Read Online Project Starfighter by Stephen J Sweeney - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Stephen J Sweeney
Ads: Link
hunt for Sid and
Tyrone. The reward money was now half a million per head. That was a
lot. He ignored it and moved on, flipping through the listings,
glossing over the items and services for sale, and moving to the
‘Help Wanted’ section. No packages or other items were on offer
to be transported to Hail, and not a lot else, either. Hell, he knew
it was a long shot but had hoped to find something in there. But
seriously, who was he kidding? No one had ever been known to pay more
than a hundred at most for the transport of a package within the same
system. The largest offer he had ever seen made on a parcel delivery
was close to one thousand, and that had been for taking something
from one side of the known galaxy to the other.
With little else to do as he waited
for the hour to be up so he could get an update from Sid, Chris began
to idly read through the other adverts. There were a number of people
looking for cheap passage to other systems, some vessels offering
jobs as crew (tempting, but he didn’t want to be tied into a work
contract), ‘removal’ and ‘retirement’ jobs (basically
assassinations, dressed up as casual send-offs for people who had
enjoyed a long and fulfilling career), and adverts placed by those
searching for missing persons.
Chris accessed the retirement jobs,
unsurprised to see that neither the target themselves nor the
compensation on offer were detailed in the description. The client
wished the applicant to contact them using a special system that
Chris had never heard of. It was likely familiar only to those in the
assassin game. He backed out of the section and turned to the Missing
Persons adverts.
‘MISSING – HARRY WHEEL, AGED 10.
LAST SEEN ON MOEBO, 25TH JULY 2411’
Someone’s child. And most likely
kidnapped and trafficked.
‘LOST – MITZY. TWO-YEAR-OLD,
BLACK AND WHITE, SHORT HAIR’
Someone’s pet cat. A few others in
the list were also searching for pets, apparently.
‘MISSING – URSULA LEXX, AGED 23.
LAST SEEN IN THE EYANANTH SYSTEM. SIGNIFICANT REWARD’
Chris accessed the full detail of
the listing, partly out of curiosity to see if there was a photograph
of the missing woman. There wasn’t. The detail of the listing
itself was also very short, only describing Lexx in brief, and
stating that she worked as a xenobiologist.
Done with the board, Chris was
turning to leave, when his eye caught one of the ‘Help Offered’
adverts.
‘PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO EVERYDAY
ISSUES. COMPETITIVE PRICES TO SUIT A VARIETY OF SITUATIONS AND FIX A
WIDE RANGE OF PROBLEMS. SECURE YOUR FUTURE WITH US, WITH EASE’.
Chris requested further information,
but found that the summary provided little but contact details. He
recognised them, though. These were the credentials of a local
mercenary group. The Resistance had made use of mercenary services in
the past, to help get certain aspects of their movement started.
At that moment, the spark of
inspiration hit him. All Chris had to do was wait for Sid to return.
He settled down in a seat by a large window overlooking the planet
below, pulling together all the threads of his plot in his head.
~
“How
did it go?” Chris asked as Sid took a seat next to him.
“Okay,” Sid said. It didn’t
sound like it. His tone would have been more enthusiastic and upbeat
if it had.
“Did you manage to get anything?”
“I got some money.” Sid
shrugged. “Just not a lot.”
“Fair enough. How much?”
“A few hundred. Four hundred and
seventy two, to be exact. I didn’t manage to create any new
accounts, though. I had to rig up some access to existing customer
ones ...”
“Sid ...” Chris started,
appalled.
“I know, I know,” Sid said,
clearly troubled by what he had done. “I tried to stick to the
Robin Hood mentality, but most of the accounts I found weren’t as
well off as I would have liked. I took a little bit from each of
them, before I closed everything down. I didn’t want to stay on the
banks’ networks
Tyrone. The reward money was now half a million per head. That was a
lot. He ignored it and moved on, flipping through the listings,
glossing over the items and services for sale, and moving to the
‘Help Wanted’ section. No packages or other items were on offer
to be transported to Hail, and not a lot else, either. Hell, he knew
it was a long shot but had hoped to find something in there. But
seriously, who was he kidding? No one had ever been known to pay more
than a hundred at most for the transport of a package within the same
system. The largest offer he had ever seen made on a parcel delivery
was close to one thousand, and that had been for taking something
from one side of the known galaxy to the other.
With little else to do as he waited
for the hour to be up so he could get an update from Sid, Chris began
to idly read through the other adverts. There were a number of people
looking for cheap passage to other systems, some vessels offering
jobs as crew (tempting, but he didn’t want to be tied into a work
contract), ‘removal’ and ‘retirement’ jobs (basically
assassinations, dressed up as casual send-offs for people who had
enjoyed a long and fulfilling career), and adverts placed by those
searching for missing persons.
Chris accessed the retirement jobs,
unsurprised to see that neither the target themselves nor the
compensation on offer were detailed in the description. The client
wished the applicant to contact them using a special system that
Chris had never heard of. It was likely familiar only to those in the
assassin game. He backed out of the section and turned to the Missing
Persons adverts.
‘MISSING – HARRY WHEEL, AGED 10.
LAST SEEN ON MOEBO, 25TH JULY 2411’
Someone’s child. And most likely
kidnapped and trafficked.
‘LOST – MITZY. TWO-YEAR-OLD,
BLACK AND WHITE, SHORT HAIR’
Someone’s pet cat. A few others in
the list were also searching for pets, apparently.
‘MISSING – URSULA LEXX, AGED 23.
LAST SEEN IN THE EYANANTH SYSTEM. SIGNIFICANT REWARD’
Chris accessed the full detail of
the listing, partly out of curiosity to see if there was a photograph
of the missing woman. There wasn’t. The detail of the listing
itself was also very short, only describing Lexx in brief, and
stating that she worked as a xenobiologist.
Done with the board, Chris was
turning to leave, when his eye caught one of the ‘Help Offered’
adverts.
‘PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO EVERYDAY
ISSUES. COMPETITIVE PRICES TO SUIT A VARIETY OF SITUATIONS AND FIX A
WIDE RANGE OF PROBLEMS. SECURE YOUR FUTURE WITH US, WITH EASE’.
Chris requested further information,
but found that the summary provided little but contact details. He
recognised them, though. These were the credentials of a local
mercenary group. The Resistance had made use of mercenary services in
the past, to help get certain aspects of their movement started.
At that moment, the spark of
inspiration hit him. All Chris had to do was wait for Sid to return.
He settled down in a seat by a large window overlooking the planet
below, pulling together all the threads of his plot in his head.
~
“How
did it go?” Chris asked as Sid took a seat next to him.
“Okay,” Sid said. It didn’t
sound like it. His tone would have been more enthusiastic and upbeat
if it had.
“Did you manage to get anything?”
“I got some money.” Sid
shrugged. “Just not a lot.”
“Fair enough. How much?”
“A few hundred. Four hundred and
seventy two, to be exact. I didn’t manage to create any new
accounts, though. I had to rig up some access to existing customer
ones ...”
“Sid ...” Chris started,
appalled.
“I know, I know,” Sid said,
clearly troubled by what he had done. “I tried to stick to the
Robin Hood mentality, but most of the accounts I found weren’t as
well off as I would have liked. I took a little bit from each of
them, before I closed everything down. I didn’t want to stay on the
banks’ networks
Similar Books
