Selmun III the others came along. Lairdome 7 became their informal meeting place.
"I need a cyberdecker." Lish addressed the air in her Comax Shipping office.
"What happened to the one you had?" Reva asked.
The smuggler frowned. "He's dead. Don't know if it was ICE in the Net, or a personal attack."
"I could look into that for you," Vask offered.
Lish looked at him appraisingly. Since their first dinner together the Fixer had been offering his services, casually angling for work. "I have someone on it, but if you'd like to check it out, I could use the help. Maybe you'll find out something different than my boy Zendo."
Vask lacked the cyberware that some agents used to track a database of criminal elements, but his mnemonic tricks and highly trained memory served a close doub|e. "Would that be the Zendo
who used to freelance as a datarunner, two, three years ago?" he asked. "Wore a gold data spike on his temple?"
Lish nodded when he described her streetboy. "He's lost th data spike—got it hardwired, now. That's Zendo, though. Why?"
Vask spread his hands. "If he's investigating for you, I know I can do better."
"Oh?"
"I know more places to look and ask better questions. What 's it worth to you?" He followed up the bid with a charming smile.
Lish tilted her head. "You find out for sure who offed my runner, how and why, before Zendo does, and I'll pay you the straight service fee. Usual rates."
"I do it inside two days, and you'll pay me double," he countered.
Lish gave a small laugh. "Done."
"What do you need a netrunner for?" Reva asked.
Lish shook her head. "Details are confidential, if you're not J the runner. I don't mind telling you, though, it's to finalize some arrangements for my next drop."
"Big, is it?" Reva recognized the gleam of anticipation that Lish had been walking around with for several days now.
"Big enough." The Holdout smiled cryptically. She thanked i Vask for his offer and asked pointedly when he would get on it. Taking the unsubtle hint, the Fixer noted down the dead netrunner's vitals, and said good-bye.
When he was gone, Reva offered to refer Lish to a good decker.
The smuggler looked sidelong at the tall woman, today a platinum blonde with flickering holographies on her nails. "You." She waved an admonishing finger. "You know the same people Karuu knows."
Reva tensed at the chiding tone. "What do you mean? Everyone knows the same people Karuu knows, if you've worked here long enough."
"I need someone with absolutely no contact and no personal interest in Karuu, that's what I mean. An offworlder, I suppose. The last one was."
So this wasn't personal. Reva fought down her angry reaction. It sounded like the younger woman was thinking about guarding her back, and that was long overdue. The assassin ventured a guess. "You're cutting the Dorleoni out of your distribution deal, aren't you?"
"I'm doing something of no concern to the Dorleoni. Yet." Lish flashed her an innocent smile, the one reserved for warehouse inspectors and people she was about to bankrupt at Shaydo cards. "I took your advice about a couple of things, though, and I made some changes in my operations."
"Is that right?"
"Yeah, like covering my tracks, and leaving myself more than one way out. Let's say I don't want to get treed by the snowcat I'm hunting."
Reva's lips quirked. Score one lesson learned. "I know off-world deckers, too. Could be here from Lyndir on the next liner, say, tomorrow."
"That's more like it. No relationship to the Dorleoni?"
"None at all."
"I need to hire the best."
"Then you want the FlashMan. Here's the call code." She jotted down a scrambled comnet access number, and the decker's ID. "He's worked with me before. His referrals are good, too."
"Terrific. Maybe Vask can pin down who killed my last net-runner by then."
"Maybe." Reva was noncommittal. "Are you comfortable trusting him with this job? You don't know that much about him."
"I deal with a lot of people I don't know
"I need a cyberdecker." Lish addressed the air in her Comax Shipping office.
"What happened to the one you had?" Reva asked.
The smuggler frowned. "He's dead. Don't know if it was ICE in the Net, or a personal attack."
"I could look into that for you," Vask offered.
Lish looked at him appraisingly. Since their first dinner together the Fixer had been offering his services, casually angling for work. "I have someone on it, but if you'd like to check it out, I could use the help. Maybe you'll find out something different than my boy Zendo."
Vask lacked the cyberware that some agents used to track a database of criminal elements, but his mnemonic tricks and highly trained memory served a close doub|e. "Would that be the Zendo
who used to freelance as a datarunner, two, three years ago?" he asked. "Wore a gold data spike on his temple?"
Lish nodded when he described her streetboy. "He's lost th data spike—got it hardwired, now. That's Zendo, though. Why?"
Vask spread his hands. "If he's investigating for you, I know I can do better."
"Oh?"
"I know more places to look and ask better questions. What 's it worth to you?" He followed up the bid with a charming smile.
Lish tilted her head. "You find out for sure who offed my runner, how and why, before Zendo does, and I'll pay you the straight service fee. Usual rates."
"I do it inside two days, and you'll pay me double," he countered.
Lish gave a small laugh. "Done."
"What do you need a netrunner for?" Reva asked.
Lish shook her head. "Details are confidential, if you're not J the runner. I don't mind telling you, though, it's to finalize some arrangements for my next drop."
"Big, is it?" Reva recognized the gleam of anticipation that Lish had been walking around with for several days now.
"Big enough." The Holdout smiled cryptically. She thanked i Vask for his offer and asked pointedly when he would get on it. Taking the unsubtle hint, the Fixer noted down the dead netrunner's vitals, and said good-bye.
When he was gone, Reva offered to refer Lish to a good decker.
The smuggler looked sidelong at the tall woman, today a platinum blonde with flickering holographies on her nails. "You." She waved an admonishing finger. "You know the same people Karuu knows."
Reva tensed at the chiding tone. "What do you mean? Everyone knows the same people Karuu knows, if you've worked here long enough."
"I need someone with absolutely no contact and no personal interest in Karuu, that's what I mean. An offworlder, I suppose. The last one was."
So this wasn't personal. Reva fought down her angry reaction. It sounded like the younger woman was thinking about guarding her back, and that was long overdue. The assassin ventured a guess. "You're cutting the Dorleoni out of your distribution deal, aren't you?"
"I'm doing something of no concern to the Dorleoni. Yet." Lish flashed her an innocent smile, the one reserved for warehouse inspectors and people she was about to bankrupt at Shaydo cards. "I took your advice about a couple of things, though, and I made some changes in my operations."
"Is that right?"
"Yeah, like covering my tracks, and leaving myself more than one way out. Let's say I don't want to get treed by the snowcat I'm hunting."
Reva's lips quirked. Score one lesson learned. "I know off-world deckers, too. Could be here from Lyndir on the next liner, say, tomorrow."
"That's more like it. No relationship to the Dorleoni?"
"None at all."
"I need to hire the best."
"Then you want the FlashMan. Here's the call code." She jotted down a scrambled comnet access number, and the decker's ID. "He's worked with me before. His referrals are good, too."
"Terrific. Maybe Vask can pin down who killed my last net-runner by then."
"Maybe." Reva was noncommittal. "Are you comfortable trusting him with this job? You don't know that much about him."
"I deal with a lot of people I don't know
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