Ethan stood about 3 feet in front of the desk, and carefully eyed his environment. He didn't notice the large man at first, but now his presence was ever so obvious.
Yep, I'm screwed, he thought to himself before drawing a breath to speak.
"Would you like the standard cliche answer or the honest truth? First, let me give you the cliche one. I'd like to fight to liberate the workers of Sirius from their capitalist opressors." He couldn't help grinning but he tried with all his might to hide it.
"Now for the honest one. I'm a smuggler. My specialty was running weapons to movements that required them. You could say that I have empathy for being people trampled by others. But that isn't the only reason. I'm down to my wit's end. Broke, living off a Freeport with two ships in disrepair isn't the life I envisioned for myself. I can get things done, there's nothing I haven't been able to do that I set my mind to."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. They were the Zoner kind - bland and without character. Represented their producers fairly well, he always said.