Section 2

“Look, Thenar, that’s a decent offer,” Aaron replied, “but not enough to make me not ask at least a few questions.”

“Well, I do suppose you are going to be, well,” Thenar looked over Aaron’s head and around the bar. No one was paying attention to their conversation, so he continued, albeit at a whisper, “killing this guy, so you’re entitled to a little intel.”

Thenar took the file back and pulled out one of the photos. The alien pictured was an Aurorusian, like Thenar, with a large discolored scar down the right side of his face. “Porten Ve’Tan, one of my former more regular… business associates. I have no problem with him moving on, since I deal in more than one type of goods, if you catch my drift. Unfortunately, he started cutting into my profits. Started dealing in the same trade, lower prices, better quality, things like that.”

“So rather than deal with this the normal way, with hard work and tears,” Aaron nodded, leaning back in his chair, “you turn to a man like myself.”

“Precisely.”

“I wish I could say no, but I am a little hard up for cash right now. Any chance you could bring the bounty a little, for old time’s sake?”

“Only if you want me to go to the guilds around here, plaster this all over the nets. Even though it may not seem like it at times, there are rules around here, especially for people in your profession.”

Aaron shuddered. “Never mind, then.” Aaron stood, adjusted his coat and hat, and nodded. “To the job, then.”

Just then, the waitress stopped by and plopped a shot on the table with a wink. Aaron smiled back before picking up the drink and downing it.

“That’s on you.”

With that, Aaron walked out the door, out to the busy street. He took a quick glance at the folder. Porten would be back at his villa in an hour. Plenty of time to get back to the ship, pick up the rest of his supplies and head him off.

“So how did it go?” ANDI’s voice chimed once Aaron reached the ship.

“Like normal, especially with Thenar,” he replied as he pulled a rifle onto his back. “Someone’s cutting into his profits again and he’s dealing with it in the only way he knows how.”

Aaron entered the cargo hold, which was scarcely more than a broom closet, and began pulling out what looked to be a spare bicycle seat. He sat on it, raised his right leg and kicked back forcefully. A sound that would seem strange to those who hadn’t heard it before began to resonate from the seat. A set of handlebars emerged and grew out in front of Aaron. His feet left the ground and he took off into the sky, heading towards Porten’s villa.

The villa was huge and exquisitely shaped from solid marble. The exquisitely shaped roof, with all its rises and falls playing tricks with the mind, seemed to be made of solid gold. Surely this man was worth more than Thenar’s offer.

As he sat suspended over the villa, Aaron heard a vehicle approaching. It looked like the kind of car a 1940s gangster would be seen in. Or a diplomat. Except this car didn’t have the cute little flags on the hood. Aaron quickly landed on a nearby roof and pulled out his rifle.

He carefully looked through the scope at the approaching car. His finger lovingly eased onto the trigger and he took a deep breath, wary of the moment to come.

Does Aaron take the shot? Or does he decide to take a closer look into this man? Post your ideas below or on the Facebook group (here).