I shrugged, remembering Tanaseda’s threat. A global writ for your capture. “As safe as anywhere else I can think of right now. Personally, I’d be heading out for Millsport tonight, but that’s exactly why—”

I stopped. She looked at me curiously.

“Exactly why what?”

Exactly why we’re nicking with an idea you came up with and not me.

Because anything I come up with, there’s a good chance he’s going to come up with too.

“Exactly what they’ll expect us to do,” I amended. “If we’re lucky they’ll skip right past us on the fastest transport south they can arrange.”

She took the chair opposite me and straddled it.

“Yeah. Leaving us to do what meantime?”

“Is that a proposition?”

It was out before I realised I’d said it. Her eyes widened.

“You—”

“Sorry. I’m sorry, that was. A joke.”

As a lie, it would have got me thrown out of the Envoys to howls of derision. I could almost see Virginia Vidaura shaking her head in disbelief.

It wouldn’t have convinced a Loyko monk shot up with credence sacrament for Acceptance Fortnight. And it certainly didn’t convince Sylvie Oshima.

“Look, Micky,” she said slowly. “I know I owe you for that night with the Beards. And I like you. A lot. But—”

“Hey, seriously. It was a joke, okay. A bad joke.”

“I’m not saying I haven’t thought about it. I think I even dreamed about it a couple of nights ago.” She grinned and something happened in my stomach. “You believe that?”

I manufactured another shrug. “If you say so.”

“It’s just.” She shook her head. “I don’t know you, Micky. I don’t know you any better than I did six weeks ago, and that’s a little scary.”

“Yeah well; changed sleeves. That can—”

“No. That’s not it. You’re locked up, Micky. Tighter than anyone I’ve ever met, and believe me I’ve met some fucked-up cases in this business. You walked into that bar, Tokyo Crow, with nothing but that knife you carry and you killed them all like it was a habit. And all the time, you had this little smile.” She touched her hair, awkwardly it seemed to me. “This stuff, I get pretty much total recall when I want it. I saw your face, I can still see it now. You were smiling, Micky.”

I said nothing.

“I don’t think I want to go to bed with someone like that. Well,” she smiled a little herself. “That’s a lie. Part of me does, part of me really wants to. But that’s a part I’ve learnt not to trust.”

“Probably very wise.”

“Yeah. Probably.” She shook hair back from her face and tried on a firmer smile. Her eyes hit mine again. “So you went up to the citadel and you took their cortical stacks. What for, Micky?”