She stared at him in disbelief. You didnt forget that Im a machine-head, did you? You do understand I have a pretty good idea of just how much firepower youve got stashed all around this lair of yours? Not to mention those three men who followed me here after I disembarked from the tram.

For a moment, Sarbakshian looked startled, but he recovered quickly, slapping his knee and laughing loudly in a manner that was only slightly less than convincing.

However, Im not going to pay you in money, she declared, but in knowledge.

Sarbakshians expression clouded. What the hell are you talking about?

It was her turn to make a gesture in the air. She wafted a tiny glowing star towards Sarbakshian, who caught it with ease. He glanced at her impatiently, then glanced down at his open palm. Data flowered around him.

She watched as he sorted through the contents of the data package she had just given him, examining first the technical data and then the financial projections. She knew how he had been a communications engineer in a previous life, and so would immediately understand what he was looking at.

When he finally waved it all away, some minutes later, he wore a rather dazed expression.

Theres no way to maintain that level of coherence, he said hoarsely, over that kind of distance, using tach-net communications technology. It simply isnt possible.

Youll be able to license that data towards the development of a new generation of tach-net nodes, with minimal to zero signal loss and at a fraction of the current cost, reaching all the way across the Accord. Itll be the start of a second revolution in faster-than-light communications technology, and you wont have to waste your time just scrabbling for a living on this pissant world or any other, Sabby.

He shook his head in bewilderment. What the hell are you doing smuggling sans de sezi when you have access to something like this? You could be richer than the Schellings, or even the Besters.

I dont like to attract attention, she said. And if I myself tried to use that information to make money, I would most definitely get the wrong kind of attention. She leaned towards him. Put it this way: Ive been saving it towards a rainy day, for a very long time.

He shook his head. Theres something about you thats always intrigued me, Megan Jacinth. Youre the proverbial mystery wrapped inside an enigma. You came out of nowhere . . . I have no idea where you even got your implants.

She looked at him, surprised. Youve been looking into me?

I look into everybody, he said. I trust people, but Im no fool. I dont rely just on gut instinct. I had the feeling that one of these days I was going to find out something surprising about you, but never anything like this. Why me, Megan? And why now?