Pakchikt entered his ship with a scrawny, grubby human male. He’d left Deena on board when he went to find the man they would use to spy on ‘Buster’. The bug said the man needed to be corruptible, but have a clean record, so as not to attract the attention of the Mek while he was on KekTan, surveilling his target. Pakchikt spent two local weeks finding this guy.
The bug went to his bridge as Deena played host. The man called himself Baren. She showed him where and how to clean up, and gave him the new clothes the bug had bought for him. Pakchikt said the man’s new fabrics would be unremarkable on KekTan, but he should buy local clothes once on the planet to blend in even better.
Baren exited the cleaner and put on the clothes he’d been supplied with. Deena showed him the food storage and waited as he made himself a meal. While he ate, he asked her about the job.
“It pays well,” he complained, “too well. Are you certain all I need to do is watch someone?”
“You need to identify her patterns, determine what she does regularly, where she goes, who she visits. Especially you need to tell us if she’s planning to go off planet.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes.”
“I won’t ask why.”
“Don’t.”
“He’s compensating me very well.”
“I don’t know about that. Is the amount enough to encourage you to keep your mouth shut?”
“Yes. I could disappear after, retire.”
“Do this right, and all your problems will be over.”
“I will.”
“Baren,” Deena spoke softly, “Don’t ever say her name. We don’t want to be overheard on the frequencies and alert people that she’s being followed. Use the code name ‘Buster’.”
“Okay. I don’t know her real name anyway.”
“Good, but you might hear it on planet.”
“I understand. Don’t worry.”
“Good. We keep some cookies in this drawer, Baren.”