25 OCT 3302 - Lost and Found
25 Oct 2016Pitchzer0
"What'll it be, CMDR? The usual?" After my last job for Hassan, I needed a place to lie low. Let's just say the job had an...unexpected twist and right now I wanted to be lost.
And NOT found.
"A shot of Old Sol, leave the bottle."
The Snake Hole Lounge. My home away from home. Every starport has them. A place for the mercs, freelancers, and other unsavory clientele to mingle with each other, away from the disapproving glares of the general populace, and more importantly, the eyes of station security. Here on Suri, there are 3 such notable establishments: The Yellow Flag, where the mercs liked to hang out ( I just stay away on principle. Mercs are rowdy drunks). The Two Sisters i.e. Noir, is where all the bounty hunters like to gather. Most pilots come here to The Snake Hole.
"Here ya go, hun. Can I get you anything else?"
"No, ma'am. Thank you, Miss Janet."
"You pilots and your politeness! That happened years ago!" She flashed me a wink and a smile before she turned around and made her way back to the bar, proclaiming loudly to the barkeep that some fool crazy pilot was flirting with her again.
I just grinned to myself and shook my head.
The Snake Hole is ran by Miss Janet and her husband. The reason the pilots that frequent the place refer to her as Miss Janet, is because in another life she was a pilot just like us, out here on the edge trying to scrape together some cred. Legend goes that on one run, she got interdicted by a pirate. Well Miss Janet was in a Type-9 and her would be attacker was in a Python. She didn't have any weapons, so she did what she could to defend herself.
She rammed him. And won.
The real kicker to that story is, the man who pirated her? Became her husband. That's why she gets called Miss Janet. Much respect.
Miss Janet still holds a soft spot in her heart for us pilots, whether we are freelancers, traders, or smugglers. If you try to scratch a living out in the black, you are always welcomed at The Snake Hole. She even has private rooms in the back where a pilot could grab a shower: an honest to goodness real shower. None of that sonic shower crap or cleansing gel. She makes sure to keep the water tanks topped off and heated. That is one of the reasons I came here. Well, that and The Hole is one of the few places in this sector where I can get Old Sol. It is a bit expensive but I was laying low anyway, might as well pamper myself.
After the shower, I decided to wait a bit before I headed back to the docks, I ordered my drink, and headed for a place to sit.
I have a favorite table that I like, it is off in the back far corner. The light overhead burned out long ago, but I don't mind. It made this section a little darker, which was advantageous when I wanted to broker a deal, and didn't need wayward eyes seeing my contact. This was also the only spot in the entire bar, where one could sit and see all the entry and exits in the place. Better safe than sorry. I sat down and glanced across the room. Looks like the usual crowd in here, I recognized a few faces, but nothing or no one that seemed out of place. Good. The quieter, the better.
Miss Janet returned to the table, carrying a platter that looked to have synth meat stew on it.
"I didn't order this." I looked her straight in the eye.
"It is on the house! You look like you haven't eaten a good meal in a long time!" She proclaimed, a little louder than normal. She sat the platter down in front of me, staring right back. She took the seat in front of me, turning her back to the bar.
I took the hint. So much for quiet.
"Never let it be said that you aren't a gracious hostess, Miss Janet." She winked at me again.
I picked up the utensils and started mixing the food, pantomiming that it was hot. She gave a fake smile and laugh to throw off anyone who may be watching. Then she leaned in.
"You had a visitor while you were in the shower."
"Anyone you recognize?" I took a bite, smiling and nodding as if I were enjoying the meal to any onlookers.
"No. I have never seen this one before. He wasn't alone, there was three of them altogether. The way they were dressed, they were definitely from....upstairs".
That is never good. Bureaucrats.
"Did he say what he wanted? How well were they dressed?" I took another bite.
"He didn't say much. Just they were looking for a CMDR who goes by Zero, told 'em I haven't seen you in weeks. They were dressed like models from the Achenar fall collection."
Shit. IMPERIAL Bureaucrats. Maybe I should have went to Sothis after all...
She continued. "What kind of trouble did you get into? What did Hassan get you into this time?"
It was wildly known that Miss Janet cared little for Hassan. As much as he tried to sweet talk her, he never found himself in his good graces, and cannot understand why. He doesn't understand that Miss Janet isn't like the women he can dazzle with fancy clothes or a bit of cred. She sees through bullshit like a planetary scanner sees through clouds. She doesn't hide her disdain for him either. The last time Hassan sent a courier to find me, she escorted the gent out of The Hole by dropping him on his ass into the middle of the commons area, and told him "...next time Hassan wants to do business in her place, come do it himself!"
She is not to be trifled with.
I looked back over the table at her, and her eyes held genuine concern. I told you Miss Janet had a soft spot for pilots. One of the unspoken rules about The Snake Hole is you never lie to her. She probably already knows the trouble you're in anyway. She is far easier to deal with when you just tell the truth.
"That last run I did for Hassan? His humanitarian aid package came along with battle weapons to help the rebels there." I kept my voice low. "I picked up some company along the way."
Her eyes hardened. "Well a companion is nice. I have often said you need to bring someone with you on those long trips. So tell me about them? What did they do? She paused for a second. "Were they just trying to find work where you were headed?"
I took another bite of the stew, chewing it for a second longer before swallowing. She was using code. Trying to find work = pirate.
"No ma'am. His name was Jo Ayre. Said he was a cowboy. The entire time he was in the cockpit with me he talked about big snakes. I dropped him off at an agricultural colony along my route."
Miss Janet hasn't been a pilot in many moons, but she still understood the pilot lingo. Realization flashed briefly across her face. Cowboy = bounty hunter. Big snakes = Anaconda. The agricultural reference meant I left him as a debris field over a planet somewhere. She gave me a slight nod. Jo Ayre. She had heard the name before.
"Well hun, it sounds like you made a new friend! Maybe you should holo call him, maybe he has more family headed out this way."
You gotta give her credit, she knows the game well. She had a name, now she was making sure that I wouldn't be looking down the barrel of a repeater any time soon.
"I thought about that. But I think he said that he was on his own. Trying to make his own mark out here." She nodded and gave another fake smile.
I finished my stew, finished off the shot of Old Sol, stood up and slipped the bottle into my jacket. I fished my hand into the pocket of my cargo pants to put some creds on the table.
"Just what are you doing?" She looked at me, her steely gaze had returned.
"Just paying what I owe. You know I don't like to leave my debts unpaid."
She crossed her arms defiantly and rocked back onto her right foot, tapping the left. I know this look.
" I told you before. The meal was on the house."
"But the bottle of Old Sol wasn..."
"I SAID ON. THE. HOUSE." The bar went so quiet, you think it was just spaced to vacuum.
Her eyes were locked on to mine. Her jaw was clenched and it was as if her eyeballs just became a set of beam lasers. I slowly began to remove my hand from my pocket, never breaking eye contact with her. Her husband behind the bar, let out a slight chuckle, and went back to cleaning bar mugs. I could feel myself sweating, did I just forget to breathe?! I let a breath out slowly and unclenched my jaw. This is the woman who stared down an Python with a T-9 and won. She was INTENSE....
My mouth was dry. I could barely squeak out "Thank you, Miss Janet."
She then went totally relaxed, back to being carefree, as if it never happened. She smiled and winked at me before heading back to the bar to yell at her husband for something he didn't do. I took a minute to compose myself, and began to walk out. Passing the bar, I looked over at her husband, he gave me a smile and a knowing nod and started shaking his head again, chuckling to himself. I gave him a salute, and walked out into the commons area.
I have been chased by bounty hunters. Escaped Imperial imprisonment. I have stared death in the face more than once and didn't flinch. I live for the danger.
Staring down Miss Janet was the scariest moment of my life...