Long-Distance RelationsThat afternoon, Andre placed a long-distance call to Lester at the air base in Kippoli, requesting an order for more crystals—or ‘specimens,’ as they discreetly referred to them. Andre explained that he wanted to move forward with one of the larger thruster engines he’d been working on and that he needed more ‘specimens’ to run tests.
“Viti beni,” Lester said obligingly. They carried on in Borellian. “How many?”
“Eight, as large as you can find.”
Lester was quiet for a moment. “That’s a lot of specimens, boss.”
“Yes. Now listen, Lester; I want you to keep the specimens from three of the cases where we normally keep them, but send the cases themselves to the address for my lab here in Jeanru, in addition to the other five.” Andre was playing with the interfacing s
