Posted July 26, 2018, 9:04 p.m. by Civilian Atticus Wolf (Bounty Hunter) (David Shotton)
“We are approaching the OED System” the pilot of the sleek, civilian craft announced. It was small, capable of planetary landings and used for light transport and passenger work but Atticus was all too aware that the real job of this crew, although hidden even from him, was smuggling. There was a certain feeling of it, the crews stance, how they talked. They were obviously, to him, hiding something but Atticus couldn’t care less, it was literally none of his business.
Switching the Comm in his small and cramped quarters to silent he switched on his personal PaDD and immediately a message popped into existence, right on time. It was encoded with the latest encryption and on the screen it was only squiggles and random characters, but he had always had a knack for this and with his almost photographic memory, had no trouble reading the message without the benefit of his decoding software.
Are you here came the first line of text.
Yes was his simple and straight reply. There was no need to confirm who he or the other person was, he would never know that information anyway and if they had this address, they were part of a select few who could afford him.
The item has reached OEDV. The Contract still stands
The Contract is void, no payment has been made he sent. He sighed slightly, they always thought that they could get him to do a job without a deposit, like some rookie that was trying to make a name for himself.
The job is important, payment is made after the item is received
That’s not how this works, and you know that he sent, and then turned off the PaDD, ending the conversation. Placing it gently on the small table beside him he sat back and started counting. By the time he reached ten, his wrist communicator beeped and he turned it over and checked that display, and this time his eyebrow did rise. The deposit was twice what he agreed, somebody wanted this item very badly, and this was only the deposit, only one third of what the contract would eventually pay, and even this amount would mean he could live comfortable for the rest of his days if he so chose. Turning on the PaDD again he sent one more message, ignoring anything else that had been sent and turning it off afterwards, he already had the profile and the location for delivery, that was all he needed, all he ever asked.
Contract is accepted was all that was sent back, and then Atticus made sure his bag was packed, checked the various items on his person and checked the mirror. The face that looked back at him didn’t look all that mysterious, it was handsome sure, but he could easily have been in a Starfleet uniform, selling property on Risa or a waiter in the local eatery. He didn’t look like a bounty hunter. Maybe it was the eyes, they were always so relaxed, comfortable and, sad, perhaps. Or maybe that was just him feeling the strain of all these years and knowing this was his last contract. He slid his jacket on over his collared shirt and adjusted the cuffs and the collar, then slid a pair of darkened glasses over his eyes, a habit he had picked up that didn’t serve any real purpose except to hide his eyes. For some reason, people seemed to take notice of them and remember the eyes, so he hid them. Then, he picked up his bag and left his quarters to prepare to land at OED.
The Wolf, post 1, another coming.
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