The mess area was an open compartment with hinged shelves attached to the walls that served as tables. Most of the crew sat on stool seats that pivoted down from the tables. Gerrin stood at the front of the compartment. “So”, Gerrin said, “That’s the plan: I’ll go in the ring and keep their attention, Doc will go with me to make sure I stay alive. Aldous will go lift the landlock. As soon as he’s done, he’ll head back to the ship. Jaime and his crew will break into the bank and empty the boxes that belong to the Alliance. The locals won’t want to admit to a robbery, so they’ll try to cover the loss with their own money and keep it under the rug. Once we’re done, Loomie and Aldous will lift us all out in the Troll, then we’ll fly once around the planet under the radar and come back here to the contact point and drop off the town’s share. Any questions?”

Loomie was first. “Why do you have to go in the ring? We can find other ways of keeping them busy”.

Reilly answered “Because he’s going to be fighting for the money to pay for the landing fees. Also, he’s an outsider. Locals always like to see an outsider get beat up”.

Loomie protested “But that’s it. These guys do this all the time. We just move cargo. And-” She hesitated. “No offense- but these guys are a little younger and stronger than you”.

Doc spoke next “I have to agree with Loomie. This is potentially dangerous”.

“Hey”, Aldous joined in. “Nick’s just going in the ring. What’s gonna happen when these guys catch me breaking into their secure building and tampering with a landlock?”

“Maybe you’d rather go in his place and act out a movie for them?” Loomie retorted.

“Now wait a minute, everybody’s got hobbies they don’t talk about”, Aldous protested. “You didn’t complain about the still, did you?”

Gerrin put a stop to it. “Alright. We’re all agreed that this is dangerous. But this plan is sound, and I’m not exactly hobbling in there on a cane. As long as we stick to it, this will work.” Somehow he didn’t quite sound con