Ever since she’d matched the date of tampering in the Level 6 records with Samuel Verner’s departure from the arcology, she’d known that he was part of some industrial espionage aimed at the AI project. Any day now, the team she had set on his trail would bring her the damning evidence she needed. With Sato’s backing, she could wrap her revenge nicely into the package.

Once she’d nailed Verner and his shadow friends, she could concentrate on what she’d sought since the Manila affair. The Kansayaku’s gratitude and influence would get it for her. He had the power to get her reinstated to the home office and the assurance of a quiet tenure until retirement.

Of course, with a man like Sato, nothing was certain. He would always have more than one angle on a situation and other people working toward his goals. But she had a head start. She’d be the one to succeed once she got her leverage.

Trying to get something on Cliber continued to be an exercise in frustration. Sato’s growing impatience meant Crenshaw must concentrate on the more promising lines of investigation, getting Addison to hustle in his checks into Huang’s and Hutten’s paramours. He hadn’t gotten much yet, but he might soon.

Huang was a constant fellow and regular in his habits, but his woman was false. At least her identity was Addison was still trying to uncover the real identity. Crenshaw was sure the woman would turn out to be an agent of some outside source seeking to co-opt the president. And if not that, the man’s reasons for concealing her identity might still be enough to persuade her to become Crenshaw’s agent. Using a mistress to manipulate a man was basic tradecraft.

Hutten’s situation had looked less promising at first. He didn’t have a steady mistress, but varied his timing and his lovers at random. An active interest in the advantages of Level 6 had seemed out of character for him, thereby raising her suspicions. With the aid of Markowitz, Addison had been able to look deep enough to justify her suspicions. Neo-playboy Konrad Hutten’s ladies all had affiliations with a company called Congenial Companions. Addison was still tracing the owners through a maze of blinds and false fronts.

The prospects for leverage were looking even better now that she had authorization for her hunt. Any number of things would be easier, including speed of search. This opportunity was her best chance in years, and she wasn’t going to blow it. Not even Verner’s obscure designs on the project would stop her.

Ghost, Dodger, and Sally came in together. Dodger smiled and actually embraced Sam, then thrust him back to inspect him carefully. He tweaked at the beard that had filled out since San Francisco.

“ ’Tis most fitting, Sir Twist. You bid fair to be a knight out of a romance.”

Ghost stepped up during the Elf’s performance, a half-smile on his face. Sam was surprised to see the Indian’s expression so friendly. “Welcome back to the shadows, paleface,” he said, gripping Sam’s right forearm. Though the Indian was smaller, Sam would never match his strength without cybernetic enhancement. He’d never want to be caught on the hostile end of the Samurai’s grip.

Sally hung back and watched, clearly evaluating Sam’s new appearance. He wondered what she made of it. The last time they’d met, he had been a mere suit in her eyes, corporate born and bred. Now he wore an armor vest and serviceable street clothes of his own. His beard, he knew, made him look older.

What struck him about her was that she was unchanged, yet looked vastly different. He realized now that her magic must have so intimidated him that he’d barely noted her beauty before. How could you pay attention to full breasts and inviting curves when you knew a woman could turn a ravening Barghest into a smoking slab of meat with the touch of her hand? She’d awed and frightened him by doing just that.

Now that magic was no longer alien to Sam, he could see Sally more as a woman. Hanae had been pretty, but she hadn’t the sensuality that sang from the street mage when she moved.

“Thank you for coming,” he said lamely.

“Dodger got me curious. What’s the brief?”

Sam gave her a weak, nervous smile. “I had hoped to explain it only once. Isn’t the Ork coming?”

“Kham the Muscle-Brained was informed of the meet, sir Twist. To ensure his arrival, I deemed it wise to let him believe we were to meet with a corporate sponsor.”

“He’ll get here when he gets here,” Sally pronounced, making herself comfortable in the only upholstered chair in the squat. “Hope it’s worth my time.”

Sam was at a loss. He didn’t know how to make small talk with these people and he didn’t want to get started on his story. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to get through telling it twice. The runners dispersed themselves around the room apparently more comfortable with the silent waiting than he was.

Kham the Ork showed up a few minutes later. He greeted his fellow runners boisterously before noticing Sam, when the Ork’s mood suddenly shifted and grew cool. Kham grunted at Sam’s extended hand and took up a chair in the corner of the room. He glowered at Sam, then threw Sally a look that Sam interpreted as confusion mixed with suspicion. Still looking at Sally, the Ork asked. “So what’s de story?”

Haltingly at first, Sam told the tale of his growing disenchantment with Renraku, his departure from the arcology, and all that had happened since. The telling took longer than he’d expected, with some new duplicity to outline or postulate at every twist and turn. He finished with his discovery that Drake had managed to place an impostor into the arcology under cover of Sam’s and Hanae’s extraction. Those were the facts. He also told them his feelings, hoping it would help persuade them his cause was right. As for his brushes with magic and death, those be spoke of more from the need to talk than because of their relevance.

Some things he did not tell. One was the nature of that impostor. He hardly believed in the doppelganger himself, and he had seen the evidence. How could he tell them that a magical being had been created in a scientific laboratory and been sent to infiltrate Renraku taking the place of loyal employee? Somehow that seemed even more insane than his nightmare conversation with Dog. If he had told them about the doppelganger, they might have dismissed him as crazy from his ordeal in the badlands. He couldn’t afford their ridicule or scorn; he wanted and needed their help.

When Sam finally finished his tale, the Ork was the first to speak. “Let me get dis straight. You want us to help you burn dis Drake guy just because he’s running against Renraku and a few pieces of meat got in de way and got cooked?” Kham grimaced, then flashed a look at the facto of his fellow runners. “Suitboy, you’re brain-fried.”

“Kham, I believe that Drake is also responsible for the other deaths that have followed me since I left Renraku. There was no price on my head. I took nothing from them and I didn’t hurt them by leaving. I worked for Renraku for years, and they were my home and family. When I think of what this impostor could do to them, it worries me. I can’t stand by and let Drake’s plot hurt the company.”