The Lion and the Rat

[Yaoquizque]

A dirty room in some nasty living quarters of an aging space station.
The place's style screams "Liberty!", but here, no souls are meant to be free.

Who is in here? A young lady, still wearing a dirty flysuit, and a man lying on a soiled bed.
It looks like that man took quite some beating. Makeshift bandages can be seen here and there on his body.

Why is she gazing at that wreck, in this strange place?
Couldn't she simply walk away and leave him to his fate?

Someone knocks at the door, startling her from her thoughts.
Another man is in the hallway. He doesn't look trustworthy. At all.

But he is eventually allowed to step in. His eyes wander in the living quarters.
They ferret about until they focus on the wounded. A grin appears on that untrustworthy face; that is why he is here.

Taking place near the lying man, he examines the ravaged body. One skilled enough could see the machinery of his mind :
A broken limb here; 10.000 credits.
Thrid degree burns on several locations; 50.000 credits.
A broken fingernail; 25.000 credits.
And so on..

There is someone waiting anxiously behind him.

Will he be able to save him? Nothing is free in this world.
When the man leaves, after several hours of 'work', her nest egg is emptier than ever.

He will not be grateful for being saved. Nor will he be appreciative of the sacrifices made.
Criticisms will be all she gets. The 5% cut is what she will get again from their earnings.

Tomorrow, he will rise, gaze around without any trace of surprise.
One ship will undock from the aging station, heading to Magellan skies.

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