Upon our return to the Leviathan, Noah shut himself in his room without a single word. He trudged in, the lock clacked, and the room remained dark. I heard the ‘puff’ sound of Noah’s body hitting his bed. I was going to have to leave him alone, for now. Guilt tumbled through me. Or maybe it was regret. Either of which I shouldn’t be feeling. Those Sabi muggers were prepared to kill us. Or maybe not. Their only gun wasn’t functional.
Whether they were actually dangerous or not didn’t matter anymore. They were dead, and Noah’s identity was protected. The last one had gotten a good look at Noah. If he ran around after that spreading rumors, we could have a bad time. Even if those rumors were spread by a no-name Sabi punk, rumors had a habit of winding up where they shouldn’t be. I was completely justified in silencing him.
Then why was I still feeling this way? Probably Noah’s reaction. I’ve only known him for a short time, but I liked him. I didn’t want Noah to hate me. I had to squash this problem soon. But for now, I’ll let Noah cool down. I didn’t feel like confronting him anyways, and I still needed to think up what I wanted to say to him. Both of us needed to adjust. Noah had to realize that he wasn’t in a safe environment anymore, but I had to be a little more accommodating to Noah to let him adjust. I’d just been going about it my way, but now I had to let Noah assimilate into my life. I guess it hadn’t helped Noah’s already fragile mental state to execute someone in front of him. I had to be more…. considerate. Considerate as one can be while killing people as a career.
It’s not like I enjoyed killing. I enjoyed fighting, that is true. I liked when my blood surged through my veins, when my muscles strained and pushed to their limit, when my breaths forced air into my lungs. I enjoyed the hunt. But it’s not the reason I was a mercenary. That was just circumstance.
I shot Yori a message asking for advice. They were much better with dealing with people than I was. I tend to be obtuse and direct and sometimes inconsiderate, and talking to an emotionally fragile human was way out of my depth. Yori was at least decent at talking to people, and they were really good at reading them, so it wouldn’t hurt to ask for advice.
When I didn’t know what to do, I liked to create a rough plan. It didn’t have to be perfect, or realistic, but when I made one, it put me at ease. First, I had to talk to Noah. Put all of that shit behind us, and figure out a way for us to keep moving. Then, I had to pick up the armor from Yori, and start doing jobs again. I needed to accrue money and information so I could find a way to get Noah home. And then I’d take a small vacation on Earth. There. A plan. Probably incredibly unlikely and not as easy as it sounded, but it helped having some sort of structure. I had no idea how to actually get Noah home, and there was definitely going to be trouble on the way, but that was a problem for future me. I sighed. I had to get my mind off of this depressing shit. I threw on clothes that weren’t spotted with blood, and I headed out the ship, alone, to head towards the Tavern.
The Tavern was a bar. However, most of its patrons were independent mercenaries, like me. Maralu Station had its fair share of mercenaries because of its abundance of jobs and low Galactic Union presence. The police were barely here, and it was quite far away from any Galactic Union military bases or fleets. That left a lot of room for mercenaries to provide protection, hits, and other unsavory work. And after their work was finished, a lot of mercs liked to spend their time at the Tavern, bragging about their deeds, getting drunk, celebrating their victories or mourning their losses. As far as bars go, the Tavern was probably my favorite. Good food, too. I liked to go there to keep up with what’s been happening in the mercenary sphere. It’s a good place to figure out what jobs are coming next. I also enjoyed having conversations with my fellow tradesmen. Some of them could be useful or just entertaining. And I could keep an eye on the dangerous ones. It wasn’t uncommon to be drinking with a mercenary at the Tavern one day, and being in a shootout with them the next. I wouldn’t be calling anyone at the Tavern a friend, but some of them were acquaintances, maybe a little bit more.
The Tavern was “underground,” for lack of a better term. Since the space station was kind of like a cylinder, with most of the city facing inwards, being on the surface was like standing on the inside of a tube. The underground was just inside of the walls of the space station, the walls of the cylinder. And in one of the veins of passageways and capillaries of tunnels, the Tavern pulsed with soft, orange light. I strolled in, head raised high. Don’t hunch in the Tavern.
The first thing I saw when my eyes adjusted to the lighting was the wood. The fake wood. I don’t know what it was actually made out of, but wood was quite expensive, and you wouldn’t find some out here in the black. The Tavern was made to look like a primitive building, a bar from before the Space Age. Umber floorboards creaked as boots stomped over them, fake wooden chairs being dragged around, and shoddy tables were banged with closed fists. It was loud, as usual.
A skinny Aeon sitting closest to the door stood up when he saw me. “Wheyyyy! It’s Saka!” He announced, spreading his arms and raising his voice.
“What’s up, Tsu? Life treating you well?” I responded, flashing a smile, and continued walking towards the counter.
As I passed several mercenaries, a few got up to greet me, and some others nodded their heads in acknowledgement. I was pretty well known among the mercenaries who hung around Maralu station, mostly because I was the only Togumo mercenary there. And I’ve built a reputation. I was far from being a legend or something equivalent, but as far as mercenaries go, I was pretty sure I was one of the better ones.
I plopped down in front of the bartender and ordered a drink. Didn’t care what it was. I had a few conversations with some mercenaries that I’d known for a few years. Talking about recent jobs, new guns, rumors about the Haivu Conflict, showing off starships. It was the same as usual, lighthearted conversations with a sprinkle of banter. But my mind wasn’t really in it, I was just going through the motions. I drank enough to get tipsy, I always kept it moderate at the Tavern. Bad idea to make a fool out of yourself in front of a bunch of mercenaries.
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I was making fun of a mercenary who’d lost a battle against an asteroid when I noticed a newcomer walk in. Clearly not a mercenary, I could tell at a glance. He was slightly hunched. Sometimes people came into the Tavern to hire mercenaries or make contracts. This individual was clearly looking to hire. He caught my gaze, and beelined straight towards me. Great. I didn’t want to work again so soon, but I’d listen to his request.
The stranger was a Maneri. Maneri are pretty common to see around these parts. They were primates, with long, furred, lanky arms and legs. Their heads were small, with rounded ears and bulging eyes. Maneri have two prehensile tails, which they use to manipulate objects. They were tall, but skinny.
“Hello, are you Saka the mercenary?” The Maneri asked, hands clasped in front of him. When I nodded, he continued. “I’m Sa’Ruh. I’m the captain of a mining ship, and I’d like to hire you for a mining expedition. I understand you have a ship of your own, so you’d be providing protection while me and my crew work.”
“Sounds simple enough.” I rubbed my lip. “What’s the timeframe? How dangerous is it?”
“You would be escorting us for about two weeks, while we travel to our resource extraction zone, mine there, and travel back. As far as danger goes, I expect no trouble other than small-time pirates trying to take their chances. You’re going to be our insurance.”
It sounded pretty good to me. Escort jobs were usually clear-cut and simple, and sometimes didn’t even have combat. Decent pay, too. There wasn’t any reason for me to refuse, and it’d be a good first job for Noah, too.
“Alright, looks good, but do you have any more details?” I asked.
The Maneri captain took a seat next to me. “We’re going to be checking out a newly discovered system. Main sequence star, orbited by one rocky planet and two gas giants, both with rings. The rings are promising, full of icy metallic asteroids. Our scout ship couldn’t confirm what resources are there, but our guess is platinum, maybe a little bit of iridium, too. Our job is to confirm that information, and bring back a nice haul to HQ to prove to the higher ups that it’s worth sending a fleet carrier there.”
I stroked my chin. “Sounds pretty straightforward. Any possible complications or setbacks?”
Sa’Ruh glanced down at his tablet. “Since the system was recently discovered by my company, we expect no pirates hiding out in the rings or anything. However, our route there will pass through some shady areas that often have trading ships ganked by pirates or opportunists. Your main purpose is to protect us during the way there and back. Otherwise, the system itself should be safe. No life signals on any of the planets, and no signs of Haivu nests or scout ships. It’s relatively close to their territory, but not quite there. Should be fine.”
“There better not be any Haivu there or I’ll be leaving without you.”
“Of course, we’d be right behind you if that were the case. We don’t have nearly enough firepower to deal with those buggers.” The Maneri let loose a throaty laugh.
“If this sounds satisfactory to you, we are expected to leave in five days. Please make your choice and prepare for the journey before then. Like I said before, the whole contract should last about two weeks.” Sa’Ruh said. He got up, gave me a curt bow, turned, and walked out of the Tavern. I watched as he twisted his body to avoid a clumsy Anri mercenary, then I turned to face the counter myself.
Well, I had a job scheduled now. Better get off my ass, and talk things over with Noah. He needed to be ready before the escort mission, and I wouldn’t be able to stand his moping for a week straight, anyways. I ordered some food to go, said my goodbyes to the mercenaries I was talking to, and made my way out of the warm bar. Back in the metal passageways, I hurried back to my ship before my food cooled down.
I rapped my knuckles against Noah’s door. “Hey, I’ve got some dinner for you. I want to talk to you too, so come out whenever you’re ready.”
There wasn’t a response. I wasn’t expecting one. My plan was to bait Noah to come out of his room when he got hungry. I didn’t really want to barge in, and I should give him time to get comfortable on his own.
My tablet blinked. It was a response from Yori.
IDK just give it to him straight. Not my problem.
Helpful. Yori was probably too busy to give me a real answer. Or they didn’t care. Well, it was just about what I was planning to do anyway. I retired to the lounge and waited for Noah to leave his room.
Several minutes later, I heard a door down the hallway click. I turned to face Noah as he sat down in the chair next to me. He was slightly disheveled. I slid the take out food down the counter and towards him, and we both started eating without saying a word.
After a while, I decided to speak. “Hey, man, you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry.” Noah mumbled, eyes cast downwards.
“No need to apologize. It should be me who’s sorry. I’ve been so focused on having a human on my ship that I completely neglected to think about the human himself.”
“No, you were thinking about my best interests. You saved my life, but I pushed you away.” Noah finally met my eyes.
“We’re both responsible, then. I need to communicate with you more and consider your opinions. But I need you to adapt to your new situation. You’re on a mercenary ship, you’re going to see some violence. It’s your choice to participate in it, but I need you to be ready to protect yourself.” I said, as kindly as I could.
Noah slowly nodded. “I guess this entire time I was still in shock. It didn’t fully register that this was real, that I was actually in this situation, until I finally saw someone die in front of me. Even when I was captured by those bug aliens I was still suspended in disbelief, and it just came crashing down today.”
I guess that explains how it appeared he was adapting so well. He was just going through the motions.
Noah shook his head slowly. “And I’ve killed people now. I blew up those ships that were chasing us. I don’t even know how many people were on those ships!”
I reached out and placed a clawed hand on Noah’s shoulders. “You were protecting yourself, and protecting other people, too. Who knows how many more humans those poachers would’ve kidnapped if they had gotten away.”
“But I still killed people.”
“In self defense. I think you should value your life more than others. If someone is threatening yours, you should at least take action to protect yourself instead of lying down and curling up.”
Noah seemed unconvinced. “But I still feel guilty…”
I released his shoulder. “And that’s fine. You still have a sense of morals. Just never forget that. I won’t force you to fight or kill people. There’s alternatives, too, like incapacitating them. Your gun has a stun mode. Just use that instead.”
Noah’s eyes were finally focused. “You’re right. Sorry for moping about everything. I’m in a new environment, I need to adapt to that.”
I took a bite out of my meal, chewed, and swallowed. “It doesn’t have to be instant. You’ll slowly adjust.”
Noah also took a bite. He chewed for a few moments. “...the food’s cold”
“And who’s fault is that?”
We both chuckled.