“Kill her and eat her,” Demon suggested from deep in Dek’s head. But then, that pretty much summed up Demon’s solution for every problem.

“So, what did I miss?” he asked.

“Lots of talk about what to do when Turalon arrives,” Yvette told him. “It’s a conversation we’ve had before. What do we do when The Corporation finally takes us seriously? But for a couple of bumps in the road, the last time didn’t turn out so badly.”

Dek took a seat next to Talina, lacing his fingers into hers. “The last I heard, Turalon’s captain had sent a list of passengers—including my blood-sucking sister—and that she was carrying marines and a Board Appointed IG. Anything else new since then?”

Shig leaned forward, a benign look on his round face. “Captain Abibi expects to be in orbit ten days from now. She’s forwarded a cargo manifest that we’ve been going over. Much to our surprise, her bays are full of material we can actually use for once. Like new powerpacks for the airtrucks and aircars! A full pharmacopeia. Parts for scientific equipment and even techs to install them. It would seem that The Corporation actually paid attention to our needs.”

“Thank God,” Raya growled, the flat planes of her Siberian face emotionless. “Real medical equipment? And a couple of techs to run it? If the passenger manifest is correct, I might faint.” Glancing at Dek, she said, “I could repair that scar on your cheek.”

“I’ll keep the scar,” he told her. “Kylee says it makes me look like a pirate.”

“What would Kylee know about how a pirate looks?” Talina asked. “She was raised on a research base in the forest.”

“They had books, vids, and holos,” Dek reminded.

“Getting back to the subject,” Allison interrupted. “Before Dek got here, we were discussing Suharto, Grunnel, Radcek, and this Falise Taglioni.” She turned her hard blue gaze on Dek. “You called her a blood-sucking sister? Want to elaborate on that?”

Dek nodded, shifted his attention to Allison. Though she was only in her mid-twenties, the woman was one of the most powerful on the planet. She ran The Jewel, Betty Able’s brothel, and had controlling interest in real estate, numerous mining ventures, investments, and was forty-nine percent of the Port Authority bank. Despite being orphaned, widowed, having her child eaten by a quetzal, and then having been seduced and prostituted by Dan Wirth, she’d emerged as a tough, capable, smart, and ruthless force in Port Authority politics. To Dek’s delight, she was the perfect mix of beauty and brains, and she pulled no punches.