"I've been sitting docked at the moonbase, and there's not much else to do but read background material on potential markets."A dodge, not a lie. Ever since receiving BeBob's coded message, she had studied the colony world on her own.

Wenceslas did not shade his answer, but told her directly, "Yes, there is a second part of the assignment. Years ago, I placed a man on Crenna to analyze whatever the Ildirans left behind. His name is Davlin Lotze, a trained investigator, skilled at digging into nuances and putting together theories from the smallest shreds of evidence left behind."

"Ah, so he's a spy," Rlinda said.

"He is an undercover exosociological investigator," Basil said, a bit sharply. Then he smiled. "But you can use the term 'spy' if you prefer one-syllable words. When you deliver the medicine to Crenna, find him. I want you to take Lotze to a planet called Rheindic Co and remain there until he finishes his mission. He'll be expecting your arrival on Crenna."

Rlinda frowned. "Isn't Rheindic Co one of those empty Klikiss worlds?"

"You certainly know your planets, Ms. Kett. Few people have ever heard of it." He explained about the Colicos expedition and the missing archaeologists.

"I guess it's better than sitting in spacedock, waiting for someone to ask me out on a date," she said with a self-deprecating grin. "I'll need a full supply of ekti, enough to fly your spy wherever he needs to go."

And that was just the beginning of her terms. Once he'd explained the unofficial details of the mission, she had Basil under her thumb.

Rlinda surprised him with her sudden aggressive negotiating. If the Chairman had expected her to roll over and happily accept his first offer, he quickly learned his mistake. He drove a hard bargain. She pushed even harder. Rlinda judged him well and could see by the twinkle in his eyes that he actually enjoyed the haggling.

She arranged for a substantial sum and a full supply of ekti. Then, to top off the bargain, she sold him half theCuriosity 's cargo of luxury items, which she presumed he would share with Sarein. All in all, she found it a very satisfactory deal.

Foremost in her mind, though, was the knowledge that she was going to Crenna, where she could make sure BeBob was all right.

Racing across space, Rlinda Kett felt as if she herself had wings. She'd almost forgotten the sheer joy of soaring between planetary systems. The brutal unfairness of what the hydrogues had done to human dreams, to the growth of civilization, to the sheerfun of zipping across the Spiral Arm, made her want to spit at the next warglobe she saw.