“Are you all right?” Rene asked Solae, pulling open the small first aid it he carried and spraying the wound with a combination sealant and antiseptic. The wound wasn’t serious, just as Solae had said, but he was conscious of Oanh Park’s advice about not overestimating Solae’s stamina. 

“A criminal?” Rene asked his eyes narrowing slightly, the pistol in his hand had cooled so it didn’t blacken the leather finish as he pointed the barrel at the driver. At this range the seat wouldn’t slow the slug appreciable, but shooting the driver of an air car in mid flight posed other problems.

“What kind?” Rene asked, his voice so casual that only Solae, who knew him intimately, would have recognised it for the warning it was.

“I’m a broker of sorts, goods, information,” Ten, or whatever his real name was, responded evasively. 

“Do you deal in Syshin?” Rene asked still casual. Ten laughed and shook his head. Rene lowered the pistol though it still pointed at the pilot through the seat and the man probably knew it.

“I wont claim I’m too pure,” the man admitted, “but that particular market is pretty well cornered on Zatis.” Rene grunted, now was not the time to continue the work they had begun on New Concordia, but the day would come when the Empire would smash the trade and he suspected Ten would be able to provide just the information needed to do it.

The aircar banked, having covered several dozen blocks in the space of a handful of seconds. The more or less commercial landscape had given way to larger structures of less definite purpose. Some were clearly workplaces, offices or warehouse, but others were just as clearly residences set apart by landscaping mostly with genetically altered stock that could live in the artificial light of the domes. On many urban landscapes tall buildings were the sign of status. The domes foreclosed such construction and so on Zatis power was commanded by the size of a buildings footprint rather than its height. 

“If you deal in information then you know about our situation?” Rene pressed, uncomfortable with this unexpected turn of events.

“I know that Duke Tan has declared Solae Falia a rebel and offered a huge bounty for her capture,” Ten admitted. The aircar was slowing appreciably, dropping towards a large building of tastefully finished grey stone that shone in the domes artificial light like buffed granite. The roof had been carefully landscaped and was planted with a variety of trees, that had lush green coloration, despite the fact they were probably engineered for the low water conditions on Zatis. In the center of the roof shimmered an idyllic pool of cool blue water. 

“I suspect…” Ten hesitated, making some pretence of fiddling with the controls.

“That given the lack of other communications in the past few days, it means something is majorly wrong politically,” Ten concluded. Rene neither applified nor contradicted the statement as the aircar sunk towards the pool. The car touched the pool and slid through the apparent water in a shimmer of light. Holograms used convincingly to provide privacy were nothing new, though Rene rather suspected there were electronic countermeasures also. They slipped into a large garage area in which several aircars, ranging from the ultra luxurious to the battered and inconspicuous sat. There were no staff in sight.