosing was not. I also accuse the Weyrwoman of not even attempting to remedy any diplomatic relations between Fort. The Fort Weyrwoman may be, for lack of a better word, mad, but it takes two dragons to make a clutch of eggs.” He paused. What more there was to say, he didn’t know. S’in hadn’t really thought matters beyond this point. At the very least, Q’sis seemed to be on his side now. That was a plus. What that would mean for the future, he didn’t know, but it was always good to know that he had an ally.

”Nemeth and I are not the kind of individuals to sit and wait for the Weyrwoman to retire, hoping things would end up better. But there’s only two of us. We can only do so much. That’s why we need you and Unath.” He took a couple steps back from the desk. Having now studied the names on the slate he saw no reason to crowd the tanrider. The hour was late, indeed. As it was he had probably overstayed his welcome. ”I won’t keep you up longer than necessary, for we can speak again later. Knowledge is power,” he quoted one of the many lessons his father had taught him, ”and it is in our best interest to keep each other informed, don’t you think?” For a pause he waited for any indication as to whether he would be excused or if Q’sis would have more he wished to talk about before the night was finished.