“I don’t like it,” Rene said.

“Yes we gathered that from the three previous times you mentioned it,” Criesta said dryly, shooting a ‘how can you stand it’ look at Solae.  They had moved back to the improvised operating room, although the plastic film had mostly been removed from the floors and walls, save for a few tags here hand there where the film had ripped from the staples that had been used to hastily secure it. Rene lay on the bed while Solae worked on a terminal, polishing the last few details of the false identity she had used to set up their rendezvous with the Syshin later that evening. Criminal organizations were less diligent about checking IDs than Imperial bureaucrats were, infact false identities were the assumption. The goal wasn’t to create an ID that looked real, but to create one that looked the right kind of fake. A bored rich woman summing it on Zatis could be expected to do certain things, while a gun runner could be expected to do others. Fortunately a low level transaction, like renting a couple of prostitutes for the night didn’t need much back story. Arrived on planet, temporary ID issued,  visits a few restaurants and bars were all they needed.

After a night’s rest, Criesta had given Rene permission to sit up, though she still forbade him walking. The doctor appeared slightly disgusted at the rate of his recovery, the additional healing factors in his blood speeding the work of the medical unit still attached to his side. If asked, Rene would have said he was ready to run a marathon, even though that clearly wasn’t the case. The room had a slightly acrid smell of chemical combination as Criesta, following Solae’s careful instructions, synthesized the Sopor IV in a boxy looking device with a number of entry and exit ports. Although the machine could be used to synthesize tailored pharmaceutical drugs Rene wondered if it might also be used to create poisons that Ten might find useful. It seemed impolitic to ask. 

“Would you prefer we just shot them?” Criesta asked as she drew a hermetically sealed phial from the device and held it up to the light. The Sopor IV was in powdered form, though the vial was bifurcated and held a pressurized compartment of saline that would instantly convert it to a liquid if required. She loaded the phial into a slender injector unit about the size of a tube of lipstick and passed it to Solae for her inspection. It was indistinguishable from the recreational units in use across a hundred worlds, this one had been modified to allow it to deploy either a powder, as a spray or, with the touch of a button, an injection as originally designed. 

“Vastly,” Rene admitted bluntly, though he knew he wasn’t going to win the argument. There was no practical way to smuggle gunmen into the hotel, at least not without risking tipping off Thorne’s people that something was amiss. He would have suggested snipers, but they would be indoors and there was no guarantee of a line of sight. A slightly tipsy woman carrying a drug injector would raise no suspicion and gave her a perfectly reasonable excuse to get close to a guard. Using one of Ten’s people for the job risked giving them away, and more importantly would make it much more difficult for Solae to convince the Syshin that they should follow her. It was important that she be the one to liberate them, not some underling. Rene understood the reasons for the plan and recognised he was being irrational, he just simply didn’t like the idea of Solae risking her life, particularly when he couldn’t be there to help her.

The door to the room opened with soft chime and Ten stepped in wearing a dapper business suit. Rene supposed that a criminal kingpin got used to concealing his worries but he was impressed by Ten’s calm demeanor. Sheltering them meant risking not only the wrath of Duke Tan but also all out war with Alayla Thorne, and while perhaps his organisation could withstand Thorne alone, if their enemies made common cause, as well the might if Solae’s presence were detected, he would be infallabily destroyed. 

“I have compiled the supplies you requested Colonel,” Ten said arching an eyebrow towards Rene. The soldier sat up and nodded. After they rescued the Syshin they were going to need to move quickly and that meant reaching the Bonaventure and getting off world.

“Are you sure you don’t need more? Cost isn’t an obstacle you know,” he explained. Rene shook his head.

“Cost isn’t the problem,” he explained, “It’s a question of what I can get past Bhasts guards.” Ten nodded in understanding. Rene’s plan for reaching the ship, hopefully without casualties, was a simple one, but it did limit them to one truckload worth of supplies. That would be enough food to keep them going as well as weapons and spare parts for the ship, but it would fall far short of what the Bonaventure’s holds could carry.

“I did make a few inclusions of my own,” the kingpin added with an amused grin.

“I made a few inclusions of my own, including a half  million credits, split up into various denominations,” he added, his grin widening like a shark.

“I do hope that wont be a problem.”

Rene stared at the criminal for a moment and then barked a laugh.

“No problem at all, I’ll even write you a receipt.”