A short redhead in dark skintights slunk into a booth in the dimly lit Dresla's Bar, situated just off a street corridor near the spinward bays, sliding some sort of fruity alcohol across the table, eager optimism shining from her green eyes.
"Uh, hi? hello sir, sorry to be messin your malt and all...Name's Lizzie, Elisabeth Smith, whatever...Worked up some heat on Cambridge, springing vases 'n artefact's 'n the like from them stiffs and propers, den things got hot, felt I should walk a world or two away...Anyhow, whats left is that I ended up here, after boosting whatever cred I had left into a Clydesdale that didn't really make it all the way, had to pick up a Seaserpent on some sort of ****e deal, which I've been workin to pay off best I can, but I'm in some rather bloody ****e, oh, bout two dot seven mill deeper than I started, and I aint been able to run anything that pays much more than my runnin costs up here...so, anyway...bartend pointed me at ya..."
Joshua Herne looked the young woman up and down, turning back to his drink he took a long hard swig.
"That so? And what can a Bounty Hunter be doing for one such as you? I mean in a more precise manner excatly? A Sea Serpent ain't exactly my idea of high tech kit, you know?"
Herne had had a bad day, The Hunter, as he'd called his ship, had taken a beating on the last contract he'd taken and had to be put into dock for a refit. All in all he was in no mood to be babysitting a planetsider.
"Get to the point, I'm tired and cranky, any other day and you and I could have had a good time..."
He looked Lizzie up and down again, damn shame he was in a bad mood, he could have had some fun with this one.
Saint Del is considered a holy healer of diseases of children, but also as a protector of cattle.
"Hey, guvna, not like that. Lookin for a job, ya know? something to get a meaninful fistful of cred to pass along to someone else, ya know? Keep my pretty little legs intact. Bartend said you could get jobs...no, not bloody like that. You've also got a hella big ship sitting around charging refit fees...your livelyhood chargin you pennies, as it were. You help me out, I help you, maybe?"
Herne sighed, he'd have to have a word with the barman about this. Wasn't so bad when he sent pretty ladies Herne's way for being pretty, but when they wanted work rather than play, that just took the mick.
"Okay, so you got a ship, can you fly her? I don't mean just from A to B, I mean really fly her."
Herne rather hoped she could, he needed a wingman or two recently, the scum were getting ever more dangerous, never travelling alone. One gunboat wasn't enough anymore. He looked at Lizzie again,
"Okay here's the deal, chick. I got a little job needs doing and whilst my ship is in dock I can't do it. Now the contract runs out in three days, so you ain't got much time to find your target and put an end to him, and that's what it's got to be, an end."
Herne reached under the table and pulled out a data crystal,
"Everything you need is in there, meet me here when you've done the job, if you ain't back in three days don't bother coming back, clear?"
Herne didn't wait for a response, getting up from the table he flipped the bartender a coin and headed out of the bar.
Saint Del is considered a holy healer of diseases of children, but also as a protector of cattle.
A light fighter ain't exactly light. More inertia on the things than the real big lifters back home, but bigger engines too....and a Seaserpent can pull Gs like you wouldn't believe...I'm an acrobat, and I ain't ever felt like this, every joint in my body's been pulled loose...anyway...tight controls and tighter turns on this thing...easy job, too...find him, pop him...not like a decent heist, wheres you have ta run down the object, run down the buyer, run down the house, the people, the local...and it aint all out in the open...right, I ain't logging my flight plans. Bad idea. Took a couple of red flashes and I was floatin through his blood, drifting hard to the right, and shooting another escort...and hell, if you don't think about it, you wont even be sick again. Don't be sick in space. Not fun.
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"Back are you? You get him?"
"Well, he wasn't hard to find, brought a few friends with him, but I punched his ticket."
It was just a day after Lizzie had spoken to him, Herne had once again returned to the welcome gloom of Dresla's. He rather liked this bar, never any problems, the bartenders idea of crowd control was a roomsweeper, brutal but effective.
Herne took his usual seat in the corner of a booth, and sat there watching people, it was a while before he realised that she was stood there waiting for an invitation to sit.
"Sit down, chick. How'd it go out there?"
She looked a little nervous for a moment but regained her composure well,
If she'd taken him down this quickly she'd be useful in a fight, maybe she could hold off the fire on the Hunter, but no way she could do it alone. But Herne had a plan for that, he'd been talking to a few old contacts seemed there were folks about that might be willing to help, and he'd gotten a little leverage on a fellow in the med bays, something that could be even more fun. This was shaping up to be a good week, and Herne couldn't help but smile.
Saint Del is considered a holy healer of diseases of children, but also as a protector of cattle.
Shane McNeill looked into his glass. "Barkeep, my glass is empty, thought i told you to keep this full..." The Irish accent was so thick the bar keeper had trouble understanding what he had said. Looking down the bar he could see some young lady wandering up to a fellow taking long swigs from his drink.
"What ya know about them?" Shane asked the barman, his reply was given a confused look, followed by a nod of recognition and a hushed reply. "The man goes by the name of Joshua Herne, he is captain of the Bounty Hunter Orca down in the hangers." Bounty hunter, Shane thought, wonder if they can offer any work to an old cripple like me... Lifting his right arm, he undid the screws holding a plate where his wrist should have been. The wrist that, along with the rest of his right arm, floated in the Dublin system. The system where he had been thrown from his seat of respectability amongst his fellow molly brethren. Adjusting the circuitry he moved over to the so called bounty hunter.
"sorry to barge in miss, but i have a question of employment for Mr Herne here" Thinking the young thing in the skintight outfit was just a piece of eye candy, he dismissed her immediately.
Herne watched the Molly walk up to the table and push Lizzie aside with hardly any common courtesy, if his idea was to work he'd need fellas like this one, and he could only be thankful that his old contacts had pushed this guy his way, even if he didn't know it. A sequence of events could always appear to be coincidence if handled correctly.
"Watch yourself there fella, this one's with me. A little courtesy'll go a damn long way to avoiding getting both arms matching if you catch my drift. Now how about you take seat next to Lizzie here and you can discuss what you want at my table."
Herne watched how the man composed himself, it said a lot about a man, how he acted after a dressing down. Herne watched him sit, as he went to speak, Herne waved him silent.
"First up know there ain't no free rides, I give nothing away, even Lizzie here had to do me a job first, and you ain't no different. So here's the deal, a friend of mine wants some information, and Gerald Koltern has it. Now Koltern's a Molly and does most of his dealings at Belfast. You gotta get in and get that information, and don't come back here til you've got it, understand?"
Saint Del is considered a holy healer of diseases of children, but also as a protector of cattle.
Koltern? Can't say I've heard of him fella, but I know some people out there that didn't think me a completely useless old coot. I will see if I can get hold of some of their ears, get them to get this information you need. What are the specific items you need? Shaun replied. Not liking the way this drink swilling fella had put him down, he was almost tempted to tell him to shove it where the twin suns of the Edinburgh don't shine. He did however respect a man able to stop a man like himself dead in his tracks. He would hang around this guy, see what comes up. Yeah, you gotta deal there, I'll see what I can get on it. Just tell me what and I'll do the best I can. Oh and by the way, this lass here, keep your eye open, she looks like a sly one to me. No offense meant love.
"Specific?" Herne shook his head, "The guy has info on the Mollys I want, simple as that. Find out how to extract it, I don't care how. But it's got to come from him."
Herne turned back to his drink, looking across to Lizzie, he wondered how the fourth member of this coterie was, poor fella had no idea what was in store for him, but if he was clever he'd figure out where the odds where stacked. Right now all the pieces were in Hernes field of play. That gave him four, not including the crew of the Hunter, that should do, but it paid to keep options open.
"Hey, Chick. I'm going down to the Med-Bay, got to see a man about a box. Coot, you still here? Get gone, I want that info."
Shane fired a look at Herne, which Herne took no notice of. He ducked out of the door and onto the street.
Saint Del is considered a holy healer of diseases of children, but also as a protector of cattle.
![[Image: Del1.png]](http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a344/Spiderjerusalem1979/Del1.png)
