A man of peace; a place of violence

Sixmoon shakes his head. "He can't sell it to anyone. He doesn't have the authority. It's not that he doesn't trust me, Captain. This isn't about us. It's about the Guild and the clans within it. Each clan is based in a different hive city, with a different queen. And all the clans are serious about their competition." He looks toward the Odarite merchant. "If we get the map, for *any* price, some of the less scrupulous clans within the guild might target the Athena for piracy. He's trying to protect us." He frowns, turning his gaze back toward Marlan. "I don't like it, but I appreciate it. The Odarites can be very cutthroat when it comes to business. You *do not* want to be caught in the middle of a guild war."

Marlan looks across the table over then over towards Sixmoon, "But can you find Palisade without this map? Because nothing is ever fixed in stone,da."

"The map would have made it easier," the archaeologist says, shrugging. "Faster. Now, instead, we will simply have to settle for doing it slower, using the Athena's sensors as originally planned." He picks his PDA off the counter, then says, "Sorry about the wasted time for the detour, Captain." He nods toward Y'rktkl. "Please, let the other guilders know we no longer seek the map. Perhaps that will reduce the tensions between the clans."

The Odarite merchant leans closer to Sixmoon, clawed appendages clacking. "Ykou shkould gket offkworld kwickly, Sikmoon. Kan tellk guildkers nko sellk itkem, bkut thkey thkink Y'rktkl tkell ykou somekthing valkuable. Profkitable. Akthena alkready ink dankger."

"So if we're already in danger how much worse can it get?" Voliarin asks the Odarite.

Y'rktkl turns to answer Voliarin, and spreads his mandibles to begin speaking in his clicky interpretation of Standard when he's cut off by something long, sharp and glittering black k-chunking through the carapace of his upper torso. Looks like a fairly nasty spear, with a jagged point that crunches out the back. His antennae go lax and he collapses on the floor, twitching autonomously as four Guilder Odarites wearing blue sashes and psi blockers start closing in.