Eyes and Ears

[The Operative]

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Just as last time, the Operative was fully covered in his rather tight black suit. The leather-ish material it was made of was reflecting the many neon lights of the main deck of the Thunder Bay Depot. Other than on Rochester, there was not too much going on here, even less than on Bethlehem. It was good. Not too many people would see them. It was bad. Those who were around would definitely see them. Thus the Operative didn't talk to the Forlorn Knight Captains. Instead, he made sure they would see him, and then moved and thus guided them to where he wanted them to be.

Thunday Bay definitely didn't have the enormous scales of Barrier Gate, but still offered some various services to the visitors. A few of them rather exotic, or at least trying to look exotic. They all had one thing in common, though: The owners were either in control or, more often, controlled. On stations like this, the strong people were ruling. It reminded the Operative of the words Erik Nodtviet spoke out loud and publicly when the Core sieged Freeport 11 for the first time. And it reminded him of one of his Kishiro Service Robots who what been programmed to use the same voice, just with a cold.

Elena and Nick would follow the person who once more put much effort into appearing untouchable. The person was talking with an obese guy behind a counter, receiving a key card from him. The Forlorn Knight Captains would watch it, seeing the neon sign a few meters over the counter, saying H-O-T-E-E-L. Next to the letters was a neon sign with an animation of a steaming eel. When the Operative turned around to them for a short moment, to make sure they were still around, he lead them to a door, not far from the fat guy at the counter. They left the open main deck and followed him through a corridor. In the end, the Operative stood infront of another door, one of what looked like dozens. He looked over to Elena and Nick, waiting for them, until they reached him. Opening the door, he lead them into the room.

It was a cheap room, however big enough for a couple. Comprimated for efficiency and less for attractivity and comfort. One corner had a bed, the next corner a table with two chairs, the third corner two cabinets, the fourth had the door they just used. Next to the bed was another door, leading to the bathroom, which was of exactly the same size. Other than what most people would expect from a cheap room of a cheap hoteel on a Junker station as far away from the points of interest in Liberty as Thunder Bay, it definitely wasn't dirty. No rust, no blood, no alcohol stains, no vomit, no piss, no semen. Even the Operative was surprised. As they entered the room, he was already heading for the bathroom. They would see it was interestingly containing a rather nice looking bathtub with candles around it. And the Operative sat on the edge of the bathtub, taking a lighter from his pocket to ignite them. "Make sure the door is closed and put all your electronics on the bed, including the PDA. Everything." Placing one of the candles back to where it stood before, he looked at Nick. "Well, everything you can take off, at least." The voice was modulated like last time, like both of them knew it already from space.

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