Chapter 9

Kat had used the money she was getting from jobs to improve her station in life. She had rented a loft in a building that was not completely falling down and had running water that was even hot sometimes. It had a lockable door and she had the entire top floor to herself. She had begun to acquire belongings, some old, second hand furniture and even a few luxuries. One of those luxuries, though most wouldn't think of them that way, was a set of knives that she had stolen and paid to have modified.

They were made of a ceramic matrix that was, ounce for ounce, much stronger than steel. The ceramic held an edge that had to be felt to be believed and could cut through thin steel as easily as a loaf of bread. Ceramic, even with a carbon fiber matrix, was brittle and prone to chipping. Kat had paid to have the knives fused with a coating, not dissimilar to diamond dust, but man made, that was used to protect the edges on industrial milling machines. The dust was bonded at the molecular level to the substrate, giving it a durability far beyond that of the component parts.

Her success had come at a cost, though. There were plenty of stories around the city about a female avenging angel, a mercenary who took on the bad guys for creds. Though she had been careful not to let many see her face, those folks who knew that Kat was the middle man for this avenger were bound to put two and two together.

It had been a year since the death of the Governor and, while business was good, it was also getting more complicated. It all came to a head during a lunch with Danny.

"They're looking for you, Kat. The Peace Keepers. They have a description and everything." Danny told her, looking upset.

"It was bound to happen, Danny. I am surprised it took this long. Even the Peace Keepers, as corrupt as they tend to be, have some smart people and they were bound to figure it out sooner or later." Kat didn't like it, but she had learned long ago that the universe didn't bend to her will.

"It was just a few questions, at first. Now they are rousting people out, busting people and offering them deals if they can identify you." Danny went on, looking unhappy.

"Look, Kat, I know you done some things that, well, are not so nice, but as long as I have known you, you have always taken jobs that helped the little guy. Everyone that you have taken on has been someone who deserved what come to them and don't think the people around here don't know that. You are kind of a hero, like that Robbing Hoodlum guy in the kids' stories. Even so, someone is going point the finger at you eventually. Have you thought about getting off-planet?"

"Sure. Who hasn't? No Ident disc, not enough money, security at the ports is a lot heavier than anything I have tried before. I just don't think it would be possible to stow away in this day and age and I haven't found a smuggler willing to risk it for the kind of creds I can scrape together."

"I've been asking around, quiet like. I got a cousin who is an engineer on a freight hauler. My pa helped his family a lot, back in the day, and helped to pay for his training so he could get that job. Anyway, he says that they lose one or two people in just about any port they hit. Them big freighters is slow and the trips between systems are long enough that people get a little nuts when they hit a planet. Get drunk, get rolled, some just jump ship and find a girl to shack up with." Danny slid a small packet across the table to Kat, hidden under a napkin.

"You and me been friends for a while, Kat. I'd hate to see the Peace Keepers get a hold of you so, I want you to take this."

Kat was surprised, and not a little wary. Danny was a nice guy and it was true that he was the closest thing she had to a friend on the entire planet, but this was new.

She slid the packet into her lap and peeled away the paper. Inside was an Ident Disc and a slip of plastic with a name and Comm number written on it. She looked questioningly at Danny.

"Remember that guy you helped out a couple a months ago, the one who had the City Health Inspector bleeding him dry? His brother is a fixer. He can fix that disc so it reads your biometrics." Harry winked at her, smiling now.

Kat looked up in surprise. That had been an easy fix. The Health Inspector was a real sleaze and was threatening just about every restaurant and diner in low town. He was asking for bribes to keep from shutting them down. That kind of thing was the cost of doing business, but he had been raising his bribe amount every week and it had gotten so high that it was cheaper to close up shop than it was to keep paying bribes.

Kat had planted the gun she had taken from Piggy's corpse in the man's city-owned ground car and then phoned in an anonymous tip to the Peace Keepers. They had come down on him like a ton of plascrete and he was 'shot trying to escape'. The entire job had taken just two days.

Fixers. She had heard about people who could do that, could hack just about anything, but she had never had the need to look for one. Rumor was that the service didn't come cheap.

Danny, meanwhile, was still talking. "My cousin says that sometimes when a spacer goes missing, they just pack up the gear and, when possible, they ship it to the next of kin. When there is no listed family, they will hang on to the important stuff, it can bring a good price to the right person." Danny laid a finger alongside his nose, nodding at her. Kat had to wonder if folks went missing who didn't intend to go missing.

"Anyway, that disc is for a girl who disappeared in the last port before they got here to Ovid. She is still carried on the ship's roles as an active crew member. You'll have to slip my cousin something, fifty creds should do it, and probably a bit more for ships purser, but this is a chance for you to start over if you want."

Kat was surprised to find that her eyes were moist, her chest tight. She had spent so long alone, so long feeling like it was her against the world, that she was unsure how to respond when someone did her a kindness.

Warm feelings aside, it took Kat two weeks to check on Danny's story. As much as she wanted it to work, she had survived by being careful. She found the restaurant owners brother and watched him for a couple of days, asked some questions and was able to confirm that he had a pretty good reputation, in the right circles, as someone who get hack just about anything.