The faces thoughtful. After some seconds, the commodore asked, "And who's we?"
"A number of citizens," Quillan said, "who have been rather unhappy since discovering that you, too, are interested in Lady Pendrake and her pals. We'd gone to considerable expense and trouble to ... well, her ladyship was scheduled to show up in Mezmiali, you know. And now she isn't going to show up there. All right, that's business. Twenty per—no hard feelings. Otherwise, it won't do you a bit of good to blow up the Star and the liner. There'd still be loose talk—maybe other complications, too. You know how it goes. You wouldn't be happy, and neither would Yaco. Right?"
The commodore's massive head turned back to Cooms. "How well do you know this man, Marras?"
Cooms grinned dryly. "Well enough."
"Is he leveling?"
"He'd be nuts to be here if he wasn't. And he isn't nuts—at least, not that way."
"There might be a question about that," Fluel observed. He looked at the commodore. "Why not ask him for a couple of the names that are in it with him?"
"Hagready and Boltan," Quillan said.
Velladon chewed the other mustache tip. "I know Hagready. If he—"
"I know both of them," Cooms said. "Boltan works highjacking crews out of Orado. Quillan operates there occasionally."