Nothing Personal

POV- Vahal Varcane

Music deafens my ears as I sit in the booth in the back. All the lights in the bar are in the middle, over the dance floor. They keep the lights on the main show while hiding what happens in the booths. Smart. I just hope this doesn’t mess with my mission. I don’t want to make myself too obvious in a place like this. I am already seeing many faces turn to me, scanning my armor for signs of aggression or wealth. Speaking of...My broker sent me news that the royal family here on Tsinde has called in a favor with the Guild. They want the best, and with my new count of 56 bounties delivered in a month, it comes down to me. I know the other bounty hunters, including Lynx, are going to try something. That is why I have been telling Iden to shut down for this meeting; Lynx can’t track my location if my locator is off.

“Excuse me,” says a voice to my left. I look up to see a very beautiful woman; she looks young. Maybe early 20s. Her hand is outside her long black cloak, holding a paper with my code name in bold next to a very unflattering picture of my helmet and instructions on where to find me. I nod as big as I can so she can’t miss it before taking the paper from her.

“Take a seat, are you thirsty?” I ask gently. Stressed customers are the worst; the last one ran out on me mid-explanation.

“No, I’m fine. I just haven’t been away from... home in a while,” she takes a seat across from me, looking at her hands before taking a deep breath and continuing. “I need help finding and... and capturing a murderer.” There is anger in her eyes, but also sorrow. “I’ve heard that you can be discreet, that this doesn’t need to be common knowledge. The person I need taken down, their identity can not be found out, outside of this.”

“I can do that,” I say bluntly. She takes in a deep breath, relief relaxing her shoulders.

“Good, here,” she slides a tablet to the middle of the table. It shows a picture of a girl, around my age. Dark red hair flows around her round face. Her golden orange-brown eyes almost shine out of the picture. She’s standing next to a boy with the same face and eyes as her. However, his hair is a spikey blonde. “You’ll be looking for the girl, her name is Amarix, but I have a sense she will be going by her middle name, Ven.”

“Any idea where she is heading next?” I say, leaning forward slightly, taking in the smaller details of the girl’s clothes and body.

“I would say transport, there have been no reports of any ships leaving the planet. I have kept them all grounded, much to everyone’s dismay.” She takes the tablet, then returns it, this time a bank open showing a number that would get me a new ship and more. I keep composed, I know these types, royalty. Always trying to lowball you. “This is half; you will have the full value when you return her to the palace.” She pauses, studying me. “And if you think that I am going to go back on my word, sign here, and I have already done the same.”

She holds out a pen for me to sign on the dotted line, stating that I agree to help find and capture the target, return her home, and leave with the full amount of credits. It’s a small document, easy. But I read over it and even checked for back code that may show hidden text. Once checked, I sign and hand her the pen.

“Is the boy in the picture going to be an issue? Maybe an accomplice?” I ask while we both stand. She hands me a case, most likely the payment that she just showed me.

“No, the boy is my husband, whom she killed,” she says coldly. Before I could ask anything else, she walked through the back of the bar and out of sight. So, a friend of the king killed him, and now his wife is out for revenge. This is going to be an interesting one.

⋆⭒˚.⋆🪐 ⋆⭒˚.⋆

The weather in Tsinde is nice for most planets in the Riven system. It has the most land out of all of them. Which makes it hard to navigate, except that there is always someone wanting to take you somewhere. The minute I walk into the transport depot, I have to fight off at least 5 car salesmen trying to give me a ride. There are so many people, it’s hard to look for the girl. I walk to one of the ship terminals and hear a voice that sounds urgent to get off the planet. Well, that’s a good lead.

“Sorry, miss, but all ships are grounded by order of the crown,” The man behind the desk is talking to a girl with ocean blue hair. She looks like another worker. Then I see it, she looks around, and as she does, golden brown eyes. That’s her.

“Fine,” she practically spits at the man, who looks betrayed. Her face softens. “I’m sorry, thank you for your help.” She walks away after handing him a few coins. A criminal with a heart, you don’t see that very often. She practically sprints out of the transport depot, covering her head as she leaves. I barely have enough time to see her go around the corner.

She’s talking with a group of pilots, by the look of them, not the friendly type either. Can’t have that. I lean on the corner, out of their line of sight, not that I have to worry about the Pilots spotting me, their eyes are on her. I don’t blame them, but they aren’t looking away from her.

“Look, lady, if you think you can pay us enough to get us to break the law, fine. But I don’t think you have that money, sweetheart.” The main pilot says, smirking at her. She moves from foot to foot.

“Don’t call me sweetheart. I can pay you, but I need to leave now.” Irritation is strong in her voice, not to mention every word she says is met with a tiny stomp of her foot. She’s impatient, perfect. The pilots are openly laughing.

“Fine, miss out on the payout of your lives, I’ll find someone else.” She walks away, but not without some of the other pilots whistling and calling for her to come back and give them a good time.

“You’re looking to get off planet?” I ask as she walks by me.

“Yes, do you have a ship and respect?” She turns to me, those eyes...

“As much respect as a helmet can afford. Where are you looking to go?” I scan her, she’s in work clothes, but something is shining under that I can’t make out.

“I need a ride to Naderine. How much?” She’s practically pleading.

“How ironic, I was heading that way myself. I’ll need payment, however.”

“How much?” She doesn’t hesitate; that’s odd, maybe a loaded criminal. Although those are rare.

“40 credits,” I remark, she smirks. She must have been expecting something bigger. She holds out her hand, already holding coins for me. “You have that on hand?”

“I have to be ready,”

“80,” I say bluntly, let’s see how much she has.

“80? You just asked for 40!” She closes her hand. I don’t say anything, letting silence fill the space. She breaks moments later. “Fine, here.”

“Then follow me,” She drops the amount in my palm, and I lead her to my ship. Let’s get that new ship. Although I would be lying if I said that this doesn’t feel easy. Why Naderine? It fits the criminal profile, but a little too perfectly. I watch her as we walk. There isn’t anything conventionally threatening about her; she looks like a normal person who came back from work and needs to go somewhere. The rest of the walk is silent.

Once on board, I lead her to one of the guest rooms on the ship; it’s pretty put together considering Lynx is the only one that uses it. Ven sits on the bed, taking it in before making eye contact with me. Those eyes again...

“Why did you agree to take me?” She tilts her head slightly to the left.

“I told you I was going that way myself, and you had the payment.”

“Do you travel alone normally?”

“I have a few droids on board that keep me alive and company,” I say plainly, slightly shrugging. She doesn’t speak, but I can tell there is something she wants to say. I can’t ask; however, there is a loud beep from behind me. I spin on my heels to see a small robot standing on metal stilts like legs, staring at me with a green pupil on its screen face. “Is this your-” I feel a pin in my neck. I reach behind me and grab her arm, pulling her around. I grab her other arm, the sides of my vision fading. How did she get through my armor? “What did you do?” I ask slurring before I hit the deck, hard.