“Oh, I am entirely certain that you do,” Kiva replied. “You were planning to leave the planet and never come back. You’re going to have to start somewhere else, where you have no franchise and no assurance of having prospects. The only way you and your family will survive long enough to generate those prospects is with a heaping pile of ready cash.” She stopped and considered Donher. “I’m going to guess you’ve probably got ten or fifteen million marks in a personal data crypt right now.” She pointed. “It might even be in that vest pocket right there. Am I wrong?”

Donher said nothing to this.

Kiva nodded. “Then back to business. Four million to let you out of your franchise obligations.”

“Yes, Lady Kiva.” Donher bowed, signaling that he assumed the deal had been struck.

“We’re not done,” Kiva said. “How many people are you bringing with you?”

“Myself, my wife, and our children. My wife’s mother. Two servants.”

“How many children?”

“Three. Two girls and a boy.”

“What a nice family. A half a million marks for each person we transport.”

Kiva watched the color march back into Donher’s face. “That’s outrageous!” he finally managed to sputter.

“Probably,” Kiva admitted. “But I don’t care. Your little family unit will be with us for nine months while we travel to Hub. That’s nine months of food, of oxygen, of space, on our ship.”

“That’s another four million marks!”

“Your math skills are impressive, Donher.”

“I can’t afford it.”

“Oh, well.”

“Surely we can come to some accommodation, my lady.”

Kiva laughed. “I’m sorry, did you think this was a negotiation? It’s not. You want off the planet. These are my rates. If you don’t like them, you’re welcome to look elsewhere. I understand the Tell Me Another One is departing soon.”

“Actually ma’am, it’s been detained,” Magnut said. “The duke had its captain arrested. He seems to think she allowed pirates to board the ship and take a shipment of weapons.”

“Is that so.”

“Apparently the deal was originally with the executive officer, who attempted a mutiny and failed. The captain decided to follow up on the deal with the pirates anyway. Better money. Allegedly.”

“Huh.” Kiva turned back to Donher. “One less option for you, then.”

“Lady Kiva, I can offer you three million marks for passage. With the four million marks you already require, that’s more than half of what I have.”

“Then I guess you’re leaving your servants behind,” Kiva said. “Unless you were planning to take one and leave your mother-in-law behind.”

The color began to drain from Donher’s face again.

“You were!” Kiva crowed. “You were going to ditch your mother-in-law! You utter dog.”

“I was not,” Donher protested, weakly.