"Gustat wanted five items, but Onyx had only been able to provide three of them, with a fourth Onyx had suggested to him. The first was a black body suit that hid him from infrared surveillance; he could have gotten that from one of half-a-dozen arms dealers, but it also had to look invisible to a couple of other "ways of seeing," as Onyx put it, puffing on his cigar and laughing."

"The second item Onyx called "the garage-door opener," and Gustat had no guarantees it would work just that it was a big deal to have one. It might open something. Might not."

"The third item was mysterious to both Onyx and Gustat. It had been made from blueprints spirited out of a secret U.S. military base at a cost to Gustat of fifty-million dollars. (Long story short it was a beacon of some kind)."