Danger Money

by John Van Stry

  "Nobody seems to be looking for us!" I hissed back.

  "So?"

  "Anything out of the ordinary worries me!"

  I was so concerned that I didn't stop worrying on the shuttle ride into orbit or even during the docking maneuver. I didn't even notice what type of ship we were boarding until I was being led to my cabin by Azelett.

  Or should I say stateroom?

  "What the?" I asked staring. The best accommodations I had ever had were an eight foot by ten foot cabin. Usually I got a lot less than that. This was a good twelve by twelve, with the best of everything. Even a null grav bed!

  "Surprise!" Said Azelett launching herself at me and knocking us both onto the bed. I was surprised too, somebody had left it on. If this was a trap I was going to do my best to enjoy it while it lasted. So I latched on to Azelett, who had already 'latched' on to certain parts of my anatomy.

  It was a long time later before regular conversation was even considered, much less possible.

  "What are we on?" I asked lazily. My worries momentarily forgotten.

  "A large freighter," she smiled.

  "With quarters like this?" I asked incredulously.

  "Sure, most of them have them. They're for the paying customers and corporate big wigs."

  "Well where are they?" I asked looking around, "The 'Big Wigs' and 'Paying' customers that is."

  She grinned nastily, "I bumped them!"

  "You what?" I laughed.

  "Sure, why not? That's why I wanted the higher priority." She grinned evilly again. "I think I'll have a much easier time keeping you out of trouble too! This ship has a very large crew."

  "So?" I was getting suspicious, she was still smiling.

  "You're going to like this!"

  "What?"

  "I'm not telling!" She laughed

  "We have ways of making you talk!" I laughed back and using my arms and legs got her pinned against the headboard. Null g makes for some interesting grappling. I then started tickling her, she of course retaliated, and one thing again led to another. Afterwards we were both too exhausted to do anything but sleep. So it wasn't until breakfast the next day that I finally got a real surprise.

  "So how long till we get back?" I asked over a surprisingly good meal. I had only been on small ships and the food was often bland at best.

  "Ten weeks," she purred.

  "Ten weeks!" I said shocked. "It only took eight to get here! how slow is this thing?" I noticed a few looks from some regular crewmembers seated at the other tables. I ignored them.

  "Calm down." She smiled again. "This ship is actually fairly fast."

  "Then why so long?"

  "We have a one week stopover at Alexandria." She looked at the expression on my face, "Close your mouth before you start catching flies."

  There was an audible snap as I did so.

  "Congratulations Jotun." she giggled, "You're going on a week's vacation!"

  "What'll Siedman say?"

  "I'm not telling him, are you?" She giggled again.

  "Hell no!" I laughed out loud. "How did you, err ... Where did you get this idea from?"

  "Oh the group I was in before used to do this once a year or so. We figured we earned it once in a while." She slid her hand down to grab the one I was making improper advances with. Well, improper in public. "And if anyone's earned it, it's you!"

  I was in a positively good mood for the next four weeks. The idea that I was going someplace where I didn't have to work, and that I wasn't getting put into 'protective' custody was absolutely wonderful. I decided to forget about everything else and enjoy it.

  Alexandria was an interesting place, it was one of the first planets settled and was fairly well developed as such planets go. We got the standards and practices briefing, I usually avoided those on a job, and then hit the streets.

  The view here towards Animen here was fairly typical, we were second class citizens and property of our respective companies. This meant we'd have to keep a low profile when out in public, as the police would be hard on anyone who stepped even slightly out of line. Except in the Animan section of the city of course, there things would be a little easier, though not much. This was the way things were most places in the settled galaxy, and it was a pain, but it was still wonderful to be here!

  "Well, where too?" Asked Shotoon as the four of us started out.

  "A bar!" I said enthusiastically, ears perked.

  "What?"

  "A bar?"

  "Yes, why a bar Jotun?" They all asked.

  "I haven't been in one in years, and I want to go someplace crowded. Someplace just full of people!"

  "Been alone too long huh?" smiled Azelett.

  "Yup!" I grinned foolishly.

  We asked around and eventually got directions to a place called 'The Water Hole'. It wasn't much to look at outside, or inside either for that matter. The furniture was cheap, worn and didn't match. But it had atmosphere, and it smelled good. Also it had quite a few people in it even though it was still only late afternoon.

  I grabbed a table in the center of the room and flagged down the barmaid.

  "Yes hon?" She asked giving me a wink. She was a petite grey fox with nice black markings on her muzzle, obviously very young too. Maybe ten or twelve.

  "Beer!" I smiled back, "Lots of it too!"

  "Right away!" she hustled off.

  "Isn't she a little young to be working?" I asked the others.

  "Not really," Volunteered Rieselle with ear flick towards the retreating barmaid. "She's probably free born and needs the money to survive. Their numbers have been increasing radically over the last decade."

  "Why don't they work for a corp?"

  "Most won't have them, no training. And many parents don't want them either, it costs a lot to send a child to school and you usually can't take them with you. Also the leverage conflict created a lot of orphans."

  My tail twitched at that. I had a very big part in that I figured. I had killed enough folks during it, that's for sure.

  "Sorry Jo," she sighed.

  "That's okay," I sighed myself.

  At that moment the first pitcher showed up.

  "Better get more," I chuckled looking up from my seat at the waitress, "this won't last very long." I quickly poured it out filling our mugs and grabbed my own.

  "How much?" She asked looking us over.

  "Lots more I think," said Shotoon watching me drain my mug.

  I refilled and started on another.

  "And fast too," he added looking at the little bit left in the pitcher.

  She took off to get us more, and I settled back to do some serious drinking.

  "Don't over do it Jotun," warned Azelett.

  "Why not?"

  "Well, ummm." She thought a moment. "I guess you're a big boy," she sighed.

  "Right!" I tipped my glass her way in a salute. "So drink up, let's cut loose for a while."

  We sat back and started enjoying ourselves. I flirted shamelessly with the barmaid, who obviously enjoyed the attention. I was feeling no pain to say the least, and watched with interest as the bar filled up.

  It was quite a crowd. This was obviously the local spot to go, as I saw a good representation of all the species. A few more barmaids joined the crowd, but none were as young as ours. I suspect they were moonlighting, so could only be here during nights.

  I watched as the divisions started to become apparent in the crowd. It didn't take long to see what the different groups were, or their pecking orders. I suspect that our staking out the center table was intruding on somebody else's prime real estate. We did get quite a few looks from the regulars, I just grinned toothily at them and laughed a lot.

  It was about midnight when our barmaid came over and sat in my lap.

  "Yes?" I asked raising an eyebrow and looking at her.

  "It's time for my break, so I though I'd check you folks out," she grinned foxily, which in her case was quite apropos.

  "Where you folks from?
" She asked running her hands through my chest fur.

  "Our ship docked this afternoon," Growled Azelett.

  "Oh," she looked at me. "You mated?" she asked quietly.

  "Not yet," I smiled.

  "Oh, okay," and she went back to tickling my chest.

  It felt good too, I let my eyes half close. I could see Azelett was unhappy with it, so I rubbed my foot against hers for a moment. She calmed down a little bit then, I guess she realized that I wasn't serious about the Fox.

  "What's your name by the way?" She asked. "I'm Sil," and she gave her hips a shameless little twist that got a rather loud inadvertent purr from me, and started Azelett back to looking daggers at her.

  "I'm Jotun, that's Shotoon and Rieselle. The one planning your dismemberment is Azelett."

  "Hi folks," she grinned and gave me another of those twists.

  "Aren't you a little young yet?" I asked. My hands were safely on her back kneading her shoulders.

  "Nope I'm thirteen," she replied, and kissed me.

  For my part I kissed her back. Thirteen was old enough, about comparable to eighteen for a human. Animen were designed to mature early, hitting full adult growth at sixteen, I was fourteen when I had graduated from training and started working for the corporation.

  "Trouble!" Hissed Rieselle suddenly.

  I broke off the kiss and got my feet flat on the floor. From the corner of my eye I saw a very large Weasel approaching with several friends in tow. He was almost as tall as me.

  He came up in front of me, with his three friends flanking me. They were two Coyotes and a Badger. Sil stiffened when she noticed them and tried to get up, but my arms had already tightened and she couldn't move.

  I hated Weasels.

  Rule three simply stated: I will kill all Weasels on sight. The company quickly learned that was true. Nobody liked them, you couldn't trust them worth a damn, and they enjoyed killing and inflicting pain. They were just too Human.

  "It's bad enough you come here and take our table," He started. "But now you're messin' with my girl!" He growled threateningly.

  Shotoon and Rieselle were already on their feet, hands on their knives. Azelett got the point and stood up too. I could feel Sil shaking now.

  "I won't hurt him if you don't want me too," I whispered quietly in her ear.

  "I'm not his and I hate him!" She hissed, "I wish I was rid of the bastard!"

  I carefully picked her up and set her on the table. I then looked up from my chair at the Weasel and his friends.

  "You and your friends better leave!" He growled again.

  "I'm not going anywhere," I grinned ears perking up.

  By this time a space was clearing around the table.

  "The police don't come here kitty, so you can either walk out, or die here."

  "Just you?" I laughed, "Or do you need your friends to help?"

  "I don't need any help to kill you kitty."

  "Hobb, he didn't ..." began Sil.

  "Quiet," I said softly, she shut up. "That's twice you've threatened to kill me now." I started growling at him, flattening my ears and closing my eyes to slits. "If you get down on your knees and beg forgiveness, I'll let you live."

  He pulled his knife then. I spun off my chair on my left foot, my right foot just missed his stomach. But the chair, which I was holding in my left hand now, didn't. He dropped the knife and I jumped him, punching him in the head several times backing him up.

  He came back with his fists and claws managing to open a few small cuts on my arms. I responded with a flurry of my own followed by a spinning crescent kick combination and the claws on my right foot scored a deep gash on his forehead.

  It was quickly becoming obvious to everyone around that this wasn't a regular fight anymore, as we continued to go at it.

  He was pretty good, I'll admit. He had a lot of speed, more than a Weasel normally would, I wondered if he was on drugs or something similar. On the other hand I was slightly drunk and not as fast as I should have been.

  My extensive experience was the only thing saving me. He telegraphed most of his moves and I just did the standard counters. But he still cut me up good. That got my adrenaline flowing and helped clear out the fuzz the beer had given me.

  I was giving at least as good as I was getting, and the effect was showing on him. He was slowing down and even getting worried.

  It took a while, longer than it should have, but he finally swung wide in response to a feint and I was able to duck under his arm and slide behind him. I grabbed him quick and got a good head lock on him then. A quick hard twist, accompanied by a sickening crunch and I dropped the body to the floor.

  "Gods, I hate Weasels!" I growled and carefully headed back to the table. The crowd was deadly silent, but slowly started up again, like a machine winding back up into gear after a sudden unexpected halt. I grabbed a chair and sat back down and started licking my wounds. Those I could easily reach at least.

  "You killed him!" Sil gasped.

  "No shit," stated Shotoon. "How long 'til the police show?"

  "They won't, they could care less."

  I finished checking myself out. I had a few bad cuts and a couple of sore ribs, nothing major. I looked up and noticed that the body was blocked from view by the crowd. If it was even still there. The three side kicks were gone too, maybe they took it.

  I looked over at Sil, wondering if I should hit on her or not. Azelett was looking daggers at me, and Sil seemed a little nervous.

  "Come here," I said quietly.

  She hesitated a second, then came over. I gently pulled her down onto my lap, and gave her a small kiss.

  "I'm sorry if I upset you," I smiled weakly. "But I am not a nice person."

  She started to look very nervous then.

  "Now would you please bring us some more beer?" I smiled again and let her go.

  "Sure, just a sec!" And she was gone in a flash.

  "Would somebody please give me a hand with these cuts?" I asked pointedly looking at Azelett.

  "No." She growled.

  "What's got into you?" I asked taken a back.

  "Not you!"

  "Excuse me?" I said looking at Shotoon and Rieselle, no help from either of those two corners.

  "What in the universe do you think you're doing?" she growled.

  "Oh come on, I'm just flirting with the girl," I sighed.

  "Not that!" she hissed. "I'm talking about that Weasel you just murdered."

  "Hey, he asked for it! And besides, he was only a Weasel anyway. You know how I feel about them!" I growled back. This was really beginning to bug me. Plus two of those cuts were pretty deep and still bleeding.

  "You're not at the Palace now Jotun. You're supposed to be on leave! You just can't behave like that!"

  I looked at the other two, "You tell her!"

  "You know he didn't stand a chance Jotun," said Shotoon.

  "You could easily have knocked him out," added Rieselle. "There was no need to kill him."

  "What?!" I hissed, I couldn't believe this!

  "We are, or rather you are, on vacation!" sighed Rieselle, "And yet you've already managed to kill somebody and it hasn't even been a day yet. You're out in the real world now, you can't just kill every Weasel you come across, regardless of the circumstances."

  "Fine." I said, it wasn't actually, but I was madder then hell and I hurt too. The last thing I wanted was to be fighting with my friends. Even if they didn't want to act like them.

  So I got up and left.

  I went to the back, past the bathrooms and straight out the back door. When I came to the street at the end of the alley I had to admit to myself that I had no idea of where I was going, or what I was doing.

  I heard a noise behind me and caught a whiff of fox as I quickly spun around.

  "Yes?" I couldn't totally stifle the growl that came out with it.

  "You okay?" It was the Barmaid of course.

  "No, why? What should you care?"

  "Wh
y don't you come home with me? I could take care of those cuts for you at least."

  I caught another whiff of her scent on the breeze. She was scared and smelled it.

  "You don't owe me anything," I sighed and turned back around and headed out into the street. "So you don't have to be scared that I'll try and collect." I turned left and started looking for an open store. It was late and I looked a mess, I needed a good First Aid kit. Or even a bad one.

  "Wait please!" She caught up with me easily, I wasn't in any rush anyway.

  "Hobbs was an out an out bastard, and did a lot of bad things. At least to me." She said quietly grabbing my arm.

  "Owwww!"

  She grabbed it where it was cut unfortunately.

  "Oh! Sorry," she changed her grip. "Anyway, the least I can do is patch up some of those cuts."

  "Okay," I said and let her lead me down the street and through a few alleys.

  We cut through the machine room for a warehouse of some kind, and she unlocked a door in an accessway directly off of it.

  "It ain't much, but it's cheap!" she said showing me in. I stepped inside. The floor was covered with worn rugs, my nose told me it was dirt underneath, and the ceiling was low and uneven. We were in the dead space between the foundation and the ground.

  "At least it's roomy," I smiled. It was easily over a thousand square feet. "How'd you get it?"

  "A small bribe to the janitor every month and he looks the other way." She smiled, "Now let’s see those cuts."

  I walked over to a table and sat on a chair by it. She got out a rather expensive looking kit and set to work.

  "It would seem that you know what you're doing," I observed.

  "Mom was a medic and taught me what she could, and I have managed to get some education on my own."

  "How'd you end up here?" I tried not to squirm as she cleaned the one really deep gash on my chest.

  "Well, Mom got transferred and I couldn't go. So I just made do. I'm slowly getting training, so maybe I'll be able to get a better job in a few years."

  "What about your Dad?"

  "Who knows? Mom said she was never really sure what happened to him. She thought he died in the Leverage conflict. What happened with your friends in the bar anyway?"

  She was gluing the gash closed and lining up the skin. I waited till she was done and had started on my arm.