“A finder’s fee. You know me. I was TNA security personnel, and I know TNA secrets. I know about secret bases. Facilities that are only lightly defended, because they depended on obscurity as their best defense. Those facilities are full of valuable technology, materiel, and various ill-gotten gains embezzled by TNA executives.”

“If you have a treasure map, why are you offering to share it? You’re TNA. They’d let you in.”

“Because lightly defended doesn’t mean undefended. I might be able to trick my way into one or two of the facilities by flashing my old credentials, sure, but word will get around, and eventually someone will blow me out of the sky. I’m thinking long-term. You have manpower and firepower. I have intelligence. Why risk my life, or the life of my crew, when you can risk yours for me instead?”

The pirate queen was trying not to look interested. “What’s the offer?”

“I’ll give you the location of a base crammed full of juicy tech. You go steal all their stuff, and give me half.”

“Half? Don’t be stupid. We’d be doing all the work. Finder’s fees are ten percent.”

“I guess I could settle for a third, if you also give me docking privileges and a berth on Glauketas. Good quarters, too. As good as yours. My house blew up a while ago, so my people and I are looking for a place to settle.”

“My crews won’t like sharing space with TNA security scum. A lot of them hate you personally, Machedo.”

“Please. I know for a fact that at least a fifth of your people used to work for the TNA, before they got fired for corruption or incompetence or using unnecessary force. Consider me corrupted by circumstances, and a big believer in unnecessary force. I’d fit right in.”

“People on Glauketas earn, Machedo. They don’t lounge around relaxing while others sponge off them.”

“I’ll earn plenty. I have a nice long list of targets, quadruple-encrypted so only I can access the data – me, alive and well, breathing and talking, without any strain of coercion in my voice, with the file watched over by an expert system that knows me well and won’t put up with any shenanigans.”

The pirate queen stroked her chin. “You’ll have to prove yourself.”

“I’m prepared to offer one target, as proof of concept. If you like it, you’ll come back for more.”

“Give me a good one. Not the lowliest site on your list.” The pirate queen showed off her skull-filled smile. “Impress me, Machedo.”

“I can do that. I’ve got a secret weapons R&D facility, so it’s going to be better defended than some, but you’ve got enough personnel and ships to overwhelm the defenses.”

“This isn’t the place where they built the weapon that accidentally blew up Meditreme Station, is it?”