Maxx leaned back and cleared his throat. "It was a job we were on. Blue Sun had hired us four times the usual price to haul some cargo. Four times the price! Jack wasn't about to let that go, and even though we don't usually let the Alliance shove us around, we agreed. When we actually got the cargo, we thought it was a joke."

Maxx paused. "Well, I know you probably searched the ship. You saw that one crate. That's all they gave us. We thought they had messed up on shipping us the stuff, but they said, 'no, that's it.'" Maxx shook his head. "Little did I know, that wasn't it."

He looked at his hands, which were clenched. "That yi dwei da buen chuo roh decided to take the crate. I was flying the ship, and I heard gunshots go off. Knowin' that the crew didn't argue that much, and knowin' that we don't usually fire at each other. I went to check it out."

"I found Ramona standing over three dead people, and holding Joe at gunpoint. She looked at me; a smug smile on her face. That's what made me angry. That smile. I didn't see what she did with Joe. I ran back to the cockpit to try and piece together a distress call. She followed me, though, and shot me. I guess she thought I was dead. She left, and that's when I typed up the log and sent out the code. I fully expected to die."

He looked over at Jade. "That's when you saved me. I thank you."

"Maxx," Kane began slowly, "When did all this happen? We check your ship out on the Cortex and Aces and Eights has not been seen for three months.

"And was this Ramona Cortez, was she a new addition to the crew? Had she been with you for a while? What would make her suddenly change loyalties like that?

"More importantly, do you have any idea what was in that crate and why, after all of that, she would leave it behind?"

Maxx shook his head. "I don't know what is in that crate. I can tell that it isn't normal, whatever it is. We were afraid to open it." He glared at the wall. "And that woman had been with us for a while. I think she got greedy,