I expected he was arrogant about it, making sure they knew how awesome he was and how hard to replace. If they were aware he’d tried for me twice and failed . . .
“Obviously. I assume there’s some retainer fee when business is slow?”
He chuckled dismissively. “Haha. That might be arranged, if business is slow. These things have a way of continuing.”
I knew I was a match for any of them, but they had a lot of resources. Beating them was possible. The lifestyle price was one I wouldn’t pay. I wasn’t going to say that here, though.
They also already considered me to have the job, contingent on eliminating Randall, whom they already referred to in the past tense.
That threw more sand in the machine. I had to kill him, and be close enough to get down, so Naumann could send the current professionals after these lice. He’d be happy. He’d get his live-fire training exercise, and we’d get rid of some thugs.
In the meantime, I’d have to play it very carefully.
To my advantage, they appreciated the discreet touch.
I stood and stretched, plastered a light smile across my face, and we shook hands. He feigned similar cheerfulness, and we raised voices slightly.
“Good to see you again,” he said.
“Absolutely. I’ll get a prototype set up sometime next month. Sounds like a fun project.”
“How much do you think?”
“Oh, I won’t charge for that. You’re a friend. Just keep me in mind for production bids, eh?”
“You’re worthy. Danya.”
“Danya.”
I turned, started walking, and then breathed a sigh. I also kept hyperaware. Even if they weren’t setting Randall up, he could be here hoping for a shot.
I felt better once in the car, and more so with distance. I let Timurhin depart first, gave them three minutes, then followed. I kept a clear eye for pursuit. Then I brought Silver up to date.
“I think he’s been telling them what a hot commodity he is, taking side missions, some of which interfered with their plans, and they may be aware he’s tried for me and missed.”
Silver said, “Here’s a theory. They started using him outsystem to gauge his effectiveness. Then they brought him here. He was fine then, but the acceptance made him cocky.”
“I’d thought that myself, and it does make sense,” I agreed. “You don’t test weapons in garrison.”
“He was fine at a distance, but the elaborate schemes are noticeable.”
“Yes. Hence the problem they face.”
“He doesn’t want to stop those.”
“I’m not sure he can,” I said. “He was always driven by gadgets. He made me some really trif ones. To avoid having a typical M.O., he’s continually developing new methods.”
“They’re his downfall.”
“Also, he’s not getting paid as much as we thought. They are. He’s taking a percentage. He was never good enough with people to negotiate things like that. I suspect he underpriced himself to start, and hasn’t raised enough. He’s established a price and can’t justify a large increase.”
“How would you have done it?”
“I’d have started at a million and negotiated down no lower than seven fifty for an opener, contingent on success. Money in escrow with a drawing account for expenses. I expect he started at fifty thousand and is maybe at a hundred. You heard the discussion. A lot of it’s going in overhead.”
“That’s depressing,” she said.
“Yeah, he was always smart enough to get into trouble, not enough to avoid it. He has some temper, too.”
“You’ve mentioned.”
“Not so much temper as pride. I’m going to keep using it against him.”
“Are we getting close, then?”
“Yes. No breakthrough yet, but there will be one. He’s good at your job. He’s half-trained at mine.”
“That’s scary in itself.”
“Which is why he’s being stopped. It’s not even really an object lesson for others. It’s to protect our government from the political fallout if others realize just how dangerous we can be.”
“I thought you proved that on Earth. Sorry.” She looked embarrassed at bringing it up.
I shrugged it off. “Yes, but governments have short memories. This is ongoing and indicative of threats to individual members of state. Politicians at heart are usually cowards. They rarely do for themselves what they can have someone else do.”
“How long have you been this cynical?”
“Since one bunch of them ordered me to hurt another bunch, but not in a way that would result in reprisals against them personally. There’s historical precedent in the early eras of not targeting commanders in war, because that would leave troops ‘undisciplined.’ Fine to kill them, but not the guy managing them. In reality, we learned that if you take him out, the fight gets a lot shorter. This still doesn’t apply to politicians, but it should.”