1.27

Awakened by an explosion, Hawkinz was immediately alarmed, thinking that something was very wrong with the ship. A second explosion put his fears to rest, as it was nearby, but clearly outside the ship. Internal debates began as to whether or not he should get up and check on the current situation, quickly escalating into full-fledged arguments complete with slanderous statements about parental lineage and instructions on how and where to forcibly place objects in a body. A flurry of clever retorts resulted in the desire to wake up and participate winning out, causing his body to begrudgingly respond. The only question remaining unanswered was one of how long he had slept. Noting the time had not been on his priority list before passing out.

More explosions sounded off near the ship, but there was no motion of avoidance or evasive action. Hawkinz couldn't even tell if the freighterwas moving forward. This allowed his sense of urgency to remain sleeping as he made his way to the mess replicator for Go Juice. He didn't leave the front of the unit until finishing his third container full, taking a fourth in hand as he moved toward the cockpit.

Hawk could hear Goldie and Preytor talking as he palmed the switch to open the door.

"Notice how they always like to fly head on, like that's the only way they are able to attack." GH was pointing at HUD tagged Blood Dragons, engaged with Kusari Police in a battle around the freighter. A pair of Dragons flew close to the LDP4, one exploding in a shower of molten debris as a Police fighter caught it in his crosshairs.

We were sitting dead in space, halfway between the Kyushu/Tokyo jumpgate and the tradelane to Planet Kyushu. A Samura transport flew overhead, the rumble of its drive shaking the ship slightly. It appeared oblivious to the hits it took, and continued to the lane. It's escorts, however, decided to occupy themselves in assisting the Police in getting rid of the Blood Dragons.

"I like how they do use those Katanas to the best of their ability though." Preytor had called up an overlay, scanning the layout of the nearest Dragon. He was pointing to it's weapon loadout, when the overlay vanished, due to the fact that this particular ship had just been blown from the sky.

"See? That's what I was saying before. They do use mines more than the Police. It is a good, safe tactic. And it keeps the Police occupied with staying alive, giving themselves more time to take out the Kusaris." GH lined up the crosshairs on a mine and shot it. "Just havin fun."

"You two didn't think this was worth waking me for?" Hawkinz finished off his cup of GeeJay. He dropped himself heavily into the chair at the weapon's console, idly thumbing up the navigation panel and flight control systems. He charted a series of waypoints to the Tau-23 jumphole, selected the first waypoint at the entrance to the Jumplane and kicked the cruise. "Aww, man, we were getting into that." GH sounded truly disappointed. "I had money riding on the Dragons."

Preytor chukled. "That was a lost wager when you made it. Noone beats the lane ring, and that is a set of turrets working with the Police." He stretched. "Enjoy your nap, Cap'n?"

Hawkinz yawned. "Is that all I took?"

"Not really. We both decided to go sight seeing through Shikoku." Goldie looked genuinely pleased with himself. "We toured the gas clouds."

"Yeah. GH wanted to show me some minor design differences visible in the old Maru wrecks. So we went the long way around.” Preytor tabbed through a few HUD displays. “We took the Kyushu hole, stopped off at Kagoshima for food and fun, and meandered up to the lane here, where the fight looked good enough to watch.”

“Hey Hawk,” GH pulled the ID from the IFF broadcast reader and held it up. “Where the hell did you get this thing? The only faction that wanted a piece of us were Lane Hackers. And the weirdest thing happened in Kepler. We cane up on a hostile group of Hackers, and they decided after firing a few shots to break it off.”

We had just come out of the tradelane, and Hawk nudged the tracking indicator to the Planet Kyushu docking ring. “It’s an adaptive ID. It only works in active reader systems. But it hacks into the reading carrier wave, and adjusts the signal. Makes anyone detecting it, if they are hostile, think they just experienced a system glitch, as I will appear neutral once the hack is complete.” Kyushu welcomed the docking request. “Cost me a ton of credits. Too bad the delay is so long.”

GH shook his head in astonishment. “I’ve been all over Sirus. I’ve crawled in and out of almost every ship you can find. I’ve felt the kick of every weapon you can buy, and some you can’t. But somehow, sometimes you always manage to show me something I’ve never seen before.”

Smiling, Hawkinz nodded toward the docking ring opening before them. “Wait till I introduce you to the guy selling this tea.”

1.27

1.28

Planet Kyushu was a bustling planetside colony on the border of Kusari space. Although the residents were bound by Kusari law, the atmosphere was... relaxed to say the least. Lush, green, and full of life, it was a prime exporter of some of the rarer herbs, vegetables and teas in demand throughout the Kusari systems. As it was this close to the border systems, it was also a port of call that allowed for more questionable purchases, if an individual knew where to look.

Weather Control worked well on this planet, and notices flashed of a scheduled rainstorm due in 35 minutes as Hawkins, Preytor, and Goldie walked the short distance from the landing tower they had been allowed to use. Although common on every planet throughout Sirus, skyscrapers and towers of incredible heights were not nearly as tall on Kyushu as they were elsewhere. People here seemed to prefer their view of the sky, and took advantage of the available space to allow their cities to sprawl outward. This also meant for a little more exposure to the elements, even if they were controlled at a central planetary location.

Goldie was looking around wide-eyed, each bit of neon catching his attention. "You know, I never spend any time outside of stations or landing towers." He bounded on his heels for a moment. "Even the deck feels weird."

Oblivious to the occasional odd stare from passersby, Prey loped along casually. "It is called ground. Dirters don't call it a deck."

"I was on the ground when I was in the institution, so there."

Chuckling, Hawkinz shook his head. "That place was built from a pair of monitor class freighter hulls. I doubt it felt very much like this."

"You put it that way, and it makes sense why it had that homey feeling."

Preytor threw GH a sideways look. “We can always bring you back if you’d like.”

Goldie took a wide step away from Prey. “Not on your life!”

The three had covered some good ground, following Hawkinz’ lead. His path had been a convolited one, taking a side street here, and a back alley there. Planet Kyushu still had a few wheeled vehicles in state service on the planet, but street pollution was almost unheard of. Still, as Hawk wound his way away from the main traffic areas, the smells of the underside of a city grew more pungent. Rounding a corner, GH and Prey were momentarily surprised to find themselves in a long courtyard that seemed to have been torn out of a historical holovid. The air was full of smoke from cooking fires, as people had woks over open fires scattered about. Lines of clothing hung between the building, apparently drying after a washing. Children and dogs ran about, playing but doing so almost noiselessly. Aside from low conversation and an the rattle of cooking implements, all was quiet. The initial intrusion of these three strangers went unnoticed, until Hawkinz began to pass through the center of the courtyard. Mothers came out of doorways to grab their children. Children ran behind crates and barrels. One overly curious kid, all of eleven, did run right up to Hawk, blocking his forward progress.

“Hey.” He held his hand out.

Hawkins squatted down. “Does your mom know you’re here?”

The boy shook his head, hand still extended. Hawkinz dug deep in his pocket and handed him his last few credit chits. Grinning from ear to ear, the waif scampered away and through a darkened, smoky doorway.

Standing and glancing from side to side cautiously, Hawk motioned over his shoulder for his companions to follow, as he continued through the courtyard to the far exit. A few dozen steps and the ghostly remnants of life were behind them, swallowed up in the maze of buildings. Even the traces of smoke cleared after crossing a few small streets. Soon, they found themselves below a hand-painted sign, discolored with age and weather. As peals of thunder began in the background and the sky darkened with the clouds rolling in, Hawkins pushed the door and gestured for his friends to follow.

A bell rang overhead as the door closed, the two human pairs of eyes taking a moment to adjust to the gloom. The room was large, but stuffed with organics. Dried foods, fruits, vegetables, herbs and more hung around the room. Real, woven baskets sat on shelves next to jars of an incredible array of substances, most without label or indication as to their contents. Walking into the room, revealed shelves further back, overflowing with implements of various designs, some obviously for cooking, some without obvious indications as to their useage. Tucked away into the furthest corner of the room, a large incense burner sat smoking on a stand next to a table, wrapped in silks and other exotic handmade cloths. It appeared to be carved from wood, ancient and worn, a small statue of a man holding an exaggeratedly long pipe. Only the smoke in the air from the bowl of the pipe moved, the atmosphere in the room lending itself to a still image.

Hawkinz approached the statue, gave a small bow, removed a tiny stone from a pocket at his breast and bowed again. He placed the stone on the table in front of the statue and straightened.

“Must be some kind of ritual.” Goldie whispered to Preytor.

“Not at all.” Said the statue as it adjusted it’s position, unfolding a leg and draping it off the stand. “I asked my friend here to pick up this Lapis Loquartzon stone the last time he was here.” Indeed, it was a man, and not a carving that was speaking. He lowered his pipe and smiled from ear to ear, the facial gesture threatening to crack his skull in half. “I am glad you are still alive after retrieving one for me.”

“Preytor laughed, genuine concern fading from his voice. “Hawkinz tends to survive most things.” He had seen the heat from the man, but his signature had been so unusual and virtually lifeless, he too had been fooled into thinking the man was an object.

“Frell! It’s alive” Goldie found his voice at last.
“Gentlemen, May I introduce you to Tai Kuon Jones.” Hawk smiled and gestured to the little man. “If he doesn’t know where to get something, it probably doesn’t exist.”

Tai bowed slightly. “I may know where to get anything, but not everything is within my grasp.” He picked up the stone. “This little beauty had eluded me for some time. But you did not come just to bring me this, did you?”

“Actually, I came for that, and for more tea.”

“For Jamie, I’d imagine, yes?” His eyes sparkled mischievously for a moment. “And that would mean…”

“Yes, you old devil. I already arranged for a crate of gatelane parts to be transferred from my hold to here.” Hawk had wandered to a shelf containing jars of dried leaves.

“You deal in standard system trades?” GH moved closer, peering closely at Tai.

Tai puffed on his pipe. “I have… other uses for items such as lane parts.”

Preytor was starting to sort out the different aromas his olfactory senses had been assailed with. He could now identify the scent of a delicacy he had not tasted since leaving his homeworld. “I suppose it is no surprise that those cases containing gate parts are sealed so as to be unopenable without blowing yourself and the parts to hell?”

“This had never been a problem for me in the past.” The same impish smile and glint crossed Tai’s face.

“You wouldn’t happen to deal in weapons, would you?” The disappointment on Goldie’s face was beginning to creep into his voice. Nothing in the room looked the least bit threatening.

Hawkins laughed, picking up a bit of root to nibble on. He moved to a section of shelf with smaller jars, each containing green buds thickly covered in clear crystals. He opened one to inhale deeply.

“I have been known to come across a weapon or two in my time. Is there anything in particular you seek?” Tai slid from the stand he used as a stool, waddled over past Hawkinz, poking him with his pipe good-naturedly, heading for a door in the corner.

“I dunno. Something handheld, deadly, unique… you know… something cool.”

Hawk looked over at GH. “You DO have credits, don’t you?”

“Pfft.” Goldie looked disgusted. “Don’t you worry about my money situation.”

Preytor had followed his nose, to a basket near the only window in the place, darkened with years of smoke and dust. Contained within were the small dried carcasses of a fish-like creature, sporting huge fangs and thick barbs even in its desiccated state. Raising it to his mask, he inhaled deeply before lifting his mask to put it in his mouth whole, holding the tail. He savored the taste momentarily before rapidly consuming the flesh from the bones, pulling out the stripped skeleton when he finished. He stood still, chewing slowly, enjoying every moment. On his home planet, this fish was one of the most deadly creatures alive. Between the deadly venom it injected into its victims and the speed and ferocity with which it could strip flesh to the bone, few survived an encounter with one intact, much less alive. When soaked in the proper combination of herbs and spices, and dried at the right temperature, it would not only remain tasty for almost indefinite periods of time, but could be consumed by those with the right constitution. Those such as Preytor’s species, for example. When prepared in the correct fashion, it was not only a tasty candy-like treat, but it was also a minor pleasant psychotropic that lasted for hours. He picked up the entire basket and carried it to the table.

Tai returned from his back room, carrying a small barbell shaped device, each end a cube of metal, the handle apparently decorated with different shaped ovals and apparent sensors. At one end, a simple lanyard hoop. The other marked only with a slightly indented circle. He handed it to GH. “I just sent the tea, and a few jars of that… herb you seem to enjoy, to your ship’s STS, master Hawkinz. The Spaceport tower in turn transferred the crate here. It arrived without incident.”

Hawkinz bowed, still chewing on the root.

“What is this?” Goldie was genuinely curious, examining the object intently.

“That, is a one of a kind Tizona Blade. Using some of the technology found in del Cid’s, it creates a virtually invisible blade of energy that can disable shielding technology. It also will melt almost any metal, although not instantaneously.” His eyes darkened. “What it does to flesh is not appealing though. And while it cannot be detected by most when activated, as long as you are in contact with the sensors in the handle, you can see it clearly.” He waggled a finger. “The size of the blade is also variable, but has never been known to extend further than a meter. You can adjust the width of the blade by altering your grip on certain sensor spots, and can even use it as a shield. As it draws activation energy from the wielder however, longer lengths are possible in theory. And if you fall unconscious while holding it, it is deactivated.”

GH gazed raptly on the object with profoundly obvious respect and awe. He had never even conceived of such a thing. It bore some similarities to other weapons, even the Vibrablade Prey had given him, but outstripped every other handheld weapon he knew. “Will it make me tired just by using it?”

Tai shook his head. “Not at all. It does not drain you. It will store energy from any source the blade comes in contact with, be it living or energized.”

“I have to have this. How much?”

“A mere five hundred thousand credits will make it yours.”

“Five hun…!” GH almost dropped the blade as if it were a dangerous creature in his hand. “I could buy a ship for that!”

Hawk walked over to look at the weapon. He whistled. “That’s a bargain. I heard him offer that once for a million.”

Tai smiled. “As you are a friend of my dear friend here, I shall pass it on to you at cost. Three hundred and fifty thousand credits. There is not another like it anywhere in Sirus. The secrets of its manufacture died with it’s designer. The designer was actually killed by his own weapon, as the man who paid for it to be constructed wanted no more to ever be made.”

An evil look crossed Goldie’s face. “What if I were to have similar thoughts? What would stop me?”

Hawk stepped between GH and Tai. “You’d have to go through me first.”

Preytor moved up. “Me as well. Anyone who has a supply of Karkiada fish deserves my protection.”

Tai laughed and smiled. “I am not worried. You would need to have to know how to activate it first.”

Once again, GH looked surprised. “Oh Yeah.”

1.28

1.29

Hawkinz and Preytor walked a few steps behind Goldie after exiting Tai’s shop. The recovering maniac was enjoying himself a little too thoroughly with getting to know everything about his new toy. The safest place to be at the moment was out of range and out of sight. Of course, it meant shouting directions so he would know how to get back. So Hawkinz decided to take the longer, but less convoluted route to the docking tower. He just had no idea how he was going to handle the situation when they started to encounter crowds.

It was not unusual to find the ground streets as bare as they were today. Putting one’s feet in contact with the pavement was for most, a matter of choice and not necessity. Every apartment complex of average means included the use of an STS (site to site) transporter, very similar in design to what could be found on a ship. The differences were not in how they appeared to work, but how they transmitted matter from one location to another. Where as most of the people on Planet Kyushu were digitally teleporting from one place to another at that moment, Hawkinz and his friends were walking for the tactile experience. At least this was why Hawk was a pedestrian. Preytor and GH were tagging along mostly for the novelty.

There was the wind of course. The random movements of air, small breezes and blustering gusts, scents carried with sounds all moving on a path of their own. On a ship, or on a station, you never felt the wind. Ventilation ducts could assist in creating the illusion of course, but could never replace the sensation, the exhilaration of feeling the wind. Of all the things the wind could carry however, one of the more useful was warning. Most humans did not operate on a level of awareness that was high enough to sense warning or danger in the wind. Luckily for this small group, Preytor was not human.

Their new path had taken them from the shop, out of the small alley and down a narrow but more obvious thoroughfare. Goldie swung his Tizona Blade tentatively back and forth, while Hawk and Prey followed quietly behind. A few intersections fell behind before Hawkinz broke the silence with one word “Left”. At the appropriate cross street, GH turned and crossed the street to head in the new direction. Ahead on the far side of the boulevard, two ground vehicles sat parked one behind the other. A half a dozen individuals stood loitering outside a decrepit office building. Preytor, suddenly alert, touched Hawkinz and motioned toward them. As they all approached, the group appeared to begin to take an interest.

“You thinking trouble?”

Preytor tapped the side of his mask. “I’m not thinking anything. I’m smelling trouble, I’m seeing submachine weapons beneath their coats, I’m hearing cheap low frequency communicators and I’m knowing that they wouldn’t pay any attention to us unless they were supposed to.”

Suddenly aware of his own, unarmed vulnerability, Hawkinz fought the impulse to stop in his tracks. “We are too far from anywhere we should be.”

Preytor stepped into the doorway they were in the process of passing. “We change the setting then. Goldie!”

GH stopped, turned and walked back as Preytor pulled the door open, tearing the ancient lock from the frame. Hawkinz noticed the six men gather closer together before starting around the vehicles and toward them. Goldie looked perplexed as Hawk pushed him through the doorway. Leaving Preytor to take up the rear, he crossed the threshhold and took stock of where they were. It was an apparently abandoned office foyer with a smattering of broken furniture littering the corners of the room.

“What’s goin on?” GH had deactivated the blade, but still held it at the ready.

“Preytor noticed trouble and we are trying to fix it.” Hawk crossed the foyer to the double doors that led further into the building. They resisted sliding open at first, but were convinced with a small effort.

“Why not just take care of it out there?”

Hawk let his eyes adjust to the gloom. The foyer opened to a much larger waiting room. It was long, running deep into the building with couches interspersed along the walls between elevator pads. Another set of double doors sat closed on the opposite wall. Compared to the foyer, this room was surprisingly intact, albeit musty with disuse. He started into the room.

“The more control we have over our surroundings, the better we are going to do.” Hawk waved for Goldie to follow, noticing Preytor was still standing in the doorway. “You should know that.”

Preytor stepped inside and closed the door, activating his personal cloaking armor as he moved to one side. GH followed Hawk into the waiting room. Hawkinz crossed the room at a run, skidding to a stop before this new pair of sliding doors. Again, a small effort was needed before they parted with a low grating noise. Opening to a hallway, Hawkinz looked left and right before stepping through. To the right, down at the end, a dim light illuminated part of the hall, coming through an open door. He motioned to Goldie as he headed toward that light. Halfway there, he could faintly hear the entrance door yanked open violently. Preytor had been right in his suspicions.

Changing his mind, he stopped short, almost causing GH to walk into him. In the dark, he reached out finding Goldie's’chest and slid his hand to cover his mouth. As his eyes adjusted to the near total darkness, he quietly moved around him, pulling GH by the face back to the waiting room doors. They both could hear multiple sets of footsteps inside. Hoping Prey was paying attention and ready for action, Hawk stopped short of the open sliders, pushing GH to the far side of the hall before letting go. Hand-held lights came on in the waiting room, casting stark shadows everywhere.

“They’re in here somewhere. They couldn’t have gone far.”

“That’s the only door, so what… through there?”

“Parker, you cover the entrance.”

“Yes Sir.” Louder, confident steps trailed off.

Hawkinz motioned to Goldie, waving a few times back and forth before making a walking motion with his fingers, toward the sliders. Goldie nodded and activated his blade, inching closer to the swath of light coming from the doors.

“I don’t like this. We should at least be hearing something.”

“My guess is they are looking for a back way out.”

“You think they climbed these elevator pad rails?” The lights bobbed radically in the room.

“You see that big guy at the door? I don’t think much would surprise me about him.”

The bolt of a submachine gun action snapped into place. “See if there is any power to those pads. There might be concealed access hatches on the walls there too.”

“I’m betting those doors.”

The light became very bright at the doors before the barrel of a gun poked through. Hawkinz waited till he could see the forearms holding it before he grabbed the gun at the trigger to keep it from firing, swinging the man into the hall. Goldie brought the Tizona down in an arc, cleaving the man in two from shoulder to midsection silently, leaving the gun in Hawkinz hands. The action did not go unnoticed, however.

“The Hall!”

Before Hawk and GH could move to the open doorway, a spray of bullets came through. Hawk killed the flashlight on the weapon as more bullets penetrated the wall around him, forcing him into a crouch. Then all hell broke loose in the waiting room.

From the foyer, a muffled yelp signified the end of Parker as Preytor simply reached out and snapped the man’s neck. Still undiscovered, he took advantage of the fact that the four remaining men were all focused on the far end of the room. He brought his shoulder mounted laser blaster to a charged state, its cloaked barrel swinging forward. With its triple targeting beams sweeping to the head of the nearest foe, he casually took aim before putting a pulse of energy through the poor man’s skull. Before the body even realized it was dead he adjusted his aim and put a pulse through the next closest man’s head. Prey then shut off the targeting lasers and stepped sideways, still allowing himself enough of a line of sight into the room.

“What the hell was that? Parker!”

“Stevens!”

As the lights swung away from the doorway, Goldie charged through. With a warcry he brought his blade down on his nearest victim, splitting him open. The remaining man turned to bring his weapon to bear on GH. Goldie swung the Tizona at waist level as Preytor let loose with an untargeted pulse. Both attacks hit their mark before the man could pull the trigger, causing him to essentially explode in a shower of blood. Moments after it had begin, it was now all over. Hawkinz rolled into the doorway ready to fire, only to see GH standing alone in the room, bathed in the light from several hand-held lights lying on the floor, shining at crazy angles.

“Prey?” Hawk stood, looked at the weapon in his hand, and tossed it carelessly aside. “You still here?”

Preytor turned off his cloak and stepped into the waiting room. “That takes care of that.”

“In retrospect, it might have been prudent to leave one alive.” Hawk shook his head sadly.

“In retrospect?” Preytor’s stance almost spoke of amusement.

“Ok. There wasn’t really time for a retrospect of any sort.” Bending down, Hawkinz began to rifle through the nearest corpse’s pockets. Pocketing everything he found without looking, he moved on to the next. Preytor moved back to the body in the foyer and began to do the same. Goldie just turned in a slow circle, surveying the room.

“Is someone gonna tell me who we just killed, and why? Please?”

1.29

1.30

A quick search of the abandoned office had turned up a utility room, where GH had no trouble hacking into the city power grid. In moments, long unused lighting panels began to glow, revealing years of grime. Hawk had turned up an STS that appeared to be functional once the power was on. Rather than continue on foot at this point, all three had agreed on this course of action to hasten their return to the ship.

After receiving the proper permissions, all three were soon in the main lobby at the top of the docking tower. Prey and GH made their way out to the ship while Hawkinz paid the parking fees and had his travel VISA ID tagged for his stay. For this, he used his legitimate one, as he was on good terms with the Kusari Police and felt no need to hide his actions from them.

Onboard, his friends were seated at the table in the mess, pouring through the items they had taken from the would-be assassins. Hawk dumped what he had found onto their pile and entered the cockpit to expedite the disembarkation procedure. The sooner they were in space and on their way, the better. As the channel attendant began the launch approval, Hawkinz kicked the thrusters, manually following the prescribed flight path. He wasn’t in the mood for following local speed regulations.

“These guys had some serious money backing them.” Preytor called from the crew area. “Miniature subspace communication rigs like these aren’t cheap.”

“They didn’t spend any money on weapons though.” Goldie’s voice dripped with disdain.

Hawkinz strafed sideways out of the docking collar, avoiding the guidance clamps and safety doors before they opened. He headed for the tradelane on full burn, only kicking in the docking request at the last minute. The LDP4 lurched sideways slightly as it slid into position before accelerating. Secure for a few moments, he got up and replicated himself a beer.

Goldie got up and approached Hawk as he was sitting back down. Hawk took the proffered com unit. It was tiny and devoid of any apparent control mechanism.

GH pointed to the small voice tube projecting from the narrower end. “It’s a voice activated unit, most likely keyed to a particular user’s vocal modulation.” He motioned for Hawk to flip it over. “It’s definitely a Dyna-C model, although it’s been customized. All the manufacture indicators have been removed.”

Hawkinz made every attempt to look like he knew exactly what Goldie was talking about. He nodded, and peered, and flipped his finger across the small extension tube. In the end, he was just glad that GH knew what GH was talking about. That was good enough for him. He handed the com back to his friend.

“No ID cards in any of this stuff.” Preytor called out while GH mad his way back to the table. “Nothing looks to be very old or worn with use.”

“I assume you are implying that these were some professionals then.”

Goldie snorted. “Professional amateurs, maybe.”

Hawkinz chuckled. They had gone down quite easily.

“I’m checking on their money situation now.” Flipping open the computer he wore on his wrist, Preytor took one of the half-dozen credit chits and passed it over the reader lens. Although his species lacked lips, he did let loose with the equivalent of a whistle, a series of clicks representing his surprise. “Over three million credits on this one chit.”

“You think that was a luck of the draw?”

“I’ll know in a few moments.” Preytor stacked up the remaining five chits neatly, placing the one he just checked off to the side. Scanning each in turn, he clicked his astonishment and approval. “They are all good for between three and three point five million credits each.”

“I’d say we didn’t do badly for a few minutes work.” Hawk brought up the system map when they cleared the tradelane, and waypointed the Tau 23 jumphole. He debated for a moment using cruise, but he knew there were no large objects on this side of the hole. As a faster alternative, he got up, replicated a toothpick, pointed the nose at the jumphole waypoint, tabbed the physical thruster activation button, and jammed the toothpick beside it to hold it in place. He would have to keep an eye on their course to keep from overshooting, but they would arrive at the hole much quicker this way.

“You know, with that much money, I can get rid of this freighter in favor of something much sexier.”

“It isn’t all your money.” GH was indignant.

“He never said it was.” Preytor gave Goldie a friendly tap to the side of his head. “But the two of you can divide it amongst yourselves. I’ve no major debts to repay.”

“What? You guys think I’m some kind of freeloader? I’ve got a handful of ships scattered through out Sirus.” GH was even more indignant.

Again, Hawkinz chuckled. “Let’s just hope you haven’t forgotten any of the access codes you need to get on one of those ships.”

“Of course I haven’t. I’m not about to tell either of you two what they are.”

Hawkinz settled himself further into his seat, as they approached the jumphole. “Ok guys, jump to Tau-23.”

“You know, the only problem I think I might have, is remembering where I left all my ships.”

1.30