"Mr. Montgomery," he said. "I'm so glad you saw fit to contact me. Can you please do me a large favor and tell me just what the frag is going on?"

I mentally flinched at the ferocity of his words. I'd never seen Barnard lose his temper, and I'd never expected to see it. I wished I'd been able to forgo the pleasure. "Tokudaiji's dead," I told him.

"I do understand that," he said coldly. "I would like to assume that you were not responsible-"

"You got that right," I said fervently. Then I went on to give him a capsule description of what had gone down. He didn't interrupt or ask any questions, but I could see his brain spinning at 1,000 rpm behind his eyes. "I thought Scott was one of yours," I finished at last.

"A reasonable assumption," he acknowledged slowly, "since it was the same one I had made." He paused. "What is the… the tenor of the islands, concerning this matter?"

"I don't know directly," I told him. "but I can guess how things are going to shake out. You were using Tokudaiji to counter ALOHA's 'corps out' rhetoric, weren't you? When word gets around that a corp hitter whacked him"-I raised my hand to forestall the inevitable objection-"I know you're saying Scott didn't do the dirty deed on Yamatetsu's behalf, but who's going to believe that?"

"Even you have some difficulty believing it," he put in incisively.

I didn't have to acknowledge it; he could see it in my eyes, no doubt. "Anyway," I went on doggedly, "ALOHA's. going to be able to play this one for all it's worth. 'Corps cack defender of the common people,' and all that bulldrek. They'll have the people behind them, and they'll be able to give you some serious grief."

"They would be exceptionally foolish to try," Barnard said flatly. There are individuals in the corporate sphere with less… restraint… than I. And many of them have close connections with Zurich-Orbital and the Corporate Court." He paused. "Still, I have to agree with your analysis."

"Well, that makes me feel just so warm and fuzzy inside," I said sarcastically. "Get me the frag out of here, Barnard, Now. Hawai'i's getting a little too hot for me, if you'll pardon the wordplay."

Barnard smiled, but there was no real amusement in the expression. "Impossible at the moment, I'm afraid," he said flatly. "Perhaps in a week or two…"

"I'll be dead in a day or two."

"Not if you use those skills that so impressed me during our first acquaintance," he pointed out. Normally I like an ego-stroke as much as the next slag, but this one grated on me. I kept my reactions under control, though. "There is a further small matter on which I would value your assistance," he went on.

"A further…?" I laughed out loud. "Frag you, Barnard, and the hog you rode in on. Your last 'small matter' is already going to get me geeked."

"I understand your animosity," the corporator said reasonably. "I would assure you that I had no intention for things to turn out this way… but of course you wouldn't believe me." He paused.

"Mr. Montgomery," he went on, leaning forward intently, "it is exceptionally important that we be clear about this. There are larger matters at work here than the death of an oyabun… and certainly larger than the fate of an erstwhile shadowrunner from the Sioux Nation." His mouth quirked into an ironic smile. "Larger than the senior vice president of a megacorporation, if it comes down to that.

"I need you to make one more contact, Mr. Montgomery."

"No fragging deal," I told him. "Not after the last one. Frag, you want me to 'contact' the CEO of Renraku, maybe, watch him get splattered, and then spend the rest of my short life running from the Red Samurai as well? No dice."

"That is unfortunate," he said sadly. 'Truly unfortunate. If that's your final position…"

"It is."

"… Then your death is assured. Followed by the deaths of others-perhaps many others. However…"

He let the thought hang, like a baited hook dangled in front of the nose of a fish. I hated myself for it, but I wanted to hear that "however."

"However" Barnard continued slowly, "if you were to help me in this, you would be in a position to still the turmoil that all this has caused. You would save the lives of countless others. And, incidentally, you would find yourself under the protection of those who even the yakuza's soldiers would think twice before challenging. Once the situation has settled down, there would be no problem-no problem whatsoever-in… extracting… you from the islands, and returning you to wherever on the mainland you may wish to go. With, I should point out, the gratitude of Yamatetsu Corporation, expressed both in monetary and other terms."

Frag, I knew I was hooked, and I knew Barnard knew. It wasn't much of a choice really, was it? "Die now, or maybe get out of this with skin intact." Kind of a no-brainer, all in all, neh?"

I sighed resignedly. "Whom do you want me to contact?"

"A gentleman by the name of Gordon Ho."

I choked at dial one. "Gordon Ho? King fragging Kamehameha the fragging Fifth? The fragging Ali'i? What the frag have you been slotting? Jesus!"

Barnard just watched me calmly as I ran down. "That is who I mean."

"Why don't you just ask me to go deliver a fragging pizza to Dunkelzahn, or something?"

"I understand your reaction," the corporator said calmly, "but you, in turn, must understand the importance of this. It is necessary-vitally necessary-to reassure the Ali'i that there was no corporate involvement in the assassination of Ekei Tokudaiji. Which there was not"

"Call him yourself, for frag's sake."

"Impossible," Barnard shot back. His voice was totally calm and controlled, and at that moment I hated him for it

"Why impossible? Frag, Barnard, you're Yamatetsu, for frag's sake. How many commo satellites does Yamatetsu own? Send him a screened and encrypted message-"

He cut me off again. "Impossible," he repeated. "For various reasons, actually. The first is that a face-to-face meeting will almost certainly be required to set his doubts at rest."

'Then you go see him!"

Barnard chuckled. "I wish I could, actually. I had the chance to meet Gordon Ho on several occasions-he and my son went to university together, as a matter of fact-and I would enjoy the chance to talk to him again." I digested that one; I didn't even know Barnard had a son, couldn't picture him doing anything so normally human as popping kids. "Still, the political situation is such that a senior corporate executive cannot be seen visiting the Ali'i of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. How much do you understand about the political situation in the islands?"

"I've had other things on my mind, if you hadn't noticed," I pointed out dryly.

The suit chuckled again. "Quite." He paused. "You do know how Gordon Ho's father-Danforth Ho, King Kamehameha IV-ascended the throne, though?"

I thought I knew where he was leading. "Deals with the megacorps, among other things."

"Correct. There were many of Danforth Ho's advisors who counseled against making deals with the… the corporate devil. They were outraged when Ho made the deals initially. They were even more outraged when he stood by those deals, after Secession."

"Have you heard of Na Kama'aina?"

"Of course. I'm not totally brain-dead."

"I never thought you were," Barnard said, stroking for all he was worth. "Then you will understand that there is still a large and powerful Na Kama'aina faction within the government?"

I nodded. That jibed with what I'd scanned from the suborbital's data system during the flight in.

"The Ali'i must balance economic realities with popular perceptions," Barnard continued smoothly. "He must not be perceived to be too close to the corporate interests, while still maintaining the status quo. Can you imagine what the Na Kama'aina opposition would make of a private meeting-and it would have to be private-between King Kamehameha V and a senior representative of a megacorporation with extensive financial interest in the islands?"