Point
15 Feb 2024Ryuko Ntsikana
Point
Colonia Region
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In my pirating past and later bounty-hunting exploits, I had run with some interesting characters. Some redefined the words debauched and decadent. After two short flights and in less than thirty minutes, I had already made nearly four million credits and scanned three systems. The largest surprise was the expense of the consumables. Less than the 3,448,129 million credits I had made, the business clients had consumed 426,349 credits worth of the offered amenities. That was far beyond what some of the roughest I had known were capable of.
I sat in the hangar bay of a little nondescript system, munching on a nutrition bar as a message came in. Opening it, I read the transport offer. A single person to a nearby system, for 2 million credits, and no questions asked. “Is this how it usually goes?” I asked Aby.
“It is rare, but not unheard of … usually for the inept or the most trusted and experienced.”
I replied to the message, curious about what kind of sucker they thought I was.
They wanted to transport one of their underworld kingpins out of a nearby system, which had the start of an outbreak, to a system other than this one. They were brazen enough to provide me with their name and picture. A Ms. Makena Boyd. She belonged to a local faction in the system I was in. Well, Ms. Boyd was in a bit of a spot, and her own people wanted her out of there, but not back here with them. Better to give whatever was ailing the system to someone else, in case she was infected.
Scum of their type even pirates, bandits, and raiders hated. They were more of a plague than the aliens those fanatical idiots back in the bubble had picked a fight with. A mischievous smile appeared on my face as I pulled out the attached keyboard, replying that I already had a job and couldn’t break the contract. It was not a lie as my purpose in this part of the universe was under contract to another.
“What are you thinking,” Aby asked, looking at me with those deadpan android eyes.
“I’m thinking that I’m being tested for something else.”
Aby’s head tilted, processing information that wouldn’t make sense to the everyday person, much less the algorithms of an android.
“The rules are simple. The types I used to run with, wouldn’t have cared. When you go up the food chain, the rules are a little different. Her group is not anarchist or pirate, bandit, or raider faction, but are brazen enough to flout her bona fides? They want to see if I will tell the system authorities. She could be exactly what they say she is, but if she has committed no offense in their system, who cares what a person is called. That, and their care about getting her out, even if it is to someplace else, whether there is a real infection or not tells me they are upper-tier organized types.”
Aby’s head tilted the other way.
“That I would honor my current contract and keep my mouth shut, even at the expense of not only the sum they were offering but that of another person’s potential safety, marks me as being reliable.”
“I understand,” Aby replied. “You will be seen as one who honors your commitment. But that could lead to offers that are not legal, and getting in trouble with the locals out in this sector could be seen as a breach of your prior agreement.”
A broad smile appeared on my face. “Their first offers, if and when they make them, will all be legal, as a further test. They will encourage situations to see how I react. Think of it like a first date in a tech noir mosh pit.”
“I understand the reference, but it does not sound safe.”
A large smile appeared on my face. “No, but the bounties could be lucrative, and they will get to see how I spend the credits.”
Aby’s head tilted forward. “This situation could position you to obtain in-depth information which your benefactor would find invaluable.”
My smile broadened. “Yes, and now you see the point.”