The hacking was nothing like in the vids. For one, there were no special effects, no background music, and no drama. Just a few keystrokes, a hard reboot of the system, and an escaping the boot into command mode.

  “This is ridiculously easy,” I said.

  Hao shrugged.

  “It’s there to stop kids,” she said. “So they don’t try to bushwhack or walk the system. Who else would want to hack it?”

  “Me,” I said, motioning for her to step aside as I scrolled through the connection logs.

  There were very few of them. Me. Tomlin. Hao. Going and coming. And a spate of com suffixes I didn’t recognize in between.

  I grabbed them and let the system do a translation to registered addresses.

  Vincentes, Tell, Vi-Luong. Several of them.

  Tomlin.

  That couldn’t be right. I brought up the full identity.

  Karice. Karice Tomlin had been with the party that had broken into my ship.

  Ma Tomlin had stolen the hatchling.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  I remembered the strong smell of vanilla in the inn. I’d thought Ma Tomlin had baked using the sample jar I’d given her. But of course it wouldn’t have smelled that strongly. Most of the vanilla would have been locked up in the dough.

  Ma Tomlin had taken the vanilla from the ship, together with the hatchling.

  Why?

  “Who are these?” I said, pointing to the other names. Hao’s eyebrows drew together.

  “Otario is Ol’ Vincentes,” she said. “Elmer is First-son Vi-Luong, but he’s old, too. Da Vi-Luong is in his second century. They’re old-timers, all of them.”

  My brain fog made my head hurt.

  “Why would the Jackson old-timers rob me?” I asked. “Aren’t they rich?”

  “They own everything on Jackson,” Hao said. “Except what the Baylens have.”

  I massaged my temples. I could see the pieces, and yet they were painfully slow in coming together into a completed puzzle.

  Best I could figure, Ma Tomlin had recognized me as a mage. She’d saved and offered me the bottle Baylen had drunk from. For me to ward or dowse, like in the vids. Then, somehow, she’d gotten Baylen riled up right when I was returning to the inn after discovering the hatchling missing.

  Me furious, Baylen raging. I was obviously supposed to kill him.

  Then what? Da Baylen and his goons shoot me in the back? Maurice and I have a magic duel and blow everything up? I could see Ma Tomlin and her old pals wanting to get rid of the Baylens. Why they felt I was the right person to do it, I couldn’t understand. But that was secondary. First, I had to go see a woman about a dragon. And for that, it would be nice to have someone who knew the people involved on my side.

  Strange feeling. I was used to doing everything alone.

  “I need to have a long and uncomfortable conversation,” I said. “You coming or staying?”

  Hao looked away. Judging her chances, I figured, whether it would be more dangerous with me or without me, not rushing in. Smart. Then she grinned.

  “I’m your crew,” she said. “Captain.”

  Maybe not so smart, but hearing her say it felt good.