“What other means?” Gedge snorted. “You think you can sue us. There isn’t—”

“Gedge,” Hosato said softly. “Remember what Ravensteel hired me for. What I did for Ravensteel, I can do to Ravensteel. Tell that to your board of directors and see if they don’t think a hundred thousand isn’t a real bargain.”

There was a moment of silence before Gedge answered.

“I’ll tell them, Hosato,” he said finally. “But if you think you can—”

“Yes, I think I can.” Hosato smiled. “And I’m willing to bet they think I can, too. I’ll be in touch later with details on the payment.”

He signaled Rick to break contact.

“Well,” he said, turning to Sasha, “what do you think. You know the corporate mind. Do you think they’ll pay?”

Instead of answering, Sasha took the speaker mike from his hand and passed it to James.

“Here, kid,” she said. “Take this up to Rick. And stay up there awhile. I want to talk to Hosato.”

The boy’s eyes darted between the two of them; then he nodded and left.

“Okay, Hosato,” she said slowly. “You want to know what I think. Well, here it is. I don’t think they’ll pay. They probably wouldn’t have paid anyway, but when you toss in a few threats, that’s extortion and they’ll never budge there. They can’t. If they pay now, you can come back next year with the same threat, and the next year, until they’re bled dry. Corporations don’t pay extortionists.”

“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” Hosato admitted.

“So I don’t think they’ll pay. What I do think they’ll do, what I’d do if I were in Gedge’s place, is stall. They’ll tell you all the directors aren’t available, or they need time to raise the cash, or a dozen other things to gain time. In the meantime, they’ll send assassins after you. They have to. You’re too dangerous to them to be left alone.”

“Whom will they send?” he asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “That’s more your line than mine. I imagine they could hire a pack of them for less than a hundred thousand. Hell, Gedge hates you enough to do it for free.”

Hosato lapsed into thoughtful silence.

When he had refused to kill Sasha or James, he knew he was risking punitive action from his family. Now that he was outside, he posed a greater threat to the family security than either Sasha or James. It was only logical that the family would try to find him and kill him. He had hoped to have a period of grace while the various members tried to fit it into their work schedule, but it seemed that chance was gone. Since profit always came first, if Ravensteel offered them the contract, if they could show a profit and at the same time plug a security leak, the assignment would suddenly gain top-priority status.

He wondered if they would send his sister, or if his grandfather would personally…

Sasha laid a hand on his shoulder, breaking his train of thought “Hey!” she said softly. “It won’t be all that bad. There’ll be two of us… three if James comes along. We don’t die easy, remember?”

Instead of replying, he took her in his arms and held her tightly. Eventually he’d have to tell her about the real odds they faced. Eventually… but not now.