“I see that,” she smirked.
“Everybody’s gotta make a living,” he said, shrugging again.
Turning a corner, they saw a man sitting back against a bulkhead with his feet splayed out. It was obvious from the slack, blissed-out look on his thin, angular face that he was high on something.
“Hey,” Hal said to Vivi. “Give me a minute.”
She watched nervously, as he knelt beside the man and spoke in a low voice. Eventually the addict lifted his head, looking at Hal.
“Where’d you serve?” Hal asked.
She couldn’t help but take a step nearer, but she still couldn’t make out the addict’s answer. Hal nodded, however.
“What ’bout you?” She heard the thick mumble of the user’s voice reply this time as the man made an effort to communicate.
“I fought on Bel-Prime. Patrolled the Border, too,” Hal said.
She caught the glimpse of a tattoo similar to Hal’s on the inside of the addict’s wrist. Hal dug into his pocket, then placed something in the man’s hand. “Try and get something to eat with it, yeah?”
The man nodded and tucked the scrilla away. Hal clapped him gently on the arm and rejoined Vivi, who didn’t know what to say.
“C’mon,” he said.
As they moved away, Vivi asked, “Do you think he’ll use that to buy food?”
Hal shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s a null addict in pretty bad shape.”
“How do you know it’s null?” she asked.
“Vats are suckers for null,” Hal murmured. “Helps them take the edge off at first, then… they can’t leave it alone.”
“Why give him scrilla then?” she asked.
“At least he’ll know someone cared a little and tried to help him before he died. Besides, that could be me sitting there. I mean, if not for Ty.”
His caring gesture seemed to be completely at odds with the bar brawler side of him she’d seen last night. He was a mass of contradictions. He obviously had a heart, though, and she felt drawn to that in a way she couldn’t explain.
On reaching the club, they moved inside with the crowd. The place was full, but there was no band – just a DJ playing hypnohaze music. Vivi could sense Hal’s tension in the way he held himself as they entered. He stood still for a moment, a frown on his features as he scanned the room. Hal drew Vivi near, taking her hand. “Come on and stay close.”
They made their way to a booth on the far side of the room where a man sat drinking. As they drew near, he looked up and Hal gave a nod. Vivi was walking slightly behind him to the right.
Hal called out as they approached, “What the hells do you want now?” and scowled.
Vivi got a good look at the guy in front of them. He was dressed in black, his hair shaved on the sides and cut so short it stood up in points on the top of his head. He looked just like another clubgoer, she thought, then noticed the interface node visible behind his right ear. He stood up quickly, going eye to eye with Hal. Vivi started to worry that Hal was going to get diverted from their meeting.
“You got a problem?” the man asked belligerently.
“That depends on you, nat,” Hal said, staring him down.
The two men glared at each other for a moment more, then both started grinning. They shook hands and ended by smacking each other on the back. Vivi realized it was some sort of joke between them, and she relaxed.
“What’s up with you?” Hal asked.
“Same old shit, man,” the other replied with an easy smile.
Hal gestured to Vivi. “Astin, this is Vivi. She’s our tecker. Vivi, this is Astin. He works for TechSolutions.”
“Good to meet you,” Vivi said.
“So you’re the newbie, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Five by five.” Astin nodded appreciatively. “OK. Let’s get to it.” He paused to throw back the rest of the amber liquid in his glass and looked around before he began speaking. “I was going to meet Ty last night, but I was – er – held up.” There was an uncomfortable look on his face, but then he waved his hand and went on. “Anyway, I know you guys are always looking for salvage locations. You interested in a lead?”
“How hot is it?” Hal asked.
“ACAS hot,” Astin said. “How much scrill can you give me?”
Hal tapped on his handheld a moment, then narrowed his eyes. “Two. It’s all I got access to right now. You know Ty, though. If it’s good, he’ll pay you the full six.”
Astin took a moment to consider. “That’ll do.”
“Same account as last time?”
“Yeah.”
Vivi watched, interested in the interplay between the two. She wanted to find out more about how the salvage business worked. This was the first time that she’d gone to run down a lead – previously, Ty and Hal coordinated these things alone.
“I hope this is a good one,” Hal muttered, finishing the transaction by tapping on his handheld.
“It will be.” Astin leaned in as Hal looked up. “OK. A day ago, we were called in to work on an ACAS corvette. It had broken down while coming back from the Border. They didn’t dock at Omicron; we had to approach on a shuttle, and I saw they had a salvage ship named the Relentless in tow. Anyway, as I was running diagnostics on the ACAS ship’s computers, I began to poke around. Seems like they’d found the Relentless out past the Border without a permit. When they boarded, they saw that the ship had made a big find – parts of a metalhead drive and some other things. Here’s the location.” He showed Hal his handheld, then used a motion of his hand on the screen to transfer it to Hal’s device.
“Thanks,” Hal nodded, receiving the information.
“Relentless was caught soon after she got there, so there wasn’t much more they could get. But it looks like it could be a big score,” Astin said. “Good luck, man.” He offered his hand to Hal, who shook it. “I gotta get gone, but hey – keep where you got that on the DL, OK?”
“You bet,” Hal said. He watched Astin go, then he glanced over to Vivi. “We gotta get this to Ty.”
She nodded in agreement and followed him out of the booth.
SEVEN
A glint of starlight on metal announced the presence of Station 41 in orbit around the gas giant Rinal. The station serviced the ACAS ships patrolling the Edge in this sector. It was home to over three hundred full-time personnel, almost three-quarters of them vats, several of whom were busily swarming on the corvette Phobos and her recent prize capture, the Relentless.
On board Phobos, Captain Sammeal Tallin was completing his daily log entries at his desk. Other than the computer issues that had required his stopover at Omicron, the week had been a good one for the thirty year-old captain.
Tallin had been proud when he was posted to the Phobos. For over ten years he had served in the Spiral on the Indignant, a large carrier. There he had been a small fish in a very large pond, one in the seemingly innumerable ranks of young officers seeking promotion. The Edge was the place to be; the place where looters, smugglers, and pirates offered all sorts of chances for an ACAS officer with his eyes on the upper echelon. If he could nab a few more prizes like Relentless, and maybe combat a pirate or two, his future would be secure.