"Are there usually this many people?" Jaff said looking around as the conference room filled up.

"Definitely not," Chervaz said, the number of attendees amazing him. "Usually there's the council, me, a few of the business owners and a couple of people who are probably in the wrong place."

He attended the meeting of the Human Business Guild every month. The guild council took questions from the floor and it was usually a pretty dull affair. But he'd picked up the rumour that it might be more interesting than usual tonight. Chullan, the coffee shop owner, had made no secret of the fact he intended to raise the issue of Bara giving away goods to station residents.

Chervaz heard enough people defend Bara in arguments that he could guarantee someone would speak up in her favour here. And going by the number of people still arriving in the room, that might be a lot of someones.

"What's that lot doing here?" Jaff nodded at several men and women who stood around the walls, wearing the badges of the newly formed volunteer watch patrol. "Think they're expecting trouble?"

"Maybe." Chervaz said slowly. He'd run foul of an MP or two in his day, and apparently this Watch had many ex MPs in their ranks. They wore that all too familiar unsympathetic look, that said 'anything you say will be taken down and used to ensure you get into even bigger trouble than you already are.' He spotted a woman going around talking to each of the Watchmen.

"Keep my seat," Chervaz said to Jaff and slipped out of the row of folding chairs, to chase down the officer in charge. A short, but intense woman, smartly dressed, very clean. Military to the core, he could see.

"Can I speak to you a moment?"

She gave him a look that suggested she was committing his face to memory. "Yes?"

"I'm the editor of the Chronicle, perhaps you've --"

"I know who you are, Mr Chervaz."

"Ah. And your name?"

She tapped the badge she wore, which carried a number. "That's all you need." Her gaze went to the notebook he carried and became a scowl. His pen remained poised.

"A name is better for the paper."

"That's your problem."

In shorthand, he wrote 'officer in charge refused to give her name' and noted the number on her badge. Seeing the odd characters, she frowned again.

"Is that some kind of code?"

"Oh, no. It's a quick method of note taking, called shorthand. Actually, your people could find it useful for making notes quickly after incidents..."

"Did you come over here to offer me a class in shorthand or do you have a question?"

"I just wanted to know why there are so many members of the Watch here. Are you expecting trouble?"

"We heard there'd be a high attendance tonight and decided it would be wise to take precautions. Crowds can be dangerous." She didn't look him in the eye as she spoke. She watched his notebook. "It's a matter of public safety."

"How did you know there'd be a high attendance?"

"It's our business to know."

"So, you're saying that you gather intelligence as well as carry out patrols?"

"Intelligence!" She sneered. "It's hardly a secret. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do."

So do I, Chervaz thought scribbling the last of the notes and then hurrying back to his chair.

"Well?" Jaff asked. Chervaz just shrugged and Jaff clicked his tongue. "Oh well, never mind. We'll see what happens. I like a bit of cabaret anyway."

Chervaz rolled his eyes and they sat waiting for the meeting to start.

"You okay?" Jaff said after a moment, glancing down. Chervaz realised he was nervously tapping his pen on his notebook and made himself stop. Jaff went on. "Look, if there is trouble, just keep your head down. And don't try for the door at the back. There's two fire exits." He nodded at them.

"Oh, it's not that," Chervaz said. "Just... Well the Friss is overdue back. Not by long, but..." He shrugged. "I'm sure they're fine, just delayed or something. But you know it can be dangerous out there for humans."

"Maybe they're held up with customs or something," Jaff suggested.

"Yes. Or engine trouble."

Jaff scowled at once. "Not with my work, thank you so very much."

His outraged tone made Chervaz smile. Probably worrying for nothing. Maiga can take care of herself. He felt pretty sure he had nothing to worry about.

~o~

Maiga came out of the bathroom after her shower to find Max still sleeping. He lay on the bunk, the sheet pulled up only to his waist. For a moment she stood looking down at him and the question came into her mind about how many children he might have had.

Good genetic material. That's what women were encouraged to look out for, and he qualified. Good looking, healthy, intelligent. He hadn't mentioned any children when they talked earlier, but it was quite possible he didn't even know. If he had any, then none of them would have been old enough to go into service yet. Which meant they'd all have been on Earth. They'd all be... She shivered, the air cold on her naked skin. Silent, trying not to disturb him, she dressed and left the room.

The door sighed closed behind her and she found Wixa sitting in the living area, sipping tea in a marked manner. Glancing at the time, Maiga realised she'd slept for about six hours.

"Sorry, I should have relieved you earlier."

"Oh don't mind me, if you're busy."

Maiga stiffened at the cold and sarcastic tone. "I don't think that's any of your business."

"It's my business when I see a friend messing up a good thing when it's barely even off the ground." Wixa slammed her cup down and stood up. "Chervaz is one in a thousand, and you're going to throw that away."

"That's not your business either," Maiga said, folding her arms. She flushed and scowled, but knew her anger was directed at much at herself as at Wixa. Why had she given in to a momentary impulse like that? Max had his charms, but she already regretted it. And though she and Chervaz had made no promises of exclusivity, she didn't want him to know about this. Not because she thought he expected fidelity of her, but that he expected better of her.

Was she trying to sabotage things with Chervaz? The thought struck her suddenly. Why would she do that? So she never had to face telling him her real identity?

Wixa had started slamming about in the food prep area, and as Maiga watched, she felt her anger at Wixa's interference ebb away. She's not just a business partner now. She just said it herself, she's a friend. And one day, Maiga would have to tell her she'd lied to her too.

Did she though? Did she have to tell either of them? Is it even a lie? She used her real name, she just didn't tell anyone exactly which Maiga she was. Is an omission a lie?

The door to the sleeping quarters slid open and Max stood there, showered and dressed. Wixa looked over her shoulder at him. Max didn't look at her though, just at Maiga. He smiled.

Wixa broke a cup.

~o~

The Business Guild council, occupying a long table at the far end of the room, seemed rather stunned by the size of the crowd. Their meetings were open to all residents, but this was the most open it had ever been. People still crammed into the back of the room, standing now, all the chairs taken long ago.

Jaff leaned across to Chervaz as the chairwoman banged a paperweight on the table and called for order.

"Just remember what I said about the fire exits, if it kicks off."

Chervaz shook his head. He didn't like being in the middle of a brawl any more than Jaff, but he wouldn't leave before the fight, the story, ended.

The room settled down and the meeting started. As dull as usual, at first. Minutes of the last meeting agreed, reporting back on the last meeting they'd had with the station management and the Klaff's response to the points raised.

People fidgeted and murmured. A couple of guys in the chairs in front of Chervaz played cards. At one point someone in the standees at the back yelled out a suggestion that the chairwoman could liven up proceedings by taking her top off. There was a lot of scuffling in response to this, a couple of shouts and the sound of the door opening and closing.

Looking back there, Chervaz saw the Watch officer in charge emerge from the crowd and nod at the council to continue. He made a note that the watch quelled a small disturbance and a reminder to see if he could find out the identity of the comedian. He'd like to know how the Watch dealt with him after those doors closed.

After that the meeting slipped back into torpor. Jaff sat with his long legs stretched out under the seat in front of him, arms folded and eyes closed. But he opened them when Chullan's voice sounded, as soon as the chairwoman announced they would now discuss "any other business."

"I have an important matter to raise." Chullan stood up quickly as he spoke, not allowing anyone else to get in first. The tension in the room rose at once.

"Go ahead, Mr Chullan," the chairwoman said. "You have the floor."

"I want to raise the serious situation that is developing with Captain Bara and the goods she has been giving away."

Voices, not loud yet, some murmurs of agreement but also of protest came from all around the room. The chair banged her paperweight again, calling for silence. Chullan continued.

"Her actions are threatening the established businesses on the station."

"Threatening your profits, you mean!" Someone shouted it from the back of the room.

"Yeah, reduce your prices!" Another anonymous voice yelled, provoking more calls for order from the chair.

"I object to being accused of profiteering," Chullan said, raising his voice. "Myself and my fellow honest business owners charge fair prices. If Captain Bara sold her goods to us..."

Some people rose in their seats, shouting him down.

"So you can sell them on for a big profit?"

"We charge fair prices!" Chullan yelled above the noise, turning around, facing the crowd. "If she drives out of business where will you buy your food then? You want us all dependent on her handouts?" He turned back to the council. "Madam Chairwoman, it's not only businesses under threat, Dr Sheni's clinic is affected..." He looked around. "Is she here?"

"It's past the old girl's bedtime!"

That shout caused some laughter, a tiny decrease in the tension. Chervaz was glad for it, almost breathless as he tried to keep up with his shorthand. The guild recorded the meetings, but a recording couldn't give you the atmosphere of tension, anger and fear in the room.

"And how do you know so much about my bedtime, young man?" Sheni was here and her response caused more laughter, from all parts of the room.

Taking advantage of the slight lull in the noise of the crowd, Chullan turned back to the council and dropped his bomb.

"I want to make an official request, as a member in good standing of the Business Guild, that you ask the station management to ban the Trebuchet and her crew from the station."

"Oh, that's it," Jaff said. "Two minutes, no more, before the first punch." Chervaz nodded, but impatiently, no time to listen to Jaff right now.

The chairwoman banged and banged with the paperweight, shouting for order. Despite the yells of abuse directed his way, Chullan stood firm, jaw set, face defiant.

"Mr Chullan," the chair said once she could make herself heard as the crowd calmed enough. "We will present your request, but you realise it's very unlikely the management will agree. They rarely do anything to restrict legitimate trade."

"Legitimate trade?" Chullan shouted. "The woman is a damn pirate and everyone here knows it!"

There is was. The P word. Protests came from around the room, most from drifties. Lifers, tried to shout them down. Now someone had said it, now someone had mentioned the elephant in the room, suddenly everyone seemed to be yelling it.

Pirate. Pirate. Pirate.

"Captain Bara is registered with the station as a trader in salvage," the chair pointed out.

"What she's registered as is neither here nor there," Chullan said. "She is a pirate and she has to be stopped."

It was Chullan who got stopped right then though. A man sitting near him jumped up and pasted him across the jaw. Chullan, too long out of the military to react quickly enough, came nowhere close to blocking the punch. He went down and the rest of the room rose up.

The chairwoman made a last desperate effort to restore order, slamming her paperweight down so hard it broke. Chervaz saw her toss it aside, disgusted, and then duck as a chair flew across the room.

"Time to go." Jaff grabbed Chervaz's arm, pulled him from his seat, and tried to push him towards the fire exit.

The room descended into chaos. Some people fled for the exits, but many fought among the scattered chairs. The council, with too many fighters between them and any of the doors, tipped up their table to use as cover.

"Jaff," Chervaz pulled his arm away and pointed. "Help Dr Sheni."

"Shit," Jaff muttered and headed out. Near the front of the hall, but cut off from the exits, Sheni and Mrs Jasini were against the wall, Jasini protecting the older woman. Nobody actually attacked them, but Chervaz saw one man stray too close to them. Jasini put a hand out and seemed to just push him away. But after a few steps, he tottered, fell over and started crawling away. Maybe Jasini didn't need Jaff's help after all.

But Jaff had already reached them. He picked the tiny Sheni up bodily and, with Jasini following, edged his way along the wall, until he could deposit the two women behind the cover of the council's upturned table,

Suddenly people were coming into the room, not leaving, pushing their way in. They wore the Watch badges. So many of them, Chervaz thought, as they started breaking up the fights. He hadn't realised there were so many, and just how had they got here so--