I rejoined the land of the living. I don’t know how long I was unconscious, but I kept my head down and my eyes shut and allowed myself exactly thirty seconds of wallowing. Thirty seconds to curse my luck, Finn’s absence, and the universe in general. Then I took a deep breath, steadied myself, and started thinking. I was sitting in a chair. My hands weren’t tied. My neck and head hurt like hell from where Mr Intimidating had electrically coshed me, but I didn’t feel as though anything else untoward had happened. I listened. I could hear Krenz and another man talking. They were speaking quietly so I couldn’t hear what they were saying, which was a shame. I took a moment to reflect.

The shards. That was the key to all of this. I couldn’t just escape again and leave them behind. Krenz clearly might know their true value, or he wouldn’t have been playing cat-and-mouse with me; but I reckoned my earlier thoughts were probably on the money. He never was the brightest button in the box and I was betting he had no idea what to do with them He knew, in broad terms what they were probably for - let’s face it, he’d worked for the Collector for long enough to be able to guess that much, but I was pretty sure he had no idea what to do next. Also, I was fairly certain that his henchmen were in it for the money and not much else. Which is why he’d brought me along. What would be the point otherwise? He didn’t strike me as some sort of slave trader and ghastly though he might be, I’d never noticed any inclination on his part towards sex - forced or otherwise, in fact, thinking about it, I would be surprised if he was interested in females at all in that way. Which meant he had me along for the knowledge he hoped I could bring. That meant I still had an edge. After realising this, I felt a whole lot better. Although I had no idea what I was going to do, I felt pretty sure I’d be able to do something.

I opened my eyes and sat up. “What does a lady have to do to get a drink of water around here?” I said.

“Ah Professor,” oiled Krenz, “Is nice you rejoin us.” He handed me a flask from which I drank thirstily. “Is interesting this ship,” he said, conversationally, “Is pretty smart machine, this gamma-level person AI thing. For Ship, paying passengers is passengers. All else is freight. Ship needs to keep all of load safe. Is contract. You not paying, so freight. My freight. So when you come untethered the ship tell me I have load problem. I send associate, who you know,” he pointed to Mr Intimidating, “he re-secure load. I’m happy. Ship happy. Clever system.” He smirked, self satisfied. I should have known, of course, it’s obvious really. That’s why the door to the storage space opened when I threatened to bash it. The Ship AI resolving an anomaly between a living entity and freight whilst keeping all of the Ship systems intact. Let me wander but tell the ‘freight owner or responsible person that freight is loose. I remembered the service drone I’d seen. That meant that escaping was definitely a non-starter so I needed a smarter plan.

“I very pleasant accommodations?” Krenz said, waiving around the space we were in, his smirk firmly in place, “I have VIP suite. Nobody bother us here. All very nice, very safe, very secure.”

I almost laughed out loud. I mean, a “suite?” He had to be kidding. It looked more like a repurposed, over-sized toilet cubicle, minus the toilet but with a rug thrown over the grated floor and a couple of ancient stained chairs. But, that’s Krenz for you. Sophistication personified.

“Well,” I said, leaning back in the chair and feigning nonchalance, “you’ve outdone yourself, Krenz. Really rolled out the red carpet for me, haven’t you?”

He grinned, showing large, somewhat uneven teeth that were too white to be his - or anyone else’s come to that. “For such important guest, is nothing too much.” He gestured to the table, where the shards were now laid out in a line.

“Ah, I see. You wanted me here for show-and-tell.”

“For show, maybe. For tell? That is what we need.” He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “You know what these are, Professor. I know you know. So maybe now, you tell me. What is special? This is load of old tat. You go to all that trouble with scanner and dummy safety kit and whole pantomime for these? You tell me now please.”

“Oh, Krenz,” I said, shaking my head. “If you don’t know that much, you’re already in over your head.”

His smile didn’t falter, but I caught the twitch in his jaw. He was good at playing the affable rogue, but I’d known him long enough to recognise when I was getting under his skin.

“Do not worry for me,” he said, his voice still honeyed but with an edge. “I have what I need. And you are here because you make it easier. Maybe you help, maybe you not help. Either way, I get paid, I think.”

“And what’s your plan, exactly? March into L1 Station, call the Collector, sit thirty, forty, a hundred and fifty years for him to arrive from wherever he is in the galaxy and then hope he just hands over a sack of credits for your trouble?”

Krenz chuckled, leaning back and spreading his arms wide. “Ah, Professor, you think I am fool. But I am not. I know Collector is capable of getting to where he needs to be pretty damn quick. I know he not just pay for pretty lights and shiny pieces. Is why I bring you. You explain how they work, yes? Then everyone happy. Collector get his shards. You get to leave alive and meet stupid mooning boy. And I get rich.”

“Do you, though?” I said, tilting my head. “Get rich, I mean. Because here’s the thing: the Collector isn’t exactly known for generosity. He’s known for taking what he wants and eliminating loose ends. And let’s face it, Krenz, as far as the Collector is concerned, you’re the loosest end there is.”

His smile faltered, just for a moment.

“Maybe, maybe not,” he said, though his tone wasn’t as confident as before. “He knows I see opportunity. Knows I make most of what I find. Yes we had altercation. Is just difference of opinion. Such things are not in the way of business.”

“Or,” I said, leaning forward, “he thinks you’re an expendable impediment to his work. An inconvenient meddler. OK to do grunt work but not smart enough to understand what you’re handling. Why would he even listen to you?”

He scowled, but before he could respond, the door slid open, and in walked Mr. Intimidating.

Krenz turned to me. “Is not for you to question. Is for you to answer. What they do, Professor? How they work?”

I stared at the shards, feigning reluctance. “And if I don’t tell you?”

“Then,” Krenz said, gesturing to Mr. Intimidating, “maybe my associate helps you find motivation. He very good at…how you scientists describe it? Oh yes, kinetic persuasion.”

“Charming,” I muttered. “Fine. I’ll tell you what you want to know. But not here.”

Krenz raised an eyebrow. “Not here? And why not?”

“Because,” I said, injecting just the right amount of exasperation into my voice, “these things aren’t exactly stable. You start messing around with them in a small ship falling through the vacuum, and you’re liable to blow a hole in your plans. You want me to explain how they work? Maybe. But we do it on L1 Station, where we get hold of the proper equipment.”

He eyed me suspiciously. “You think I am idiot?”

“I know you’re an idiot, Krenz,” I said, “but even you aren’t stupid enough to risk handling those shards without proper containment. I’m trying to save your life here as well as mine.”

He didn’t like that. His lips pressed into a thin line, and for a moment, I thought he might call my bluff. But then he glanced at the shards and I saw the doubt in his eyes.

“Fine,” he said finally. “We do it your way. But you try anything, and my associate will make sure you regret it.”

“Understood,” I said, smiling sweetly.

The ship announced our approach to L1 Station controlled space. Krenz rose from his seat.

“Time to dock, Professor,” he said. Krenz thought he was in control, but if I could just dither until Finn arrived, and I was pretty sure he would, then there’s at least a possibility of a plan.