Oscar didn't see anyone in the hallway after leaving the brig. But he sure did hear someone. Several someones, and what he heard wasn't mere voices raised in anger. It was a chorus of growling, an almost subsonic vibration that came up through the deck, shivered its way along his spine, and pressed a little button in the back of his brain conveniently labeled 'FLEE'.

In a moment of weakness, he nearly followed that suggestion. He wanted nothing more than to go and hide away in his quarters, to curl into a ball on his bed and let the galaxy sort itself out for once. But instead Oscar took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and headed in the direction of those terrifying noises.

Around the next corner, he saw Myyreh and Hnrahnan facing each other with their fists on the deck, looking like sumo wrestlers waiting for the go-signal to charge. The Captain stood a little ways away, not quite in the same stance but ready to leap forward if needed. Her voice was nearly inaudible among the snarling from the two furious Dorarizin.

"[...Hnrahnan was only following her orders, Myyreh. Now stand down, you know she has the highest rank here.]"

Myyreh's growling resolved into a discernible voice. "[That rank is the only reason my teeth aren't already around her moon-cursed throat!]"

Hnrahnan's growls also became speech. "[You dare? You dare to threaten me?]"

Rgrarshok slapped her paw across the Veridicator's chest. "[You WILL stand down too. You may have your orders, but this is MY ship. Those prisoners are my responsibility and you did not ASK before you decided to launch that [half-assed] interrogation. You also threatened [Oscar], who need I remind you is MY packmate as well as Myyreh's.]"

The Veridicator shifted her amber gaze to the Captain, but didn't lose her bristling posture. "[My duty is to the truth, Captain. I don't care who gets in my way.]"

Myyreh glanced over at Oscar, and her furious blue gaze softened. "[Are you okay, sweetie?]"

"Oh, I'm fine and dandy. I'm sure that Hattie was looming over me for show, just to scare the prisoners. Isn't that right, Hattie?"

The Veridicator stared at him for a long moment, then her bristling fur subsided. She stood up and backed away. "[I wouldn't have hurt you, if that's what you mean.]"

Myyreh remained in her battle-ready crouch. "[I don't care about motives!]" She glared anew at Hnrahnan. "[You have no training in how to handle humans!]"

"[This bickering is not going to help us,]" said Rgrarshok. "[It'll just waste time that we don't have. We need to figure out what to do next.]"

"[I will figure out our strategy,]" said Hnrahnan, her upper lip lifted in a snarl. "[I followed your lead before, and we still don't have the Egg in our hands.]"

"That's not the Captain's fault, okay?" said Oscar. "That's on me."

The three aliens swung their snouts around and stared at him curiously.

"No, I mean it. I fucked up big time. I knew Martin was running this thing, and I knew that he knew that I was involved in the investigation. He's always got a Plan B up his sleeve. Hell, for something like this he's probably got plans all the way down to Z. I should have known he'd get that package swapped out ASAP and leave us chasing after it while the real Egg got spirited away."

Hnrahnan's demeanor relaxed, her white fur settling back into place. "[How?]"

"Does it matter? We know that ship made a few stops before here, maybe he pulled a similar hack-job like we did."

"[How it was done might be important, [Oscar],]" said Rgarshok. She scratched her chin thoughtfully. "[Do you think [Martin] or his people have the technical knowledge to perform such a feat?]"

"I dunno. We should talk to Emma...oh, crap. I see what you're driving at."

Myyreh still looked puzzled, then her eyes widened. "[You think he's getting help from a [non-human]?]"

Now Hnrahnan had a thoughtful look on her face similar to that of the Captain. "[It's possible. There are political factions in the Senate who think the [human] uplift project is too timid.]"

Oscar rubbed the back of his neck. "Let's table that for now. We could backtrack and try to figure out how Martin pulled it off, but like the Captain said that'll waste a lotta time. I think we have to assume that the Egg's made it to Earth by now."

Hnrahnan slumped against the wall. "[Then we've lost. If [Martin] has the Egg, he's made copies of it. We'll never be able to get them all back.]"

Rgrarshok didn't look as defeated. "[Not necessarily. The Egg is a very complex mechanism and most fabbers wouldn't be able to handle its duplication. Any fabbers with that level of precision are on board the Zephyr Stations, kept under very tight security.]"

The Veridicator looked a little more upbeat upon hearing that. "[That helps, but not much. The Egg could be anywhere on an entire planet. Oh, and there's the little detail that only two people on board this ship can set so much as one [damned] toe on that planet.]"

Oscar cleared his throat. "As to the former problem I may have a solution." The three Dorarizin raised their ears in anticipation as he filled them in on what he'd just heard from the prisoners.

Rgrarshok crossed her arms. "[Hmm. That takes care of the 'where', now we need to figure out the 'how'.]"

"[We're gonna get it back?]" asked Myyreh. Her tail started wagging.

"I'm gonna get it back, honey-babe," said Oscar. "Well, me and Valentin will get it back. But first..." He pointed at the Veridicator, who narrowed her eyes at the gesture. "You and me need to talk. Privately."

----------------------------------------

Hnrahnan trailed after Oscar as they entered the gym. She looked around the padded expanse. "[Did you wish to spar?]"

"Nah." The gym's door slid shut, and Oscar fiddled with its control panel to set up a temporary lock. "I want to set a few things straight. To start, just how fanatical are you?"

"[What do you mean?]"

He turned to face her, his arms crossed. "Oh, come on. You're not an idiot. You know when I said I'd 'get' the Egg back, what I meant was 'steal'."

Hnrahnan sat on her haunches in front of him, staring down into his face. "[I know. I also know the necessity of such an action, deplorable as it might be. But my feelings are irrelevant. [Earth] isn't in Dorarizin space, so when we're there my jurisdiction will only extend to this ship.]"

"Your jurisdiction also extends to the actions of its crew."

"[And to you as well.]" She leaned down, letting Oscar get another good look at her dentition. He hoped that was just her version of a devious smile and not a threat display. "[The Captain claims you are her pack-mate, after all.]"

Oscar snorted. "Combining that factoid with your hard-on for pursuing justice makes any Egg-theft impossible. If we do this, you're gonna see me getting up to some questionable shit. Probably illegal shit. What guarantee do I have that you won't just haul me and my pack in front of an Inquisition board the moment I hand the Egg to you?"

"[I can't give you any guarantees.]" She leaned back out of his personal space. "[What I can say is that if you get the Egg back I won't dig into exactly how you all pulled it off. Just don't break any regulations in front of me.]"

Oscar sighed. "Okay. You know that...if you do fuck with us afterwards I will not rest until I tear you down."

Hnrahnan took in his threat with her usual imperturbable air. "[Of course.]"

He turned and unlocked the door.

"[So what's the next step?]"

"My next step is that I need to call in a...consultant. That's all I can tell ya."

----------------------------------------

The little email packet flitted its way through the endless spider-web snarl of the GalNet. It headed for a particular inbox; the name on that inbox was a long, trilling Karnakian name which roughly translated into 'Pillager-Of-Back-Of-Thigh'. The inbox's owner chose that name after seeing a particular Little-Needs-Protecting advertisement for one of their restaurant chains.

A pair of clawed hands tapped excitedly on a terminal, and a green-feathered crest rose in excitement as the inbox owner read the short email. Anyone reading over their shoulder wouldn't have understood the reason for that excitement; as a matter of fact, the hypothetical eavesdropper would have found the email's text rather rude.

Hey doofus, long time no steal. Got a bit of a challenge for you. Maybe we can make a deal? Me and the gang will be on ZS Ten in seven days. Get there and I'll make it worth your while. O.

----------------------------------------

Oscar relaxed against a very fake-looking 'tree' as he basked in the sight beyond the far transparent wall. This place had even less of a 'park-like' atmosphere than Kn''arnt. There wasn't even a holographic sun to cheer things up. None of that mattered, however, because of two reasons. The first reason was he wasn't the only human here. A multitude of his fellow sapients sat or stretched on lounges, with a few aliens scattered here and there among the mix. All of them looked as one towards the second reason, namely the view.

Earth hovered before them all, a blue-white globe streaked with clouds that obscured most of the continents. He could just make out Australia towards the bottom.

A pale blue Karnakian trotted into the viewing lounge and scanned the place. She carefully picked her way through the throng until she was on the other side of the 'tree' from Oscar. She mirrored his leaning posture, and the pair stared in silence at the planet.

After a few minutes, she broke the silence with a quiet statement. "[Nice planet.]"

"Thanks. I agree." He looked over and up at the newcomer, who continued to stare fixedly out the window. "Glad you could make it."

She didn't respond verbally, instead she gave the lounge another careful scan. "[This had better not be some stupid attempt at entrapment. Where's your bodyguard?]"

"She's around. Just ta keep an eye on me, not to record what we're saying. You have a good trip?"

The Karnakian snorted. "[It was a gigantic pain in my tailfeathers. Do you have any idea how strictly they regulate traffic to [Earth]?]"

Oscar chuckled. "Consider it your audition. We had to find out if you were nothing but talk."

The thief known only as 'The Silken Feather' finally turned and glared down at him as she poked the sky-blue feathers covering her own keeled chest. She kept her voice low in spite of her evident anger. "[it was a real and true pain in my sphincter, you little menace! This isn't a hologram, I had to dye myself!]" She looked back out at Earth and let out a hmph of annoyance. "[It's gonna be ages before I'm the proper coloration again.]"

"So why come at all?" asked Oscar. "That job you pulled on Ngrnahsh-Six must have netted a pretty penny."

She sighed and slumped against the 'tree'. "[You knew that was me?]"

"Weeell, more like I suspected it. Seriously, though, I figure you cleared twenty million."

The Silken Feather shrugged. "[Close enough. I now have what you [humans] call [fuck-you money].]"

"And yet now you're here."

"[I'm here because I'm really [fucking] bored! Now, do you have a challenge for me or not?]"

Oscar reached up and gave her chest a few calming pats. "I do. Short version is we're dealing with something like that Claw nonsense. Somebody stole something, we need to steal it back."

The Silken Feather let out a thoughtful trill. "[Yes, it would make sense you would need my expertise. The security systems on board these Zephyr Stations are first-rate.]"

"Oh, it's not here," said Oscar. He pointed silently out the window towards his homeworld.

Her crest went flat against her head in shock. "[Oh.]" She rallied and her crest fluffed up again. "[Well, yes, that'll make this caper much more interesting. What are you offering me in return?]"

Stolen story; please report.

"Amnesty."

She reacted with a chirping laugh that she quickly muffled by throwing a hand over her own snout. A few of the spectators looked curiously over at her, then back out the window again. "[You're joking,]" she muttered to Oscar. "[There's no way that straight-laced Captain of yours would tolerate such a thing.]"

"The offer's not from her. You don't understand just how badly the Senate wants this particular dingus back. If you help us achieve that, they'll wipe your slate clean. You can be an upstanding member of Galactic society again...provided you keep out of trouble, of course."

"[Of course,]" she responded absently. "[It's funny. Two years ago I would have laughed in your face. I always thought that what I wanted most was a giant pile of money, enough so that I could live like a queen without a care in the world.]"

She continued to stare, and after a minute of silence spoke again. "[This item of interest...I'm assuming it's in a secured facility?]"

"Yep. Very secure, if our intel is correct."

"[I'll help, on one additional condition. I need to be there when the theft goes down.]"

"Be there?" Oscar's eyes widened as the penny dropped. He lowered his voice. "There's no fucking way. No aliens are allowed on Earth, period."

"[I know.]"

"There's not gonna be any sightseeing, if that's what you're after. You couldn't so much as poke your snout out of whatever bolt-hole we stash you in."

"[That's not my motive. Something like this will involve very delicate timing; I can't be sitting up here at the mercy of a communications lag in case things go wrong. I'm not asking to take part in the theft itself, but I will need to be close by.]" Now it was her turn to give Oscar a few chest-pats. "[I know you'll be able to convince the others. Consider it your audition.]"

She turned and trotted off while Oscar shook his head.

----------------------------------------

Oscar paced along a bare metallic corridor as he made his way back to the Claw's docking cradle. He turned a corner and nearly ran face-first into Myyreh, who leaned casually against the wall with crossed arms.

"[The Captain won't accept it,]" she said. "[She still believes that thief put you in mortal danger.]" She bared her fangs. "[And so do I.]"

He growled. "I know. It's gonna take a lot of buttering-up for all y'all. Can you call the others? We definitely don't want this conversation within earshot of that Veridicator."

----------------------------------------

Valentin stretched out on his bed and gave a soft sigh of contentment. He'd taken advantage of their current location to rent a suite in the human sector of the Zephyr Station. It was wonderful to know that there were no giant frightening aliens anywhere near him, know that he didn't have to put up with being sleep-hugged by some slavering furry monster. Now he could finally relax and at last get a decent night's sleep.

The doorbell buzzed. Valentin grumbled as he roused himself back off of his bed and threw on a bathrobe. He padded in his bare feet over to the door's control panel. It lit up as he tapped it, its screen showing a smiling Oscar standing in the hallway.

Valentin tapped the 'open' button with another annoyed grumble. "What you want at this hour..." he began as the door slid open.

The Commander glimpsed a blur of gray fur before found himself hoisted in the air by a pair of giant paws clamped around his hips. Those same paws very carefully and very quickly set him back on his bed in a standing position.

"[Very sorry,]" said Rgrarshok. "[Emergency meeting, can we borrow your room?]"

Valentin looked at the triple rows of fangs now mere inches from his face and swallowed his instinctive refusal. "Er, of course?"

In another eyeblink his apartment was packed tight with fur and fangs as the rest of the Claw's crew squeezed into the less-than-spacious accommodations. Valentin wound up pressed right against Rgrarshok on one side and Bgrarh on the other as the pair sat on his bed. He glared up at Oscar, who now sat on Myyreh's shoulder like an ungainly parrot. The target of his anger responded with an apologetic shrug.

"We'll be out of your hair in no time," said Oscar.

Valentin tried to worm his way out from in between his giant bookends, only for Bgrarh to reach down with one paw and lift him up onto the Dorarizin's shoulder. "[Sorry, is that better?]"

It was humiliating, but at least now he didn't feel suffocated. "Da, thanks." He looked around from his new perch and realized there was one particular giant alien missing. "This involves that zampolit?"

"[In a way,]" said Rgarshok. "[[Oscar] has met with the 'consultant', and he wanted to give his report without her presence. So what did our person of interest say?]"

Oscar gave a disgusted grunt. "She'll do it in exchange for amnesty. But she insists on being nearby when shit goes down."

"What? You mean she wants to be on Earth?" asked Valentin. "Impossible."

Rgrarshok growled, and the vibration from that shook through Valentin thanks to the tight quarters. "[I agree with [Valentin]. I was barely able to tolerate offering amnesty to that [twerp]. I can't allow her to violate [Earth's] sovereignty, even if we manage to keep it a secret.]"

"Is the thief's help necessary?" added Valentin. "Emma, you were able to hack that Jornissian ship's network. Human security should be piece of cake."

Egwreh let out a grunt of protest, smashed as she was in between Myyreh and Ngralh. The engineer wriggled herself around to face Valentin and shrugged an ear in response to his question. "[It's not a simple matter of hacking. We're after a physical object, not information.]"

"[True,]" said Rgrarshok. "[A theft like this will require the appropriate experience. Experience which most of us don't have.]" She looked pointedly at Oscar.

"Hey, whaddya mean by that?" protested the object of her study.

The Captain's gaze didn't waver. "[Don't act all innocent at me, you little snot.]"

Oscar sighed. "All right, all right. Regarding expertise...neither me or Valentin can take direct part in this heist. Martin knows us, knows we're gunning for 'im. He and his people will be looking out for us. So we need to recruit other humans for this. I know a couple of guys who can help. How about you, Valya?"

Valentin managed to suppress a shudder as a host of alien eyes focused on him. "I too know some people. If they are still alive, of course."

"Naturally," said Oscar. "Thora's filled me in on the security around the Egg. Even with a first-rate crew it'll be a coin-toss as to whether they succeed or not."

"I agree," said Valentin. "Especially since Thora's information is out of date. Will need to do our own reconnaissance, which increases chance of being caught."

Rgrarshok let out a soft growl of frustration. "[With the aid of that...errgh...'Silken Feather' creature, I assume those odds become better?]"

The two humans nodded in tandem.

"[All right,]" sighed the Captain. "[I'll look the other way. Just make sure that Hnrahnan doesn't catch the slightest whiff of this.]"

"Should at least brief her on the Egg's location and security," said Valentin.

For once the Captain looked surprised. "[What? Why?]"

"She may have some notions of what to do." He shrugged. "And if you need her distracted, I could use her help with something less secret." He looked down at the aliens packed in around him. "Now all of you get out of my room. I need to sleep."

----------------------------------------

The next 'morning', Valentin found himself back in the Claw's rec lounge with the rest of the crew. He deliberately chose a position next to Hnrahnan; the Russian still wasn't quite at ease around the Veridicator, but he was now able to stand there without flinching.

Hnrahnan, in turn, wasted no time in getting to the point. "[I told you, I don't want to know what you're up to. Why involve me in this?]"

"[You still have valuable experience,]" replied Rgrarshok. "[We just want to show you the scope of the problem. Any ideas you have would be welcome.]"

Oscar stepped towards the main display that stretched along one side of the rec lounge. "Captain, can you call up Thora's schematic?"

As Rgrarshok nodded an ear, the display lit up. An aerial view of an air base appeared, complete with multiple runways that ran at angles to each other. A forest of buildings surrounded the runway complex, and the whole affair was in turn surrounded by real forest.

"Back when the USA was a going concern, this place was called Elmendorf Air Force Base," said Oscar. He pointed at a square metal building set towards the end of one runway. "This here is officially a warehouse for storing excess food rations. Unofficially, of course, it's the top floor of an underground complex."

The display rotated to horizontal, and beneath the indicated building was a cruder sketch of various subterranean levels. "Ten levels overall," continued Oscar. "The Egg is probably here, in a lab on the bottom level." He pointed at a small room in the very center of the bottom level. "The security system requires biometric scans and IDs to descend into each successive level. Every inch of it is covered with a camera network that ties into a central server room here." Oscar pointed to another room located on the fifth level, again set in the very center.

He turned away from the display to address Hnrahnan. "Without going into incriminating detail, the current plan is to put together a human-only team, break into the place, and retrieve the Egg."

The Veridicator clicked her teeth as she thought. "[You know some competent, er, 'retrieval experts'?]"

"Yep," replied Oscar with a grin.

"[Part of that excitingly vague portion of your career?]"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that, ma'am."

"[Hmph. I hope for your sake they're good.]"

Valentin placed a hand on her bicep. "Da. Between he and I, we know the best of the worst."

She looked down in surprise at his comforting hand, then back up at him with an expression that the Russian couldn't identify. "[Very well.]" She turned to address the room in general. "[I thank you all for keeping me up to date. I'll have a look through those schematics as well, if I think of anything I'll let you know.]"

As the meeting broke up, Valentin turned to leave only to be stopped by a white-furred paw on his shoulder. "[May we talk?]" asked Hnrahnan.

He controlled the unease in his stomach as he turned towards her. "Of course. Problem?"

"[No, I just wanted to make sure things were...what's that [human] word...'cool' between us?]"

Valentin laughed. "Da, we are 'cool'." His smile relaxed into an utterly evil grin as he realized she'd given him a golden opportunity to pursue his other plan. "Actually, there is one thing you might be able to do for me."

The Veridicator's tail wagged ever-so-slightly. "[What do you require?]"

"First, need to know just how high your Veridicator rank goes when on board a Zephyr Station..."

----------------------------------------

Antal Soma leaned back in his office chair and massaged his temples. He felt the tiny warning throb of an incipient headache. His 'official' position meant that he had to deal with a lot of stupid paperwork on top of dealing with any behind-the-scenes drama. That latter drama had become so very heated as of late, and for the umpteenth time Antal cursed the American cowboy whose headstrong behavior had kicked off the current crisis.

His comm unit beeped. The deep bass voice of his secretary emerged from it. "Someone to see you sir." The latter's face didn't appear on the screen, which was odd. What was odder was that Antal didn't have any meetings scheduled for today. One of the perks of his position was the intricate and interleaved layers of bureaucracy and secretarial neglect that shielded him from having to deal with anything resembling the 'general public'.

Antal took his fingers away from his head. "What? Send them away. Tell them to schedule a proper appointment."

His secretary's voice rose an octave. "I can't, sir! Not this one! Hey, you can't go through there..."

Antal heard a dull squonk as five jet-black claws speared through the door leading to his office. The bureaucrat gripped the arms of his chair in panic as those claws dragged his office door aside with a shriek of protesting servomotors. He lunged for the comm unit next to his desk as a barrel-chested man in unmarked fatigues stepped through the now-open doorway.

Before he could touch the unit, the intruder pulled its screen away from his fingers. With a casual strength, the man in fatigues tore the unit from its supporting arm. Antal shrank back in his chair as a white-furred Dorarizin squeezed her way into his office behind the newcomer. The human handed the comm unit over his shoulder to the giant alien, who tore it in two with the nonchalant air of someone breaking apart a fresh-baked dinner roll.

"Greetings," said the intruder, "Do you remember what I promised you? I know you were on that call."

Antal recognized his voice instantly, even though that voice had been screaming the last time he'd heard it. "Maksimov?" he squeaked.

The Commander leaned forward and planted his fists on Antal's desk. "Promised I would burn down whoever authorized it. You know who it was, you know how to reach him. Tell Martin. This is his one chance. Give it up, we go quietly. Nobody needs to know, all trouble goes away. He keeps it, All. Bets. Are. Off. Understand?"

The bureaucrat sat in shock, unable to speak until Valentin reached across the desk and slapped him.

"Understand?"

The mild blow seemed to give Antal his voice back. "You...you can't be in here! You have no authority!"

Valentin's mouth curled up in a lopsided smile. "Beg to differ." He pointed a thumb behind him at the pure-white Dorarizin looming over the pair. "She makes a zampolit look like a janitor. Give Martin message, or we come back. She can't hurt you, but she has no problem standing aside and watching while I hurt you."

With no further word, Valentin turned and marched out of the office. The Dorarizin followed suit after giving Antal a long and unreadable stare.

----------------------------------------

Rory Jenkins let out a faint wheeze and brushed his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes. He continued his climb up the stairwell, wondering for not the first time why he'd chosen the top floor of a five-story walk-up for his residence. The answer to that question was obvious; it started with an 'M' and ended with 'Oney'. Rory's threadbare suit hung off of his slope-shouldered, bear-like frame like a carnival tent under imminent threat of collapse.

He reached the top of the stairs and turned left, heading down the shabby hallway towards his apartment. He paused outside his door when he didn't see the the small hair which he'd left plastered next to the doorknob.

Rory didn't give any outward sign of distress; instead, his right arm moved very slightly against his chest and brushed up against the small pistol holstered under his armpit. Thus reassured, he smoothed his fingers against his neatly-trimmed beard and then without further hesitation opened the door.

The door led into his kitchen, and his hazel eyes scanned around the nondescript, beige-colored room as he shut the door behind him. There was nothing out of place; at least, nothing he could see. The living room beyond was mostly dark, lit only by the bulb from the kitchen's overhead light.

Rory walked towards the kitchen's entrance and as he entered the living room he caught a flicker of movement to his left. With a fluid movement that belied his ungainly appearance he drew his pistol and aimed it at the hulking shadow sitting in the far corner of his apartment.

That shadow leaned forward and placed a open bottle on his coffee table, sliding it forward. With its other hand, the shadow set a pair of glasses next to the bottle. The intruder spoke in a voice which Rory instantly recognized; it was a voice that he'd never expected to hear again.

"Relax, my man. I come in peace."

Rory kept any shock off of his face. He cocked the pistol and brought up his other hand to support his firing stance. "Oscar. What do you want?"

Oscar leaned forward into the cone of light from the kitchen. His face was set in a smug smile. "Why do you think I want something?"

"Because you're you."

His 'visitor' sighed and leaned back, casting his face back into shadow once more. "I suppose I deserve that. I do have a job for you, but it does pay well. Have a seat. Have a drink. Let's talk."

"You drink first, then we talk."

After a brief pause, Oscar shrugged and poured himself a shot of brown liquor. He downed it in a single gulp, then coughed. "Whoof! Shit, I guess I'm out of practice with this stuff."

With slow caution, Rory un-cocked his weapon. He then stowed it with the same liquid competence with which he'd drawn it. "Mind turning on a damn light?"

Oscar reached up and snapped on the lamp behind him. He smiled at Rory while the man seated himself across from his unexpected guest. Without a word Rory reached forward and grabbed the bottle to pour his own and more substantial shot. He took a sip of that portion and closed his eyes in momentary bliss.

"Sure can't fault your taste in liquor," said Rory. He opened his eyes. "Now what the fuck are you doing planetside? Word on the street was you went into the xeno placement program."

"Word on the street was right," replied Oscar.

Rory gave a grunt of surprise. "Hmm...so it was all a ruse, eh? What's the play?"

Oscar's smile settled down into a slight Cheshire grin. "No play."

The shaggy man blinked as Oscar's words sank in. "Wait. So this job is from...?" He trailed off as he pointed his thumb at the ceiling.

"Yep."

Rory took another long sip. "How good's the pay?"

"How good do you want it?"

"This is that big of a deal?"

Oscar nodded.

Another sip. "Alright. How hard is the job?"

"The hardest. But then again, you're the best damn legerdemain I've ever seen."

Rory narrowed his eyes. "You're not wrong and I regret teaching you anything. That said, flattery will get ya everywhere." After another moment of consideration, he sighed and leaned back in his chair. He propped his glass on top of his protruding belly. "All right. I sure could use the cash. Write this amount down..."