Mid-way through Turn 22, newly appointed Weyrwoman Nenita concocts a plan with Ch'son to find some connection to the raiders Fort has been having such difficulties with. The same sea pirates that earlier on captured and stole from a ship that was headed to Ista with much needed supplies, supplies that could have been more than useful when the island weyr was battered by hurricane. To avoid future supply-problems they decide to track down and offer a deal to these people, safe harbor and connections to markets within the Ista coverage area. In exchange, they're given safe passage over the seas in the Fort area as well as 20 percent of any profits made from the selling of said goods.
Ch'son is able to make contact and establish this deal, meeting with the raiders periodically to inspect drop offs and insure they're not carrying any identifying marks. He does this with the aide of several Riptide riders. In the meantime, Nenita is doctoring records at the weyr on the sly. She's not exactly an expert at it and things become complicated when L'hai inadvertently stumbles upon the number manipulation. In a stroke of genius (or insanity, take your pick), she reaches out to the bronzerider and pulls him into the fold. He's sent out on drop off missions to observe the pirates and accumulate as much knowledge as possible on them. While on one of these forays, Ch'son gets the idea to send his firelizard onto one of the ships, overladen with them as they are.
In the meantime, M'try, a weyrling at Fort becomes suspicious of the things showing up in Ista's local market. He begins investigating which leads to a series of meetings with Nenita and L'hai. While snooping around the outlying islands of the weyr he happens to show up at the time of one of the drop offs. He recognizes the bronzerider from a previous encounter, though the identity of Ch'son is a mystery to him. After his dragon blows the whistle on him, he turns tail and runs. That doesn't stop him from drawing up some incriminating sketches of the two riders and trying to force some sort of confession out of Nenita later. She admits nothing and denies everything.
Sometime around when the Fort weyrling goes showing off his sketches, L'hai goes to investigate the raiders further triggered by something he saw on the most recent drop-off. Spooked by the other weyr's investigation and his appearance, the raiders he stumbles upon give the rider the beating of his life and leave him behind. Kolniveth calls to Safriath for help, she responds, sending his wingmates to retrieve him. Though badly beaten he's not on death's door, so despite some short term memory loss and a lot of bruising and possibly broken ribs he makes a full recovery. He's given a cover story to account for his condition and this is supported and upheld by all that came to his aid that night.
With the pressure from Fort becoming too much and the recent attack on one of Ista's riders, Nenita pulls the plug on the operation. They cease any and all contact with the raiders. To try and ward off future accusations and threat to herself and her two clutchmates, a meeting with Fort Weyr is called. Weyrleader An'dren is not told of the meeting and it in fact, is held on a day that he's not even at the weyr.
The meeting is a bag of mixed results. Ista manages to put up a reasonable facade of plausible deniability, while whether or not the other weyr truly buys it is up for discussion. The two weyrwomen butt heads, while there seems to be some concern over An'dren's absence. There's a definite tension between the two areas now and it looks as if future negotiations of any sort are going to be difficult to non-existent in terms of orchestration. Both sides leave frustrated and displeased with one another.
