This wasn't the time to relax; this was the time to act.
But how?
Mel walking up behind us brought part of my answer.
She dropped a stack of papers onto my lap. "I don't know that there are answers there, but maybe some clues. I printed out descriptions of thirty of the most popular goddesses."
The papers felt like it; they weighed a ton. I carefully picked them up and thumbed through them. My eyes quickly blurred.
She smiled. "I know." She kneeled and took a place on the grass beside me. I was flanked now, her on one side, Jack on the other.
"But if we do notice something strange. . a power we've never seen before or something. . we have something to reference."
I stared at the stack of paper. Amazons were not scholars. As an Amazon destined to be a queen, I'd been taught more than most, but by modern human educational standards I'd probably have barely graduated high school. . unless the school gave credits for wrestling or sword fighting.
The thought of reading these papers made my head ache.
"Too bad Harmony isn't here," Mel murmured. "She'd love diving into this."
Her face turned sad. If I'd been a different kind of person I would have reached for her hand, but that wasn't me and Mel knew it. It would have just made us both uncomfortable.
As it was, Jack reached over and grabbed the papers. "Let me. I studied Greek mythology in college."
I looked at him, surprised. "You went to college?"
He grinned, a slow sexy slide of his lips over those impossibly white teeth. "When I was fifty. The sons don't have the same antimingling beliefs the Amazons do. I figured a little education would be good."
"What did you major in?" Mel asked.
He rolled the papers into a scroll shape, or tried to. They were too thick and sprung back out flat. He slapped them against his palm. "I didn't graduate, just took classes, whatever interested me. Mythology did."
"What else?" I asked, realizing how little I knew about my self-named godfather.
"Usual things: girls, athletics. . explosives."
"Like the birders used?" I asked, instantly alert.
He lifted a shoulder. "Somewhat. What they did wasn't fancy. I could have done it."
I turned, my hand forming a fist as it rose.
He grabbed me around the wrist.
"I said I could have, not that I did. Anyone with an Internet connection can build a bomb these days."
"How about the supplies? You know where they got those?" I asked. He still held my wrist. I didn't pull away; I just waited, tense.
"I'm a gun dealer, not a terrorist. There is a difference."
"Then why'd you study explosives?" My voice vibrated.
His, however, was calm. "That came after. It's why I left college. There was a war going on in Europe. I left to join it." He dropped his hold on my arm and stood. "It was a long time ago. Things have changed, but I thought you'd like to know I had some knowledge in that area too, that if needed we could match them explosive to explosive."
Explosives and guns. I couldn't see using either. In fact, I bristled at the thought.
Mel stood too. She angled her body so she was between us. "Are we on the same side, or not?" she asked.
Still seated, I stared up at them.
Were we? Did we all want the same thing here? Guns and explosives were two things I knew nothing about, didn't want to have to know anything about.
"I don't know. Maybe we should ask." I bounced the question back to my best friend. "What is your goal in all of this?"
Hurt and a bit of anger showed on Mel's face. "I don't care about the tribe. You know that. But I care that they want to kill children. I care about that a lot."
I believed her, but then I'd already known Mel's motivation. I looked at Jack.
He tapped a finger against the sheaf of paper he held. I suspected he was weighing whether he should answer my question at all. Finally he did. "I don't want any children killed either. And I want the tribe to survive. You may not believe me, but I care about the tribe, not"-he added as I opened my mouth to disagree-"in the same way you do. More like an ecologist cares about an endangered species. Amazons are rare and old; they are part of the world, a part I think should continue to exist." His finger quit moving. "But that doesn't mean I don't think they shouldn't change; they should. And I'd like to be a part of both things-the save and the change."
I weighed whether being put in the same class as an endangered animal pissed me off or not. Deciding there were plenty of other things to piss me off, I let it lie.
"Close enough." I stated and stood. Neither of them had missions that would get in the way of what I wanted. . the tribe together, strong and not operating out of a place of ignorant fear.
Jack flipped through the papers again. The sheets made a rippling noise and I caught snippets of pictures of various goddesses as he did-one regal, crowned, and holding a scepter; one fanciful, with a rainbow arching from one palm to the other; and even one I might have mistaken for a human's angel, with wings. There were others, but as I watched the pages flip past, they blurred into one.
Then I saw Artemis and something clicked into place.
My contact on the high council. I hadn't spoken with her since before Thea arrived and we got the order to steal Andres.
I looked at Mel. "If I have a name, can Bubbe find her?"
Mel jutted out her jaw, thinking. "It's easier with her telios and givnomai. Do you know them?"
"Not her givnomai, but her telios. Is that enough?"
There were twelve members of the council, a representative of each clan. There were also currently four warriors on the council; I knew each of them by name and which clan they were from.
Looking uncertain, she replied, "We can talk to Bubbe. I never know what the old reprobate can do for sure."
With that uncertain offer, I headed up the hill toward the school. I guessed my contact's disappearance meant she was on the losing side, my side now. She could help identify the rest of the council. And with that knowledge we'd be able to learn who was behind the split.
I stared down at my foot, hidden in the long grass. The same grass that earlier had been cool and reassuring now seemed to grasp at my legs, to let go with an unwilling whisper as I pulled my shoe free. Tamping the disturbing feeling down, I swallowed and kept walking.
We would figure this out. We would stop whoever was trying to split the Amazons in two.
If I could find my contact, that is.