“The mission assignment, yes.” He certainly hoped that was what Thorne meant. The hermaphrodite nodded, and raised its brows in encouraging inquiry. “It’s a pick-up. Not the biggest one we’ve ever attempted, by any means—”

Thorne laughed.

“But with its own complications.”

“It can’t possibly be any more complicated than Dagoola Four. Say on, oh do.”

He rubbed his lips, a patented Naismith gesture. “We’re going to knock over House Bharaputra’s clone creche, on Jackson’s Whole. Clean it out.”

Thorne was just crossing its legs; both feet now hit the floor with a thump. “Kill them?” it said in a startled voice.

“The clones? No, rescue them! Rescue them all.”

“Oh. Whew.” Thorne looked distinctively relieved. “I had this horrible vision for a second—they are children, after all. Even if they are clones.”

“Just exactly so.” A real smile tugged up the corners of his mouth, surprising him. “I’m … glad you see it that way.”

“How else?” Thorne shrugged. “The clone brain-transplant business is the most monstrous, obscene practice in Bharaputra’s whole catalog of slime services. Unless there’s something even worse I haven’t heard about yet.”

“I think so too.” He settled back, concealing his startlement at this instant endorsement of his scheme. Was Thorne sincere? He knew intimately, none better, the hidden horrors behind the clone business on Jackson’s Whole. He’d lived through them. He had not expected someone who had not shared his experiences to share his judgment, though.

House Bharaputra’s specialty was not, strictly speaking, cloning. It was the immortality business, or at any rate, the life extension business. And a very lucrative business it was, for what price could one put on life itself? All the market would bear. The procedure Bharaputra sold was medically risky, not ideal … wagered only against a certainty of imminent death by customers who were wealthy, ruthless, and, he had to admit, possessed of unusual cool foresight.