…

Yolane entered the bridge.
“And?” asked Derek.
“Nama is awake and Tedeya still asleep. Tedeya can be repaired, and Nama needs a shrink, if we are unlucky. Romar just cares about her. And I can now save the world.”
She sighed and gave Derek a gentle kiss on the forehead.
“I would now like to be somewhere else. Far away, and not in a spaceship. I hate spaceships.”
“Looks like you’ve to learn to love them. In the near future we will not get rid of them.”
She smiled.
“Aye. And we have no rest.”
“What are you planning?”
“I must find out whether our lost team member is still alive.”
Derek’s face darkened.
“Why? He’s also just a CONCORD henchman, such as Nama.”
“Derek.”
“Yes. Here. Still.”
She took him by the shoulders with both hands.
“Derek, we are not there yet. I’m still Vitoc dependent, and Mr. Smith’s stock will not save me in the long run. Also, I do not think he supplies me by pure charity.”
“Meaning?”
“Mr. Smith has a job to do, and he has not called us yet. For this he needs the crystal, and Nama. And maybe much more. Anyone who fails kan not be replaced. For any who fails the others must share the burden . “
“Have you actually noticed that Mr. Smith does not act in a way one would have expected from a CONCORD agent.  He has not killed us -?”
He parried her reply.
“Do not be childish. He leaves us in faith that we have the situation in hand.”
Derek continued.
“And he’s obviously no friend of Amarr. If I, as bystander,” he grinned.
“put two and two together and then  five comes out, if you understand what I mean.”
Yolane took a deep breath.
“We need to clarify at the next opportunity, but now we have to do the obvious. Playing along with the currently applicable rules. And they say: We need to know how many we are and who are our friends”
She went to the console and run a name search for Ryek Darkener.
“Aha,” she said sarcastically.
“Freighter pilot, Charon class.”
“After all,” added Derek, not without envy.
“A Caldari pilot who can use an Amarr specialty ship perfect? Very, very unusual.”
“His hobby perhaps?”
“And what are your hobbies, pilot?”
“Women. You know that.”
He grinned broadly. She grinned back.
“Ok, but I would had expected from a freighter pilot, that he can also fly the models of the other races. Rather than highly specialized battle ships. How old is he really?”
“Right.”
“And why does CONCORD, sorry, Mr. Smith, assign just a freighter pilot with a killing mission?”
Derek bit his lip.
“Damn, I almost forgot!”
“His corp is also a very interesting bunch of individualists, the management structure rather pro forma, no equity -.”
“Have you gone to the accountants?”
“No, but my first partner was something like an accountant. Some rubs off when you talk about the daily work.”
“This means that his corporation has a tax-efficient structure to make that each can do what he wants?”
“Exactly. And no information about the jobs they have ever taken. No references unless sanctioned kill missions.”
“And?”
“And now I call there and ask where Ryek is.”
“And why should someone respond to your call?”
She paused.
“I do not know yet. I hope to be able to cast a lure that helps us. Because – because we need someone who gets us out of here, and fast. For that we need bystanders.”
“This will become expensive.”
Mr. Smith entered the room, together with Romar.
“Romar, put away the blaster.”
“Mum?”
“Before Mr. Smith is doing us harm.”
Mr. Smith did not flinch.
“Mr. Smith, how deep are your pockets?”
Mr. Smith thought for a while.
“Very deep. Almost bottomless. But only for the purpose of the trip.”
“Aye. I am now trying to make contact with Ryeks Corp. Perhaps we will learn how he is. Since our pursuers know anyway in which system to find ourselves, it increases the risk not more.”
Yolane sent a short note, explained the situation and asked for contact. After surprisingly short ten minutes the connection established.
The woman at the other end called neither name or position.
“I’ve got your message, but do not understand what’s at stake. Who are you and what do you want? “
“That’s not easy to explain,” said Yolane.
“To begin with, I will not call my name for now. Your employee, Ryek Darkener, has been killed as a team member in action. There was an emergency transfer. We do not know whether he has survived and where he now resides. “
She banged her fist on the table.
“Damn! Why should you want to help me! You know us not! “
“Exactly. So we have a problem. We never talk to others about what our people do, and for whom they do it. “
Yolane looked at Mr. Smith. He shook his head.
“I understand your position,” admitted Yolane, and changed direction.
“One request I have then. If Ryek is employed by you, and if he survived the transfer alive, he should contact us as soon as possible, because his job is not yet finished. Can you make it convenient? “
It took a while before an answer came.
“Yes, under the conditions you mentioned. Anything else? “
“Yes.”
She carried out her idea.
“How shall I put it? Clone transfers under extreme conditions often leave traces in the personality, or lead to adjustment problems with the new body. “
“This is common knowledge,” the voice snapped at the other end, and Yolane knew that she had landed a hit.
“We are in possession of very advanced and not generally available medical technology,” continued Yolane.
“What can we do goes far beyond what you can imagine. This knowledge is so secret that the disclosure would result in an immediate declaration of war by CONCORD. “
Yolane felt that she had impressed the woman at the other end.
“So what?”
“If it needs to be, of course, in theory, we would provide this technique, for one single time, as a bonus for a complicated job. Please think about it. We offer money for the execution of this very special job, a lot of money. If that fits into your business model, I would want to talk to you about it. “
“I’ll think about it. How much is a lot to you? “
This woman representing the corp might be Gallente, according to her voice, her brain was Caldari.
Yolane looked at Mr. Smith. He typed a number into his pad and put it on the table.
“Is it serious?” She whispered.
Mr. Smith nodded.
Yolane cleared her throat.
“One hundred billion ISK.”
“That’s a lot of money,” admitted the voice.
“It’s clear that you can’t arrive in a shuttle for that?” Yolane inquired.
“Of course. What do you expect? A fleet? “
“More or less. We’ll talk about when you show more interest.”
“I agree. As I said, I think about it. “
The connection was closed.
Derek was surprised.
“For that amount I can buy a planet.”
“We have reached a point where money plays no role anymore.”
Mr. Smith walked restlessly up and down the room while he searched for words.
“The Azedi system is locked. Amarr and CONCORD are here to destroy each other when there is a chance that we can be caught by one of the parties. What is this system worth? Only the material? Far more than a hundred billion. What is the worth of what we carry?”
He looked around the table.
“I know this is enough for everybody to fight against anyone. The price is – unthinkable. “
“Only the Jove will not join in the fight, isn’t it so, Mr. Smith?”
Mr. Smith jumped and turned around. Nama had entered the room unnoticed.
“You are Jove, admit it. Thank you for the medicine. “
She looked at him sharply.
“What is your plan?”
His defense was like a blow. Nama stumbled and fallen, if Romar had not held her.
“Don’t try that again.”
Mr. Smith’s voice was calm, but his excitement unmistakable.
“You will die. You all. I will not tell you. Yet. Do you seriously believe that I risk the hundred years that we have been left alone from the other factions, not knowing whether it is worth the effort? “

“I think we actually have a chance to retrieve Ryek” said Yolane.
The others looked at her in surprise. Mr. Smith’s eyes twinkled.
“Are you sure?”
Yolane shook her head.
“It is experimental. We have a chance. That’s all. We have the tools. And your support, Mr. Smith, as long as it serves your goals, right?”
She looked at Mr. Smith. He nodded.
“We have the people and the technology. They have the infrastructure. And they will get us out of here.”

An hour later they were contacted. The Gallente woman introduced herself as Hypatia Kzin.
“Your offer is interesting, in both respects.”
“How is he?” asked Tedeya.
“Does ‘wet grave’ tell you something?”
“No!”
She put her hands to her face.
“I hope you have not promised too much regarding medical technology .”
Yolane closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
“We’ll see what we’ll see. But for that you need to support us.”
“Fire away!”
“Yep. That stuff is for pilots. Mr. Smith, would you present the facts, please?”
“We need an illegal jump bridge. Where we are at the moment, we do not come out through the public jump gates, and both local authorities and CONCORD are behind us, for the same reason, but with a different goal.”
“You do not do things by halves, as it looks.”
Yolane gave a short laugh. Mr. Smith continued.
“No. That this deadly serious. We sit in a recon force ship with a generator for a cloaked cyno field, so at least we need one Black Ops for the bridge out, and we have to go much farther away than the next system. Ideally in a sector which is controlled by an other faction. Gallente would not be bad. Can you suggest something?”
“Aliette. Would that be far enough away?”
“Perfect. For now at least.”
“And to what system we would have to come to pick you up?”
“Azedi.”
“Ouch! This is far in Genesis.”
“And some escort and support would not be bad.”
“What you mean? By the Way: Flying against CONCORD is not the best of ideas.”
“You say it. But you fly not against CONCORD, however, against the Amarr here in the sector. You have to be quick, I’m afraid they put whole fleets in motion as soon as this starts. CONCORD will lock the official jump gates. This will help somewhat. Plan two routes, which do not overlap. One route will be officially secured by CONCORD. So we pull apart the opponent. Keep them enough resources to be able to stop a reconnaissance fleet for a while. And: No one may get captured. “
“It is expensive.”
“I am sure there will be a rest of the hundred billion after deducting the costs.”
“Who are you?”
“Mr. Smith, of CONCORD-DED.”
“Well, the name sounds familiar. Have we had the pleasure?”
“Sure.”
“I shall support an agent of CONCORD, not to fall into the hands of CONCORD, and also a trick an Amarr fleet in the Amarr area, which is struggling with CONCORD?”
“Currently nobody fights. If the action succeeds, it will remain so for a while. However. If not …”
Mr. Smith left open the answer.
“Understood. Standard contract?”
“Probably not. Then immediately all the spies know who helps us.”
“And how do I know that it is not a huge trap? I do not put dozens of people at risk on the basis of a conversation with strangers!” Hypatia hissed.
“I have an idea,” Derek reported.
“Hypa? You have business partners with whom you have no business officially, but those you trust? And maybe are already in the vicinity of the planned route?”
It took me a minute, until the answer came.
“The payer is CONCORD, right? So all up officially and legally?”
“No. The payer of the amount is CONCORD. And everything is illegal and secret on the scale of Concord, but will not be prosecuted because CONCORD does it.”
“Quite a slant, Mr. Smith, if you ask me. Not to say: Paranoid.”
“This is the thing. Do you know someone whose thoughts are moving in similar orbits? I think so. And even if it goes wrong, you lose not much. As I heard the property of your corp is among the employees. No Risk no Fun. “
“What you said about a bonus, Mr. Smith?”
For a moment Mr. Smith struggled with his composure when he looked in the faces of ‘his team”. He remembered then that a member of a superior race had to be above Schadenfreude. Furthermore, it was not his own money.
“I said nothing at all, but I am willing to negotiate a bonus if you agree that your corp supports us through until the successful completion of the contract. When you get out earlier – No bonus.”
“Aye, that’s fair.”
Hypa called the name of her informant. Mr. Smith went briefly through his data, then he nodded.
“Confirmed. I immediate confirm the transfer of twenty-five billion ISK. That should cover the costs. Hypa, please do no cost savings on the wrong end. That would be the end of many. Even many who do not know what we just have spoken. “
“Are you threatening me?”
“No. Not now. That was a factual information.”
“I agree. I discuss with my people now, and then we make ourselves on the way. I will send you the alternative route. The other you will not know because you have to trust me.”
“No problem,” confirmed Yolane. Mr. Smith closed his mouth again.
“Besides us, no one in this universe can even try to get the job, Mr. Smith.”
“You’re right, Yolane. Hypa, we’ll see you at the destination in order to clarify the matter with the bonus.”
“Aye. So stay alive until we are with you.”
“Thank you. We hope to hear from you.”
The conversation was over.
Yolane picked up the thread again.
“Mr. Smith, what do you think how long it takes until we can out here?”
“I guess one or two days at least. All this would indeed be threaded inconspicuous. If I have the route data, I must instruct CONCORD to look past us and stop our opponent. This is no easy thing.”
“I have thought myself. We should spend the time here not meaningless, I suggest that we prepare ourselves for the things to come.”
“And would it be?” said Derek.
“Derek? You serious?”
Derek grinned broadly.
“No. I just do not want us here to be looked upon as idiots, babe. I suggest that we make a proposal which is acceptable for Mr. Smith, who pulls the strings here. I have heard that the Jove sometimes react strangely when they feel pressured. “
Mr. Smith Mine was unmoved.
“Not only Jove. Continue Yolane.”
Yolane relaxed.
“Sorry, it was just so nice to ride. So. I suggest that Nama, Tedeya and I retire, to deal with the possibilities of the artefact. Can we use your equipment without restriction, Mr. Smith?”
“It’s there.”
“Derek and Romar should get to know the ship and its technical possibilities. Maybe you might need help. And maybe you have some tips about tactics and battle, or a simulation program, whatever.”
She looked at Mr. Smith.
“Of course, not the Jovian component, if present here.”
Mr. Smith nodded. Yolane playfully shook her head.
“Always the same. Small men with big clubs,” she muttered. Nama bit her hand.
“I inform you once we have results. If we do not, then I see pretty black for Ryek. And also for the job.”
Mr. Smith nodded. And looked at the others.
“Is she always like this?”
“You should see her when you had tried to disagree ,” was Romars comment.
“Fascinating. Then we make it so.”