The information broker

[Tenacity]

"So I take it you're calling her bluff?" Thorn questioned to the general, "She just told you she'd blast this station to space dust if that data got into your hands, and you turn around and offer me ten million for it... a fine price but that still has the unfortunate side effect of leaving all of us dead."

"Captain..." Jace spoke up after remaining silent for most of the ordeal, "I need a moment, in private."

Thorn stood up, looking back to the two women who were nearly ready to rip each other's throats out, "No catfights while we're gone. Dekker, if either of them gives you trouble, you shoot them in the kneecaps, no questions asked."

"Yes sir!" Dekker said with a wide grin on his face. That man sure loved his guns...

<<<Storage room of the Rochester Bar>>>

"What is it Jace?" Thorn asked.

He responded, a bit timidly, "Sir, Rochester scans every ship that docks or moors here. Unless she's going to overload her ship's drive core, there's no way she has a bomb on that ship without us knowing about it."

"A bluff then... that means she's desperate, and desperation breeds recklessness. That I cant have."

"One other thing, sir..."

"Go ahead, I dont have time for your stuttering." Thorn was getting impatient, any second those two could break out and be at each other's throats, and that likely meant they'd all end up dead... if not from a bomb, then at the hands of the liberty ships in the field.

"Those two have had their attention on you the whole time, I took the distraction as an opportunity to scan them. The general is wearing some kind of prototype light battle armor, never seen it before but it's definitely Liberty navy design, probably something from their marine corps research. The other one, the order agent, is wearing something as well.. but I have no idea what. Some kind of kinetic barrier maybe, my scanner couldnt penetrate the field it was generating."

"Great, so we've got two armored women that hate us almost as much as each other, and nobody is giving in to diplomacy here..."

Thorn let out a heavy sigh. This was becoming a disaster, things were out of control and he had no way to stop it.

The door slid open and they moved back into the bar, taking seats once again. Luckily the ladies hadnt started any hissing matches while they were gone.

Thorn spoke up in a stern, commanding voice... something he had learned back in the war when dealing with insubordinate troops, "Enough tomfoolery, I'm putting everyone's cards on the table. General, your fleet isnt close enough to destroy this station before we can escape, and they know it. Cruisers cant get through this debris field, and fighters dont have the firepower to take out Rochester. Agent... you dont have a bomb, rochester scans for that sort of thing."

He slapped his gun onto the table and leaned forward, staring with an hawk's gaze at them both, "So we know what you two dont have, now I'll tell you what I dont have. Patience and Tolerance. I'm bone dry; So the sooner you two quit bickering and come to an agreement, the more chance you'll both have of getting out of this hellhole alive. Am I clear?"

The two women, despite their ranks, had been put in their place. They hadnt known who they were dealing with before, they thought him to be some petty criminal or smuggler. Thorn was more than that, he was ex military himself, a remnant of the IMG war. If either of these troublemakers had been smart enough to look up his official records they'd have known beforehand.

"Start thinkin quick, I feel my triggerfinger itchin."

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