Anderson curses himself. Fool. You're speaking to their terrors. He changes tacks. "There are significant opportunities here. Cooperation benefits both parties. My people are prepared to offer significant assistance to the Kingdom if we can come to agreement. Help with your border disputes, calorie security that hasn't been enjoyed since the Expansion, all of this can be yours. This is an opportunity for all of us."

Anderson trails off. The general is nodding. The admiral is frowning. Akkarat and the Somdet Chaopraya are blanks. He can't read them at all.

"Please excuse us," Akkarat says.

It is not a request. The guards indicate that Anderson and Carlyle should leave. A moment later they are out in the passageway with four guards surrounding them.

Carlyle stares at the floor. "They don't seem convinced. Can you think of any reason why they wouldn't trust you?"

"I've got weapons and the money for bribes ready to be landed. If they can open communication with Pracha's generals, I can buy and equip them. Where is the risk for them?" Anderson shakes his head, irritated. "They should be jumping at the opportunity. It's the most equitable deal we've ever offered."

"It's not the offer. It's you. You, and AgriGen, and every bit of your damn history. If they trust you, it happens. If not…" Carlyle shrugs.

The door opens and they're invited back in. Akkarat says, "Thank you so much for your time. I'm sure that we will take your offer under advisement."

Carlyle slumps, deflated by the polite refusal. The Somdet Chaopraya smiles slightly as the news is delivered. Pleased, perhaps, to slap the farang down. More polite words are passed around the cabin, but Anderson hardly hears them. Rejection. He's so close he can almost taste the ngaw, and still they throw up barriers. There has to be a way to reopen discussion. He stares at the Somdet Chaopraya. He needs a lever. Something to break this impasse-

Anderson almost laughs out loud. Pieces click into place. Carlyle is still mumbling disappointment, but Anderson just smiles and wais, hunting for a way in. A way to keep the conversation going a bit longer. "I completely understand your concerns. We have not earned sufficient trust. Perhaps we could discuss something different. A project of friendship, say. Something less high stakes."

The admiral grimaces. "We want nothing from your hand."

"Please, don't be hasty. We offer in good faith. And regarding that other project, if you change your mind about our assistance, whether it happens in a week, or a year, or ten years, you will always find us supportive."

"A very fine speech." Akkarat says. He's smiling, even as he shoots the admiral a sharp look. "I'm sure there are no hard feelings, here. Please, at least have one last drink. We've troubled you to come so far, there's no reason we shouldn't part as friends."

Still in the game then. Anderson feels a rush of relief. "Our sentiments exactly."

Soon the drink is flowing, and Carlyle is promising that he would happily ship an order of saffron from India as soon as the current embargo is lifted, and Akkarat is telling a story about a white shirt trying to take three bribes from three different food stalls who keeps losing his count, and all the while, Anderson watches the Somdet Chaopraya, waiting for an opening.

When the man goes to a window to look out at the water, Anderson moves to join him.

"It's a pity that your proposal wasn't accepted," the man says.

Anderson shrugs. "I'm happy to be walking out alive. A few years ago, I would have been trampled by megodonts for simply trying to meet with you."

The Somdet Chaopraya laughs. "You're confident we'll let you walk out?"

"Confident enough, anyway. It's not a bad gamble," Anderson says. "You and Akkarat are honorable, even if we don't agree on every particular. I don't consider it a particularly risky bet."

"No? Half the people in this room suggested that feeding you to the river carp tonight was the wisest course." He pauses, hard sunken eyes staring at Anderson. "It was a very close thing."

Anderson makes himself smile. "I gather you weren't in agreement with your admiral?"

"Not tonight."

Anderson wais. "Then I'm grateful."

"Don't thank me yet. I may yet decide to have you killed. Your kind have a very poor reputation."

"Would you at least give me a chance to bargain for my life?" Anderson asks wryly.

The Somdet Chaopraya shrugs. "It wouldn't do you any good. Your life is the most interesting thing I could take."

"Then I would have to offer something unique."

The man's hollow eyes flick back to Anderson. "Impossible."

"Not at all," Anderson says. "I can give you something you've never seen before. Could do it tonight even. Something exquisite. It's not for the squeamish, but it is astonishing and unique. Would that keep you from feeding to the river carp?"

The Somdet Chaopraya gives him a look of annoyance. "There is nothing you can show me that I have not already seen."

"Would you care to wager?"

"Still gambling, farang?" The Somdet Chaopraya laughs. "Haven't you risked enough for one night?"

"Not at all. I'm just trying to make sure my limbs stay attached. It hardly seems like a risk, given how much I might lose otherwise." He meets the Somdet Chaopraya's eye. "But I am willing to bet. Are you?"

The Somdet Chaopraya gives him a hard look, calls to his men. "Our calorie man is a gambler! He says he can show me something I haven't seen before. What do you all think of that?"

His men all laugh. "The odds are very much against you," the Somdet Chaopraya observes.

"Still, I think the bet is a good one. And I'm willing to place good money on it."

"Money?" The Somdet Chaopraya makes a face. "I thought we were talking about your life."

"What about the plans for my kink-spring factory, then?"

"I could simply take that, if I wanted." The Somdet Chaopraya snaps his fingers, irritated. "Just like that, and they're mine."

"All right." Anderson grimaces. All or nothing. "What if I offered you and your Kingdom my company's next iteration of U-Tex rice? Would that be a worthwhile bet? And not just the rice, but the grain before it is rendered sterile. Your people can plant it and replant it for as long as it's viable against blister rust. My life can't be worth more than that."

The room falls quiet. The Somdet Chaopraya studies him. "And to balance that risk? What is it you want if you win?"

"I want to go forward with the political project we discussed earlier. Under the same terms as we already proposed. Terms which we both know are entirely favorable to you and your Kingdom."

The Somdet Chaopraya's eyes narrow. "You're a tenacious one, aren't you? And what's to keep you from simply withholding the U-Tex you're offering, if you lose?"

Anderson smiles and waves a hand toward Carlyle. "I assume that you would have myself and Mr. Carlyle here torn apart by megodonts if we fail to make good. Would that be satisfactory?"

Carlyle laughs, his voice tinged with hysteria. "What kind of bet is that?"

Anderson doesn't take eyes away from the Somdet Chaopraya. "The only one that matters. I trust absolutely that his Excellency will be honest if I manage to surprise him. And we will place ourselves in his hands as a token of that trust. It's a perfectly reasonable bet. We're both honorable men."

The Somdet Chaopraya smiles. "I accept your bet." He laughs and claps Anderson on the back. "Surprise me farang. And good luck to you. To see you trampled would be a pleasure."

They make a strange party as they move across the city. The Somdet Chaopraya's retinue guarantees them access through checkpoints, and the surprised shouts of white shirts echo in the darkness as they realize who they are trying to halt.