Brooks knew he must be looking very displeased, as Urle came into the office and did a double-take upon seeing the expression on his face.

"It's that bad?" Urle asked.

"Bad enough," Brooks said. "The ship isn't in danger, but we need to wait for Y."

The door opened, and the doctor loped into the room.

Under different circumstances, Brooks would have been amused; this body, too, was in a costume, one that took him a moment to even parse out. There was only one element to the costume; paperclips. His entire body was covered in them.

"Paperclip Maximizer," Urle said with a laugh.

Y nodded. "Excellent observational skills," he said. "But my costume is not why we are here, is it, Captain?"

"No," Brooks said. He paused to think and gather his thoughts, stroking his chin with his thumb for a moment.

"Some time ago when we were on Gohhi, I made contact with an information broker going under the name Vermillion Dawn."

Y perked up. Urle was slower to understand the significance.

"Oh," he said with surprise. "Your secret contact that helped you find Hoc Rem?"

"Yes," Brooks said. "And in return for her help I owe her a favor, which she now wishes to collect."

He paused, hating that he had to ask this. "And she wishes to meet with you, Doctor. Not on the ship, but at a location of her choosing."

Urle glanced to Y, then back to Brooks. But he said nothing.

"I can assume," Y said, speaking slowly. "That this person is no mere information broker. Your connection to her is personal."

Brooks's eyes widened. "How did you-"

"Please, Captain, let us dispense with all outward pretenses," Y said. "This matter is serious, you clearly understand. Your behavior, micro-expressions, but largely the fact that you would even entertain this request enough to speak to me about it tells me that this is no mere acquaintance. Therefore I must ask; how much do you trust this Vermillion Dawn?"

Brooks answered without hesitation. "If she asked to meet me I would go without fear. But it's not me she's asking for."

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Y studied him a moment and Brooks wondered just how much the machine could tell - or infer - about his emotions here. Probably far more than he was comfortable with.

"I am afraid I don't see the problem," Urle said. "With respects, Doctor, even if this information broker tried to take you hostage or something, you can self-destruct your current body and reboot from a backup here. Not that that's a light course of action, but there seems to be very little threat here."

"The danger," Brooks said. "Is that we don't know what or why Dawn is asking for this meeting."

"And even from what the rumors are, she is not one to underestimate," Y said. "While all you say is true, Executive Commander, we must accept that there is the possibility that she could take me 'alive' and intact, and attempt to study my code."

"The sanctity of which is the most important principle of the treaty that has your people in the Union," Brooks continued.

"The inviolate nature of our programming is indeed a large reason few of my people leave our home territory," Y commented. "And I have faced no little criticism in certain circles for joining with the Union fleet and facing greater threats."

"I know that it's the uniqueness of that code that makes you sapient, but of what value is it to her?" Urle asked.

"That is, frankly, unimportant," Y replied. "What does matter is that it is our secret and we do not wish to share it, while many others wish to understand our inner workings."

"All right," Urle replied. "Do we know that your code is what she's really after?"

"No," Brooks said.

"But she almost certainly is," Y commented. "Unless the rumors are quite wrong, Vermillion Dawn is almost entirely post-biological. I doubt that she requires my medical services. There is little else to make meeting me worthwhile."

"It could still just be curiosity, or other reasons," Urle said.

"She's trading in a debt for this," Brooks said. "She would not do that on a whim."

"So what do we do?" Urle asked.

Brooks looked to Y. "I will not ask you to go if you don't wish to."

Y hesitated. "While I am not pleased at the potential risks, I admit - I have a certain curiosity. You surely noticed that I knew the name of this information broker - she is no minor figure. My people have dealt with her before, and even we have a respect for her. She is effective in ways that we are not - but we have never actually encountered her."

He held up a hand. "I am actually somewhat interested in meeting her for that reason alone."

"I will be with you," Brooks said. "She did not wish to see me, but I was not forbidden to come. I will do everything in my power to be sure that you remain safe."

"While I thank you for that, Captain, you will almost certainly not be allowed to come," Y said. "And the fact that you were not forbidden was only to give you the hope that you could. No; I will have to go alone. Bring up the topic if you wish, of course."

He paused, then continued thoughtfully. "This meeting must occur with total secrecy," Y said. "It is best anyway if you remain here to avoid drawing too much curiosity. Already your absence from the parade will have been noticed - as well as yours, Executive Commander Urle. I can put one of my bodies into a low-intelligence automated mode so that my absence is not felt."

Y's words about him being manipulated with hope stung. Brooks hated that Y was probably right that he was being worked in this way, but there was little to do but move forward.

"I am sorry to have drawn you into this. I would not have agreed to this debt if I had known it would involve others."

"It was a worthy trade at the time," Y said. "I am, after all, an officer of the Union. Even if I only rarely am exposed to genuine risk, I do not shy from it."