"She's perfectly safe; twenty, and I'll return her to you now." He gestures to one of the two stadwatch by the door, who turns and opens the heavy grand doors - 

To reveal two crumbled purple-uniformed guards out in the hall - 

And Inej drops behind him, silent as a cat, and the click of the pistol she points at Van Eck's head is louder than even the guards' startled curses. 

"Thirty," she says, "And have your fucking guards untie my boss."

"...Thirty," he says, weakly. Then: "Gentlemen, if you would - ?"

The guards are frozen for a moment - before one cautiously goes to undo Kaz's bonds.

She does not flinch when he gets close.

"Thank you," she says, standing and massaging her wrists. "Then all we need is a signed contract, the name of the ship, and that twenty thousand in advance."

She holsters the gun the instant Kaz is untied; no sense being uncivilized about this. "Ice Court's going to be tough on twenty thousand," she says, mildly, as she steps out from behind Van Eck to return to Kaz's side. 

"Good point."

To Van Eck, "Better make it as much as you have on hand. Less twenty thousand, we can take that out of the final thirty million."

"Don't be unreasonable," he says, flatly, trying to hide how shaken Inej has him. "Thirty thousand, and it's all an advance - your final payment will be less that."

"Unreasonable is kidnapping someone off the street to strongarm them into an unsanctioned mission relating to national security that involves a break-in to one of the most secure prisons in the world, a prison that is owned by a foreign power, in order to extract a foreign national belonging to yet a third country."

"What I'm talking about is just good business." And good business in Ketterdam can get you killed, if you're not careful.

...Very grudgingly: "Fifty thousand advance."

"Deal."

He gestures his scribe forward (and sends a guard to collect the ones Inej knocked out or otherwise disabled and deliver them to the medik). "The deal is the deal."

"The deal is the deal."

And the contract is drawn up, and the advance payment counted out. 

Kaz will take a copy of the contract. For her records.

If he's unhappy about that, he doesn't let it show. He has the copy drawn up. 

And he gives them the name of the ship - and then has nothing else for them, beyond a reminder of the timeline they're operating under. 

Best not to waste any more time here, then.

Out into the Ketterdam night.

Inej keeps pace at her heels - quietly, until they're back at the Slat, in rooms Inej knows - rooms she sweeps before speaking even a single word - 

"What's our move?"

"Two problems. One, getting into the Ice Court and back to Ketterdam alive. Second, surviving Van Eck's betrayal when we do. Not sure which is more pressing, honestly."

"Three, getting our money anyways - we'll want to set up our return before we leave. Van Eck's more entrenched than us, and he knows we're coming. But as long as we have the right crew, we can wing it at the Ice Court - and they'll be expecting armies. Not us."

"Still, can't afford to leave much back."

"A small crew will be best with a mission like this... But we'll be taking our best with us."

"If we're sure Van Eck's going to flip - might be best to ask first how we're getting paid anyways, and if we'd rather pocket what we've got and just give a good show of attempting the contract." They owe back the fifty if they don't attempt, but it doesn't require they succeed at their mission to keep the advance. 

"Mm. He didn't fight very hard about the thirty million and we've got his signature. Either he does have Council backing or this contract is never getting seen. No way he can shift that much on his own."

"Any drawbacks to verifying with another member of the Council before we leave?"

"If they're in on it, we get marked unable to keep our mouths shut and arrested or assassinated. Or Van Eck hears and manages to arrange for same before getting the boot. Or whoever we go to muscles in on his plan and he takes his frustrations on a split payday out on us."

"...I hate politics..." she grumbles. 

"Still... Even if it's a fake contract - it sounds like the Council would be sending an army, if they could afford one big enough." Being the wealthiest nation on the True Sea doesn't really matter if you don't spend it, and Inej doesn't know much about the clash of nations but she knows Kerch maintains a navy more meant for discouraging pirates than for tangoing with Fjerda and Ravka. The chatter of sailors is mostly gratitude about those two keeping each other busy; Kerch does actually have a lot invested in neither getting the upper hand in their unending war.

"And someone would pay us thirty million to save having to fight that war, at least if we already have Bo Yul-Bayur in hand." That being the inventor of jurda parem; they'd squeezed Van Eck for as many details as he'd give them, including a rough sketch of the man and a pass phrase to indicate they've been sent by Kerch.