Free Project Starfighter by Stephen J Sweeney

for too long, in case they detected me.”
    “Did you try to unfreeze my
account?” Chris asked.
    “First thing I tried. Both of
ours,” Sid said. “But I failed twice, so decided to let it go. I
didn’t want to leave a trail for the drones to follow and get to
us.”
    Chris nodded in understanding. This
was far trickier than he had hoped it would be. Still, at least they
had some money. That was better than none at all. It was also
just enough for what he had in mind. With what money they had left
from various other things, Chris figured they had maybe a little over
five hundred credits to their name.
    “I always said that I would use my
skills for good,” Sid started babbling. “I never stole from
anyone, or ripped people off. I was the sort that would always tell
people if they had undercharged me, or if I thought I could offer
them more value for money for my own services.”
    “Sid, don’t worry about it,”
Chris said.
    “But I can’t help it,” Sid
said. “I don’t want to turn into that which I despise.”
    “We’ll make sure they get it all
back,” Chris said. “And we’ll bring them more, too. Anyway,
there’s been a change of plan – we’re not going to Hail
anymore.”
    “Chris, our tickets are
non-refundable!” Sid cried. “If we don’t take the liner to Hail
we’ll be stuck here.”
    “No, we won’t,” Chris said,
rising from his seat.
    “So what are we doing?” Sid
asked, starting up after him.
    “We’re going to the Alpaca
Group.”
    “The asteroid family? But what ...
No! Chris, we can’t go there! It’s full of mercenaries! They’ll
see straight through our disguises and turn us in.”
    “Shh!” Chris urged him. “Keep
your voice down. Yes, it’s where the mercenaries all hang out. I
want to get them involved and do some work for us.”
    “Chris, we barely have five
hundred credits to our names. There is nothing they will do for us
for that sort of money.”
    “Leave that to me,” Chris said.
    “And how are we going to even get
there? It’s not as if they schedule regular flights to the Alpaca
Group.”
    “Easy,” Chris said, making his
way over to the electronic bulletin board. “We just need to post an
advert here and wait.” He did so, typing out his requirement, while
intentionally withholding some of the details. There was little doubt
in his mind that the Corporation monitored systems such as this. A
request to journey to the Alpaca Group could only mean conducting
business with the residents. Chris just had to be sure that he worded
his advert in such a way that WEAPCO wouldn’t flag the requesters
as possible Resistance escapees. He offered four hundred as payment,
knowing that anyone who answered the advert would request more.
    Hours passed. Chris saw the liner
that he and Sid were originally scheduled to be on depart the station
and make the intra-system hop to Hail. The departure lounge filled
and emptied as people came and went. Eventually, Chris checked the
bulletin board and saw that someone had responded to his ad. A man
was willing to take both him and Sid to the Alpaca Group, but might
want to negotiate on the offer price. Should they agree, Chris and
Sid were to meet him in docking port E.

    ~

    Chris
had expected their contact to be, as he had told Sid, somewhat
‘dodgy-looking’. He had anticipated a man profusely tattooed,
quite likely also covered in scars, and maybe even missing an eye. He
would be thin, his voice possessing a coarse tone and attitude, and
he would look as though he spent far too much time in a bar or in the
sun. He would also be very cantankerous.
    The man that greeted Chris and Sid
as they arrived in the docking port couldn’t have been more
different. Neither thin nor fat, he was more like an ordinary man
fighting to hold off middle age spread. He was well dressed,
clean-shaven, and, upon setting eyes on his two new potential
customers, smiling.
    “Jim Barnet?” Chris asked.
    “Ah,” Jim said, coming