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listened intently as Captain Lah summarized the short exchange she’d had with the Muun stowaway, who had refused to provide any personal details, not even his name. Nor had he offered explanation for his presence on Bal’demnic, or divulged the reason behind his wanting to depart in haste. Most important, he had revealed nothing about the cause or nature of his injury. Instead he had fixed on arranging a deal for passage to Muunilinst, a world on the distant Braxant Run and corporate headquarters of the InterGalactic Banking Clan.
    “What’s your gut telling you about him, Captain?” PePe asked, his pointed ears twitching in curiosity.
    Captain Lah glanced back at the corridor that led to cargo bay 4. “He’s as slick as they come and used to getting his way. But either we take him back to Bal’demnic—and put our cargo at risk—or we drop him at our first stop and make him someone else’s problem.”
    “Or we just jettison him now,” Wandau said.
    Lah shook her head. “We don’t know he didn’t tell someone on Bal’demnic that he was stowing away. And if he did, his disappearance could put us in serious muck.”
    “What’s it going be, then?” Maa Kaap pressed.
    Lah made her lips a thin line. “I think we should get him off our hands as soon as possible.”
    Wandau and Zuto exchanged glances. “You don’t want to even discuss coming up with a price for passage?”
    “I’ve never been on the Braxant Run,” Lah said. “Have any of you?”
    Heads shook.
    “Is he willing to cover the cost of the spoiled cargo?” PePe asked.
    “He said he would.”
    “Then maybe we take him to Ithor,” the Kaleesh went on. “If he proves to be a cooperative passenger, we could consider taking him all the way to Muunilinst. Certainly wouldn’t hurt to get familiar with that corner of space.”
    “I don’t know …” Lah took her lower lip between her teeth.
    “I’ll go one step further,” Zuto said, leading with his whiskered snout. “I mean, this Muun could be a jackpot that’s fallen right into ourlaps. Weren’t you just saying that no bank would ever grant us a loan against the Woebegone ? Well, Muunilinst is the bank, and this Muun can provide all the collateral we’ll ever need.”
    “Our reward for years of leading clean lives,” PePe added.
    Lah regarded the two of them. “Meaning what? We hold him for ransom?”
    Zuto drew in his tusks and shrugged. “We don’t have to call it that.”
    “Forget it,” Lah said. “We’ve never done that—well, once, maybe—but we’re not about to do it again.”
    “I agree,” Maa Kaap said.
    Wandau’s head bobbed. “Same.”
    PePe withdrew somewhat. “Okay, so I was just thinking out loud.”
    “There’s something else,” Maa Kaap said. Raising his big hand, he beckoned to 11-4D. “Tell the captain what you were telling us.”
    The droid moved to where the crew members were gathered and swiveled its round head toward Lah. “Captain, I merely pointed out that Muuns are not known to travel unaccompanied without ample reasons for doing so. In fact, most Muuns are reluctant to leave Muunilinst for any purpose other than to transact business negotiations.”
    “That’s exactly what I was saying about collateral,” PePe interrupted. “There has to be some financial reason for his being on Bal’demnic—some major deal in the works we might be able to get in on. A construction project, maybe.”
    “Let FourDee finish,” Maa Kaap said.
    Lah looked at the droid. “Go ahead.”
    “It has yet to be determined just what the Muun was involved in. Suppose, however, that the nature of his business is going to impact Bal’demnic in a negative way. Should word spread that the crew of the Woebegone lent their support to the Muun’s illegal departure, then what might become of the ship’s reputation in the Auril sector? You may wish to include the worth of that in your calculations regarding an arrangement for onward passage.”
    Maa Kaap folded his