Leigh Kimmel

Skid Milliken has a problem. Rent's due, clients are scarce, and he can't afford to be picky when he's on a space station a long way from Earth. So when a Chongu scientist walks into his office claiming she's being pursued by an unseen cabal, he grabs the job. Now Skid has a real problem. Someone's chasing him, and is willing to kill. His scientist is carrying a deadly secret from a distant planet -- and someone in her circle of students is a traitor, but no one knows who.
Can he sort out this tangled yarn of lies and half-truths before it kills him, even as an ancient enemy closes in?A short story of the Chongu Empire.