Pay Me, Bug!

Chapter 10

WHEREIN Our Hero, Having Just Come Out of the Woods, is Pushed Back In

Grif shifted in his chair, looking from Velis, then to Alef, then back, trying to find some clue as to what they were thinking. Velis was, for the moment unreadable. She sat still, gaze unfocused, as if she were only partially paying attention to the conversation. Alef, on the other hand, was watching Grif carefully... very carefully, with an intensity that made him shiver. Alef's eyes glinted in the light, and Grif thought, once again, that they had to be cybernetic. He wondered what it was like to view the world through the lens of a machine--for that to be the only reference available.

Alef watched, and waited.

"I..." Grif rubbed the back of his neck, trying to get the hairs to lie down. "I don't understand..."

"...what I mean?" Alef interrupted. "Surely you're not going to deny it. Not here. We've already heard the story at least four times--all slightly different, of course, but all essentially telling the same tale: Grif Vindh, Captain of the Fool's Errand, made off with a fortune in anagathics stolen from a planet fairly deep within the borders of the Radiant Throne. And not only that! He managed to outsmart--brilliantly, I might add, assuming that part of the story is accurate--one of the sharpest officers in their fleet."

"Actually," Grif replied, "I was going to say 'I don't understand how you found out about this so quickly.'"

Alef simply smiled.

"It's been a month! I mean, I expected the story to travel--I wanted the story to travel--but these things take time, and most of the people I know don't travel too deep into Alliance space..."

Grif suddenly realized who it was who had told them.

"Doma."

Velis allowed herself the faintest hint of a smile.

"Even when he's not here, he still manages to screw everything up. That little son of a--"

The smile vanished. Grif coughed nervously and let the sentence trail off.

Alef nodded agreeably. "Yes. Doma. He, ah, didn't exactly volunteer the information willingly, if that's what you were thinking. But his mother couldn't help but notice that he had, very suddenly, become a very rich young man. A bit too rich for his own safety, in fact. And once Velis learned exactly how the young man had become so dangerously rich, she realized we had a way in. You."

Grif scowled. "I'm not interested in being your spy or your thief," he said. "And besides, there's no way I'd make it in a second time."

Alef shrugged. "it's a better opportunity than we've had in some time," he said. "We tried sending our own agents. Very good ones. We believe they are all dead."

Grif rolled his eyes. "You have a funny way of selling this idiocy. Your super-spies get killed and you think I can help you? You're insane."

"There is the matter of all your money. One call from me and I can guarantee it won't be yours anymore. Which means, among other things, that they'll take your ship..." Alef looked around the conference room. "That would be a shame. It's a wonderful ship."

Grif narrowed his eyes.

"You're a hard worker, Captain Vindh," Alef continued. "Not an honest one, but a hard worker nonetheless... and this ship is the fruit of your labors..."

Grif clenched his fists under the table. It took every ounce of will not to attack the man right then and there.

If Alef noticed, he didn't show it. "If you are reasonable and cooperative, then you will be able to make this ship even more impressive. If not..."