round?"

He clenched his fists to keep from losing his temper.

"Calm down, babe," she told him. "I've made sure that nobody's watching us. They have no idea where I am right now, just that I'm down in the preserve somewhere." She looked around. "Well, I can understand now why you got all that stuff. It wasn't just for _you_, was it? Now, show me around."

"The only place I'm going to show you is back to your dropship," he said in a dangerous tone, stalking right up to her and staring at her almost nose to nose.

_Vonde sube nise kawa koke na?_ the purple-furred creature said in a winsome tone.

_Sombe duse koroko saba de,_ Kumi answered with a sly smile. _Beya modkorokome de._

"I'm going back into my house," Jason said in a cold tone, staring right in Kumi's eyes. "When I get there, I'm calling in the people with MPACs, and I'm getting _the gun_. If you're still here when I get back out on this porch, _they will be used,_" he said in an intense, totally convincing tone. "You think this is some kind of _fucking_ game, but you're playing with _our lives_. You wanna see me? Get the hell out of our town, go back to your yacht, and _call me_. But don't you _ever_ show up here uninvited again. I don't care if you're a friend or not. You being here puts the lives of everyone you see around you in jeopardy, and our friendship doesn't mean _shit_ if you being here ends up getting some of them killed."

The fact that he didn't even bother guarding his thoughts, letting her see just how furious he was, probably more than anything else caused that disbelieving gape of dismay that graced her pretty little face. He'd just threatened to evict her by force, and _he meant every word_. He turned his back on her pointedly, then started marching into the house. "Everyone scatter," he ordered in a loud tone as he opened his mind enough to hear sending. "If they're still here when I get back out, there's going to be shooting. I don't want anyone hit in the crossfire."

_I told you that this was not a good idea, Lady Eleri,_ Fure sent with sharp rebuke, as some of the townsfolk quickly and immediately fled the area. Others, those carrying weapons, did not run. Regina and several others moved to the porch of the house Jason had just went into, and pulled out their archaic, primitive weapons and readied them. It was apparent that they fully intended to aid Jason in forcing the Faey and her group out of the town, telepathy or no telepathy.

_The human is dead serious. He'll start shooting at us if we don't back off,_ Meya sent to her employer urgently. _I must insist we withdraw to the dropship _now_, Miss Kumi. Your mother will kill us if we let anything happen to you._

_I don't understand, _Kumi sent in confusion. _He _knows_ I have everything under control. He's being ridiculous._

_Ridiculous or not, either we leave now or we start shooting, _Myra sent grimly, looking at the resolute faces of the men and women on the porch._ You know he's highly resistant to talent, and that nasty gun of his is going to go right through our armor. If we don't back off, someone's gonna die._

_He wouldn't dare shoot at _me_!_ Kumi sent indignantly.

_I think he would dare,_ Meya answered. _Don't forget, we're on _his_ ground, and nobody is watching overhead. It's obvious he doesn't want to do it, but he will. That's plain. I'm not asking this time, Miss Kumi, I'm _ordering_. We're backing off._

_Don't order me around, Meya, _Kumi snapped at her immediately.

_When it comes to your physical safety, I sure as hell am ordering you around. You can be pissed later, but you're leaving _now_._

Jason was silently thankful for Meya at that point. Kumi's presence here was a _huge_ threat, and it was already going to cause some serious problems in his mind. The Faey were going to wonder why a noble was calling off ships and redirecting sensor satellites to prevent anyone from observing her activities. They were going to wonder why she was visiting the nature preserve, when there was nothing out there. They were going to start wondering if there _was_ something out there, and they were going to start looking. That was going to bring Faey patrols, and now there were too many people in the community for them to easily hide their presence. She'd already done enough damage to their security. He went up to his room, and picked up his railgun off the rack on his dresser with deliberate eyes. He powered it up, made sure it was loaded, then he disengaged the safety.

_They're leaving,_ Symone sent to him tightly, so the Faey outside wouldn't hear it. Jason went to his window, which faced south, and saw the five airbikes go over his house, then quickly disappear behind the house behind it. Jason blew out his breath in relief when they did so, and he carefully powered down the railgun and put it back in its place. God, that was close. He went back down to his porch, where several people stood with their weapons ready, as did Symone, Tim, and Temika. They all looked at him for a long moment, then Regina cleared her throat. "Was that Jyslin?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Another Faey friend. One that's a bit more hard-headed than Jys," he grunted.

"What were those _things_ with her?" one of the newcomers asked. "The little red guy, and the purple thing?"

"The red fellow is a Makati," Symone answered. "One of the seven races of the Imperium. I've never seen anything like that other one before, but she was speaking Kimdori, so she's Kimdori."

"What does that mean?" Regina asked. 
"Kimdori are shapeshifters," she answered. "They can look like anything they want, but they look like big dog-like animals in their natural form, so they favor those kinds of shapes. They feel closer to home, I've been told. They're not part of the Imperium, but there's plenty of them around. Just about every noble has at least one Kimdori on staff. For obvious reasons."

"Spies?" someone asked.

Symone nodded. "Kimdori can sense their own, but they never give each other away. It's all a grand game to them. Sometimes I wonder which side is playing which most of the time. Kimdori as a race know more about what's really going on than any race in the galaxy, given they're in the middle of just about everything."

"I don't remember reading anything about them on CivNet," Jason mused.

"They're a very secretive race," Symone told him. "That noble girl is really lucky. That Kimdori with her isn't her employee, it's her _friend_."

"What difference does that make?" Tim asked.

"Get lucky enough to have a Kimdori for a friend, and you get access to all kinds of information," Symone told him. "The Kimdori are in the middle of most everything going on, and they _talk to each other_."

"Oh. Ohhhhhhhhh," Tim said, his eyes widening.

"So that's how Kumi seems to have her hands in so many things," Jason grunted.

"Most likely. She asks that Kimdori to find out, and she finds out. Kimdori will do almost anything for a friend. They're very loyal. Pack mentality."

"What?" Temika asked.

"Pack mentality," she repeated. "Kimdori are canines, and their society is based on family groups. Packs. Like your _wuff_ animals."

"Wolf," Jason corrected.

"Whatever."

"Where did you learn about Kimdori?" Jason asked.

"I went to school with one," she answered. "The child of a Kimdori consulate on my home planet."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "That must have been interesting."

"Oh, he was a riot," she laughed. "Once he took the shape of the school headmistress and got on the school's vidlinks. That was hilarious," she said with a laugh.

"Well, let me go sit by my panel to face the meltdown when she gets back to her dropship," Jason grunted.

"Will it be that bad?" Temika asked.

"Kumi does _not_ like being denied what she wants. She's spoiled that way," he said grimly.

He went back in and sat in his basement, in front of his panel, and he waited. He certainly didn't have to wait long until the incoming message warning flashed on the display. He picked up the call immediately, and Kumi's face appeared on his display, sitting in the cockpit of her dropship, behind the controls. "What the _hell_ do you think you're about, Jason?" she demanded. "I came to see you because I'm worried about you, you asshole! And this is how you treat me?"

"Next time, _call and ask_," he snapped at her. "You forget, girl, they're _looking for me_! What you just did was give the Faey a reason to poke around the preserve, to find out what's so interesting over here that a noble would chase off all surveillance and land in the middle of a place that's supposed to have _nothing in it_! You've just put me a very dangerous position, you idiot!"

"You did that yourself!" she shouted back. "Wanna know why I came? I'll _show_ you. I found this circulating in the underground of CivNet yesterday. Does it look familiar?" She glanced down, and then the screen split. She was on the left, and on the right was some video footage taken from an aerial position, looking down on an area he immediately recognized. It was Chesapeake. It was from the fight they'd had with the road gang! He clearly saw the image focus on a black-armored figure with a really big piece of construction steel, smashing riders off of dirtbikes, then panned over as an explosion lit up the corner of the screen. It focused on another armored figure just as it was struck by a rocket. That was _him_! He saw himself fall down, then get up and seemingly float along the ground as he raced up to the man who'd shot him, then nearly decapitate him by hitting him in the head with the stock of his railgun. He remembered that, but it looked much different from outside.

That _dropship_! The one that Regina had seen just before the battle! It had taken video of the fight!

"A merchant dropship caught video of a fight between two armed groups in the preserve, and the freighter captain gave it to someone who put it on CivNet," Kumi told him sharply. "I had this killed off CivNet, and I tracked down the people who made the video and got the originals. What you just saw is the last copy left, but I can't tell really how many people saw it before I found out. I came to warn you, _personally_, that you might see some increased Faey patrols if someone who cares managed to see it before I intervened. From the way it looks, two Imperial Marines were involved in a fight between outlaw groups in the nature preserve, and that might make someone wonder enough to come take a look. They won't know exactly _where_ that is, so they won't know to come straight to you the way I did. And I wanted to make sure you got through it alright, if you needed something and you weren't asking for it because you don't have any more money to pay for it. I'd loan you that money, you silly man. Business may be business, but I do consider you a friend. I'd help you out if you needed it."

Jason sighed, rubbing his face. "I'm sorry if I scared you, but you should have called," he asserted. "I'd have come and met you somewhere. But you can't just come running in here like that, Kumi. It puts not just me at risk, but everyone you saw, and lots of people you _didn't_ see. I appreciate the thought, but remember that people in hiding _do not_ like surprises."

She looked harsh for a moment, then sighed. "Alright. I'm sorry, but I had to make sure. So, what can Kumi do for you today?" she asked grandly.

"Kumi can go home," Jason said sharply. "We're just fine, we don't need anything, and you'll make us safer by going back home."

"Why don't you pack a bag and come with me?" she asked.

"_What_?"

"Come along," she grinned. "I told you I wanted to show you my house. And there's lots to see here in Dracora."

"Dracora? You live on _Draconis_?" he said in shock.

"Twenty _shakra_ from the Imperial Palace," she said proudly. "All the upper nobility have a residence here. Really, you dip, didn't you ever check to see the location code of the number you've been calling? Why is that a surprise?"

"You want me to come to Draconis? Kumi, you're not just crazy, you're _nuts_. I'm a wanted man!"

"And do you think they're going to even think to look for you on homeworld?" she asked chidingly, then she took a serious expression. "Actually, you need to come with me. There's something here you need to see."

"You can take a picture of it and send it to me."

"No, this is something you have to see for yourself," she said.

"Well, it's going to have to wait," he told her bluntly. "I'm not that crazy, girl."

"You don't trust me?"

"You, yes. Putting my life in the hands of unseen ship crewmen and your servants... no. There's also the fact that I won't go anywhere where I don't have complete control over my ability to get back. Sorry, Kumi, but that's life."

"You're making a _huge_ mistake, babe."

"Life is full of regretful decisions," he said evenly.

"You'll _really_ regret this one."

"Oh well. Now, if you won't mind, hon, I have a lot of work to do, and I need to get back to it."

"You're sure?"

"I'm absolutely positive. Call me when you get home, so I know you made it alright."

"Well, it sounds like I've been dismissed," she said sharply.

"You seem to have nothing more to say, and I'm not going to sit here and argue with you for the next twenty minutes," he explained coolly. "I'm not joking in that I have a lot of work to do. If you don't have anything important enough to keep me from it outside of vaguely insistent demands for me to come with you, then I think this call is about over."

Kumi frowned. Jason could tell that whatever she had to say, she thought it was important, but she also wasn't willing to say it over CivNet. "Would you come meet me in eight hours?" she asked. "In the regular spot?"

"Now that, I'd be happy to do," he told her with a nod. "Hours or _standard_ hours?"

"Standard, I don't know your local time," she answered.

"Why not now?"

"Because if you won't come to Draconis, I have to move Draconis here," she said cryptically. "Will you meet me?"

"I'd be happy to," he told her.

"I'll see you then," she said, then she cut the connection.

Jason leaned back in his chair. He had no idea what any of that was about, but one thing was for sure... Kumi certainly had piqued his curiosity.

_You done?_ Symone sent.

_Yeah. I'm going to meet her in eight standard hours. She has something she wants to tell me, but wouldn't say it over CivNet._

_Are you going?_

_Yup. So are you. So don't make any plans._

                                        * * *

Eight standard hours put their meeting after dark, and Jason spent most of the early afternoon fretting over what Kumi had in mind. Around about four, though, Mike Lawson, who was riding the panel, started shouting in the radio about descending ships. Jason patched into the sensor feed with his own panel, for he'd been laboring on his project, and saw that he wasn't reading it wrong. Three dropships had descended from orbit, and were landing out at Beech Fork Lake. Two of them took off about half an hour later, but another landed a few minutes later.

Now he was curious. He put on his armor, jumped on an airbike, and headed out for Beech Fork.

He secured the bike well away from the swimming area where he always met Kumi, then crept in. That wouldn't be easy with Meya and Myra running around, for those two were _good_, but he drew on every trick that Clem and the other hunters had taught him, deciding to get on the far side of the lake spur and just creep up close enough to get an idea of what was going on. After about a half hour of creeping, he finally got close enough to look through a clearing made by Kumi and the twins the last time he was here, when they used his railgun to blast the hell out of this side of the lake spur.

What he saw startled him. There was a small army of Faey down there, setting up all kinds of things. Tables, chairs, a few tents, large swaths of some kind of outdoor carpeting on the ground, and all kinds of equipment. Two dropships were down as well, and on the far side of them, they were _cooking_. They were sending heavily out there, so often and so quickly that it became a jumble in Jason's mind. He wasn't experienced with handling so many sendings at once, and it made him a little dizzy. He had to shut himself off, close his mind completely so he couldn't hear them sending, then waited a moment for it to clear up.

Jason realized what he was seeing quickly after he saw them cooking, at least after he got his senses back. Kumi was throwing a _party_! That's what she meant when she said she had to bring Draconis here!

Jason backed up and laid down on the ground, thinking furiously, taking off his helmet and using it as a chinrest as he watched through the trees. She wanted him to come to a _party_? That's what all this was about? Now that was just weird, even for Kumi. No, there had to be something else to it, because she certainly wouldn't go to this trouble just for appearances, but on the other hand, he didn't see how she was going to get any guests to come out here. She'd certainly looked serious about getting him to come to Draconis, but he couldn't figure out how doing this satisfied whatever she needed him to go to Draconis for in the first place. There had to be some kind of ulterior motive here, but he was dipped if he couldn't figure out what it was.

The heavy impact of something literally landing on his back made him flinch, accompanied by the grinding squeal of metal on metal, but it didn't crush him or do him any harm. He moved to scramble forward, at least until he heard the whine of an MPAC activating, and felt something press up against the back of his head. "Will you never learn that you can't sneak up on us, human?" Myra asked lightly. He glanced back and saw her in her armor but without her helmet, literally sitting on the small of his back, her MPAC leveled at his head.

"Hello Myra," he said evenly. "Want to get off me now?"

"In a minute," she said, "You know what's going on out there?"

"It looks like Kumi's throwing a party. I can't figure out _why_ though."

"Yes, it's a party, and you're invited," she answered him. "But I don't think armor is proper party attire. You need to go home and change into something a little less intimidating. You'll scare Miss Kumi's guests."

"What guests?"

"What's a party without guests?" Myra retorted. "A large complement of her friends are en route as we speak. They thought the idea of an outdoor picnic party to be a clever idea, especially since it's going to be held in a dangerous area, so there's an element of excitement to it. Sometimes nobles are weird," she grunted.

"So, I'm supposed to be the entertainment?" Jason asked sharply.

"No, you're a guest," she answered, just as sharply. "Now go home and find something nice to wear and come back. You have to be here _before_ the others start to arrive, or they'll know you didn't come in a dropship."

Jason had to admit to the logic of that statement. But, on the other hand, he had no intention of going to this party. "If Kumi doesn't like what I'm wearing, that's entirely too bad," he answered flatly. "If I meet with her down there, I'll be wearing exactly what I have on right now, and I won't be there long. She can accept it, or she can throw a tantrum that accomplishes absolutely nothing. It's her call."

Jason waited as Myra sent that along, but she didn't move off of him... though she did lower her weapon. "Miss Kumi's not too happy about it," she said. "She said if you won't put on decent clothes, you have to wait inside her dropship, so they can't see you. But she said you can leave any time after you're done, you just have to put on your helmet and pretend to be one of the guards."

"After I'm done?"

"Miss Kumi has some kind of business with you, and it involves a third party," Myra answered. "When that person gets here, you can leave after you finish whatever business you have."

"Oh. I have no idea what that means, but I don't object to waiting in Kumi's dropship."

"Okay then, get your helmet and your weapon and follow me. You run out here?"

"Airbike," he answered as she got off him.

"Go bring it into the perimeter, so you can just get on it and ride off, like you're patrolling," she instructed. "There are some airbikes parked behind Miss Kumi's dropship. Just put it back there."

"Alright."

Jason pondered what Myra said as he retrieved his airbike. A third party? What third party would have anything to do with him? Kumi and Jyslin were the only people outside he knew, and he absolutely knew for a fact that Jyslin was in New Orleans right now. She was on duty tonight, she told him so yesterday when he called. So who was this mysterious third person?

Kumi was in her dropship cockpit when Myra escorted him in. She was wearing a weird flowing top of sorts with only one sleeve, made of some kind of sheer bluish silk-like material that almost exactly matched the hue of her skin. It was low-cut in the front and very form-fitting, giving the illusion that she was topless at certain angles. It shimmered in the light like there were tiny diamonds sewn into it, though, almost looking like she was topless and wearing glitter. She was also wearing a very short black skirt, so black it all but swallowed the light, again with an uneven hem, almost to her left hip, but dropping down to the middle of her right thigh. She had on knee-length black boots that looked almost like velvet, with noticeable heels but not very high, the tops of them turned down and flared. Kumi never seemed to wear heavy jewelry, he noticed, usually only small earrings or a necklace. She was wearing a simple pair of diamond-looking studs in her ears and a plain silver or platinum or some other kind of silvery metal chain around her neck, without adornment.

"Nice," he said honestly as he admired her outfit.

"You like?" she asked girlishly, standing up and turning around for him. "It's a Moteena top with a Graneth skirt. The boots are Zupini."

"I have no idea what any of that means."

She laughed. "They're the current 'in' designers back home," she told him. "The guests are about a half an hour or so from getting here. Just sit in here and wait, babe. There's someone coming who wants to talk to you, that's what all this is about. She paid me a _hell_ of a lot of money to arrange this meeting. That's why I was so insistent."

"Really? Who would want to talk to _me_?"

"I don't know and I don't care," she answered bluntly. "Read the dropship manual or something while I greet the guests. You can fly this thing, you know," she winked. "It has the same basic controls as a skimmer. Your Class three covers dropships."

"I know it does," he answered. "There were dropship questions on the test."

"Coolies. Just punch it up on the computer. Knock yourself out, babe, I gotta check on stuff."

Jason did exactly that. He amused himself by reading over the controls on a dropship, and making note of which ones were different than a skimmer. He even brought up the dropship's systems to practice, though he didn't try to lift it off the ground. Kumi's dropship had all kinds of bells and whistles; armor, weapons, a shield, sensors, ECM, anti-missile technology (even the Faey still made use of missiles, though they rarely bothered to bring them to Earth), a kick-ass communications system complete with crypto and source masking-those paranoid nobles, gotta love them-and of course, access to CivNet.

He was having so much fun playing with Kumi's dropship that he lost track of time. He looked up and saw the outside filled with lots of Faey, all wearing expensive clothes, with lots of armored guards patrolling the perimeter. There was a band on a stage set up by the old parking lot, playing what he swore sounded like some kind of chaotic mixture of heavy metal and high-energy dance music. He'd listened to Faey music before, and never heard them play anything like _that_ before. Their music was usually much more structured, fluent, subtle, a pretty blend of harmonies that was so much different from _that_.

He happened to be looking up when the hatch behind him opened, and he turned to look. Through that hatch stepped Kumi, then one of that same Kimdori-or at least one that looked exactly the same as the last one-and one other person. The figure wore a heavy black cloak or robe with a deep hood, then stepped in and sat down immediately in the chair closest to the hatch. Jason turned his chair to face this figure, but did not stand up. The figure pulled the hood away, and Jason found himself looking at a very lovely young Faey woman whose hair was the color of the ocean, a deep, dark, quite lovely shade of blue. Her eyes were violet in color, quite a striking combination.

"This is him," Kumi announced to her.

"Well, it's good to finally meet you, Jason Fox," she said in a strong, surprisingly deep voice for a Faey. It was a rich alto. "My name is Dania."

"I'm afraid you have me at a loss, madam," he said courteously. "Why would you want to see me?"

She looked at Kumi expectantly. The young noble nodded, then she and the Kimdori went back out and closed the hatch, leaving them alone. "As you probably realize, I represent a certain individual who wishes to remain anonymous. This person has asked me to come here and make you two separate offers. So, on to business.

"The first offer is employment. My employer wants to hire you."

"Hire _me_? For what?"

"For your mind, and not to make weapons of war," she answered, quickly putting up her hand to stay his objection. "My employer was impressed by your patent submissions, and thinks you could go far. You seem to have a knack for our technology. My employer likes to retain certain enlightened people as yourself to come up with new ideas, which have market value."

"You work for a corporation?" Jason asked in surprise.

"I can't tell you who I represent," she said evenly. "Well, what do you say, Master Fox? I assure you, you will be _handsomely_ compensated, on top of your patent and royalty payments you will still retain for your marketable inventions. You'll work alongside people as gifted as yourself, and you'll be both legally employed and out of trouble."

"I think the Imperium might have something to say about that," Jason said.

"My employer has the ear of the Empress herself," she said confidently. "Your legal problems can be made to disappear."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that," he said immediately. "I will not work for a system that I object to. I won't further the cause of the race that conquered my planet and all but enslaved us."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, but I'm positive. I do appreciate the offer though, and I assure you, it's not personal. I object to the _system_, not the _people_. I have several Faey friends, if you didn't notice."

"Very well," she sighed, reaching into her cloak or robe or whatever it was. "On to the second offer." She took out a small black key and held it out. "This is for you."

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's a key," she said patiently. "Take it."

Curious, and a little wary, Jason stood up and advanced, then held out his gauntleted hand. She deposited the key in his gauntlet, then withdrew her hand calmly. He sat back down and looked at it. It was a crystal key with a black base, whose crystalline molecular structure held the encrypted data the lock would read to authorize the key and unlock whatever it unlocked. It was much like the key for his skimmer. "What is this for?"

"My employer has no desire to see you get killed," she said calmly. "That key has three purposes. First, if you key it up into any panel, vidlink, or data port on CivNet, it sends a distress message to people contracted by my employer. Use it if you ever find yourself in trouble. They will come get you. Second, you will find that that key will unlock any skimmer, hovercar, airbike, loader, hovertruck, or dropship. Think of it as a master key. If you find yourself in trouble and you don't want to call _us_ for help, it will let you steal any transportation you need to get away. Its third function-well, that will be apparent later on. I'll save that for a surprise," she said with a slight smile.

"But what's it for?" he repeated.

"This is a gift, to help you," she said. "Our offer of employment is open, Master Fox. You can accept it at any time, and this key will help keep you alive until the day you accept my employer's offer. They're confident that you eventually will."

"What about this second offer?"

"This _is _the second offer," she said with a slight smile. "My employer is offering you this to help you, no conditions, no provisions. This key might help keep you alive and well, and that matters to my employer even more than the possibility that you'll accept the job offer."

Jason looked down at the key for a long time. "Alright," he said, closing his gauntlet around it. "I'll accept it. But I don't promise anything."

"We didn't expect you to," she said with a smile, standing up. "Our business is concluded, Master Fox," she said with a nod, reaching back, then pulling her hood back up. "If you ever wish to call my employer, you'll find the CivNet number."

"Where?" he asked in confusion.

"You'll know where," she said, giving him a steady look before settling the hood, which concealed her face in shadow."

Jason watched her leave without another word, then picked up his helmet and his railgun. He put on the helmet, and as soon as it got power, he got blasted in his ears with frantic shouting over the radio. _"Jason! Come in! Are you alright?"_ Tim was shouting.

"Tone it down," Jason said, touching the side of his helmet to transmit. "I've had my helmet off."

_"You need to get back here!"_ he said. _"A Faey dropship like I've never seen before is hovering over the town! Hold on, hold on, it's doing something. It's descending."_

"What does it look like?"

_"It's hard to describe. It looks like a big rectangle with a cockpit and a tail. It just landed out by the bridge. I'm up in the steeple-hold on, it's taking off again. Shit, it left its middle behind on the ground! A big box!"_

"It's a cargo dropship, a container carrier," he realized, speaking aloud. "It left something behind?"

_"Yeah, a big container. You need to get back here!"_

She said he'd know where to find the number of her employer. Now it made perfect sense. It 