Phoenix Feathers, Part I

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Joss is boss. All this stuff is his, or else it's because of him. My birthday's pretty far away, but I know what I'm gonna wish for...

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Douglas Clarke used to be a happy man. He used to ship out on fancy space liners to visit exotic moons and had been wined and dined by the wealthy. In those days, he had boasted that he was the best game hunter in the ‘verse, and it had probably been true. Those rich enough to afford his services were awed by his skill, and attested that Clarke’s hunting was an art in and of itself. For a time, it had seemed as if there was nothing more that he could ask for. Then the Unification War broke out and Clarke’s world turned upside-down.

During his numerous expeditions to the outer worlds, Clarke had grown fond of the daring frontiersmen who, like his own family, lived by choice beyond comfort and civilization. Clarke saw the war as an act of unwarranted aggression by the Alliance, and didn’t have the sense to keep his sentiments to himself. High society had branded him as an unenlightened mongrel. Clarke was blacklisted and exiled to the Outer Planets, where he had been forgotten. Turning to drink, he became just another member of the countless people displaced by the fighting.

Penniless, he had been in a jail on Beylix for drunk and disorderly conduct when he met the Captain. Monty always had a keen eye for talented individuals, even if he sometimes failed to take into account other, less attractive qualities that they possessed. He had offered Clarke a job. Monty might not have been thinking properly, being more than a little drunk himself at the time, but after he had sobered up he kept his word. Clarke owed Monty a lot, but he couldn’t see how that debt could ever be repaid.

He took a long pull from his hip flask, and then stumbled down the Stallion’s main ramp. Clarke looked sullenly at the devastation that the Stallion’s crash landing had caused, then turned and walked unsteadily into the un