The Novice Assassin: Part 1
08 Dec 2016Cartlidge1000
As Cartlidge and Ten left the station in the bulky Type 9, their newest companion, the assassin named Nick, sat comfortably in the pilot’s chair of his Eagle. He was watching the other ships come and go, thinking about the possibilities he would have with an extra five million credits to work with, once he completed the task the bounty hunter had left him with. All he had to do was get in contact with Persing, his former employer, then coerce him into giving up the information they needed. It was a simple idea, though he admittedly lacked a plan.Sitting up, he accessed the station’s services menu and prepared a message for Persing. Nick would probably be able to improvise as long as he could set up a meeting.
“Mr. Persing, I have taken care of the two individuals you described in your previous transmission, but what you failed to do was inform me on how dangerous the woman was when in hand-to-hand combat. Therefore I wish to meet in person to discuss an adjustment on my contract, presuming you still want me to deliver the subject’s body to you.”
Nick looked over the message once more before sending it. He figured it a reasonable request since she nearly killed him. Given what Cartlidge had told him about Persing and his boss, he was sure that the pair knew fully well how dangerous the cyborg actually was. In fact, if he had succeeded and Ten really was rotting in his cargo hold, he would have sent this same message regardless. Though his intentions would have been different.
Only moments after Nick had finished gearing up did Persing’s reply come in. Leaving some of his equipment in the compartments behind his cockpit, Nick sat back down to read the message.
“Cmdr Gremlin, I would like to offer my most sincere apology, but my associates and I believed that someone of your caliber would be able to handle the situation without any trouble. From the sound of it, you have succeeded (and we are very happy to hear this news), but if the subject proved more difficult to subdue than our initial reward implied, we are more than willing to renegotiate your contract once you bring the subject back to us. For now, please travel to NLTT 20330. We will make contact with you there.”
Nick smiled to himself as he switched the services menu off and started the launch sequence. As long as Persing didn’t send one of his “associates” to meet him, this was going to be even easier than he had expected. Not that he didn’t have a plan for that as well, but it was best if he was not forced to make demands. In his line of work, his survival depended entirely on two things: if he could do the job effectively, and whether or not his employer considered it cost effective to dispose of him. One of the quickest ways to render himself disposable is to make excessive demands at the end of a contract, and both he and Persing knew it.
NLTT 20330 was quite a few jumps away, so he had plenty of time to prepare.