Green paused and clung onto the ladder, getting his breath back. He glanced down and immediately wished he hadn't. Forcing his eyes open again, he looked up at his goal and pressed on.

Blue watched as a man hauled himself onto the roof and knelt on all-fours, panting heavily, his breath condensing in the freezing air. "Ah, Green. Would you like us to have a lift installed?" she enquired. Green glanced up and groaned.

"I can understand the need for privacy, but there's got to be somewhere more convenient that is just as secure."

"Come on," Blue smiled, "the others are waiting." She opened a door and led him into the room. He pulled out the chair with the green upholstery.

"Where's Red?" he asked, looking at the empty chair opposite him.

"Still dealing with that business on New Gettysburg. Apparently there have been 'complications'." This came from Orange, who was distractedly chomping on a cigar.

"Ok, everyone, let's get started. I'm declaring the official start of this meeting at..." Violet checked her watch, "...a quarter past two, universal standard time. Secretary for this meeting is myself, six members present, with apologies in advance from Red for non-attendance. The first item on the agenda is the reappearance of the drug-runners we thought we had dealt with several months ago. It's taken them some time to organise themselves, but they appear to be back with a vengeance. Orange," she said with a nod.

"Thank you." Orange stood up and walked over to the large screen on one wall, turned it on, and dimmed the lights.

"I've no doubt you all recall this, but as it was a while ago and Yellow was away at the time meeting with our operatives in the Phoebus and Phaeton system, I may as well recap. We hired an acquirer to obtain certain documents regarding drug transportation routes. These documents had previously been 'collected' by another acquirer from the original owners on behalf of a competing drug ring. The acquirer we hired performed his job admirably, and we used the information gained to round up all the links in the chain and put an end to the drug running in the Daerphin system. Well, the portion of it performed by this particular group, at any rate. By denying the information to their rivals, none of them could move in and take over their operation, so the whole thing was an unmitigated success."

"Except the original group is now back," Indigo stated.

"Precisely." Orange looked across the table. "Your turn, this time round, Green. We need you to go to the Daerphin system and find out what you can from our operatives on Corus. It will be a good opportunity for you to get to know them."

"I take it arrangements have been made. When do I leave?"

"Your travel tickets, identity, and all pertinent information are in your drawer. Whatever you do, be careful. In an ideal world, the pure and true citizens would stand up for themselves, and there would be no need for organisations like ours. But this isn't some book or film, where the good guys always win. Most of the people in the street are too afraid to stand up to the sort of people we go after for fear of the repercussions. The rest either don't care, take bribes, or want in on the action. Whether they're scared, selfish, or greedy though, the end result is that the bad guys get away with what they're doing, and get to carry on doing it. They operate in the background because they have to be wary of people working for our side. We have to do likewise."

"Relax, Orange. I appreciate your concern, and the pep-talk, but I can handle myself."

"Now that's been sorted out gentlemen, if we could move onto the next item, please. This is...sorry, could you turn the lights back up, Orange?"

"Oh, yes. Sorry."

"Thank you. This involves the acquirer mentioned just now. They seem to--"

"Err, sorry to interrupt, but which one?" Yellow asked.

"--the one we hired. He's vanished, apparently. We were originally keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn't give a copy of the information to anyone else, but then we extended the surveillance to make sure the drug ring didn't go after him, just in case we needed his services again. I received a message this morning informing us that he was on another job when something went wrong. He was last seen jumping into a black skimmer. Destination, unknown. Driver, unknown. Current whereabouts of skimmer or its occupants, unknown."

"If his job went wrong, maybe he's in hiding?" Indigo suggested. "I know I would be."

"We need to know for sure. If he's being held, we need to find him. If he's in hiding, we need to lure him out with the right sort of temptation." Violet grinned. "Blue, you're on this one."

"Me? Why do I always get the temptress jobs?"

"Ah," said Green, "well, the best temptation for luring a man out of hiding is sex, and you look sexier than Violet does, so men will be more interested in having a one-night stand with you. In fairness, though, for long-term relationships, Violet holds more appeal because her allure is more mental and emotional. So, between the two of you..." His voice stopped abruptly as he caught sight of Violet glaring at him. He glanced over at Blue and saw a similar expression.

"This should be interesting," Orange said, puffing on his cigar, "I've never seen a man die twice before."

"Whilst both Blue and I would be equally competent on this or any other mission involving male temptation," Violet began through gritted teeth, "Blue is being asked to do it because I have other things to attend to. Clear?"

"Yes. Sorry, both of you. I thought it was a serious question. Sorry."

"Blue, your travel arrangements, identity, and details about--what's his name, Indigo?"

"Zelazny."

"Hmm, unusual. Anyway, all of that is in your drawer, Blue. Usual rules, if he is in hiding and you do manage to lure him out..."

"I know, I know. I'll be gentle."

"Don't smile like that, Blue. It's extremely unnerving," Green said.

"I know." Blue turned her gaze onto Green.

"Ah, crap."

"Moving on," Violet said, "we have 'any other business'. Anyone, anything?" Silence passed for a few seconds.

"Well, if no-one else has anything, there is one thing, trivial really, but I thought I should mention it."

"Go on, Indigo. You're usually too quiet during these meetings anyway," Orange noted and blew a smoke ring up at the ceiling.

"Well, it's Conway, our agent on Mene. He's just become a father, so I thought we could send him something by way of congratulations?"

"Yes, why not? Any ideas on what to get him? Anyone?" Orange glanced round the circular table.

"Boy or girl?" Yellow asked.

"Triplets." Indigo grinned. "Identical twin girls, and a boy."

"No point getting him an alarm clock then." Orange looked thoughtful. "Don't we have someone in the clothing industry who owes us a favour?"

"Yes, Bartram still owes us. Not a bad idea that. Three lots is going to be difficult to deal with on a mine supervisor's salary. Let's keep it discreet though. If anyone else on Mene found out, he'd be a target for the malcontents, especially during their blackouts."

"Well then, I'll sort that out," Orange volunteered, "I can do discreet." He glanced at Green and smiled.

"If there's nothing else..." Violet hesitated, "... I bring this meeting of the Heptad to a close. I remind everyone to leave as inconspicuously as possible. Sorry about the short meeting. If anything new comes up, I'll contact you all in the usual way. Remember to leave at least fifteen minutes apart," she concluded, heading out of the room.

"You know, she always gets to leave first."

Time passed. Yellow left, then Indigo, and then Orange with his cigar. There was an awkward silence.

"So, you find me sexy, then?"

"What?" Green said. "Oh, well, you know, I mean, umm, yes." His brow furrowed, "err, you're wearing a skirt."

"You're changing the subject."

"No, it's just that, well, it's cold out there, and you've got to climb down the...wait a minute, did you climb *up* the ladder in that?"

"No! Don't be silly, there's not enough freedom of movement for that." Blue paused. "I had to take it off first. Oh damn, are you alright? I was only joking." She strode round the table to Green and started hitting him hard on the back as he coughed and spluttered all over the place. "You've gone awfully red." His breathing slowly eased.

"Gah. Bleh. Oh, I'm ok, I'm ok. Thanks," Green smiled as best he could. The uncomfortable silence returned. Eventually a beep was heard from Green's watch. "Do you want to go first, or shall I?" he asked.

"I will. Don't forget to turn everything off."

"Sure." Green watched her go. A few thoughts later, his watch beeped again. He turned everything off, left, locked up, and climbed down the ladder.