Emily grimaced and spread her hands. "Well, the Europe- ans should be there already. They're the tamest of the bunch- the closest to legit. But you can expect some Grenadians in tomorrow, with one of our security people. The Committee's sent you the schedule already, but not the full details. As far as you know, they're all legitimate bankers. Be nice to them, all right? They may be the crooks to us, but what they do is completely legal in their little enclaves."

She frowned. The cat dropped to the floor with a thump off-camera. "They've been taking bites out of us for years, and we've got to talk some sense into them. It looks bad for

Rizome to cozy up to pirates, so keep it quiet, all right? I'm being stupid here, because I wanted to give you a break. If it comes out that I leaked this, the Committee will slap me down hard. So you'd better be a lot more discreet than I am.

Okay, end of message. Send me a tape of the baby, all right?

Say hi to David." The screen went blank.

Well, now she had it all. She erased the tape. Thanks, Em.

Pirate data bankers, no less. Creepy little hustlers from some offshore data haven-the kind of guys that chewed matchsticks and wore sharkskin suits. That explained the Europeans. Bank- ers my eye. They were all rip-off artists. Crooks.

They were nervous, that was it. Jumpy. And no wonder.

The general potential for embarrassment in this situation was vast. One phone call to the Galveston police and they could all be in machismo hot water.

She was a little mad at the Committee for being cagey about it. But she could see their reasons. And the more she thought about it, the more she recognized it as a gesture of trust. Her