“Hey, I’ve got a crew of soft meat landing at Port Authority. Replacement contractees who are looking for some kind of leadership. There’s a dead Grunnel lying on a slab in Raya’s morgue, and three conniving nobles who are up to God-knows-what-kind of mischief. Six quetzals, six mind you, are skulking around PA. And I’ve got a marine colonel—bearing one hell of a grudge—up in Turalon’s med bay who was beat up at The Jewel. Not to mention his command scattered over half of Donovan. And”—she jerked a thumb over her shoulder—“he wants a guided tour of Freelander?”

“No one wants a guided tour of Freelander.” Ghosh’s shiver could be seen through his protective suit as he plodded along.

“Ghosh,” she told him, “here’s how I see it. I’ve got two choices. I can babysit that Corporate candy ass, taking him here, showing him this or that, acting like his personal taxi service until something goes clap-trapping wrong and we’re in a real mess. Or I can wave bye-bye, and send him and his Four off on their own with Juri as the guy’s private chauffer, and let IG Soukup stumble into whatever mess he finds himself in.”

“Sounds like a recipe for disaster,” Ghosh growled before glancing back to ensure that Soukup wasn’t close enough to hear. “Either way, you’ll be blamed.”

Kalico raised her eyebrow. “I’ve been thinking about it ever since he stepped off the shuttle. Ghosh, I don’t think there’s a way out of it. The only way I save my ass is face-to-face with the Board. They’re thirty years away and two years out of touch. Their reality is so different from ours, they can’t conceive. You know the old saw? It’s like they’re living on an entirely different planet? Well, they are.”

“So, what are you going to do about Soukup?”

“Haven’t a clue, Ghosh. But you’re a smart guy. Put yourself on Transluna. Look back at our record on Corporate Mine and throw in Southern Diggings. Think about what that’s worth to The Corporation. To the Boardmembers who are going to profit from the richest find in the galaxy. Got that in your head?”

“Constantly.” His muttered reply was barely audible through the helmet.

“Now, if you wanted to take Supervisor Aguila out of the picture, and put someone else in charge, do you think, looking back over our record here, that you could find enough mistakes to justify my replacement? Policy decisions that were not in The Corporation’s best interest? Violations of Corporate rules and regs?”

“Like letting us make our own plunder? Giving us a percentage of the profits? Allowing us to buy property in PA? Stake our own claims?” Ghosh shook water from his sleeve. Shot another look over his shoulder. “Yeah, Supervisor, they could dismiss you over that.”