Inside, the room was small and dim. The floor was slanted relative to the hallway outside, so Nick lingered by the door a minute to catch his balance. The room looked about twice the size of the Stargazer’s common room, maybe more. The walls and floor, like the Stargazer’s, had probably started white, but they were now a deep, scuffed brown even darker than the Stargazer. The room was scattered with mis-matched tables and chairs, and a circular bar rose from the center of the room. 

“Damian, you puss-filled Gbarth sac,” the woman behind the bar shouted. Damian laughed, and grinned.

“Meria you’re a two-faced, rotten cheat,” Damian said. The woman grinned. Without the top of her body moving, she climbed over the bar and started walking toward Damian. Nick suppressed a gasp. Meria looked like a normal old lady from the waist up, but she was missing both legs. In their place, she had a half-dozen metal claws, like a cross between a spider’s legs and a crab's. She clicked her way across the room to Damian’s side, where he gave her a huge hug.

“Meria, this is Nick,” Damian said.

Nick remembered his manners enough to say, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Meria smiled thinly and made a sound similar to a human saying “aww,” superimposed with a bird’s warble. At Nick’s shocked expression, she made another two-toned sound as a laugh.

“Meria’s a Davimite,” Damian said. “Remember, two vocal cords. The rusty legs are an aftermarket deal.”

“I used to travel with your uncle,” Meria said. “Way he pilots, I needed the extra legs to keep my balance.”

“I like you better this way,” Damian said. “More honest. Now everyone can see from looking at you that you’re both a heartless machine and a venomous spider.”

“Flatterer.”

“I know from experience that it'll get me far,” Damian said. “And if it could take me in the direction of that lead you promised me…”

Meria snorted. “Malacor forbid you spare a moment to talk with an old friend.”

“Old friends don’t pay nearly as well as new clients.”

Meria frowned. “I heard something about Dax…”

“It’s nothing,” Damian said. “Nothing I can’t handle, at least. Though, if you could arrange the meeting…”

“What’s there to arrange?” Meria asked. “I told the men to expect you two hours ago.”

Damian frowned. “They’re here?” He looked around the room suspiciously. 

“They’re in the back,” Meria said. “Second door from the left.” She pointed to the back of the room, where a series of doors blended in with the wall.

Damian nodded.

“What’s going on?” Nick asked. He’d lost track of the conversation back at the insults. 

“Meria arranged a meeting for us with a potential client,” Damian said.

“Us?” Triskar asked. “Wouldn’t it be better if the child remained out here?”

“I’m not a child.”

“He’ll be fine,” Damian said. “Nick, just don’t say anything. I’ll explain everything after the meeting, but if they think you’re inexperienced they won’t hire us for this super-secret government black op.” He shot a look at Meria as he said the last bit. She looked back impassively.

“I didn’t say that.” 

Damian grinned like he had won a victory. “Let’s go.”

He led the way across the room to the door Meria had pointed out. The door opened with a jerk, and Nick followed Damian and Triskar into the room.

The room behind the door was small. There was one table in the center, three humanoids sitting on one side facing the door. The only light in the room came from a block on the table that revealed the bottom half of the people’s blue faces. The rest were covered in the shadows of long black hoods.

“Hello, gentlemen,” Damian said. “And lady,” he added, nodding to the person on the right. Nick couldn’t make out any details in the low light. All he saw was three blue chins, floating in darkness.

Damian slouched into the center chair, grinning at the man across from him. Triskar sat down stiffly, like he had an iron rod taped to his back. Nick’s attempt at blending the two almost made him fall out of his chair, and drew a half-centimeter of smile from the woman sitting across from him.

Damian shot Nick a warning glance, then turned back to the people. “I hear you want to hire me?”

“We asked Ms. Ferstri for someone competent and discreet,” the man in the center said gravely. “Is that you?”

“I can do discreet, I assure you,” Damian said. “I’ve done several secret missions before. Of course, proving that will be a challenge, what with the secrecy part…”

The blue lips frowned. “Is this a game to you?”

“Life’s a game,” Damian said. “I try to win when I can.”

The man in the center turned to Triskar. “I wouldn’t expect to see a Tree Child in such a shoddy operation.”

Triskar frowned back. “I have complete trust in Captain Stargazer. He can do whatever you need done.” If the man’s voice was icy, Triskar’s voice was stone.

“Alright.” The man turned back to Damian. “You have the job.”

Damian leaned forward. “You haven’t told me what the job is yet. That’s kind of an important step.”

A blue hand freed itself from the robe, snapped, then retreated. The man on the right pulled a small cube out of his cloak and placed it on the table. Damian and Triskar eyed it intently.

“This cube contains a hypermap and blueprints,” The man said. “The blueprints are to a research station in the Kreeth Dominions working on weapons development. I want you to steal the plans to Project Xhi and bring them here. Meria will take them for us. Destroy all other copies.”

Damian drummed his fingers on the table. “The Kreeth are dangerous. If you want those plans, it’ll cost you.”

“We’re already paying you a thousand imperials,” the center man objected.

“A thousand imperials to stick my hand in a bear trap for you?” Damian asked. “Please.”

The outer two looked toward the center in confusion. Nick had the thought that they might not know what a bear or bear trap was.

“We’ll give you a hundred extra,” Center Man said.

“Three hundred,” Damian countered.

“Two hundred.”

“Two fifty, and you leave it here with Meria until delivery.”

“That’s five hundred now, seven fifty on delivery?” Center Man asked. “Deal.”

Damian smiled and scooped up the cube on the table.

“Respectfully,” Triskar said, “how do you expect us to destroy the copies of the weapon plan? Surely they would have off-site backups.”

“Our intelligence suggests otherwise,” the man said. “The research project is being run by Marquess D’artan. He’s out of favor in the court right now, and is hoping for Project Xhi to improve his status.”

“He’s hidden it, not just from us, but from the other Kreeth lords as well?” Damian asked, grinning.

“That’s our understanding.”

“Don’t you just love it when the enemy helps you so much?” Damian asked.

“So you agree to our terms.” Center Mans' face expressed no love, nor even mild amusement.

Damian nodded. “Thank you, good sir. Expect Meria to contact you shortly.” Damian stood up and the rest followed him out of the room.

As soon as they were standing in the comparative brightness of Meria’s bar, and the door was safely shut, Nick spoke up. “So we’re stealing weapons plans? What kind of weapon?”

“Probably a dangerous one, coming from the Kreeth,” Triskar said.

Damian stared at the memory cube in his hand as he walked. “I doubt this’ll tell us anything about that. Our employer probably wants us to know as few details as possible.”

“Like who they are?” Triskar asked.

“If that was supposed to be secret, it wasn’t kept well,” Damian said as he stepped into the hallway.

“What do you mean?” Nick asked.

“Did you see that man’s cuff when he brought out the cube?” Damian asked. “Some kind of military.”

“Which means a government,” Triskar said.

“Which means a country close in power to the Kreeth Dominion…”

“And close enough to be threatened by their military,” Triskar added. 

“Blue skin narrows it down.”

“And their homogeny. They were all just one species.”

“And the center man talked,” Damian said.

“Who was also the oldest.”

“Meaning a hierarchical society focused on respect for superiors,” Damian said. “Of the countries close to the Kreeth, that means the Weinag republic.”

“I bet if you looked through their military command, we could figure out who the leader was,” Triskar said.

“Someone in military intelligence,” Damian said. “Whoever comes out with a new weapons system in the next few months is a sure bet.”

“You think they’ll publicize it?” Triskar asked.

“Probably,” Damian said. “A new weapons system buys as much grace in a republic as it does in a feudal monarchy.”

“When’s the next Weinag election?” Triskar asked.

Damian sighed. “Can’t remember. It’s been a while, right?”

“How do you know all this?” Nick asked.

Damian shrugged. “You pick it up. Small details will tell you more about a person than you’d think if you just pay attention.”

“Also, they were being pretty obvious,” Triskar added.

“Not too obvious, right?” Damian asked.

“Like they were leaving clues to trick us?”

“Then again, maybe there’s a downside to jumping to conclusions based off small details…” Damian laughed.

There was a crash behind them. Nick spun around, but Uncle Damian was faster. He threw himself on top of Nick as a bolt of light passed over their heads.