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Chapter Thirty Sitting
behind the desk in his office near the private landing pad, Toman Higaeri girds
himself for his latest duel with the dark and brooding man for whom he waits.
Hearing the special whine of repulsor engines, Toman knows that the time
has come. Standing
up from his chair, Toman straightens his tunic, takes in a deep breath and moves
toward the door. As he reaches his hand to the handle he sees it slowly
turning. Fast little bugger isn’t he?
Stepping back to allow his arrival entrance, Toman puts on his most
charming smile, and as the door begins to swing open, “Nice to see you
haven’t lost your touch, Orion.” Sliding
in through the partially opened door, Vic Orion steps into the office.
“Yeah… Sure.” With
little pomp and no invitation, Vic simply sits down in the available chair and
waits for Toman to round his own desk and take his position.
“What’s all this talk about making other jobs worthless?
I’ve had a lot of good ones lately, what makes yours so special?” Quick
and to the point, Toman would expect nothing less from this consummate
professional. Carefully taking his
seat, making sure to never lose eye contact with the hired gun, Toman prepares
to make his pitch. “Glad to have your interest, Orion. And that was no boast...
This job will offer you money, of course, but also a few more
opportunities than you’ve had in recent assignments.” Toman is hoping that his vague description will gain the dark
man’s interest. Vic
shifts his taut frame in the chair and leans forward, ever so slightly, “Spit
it out, Higaeri. I don’t have the
time or the patience for your theatrics. If
this is some lame bounty hunter job, contact Darius Fett and quit wasting my
time.” The steely gaze that Vic
throws across the desk and the unexpected outburst causes Higaeri to move on. “No,
no it’s a hit, but it’s a hit where precision is more important than any
other job you’ve ever done. And
it has to be perfect, no mistakes, therefore Mr. Fett is not a consideration.”
Toman knows that the skill involved in such an action will be great and
Orion is the only man for the job. If
the job is to go off right, that is. “Sounds
a little too subversive for your tastes, Higaeri.
Who’d you tick off to get stuck with this one, old man?”
Vic sits back in his chair once again, never betraying his interest in
the nature of this job. Toman could
not tell what Vic was thinking by looking at him.
The man was a rock. Vic knew it would certainly be a challenge to his
skills and he never liked to be challenged by someone else.
That thought alone made Vic angry. “That
is irrelevant to the task at hand. . .” Toman
throws him an envelope. “Here’s
your entrance fee. And inside that
envelope is the price for the job, if you take it.
There will be no further details until you’ve agreed to the deal.” Toman’s resolve was solid and Vic knew that he would get
nothing else from the cunning smuggler chief without accepting the job. Opening
the envelope he quickly counts off his initial pay and then separates the note
from the credits and peers at the price. Careful
not to betray any of his thoughts to the man before him, Vic realizes that the
price alone would be worth the job, but it also meant the job was much more than
anything he had ever done before, and a great deal more involved than he was
currently being told. Had Toman recruited anyone else for the job, the lackey
would definitely be in it for the reputation.
Reputation was something Vic cared nothing for.
It was for the love of money. This
job was going to pay, and it was going to pay handsomely. Sitting
patiently behind his desk, Toman understands Orion’s reluctance to say
anything right away. Knowing the
amount would be enough to get anyone to try the job, and also knowing that Vic
would realize just how involved the job would be because of the money willing to
be spent on it. He suspected that
Vic would try to get some time to consider it.
So, it came as a complete surprise when a slight smile tugged at the
corner of Vic’s mouth, and that smile was one that sent cold chills running up
and down his spine. “You
are persuasive, Toman. I can’t argue that the price is well worth it.”
Vic sat back with a sense of self-satisfaction that he had not felt since
he eliminated his double-crossing employer so long ago.
“So, what are these ‘opportunities’ you’ve mentioned?” Knowing
that the zoneball was now in his court, Toman showed his own smile and carefully
handed Vic the data-card, “Well, do you remember a kid from Jaquillen’s
organization by the name of Reklaw?” That
name caught Vic completely off-guard, though he never showed it.
Inside his mind was a whirl of possibilities, but his face remained stone
hard as he listened to Higaeri reveal all of his careful plans.
The strategy was sound, even if the motives were not really known to Vic.
And he had to admit that working for the right people made this a very
interesting job. But how was he
going to handle the Reklaw problem. The
kid will figure this all out, one way or another; he always does.
And I’m not sure I want that kind of skifter card in the mix.
Mulling over his choices in his head, Vic knows that he could never cut the kid
out of the equation, but he had to have some control to make it work.
“I have only one condition, beyond the norm that is. . .”
Waiting for Higaeri’s response, Vic tries to appear even calmer. “If
it’s within reason.” “Reklaw
needs to be on a need to know basis. If
he’s involved with this little scheme of yours, I want him let in on it after
the fact, not before.” Vic was
very stern and could not be moved from his position. “That
seems to be the case anyway. I
haven’t had confirmation that he has gone beyond the task I hired him for, but
should he continue on to the conclusion, I will personally inform him of your
involvement... Will that suffice?” Vic
thinks about it a minute, “No, I’ll tell him...
He and I have some business to discuss after this job anyway.
Saves me the time of tracking him down.” Toman
goes into his desk searching for some paperwork. “So we have a deal,
wonderful,” He continues to shuffle around in his desk.
Finally finding what he was looking for, Toman begins to look up, “It
was a pleasure doing…” The door was left wide open and Vic was long gone.
Creator: PtrsonsZOO (Jennifer) & Joseph_Orion (Joey)
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Mountain Fan Force
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