"I'd do whatever has to be done," you say, trying to keep a neutral tone so the professor won't hear the hunger you suddenly feel. "Assuming we could find a Stellae for me to be."
"You're forgetting your first great coup after joining us," he replies. "You were able to copy the mind and memories of one. Since then we have had almost all of them under a distant and cautious, but constant, observation.
"Oh, there have been changes to their composition," he continues as you make a startled blink. "Some have died. New ones, we think, have joined. We have never made any further forays against them, even for data collection, and our surveillance operation has been Dark Stars's most closely guarded secret, executed not by our own agents but by paid investigators who do not know who is paying them or for what purpose. Nonetheless, we could drop one of own agents next to any Stellae with almost no prior notice."
"Is this the assignment you're offering me? An infiltration of the Stellae?"
"Need I be so blunt as to say 'yes'?" His expression turns very puckish.
"I'm definitely interested in the assignment, professor. Uh, is it to be supervised by Diana or by—?"
"By myself. Vulcan. You would be loaned to us. Would you object?"
"No, but Dey might."
"Julian has already signed off on a loan. He understands the dividends to be collected. But it would be a Vulcan operation, because it would be a stress test of our technology. It would be hazardous duty, I must warn you."
"You mean you haven't got the bugs worked out it?" You nod at the nearby machine.
"Oh, it works perfectly. What I mean is that there are unknown hazards in using it to infiltrate the Stellae. Would they be able to detect the imposture? We don't know. We can't know until we attempt it."
That caution does give you pause, but does not change your determination to take the assignment. "So would this just be a test run, to put me in to see if anyone spots me?"
"Yes," the professor says with a slight hesitation. "Of course, we should like additional dividends. To have a spy in their midst would be most useful. To have a spy who could bring us additional Stellae we could replace. There might be other possibilities—" He shifts in his chair. "Possibilities that would not occur to us until our infiltrator pointed them out to us."
"But it doesn't really matter which one I infiltrate."
"Well, we've drawn up a list of likely infiltrations, ones that would be useful on a long-term basis." The professor takes out his glasses and opens his attaché case.
But you already know who you want to take down: the Stellae you most blame for ruining your life.
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