A contract disc. Cade raised a brow.
“You must agree to the job, and all that it entails, before I show you the manifest.” He then called out for the nurse. She scurried back in, seconds later, her eyes wide and waiting. “Call Mav, over at the ITC. Tell her I’m ready to phone in that favor. TheStarfallwill be cleared of all charges, and please, get someone to dispose of those drugs. Dreadful side effects, truly. Dispose of them in Jeb Montforth’s skyrise. Make it look convincing.” He looked back to Cade. “And see to it that Karr Kingston and the rest of theStarfall’screw are given whatever amount they need, to fill their ship with materials, rations… and alcohol, yes?”
Cade sat frozen in shock and awe.
This man oozed power, lived it and breathed it, and Jeb?
Jeb was a slug. His mind was racing so fast, muddled thoughts shooting through him, that he hadn’t noticed the silence. He looked up and saw that both Geisinger and his nurse were watching him.
It was time to make a choice.
“The job,” Cade said, finding his wits again. “Will not harm me, my crew, or my brother? And you’ll handle Jeb Montforth for me?”
“As long as the job is completed, no harm will befall any of you.” Geisinger nodded. “I consider you an investment, Cade. If this goes over well, I’d like to keep you on for quite some time.We’ll dine together on the rooftops of towers. We’ll drink the finest wines from the finest planets, and when your brother comes of age, he’ll drink with us, too.” He smiled, genuine and bright. “Or, with the money you’ll make from delivering the substance to me, he can pay someone to age him up. Age him down. He can become whoever and whatever he wishes. He won’t have to lift a finger if he doesn’t want to. His future will be very, very bright, and you will have been the one to give it to him. You’ll be a hero. The privateer who set out to the ends of the Earth, to recover the cure to send the Reaper away for eternity.”
It was too good to be true.
Cade had been in Jeb’s shadow all his life, and Karr’s by default. Would it be so bad, to accept this deal? It didn’t matter what the job was, as long as no harm came to his brother or his crew.
This job?
It would be their last.
The choice was bright and clear. “You’ll cover all expenses for the mission? And I need a few new crew members, to replace the ones that disappeared after we were docked.”
Jeb had likely already tracked them down, killed them as he’d threatened to kill Cade.
Geisinger considered, for a moment. “You’re a smart man, Cade. Sign the disc, and what you wish will be yours.”
“You can truly cure it?” he asked.
Billions had died because of it. Old Earth was a biohazard now, a quarantined wasteland.
“I can,” Geisinger said. “And I will, with your help.”
Cade had hated Beta Earth since they’d landed here, wishing,with every minute of every day, that he could be back on his ship, out among the stars. But Karr…
Karr washappy.Thriving.
He deserved a future on solid ground. A future without Jeb.
“I’ll do it,” he said.
He traced his finger across the holo, sealing the deal.
“I’ll be back later, with details.” Geisinger said, and shook his hand. “In the meantime… rest. You’re going to need it. I’ll send over my man, later. Rohtt is… a talented Crossman, to say the least. Creative.”
Cade smiled, and lay back on the pillows. He realized, before he closed his eyes, that he hadn’t had to play a part to secure this deal. He’d been himself, plain and simple.
And he was about to become very, very rich.
Now, Cade Kingston shifted in his seat at the table in the center of the Garden of the Goddess. Dohrsar was beautiful, and the Garden around him…
So much more wondrous than Geisinger had prepared him for. This valley, these people, the music and laughter. It wasalive.
But he’d signed on that dotted line. He’d taken the necessary steps to be ready for this task.
He told himself he was prepared. That fear wasn’t already tightening in his chest, beside a pain that had only worsened since the day he’d walked out of Geisinger’s hospital. Cade shifted his position again, ever so slightly, but with the S2 suit on, the pressure on his chest heightened.
