A monthly pass could be purchased for 20 credits.
Drake purchased a monthly pass.
Having expected to need more time to get to work, using a public system, Drake still had most of an hour left to get to work.
Taking his pass, he moved over to another terminal where people entered their passes to choose a destination. He looked at the map of city stations and saw that there were five stations within half a mile of his new job. One of the stations was under the Freelancers and Hunters Guild Hall, just two blocks from where he worked.
Drake swiped his pass through a slot in the terminal and selected the Guild Hall as his destination. A little chip landed in a tray just under the terminal.
Drake had watched other passengers do this same thing. Most passengers traveled by themselves, but some in small groups. The little capsules looked like they would hold six people if they were friendly. But once a chip like the one he had was put into the slot near the front of the pod, it would wait just long enough for the passengers to be seated, before it would start sliding down the ramp and be on its way.
Following the same pattern, Drake sat in the capsule and placed his little chip into the waiting slot. The top of the capsule closed over him, and the pod began to gently slide forward… then as the pod entered the tube, it was propelled with enough force to push Drake back in his seat. The acceleration reminded him of how it felt to be on a jet plane as it gained speed to take off. He was sure that the capsule was now moving hundreds of kilometers an hour.
Then a short few minutes later he was gliding to a stop, the process of slowing down took longer than the acceleration. Then the capsule exited the tube and glided to a stop. As the capsule top opened for him to exit, he saw a sign, ‘Welcome to the Freelancers and Hunters Guild Hall.'
Drake exited the capsule and took a lift up to the ground floor.
The Freelancers and Hunters Guild Hall, was another big complex, he felt like he fit in here, in fact, his armor vest and weapons left him under equipped compared to many of the people he saw. He didn’t have too much time before he would be expected to be at work, but he did take a few minutes to look around. The Hall was a hub for services catering to bounty hunters, mercenaries and something called freelancers. There was a booth for registering to seek out criminals for bounty hunters, offices for mercenary recruiters from at least three different mercenary companies. There were a couple legal services claiming to specialize in bounty hunter, mercenary, and freelancer legal issues. Drake also saw a couple booths offering specialized information services.
When Drake saw the last he immediately thought, ‘hackers and sneaks.'
Just as Drake was about to leave the Hall, he saw a sign for the training rooms on the fourth and fifth floors. Apparently one of the services they offered was instructor led training in using psionic skills.
Drake decided that he would have to come back later and find information on what the Hall was all about.
With little time left, before he was due to start his shift he took off running to work.
He arrived at the back door with five minutes to spare.
***
Drake started his second day at work by asking Kaveh, the shop steward, to check him out on the remaining three machines he had not used yet.
He walked around the front area of the shop where he worked, and Kaveh asked him questions about the machines.
The three new systems he would be using were the gun part cleaning station, the part reconditioner, and the recycler.
Like the first bench where Drake worked the previous day, these systems were automated like the analysis machines. They also used internal robotics and pressers to move the parts around and manage the work.
The cleaning unit just cleaned the part surfaces of any carbon or dirt build up. Apparently, carbon was a big problem since it could short circuits out. Each part was treated to a different type of cleaning because some components reacted poorly to detergents or acids that were required to properly clean others.
The reconditioner worked with broken and worn parts to fill in and repair them. It worked like a really advanced 3d printer, by rebuilding worn areas, depositing and fusing new layers on top of one another. Once the rebuilding is complete, the component is resurfaced to look like new.
If a part is not able to be reclaimed, it’s tossed into the recycler. This unit breaks down any component it’s given. The first stage breaks off parts of the same materials, like any solid chunks of plastic, ceramic, or metal are cut off here. Any part that are mixed metals, plastics, and ceramics are then passed to the pulverizer, where they’re ground down to the molecular level using high powered gravitic pressers. The resulting powder is then sent to the sifter, where nano-machines separate them by type. As a result, this machine is capable of reclaiming as much as 90% of the valuable materials that go into making a blaster.
Once Kevin explained the function of each machine and demonstrated a high level of understanding about how the machines were to be maintained, he was then permitted to use the new systems. He was told he would be now earning 3 credits an hour instead of 2.
Kevin wasn’t impressed by the pay, but credits went a lot further in the Imperium then dollars did in the United States.
The added machines meant that he could now take in a weapon that needed to be repaired, strip it down, and have all the parts analyzed. Then he could have the parts cleaned, and any failed parts reconditioned. Once the reconditioning was completed, he could then reassembled the weapon, and place it on the ‘repaired table’.
While the other people in the shop used some of the same types of machines, they all had different more complex assignments, like weapon customization, armor repair, even mechanized-armor repair, and upgrading.
Drake figured the mech-suits where what a groups ‘tank’ might wear. They were energy hogs, though. And Drake could not see himself spending too much time in one. Too much like a sardine in a can. But it might be fun to play with one for a day…hehehe. Imagine walking through brick walls and throwing cars, he didn’t know if they could throw one, but they could certainly lift one side of a car.
The pile of retests and new incoming repairs was caught up by noon, so Drake started working with the new systems he learned to use in the afternoon.
This was pretty much Drake’s work life, for the time being. Not too boring, or exciting, and because it was so routine, he wasn’t gaining much advancement in the new skills he learned.
***
After the end of this second day of work, he returned to the Freelancers and Hunters Guild Hall.
He had seen a lot of what the building offered on the first floor that morning. But one sign, on the way out, suggested that there were some classes he might find helpful on other floors.
Drake still didn’t know what the building was all about, why did they call it a guild hall for instance? So when Drake got to the Hall, he approached a reception/information desk looking for more information.
Drake found the desk manned by a young woman, with long blond hair and an attractive face and figure. He wondered as he approached the desk, why women are so often seen in positions like that of a receptionist? It had to be more than their physical appeal, is it because they’re more social and maybe have a better innate ability to handle people; better empathy maybe?
The girl gave him an odd look as he approached the desk, and said: “I think it’s all of the above.”
This caused Drake to do a double take.
“What?”
“The answer to your questions, except you, forgot one, is it because they can read minds? Yes, I’m attractive, have good social skills, empathy and can read people's surface thoughts.” The girl gave him a smile. “I also work as part of the security for the building...”
“Hello, my name is Alicia. How can I help you?”
“And no to your first two thoughts on how I can help you. I mean, are you looking for something here in the Guild Hall?” asked Allacia.
“I guess that is one thing you can help me with, you are the first person I have met who has indicated any psionic skills. I saw a poster suggesting someone here provided training? And, how long did it take you to learn to read minds like that?”
“Being able to read surface thoughts at a distance is a very advanced skill. I have a gift for empathy, and telepathy, which have led to the advance skill telepathic sensing. Even with a natural talent, I have been training since I was a child. So the answer is my level or skill is rare and very difficult to accomplish. And as you can guess from my recent demonstration I take a lot of pride in my abilities. Master Hachiro, the psionic training master you were asking about, often admonishes me for showing off.”
“Great, so you can help me then. I have no psionic skills, but I would like to develop some, how long would it take to develop the ability to guard my thoughts against you?” Drake said with a smile.
“Mental defense is far easier to learn than what I do. But even without the ability to read your mind, I imagine most women can read you from a mile away,” replied Allacia, with a chuckle.
“To answer your question about training, Master Hachiro usually assigns new trainees to an assistant. He feels that training benefits the teacher and student both. So I actually train three beginner classes a week, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 6 pm to 8 pm, if you would care to join. The class fee is 3 credits a session for Guild members or 5 credits for non-members.”
“Ah, that brings me to another question, what is this Guild for, what does it do?”
“Well, the guild does many things. First, the guild is a rules organization that sets standards for how mercenaries, bounty hunters, and similar professionals should conduct their business. We provide a sort of guaranty that a guild member in good standing will follow guild rules in their conduct. So, many people will not hire mercenaries, unless they’re guild certified. If a bounty hunter is guild certified, he is often treated as more like an officer of the law on many planets, rather than a criminal. Freelancers, who work as a kind of space-based mercenary, get involved in blockades, or running blockades, or many other suedo-naval operations, they’re also bound and protected by a set of rules as guild members. For instance, while working as mercenary guild members must take prisoners, if your enemy surrenders promptly and according to the rules of war. And there are rules we enforce governing the treatment of a prisoner, no torture, rape, and so on.”
“Guild members also enjoy discounts on services offered in a Guild Hall. The Hall also offers accommodations to members like a hotel or hostel, many of our members feel that a normal hotel does not offer enough security, while a Guild Hall is full of well-armed people and very good security.”
“In return for its services, the guild has a 100 credit yearly membership fee and will take 5% of any bounties, pay, and fees charged by its members, where that pay and fees relate to the services the guild supports.”
“Oops… just dropped into some legal speak there. What I mean, if you work in a factory, the guild isn’t going to ask for 5%, but if you get hourly pay for mercenary work, you pay the guild as soon as you see a credit. Non-payment is the fastest way to get dropped by the guild.”
“You said you guild members ‘must take prisoners,' doesn’t that conflict with some bounty hunter type of activities?” asked Drake.
“The rules covering bounty hunting activity are different from those covering enemy soldiers surrendering before a battle. From the Imperium’s point of view, people with bounties on their heads are like escaped prisoners, they are automatically considered violent and predatory, and so if they offer any perceivable threat, they may be killed. So you see, the rules vary by the type of activity.” replied Allacia.
“How about information? I was on the freighter that was shot down last week. I heard that a pirate group calling itself the Dark Blood Pirates was responsible. As a member would I have access to that type of information?”
“Yes, we work closely with the Imperium Security Services, which is the agency that sets bounties and keeps track of the who, what, when, and where of the crimes committed, they also post any intelligence that they think might help with tracking down the criminals. This information is available for free to any guild member who registers their intent to seek a fugitive, the information we can provide will be limited by whom you register to hunt.”
“For any other information, you would need to ask one of the information brokers.”
“Thanks, where would I go to register with the guild? And is there a separate fee if someone is both a bounty hunter and a mercenary…”
“No, one yearly fee covers a multitude of sins.” Allacia joked, and then she pointed to her left. “There off to your right, you can see a set of terminals, which is where members may register and pay their fees.”
Drake suddenly remembered something else, “I almost forgot. Just a second…”
Drake spoke toward his wrist. Samantha, what was the name of the bounty hunters that sent me that note?”
“Agapetux and Aggressive Solutions.” replied Samantha.
“Thanks, Sam.”
“How would I find out if Agapetux and Aggressive Solutions are guild members?”
“I’m familiar with their company. Yes, they are members in good standing. You can find that sort of information both on the same terminals and on our public data-net information pages.”
Drake gave the girl one last smile. “Tomorrows Saturday, right? I’ll see you for training at 6 pm, and thanks for the help.”
Drake registered with the guild and searched for members of the Black Blood gang of pirates. He found ten people listed as current members. Drake registered to hunt all known members, there was a 5 credit fee for each registration, so he spent an additional 50 credits. Then he asked Samantha to download all relevant data related to the group.
Samantha said, “Drake, I have just discovered the Guild Job Board, which your membership now allows us access to. This is a listing for people and companies who would like to hire mercenaries, from very short jobs, to long-term contracts. There are many job postings listed for this planet, dealing with hunting beasts and short-term work.”
“Damn, so you think I jumped the gun taking the job with Cairbre’s?” asked Drake.
“Based on what we knew at the time, I think you made the right decision. Most of the jobs on this list don’t pay much, and I imagine their dangerous, or people would not be looking willing to pay a mercenary to do the work. But they pay a lot better than the 3 credits an hour you’re getting. You might consider telling Cairbre that you can only work a couple more weeks. That should give you time to figure out what you want to do about the data-cube and pirate gang.” said Samantha.
“I’ll think about it, but you're probably right,” said Drake. He felt like just quitting the job at the gun shop, but he didn’t want the black mark on his reputation. He was feeling like he trapped himself with taking that job now.
‘One last thing.’ thought Drake.
“Samantha, could you contact Aggressive Solutions, and set up a meeting for tomorrow before the 6 pm training time… say 5 pm?”
“Yes, working on it now.” replied Samantha.
Drake headed down to the underground tube-way, as he now thought of it. He then headed to his temporary home in the hostel.
When Drake reached his small room in the hostel, he immediately noticed something wrong. The door was slightly, almost unnoticeably open as if someone closed the door, but the latch hadn’t engaged.
Drake immediately assumed that the pirates had broken into his room. But what if it was just a thief? Still, he was now registered as a bounty hunter, so if there was one of the pir
ate crew in the room, there was a chance of a bounty.
Drake had no idea if someone might be inside, but he didn’t want to get shot finding out. So instead of barging into the room gun first he got down on one knee, off to the right side of the door. He figured that he could see most of the room from there, but stay low and off to the side if someone was ready to shoot. Then he pushed the door open.
No pirates.
No thieves.
Just his clothes and personal belongings, what little he had, scattered all over the floor.
Drake got to his feet, and carefully checked the small bathroom. He also checked around the now torn up bed. It looked like someone had cut into the mattress. He was now certain that this was related to the datacube. The Pirates somehow found where he was staying and paid him a visit.
“Samantha, please report this break-in to the authorities.” said Drake, and then he left the room.
“Done… Drake, where are we going? Aren’t you going to wait for the police?” said Samantha.
“The police can’t do anything about this mess, they’ll just take a report, and I don’t want to wait for them to get here from where ever the nearest coffee shop is. For all we know there might be people in this building right now, looking to kill or capture me. It’s time to find a new place to stay.”
“What about your clothes and things?” asked Samantha.
“I’ll have to get some new clothes.” Drake sighed. “One thought I had back there when I was thinking about packing everything up was, how do I know some of it isn’t bugged now? I take it for granted that there are miniature listening and tracking devices that can be planted in the seams of clothing, Samantha?”
“Yes, it’s possible, sounds a little sophisticated for thieves or pirates, though.” replied Samantha.
“I think we will take advantage of the accommodations offered at the Guild Hall,” said Drake. “And I’ll play it safe, and stick to my plan to buy new clothing tomorrow. I’m glad it’s a day off.”
Omnia Online (Omnia Online Series Book 1) Page 11