15

“Wine, Kira?”

“Please.”

Kira accepted the glass Voski offered her, smiling to herself as the bodyguard retreated to the door of the borrowed office. Today, Voski wore a similar dress to the one they’d worn at the barbecue—and from her headware’s complaints, she figured it was stuffed full of electronic-warfare gear.

“The office is swept for bugs four times a day,” Jade Panosyan told her. The Crest Royal was leaning back in their chair with a wine glass of their own, wearing an old-fashioned pantsuit. “Voski re-swept just before you arrived and is running a few…toys, let’s say.

“This space is secure.”

“You’d know better than I if the Institute has agents out here,” Kira pointed out. “We broke their network less than a year ago, but I assume they’re rebuilding it.”

“Potentially not. They do seem to have written the Cluster off as a bad investment for now,” Panosyan observed. “Of course, they believe the Free Trade Zone will inevitably fail in a decade or two, so they will prepare for that and wait.”

“Bastards,” Kira murmured. Her anger with the Institute’s very existence had lost much of its heat with time and exposure, but that made it no less intense. That was why she was even doing this contract.

“I can’t argue that point,” Panosyan agreed. “I saw that this was officially a social call. I’m assuming you don’t want to talk to the BRC about a loan at the moment, so what do you need?”

“I might talk to you about a loan when your planet isn’t run by my mortal enemies,” Kira said drily. “Until then, we’re working toward a better future.”

“Always,” the Zharang agreed.

“I need transport to Crest that won’t draw attention,” Kira told them. “I want to take a scouting party in ahead, to see what intelligence we can pick up on our own. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but…”

“I’m a banker, Commodore,” Jade Panosyan reminded her with a chuckle. “Trust but verify is a golden standard for us. I’d expect no less from you.”

They took a sip of their wine as they considered thoughtfully.

“There are several options,” they finally said. “First, as I’ve assumed you’ve already investigated, there is standard commercial travel. You’d need to stage through a few different locations, and it would take some time.”

“My research suggested eight weeks,” Kira replied. “I was hoping you’d have a better option.”

“We could charter a ship specifically to carry you to, hrm, Guadaloop, I think,” the banker told her. “From there you could take commercial transport for the last hop, which would only be a couple of days.

“The charter shouldn’t draw too much attention, because you aren’t heading directly to the Crest, though Guadaloop is one of the more important client worlds with a semi-permanent NRC station,” Panosyan continued.

“It might end up drawing more attention, then,” Kira pointed out. “Since you and your delegation are here, a charter from here to a system near the Crest might catch NRC attention more than one directly home.”

Panosyan nodded slowly and took another sip.

“This is true,” they agreed. “A charter directly to the Crest, however, would also draw attention. Especially if no members of the delegation were aboard and there were no critical messages carried. Anyone debarking from that vessel would likely draw Institute attention.”

The office was silent, but Kira saw the grin creep onto Jade Panosyan’s face.

“Which means, of course, that someone from the delegation must return to the Crest to cover your arrival. I’ve done more than enough work here to earn my commission. Normally, I would prefer to see the negotiations through to the conclusion, but it is entirely believable for me to return to the Crest to start the back-end process of preparing the syndication of the loan.

“It’s both justifiable and makes me look like I’m avoiding real work to those who don’t understand banking, which fits with some of our enemies’ prejudices toward me,” they noted. “I can offer you transport on my yacht, and that will allow us to avoid some of the suspicion.”

“Wouldn’t we still draw attention as strangers on your ship?” Kira asked.

“If you came all the way to the Crest with me, yes,” Panosyan said. “But…” They tapped the wine bottle with their glass before finishing their drink. “This wine is one of my favorites—I’m somewhat known for it, in fact—and it comes from Guadaloop.

“Several of my and my father’s favorite wines are from that world, so it would be entirely expected—if I’m already evading the full weight of my duty—for my ship to stop at Guadaloop and pick up a supply for home.

“I have friends and contacts in the system, and we should be able to smuggle you off the ship there without drawing attention,” they continued. “It will likely be easier, in fact, to do so in the Guadaloop System than in the Crest.

“From there, you can hire commercial passage and arrive in the Crest almost completely unnoticed. We will arrange drop-box communication and coordination, and I will make certain that a sublight ship is placed at your disposal.

“Getting you back to your squadron will take a bit more effort but should be doable.”

They raised a hand in caution.

“I cannot guarantee your safe arrival in the Crest,” they warned. “The Sanctuary and Prosperity Party has loyalists everywhere, who may find you suspicious. While I believe that only a core group in the Party is sufficiently aware of the Equilibrium connections to see you as a threat…”

“Just the fact that there are mercenaries in the Crest may draw unwelcome attention,” Kira said grimly. “The thought has crossed my mind, but we can’t get away from it.”

“I presumed you understood, but I wanted to be certain,” Panosyan told her. “I will make the arrangements for our sojourn. It will have some positive aspects as well.”

The Crown Zharang of the Royal Crest grinned like an impish child.

“My ship is comfortable but not large, my dear Commodore. In five weeks, we will have plenty of time to get to know each other!”

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