In this scene, Captain NarrAy Jorlan has just come from a meeting with a professional thief (Senth Antonello). The basic mission has been explained and agreed to. Now she's back aboard the Jalane, ready to drop the cover created for the mission.

Dropping the Cover

All People's Liberation Army Ship Jalane
Officers' Quarters

After a debriefing with her superior, NarrAy returned to her cabin. She locked the door and set the privacy indicator to full block, then kicked off her high heels and set about stripping off the red party dress. The All People's Liberation Army had spent a tradestandard month raising funds for this mission, and she couldn't waste one drak of it by spoiling the clothes. She'd have to wear the dress aboard ship on the way to Tarth.

Her cover as a wealthy woman on vacation with a full staff had not been her idea, and she'd fought the nonsense of spending an outrageous sum for party clothes, flying on a sleepliner—empire-class no less—reserving the finest suite in the biggest hotel, ground transportation, and the flight back.

All she'd wanted was the cost for hiring a member of the elite Thieves' Guild with the right expertise for the job.

But the Sleeper, the APLA's leader, insisted that individuals who could afford to hire a Level Nineteen thief were wealthy. He'd promised a special price if NarrAy hired the son of his old friend, the Harbinger. Letting Saint-Cyr know why the APLA wanted the stolen device back was out of the question. Hence the elaborate cover.

The Harbinger's "special" price by itself was triple her original budget. She comforted herself with the thought that it could have been much much more. Getting into a government holding area, even a backwater one, meant paying the dues.

"How does anyone afford these guys?" NarrAy hung the dress inside her bagbot and stuffed the shoes into their cubby. "Please let Senth be worth it."

She stepped back and took in the meticulously arranged articles of clothing, hung according to length, and grouped by color. She never wore red, but almost everything in the bagbot blared the color. Her assistant Encie's doing. The Kin female had shown off each item as if it were precious gold. Who cared about brand names? Clothes covered the body. End of story.

One slim drawer had bras folded with their cups tucked into one another, each lying beside the other in neat rows. Strips of cloth she assumed were panties lay grouped by color. A smaller drawer held cosmetics, none of which NarrAy recognized. Beyond her preferred fragrance-free soap and moisturizer, the rest belonged to the persona she'd display during the mission.

Encie had helped her dress and apply cosmetics, chiding NarrAy for not knowing how to use them.

NarrAy had set her straight on that. An addictive Better like herself could be arrested for attracting people, and NarrAy was not going to enhance her looks even more.

But the Sleeper had intervened and insisted. NarrAy's cover demanded she portray a flashy, sensual woman who traveled empire class, insisted on the best of the best, and bought what she wanted when she wanted it. Including the services of a top of the line Thieves' Guild member.

All that mattered was the mission.