"Plus twenty thousand for the trouble you've inflicted on me already."

"A drop in the bucket for a job this size," he says with a lazy wave of his hand. 

"And in advance."

"Only if I'm assured of your intention to carry this job out."

Hm.

"All right, then. What's the pitch?"

"The Shu have developed something - a new drug they're calling jurda parem. It amplifies a Grisha's capabilities beyond imagining. And even beyond the risks inherent in leaving it under the control of one country... If it gets out, it will cause mass chaos even before every country finishes manufacturing enough for their own armies. Market collapse will be just the start."

"And what is it you imagine I can do about something like that?"

"You can steal, Miss Brekker. And you can avoid getting caught doing so."

"So all you want is first mover advantage."

"I want it removed from the board," he corrects, though there's a flash in his eyes. "And the inventor has not shared his formula - and has contacted us requesting asylum. We need you to extract him."

"Where from?"

"...Fjerda," he says. "They captured him during our first extraction attempt. We believe he's being held at the Ice Court."

"Fjerda."

"Why do you think he's even still alive?"

"Our sources say he is alive and awaiting 'trial' - and Fjerda has been known to vanish useful grisha to be slave labor, rather than killing them. We are... Concerned about their military technology advancing with this."

"Yeah, I bet you are," she mutters.

"What's your timeframe on this?"

"We would want you to set out as soon as possible, and take the most direct route to Fjerda." He gives a time estimate; it allows fairly little wiggle room. "Though there's more flexibility for the return - but only if needed to avoid pursuit."

"Got a ship lined up?"

"A small schooner," he says. "One entirely unassociated with the Kerch government."

"All right."

"So what's the payout?"

"Five million kruge."

"Five million?" She snorts dismissively. "Don't waste my time. What's the real number?"

He frowns. Then, grudgingly: "Ten million."

"You wouldn't have brought me here if you didn't want to hire me. Twenty."

That gets a scowl out of him. But: "Twenty."

"Except now it's thirty, because that was too quick and one of my people was with me when you took me. And you haven't said a word about her."