I turned toward him, and his green eyes seemed to glow in the dark. He was about four inches shorter than me and perhaps forty pounds lighter, which still made him a pretty big man. But he had straightened into a nearly military posture, so that he seemed bigger and stronger than the guy who had been wheezing beside me on the way up.

You want me to move in?

Yes.

What's in it for me?

Fifty thousand. Maybe a hundred fifty, depending on the results.

I lit a cigarette.

What will I have to do? I finally asked.

Get yourself assigned as a crewman on the Aquina, better yet, a technician of some kind. Can you do that?

Yes.

Well, do it. Then find out who is trying to screw the thing up. Then report back to me, or else take them out of the picture any way you see fit. Then report back to me.

I chuckled.

It sounds like a big job. Who is your client?

A U.S. Senator, he said, who shall remain nameless.

With that I can guess, I said, but I won't.

You'll do it?

Yes. I could use the money.

It will be dangerous.

They all are.

We regarded the crosses, with the packs of cigarettes and other various goodies tied to them in the way of religious offerings.

Good, he said. When will you start?

Before the month is out.

Okay. When will you report to me?

I shrugged, under starlight.

When I've got something to say.

That's not good enough, this time. September 15 is the target date.

... If it goes off without a hitch?

Fifty grand.

If it gets tricky, and I have to dispose of a corpus or three?

Like I said.

Okay. You're on. Before September 15.