Solbidyum Wars Saga 7: Hunt for the Reduviids by Dale C. Musser Page B

was probably right; it probably wouldn’t hurt the critter any.
    Five years had passed since the Federation saved Weccies from the Brotherhood attack and, in the long restoration period following that crisis, a strong alliance formed between the Federation and the otherwise fiercely independent nation-planet.  Until the Weccies were able to rebuild their forces and reestablish their defenses, the Federation agreed to keep the starship SOKAIA stationed in orbit for interim protection.  Once the Weccies were again confident in their ability to defend themselves, the SOKAIA was reassigned elsewhere; but an active starship-sized Cantolla Gate was maintained nearby to facilitate a speedy response, should the need arise.  A limited-use Cantolla Gate was left on the mercantile space station used by the Weccies to carry out interplanetary transactions and dock freighter pallets of commercial goods at an accessible point outside of their defended orbits.  Anyone conducting business with the Weccies accepted this unusual and unforgiving means of planetary oversight without question; the Weccies did not allow outsiders to set foot on their planet, and these terms were not negotiable.
    When I made my request to the Weccies to speak to Chief Banker Arjuk Norcar, I wasn’t sure how long it would be before he responded; but as one of the planet's largest depositors, I expected it wouldn’t be a terribly long wait.  It was important that I had a clear head and no distractions when I talked to Norcar, so I kept my morning activities comparatively simple and quiet.  I was back aboard my carrier flagship, the MAXETTE, when he called.
    “Admiral Tibby, what a pleasure to speak with you again.  How may I be of service?  I hope all things are well…?” Arjuk Norcar said as soon as he appeared on the vid screen.
    “I’m not sure that well is the term I would use, Chief Banker, but things seem to be stable at the moment.  At least I can say that we haven’t lost anymore planets to the Brotherhood in some time now; but they did give us a shakeup this week.”
    “Yes, I saw the broadcasts of the attack during the inauguration dinner.  Messy thing, that attack.  I’ve also heard there was a rather nasty skirmish where you lost several dozen patrol ships and men; but I’m confident that this won’t become the norm, Admiral.  I trust that your call doesn’t have anything to do with these events…?” he finished again with a tone of query.
    “Not directly, sir,” I said, “but insofar as the Brotherhood is concerned, yes, it does.”
    “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that,” he replied with a bit less cheer in his banker’s temperament, “Nevertheless, how may I be of help?”
    “We’re searching for a scientist who we believe is being held against his will by the Brotherhood. We also believe that we’ve discovered the hideout of Sisopan, one of the chief operatives responsible for the Brotherhood’s Reduviid terrorists.  You may have seen the images of her that were broadcasted during the news conference.  Unfortunately, both the scientist and the hideout appear to be located on the planet Epsirt, and we have no way of getting any of our own operatives to the planet’s surface to investigate.” 
    “Yes, I understand they allow only property owners and their employees on the surface,” replied Norcar.  “But I don’t know how I can assist you with this matter.  We have no agents on Epsirt.”
    “I didn’t think you did.  The nature of your assistance, Chief Banker, would pertain more precisely to a Federation prisoner convicted of treason – a man named Rinncal Haf-joab,” I saw Norcar raise an eyebrow when I said the name, “who happens to own an estate on Epsirt.  We’re hoping that a private buyer might convince him to sell this property and that the new owner would then concede to securing a number of Federation covert agents as his employees, which means sponsoring the necessary visas –