“I’ve reconstructed and studied the actions you’ve taken to find the people behind your daughter’s death, Princess Wynne,” Lord Aesin said. “Either the M-AI files don’t exist, or they are so deeply buried on the homeworlds of Olympus that there is no chance of getting to them.”

“What do you suggest then?” I asked.

“You’ve spent most of your time trying to track down the high leveled people behind this. The ones in charge that spoke with you and forced your hand. Maybe it’s time we should go about this by focusing on the people that were just following orders, find out where they are,” he suggested.

“It might work, but the only people I know of for sure are either dead or I’ve already spent resources and time investigating. How would we go about finding anyone else?” I wondered.

“We know the identities of over five-thousand people, including a Demi-God who used illusion to participate in the scheme to replace our people with stand-ins cloaked in illusion. Have you investigated any of those people? Tried to find out how they were contacted or selected to take part in an operation so detailed and vast that even the smallest break in character might tear back the curtain and expose everyone involved?

“I would have to believe that there is a common thread that ties the two operations together. And if you consider the amount of money involved, to bribe, steal, and train, then it might be possible to follow that money back to the source.

“Additionally, these people didn’t live in a vacuum, they had friends, families, spouses. How were they providing and explaining their need to be embedded in a foreign world for an unspecified period of time?” Aesin asked.

“Most of the people involved were foot-soldiers at best. Medusas, Satyrs, Daughters of Artemis. I would be willing to place bets that they come from poor backgrounds. Possibly orphans that have been raised and indoctrinated for the express purpose of infiltrating Talahm.

“But that doesn’t explain why and how Perseus became involved. He is a true son of Zeus, and although he has been classified as a Demi-God because of that relationship, he is no more powerful than a Sidhe Duke.

“I think it is that failure, his inability to advance beyond his current power level that sparked his interest. If the God particle could be tamed, he would be able to advance his levels and rank at a pace that would be unmatched.

“His motivations are easy to explain and ferret out. The God Particles offered him an advantage, a way to elevate his quasi-divine nature and make it real. His history has demonstrated that most of his actions are based on jealousy. He has been obsessed with his pursuit and desire to outshine his half-brother, Hercules, and has failed.

“Hercules is only one step from attaining the rank of the Divine, coalescing his domain, and becoming a God. Perseus would do anything to spoil that ascension, or at the least, delay it until after his own elevation,” Aesin finished.

I had to appreciate the thought and detail Aesin had focused on this solution. His insights were concise and made sense. My impression of his abilities only increased listening to him. We had been working together for less than a week, and he was already up to speed on where I was at.

He had waded through the legion of paper, statistics, and tidbits of information I had uncovered, and yet, he still managed to find the time to create a psychological prospectus on Perseus that was most assuredly spot on.

“I’ve managed to track Perseus’ to his home planet,” Lord Aesin said. “He was born in Rome, one of the first Olympian planets integrated into their Pantheon. The planet is technically considered under the auspices of Persephone, but Zeus likes to rotate planets when he is going to host the Heavenly Host.

“He tends to dally with any female that is receptive once Bacchus has tapped the kegs and invoked the cornucopia of plenty, Zeus’ visit culminated in a bit of debauchery. Perseus’ mother was a water nymph, a young woman that had been employed as a hand-maiden for Persephone, and her lack of Rank or position has been the root of most of Perseus’ frustration.

“Hercules was conceived during this same visit, but his mother was Alcmene, a minor Queen for one of the outlying kingdoms on the planet. The difference in their station and abilities had fostered a vendetta from Perseus, a vendetta he has had to use subterfuge to advance as Hercules has become more powerful.

“It is on Rome that I think we should concentrate our attention,” he suggested. “If you agree, I will send out my Aziza to find the truth, the story about how and why those five thousand people came to be on Talahm.

“In addition, I suggest that you and I travel to Rome. Make the trip an event, Princess Wynne de Knocker, Benefice of King Teigh Mac de Beleros y Cyronax visiting to exchange ideas about metalwork and tinkering with Hephaestus, brother God of Persephone.

“You can search for gossip and information from within the halls of power, while I will be a simple low-level adjutant so consumed with the minutia of paper-work that I am seldom seen. It will give me time and opportunity to establish connections with the seedier side of the civilized Olympians. The thieves, scoundrels, and prostitutes, the underbelly that always knows where the bodies are hidden, and what strings to pull to reveal the secrets that have long been buried.”

“How difficult will it be for Talahm to inveigle an invitation?” I asked. “I doubt Olympus would have much reason to fete anyone from Talahm.”

“Not as difficult as you’d think,” Aesin disagreed. “We have purged all of the operatives they had spent time and energy placing on Talahm. Those people that had been working or hiding in key positions have yet to be replaced. There is no one left to report back to them or to help forward their agenda.

“If King Teigh was willing to allow an exchange of ideas and knowledge between the Knockers and the Romans they would immediately seize on the opportunity. It would be the perfect opportunity for them to try to slip in a new set of spies.”

“Have you discussed this with His Majesty yet?” I wondered.

“No,” he responded immediately. “King Teigh has made it clear that I am here to assist you. It would be counter productive to go running to him with every idea and plan I came up with. He and you are best served if I share my ideas and thoughts with you, and allow you to decide how, when, and if to execute them.”

“I think the plan has merit,” I agreed after considering his idea for a few moments, “but there are a few details we will need to work out. My activities, my obsession with bringing my daughter’s killer to justice have not been hidden. I have made no secret of the fact that I hold a grudge, and that I am more than willing that I am advancing a vendetta against those Olympians that had a hand in her death.

“We will need to address my past actions if we have any hopes of success. I doubt even Bacchus is so consumed by his drink that he wouldn’t fail to consider why I might be included in this exchange between our two peoples,” I pointed out.

“I had thought a public tiff might work as an explanation,” Aesin suggested. “Everyone knows that King Teigh has received another complaint about you and your attempts at hacking, if we could get him to publicly sanction you, it might explain why you would be so interested in getting off-planet.

“A public fight, words exchanged, and you banished to Rome with a contingent of artisans for an exchange of knowledge. Punishment for you, from those on the outside looking in. The perfect excuse to place you exactly where we want you, the real motivation,” he concluded.