"Well, you would know what's really in those crates, wouldn't you?" Kellan muttered. Lothan's expression darkened.

"I know it may be costing me a fair amount," he replied quietly.

"Let's start with our percentage off the top," G-Dogg said. He began prying the tops off the crates, and Kellan suddenly got the feeling it was like Christmas for the shadowrunners. The Street Deacon acquired a pair of Ares Predators, the Mark III model, which brought a genuine smile to the samurai's pale face. G-Dogg, Silver Max and Orion each chose two weapons, and Orion held out a sleek new Ares Crusader machine pistol to Kellan.

"Check it out," he said.

Kellan took the weapon and hefted it. It was relatively light, with an extended clip and burst-fire mode. She sighted along its barrel. It was a top-of-the-line gun, and she decided to keep it.

"If you're quite finished playing," Lothan said dryly, "time is money."

"My sentiments exactly," said another voice, and Kellan turned to see a woman enter the building. She was human, wearing a smart corporate pantsuit and a pale blue T-shirt. Her straight blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore sunglasses, despite the fact that it was the middle of the night. Kellan assumed the shades either contained electronics and a heads-up display, or they concealed their guest's cybereyes.

She carried a slim bag slung over her shoulder, and a small, flatscreen personal secretary in one hand.

"Ms. Johnson," Jackie said by way of greeting, and the woman nodded.

"So, then, what do we have?" she asked, walking past the shadowrunners toward the back of the truck. G-Dogg gave her a hand up, and she quickly took inventory of the contents of the crates, excepting the items removed by the shadowrunners. She scanned the barcode affixed to the outside of each crate, then spent a few moments tapping the screen of her pocket secretary. Then she stepped down from the back of the truck.

"A nice little haul," she pronounced, heading over to Jackie and presenting her with the pocket comp. The decker glanced at the screen, then looked over at Kellan, raising her eyebrows in a silent question.

Kellan joined the two women, and Jackie held out the pocket secretary for her to examine. She looked at the figures highlighted on the screen and did her best to maintain a poker face. The truth was, she had no idea what the weapons were worth, though Jackie had provided an estimate beforehand based on the shipping manifest, which was pretty close to the figure the buyer was offering. She looked back at the decker and nodded slightly, and Jackie returned her nod, taking the pocket comp back from Kellan and handing it to the buyer.

"Done," she said and the woman looked satisfied.

"Very well. I'll take possession from here, then?" Jackie looked at Kellan, who shrugged.

"Fine by me," she said. "We're out of here."

Ms. Johnson slotted a credstick into the pocket secretary and manipulated the keys. There was an electronic purr, then she withdrew the stick and passed it to Kellan.

"Certified credit," the woman said, "as agreed. I believe that concludes our business. Nice working with you. Jackie, if you have other merchandise like this to unload sometime, let me know."

"Of course," the decker said with a smile.

The shadowrunners moved to the far side of the building, where Jackie and G-Dogg's cars and Orion's motorcycle waited.

"Kellan, a moment of your time, if I may?" Lothan asked, motioning Kellan over to him. She glanced at the other shadowrunners, particularly Orion, in what she hoped was a confident and encouraging way.

"I'll be right there," she said. Then she and Lothan moved away from the group before the troll mage spoke again.

"You don't have anything to worry about," he began. "I don't bear grudges. They're not very productive, for one thing. When you've been around as long as I have, you learn that it's better to focus on the productive side of things.

"I do also appreciate your: discretion in this matter," Lothan continued. Kellan could tell that it was a difficult admission for the old troll. "That you didn't say anything to the others."

"And I'm not going to," Kellan said, "though I'm sure they've pretty much figured it out."

"Of course-they're not fools. Well, not most of them, anyway," Lothan said quietly, with a faint smile playing at the edges of his mouth.

"But I'd like to know," Kellan said. "What were you doing, Lothan?"

The troll shrugged. "Like I said, just business. Our Mr. Johnson wanted a little extra insurance to make sure things went well. He passed me off to his people as additional security but, of course, I was supposed to help ensure that the shipment fell into the Ancients' hands."

"So you knew. I mean, when I came to you, you knew:"

"About Brickman's plans? For the most part."

"But you said:"

"I told you to stay out of it," Lothan said firmly. "With good reason. I didn't see a need to inform you of my business, since Mr. Johnson was paying for discretion. I thought it was enough to dissuade you, but I see now I should have been more: forthcoming."

"It would have saved a lot of trouble if you had just told me the truth."

Lothan smiled tightly. "If you're looking for the truth, you had best get used to disappointment, my dear. In my experience, few people ever tell the truth, unless it suits their purposes, and even then it's rarely the whole truth."

"You could have just trusted me," Kellan replied, and Lothan's face became very serious.

"Kellan," he said gravely. "If you never pay attention to any other lesson I give you, heed this one: trust yourself and your own instincts, but if you want to survive and prosper in the shadows, then trust no one else. Ever." Then the troll smiled, showing his tusks and yellowed teeth. "Except for me, of course. Trust your honored teacher and mentor in all things." Kellan returned the smile, but felt no warmth from it in the chill of the dark and empty room.

"So," she said, "next lesson on Friday?"

Lothan nodded. "I'm looking forward to it. I now believe your potential far surpasses my initial assessment. I suspect instructing you will prove a very interesting experience."

Lothan glanced over to see Orion approaching. He gave Kellan a parting nod, then turned and lumbered off toward the other shadowrunners. Orion watched Lothan go with a cool glance before turning his attention to Kellan.

"G-Dogg and the others want to grab a drink and something to eat before they head home," he said. "I'm going to take off, but I wanted to say goodbye."

"You're part of this team," Kellan said. "You should come with us."

"I don't know:" Orion hesitated. "I hadn't really thought about it until now, but I don't really have anywhere else to go."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything that happened," Kellan apologized, somewhat lamely. She hugged her arms to her chest, unwilling to look at Orion. "I didn't mean for things to turn out this way."

"I made my own choices," the elf replied. "I could have easily ignored you, gone along with what Green Lucifer wanted."

"Why didn't you?" she asked.

"I guess: because you cared enough to do what you thought was right," Orion replied. "You took a real chance coming to me with what you found out. Most shadowrunners just assume the Johnson is double-dealing then and accept it as the price of doing business. They don't think about what happens to people they don't know. You did, and that's pretty damn rare in this world, Kellan."

"Fat lot of good it did," Kellan said. "In the end, I just got a lot of people killed."

"I think that's why most people don't bother trying to do what's right." Orion frowned. "There are no guarantees it will turn out the way you expect. You can only do your best."