Let me tell you a little more about Qi’ra. She didn’t exactly look fierce. Why, I doubt she’d come up to the knee joint of a bageraset. But people don’t wind up with Crimson Dawn’s symbol on their wrists unless they they can handle themselves. And Qi’ra definitely could.

How do I know that? Because working at the Lodge I’ve seen about a thousand outlaws and bounty hunters, which means I got a crash course in body language – no matter how many limbs you have or what they look like.

I can tell if you’re armed, and if you’re used to being armed. A newbie walks around like the blaster on his hip weighs 10 kilos, but a veteran moves like the weight is nothing new to her.

Qi’ra carried herself like her blaster was an old friend.

And she had the manor of someone used to being obeyed. when she’d come to see me, she was always polite and professional. She never treated me or anyone else like a servant, ask for anything unreasonable, or try to shortchange old Tibbs. But whether she needed kod’yok steaks for Vos’s yacht or information about an overdue courier, Qi’ra expected to be taken seriously and dealt with quickly and fairly. She had a certain authority, I guess that’s the word. The kind you’d expect from a Crimson Dawn lieutenant …and then something more.

Qi’ra. Remember that name. Something tells me we’ll all hear it again.

Anyway, Qi’ra went off with Beckett’s gang and after that …who knows?