Free Fool Me Once (Privateer Tales) by Jamie McFarlane

grabbed a few of the rolls from the nearest plate and nibbled on them as Tali reviewed the correspondence.
    “Okay. Everything you say seems legit and I believe you. I’m not cheap. Seven hundred a day plus expenses. A week in advance. After a week we reassess. Sound fair?”
    Neither of us realized just how much fair wouldn’t cover what we were stepping into .

     
     
     
OH, THAT'S GONNA LEAVE A MARK
     
     
    “I’ll check in with you as needed this week,” Tali said. “I mostly need to do some computer work. Expect a few hundred in expenses. I’ll need to pay a nerd or two.”
    “Hah. Okay.”
    “Do you need a ride anywhere?” she asked.
    “No, I’m good. Thanks for dinner, love this place.” I said.
    I watched her walk across the courtyard to the grav-bike. She walked gracefully, with no mind for just what those black pants did to college boys. I smiled as each boy along her path turned to catch a glimpse as she passed. It was hard for me to understand how someone that beautiful could also be Special Forces, but she didn’t seem to be the sort to make things up.
    It was getting late and I didn’t have a place to stay yet. I walked outside and sat under a tree to do a search for lodging – maybe something that rented by the week. I wanted to see about the cases I had in storage. If the search took longer than a couple of weeks I would run out of money pretty quickly. My big concern was Alexander somehow tracking the cases and intercepting me when I got to them.
    I found a furnished dive that rented week-to-week for two hundred a week. It was just outside the Open Air District in an area known as The Skeg. From this location it would be handy to get to where the cases were stored. As the cab approached my destination, I noticed that contrary to the other parts of town, this area was pretty sketchy. The buildings weren’t particularly well maintained and some were crumbling. Given the wealth of the rest of the town, it was surprising a place like this would exist. But, I'd already paid for a week and I had a weapon.
    The front of the building was in bad shape. At two hundred a week I had expected better. I should have left, but didn’t have money to burn. It took the building super ten minutes to show up and grant me access to the building.
    “Three-E. Make sure you're out by the end of a week. Anything left in the apartment is mine if you don't renew.” The little man was dressed in a worn shirt and black jeans. He liked his position of authority and probably made a small amount of money selling the possessions of the inhabitants who had the bad fortune to forget his rule. As it was, I owned nothing that I wasn’t already carrying.
    The inside of the apartment wasn’t as bad as the outside of the building had led me to believe. It was spartan, but clean. They probably had a cleaning bot to keep the units looking nice between visits. I noticed with a certain glumness that the shower didn’t come with free shampoo, soap or a towel. I'd need to pick up those things, but not until tomorrow. I was beat.
    Sometime in the middle of the night I felt a crushing pressure on my chest. I opened my eyes, still full of sleep. A big hand slapped me hard on the side of my face, just mi ssing my ear, for which I was thankful. The pain brought me fully awake. On top of me was Alexander Boyarov, his knee pressed into my chest.
    “Heya, crap for brains. Think I wouldn’t be able to find you?”
    I tried to push my way out from under him, struggling as hard as I could. I managed to slide to the side, out from under his knee, but he was too strong and wrestled me back down.
    “Oh, you want a little fight?” He brought a big fist down on my face again and my head exploded in pain. I might have blacked out for a moment. When I came to again, Alexander was standing next to Olav Peetre, who had my gun leveled on me.
    “Okay, little chicken. You ran away, but it is time to come back. I like what you've done with