“I know that would have made you feel better,” she said quietly. “I realize how loyal you are to him. You’ve been with him for years, and it’s clear you also like him. But I’m no threat, Vogel. I admire loyalty, and there’s a chance I can use Korgan. I know how lucky I’d be if I could pull it off. It would be stupid of me to run the risk of ruining that opportunity.” She grimaced. “Though I’m sure you don’t believe a word I’m saying, and you’ll be on guard to make sure I don’t creep into his room and cut his throat.”

“Yes, I will,” he said coolly. “It’s not that Korgan isn’t aware how many nuts there are out there that would target him if they got a chance. But he’s been a risk taker since the moment I met him, when we both served in the army. The recruiters took one look at his IQ and wanted to put him in the computer division or OCS, but he decided he wanted to go for special services. I don’t know if it’s curiosity or that he’s such a genius he just gets bored.” He paused. “If you’re as well prepared as Korgan suggested, then you might have dug deep and found out that info about him. But don’t think you can use it just because Korgan sometimes appears so easygoing. He can be tough and cynical as hell. You’d regret crossing him.”

Vogel was piling on warnings she could have done without, she thought impatiently. But he was important to Korgan and so he was important to her. At least, respect the effort he was making. “I’d know that just by looking at him. And I was telling the truth about not doing research as deep as I should have done about him. But I assure you that I haven’t underestimated him…or you.”

“That’s good. He earned all those billions because he’s one of the smartest men on the planet. But it’s too much money for most people, and they can’t absorb it without resentment.” His glance meeting her own was icy cold. “So I make sure that resentment doesn’t get in his way. You said you want to use him? Everyone wants something from him, he’s used to it. But no one is going to hurt him to get it.”

“Warning taken and accepted,” she said. “I told him what I wanted, and I won’t ask anything else.”