The Living and the Damned - Part V
04 Dec 2017Jellicoe
Ceres Tarn, HR 1185 SystemCeres Tarn was not a place anyone went without very good reason. The savage gravity of its parent planet made landing a challenge for even the most skillful pilots which combined with a strong, some would say suffocating Imperial military presence to deter most casual visitors. For those hardy few who did brave the journey though a trip to Ceres Tarn was not an unpleasant experience, the public areas of the port were constructed with typical Imperial flourishes, sweeping curves, elegant lines and the projection of power and grandeur that was the hallmark of Imperial aesthetics. Even here on the very edge of the bubble the Empire cherished appearances and public areas were kept immaculate, streets swept, buildings spotless, uniforms pressed, boots and buttons polished. It was not all like this of course, not even the House of Duval could stop the docks, hangar bays and other working areas of a starport from accumulating oil and grime or the men and women who frequented them spreading this dirt around the port area, but they could at least be largely restricted to the docking quarter and away from anywhere where they might offend the sight of the more privileged of Imperial citizens based out on this rock. In a dingy, rubbish strewn corridor behind the secondary hangars two men stood talking in the gloom, here there were no aesthetic flourishes, the passageway had been hewed from the solid rock of the planet itself with only decking and, now malfunctioning strip lighting diferentiating the corridor from a cave.
"Couldn't you have found a better place to meet than this dive?" The taller of the two asked, a tatty blue jacket and black trousers may have hid his flight suit but clunky mag-boots clearly marked him out as a spacer.
"The Feds think you're a terrorist and Viktor knows you used to be a reaper." His companion, a shorter plump man replied with a mirthless chuckle. "If you think I'm going to risk either of them finding out I've been talking to you you've got another thing coming. This place is safe."
"Have you found the girl?" The tall man asked.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" The smaller man replied raising an eyebrow and holding out a pudgy hand.
"I want to know what I'm paying for first, I think I've earned a bit of trust."
"Think I've stayed alive in my business by trusting people?" The short man answered with another humourless laugh.
The taller man sighed, reached into his pocket and flicked a credit chip towards his companion, making sure it fell short forcing the shorter man to scrabble about the dimly lit floor to recover his payment.
"Not enough." The shorter man said when he saw the amount.
"You get the rest in the information is any use to me, you know the game Tommy."
"Game's changed." The shorter man grunted. "Risks are bigger now, Viktor's paranoid there's a grass somewhere, bigger risks mean bigger fees."
The tall man momentarily gave his companion a hard look, then in a blur of motion drove his right fist into the shorter mans ample gut, a second later his left connected with his companion's jaw sending Tommy sprawling backwards onto the floor. As Tommy lay on his back the tall man put his booted foot on his chest and drawing his burst pistol levelled it at Tommy's face.
"You don't change the rules Tommy." The tall man said calmly. "Try to play me and I'll throw you to the wolves, now what have you got?"
"She's not in Viktor's pens." Tommy gasped as he writhed on the floor. "She must have been shipped out already."
"Where to?" The tall man growled. "Who's Viktor's contact in the bubble?"
"I don't know Mr Jellicoe I swear I don't." Tommy said, becoming frantic as Jellicoe thumbed his weapons safety catch and the gun charged with a high pitched buzz. "He won't let nobody near the slave shipments, he's certain there's a grass."
"Why?"
"I don't know, something must have gone wrong but I don't know what."
"So what now?" Kira asked when Jellicoe was back aboard the Resolution.
"We'll have to go direct to Viktor I'm afraid."
"Offer him money?"
"Yes, but we can't afford to look weak or he'll bleed us for all he can get and give us nothing in return."
"So?"
"So I'm going to threaten the bastard."