Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2014 6:53:43 GMT
"Top Breaking Story!"
The screen flickered. It was an old screen by far, probably fifteen years old, and yet the image was still quite clear, or as far as the viewer was concerned. A cup of tea rest heavy in her hands, and she sipped it with a heavy sigh. The liquid burned, but the tingle it gave helped settle her nerves. She always felt nervous, especially after doing something so very, very dangerous.
"NanoTrasen has admitted to grand theft from the station in the amount of 700k credits. Reports come in from sources that an unknown individual hacked into the NanoTrasen Computer Banks, and forced a transfer to a synthesized account that came into being only thirty seconds before the theft occured. The account remains open, though the credits have been drained from the account."
She smiled. The left side of her face didn't move - maybe she could finally get surgery to fix the nerve damage. Or maybe risk experimental treatment to get her voice fixed. Maybe not. Undoing one of the gold clasps that were woven through the head tendrils, the green amphibian, a Skrell, laid the real gold chains down onto a table nearby, and took another swallow of tea.
"NanoTrasen stocks have fallen .0513% today because of the theft, though it reports that the loss of 30 minutes company work is damaging, NanoTrasen will remain strong and overcome this loss. Company wide, all low and mid-level employees have taken a 5% paycut for the remainder of the pay period to cover company losses."
She did feel bad about that. She worked for the company, after all. Still, she could live with the pay cut. She looked about her apartment, and then to the sleeping Tajaran who lay on her bed. Her stomach still felt warm as she looked to the dark furred feline, and she ran her fingers over the silk (actual, real silk) shift that he bought her. She smiled, and licked her lips free of the tea.
"Investigators are continuing to look for leads as to who the thief was, as the movement was fast, efficient, and skilled. As the first major theft of company property in three cycles, it will be big news for the remainder of the cycle. There is also a 50k credit bounty..."
She flicked the screen off, and leaned over to kiss Nasir upon his cheek. Rubbing an ear, he looked up a moment with bleary eyes, and then lay his head back down on his pillow, and tightened his hold on the blankets she had bought him. It was a small thing that mattered, as they always mattered. She gave his head another stroke, then turned, and reached for something to wear.
---
Tunnels, halls, and places of quiet turmoil. These were where she walked now, in a long coat and with gold braiding through her tendrils. The weave was small and painstakingly cared for. She ran her fingers through and lowered down one of the tendrils, and used the chain to hide a scar from a past she did not want to experience again.
She turned to settle down at a table inside of one of the sub-tunnels, and settled herself down with a comfortable stretch of her legs. A small hand satchel rest itself against her thigh and she looked up at the back-wall vendor, who snorted his derision. She didn't care. He was an old man, angry at the world, and from the marks on his face, had made several bad choices in life.
The waiter served up a greasy order of fries, and she ate with, while not relish, a fine dignity that had nothing to do with taste. The chronometer on her wrist ticked away the minutes. She always showed up fifteen minutes early. Her contact would be here, but first, she would enjoy her food.
Or so she thought. A voice made her pause with the steaming potato-chunk half way to her lips, and she turned, seeing her contact. He had a trimmed mustache, a neatly cut suit, and a red tie with a simple brass bar keeping it in place as he walked. He was human, his hair dark enough to almost be purple.
"Hello, Wet-Skrell." He enunciated strangely, as though the common tongue of space was not his first tongue. "It is good to see you again."
She put the fry down and looked up at him a second time, nodding. Her jaw tensed, and she stroked the soft green of her chin to clear away a touch of her natural hydration. "Of course, you've never failed me yet." He said, and reached to take one of her fries. She grimaced, but let him. His hands were neatly gloved, with what appeared to be actual leather. "This is your fifth mission. You did very well. It's almost scary."
"You s-s-sent me after th-th-the c-c-c-captain of the s-s-station." She replied, while drumming her fingertips across the table. "Wh-wh-why? I am n-not a s-soldier, you kn-kn-know. I exp-p-pect my p-p-pay to be m-m-much higher for the d-d-danger."
His brow, so very neatly feathered, rose up just a hair. But he gestured her to listen as he ate her meal, and leaned back in his chair a tad more. His legs crossed, mimicking her natural position of rest. Her contact looked down, as she placed the satchel on the table, and pushed it forward.
"Y-your order is h-here." She replied, and stole back her fries. She rose another up to her mouth, but shut up when he coughed.
"I notice that your target did not die. He is listed as still living by company records. Strange. And yet here you are, with the package I asked for."
"DId not s-s-say he had to die." She replied, while putting the fry down. Her stomach turned at the conversation. She may have been a doctor, certainly - but she didn't care for death or murder. One might even say it was her biggest weakness as an agent. She did not kill, she did not want to kill, and she actively prevented it. "Th-that is n-not my j-job."
"Fine." He said, then pulled the package over and touched his PDA to the side. After a moment, it gave a small 'ding!' and he smiled. In return, he placed a small credit chit on the table, and pushed it over. "Captains know a lot of secrets, you know. He's worth a hundred times that much."
"Yes, I kn-kn-know." She replied, while studying the chit. Ten Thousand credits for a nearly impossible mission. Ten thousand credits, and she'd completed it to his amazed satisfaction. They'd wanted this guy for years, and here this dumb ass doctor had pulled it off without a hitch. No one had even suspected. He started to wonder how a doctor could get that good, but the thought was pushed out of his head when she slid a paper over to him. "I c-cant do this m-much any m-more."
"No? A shame." He read it over, then took it, and placed it in the satchel carrying his prize. "Well, I will be going. I'll contact you with your next asignment sometime, alright?"
She smiled, though the paralysis in the side of her face didn't let it go too far.
"I m-may agree to it. Be c-careful. Y-your cargo is very exp-p-plosive."
After a few more minutes, she looked around. She sat alone.
Her potatoes were cold.
---
"In the news today, the 'End Slavery Now' organization boasts a massive annonymous donation today in excess of 600k credits. The organization, whose budget is said to run 200k per cycle, has released a statement thanking the unknown donor for his, her, its, or their generocity, and hopes that this will help end the slavery problem previlent on the boarders of company space..."
Sitting back in her room, wrapped around her boyfriend, Anassis admired the glitter of gold on her finger. He had a matching ring that she had bought - inscribed on the inside of the ring was: "Wetskrell loves Kitty". He hadn't noticed yet. He hadn't even awoken when she got home and slid the ring onto one of his fingers. It was okay.
"In other news, an explosion rocked downtown Dilgan recently, where a prominent member of DonkCo Middle-management was killed in his office. The damage to the DonkCo sub-headquarters is rated to be in the hundred thousands. Traces of C4 and thermite were prominent on the scene, and investigators are continuing to look into the damage..."
In the dark of her room, with a fuzzy screen crackling, the Skrellian doctor smiled. In her hand, a simple card rest, and shimmered with a hint of gold when the light bounced just right. The cover read:
"Thanks for the heads up. I owe you one. Captain"