#fenixtj

"You know what, ask dad. I shouldn't give you ammo."

Mitra comes in with Tito "Damn but she was hard to read. Without the blood we'd have nothing"

"Tweak?"

"Oh Tweak is the target all right." Mitra says "That 's who the lady was hired to kill by the commoners that hired her."

"And?"

"Omens were difficult... a crown of plaster over a cross of blood." Tito says

There's the sound of a tray and glass hitting the floor

"Siv stay with Shuri, the rest of you with me..." And Jess rises out of the water to respond.

"Wait did I just get stuck babysitting when.."

It's Deigo who has dropped the tray as he was coming in. He had glasses of wine. and he looks pale.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, a symbol of a .. plaster crown over a cross of blood?" Diego says "That is what you saw with your omen?"

"What??"

"She says that a lot" Siv says but she is carrying Shuri.

"Yes, that's what I saw... but I don't know what it means" TIto says

Diego sighs "I do. It's a plan...where you arrange for a sidhe, or someone who looks like a sidhe, to publically kill a popular commoner and make it look like the nobles were behind it. It would make a martyr of the dead one and outrage even the moderates into joining the revolution... and driving the nobles out of the land."

"People...give Diego and I the room." And needed, drippihg wet so her sister can heal, Jessica faces Diego.

Siv sighs, but takes the child away.

Diego says, once things are clear, "Jessica. I know the plan because one of the crews I ran with... came up with it."

"Tell me."

"I over ruled Plaster Crown/Blood Cross because I found it distasteful, unethical."

"But that was years ago...back before you were here. We never had a commoner popular enough"

"The......what?"

"The Ranters... some of my crew found me too timid and joined some very unpleasant extremists. By now they must think I'm a traitor. Jesssica. If the Co Op thought the sidhe had arranged for Tweak's death, what do you think they would do?"

"Strike back."

"Of course, and they just proved they had the tech to do it." He says "This is..darkly brilliant. Tweak dies, the Co Op turns the same devices they used to protect Fenix towards instead attacking every noble they can find. "

"Tweak is not dead!!!"

"Of course not... because Siv exposed the plan." He says "But you know, if it wasnt' for the meddling wilder, they'd have gotten away with it"

*EYEBROW*

"Well, also tweak might kill the assassin"

"Diego, seriously.... if Tweak, or her family, is... if they suffer?"

"You know again that I didn't do this? right. I didn't work with those folks I threw them out for being too radical?"

"How about we protect our people?"

"I thought that's what we were doing?"

"Jessica... ?"

(Pause)