"Well, that was a mighty kind reception," Mal allowed, once everyone had had their fill of the turkey, and the roast tubers and other fixings. The Marens had broken out wine, but Mal had been careful not to take too much himself or let his crew overindulge, using the scientist couple's own drinking as a baseline to compare against. He'd also done his best to take precautions against any kind of poisoning or drugging of the food, or anything added to the drinks, though once he started on that track his brain got paranoid enough that he had to accept that there was little chance to be sure that Juli hadn't tried something.

Since she had free access to the food in the midst of helping to prepare the meal, his strategy had been to block her from her most likely accesses to any toxins - refusing on any account to let her enter her own laboratory, without saying why when she insisted, and still keeping the backpack that she'd been carrying on her hike away from her. He supposed that she'd probably known why he was acting that way, but things had gone smoothly enough once the meal started.

"Are you sure that I can't prevail on you to tell me anything more about this plan, Captain?" Rickard asked, in a louder voice than his usual friendliness. "If my dear bride is correct that you're actually trying to steal a Baty prototype, then just getting the two of them on the conference grounds won't be enough. Security will be tight - not that they'd really be expecting people like us to steal something, but still - the regulations don't make enough exceptions."

"I... I think not," Mal muttered. "The less you know, the better for you, I think."

"Yes, perhaps," Rickard said, disappointed by that. "I've been wondering if, when the all-clear has been given, and the caper is over for best or for worst, it might be better for Juli and me to also arrange to be somewhere that the authorities cannot immediately find us."

"Wouldn't say no to that," Zoe said, "but it's up to you at that point. I'll wish you luck, but that's