A door slid open and Captain Hoban walked through. He had a dazed look in his eyes, and Stan knew he could not have been awake for long.

"You're early out of the hypersleep, Captain:"

"Yes, sir. I had my dial set to get me up before the crew so I could pull myself together and have a talk with you."

"I suppose it is time we had that," Stan said. "I want to thank you again for throwing in your lot with me. I don't know where this will end up, but I'm glad to be on this adventure with you."

"Yes, sir. Could you tell me what it is exactly we are going to tell the crew?"

Julie, seated nearby, said, "Yes, Stan, I'd like to know myself."

Stan nodded. "We'll give a slightly altered version of what's going on."

"Are we on course, then?" Hoban asked.

"Yes. I fed the coordinates for AR-32 into the navigational computer."

"AR-32? I think I've heard of the place," Hoban said. "Wasn't there some trouble there a while back?" "There was."

"Then why are we going there, sir?"

"We're pretty sure there's an alien super-hive on that planet, which apparently won't support anything else. A Bio-Pharm ship has been in orbit around AR-32, and my information is that they have been illegally harvesting royal jelly."

"Yes, sir. I understand. But what does that have to do with us?"

"I have a right to my share in that matter," Stan said. "Julie and I are going to relieve them of some of their plunder. Royal jelly is like pirate's gold, Hoban. It belongs to whoever takes it."

"Yes, sir. I don't have much trouble with that concept, though Gill might. But what bothers me, sir, is, does that mean we'll have to kill bugs?"

"It could come to that," Stan said, "though it is not the primary intention of our expedition."

"And might it not involve killing Bio-Pharm people, if we have to?"

Stan stared at him. "Yes, it could come to that. I don't expect them to be too happy about our taking what they have come to regard as their own, but frankly, I don't much care what they feel. No one gives up pirate's gold easily. If they insist on making a fight of it... Well, we'll take care of ourselves."

Hoban nodded, though he didn't look happy. "I suppose that follows, sir. But I wish you had told me all this beforehand."

"Would you not have come?" Stan said. "Would you seriously have preferred to stay down-and-out in that crummy boardinghouse I found you in?"

"No, I don't wish to be back there," Hoban said. "I'm just considering the situation."

"Then think about this," Stan said. "This situation could make you rich. Julie and I intend to share our profits with you and the crew. They'll get a small percentage for the dangers they'll run. It won't be much out of our shares, but it'll be more money than they ever saw before."

"Sounds good, sir," Hoban said. But he was still worried. What good was it to be rich if you were also dead?

The time was nearing to wake the crew from hypersleep. The flight was almost at an end. Their destination, the planet AR-32, was coming up on the screens, a glowing dot in the dark sky. June knew this would be her last time alone with Stan for a long time.

There was a lot to do, a lot of last-minute details to attend to, and she didn't know when she and Stan would get some quiet time alone. Maybe not until they had finished the expedition—or to call it by its true name, their raid. And that could take time. And if everything didn't go just right...

Julie shook her head irritably. There was no sense thinking about failure. Hadn't Shen Hui instilled that much in her?