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.“Or I’ll do it.”Farr sighed.“All right.”The collar eased its grip, and Scala sucked in a deep, grateful breath, refraining with great difficulty from glaring at the blonde.Joran Stark cleared his throat.“Let’s stay on track.Scala, you ready to hear our offer?”“Yes.Please.” Please set me free so I can do your dirty work, and gain my freedom, then come back and kill blondie … slowly.He began to speak.Several moments later she sat, staring at him, revenge forgotten as her mind raced with the magnitude of what they wanted her to do.“Oh, and we should probably mention,” Joran Stark drawled.“Tal Darkrunner is dangerous.Very dangerous.”“No kidding,” she said dryly.“I kind of figured, or he wouldn’t have a gang of his very own.”She moved, the collar squeezed, and she froze.The blonde IBI agent smirked at her.Scala ignored her, eyes on Stark.“I’ll do it.Now get this thing off of me.”“Certainly not—” the blonde began, but Berenson was already on his feet.He strode around the table to Scala, determination in every step.“Mr.Berenson,” the blonde was on her feet too, glaring at Scala and the big man.“This is not IBI procedure.This woman is a dangerous criminal.”“I don’t give a pile of skrog shit about IBI procedure,” the deep voice said over Scala’s head.“I care about getting Mr.Stark back in one piece, without holes shot in him by Darkrunner.And this woman is going to help us do that, so back the fuck off.”Scala, her head bent forward where he’d tipped it, smiled to herself.Then the collar loosened with a click, and she drew a deep breath, sucking air into her lungs and letting it out.She wouldn’t be taking another breath for granted for a while.But she was still strapped into the hovercart, still a prisoner, so she couldn’t afford to relax.She concentrated on looking meek and cooperative.“Ms.Raj, do you have any questions?” Joran Stark asked.A chill ran down Scala’s spine.He spoke as if the whole thing hinged on her agreement, not their approval.“Yeah, I do.Why me? Why not one of your own operatives?” They must have a thousand or more attractive women or men who could do this job.The blonde smirked.“Oh,” Scala realized.“It’s because I’m expendable, isn’t it? Because you don’t care what happens to me.Or you don’t think I’ll come back alive at all.”The beings on the other side of the table gazed back at her, the truth in their eyes … and their silence.“Well, hells,” she said with a shrug.“In that case, may as well get started.”Chapter FourQuol-Ray space station, just off SerpentiaThe gleaming Star-class cruiser was long and sleek, pure black except for the jagged silver ghost flames that shimmered along the sides when one approached the craft under the lights of the private spaceport bay.Scala gave a silent hiss of appreciation.Luxe, very luxe.Crime obviously paid well on Earth II.Of course Tal Darkrunner was reputed to be one of the top crime lords in New Seattle, one of the planet’s largest cities.Too bad she was headed back for respectability when this was over, or she’d be tempted to try and get one of these for herself.A huge Mau in leather studded with metal sat outside the cruiser, cleaning a big knife that already looked spotless to Scala.But maybe that was the point.The glittering blade certainly drew attention, along with the dangerous glower on the Mau’s slab-like purple face.He rose to confront her at the bottom of the open gangplank.“What you want?” he demanded in a deep rumble that sounded like rocks grating.“Just came to see how Trix is doing.This is her ship, right? She looked real sick last night when she left the bar.Is she okay?”He grunted something, not moving from his guarded stance.A compact blond man appeared at the top of the gangplank.Hands braced on the edge of the open hatch over his head, he leaned out to look her over, his brown eyes sly under his long bangs.“Looking for Trix? You slip her something so you could win at holodice, Serp girl?”“Didn’t need to—we weren’t playing for credit.I guess she’s okay if she mentioned me.”“She did, but she forgot to say how starry you are.”The Mau shook his massive head and moved away from the walkway.“Since you’re so negly, you link Trix for her,” he said to the other man, and went back to his task.‘Negly’, Scala’s com translated in her ear.‘Mauritian for ‘sexually attracted.’ Not that Scala needed a translator for the gleam in the blond man’s eyes.He was negly, all right.She was used to that—any reasonably attractive female was out here.She just hadn’t expected the zing of returned attraction.He was cute, and that twinkle in his eye said he knew how to have fun [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]