“Solae, it changes nothing,” Rene assured her.

“You are the Marquessa Falia, whatever is in those genetic records it dosen’t change who you are. A wonderful, brave, noble, woman,” he told her, squeezing her tight.

“When this mess is over, we will deal with whatever is in the vaults, but whatever is there hasn’t been discovered by Imperial Intelligence yet, so either it is hidden so well that it is unlikely to be found, or not shocking enough to shake the pillars of creation.”

The air car began to bank as it approached the far side of the dome and the navigation unit blinked querying Rene for a destination. Touching the controls he turned them back over the city in a slow graceful curve.

“Speaking of which, while you were in the vault we found out that Duke Tan’s troops have reinforced Ralch and his mercenaries at the PEA. While it sounds bad, I think if we can move quickly we might be able to turn it to our advantage.” Rene was far from certain his plan would succeed but it was the only thing he could think of that might give them a chance..

“I think our friend the Duke is probably at the end of his patience with Ralch, and he is probably smart enough to know it,” Rene explained. While Solae had been in the vault he had made some preliminary arrangements with Ten, though he had no intention of taking Solae to any facility controlled by the kingpin until she had a chance to sort through her data and destroy anything that might prove compromising.

“What we need is someone who has had dealings with Ralch, enough for Ralch to take them seriously, but not friendly enough that anyone would question it if they sold him out,” Rene explained. For this to work they were going to have to play things very carefully, and get rather lucky as well, but the mistrust between Ralch and the Duke was the best weapon they had. Ten had made it clear that he didn’t have enough troops simply to storm the PEA compound, and even if he did, there was every chance the Dukes troops would choose to destroy it rather than let it fall into Solae’s hands. 

“I know it's pretty vague,” Rene apologised, “but if we can find just the right person, we might be able to get Ralch’s men shooting at the Dukes, and slip in during the confusion.”