“Indeed, you will have whatever items and funds you need to complete the task however you see fit. Once completed, you can look through our inventory for whatever you can carry out with you and you will be paid sixty-five million credits—the worth of your bounty I believe.”
“Third from the top for solo artists like me. That Anakis chick always beats me somehow, and also that other guy…I don’t know his name.”
“No one does. It’s part of the reason he’s on the list. They merely call him ‘The Dybbuk Man.’”
“What the hell is a dybbuk?” Gin mused. “I’ve never met him, although I did meet the woman. We had a grand old time on one of the colonies. I’m kinda surprised you didn’t go for her.”
“Would you believe that you seemed more agreeable?” the man asked.
“I have a way about me. My charm makes up for the lack of ‘interpersonal skill,’” he said and made air quotes with his fingers. “As for what I need, I can actually say I won’t take much from this little fund you’re giving me, mostly because for what I have in mind, I’ll have to get what I need myself.”
“So you have a plan already?” Zubanz asked. “Please do keep in mind that we would prefer discretion and that you’ll have to find a way to lure him to you unless you want to deal with an entire Academy coming after you.”
Gin flicked a finger at him. “That’s the thing. I will get him while he’s at the Academy, but it won’t be graphic. They won’t even know I’m there.”
The chairman looked questioningly at him. “What do you have in mind?”
“Ah, ah, ah.” He wagged his finger. “A killer’s rule is similar to a magician’s—don’t give away the secrets. You’ll have to trust me. It’s not like I won’t kill him. I have a reputation to think about.” He finished his drink and placed the glass on the table. “The rest is a bonus.” He extended a hand to the chairman and the silver mesh wrapped around it hid the electronic components within. “But we can shake on it if you want.”
The man looked at him for a moment but took the killer’s hand. He had to remind himself this was to the benefit of the organization and that he had made plenty of shady deals on less certain terms. And yet, as the vice-like grip of Gin’s hand shook his, he felt this was the closest he had come to shaking hands with the devil.
He wondered if he would regret it.
Author Notes
December 13, 2018
THANK YOU for not only reading this story but these Author Notes as well.
(I think I’ve been good with always opening with “thank you.” If not, I need to edit the other Author Notes!)
RANDOM (sometimes) THOUGHTS?
DAMN YOU, GIN!
Ok, I have to admit that when working with Joshua, it can occasionally be frustrating. Why?
He likes bad guys. I’m a “good guy who wears a black hat” sort of person. I like the protagonist who bends the rules but gets the jobs done. Joshua loves to create complex bad guys. For once, I think I have a bad guy in a story that I can at least enjoy. Gin is so over-the-top about himself that I can’t even get upset about his choices. He is delicious in his efforts, and while I know it sucks for our side, he is a worthy antagonist.
=== Excerpt from Chapter 1 ===
(unedited)
(Gin is in a black market area, talking to an older man, a hacker…) “Except for the stooges, I would think.” Gin said, looking back at the door.
“If they give you any trouble, feel free to do what you must.”
Gin raised an eyebrow. “Not too attached, huh?”
“Customer service. Can’t have them making one of my new customers think this is a place that would allow such idiocy,” Vinci reasoned, moving the screen to show it to Gin. “Here are the schematics and functions of the cracked EI you requested.”
Gin leaned in more, looking at the screen and whistled. “That’s a lot of coding. You did all this in two weeks?”
“Would you believe this is one of the longest projects I’ve had in almost five years?” Vinci chuckled. “Most of the time it takes hours or a couple days at most. You gave me something to really get my fingers tapping.”
“Glad you enjoyed it,” Gin chirped. “What do I owe you?”
“One million even,” Vinci stated.
Gin tapped a finger on his chin, “From our initial conversation, I was expecting more than triple that amount.”
Vinci offer Gin his tablet, “It’s a discount for giving me such an interesting bit of work and for being such a nice man to work with.”
“Guess a little kindness goes a long way, huh?” Gin took the tablet and transferred the money to the older hacker. “This will work wonderfully.”
“Don’t do anything too naughty with it,” Vinci said in a knowing, playful tone as he unlocked a domed device, the two side splitting open to reveal a chip. He placed it into a box and handed it to Gin.
“You should know that someone like me can’t promise that,” Gin said as he stood up. “I mean, otherwise, why would I order it?”
Vinci laughed as he made his way to the door. “Good point!” He opened the door and nodded at Gin as he made to depart.
Gin grabbed his tablet and put it in his jacket as he made his way to the guards. “It’s finished, boys. I’ll be taking back my things now.”
“We don’t think so,” the lead guard growled, earning a curious look from Gin and a sigh from Vinci.
“What the hell are you doing?” the hacker complained, “He’s paid and done nothing suspicious. Do you lot want me to report you?”
“This guy isn’t on the up and up, Vinci!” another guard declared, holding up the omni-blade. “Look at this thing! There’s no way he could just have something like this! You can’t even get one on the black market! It’s way more advanced than anything I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m sure that your knowledge is vast.” Gin muttered, “If you must know, I stole it from a tactical and security division tech development facility. Ironically, it was not that well secured.”
“Tac-Sec? You broke into a Tac-Sec facility by yourself? Bullshit.” The leader scoffed, “We were thinking…”
“Congratulations.”
“Shut up!” the guard snapped, grabbing Gin’s neck, “You’re a spook, aren’t you?!”
“I assure you he isn’t. He’s…” Vinci started to warn them, but stopped as Gin held up a hand.
“I suppose I never did properly introduce myself to you. My bad.” Gin took off his glasses and the guards were unnerved by his eyes, “Perhaps I could give it another go so that we can become properly acquainted?”
“This guy is a damn idiot,” one gasped. “Boss, we can’t have a guy like him with our tech! What if it gets traced back to us?”
“You think I’m that sloppy?” Vinci barked. “Don’t besmirch me because you are a bunch of paranoid idiots.”
“Still, best to be rid of him. We got the money, right?” the guard said with a smirk, holding up Gin’s knife to his face. “Wonder what people will think when it gets around that I took out a guy like Gin Sonny?”
“You are really committed to this, aren’t you?” Gin groused, looking at both him and the blade in boredom.
“If you hadn’t pissed me off, like you’re doing now, I might have let you walk out of here,” he stated. “Like I said, outsiders don’t get the same treatment in the bazaar. You gotta be a killer to even set foot in a place like this and expect to leave.”
“Oh, the irony.” Gin snickered, then leaned back, tilting his head and looking at Vinci, “You can go ahead and tell them if you want; see if it makes any difference. If not, I think I’ll take you up on your offer.”
The guards looked at Vinci, who had indifference on his face. “I hope the next batch they send me aren’t so stubborn.
=== End excerpt ===
It is a bad guy like this who stops me from hating him all the way through…
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AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
One of the interesting (at least to me) aspects of my life is the ability to work from anywhere and at any time. In the future, I hope to re-read my own Author Notes and remember my life as a diary entry.
Dec 13th, 2018
I’m at my desk in the Vegas Condo typing my little hands off at the moment. I just had a full day of working with Kevin McLaughlin (another author) as we plan out a new series. (Urban Fantasy - Dragons - new world.) We had breakfast this morning with the Las Vegas Indie Writer community at a crepes place near Henderson.
What is it with this town and crepes? This is the second coffee / crepes place I’ve been to in the last couple of weeks, when I had not been to a single one in the first fifty years of my life.
Think pancakes, I’ve been told. Yes, they are kinda like a flat pancake without the airy goodness. They have a slightly different flavor than what I’m used to with pancakes, but it might be me imagining things. Further, you shouldn’t stick your breakfast inside a crepe (or pancake.)
That’s just wrong!
So, I asked them to separate my stuffing (eggs, Italian sausage, and cheese) and the crepe. If I want to eat a pancake (flat as it is) I think I need syrup on that bad boy. I can’t eat syrup with my eggs.
I’m getting old, aren’t I? I’m the food equivalent of the old gray-haired man next door telling the kids to get off his lawn.
Damn, I am going to have to become more open-minded about crepes.
(Editor’s note: And vegetables, Michael! Possibly crepes with vegetables.)
FML.
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Michael Anderle
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