The Accord had then demanded that the Alliance hand over control of their entire superluminal fleet, with the claimed intention of leasing those same ships back to them but carrying a permanent contingent of Accord military and technical personnel aboard each of them.

That had been a demand too far for the First Families. When tensions reached a peak, Accord cruisers had set up a blockade of the derelict coreship, cutting off any escape route for the salvage team at work on removing the last remaining drives.

Megan herself had been the pilot for the expedition sent to try and rescue the blockaded salvage workers.

The way some of the other machine-heads talk about you, said Tarrant, it seems that what you did there bordered on the supernatural.

Megan grinned. Now you really are embarrassing me.

Apparently you jumped your ship across fifteen AUs, and directly inside the coreship itself. Tarrant shook his head. Something like that shouldnt even be possible.

I swear it wasnt such a big deal, she replied. A large part of the coreships outer hull had already been torn away, so that left a pretty big gap to aim for.

Maybe so, said Tarrant, but crossing from a distance of even one AU would scare anyone else to death. Look, what would you say if I told you there was a way to change everything, and put the TSA back on top? In a way that the Accord wouldnt be able to do anything about?

Megan glanced at Bash, then turned back to Tarrant. What is it you want from me, exactly?

Were here, said Tarrant, because youre one of the best machine-head pilots in the Alliance . . . and because we also need the Beauregard.

You need the Beauregard? She could hardly mask her incredulity.

Please, Megan, said Bash, hear him out.

Were here, said Sifra, on the direct orders of Otto Schelling. What were now asking you for will be entirely voluntary.

We need you to pilot the Beauregard, but leaving immediately, explained Tarrant. As soon as you give us the word, Otto Schelling will authorize the payment of half a million shares in high-value First Family commercial patents, with guaranteed per annum returns, into a private account under your own name.

She glanced at Bash. This is bullshit, right? she asked him. Theyre having me on.

No bullshit, Megan and I already accepted. A grin spread across his face. Checked my account this morning and saw the sweetest line of zeros.

The transfer will be handled by the Schellings own legal firm under the strictest secrecy, continued Sifra, and the deal is cast iron, whatever happens. The Accord wont be able to trace it or touch it, either. If you decide you want to be part of this, well authorize that transfer immediately. Think about the opportunities that it could buy for a machine-head pilot.