Gene smiled sardonically - almost disarmingly, which was a weird and slightly scary look for him in the flickering firelight. "Figured it wouldn't be that easy," he said, glancing back at Valdis with good humor. Ah, yes, the prickly Zanru, like a cat with back arched and tail fluffed up trying to make itself seem bigger. He was no great fan of hers, mostly due to Tony's near-endless carrying-on about her months ago, and he'd pinpointed the woman before him as the source of his annoyance-by-proxy.

Interesting to know they're in cahoots.

If Gene wanted, he could take the information from her, rip it from her brain while she screamed, but that impulse was being kept in check these days. Partially because...well, diplomacy.

"Fǎn jiàn jì," Gene says, with no further explanation. "You're as much of a fool as you accuse us of being if you think we'd let them waltz in without motives of our own."