10
ic, disinclined to do unless there was no other way to get the job done -- which, at this point, was not the case.
* * *
Nevan spent the first two days of his flight to Nippon-Ni studying everything the Last Resort's ship-comp had available about that planet. It sounded interesting, and he decided he'd like to visit sometime when he could do so openly; it had been settled by Japanese who wanted to return to the days of the Samurai, without giving up modern conveniences or an industrial base. They even called their Baron the "Shogun", on-planet.
But it also looked like a dangerous place to operate. The Shogun's secret police force was made up of the Kai-school ninjas Owajima was rumored to have been, and it seemed possible he'd been one of them before joining the Corps. If so, he'd undoubtedly use them for backup -- which meant going in, Nevan thought, would be like sticking his head in a balik's den. A female balik's, with newborn cubs. One alerted field agent would be bad enough; a police force of agent-equivalents . . . the smart thing would be to call it off, go back to Terra, set up a new identity, and start over. He did know who his quarry was, now; he wouldn't be starting from scratch.
He was reluctant to do that, though. He'd done nothing even the most fanatical secret police could legally arrest him for; it seemed a shame to abandon his mission when he was so close to accomplishing it. Being arrested without cause would be justification for mind-calling his thakur, and he was sure she'd intervene; Owajima had to be the only agent with an entire plane- tary police force to call on for backup, which made him an unrepresentative opponent. Besides, Nevan admitted, he relished the challenge. He hadn't had the opportunity to really use his abilities in longer than he cared to think about.
* * *
Owajima answered his phone, to see the chief of spaceport security. "Yes, Captain?"
"The Last Resort just called for landing, Colonel. Do you want us to detain DarLewies?"