time, and it looks like Marion won’t take long.
But their conversation goes on, and on, and I continually shift which hand grips the rawhide thong holding the sack closed. God, hurry up, Marion. I can’t stand around and hold this all day.
To distract myself, I start eavesdropping on the conversation between a pair of human men at arms who guard the wares of a spirits merchant. Judging from the paunch sticking out from under the breastplates of their class-two hard armor, I’d say they’ve been doing garrison duty for some time.
“Did you hear they’re raising the rent in the crescent quarter?”
“Again?” His fellow sighs, and his eyes roll to the skies behind his green visor. “Damn. I just put a down payment on a hover car.”
“New?”
“I wish. Second hand. I need to find a better paying gig.”
His fellow’s mouth grows tight and thin. When he speaks, it’s in a much lower tone. “I heard about a sweet paying gig, cred and carry. No taxes.”
“Fuck, you been holding out on me, Red?”
“Piss off, man. I’m not your fucking secretary. I just remembered Billy telling me about it last night. Thousand creds per week, tax free, room and board provided on site.”
“Yeah, so who do I have to kill?”
Red laughs, and I feel an icy chill race down my spine. That was not a laugh born of real humor but of anxiety. “No one…you just have to be okay with the, um…body merchant business.”
There’s a long pause and then his fellow speaks again. “Let’s say that I am. How would I go about enlisting?”
“You know Tartus?”
“That shit hole? Just one settlement on the entire fucking planet?”
“Well, there’s an abandoned base on one of its moons, and that’s where the, uh, merchants in question have set up their operation.”
“What’s the moon called?”
“Solace.”
My jaw goes slack, and the rawhide string slips from my nerveless fingers. The bottom layer of Pika fruit splatters with a wet, noisy crunch, staining my disheveled shoes and drawing the attention of nearly everyone on the street.
Including the two human guards, who don’t look too happy at all that I’ve heard every word that they said.
This isn’t good.
Chapter Ten
Grantian
What the fuck is going on?
Tensing, I watch as Lamira gasps in shock and drops her fruits onto the ground, several bursting on impact like hand grenades. A few passers-by jump to the side to avoid being splattered, glaring at Lamira with annoyance, and a dirty-looking Odex even snaps his fangs at her.
Immediately, a healthy dose of adrenaline slips into my bloodstream as I prepare for the worst. Gritting my teeth, I take a few steps forward so I can see what’s happening, and that’s when I notice the guards standing next to Lamira. They’re human, the two of them, and they’re wearing class-two hard armor. These fuckers won’t be easy to put down with just my handgun.
Looking over the crowd, I watch as one of the guards, a burly man with a shabby beard, hits the other with his elbow. Once he has his friend’s attention, he tilts his chin toward Lamira. Slinging their rifles over their shoulders, they push a couple of Odex to the side and walk toward her.
Instinctively, I drop one hand to my waist and feel the handle of my pistol, its cold metal easing my nerves. If push comes to shove, I’ll just put a bullet into these assholes’ skulls and be done with it. They might be wearing a set of hard armor, but their faces are uncovered.
That’s my last resort, though.
I do that and this entire marketplace will turn into a fucking battlefield.
“Move it, you golden bastard,” a Vakutan says, shoving me to the side as he walks past me, two crates of ammunition dangling from his hands. My fingers tighten around the handle on my gun, but the Vakutan just goes on his way, grumbling under his breath. “Fucking Kilgari.”
Holding my breath, I return my attention to the guards, watching as they kneel next to Lamira and help pick up the pika melons. They seem to be telling her something, which draws a nervous laugh out of her. Even from a distance, I can tell she’s scared. Her posture indicates she’s trying to put some distance between her and the guards, but they don’t seem to be getting the hint. Either these two idiots are completely clueless, or they’re not interested in letting her go.
I keep my eyes peeled, my heart hammering, and it takes all I have not to barge into the