"Cael Athis," she said slowly. "I know the name, vaguely. Backwater ash-world, isn't it? Merchant consortium territory, minimal independent traffic, the kind of place that shows up on cargo manifests and nowhere else." She glanced up at him. "You're a long way from home, whatever home actually means for someone like you."
"You have no idea," Rohan said, with a weight of feeling he hadn't intended to let slip into his voice.
Renna studied him a moment longer, then set the packet down and reached beneath her counter, drawing out a slim data slate of her own.
"I'll run an authentication check. If this is genuine, and if it's worth what I suspect it might be worth to the right buyer eventually, I can extend you a working credit against it — enough for the chart you're asking for, and a little besides. If it's worthless, or forged, we're done here and you can find your map somewhere else." She tapped the slate. "Understood?"
"Understood."
