“We’re ready to provide you with a cover. We’ve begun creating a character, Samuel Hu. If you accept the assignment, we’ll plant the appropriate documents to support your credentials and bribe the proper personal references so that when you arrive on-planet you’ll have no problem clearing their security check.”

Hosato shook his head. “That won’t do at all,” he said flatly.

“Why not?”

“For one thing, Hu is a Chinese name.”

“So?” Reilly asked blankly.

“I’m Japanese… well, of Japanese descent.”

“That’s no problem.” Reilly shrugged. “I’m sure I wouldn’t know the difference. Nothing personal, but most people don’t know the difference between the various Orientals.”

Hosato decided to abandon that particular point of argument. “It still won’t work,” he insisted. “The kind of personal reference I would need couldn’t be bought. Even if you found a fencing master who would sell an endorsement, all that would mean would be that for the right price he could be convinced to change his story or simply blow the whistle.”

“So you won’t do it,” Reilly said, crestfallen.

Hosato smiled. “I didn’t say that,” he corrected. “What I said was, I wouldn’t use your cover. I’ll use my own. My family spent considerable time building my cover—several generations, in fact.” In actuality, Hosato’s family had been in “the business” nearly seven hundred years now, starting back on Old Earth in the 1500s. He reflexively suppressed this additional bit of data as- he continued. “I think it will stand up to close scrutiny a bit better than anything Ravensteel could toss together on short notice.”

“Fine.” Reilly beamed. “I’m sure that will be agreeable. If it’s all settled, then…”

Hosato held up a restraining band. “Not quite. Your original plan to establish a cover for me would have cost Ravensteel a pretty penny. Since I’m providing my own cover, I think it’s only fair that that cover money should be added to my advance fee shall we say an extra fifteen thousand credits?”