"I'm a mercenary," Kaelen said, his hand hovering over the data-port.

Kaelen thought of Jory in the ship. He thought of the slums where he grew up. He thought of the credits waiting in his account.

Kaelen cut through the camouflage layer of the street, revealing a heavy, circular hatch made of iridium steel. There was no keypad, no retinal scanner. Just a single, deeply etched number: .

The trooper looked at the console. The screen was black. The vault was empty. "Negative, sir. The memory bank was wiped. Looks like a dead end."