Once the laptop booted up, Asuka opened her extensive address book. Due to the sage advice of a tutor to never throw anyone's contact details away, her address book now held the information on over a hundred people, all organised in a hap-dash manner. As ever the search function saved the day. Asuka executed a search for everyone she knew that lived on Mars, and began to look through the results. Three names immediately popped up: Charles Dakar, Icaba Crane and Theodore 'TJ' Jeffreys. She scowled at the laptop. Crane was a school friend, someone she didn't know very well. Last she'd heard he'd got some sort of middle management position within MOW. He would suit her purposes. But the other two... She sighed, recalling.

Dakar was, had been, her lawyer, and a close friend of her father. He'd be close to forty now, she reckoned, probably still with that same cool, sallow exterior that made him look more like an undertaker. The last time they'd spoken was just before her departure from Mars and she knew her last words to him hadn't been kind. Asuka bit her lip. It would be hard to ask him for a favour now, even if he was willing to even speak to her. She pushed the lawyer to the back of her mind and considered TJ.

She disliked Jeffreys intensely. He was a tiny, ugly man with malicious personality to match. Yet somehow he managed the biggest freelancing intelligence network on the planet. If she wanted details on the Martian underworld, she'd have to go to him. But there was another problem. Somehow the man was a Luddite, a complete technophobe. If she wanted to talk to him, it would have to wait until they arrived at Mars. Which meant setting foot planet-side. Asuka ran her hands through her hair.

"Bugger," she muttered. "Buggering buggity bugger." Setting the laptop aside Asuka stood and walked around the common area swearing quietly, before settling back down and opening an e-mail window. Start with what's easiest, she though to herself. Worry about the hard stuff later.

'Hey Icaba,' she typed.

'Long time, no speak, eh? I hope you're well. Look, I know this is really cheeky considering I've not seen you in so long, but I need a favour.

'I think a friend of mine is in trouble, and I want to help him out. All I know is that it has something to do with a woman named Brianna Sarez. I know that, about 20 years ago, she was a MOW citizen but her mother made them both freelancers when she was 5. I think that she or her mother are currently living on Mars, so if you're willing, I'd appreciate it if you could pass on any information you might have on them.

'I have attached their profiles, in case it help at all.

'Thanks, in advance.

'Asuka Rackell'

Asuka sat back and re-read the e-mail. Deeming it fit, she hit the send button and sat back. TJ she couldn't do anything about now, so that left Dakar. She chewed at her lip, before sighing and opening another e-mail window. She copied over the e-mail she had sent to Crane, and looked at it. Doubt twisted her insides, and with an explosive huff, she discarded the laptop and rose to pace the common area again. As she did so, Asuka's eyes alighted on the coffee pot.

"Hey," she called, "Gurn?"

"Yeah?"

"You want a coffee?"

Silence, filled only by the low hum of the ship, then

"Sure," Gurn called back.

RATE THIS CHAPTER!