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ducted fans rotated full down and turbines whining. Almost as soon as the hydraulic landing skids settled under the weight of the flier, the hatch opened and The’On climbed down the three folding steps to the pad, ears fanned wide and a broad smile of greeting illuminating his face. He was dressed casually, at least by his standards: a red silk tunic and baggy trousers trimmed in broad black embroidered lace, with two Chinese characters on the left breast. A lot of wealthy Varoki had taken to classical Chinese clothing styles in the last few years but had no idea what the decorative lettering meant. I was pretty sure The’On did. It was not something he would take for granted.
    “Sasha, it is good to see you alive,” he said, shaking my hand. The Human form of greeting had gained popularity among Varoki until the traditionalists like Gaant started raising a stink about anything Human. You didn’t see as much of it anymore, but that never stopped The’On .
    “I’m fine. It’s good to have you here. Do you know Mr. ah-Quan?”
    “Yes, I believe we met last year. May you and your blood prosper.” He didn’t offer his hand. Zacks don’t like to be touched, at least not by non-Zacks. I’d never heard them say so, but I suspected they found us as physically repulsive as we found them. Maybe that’s why they always seemed so cranky.
    “Am well,” he answered, the voice from his upper mouth strangely nasal and high-pitched. You always expected a rumbling bass to come out of that massive body.
    My eyes flicked back to the hatch. Borro, The’On’s Varoki bodyguard, filled the opening. He turned his head, taking in the immediate area, memorizing everything just in case. Then his eyes found mine and he nodded, a very slight smile on his lips.
    “Come on, let’s head to the family complex,” I said. “We’ll help carry your things.”
    The’On smiled at that. His profession took him to a lot of residences of the rich and powerful throughout the Cottohazz , but I was pretty sure ours was the only one where he got to carry his own bags. Keeping servants to a minimum was good for security. It wasn’t bad for the soul, either.
    I’d reserved a private autopod which would get us to the main atrium facing the family complex up on level 237. It was more secure than the public elevators and let us talk in private on the way there.
    “So how are things on K’Tok? Still the lush green paradise I remember?”
    He looked at me, his ears cocked unevenly in a way that made me smile. “The autumn was lovely and no one shot at me this time, if that is what you mean. But there is growing unrest in the old colonies ever since last year, when Humans began illegally settling the western continent and the Utaan Archipelago. At least the Varoki settlers have put aside their animosities, united in their common hostility to their new Human neighbors.”
    “You can always count on us Humans to bring people together,” I said.
    Ah-Quan laughed and then belched. You’d never know the Zacks have a sense of humor just looking at them, but they do—a finely honed appreciation for irony. Borro, sitting in the seat across from him, nodded in agreement.
    * * *
    The main entrance to the family complex was off the northwest atrium on what was called the Executive Layer, which was basically everything above Level Two Hundred. From the complex’s outer foyer we had to go through an elaborate security routine to get into the inner foyer, and then another different one to get into the main apartment, routines which required not only passwords but also a retinal scan and DNA sample. Tweezaa’s late father, Sarro e-Traak, had built this complex six years earlier with security in mind. If he’d have stayed in it, he’d probably be alive today, Marr would still be a market consultant to the rich and powerful, and I’d be dead—or head of the rackets on Peezgtaan and wishing I was dead.
    The inner foyer opened onto the suites for the live-in