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Thillak motioned to the hard wooden seat opposite and I took it.
“How many days is it now?” he asked.
“Seven,” I said. “Seven and a wake up.”
“We’re going to miss you around here.”
“Oh, there are plenty of others who can do the same job.”
“Maybe. But none I can trust.”
Thillak was a rhodissar with a hard, lean frame and arms used to pulling a hundred reps on the pull-up bar in the corner. He spent most of his time behind this desk but he didn’t let that stop him from maintaining a rigorous exercise regime.
He could have literally anything he wanted brought to him — either inside the prison or from outside it — and yet, he maintained a lifestyle of simplicity.
Thillak fasted most of the day and ate the same lunch and dinner as regular prisoners. His cell was similarly plain with the standard cot and broken chest of drawers.
I asked him once why he chose to live this way and he replied: “I’ve avoided penance all my life. I figure if I’m going to do it, I might as well make up for all the wrongs I did at the same time.”
Thillak leaned back in his chair. “I’d hate to lose a Nor of your means. I have a proposition for you. When you get out of here, come work for me. You can choose any planet, any city within the Ujun Quadrant. We have a presence in every city.”
Presence was an understatement — his organization practically ran things.
“I’ll give you a room, a good wage, a network of friends you can tap into. Use it until you get on your feet or keep the position for longer. It’s up to you.”
Thillak was not someone you wanted to annoy but he was also fair and even-minded, and so I knew he wouldn’t take offense to my response — in fact, he almost certainly expected it.
“Thank you, but no,” I said. “I did wrong to end up in here and I won’t take the chance I could make the same mistake again.”
“Stealing food to feed your loved ones isn’t exactly doing wrong,” Thillak pointed out, referring to the misdemeanor that got me locked up at Ikmal.
“It was still wrong,” I said.
“If the chance to feed your family by stealing came up again, would you take it?”
“Maybe,” I said. “I’d just be smarter about it. People have got to eat.”
Thillak grinned. “We do everything we can for the ones we love, don’t we?” He sighed, his attention taking him somewhere in the past. “Well, the offer is on the table, in case you change your mind.”
I smiled politely but knew I would never accept his offer.
“As for today…” He nodded toward his desk.
I leaned down and opened the top drawer. Inside was a package wrapped in plain brown paper.
“Delivery to Cell 6706,” Thillak said.
I rolled my eyes. “More Quet-Dreai?”
Thillak shrugged. “It’s the only way some can win in the fighting pits.”
“If they need to take this to win, they’re not going to be winning for long,” I said.
Thillak used a stick to scratch his back. “They’re going to get it from somewhere. Might as well be from me. At least then they know it’s the genuine article.”
“Whatever makes you happy, I guess,” I said, getting to my feet. “Is this all?”
Thillak looked me over, sizing me up. “I imagine you could have done well in the pits, if you had a mind to.”
