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don’t want to argue with you. I know you’re just making your own profits off this war, and that’s fine with me. It doesn’t mean you aren’t a patriot at heart. We’re both on the same side with the highest level of security clearance, and we have an understanding between us. As you instructed, I sent your communiqués to all merchant prince planets, and in turn you’re protecting my business secrets. The Mutatis must have come up with the system on their own, and they haven’t perfected it yet.”
    Pimyt pursed his lips, thinking. He looked agitated. His dark-eyed gaze darted around the room.
    Nehr felt a mixture of fear and rage, and intense loathing for this Hibbil. But he concealed his feelings, not letting the furry little bastard see anything in his expression. Still, the inventor imagined grabbing the control for the stretching machine and torturing Pimyt until he was torn apart.
    As Nehr savored the idea, Pimyt grabbed the control unit. “You are wise to come to me,” he said. “I will discuss this with Doge Lorenzo, and we will order an investigation immediately. Do you think it could be a defect with your mobile transceiver? Could it have picked up freak radio signals?”
    “I don’t think so.”
    “Nonetheless, you will give me your transceiver, since we will need it for the investigation.”
    “But I am the only one capable of working on the system, along with my daughter, Nirella.”
    “Don’t be absurd. A child could work on nehrcoms, and you know it. I have people I trust to do the work … under strict security clearance, of course.”
    “Uh, well, I don’t know if.…” He wilted under the Hibbil’s red-eyed glare, and added quickly, “All right.” Reluctantly, Nehr brought the mobile unit out of his jacket pocket and set it on the table.
    Pimyt disconnected himself from the stretching rack and swung his short legs onto the floor. He walked around stiffly, then said, “As a reward and a token of our friendship, General Nehr, I am in a position to obtain additional tax benefits and other cost-saving arrangements for your manufacturing facilities on the Hibbil Cluster Worlds.” His face darkened. “I am also in a position to do the opposite, if I wish.”
    Nehr stared at the floor. “With podship travel cut off, I’m not sure if I’ll ever see those tax advantages.”
    “Then we’ll come up with something else.”
    “I would appreciate that.”
    Without another word, the Royal Attache took the nehrcom transceiver and left through a side door. The meeting was over.
    * * * * *
    When he was alone, Pimyt listened to the Adurian voice on the recording again, confirming his own first impression. It was, without a doubt, VV Uncel, the Adurian Ambassador to the Mutati Kingdom.
    He was a friend of Pimyt’s … but not of the Mutatis. Uncel must have gone to Paradij on business for the clandestine HibAdu Coalition, which was working to overthrow both humankind and the shapeshifters, and he’d been stuck there by the podship crisis.
    The Hibbil scowled for a moment as he wondered if Jacopo Nehr could upset his carefully laid plans. But the thought passed. Nehr was like an insect trapped in a narrow tube, with only one way to go.

Chapter Nine
    We are receiving sporadic reports of nehrcom transmission glitches, of inexplicably weak and even lost transmissions. The problems seem to have nothing to do with our transmitting stations around the galaxy, since service personnel have checked and rechecked every one of them. The failures are few and far between, but remain troubling, since nothing like this has ever occurred in the past. In their first decades of use, nehrcoms earned a reputation for perfect reliability and strong signal quality.
    —Confidential internal document, Nehrcom Industries
    Early one morning, Noah awoke to the noise of men arguing, in the corridor outside his cell. He tried to see them, but could not get an angle to see more than shadows against a rock wall.
    “I