She rolled over onto her back and put her hands behind her head, her black hair forming a negative sunburst against the bed linen. “You really want to throw me out? Does that model with the eggplant hair really keep you that busy?” She indicated the Minder. “Or is that chrome ball keeping watch over you?”

“She has nothing to do with it. And my Minder just answers questions.” He moved his jacket and laid it over the end table on the far side of the bed. At his direction, the sphere settled down atop the fabric and the repulsion generator sewn inside.

Do I want to throw her out? he mused. Could always throw her out in a little while. It never pays to be hasty. His alarms remained up.

Disappointed, she sat up and sidled backwards until she was resting against the padded headboard. “I’ve heard about you private operatives. All business. All right, we’ll have it your way.” She couldn’t resist another smile. “Though I think you’d like my way better.”

He sat down on the bed, careful to keep some space between them. “You came in here wanting something, and somehow I don’t think it was me. I know a negotiating ploy when I see one. It’s usually not this blatant, or this attractive.”

“Well! Thanks for the crumb, anyway.” She sighed, rested her hands on her knees. “I’ll get right to the point, even though what I wanted to do from the start was get right to the point.

“I have a pretty good idea who you are and what you’re doing here, and I can help you.”

The alarms started to ring, but they were now muted by other concerns. “I wouldn’t be averse to that.”

“You haven’t been very polite.”

Leaning forward, he kissed several drawings. It gave new meaning to the term “art lover.” She relaxed visibly.

“That’s better. Surely it can’t be too painful for you.”

“You’re very beautiful. And very accommodating. Not being a particularly deserving guy, and the season for gift-giving still a number of months in the future, it makes me wonder what you want in return for your ‘help.’ Not just my nominal attentions, surely.”

“You’re a very impressive specimen, Broderick Manz. But no, not just you.” As he backed off, she took another sip of the glass’s dark contents. Her eyes watered.

“I want a first-class ticket offworld to the destination of my choice, a clean passport, a new traveling wardrobe, Braun-Ives professional surveillance and protection until the halfway flip, and one quarter of a million credits, half to be deposited immediately to an account number I will provide when the time comes.”

He couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice. “That’s all?”

“Don’t bargain with me, mister!” she yelled with unexpected violence. “That’s less than one percent of the value of the shipments already jacked.” She regained control of herself, and her voice dropped. “Look at it like that, and I’m practically giving the information away.”

“How about I wrap you up and take you to meet an official friend of mine?”

“You think the police can get me to say more than howdy? Try again, Manz-man.”

“Why not approach Braun-Roche-Keck openly? Their own reward is half again as much as you’re asking for.”

She eyed him pityingly. “That’s a great idea. I could appear on the evening vid accepting the money. Some of my ‘friends’ would find it real entertaining.”

“So you know some unpleasant people.”

This time she didn’t smile. “Very unpleasant. Why do you think I want the professional security along with the money?”

“You know about all four jackings?”

“Sure. I was even there today, remember?”

“I remember.” He tried to see past her, into the shadows. “Where’s the little pop-toy you keep in your bag?”

“In my bag,” she replied uninformatively. Under the bed? he wondered. In the bathroom?

“Don’t worry. It’s not for persuading you. It’s insurance against my friends.”

“I’d like to meet your friends.”

“On a professional level, I’m sure. That’s what I’m here to talk about.” Now that they were getting down to real business, he thought she was starting to sound more than a little nervous. He worked to reassure her.

“I secured this room myself. Nobody except me’s going to hear anything you have to say, and no one’s going to break in on us.”

The appendage Moses had applied to the wall that separated the workroom from Manz’s living area had required several minutes to bypass the protec screen the adjuster had emplaced. It helped that Moses contained all the necessary codes. Contact on his side caused his head to swivel. The listening appendage remained secured to the wall.

Clad in glad gossamer, Vyra eyed him questioningly as she removed her hand from the humaniform’s shoulder. The door to her rooms stood open. “Well?”

“Silence, please. I am recording.”

“I can see that. But recording what, and why?”

“Did you have a profitable day?”

“Don’t try to change the subject. My work at the Port unearthed nothing of significance, I’m sorry to say. How did you and Broddy make out?”

It was perhaps fortunate that the mechanical, though quite capable of executing the requisite mimicry, was not given to involuntary giggles.

“Our inquiries proved singularly uninformative. However, Manz is even at this very moment entering upon a new line of inquiry which appears to be far more promising.”

She hesitated. “I ought to command you to withdraw, but you’d probably recite some litany about being responsible only to designated corporate interlocutors. You’re sure this recording you’re doing is business-related?”

“What else?”

She started to reply, hesitated, and returned instead to her own rooms, leaving the mechanical to its work.

As li Trong rolled over onto her side to face Manz, several fractal patterns became intimately animated. A butterfly’s wings contracted.

“You’re full of surprises, Broderick Manz. I didn’t expect such delicacy of touch.”

He considered the ceiling. “Disappointed?”

“No. Just surprised.”

“What happened? Last I remember, you were going to give me some answers.”

“You got distracted.”

“You distracted me.”

“Disappointed?”

He grinned at her. “No. Just surprised. Want to talk now?”