<div align="center"><strong>Stephen McPherson - with Sasha and Si - Feelin' the heat in Ferret's hothouse, Persephone</strong></div><br/>If McPherson had a weakness -- wait, who are we kidding?  We all have weaknesses.<br/><br/>One of McPherson's weaknesses is that, despite his awareness of his place in the pecking order, he found it difficult to keep his mind focused on his job - security - and rather enjoyed being a spectator to the "negotiations" that were taking place. After all, he had once been higher up in the chain, and had been involved in negotiations where a lot more was a stake than transporting annoying little dog-poop producing organisms through space.<br/><br/>There was that old saying that too many cooks spoil the broth.  That means you keep your mouth shut when someone else is responsible for doing the talking unless you're part of a plan to barge in at a prearranged time or when certain circumstances dictate.  And if Steve hadn't learned much else about this particular crew, he knew<em>planning</em>wasn't high up on the "to do" list.<br/><br/>He hoped Ferret didn't see him crack a smile when Dearing made the<em>wilting bouquet</em>analogy.  Though Steve -- like Ferret -- wasn't quite as young as he used to be, he had to award that round to Sasha.<br/><br/><em>Finally</em>, the ladies appeared to be ready to talk business.  It amazed him how much like men -- or males of the animal kingdom in general -- they could be with their posturing like two bucks about to go at it over a desirable female.  Only in this case, the prize was a job, a job Ferret needed done, and a job Dearing could do.  Dearing was good at this, but despite winning one round with the wilting bouquet reference, it was clear Ferret had the experience.  She looked like a woman who had spent a lifetime getting her way with other people.  He didn't recognize her skills as those of a former Registered Companion, though.  His experience with Companions was extremely limited.  Steve had never been a customer, but had been in social settings in which men and women senior to him had solicited their services as escorts to various functions.  Given Ferret's underlying ruthlessness, McPherson was glad the stakes weren't too incredibly high.  After all, it was just a job transporting cargo, not a major military operation.<br/><br/>Once both negotiators had established the fact they weren't going to be intimidated by the other, it was just a matter of settling on the terms and conditions.  Since this was his first job of this nature, he was intently curious as to (a) what the job was, and (b) how much money could be made in a situation like this.  He was also curious as to how illegal the job was.  He had principles, but over the years had learned that some illegal jobs were less illegal than others.