Shanig thumbed his buzzer and the redhead came in from the reception office with a legal-looking paper in her hand. She went straight to Shanig's desk, walking in a way to make any homo's pulse beat out of step, but when she passed Perry Acree the two of them exchanged a swift, secret look of complete understanding that actually made me flinch. Sometimes I think I'll never understand women. Here was this gorgeous wench, five-feet-ten and built like a hermit's dream, and what did she pick? An egregious little idiot who-- "Sign here," Shanig grunted. He fitted the paper onto a desk pad and whipped it toward me along with a stylus. It was a simple enough contract release giving me full title to the _Annabelle_ plus five thousand credits in exchange for uncontested ownership to one male Mimasan smiley answering to the name of Joey. Something about the pad-and-stylus routine rang a warning bell at the back of my mind but I was too mad to listen. I wrote "William X. Bailey" in the proper blank and the deed was done. When Perry Acree and Shanig's hired homo signed as witnesses all of us stood up but Shanig. "That's all," Shanig snapped, pushing a check for five thousand credits at me. "Get out!" I took the check and went out, so mad I could feel my ears crisping. Entering the reception room again, it didn't soothe my mangled ego any to get a disdainful once-over from the redhead. "I'm taking a weekend off with this little item to see the sights," I said, snapping the check. "Like to come along for the ride? There's a little pleasure colony up on Phobos that's out of this universe, where anything goes." "Not with you, you swamp-stained wolf," she snapped. When I waited, grinning, she bit her lip and her eyes shot green sparks. "Beat it or I'll buzz for Perry." II I didn't mind the brush-off but the idea of her calling for Perry Acree to toss me out fanned my slow burn to a blaze. "That seed-sized cipher?" I scoffed. "Why, for two centi-credits I'd--" Shanig's door opened and Perry came out. He added up the score in a blink and jumped to the conclusion that I was waiting to settle with him. "Now look, Bill," he began. "I couldn't help it if--" "That secret agent stunt of yours just cost me five thousand credits, Acree," I said, cutting him short. "I think you're going to be as sorry as Shanig before this is over." He lost the little color he had. "I don't want trouble with you, Mr. Bailey! Cheryl, will you--" The girl pushed her buzzer. Her eyes dodged mine, and I could read her mind like the back of a credit-note. She was making allowances for Perry but it hurt to call for help. Shanig's office door opened again and his two uglies came out. Both of them had freeze guns and the yellow Martie wore my Quantrell blaster tucked into his belt, but it was plain that they didn't expect to need them.