"Burke, find us something to watch," Jake said with a little more levity. "We're getting a heavy payday and if we jump back into hyperspace without giving everyone something to do there'll be a mutiny."
"Aye sir, whatever you say sir, with pleasure sir," Burke said with a crooked grin. "I wonder if there are any new Claustrophobia flicks?" He asked himself quietly.
"Oh no, those horror movies had me sleeping with the lights on for weeks and kissing the ground every time we went planet side," Silver complained emphatically, warding the thought off with his hands out in front of him.
“And he'd squirm in his sleep when he had nightmares. Kept knocking me out of bed,” Ashley added.
"Fine, I'll stick to the usual. A few action, a few fantasy, some sci-fi, a couple period movies and some chick flicks for you and the rest of the girls."
Ashley finished locking down her controls and stood up, rubbing Silver's smooth head. "Come on hero, let's go get that drink."
Captain Valance finished locking down the command station and started to leave when Frost stopped him. "Think we're picking up a contract here sir?" He whispered.
Jake shrugged. "I can't say. Why are you asking?"
"Pardon me sayin' but I've looked at the armaments on the Ferret. If that thing got into the air there's no way the Samson would be able to chase it without gettin' slagged in three shots. They had a grav cannon and two disruptors."
"That's why we took them on the ground. Don't worry, I'll make sure we can handle whatever we get. This isn't my first day."
"Yessir."
"Now make sure that retrieval goes smooth, our maxjack is old, these station techs probably haven't seen anything like it."
"Aye."
Captain Valance made his way through the ship, watching the crew attend to their duties along the way. There was something very satisfying seeing everyone at work, except for his piloting team, who were hanging out in the galley with their feet up, as expected. On his way to the starboard airlock, where a gangway was extended and affixed from the station, he met the retrieval and accounting team from the station.
It only took him a moment to tell them where they would find the four bounties and to sign the forms for transfer. The captures wouldn't be awakened. They'd remain in stasis as the retrieval team moved them into the station's holding area. Three were to be tried sometime in the next few days. The fourth would be transported to the planet he was accused of several murders on so his trial could take place in front of the victim's families.
As Jake Valance walked down a station hallway, its floors and walls polished to a mirror finish, and stepped into an express tube car he couldn't help thinking of what he saw on the retrieval forms for his bounties. He tried not to think too much about a target after he had acquired them and had them in stasis.
Once a job was done it was done. He had learned not to dig too deeply into the details of a bounty after the fact long ago. When he signed on for a number of captures for the premium he was getting paid, it was for all of them. He couldn't pick and choose. The money in that kind of contract was good, but there was always one or two with a bitter story.
Either they were innocent and the court system just wasn't finished with them yet or they had done something that he would have done if he was put in the same position or worse. He had collected on a combined bounty and repossession once. It was a family hauler with no armaments. They caught them just as they arrived in port, grabbed on with the maxjack and hauled them all the way back to the Retrieval Centre. He made the mistake of boarding the vessel and meeting the three generations that lived aboard, including children. They were over a year behind on their payments. As he met members of the family, who understood he was just doing his job, there was nothing he wanted to do more than to cut them loose. If he did his entire crew would be wanted along with his ship. He was forced to carry out the contract. They were the Wickliffs, he still tried to look them up every once in awhile but hadn't found a trace of them since. His cut of that job paid for the ship's brand new energy shields.
He hoped the family just made their way off the grid somehow, that they were able to pay the fines and deal with the criminal charges. He knew better. He was always led to think about his own family, or what he knew of it whenever he was reminded of that job.
His daughter was out there somewhere. What would she think if she knew that he accepted a contract that awarded a huge bonus if he managed to hunt down and capture a family and their ship. Their vessel was more than just a way to get around, it was their livelihood, their home.
He shook his head and brought his mind back to the present. His most recent contract wasn't so bad. There was only one on the list he sympathized with out of the four. That didn't help. He still hated what he was doing, wished he could pick and choose, but the hunters that lived by those rules didn't make half as much money. Catching and returning the Ferret III was a separate deal and the only part of his last run he actually felt good about.
The doors of the tube car parted and he stepped into a grand reception area with a wall covered with plant life. Flowering vines and a tiny trickling faux waterfall made the room smell alive. The other wall was mostly transparent, providing a view of the asteroid's white and gold trail. The receptionist's desk was set in the center of the room. It was a complete circle with a lovely secretary sitting in the middle. "Good evening. I've already informed the Chief Recovery Officer that you have arrived Jake Valance. He's ready to see you."
"Thank you," he replied coldly as he walked past her up the dozen or so steps. He pushed the double doors open and stepped inside the office. They swung closed as he stopped to stand in front of the broad desk. The office window faced forward, with the asteroids on the right and open space on the left. After a moment the image of a Chief Recovery Officer appeared behind the desk, standing up straight. There was no chair, this wasn't any person's office. It was all there for show. So someone could walk up a set of stairs, be forced to open a door and talk in what seemed like a private room with some kind of anonymous authority figure. "Good to meet you Captain Valance, may I call you Jake?"
"Sure."
"I can see from our records that you've managed to fulfil both of your contracts with us; four bounties and one ship repossession. I'm sure you'll be glad to know that your payment has been transferred to the account on file."
"Can you break that payment down for me?" Jake said, sitting in a plush imitation leather chair, not really looking at the holographic avatar.
"I'm sure someone from our accounting department can do that for you."
He looked up to the hologram. It was wearing a perfectly tailored square cut black suit and had a stylish but conservative hair cut. "Can you break that payment down for me avatar?" He repeated less patiently.
The image sighed; "You were paid five million credits for the recapture of the Ferret Three plus a one million credit bonus for its condition and a total of one point two million credits for the four bounties you've turned in, fulfilling two contracts. All funds were in United Core Worlds Currency."
"Thank you. Is there a reason why you called me here in person?"
The hologram looked at him directly, there was something different about it. "You've never been to see a Chief Recovery Officer, have you Jake?"
"First time speaking to something of your rank. I'm not talking to the stock AI here am I?"
"Very astute. I'm an actual company executive speaking to you from a secure location."
"And I'm sure you're not actually wearing the suit or the face I'm seeing."
"I'm wearing the suit, but not the face."
"So, why am I here?"
"Straight to the point. Well, on with it then. You're here because you're one of the best hunters we have. As far as our records show, and there are indications that they are not complete, you've worked for twelve different companies, collected on more than one hundred bounties in the last four years, stolen two ships, destroyed at least seventeen, and repossessed twenty nine including the Ferret Three. There are crews with records that good, but none as small as yours. There's another thing; your criminal record is completely clean, aside from allegations from one Captain who claims that you stole his ship in neutral space."