Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 117
and the royalists. If you look you can probably make them
out--at opposite ends of the grounds."
"Hmm." Calandria did look out. "Dinner will be fun."
"It gets better. There's some dispute over Yuri’s position
as patriarch. Which side will he support in the Iapysian thing?
That's a touchy question, because the loser might decide to
open the old wound of his legitimacy. That's all happening
down there even as we speak."
"My." She smiled at him. "We do pick the most
interesting hotels."
"Yeah. Well, we'll have to be careful not to get involved.
Now: how's Mason?"
"You saw him. What do you think?"
Axel shrugged. "He looks tough. Does he know where
Armiger is?"
"If he did we'd be able to send him home," she said. "No,
he doesn't. That's our job for the next day or two--locating
Armiger. Jordan's a bit wrapped up in his own misery right
now, so we'll have to show him the advantages of his position.
He's afraid Armiger is coming here."
Axel frowned. "Is he?"
"I don't know. That would surprise the Boros, wouldn't
it? I guess Armiger is a walking corpse at the moment, though
he may be recovering. We have to know how powerful he is
before we face him. I'm wondering how we can get Jordan to
find out for us."
"Yeah, yeah..." Axel chewed on one knuckle absentmindedly.
"We need more power."
"Political?"
"No, guns, damn it. I don't like this planet, Cal. The
damn Winds are always watching. If you bring anything
higher-tech than a wrist watch in here they'll pounce on you