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couldn't be done. It was like prepping for a hit: Reva stuck out days of observation, tailing, and data-tracing at times when she thought Lish asleep. Slowly, the Holdout's routine emerged from the minutiae of daily living.
    On the surface, there was nothing remarkable about the woman's life. Then, on closer examination, the real pattern came clear: coded vidcalls, late-night runs to deep ocean, deliveries at odd hours. Reva suspected she met with smugglers ducking the Customs net just long enough to land hot on the water, drop their cargos, then lift.
    That was a big risk. No wonder she could get goods like time patches. It would be no time at all before the Imperials had her trussed and spitted for her enterprising breach of the law.
    Reva decided to move closer after a late-night ocean run. Undoubtedly smuggling business was going on then. It was the perfect time to slip in, have a listen, see how she liked the attitude. Did Lish take unreasonable risks? Did she have a volatile temper? Did she have good security? Against persons without Reva's talent, that is. Those and other details would tell her if this was a Holdout she wanted to deal with or not.
    And I better hurry, she thought. If they're doing hot drops, time patches won't be available much longer.
    Reva walked through the cargo bay, past labormechs assembling cryocases. Normally they would alert Lish to an unauthorized entry—but Reva did a fine dance between the Lines, walking forward in the moment when a mech turned away, ducking behind a case in the precise moment before it turned back. It was precognition made practical: a knowingness of what was about to happen, and the option to avoid it if she wished, or use it to her advantage.
    Security is poor, she noted. Mechos easy to bypass, and the side office connecting with the main one made Lish doubly ac- J cessible.
    The manual door between the two offices was laughably simple to unlock. Reva slid it open a crack; saw and heard Lish in conversation in the room beyond.
    "You're not meeting my suppliers," the blond woman was saying, temper ringing in her tone. "And I'm not using your 'help' on my drops."
    A cheerful voice soothed her anger. "No, no. Do not want those things. You misunderstand offer!"
    Reva knew the voice immediately. Karuu continued. "Is simple-clear. I help pick up drops because your business grows so much you move more volume. Profit increases because I distribute your goods, guaranteed at least double your current distribution. All this for a reasonable share of those profits. Yes?"
    Lish considered the offer. Then a calculating look came over her face. "Profit sharing will be split as if my distribution were doubled, even if you're moving less volume than that. If you move more, my share goes up. Agreed?"
    Karuu squirmed in silence. "Agreed," he capitulated.
    Reva sighed. Lish was taken in by the Dorleoni's sincerity.
    I was like that once, she reflected. Before I learned better.
    She listened at the door a moment longer, hearing the "deal" concluded on the other side, and shook her head as she slid the panel shut. She was strongly tempted to ignore her misgivings about this new Holdout.
    I might warn her about Karuu, she considered, talking herself into it. Besides, I need a time patch.

VIII
    Questions about the hex-pack special led Reva directly to Lish and a private conference. Lish dealt straight and to the point. Time patch delivery was promised in two days. Credits-changed meters, half now, half later; a pickup time and place were arranged.
    As Reva put her credmeter away, she decided to take the gamble. She caught the smuggler's eye. "By the way," she said, "that deal Karuu made with you? He'll sell your goods to his middlemen and pay your profit out of that. Then his middlemen turn around and resell the stuff for five times what you made. Karuu pockets his share of that, too, and you don't see any of it. Be forewarned."
    Lish stiffened. "How do you know about my business?" she asked