Rene smiled and continued to eat finishing off his food with the practiced efficiency of a soldier who didn’t know when he would next have the chance. The wine was excellent too, though Rene, much to the disappointment of his father’s solminer, had never developed much of a palette for the stuff. “I suppose if either of us cared much about custom we wouldn’t…” his voice trailed off as a waiter crossed the floor to their table, holding a thin data slate. “My apologies for interrupting you, madam,” he simpered, “but you have an urgent message.” Rene and Solae exchanged glances and she reached for the data slate. The waiter remained in place and Rene arched an eyebrow at him. “A reply is requested sir,” the man replied, the slightest touch of condescension in his voice. “And is it also requested that you stand around to watch the lady ready her private and important message?” Rene asked, his voice chilling noticeably. The self important waiter seemed to hesitate, uncertain as how to react to this new development. “It is customary to…” the waiter began but Rene stood up. “Perhaps I have been too circumspect in a misguided attempt to be polite,” Rene told him formally. The waiter seemed to be caught between contempt for someone who appeared to be a bodyguard and horror at having provoked a confrontation with a patron. “You will leave us now. You will not return. If we have need of further assistance you will send someone else. Do I make myself clear?” he asked icily. The waiter mumbled something and then turned and fled with as much dignity as he could muster. “Unbelievable,” Rene muttered, taking his seat. Solae pressed her finger to the upper corner of the dataslate and its crystalline surface wavered to life. The display was omnidirectional so that it could only be viewed by the person directly in front of the projection surface. Solae frowned and turned the slate so that Rene could see it. A news broadcast occupied three quarters of the screen. It contained still images of Rene and Solae, the same images that had been distributed on Panopontus with the subtext ‘Megacredit Reward for Dangerous Terrorists’. Below that was a note from Ten simply stating, ‘we may be running short on time’. Fortunately the images provided didn’t take into account their current disguises, although in Rene’s case there was little to distinguish the two. “We need to get you to the vault,” Rene said, forcing himself to finish his wine and thus give no appearance of upset. Solae nodded and stood up, pressing her finger against the edge of the screen again to relock it, then purge it so that no one else could read the data. Knowing that the Duke’s intelligence agents knew they were on Zatis, they might have anticipated such a move, but having a planet wide broadcast likely to make moving openly considerably harder. Ten was waiting for them when they reached the hallway, flanked by a pair of guards, whose loose cut suits and slightly awkward posture betrayed the presence of hidden shoulder holsters. If the kingpin was nervous no sign of it showed on his face. “It’s on all channels I’m afraid,” he said apologetically, “any attempt to block the broadcast would have made it obvious that I was working with you. Rene stepped to a wall terminal and punched in a series of commands. “What are you doing?” Ten asked in puzzlement. “I’m renting an air car,” Rene explained shortly. “I can provide you…” Ten began but Rene didn’t let him finish. “The location of the vault is a Falia family secret. You have no need to know where exactly it is,” Rene responded. Having just been named heir-apparent to the Falia family, Rene imagined he had a technical right to the knowledge, but on a more basic level he would never use it to hurt Solae, nor would he share the information with anyone, something he wasn’t willing to bet Ten would not be tempted to do. Ten looked a trifle indigent at that. Rene thought it unlikely the criminal planned to betray them, but there was no point in taking chances. Even if he couldn’t get access himself, the knowledge of the location was not without value. “I can fly an aircar, in the meantime, pull together any information you have about the PEA and its security. I’ll have a list of requests for you after Solae is done in the vault.” Rene touched another button to summon an elevator to the garage and a moment later it chimed as the tube rotated open. Solae stepped inside and Rene followed, pausing just past the door to block any attempt to follow them. “I’ll be in touch,” Ten said dryly as the elevator rotated shut and began its descent to the garage level.