Hodak slapped his knee and laughed. He pointed at Zolan, then wagged his finger at Ram. "Comm isn't my beat," he said. Thumbing over his shoulder at Zolan, he added, "but what he said goes for me." Xindral brushed the keys on the control and returned it to its case. The view tank faded as he fixed his eyes on Zolan. "Yes, Zolan, I am familiar with your background." Shifting to Hodak, "Yours, too." His glance widened to include the others, "as I am with the backgrounds of you all." In response, the prisoners silently glared defiance. "Zolan's observation is correct and on point," Xindral said, ignoring their disdain. "We're not fooling one another. Simply stated, you have much in common. You are professional space men and space women, and highly qualified at that. Your skills and resourcefulness remain with you and I am aware of them." Slouchers straightened. Hodak and Adari looked around and their faces broke into grins, which were returned. Tension remained, but subtly altered. "A couple of points," said Xindral. "First, you are all from sunside of the Belt and you are not known, as far as my sources can determine, where I don't want you to be. Second, together, you represent a cross-section of space professions and experience vital to the success of an important and urgent task. What you are going to be asked to do will place your lives at risk. You will need to rely on each other, personally and professionally, under difficult circumstances." Brad had enough. "Now let's just wait a minute!" Brad was on his feet, instantly joined by the others. Xindral, head cocked slightly to one side, sat and listened. "Zolan said it first," said Brad. "None of us speaks for the others, so what I say is for myself. Who are you to force me -- us -- into a life-risk situation?" The words, tightened in long-suppressed rage, spewed forth. "You just counted off a couple of 'points'." Brad raised his hand, index finger raised. "Now here's one for you. I'm here because I was convicted of a so-called offense against society. No way do I consider myself a criminal; furthermore, I don't know if these others," motioning in their direction, "consider themselves criminals or not. Again, I say, not my business. I'm here to serve a prison sentence, and that doesn't include doing odd jobs where my life goes on the line." Brad and Xindral faced each other across tension-charged space. The momentary confrontation passed, Brad, obviously fed up with Xindral's evasions, crossed his arms across his chest and waited. The tall man studied him. "Your point is well made," he said. "You have forced the issue forward, and your challenge must be answered before we go much further. Here are a few of the pieces. Think about them." He stepped back on to the platform and took his seat.