Chapter 4

It turned out Moona was an excellent cook and one that took pride in doing it the traditional way. Using ingredients and preparing the meal from scratch, I was impressed.

I had spent the rest of the night in a new bubble room, this one suspended over dense foliage on the land side of the tree. I did not watch the Death Match as planned or did much in the way of relaxing. I had slept on the floor of the bathroom. Just in case the one-way transparency of the walls could be ignored by a sophisticated targeting sensor of a sniper. From the bathroom floor, I also had a good view of the entrance door and kept an eye on it. I did eat the nuts and the pretzels but of course did not touch the beer. Someone was after me there was no question anymore, what I could not figure out was, who it could be. I wondered who I pissed off enough to send someone after me, but gave up almost right away, there were too many.

Everyone of the runners I had caught, delivered or killed might have had a relative or friend with deep enough pockets to hire someone professional to go after me. That wasn’t something new or unheard of. As a matter of fact, this is how Brux ended his career. Shot by an upset life partner, waiting for him at the doorsteps of a police precinct after he delivered the runner. That happened eighteen years ago.

I cursed myself for forgetting about that, perhaps the most important lesson Brux had taught me, paying for it with his life. I had been careless and dropped enough breadcrumbs lately for anyone with half a brain to follow me. I was the prey and I was the runner now. Running from an unseen, unknown hunter that could be anyone and anything. Whoever was gunning for me was doing it slowly. If they wanted me dead, they could have shot me in the back right there instead of using clubs.

Moona had shown me the colorful temple of the Chuckians, with huge stained glass windows depicting Chuck, a colorful character in various situations welcoming face painted beings into a colorful paradise. I could not relax and kept an eye on everything, wondering who was not a pilgrim, tourist or local Chuckian. Of course, there were other means of surveillance. There was a vast variety of mini-drones freely available on GalNet and of course professionals had the money to get the latest and best. It was not difficult to secure a closed environment, such as a space ship, a building or a room against such spy gadgets, but here in the open there could be dozens and I wouldn’t know.

I had several top-notch mini drones in my arsenal of tools. All of them of course aboard Angel’s Wing.

But now in her apartment, I relaxed somewhat. I swept the room for bugs and was satisfied there wasn’t anything tracking me.

Moona pointed at my plate.”Care for a second plate of Moona’s lasagne?”

I nodded.”Yeah, it is really good. There is still a difference between auto prep and real cooking.”

She grinned.”Just as there is between auto sex and the real kind, eh?”

“You have figured it out.”

She helped herself as well to a little more.”So, if they after you. Why not wait for you in the room and do a number on you instead of tossing the place while you’re gone?” I put a fork of the delicious mass, gooey with cheese between my teeth and was thinking.”You got a point there.”

“What would they look for? Do you have anything interesting or valuable in your luggage?”

“You have seen my room, girl. I don’t travel with luggage. I travel way too much to be bothered with that. What I need I carry on me or buy on the spot.”

“What about weapons and such? I did see some things in a plastic bag on your nightstand.”

“While I do have some good and decent hardware, I doubt someone would go through all that trouble getting it. It’s all available either at a weapons dealer or on GalNet.”

I reached in my jacket pocket and pulled the plastic bag with the things of the dead Andorian. “This stuff is of that dead Andorian, you know the one that also left me those Skin Diggers. It’s just pocket stuff. A brain jack, A few coins, casino chips and a Shiss PDD of sorts. This is certainly not anything someone would risk breaking in a hotel room for.”

She shrugged and watched me put it back in my pocket.

“So why keep it, if it is worthless stuff?” “It’s not exactly worthless. I think I can get fifty credits for the jack, the Casino chips are hundred each and good as cash-credits. That Shiss thing is good for five to ten thousand on GalNet. I started out doing hunts for bounties less than that.”

Moona’s apartment was on one of the higher floors of a sickle-shaped building that followed the inside curving of the huge transplast dome. From her dining room, you could look straight down onto lower buildings, a small, rectangular city park of well-groomed grass and normal-sized trees and a business and shopping area. The building was big and the windows only transparent from the inside. I started to look at everything now as a potential target and could not deny a certain nervousness and uneasy feeling that kept slowly building in my stomach. I imagined that was how runners felt all the time. Knowing there was someone like me out there, looking to take them down.

A sound from the apartment door caused my hand to fall onto the but of my TKU.

She shook her head gently.”No worries, that is Leeza. This building has excellent security.”

A tall very dark-skinned thin woman came in. She had long, shiny black hair parted in the middle, high arched eyebrows over big, expressive eyes of a deep cobalt blue. I also instantly noticed the long pointed ears to each side of her head peaking from between her long tresses. I had never met an Ebony-Elfin before, but form what I understood they were a lost Saresii colony, that had been re-discovered about six hundred years ago. What was, of course, amazing that all Saresii colonies had been deemed lost and destroyed over a million years ago in a terrible war. Little to no information had survived about the nature of that war, but it had ended the First Age of Knowledge for the Saresii.

Unlike the Saresii, Ebony-Elfin had distinct male and female members. Like their all-female appearing relatives, the Saresii they were known to have psionic abilities, in general not as potent and almost exclusively telepaths. This one was of exquisite and flawless, exotic beauty that send a shiver down my spine.

She was dressed in the local fashion, which seemed to be the Bio seal suit in various color schemes. A Bio seal suit was as far as I knew just a spacesuit without the radiation shielding or insulation. Basically a one-piece body encasement, that prevented biological contamination. Bio seals came with attached hoods or helmets. No one wore them so it seemed. Instead, locals opted for water repellent coats with hoods and these hoods could be zipped or closed up all the way to form some sort of mask with a transparent material over the eye openings. Her Bio suit was tight, a wide dark blue stripe down the center and white on each side of the body. Despite it enclosing her entire body to her neck, I had hardly seen an outfit sexier than that.

Moona laughed. “Stop drooling, Angel and finish your Lasagna, the way you ogle my friend I am most likely never going to cook for you again.”

Leeza greeted me with a smile.”Didn’t you tell me he is a bounty hunter and will be gone in a few days anyway?”

I grinned, “That’s me alright. I certainly never had nicer looking company in my life, but I am a rolling stone and right now someone is out to get me and I better find me an environment and neighborhood I know so I can fight back.”

The tall Ebony Elfin did the impossible, she made her suit even more appealing. She opened the sure stick zipper to her waist and sat down.”I have some of the Lasagne if there is any left.”

I had to concentrate on something outside the windows, not to stare at the skin and partially revealed dark-skinned orbs, supported by something made of black and delicate lace.

Moona piled some of her delicious food on a plate before the other girl and said.”He is pretty good at making me happy, you should try him before he leaves.”

“I just might. Seems he is a breast man too.”

I grinned broadly, forgetting my troubles for the moment.”This planet becomes more appealing by the moment, despite the fact I am the one being hunted.”

Leeza was eating and said.”Normally I would not reveal department secrets or tell anyone about what we have found, but Captain Pulzier said it would be okay after he dropped me off.”

I forgot the two pretty, no those beautiful ladies across the table from me for a moment and reminded myself to be professional once more.”That makes me feel a lot better. I didn’t want to get you girls in trouble and frankly, it restores my faith in the system.”

He did make one request though and come to the precinct. He wanted me to assure you that you are not under arrest or anything, but he wanted to make sure we share the information with the real Marifou.

Leeza held up her Union police issued PDD.”I scanned you Mr. Marifou just to make sure we talk to the real one and not someone trying to get a beat on you.”

“I am glad you are thinking in these lines.”

“We might be still considered the Fringes, but we aren’t all that naive.”

He also wanted you to give him details on Sodiban Renow and your chase after him. The captain thinks there might be more to the Andorian than originally thought.”

“It seems he also has cursed me somehow. First I can’t get rid of the stiff, then Andorian Skin Diggers and now he might be the cause of all this?” But it actually could be an explanation, not that I could figure out yet exactly how, but my troubles only started recently, so instead of considering everyone I ever hunted, why not start with the most recent one.