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    “…which is next to worthless if you renege on the loan and choose to remain at the fringe, where finding the ship, let alone seizing it, would be too costly a venture to prosecute.”
    “True, but who wants to eke out a living from the piddling scraps of trade you can pick up around the fringe? You’ve got my history on record. That’s not what I’m about. In addition, I’m offering a ten percent share in the profits made on all Elder artefacts we recover.”
    “Fifty percent.”
    “ What ? That’s outrageous. Twenty percent, and I’m being more than fair. Don’t forget I’ve got an entire crew to share the balance with.”
    Her fingers tapped the air in a manner which, from Pelquin’s viewpoint, suggested she was conjuring a spell, but which presumably involved something less arcane – calculations, most likely. Seconds later she frowned and wiped her hand across the space, before starting to weave her fingers in a new pattern. At length she sat back and fixed Pelquin with an appraising look. “All right, given the size of the apparent find, I’m willing to come down to forty percent, but that’s as low as I can stretch to.”
    Now it was time to play his ace. “Twenty five percent and I’ll throw in this as tangible security.” He produced the gonk with a flourish.
    She stared at the innocuous seeming object. “Are you trying to tell me that this is an Elder artefact?”
    He grinned. “You bet your sweet asset base it is.”
    Still she didn’t extend a hand to take it from him. “Does it… do anything?”
    “Sure does. Do you have anything with a flat surface that’s solid but disposable?”
    Reese stared at him, as if trying to decide whether or not he was being serious.
    “Preferably metal,” Pelquin added, “though it doesn’t have to be; must be solid, though.”
    After a fractional hesitation, Reese spoke into the air, “Jay, would you bring in the silver tea tray please?” There was a further pause before she added, “No, the crockery won’t be necessary. Just the tray.”
    Seconds later the door slid open and the secretary breezed in, his every step a study in precision, every footfall a pronouncement of dedication and efficiency. He presented the tray to his boss, who indicated with a nod that he should place it on the small table beside her.
    As the secretary departed, Pelquin stared in fascination at what the man had delivered. The tray had a raised rim, with embossed flourishes around the inside edges, and it struck him as far more outlandish than any Elder artefact.
    Reese gestured, inviting Pelquin to do his worst. He got up and stepped across, placing the gonk, flat surface down, on the tray. Glancing across at Reese, he saw she was watching him intently. He smiled and raised his eyebrows, milking the moment. The only thing missing was a drum roll. Then, before his dramatic pause could become too irritating, he reached forward… and stroked the gonk with the fingertips of his right hand. Once, twice, moving laterally along its tapering form.
    In response, a golden glow emanated from the artefact’s underside and the thing seemed to move slightly, to settle in much the same manner a cat might while being fussed. Seconds only the glow lasted before fading, and the suspicion of movement ceased.
    Pelquin stepped back and grinned at Reese, who stared at him in amazement.
    “Is that it?”
    “Ah, don’t be fooled. Pick the tray up.”
    With a sigh that suggested she was humouring him and didn’t really know why, Reese did as instructed. The tray lifted clean over the half-egg lump, to display a gonk-shaped ovoid hole at its centre. The gonk was still on the table. Reese held the tray up and stared at it, her gaze meeting Pelquin’s through the hole.
    “Feel it,” he suggested, “run your fingers along the edge. You’ll find it’s smooth and cool to the touch.”
    She did so and then picked up the gonk, examining its base. Beneath was nothing except the table: