CHAPTER 14

Hera: Merc Ship Bridge

Flick this, and this, punch the little button, and........goin’ through. This oughtta be interesting. Stay outta pickup range.

“Yes?”

Whaddaya know, the big man himself.

“Mr. Higgins, you don’t know me, ‘cept indirectly, “ I say. “A year or so back I stole sumthin’ from you, a bible to be exact.” Can practically hear the gears goin’ round in his head, not one to forget a slight.

“I see. Calling to gloat?”

“Nossir. To make up for it, maybe. Does the name Joseph A. Bartholamew mean anything to you?” Got that off my indenture papers.

“Should it?”

“He sold you the book. Then got me to steal it back for ‘im.”

Fill in the details some, just the highlights. He ain’t lookin’ too happy.

“I see. And you are telling me this why, surely not out of remorse?”

“Nossir, that I ain’t. Thing is, I’m in kind of a pickle. Barty’s here, on Hera, with some of his boys and a few mercs, gunnin’ for me. Truth to tell, a little help here wouldn’t go amiss.”

“Well. I see no reason to help you, I can always find him later on Persephone.”

“You’d be wrong about that. See, his ship here ain’t goin’ anywhere ‘less I say otherwise. If you was to come on over, might be as I could deliver ‘im right into your hands, all neat an’ tidy.”

Look at ‘im, he’s tryin’ to hide it, but the prospect of gettin’ his hands on Barty is sumthin’ he wants bad. Doin’ sumthin’ out of the pickup, tryin’ to find a ship, maybe?

“I thank you for the information, but I believe I’ll just let him kill you, then collect him after the dust settles. Goodbye.”

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“You’ll come awright. Just as soon as you can.”

Higgins’ Moon: Pickup Point, early morning, 15 Months Ago

Beeper’s beepin’, so now all I gotta do is wait. Didn’t get a chance to look at this last night, might as well now, got the time.

Unseal the bag, pull it out gentle. Huh, don’t look like much on the outside. Leather’s cracked in a few spot