She jerked a thumb toward the rest of the patrons. “Funny thing, Shig. After the last couple of weeks, I was feeling right at home walking down those stairs. Come a long way since we held that sham of a show trial here. I was just marveling that each and every one of these people have my back.”

“They know you’ve got theirs. You’ve put your life on the line for them too many times. Pity the Corporation if they ever show up and try and bring you to heel.”

“You saying I’m totally corrupted by you libertarian bastards?”

“Totally.” Shig picked up his wine, looked at the color, and set it back down. “What happened with the Maritime Unit? Anything Yvette and I need to know about? Anything you need us to do?”

Kalico lifted the whiskey. Tasted it. “What is this? Inga tapped all the right keys this time around.”

“After her last disastrous attempt, she dug out the last barrel of the good stuff. It’s going fast. If you like it, get a bottle while you still can.”

Kalico let the rye sit on her tongue in order to savor it, swallowed, and said, “Maritime Unit decided that they were better able to run their affairs without my advice. They didn’t trust me. Thought I was getting them killed. Asked me to leave.”

“That’s Corporate property. You are a Supervisor. And, as I still like to remind you, you have marines. With armor. Not to mention tech. Essentially you are not only the law, but there’s nothing they could do to stop you.”

“I’ve been here too long.” Kalico pointed a finger Shig’s way. “You’re right. There’s nothing they could do to stop me. But worse, I’ve sucked up so much of your libertarian insanity, I am unwilling to expend the effort to try and save them from themselves. Why the hell should I? Stupidity is just Darwin in action.”

“They do have a nice Pod out there, I’m told.”

“The survivors will be calling one of these days soon. They can choose Corporate Mine or PA. They’ll be broke.” Kalico gave Shig a poke with that same finger. “The Pod and the equipment are Corporate. I would take it badly if someone were to take any of it in trade.”

“They have a sick kid.”

“They do?”

“You didn’t hear?”

“They don’t talk to Corporate Mine. Must have been on the hospital frequency?”

“They set up their own frequency. Maybe they didn’t want you to know? They’re talking to Raya about it. A little boy. I guess there’s some sort of infection. A bacterium or something. Two Spot says they’ve lost a submarine. You’ve heard none of this?”

“Not a word.” Lost a submarine? Shit!

“Guess that parting really was acrimonious.”