"It would make this investigation go more smoothly," he says with a frown. The word of a woman he's met only this evening isn't much to go on no matter how plausible the story is given the difficulties of Komarran integration.

"There would be a stipend once this is all said and done, in Betan dollars." Since he has a feeling she'd need incentive to return. Even the Imperial coffers knew outsiders didn't operate the same as subjects in terms of motivation. "I wouldn't expect you to work for free."