Page 20 of Stars in Halo

He was among the few men outside the Riders that Xion called friend.

‘Xion, my man.’

The Rider jerked his chin at his mate. ‘Duke, need some intel.’

‘What’s with you, Riders, and not caring for common courtesies, like greetings, eh, Sable? Zane does the same thing, launches into demands, bare-faced and fokkin’ bold.’

‘You crying over it?’

‘Weeping.’

‘Deal with it. And good evening to you, too.’

‘When will you understand that we, Ccyth, treasure old-fashioned manners and felicitations?’ the handsome rogue groaned.

‘Speaking of understanding the Ccyth, I seek a bead on one of your own.’

Duke’s eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward. ‘Who?’

With a twist to his lips, Xion flicked his sketchy file on Katya over the holo.

Duke’s eyes glazed over as he ran over the data. He whistled under his breath as his eyes fell on the image of the woman that Xion had captured standing at the entry to her ship.

‘She’s a beauty.’

‘You don’t say. A cool customer as well. With layers, Duke, freakin’ secretive layers.’

‘Katya D’Landra. The name is familiar. Give me a sec.’

The Iccythrian fixer glanced offscreen to a secondary screen.

Xion caught the click of rapid typing, followed by Duke’s brow shooting up.

‘Fokk,’ Duke uttered in a whisper.

‘What?’ Xion growled.

Duke sliced his eyes to him. ‘She’s not D’Landra. She’s a D’Hanna of House DHNA.’

Xion shrugged. ‘And that’s significant because?’

‘The D’Hannas are a minor house. A small but well-organised Iccythrian Clique consisting of the patriarch K’Toro and his three sons, Korin, Kiros and K’Zito. Plus, one daughter who, by all accounts, walked away from the family business of drug dealing, petty heists and contraband smuggling. But not before becoming a prolific criminal operator and cat burglar by age 15.’

‘Damn,’ Xion murmured.

‘It’s claimed that she carried out more than ninety thefts. She was arrested at age 22, but Galician cops who caught her only charged her with eight burglaries. They were shit-faced-embarrassed, but she had managed to defy the law for so long on their watch. She ended up serving six months in jail in Galicia. After she lit out, she changed her surname to D’Landra, then disappeared.’

Xion raised a brow and nodded, impressed. ‘It seems she’s reinvented herself as a card shark with this new moniker. Given her jacket, though, she probably also has a few other Sys-IDs floating about with her face on them.’

‘She’s a virtuoso at high-end heists. The best in Pegasi if rumours back then are to be believed, so don’t put it past her not to keep falling back on her core talent,’ Duke warned. ‘Why are you asking?’

‘She touched down on Eden II, played a puzzling baccarat game, then lit out with an encrypted flight plan. Enough to get my attention. I’m chasing after her.’

Duke gave a long whistle. ‘Careful, my friend, she’s a smart one from the sounds of it.’

‘Look at you being all reasonable and shit. She doesn’t faze me. I’m a freakin’ Rider, after all.’

‘Nuff said,’ Duke laughed. ‘Just hit me first with the tea when you get back. She’s a fokkin’ match for you, so I can’t wait to hear about your encounters when you return.’

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