I adopted my 'Hunter' identity before we stopped at the minor trading system. I wore the black blast shield over my eyes and did the same Presence covering trick to make it look like it was embedded in my skull when viewed on scanners, then fluffed my hair out to hide that it wasn't. I also used the Mask Presence technique to hide my Presence completely. As far as anyone that saw me was concerned, even members of The Order, I was just a normal person.
With Luxea's expert help, we went to my room and checked the two unmarked credit chips to see what was on them. When she inserted one into the reader, it beeped at her.
“Okay, good news and bad news.” Luxea said.
“The Order screwed me over again, didn't they.” I said, and she nodded.
“The bad news is it's locked to an Order chip reader and I can't tell you what's on it.”
“Well, that's just great.” I said sarcastically. “What's the good news?”
“There's actually something on it and it's not fake.” Luxea said. “Do you want me to try the other chip?”
“Sure.” I said, and I wasn't surprised that it was in the same condition and gave us the same result. “Now what?”
“Well, we can't just walk up to a member of The Order and ask if they have a chip reader.” Luxea said.
I was tempted to say we could just assault one of them and then ask, then sighed. “All right. At least now I know.”
Since I barely had any funds left from buying the ship out of storage and after stocking up on our basic supplies, I couldn't load up on all of the extra supplies that I wanted to. Luxea had tried to pay me again for passage and I told her that she was staying on the ship and wasn't a passenger. She couldn't argue the point, so she waited and tricked me by buying some of the things I ordered before I could. I thought about getting angry about it, then decided that she was only trying to be nice.
The next time we were out picking things up and she did it again, I told her that I would pay her back when I could, and she laughed.
“You saw how much I have, didn't you?” Luxea asked as she passed me a box full of miscellaneous electronic parts and a toolkit. “I could clear out this whole marketplace and still have enough left to buy passage on a passenger ship to go and see my mother.”
“Do you want to go see her?” I asked.
Luxea opened her mouth to say something, stopped, then spoke. “I don't know.”
“You were going to say yes right away and changed your mind, didn't you?” I asked, and she nodded. “Well, it's not like I've got a real plan to follow myself.”
“We can't just cruise around the galaxy and hope to stumble across something to do.” Luxea said.
“I know what I want to do. Figuring out how to do it is another story.”
Luxea nodded again. “I think we should all sit down and try to work out what you need to do.”
“Just me?” I asked.
“It's your ship and you have things you need to do.” Luxea said. “Rhubin and I are just along for the ride, so we need a plan and a course of action to take.”
It was my turn to nod. “After we finish buying supplies and get on our way again, we'll sit down and discuss things.” I said and took out my credit chip and saw the little bit that was left on it. “I don't have enough to buy much of a wardrobe, though.”
“Let me handle that.” Luxea said and took my arm in hers. “Let's drop off what we have so far, then we can come back and I'll get you something nice to wear.”
“Luxea...”
“I wanted to buy you something before you had to leave the long haul transport and didn't get the chance.” Luxea said with a grin. “You can call it a 'going away and I'm going with you' present.”
“You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?” I asked, and she shook her head. “All right, we...”
“YES!” Luxea yelled and dragged me behind her through the sparse crowd and back to the ship. Rhubin had been surprised that the cost of docking the ship to the station had been the same cost as landing a shuttle, so we had opted for the ship being dock instead. We dropped off our purchases and went back to one of the more prominent clothing shops.
“Luxea, you...”
“You already agreed!” Luxea said and laughed at my groan as she pulled me into the shop.
“Greetings and salutations.” A spindly droid said as we approached the counter. “What can I do for you today?”
“Hunter needs good clothes.” Luxea said.
The droid turned its round head and I felt a wave of energy flow over me. “Preliminary scan complete.” It said. “We have a variety of pre-made items that would be suitable for a man of his height.”
“Let's take a look at them.” Luxea said.
“Right this way.” The droid said and walked over to a rack near the side of the room. “Are you partial to any particular fabric?”
“Rugged and comfortable.” Luxea said without talking to me. “He's going to be wearing them a lot, so they need to be durable.”
“Ah, then you might like this.” The droid said and slid half of the rack aside and pulled out something that looked like a uniform. “It's made of the best Huffing leather and is guaranteed for a year.”
“You guarantee it?” Luxea asked, surprised.
“It won't start to wear on its own for that long, barring external damage like small cuts and abrasive things rubbing it.” The droid said. “Even then, the cuts will be visible but they won't penetrate the thick underskin.”
“Wow, really?” Luxea reached out and touched it. “Ooo, that's nice and soft inside.”
“It doesn't need to be cleaned, unless you wear it continuously for more than a week without taking it off.” The droid said. “Then you need to give it a quick wash and leave it dry for a day and it will be back to normal.”
“So, as long as he doesn't wear it for that long...” Luxea prompted.
“It won't require any maintenance besides hanging it up once in a while.” The droid said.
“What about protection?” I asked.
“It can be modified to hold small metal plates in critical areas.” The droid said and pointed to small indentations on the cloth's surface. “I can't recommend that, since adding metal would slow you down and add to the weight of the outfit, which is already quite heavy because of the thick fabric.”
“What about the color?” I asked.
“It can only be dyed into a darker color from the standard beige.” The droid said.
“I want it in black.” I said.
“Black is the easiest to do and the least requested.” The droid said and played a recording of a laugh. “I assume you want the entire thing...”
“As black as it can go.” I said.
“Then you will be purchasing...”
“Yes.” Luxea said and cut the droid off. “Do I pay now or can it wait until you dye it?”
“It's up to the lady.” The droid said.
“How long with the dye take to set?” I asked.
“Half an hour.” The droid said. “Like I said, black is the easiest.”
“Then we'll be back to pick it up then.” I said. “Let's go grab something to eat while we wait.”
“I can't. I need to dye clothing for a customer.” The droid said, completely serious, and Luxea laughed.
“We'll leave you to it.” I said and took Luxea's hand and walked out of the shop.
“Ha ha!” Luxea gripped my hand. “That droid was funny!”
“He wasn't trying to be funny.” I said and looked around. “I've got enough left for a half-decent meal at a good restaurant.”
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“Then let's go to a half-decent restaurant and have an okay meal so we can eat like kings.” Luxea said with a grin.
I had to smile at that logic, so we walked for a little while and found one. We went inside and it was just as Luxea said. I told them how much I wanted to spend right away, and the guy behind the counter practically leapt over the counter and tried to hug me. It made Luxea laugh, and the guy led us to the best table in the restaurant and told us to prepare for the best meal of our lives.
Then he filled the table with food.
Luxea kept chuckling and tried to eat some of everything. “Try this!” She exclaimed and shoved a piece of something into my mouth when I tried to say no. The expression on my face made her laugh again and she kept eating different things. I picked one of the best smelling ones and ate a good portion of it while she occasionally slipped something else past my defenses and into my mouth.
We finished the meal about twenty-five minutes later and asked for the rest of the food to be packed up so we could take it to Rhubin. The guy came back with the prepared food cartons and I handed him the credit chip with the last of my credits on it.
“Thank you! Thank you!” The guy said and kept bowing to us as we left. “Come again! Come again!”
“I think he was a little eager to please.” I said, and Luxea laughed. “You enjoyed that a lot, didn't you?”
“I really did!” Luxea said. “If we ever come back here, we have to eat there again!”
“Well, we have the coordinates in the navigation computer for this system, so mark them and we can make this a regular spot.”
“Our base of operations!” Luxea exclaimed and laughed again.
“You're really getting into this whole situation, aren't you?” I asked, and she nodded.
“It's kind of fun.” Luxea said. “We should drop this food off to Rhubin and go back to the shop.”
I agreed and we did that, and the droid had the uniform ready for us. It was pitch black and I couldn't see any of the seam lines or pockets it had. “Okay, that's a great dye job.” I said and touched the fabric.
“Thank you for the compliment.” The droid said. “Now I'm glad I took the initiative and added gloves, boots, and a cloth head covering.” It said and put the three items on the counter.
“Oh, wow.” Luxea said and touched them. “The boots are fantastic!”
“They are supple and easy to move in, unlike a lot of other uniform boots.” The droid said. “The gloves are thin and don't reduce finger dexterity, and the cloth head covering can be changed to hold all of your husband's magnificent hair.” It said and showed the hole my hair would fit through to let the covering go over my head like a helmet, except it was cloth and not an actual helmet.
“You've thought of everything!” Luxea said to the droid, without correcting the husband comment, and it made a kind of whirring sound.
“Thank you.” The droid said in a slightly softer voice.
Her charm even works on droids. I thought, surprised. Now that's talent!
Luxea paid for the outfit and the droid wrapped it up for her. She held the bundle to her chest and carried it out of the shop, and we went back to the ship. She didn't speak at all until we entered the ship.
“Oh! I forgot a few things that I need.” Luxea said and ran to her room on the ship, dropped the bundle on the bed, then shut and locked the door. “I'll be back in a little while.”
“I can come with...”
“No, I've got it.” Luxea cut me off with a smile. “You might distract who I want to talk to.”
I opened my mouth to argue that it was her that would be distracting, then chuckled. “Call on your wrist com if you need anything.”
“I won't be that long and it's not that far.” Luxea said and went to the main hatch. “See you in a bit!”
“Who lit the fire... under her ass?” Rhubin asked between bites of what looked like a huge bun filled with a bunch of the food we had brought back to the ship.
“No idea.” I said and looked at the sandwich and then at his face. “What the hell are you eating?”
“Lunch.” Rhubin said. “What restaurant was it? This stuff is great!”
“I don't know the name of it; but, I did tell Luxea to mark this system in the navigation computer so we could come back to it.”
“Good man!” Rhubin said and took another bite, then walked away.
“I hope you're eating that in the kitchen!” I exclaimed.
Rhubin mumbled something that I couldn't hear.
“You better not get any of that on the flight controls!” I nearly yelled. When he didn't respond, I sighed. “I think I need to set some ground rules for certain things on the ship.”
I went over to my bedroom and sat down at the small desk with the box of miscellaneous electronic parts on it and opened the box. I started to sort through them all and divided them up into their uses and possible uses, then grouped them into configurations that I thought would work well together.
“I'm back!” Luxea hollered a little while later. She didn't say anything else for a few minutes, then she knocked on my door. “We should have that talk and discuss where to go from here.”
I thought that was a good idea to get out of the way as soon as possible. “I'm coming.” I said and left the piles of electronics on the desk and walked over to the door. Luxea glanced in and saw what I was doing and smiled at me. I smiled back and we walked to the kitchen to see that Rhubin was there at the table and had just finished off his lunch.
“We need to discuss what Ullir... I mean Hunter... needs to do next.” Luxea said and sat down at the table. “The dock fee is paid up for the rest of the day, so we've got some time before we need to leave.”
“Hunter, can you take that blast shield off?” Rhubin said. “It's a little weird that you can still see us with it on.”
“I didn't think it made you uncomfortable.” I said and took it off as I sat down.
“It's not the blast shield itself, it's the implication of what it means.” Rhubin said.
“What? That I can see through walls?” I asked and chuckled. “I told you I could.”
“Yeah, but...”
“The blast shield is a constant reminder for you.” I said, guessing his thoughts, and he nodded. “I didn't watch you in your sleeping cabin with anyone, if you were worried about that.”
Rhubin opened his mouth for a second, then nodded again.
“I don't get excited by seeing that, since it's an invasion of privacy.” I said, and he relaxed.
“You really don't like invading other people's privacy, do you?” Luxea asked.
“It's too rare of an occurrence to disturb.” I said, and she raised her eyebrows at me. “Back on the long haul transport, the only alone time we had was after supper, and that was only if we didn't have something that needed to be done.” I said. “Before that, when I was being held by The Order, I was never left alone, except for the first few days after they took me.”
Luxea and Rhubin didn't say anything for a moment as they let that bit of information sink in.
“I guess that's why you locked yourself in your sleeping compartment a lot.” Rhubin said.
“I was studying.” I said. “Of course, I only had access to the information on the ship's database, so I don't know if I was getting everything I needed... or wanted... to know.”
“Well, you've got access to this one now.” Luxea said and tapped the table. “You've still got the datapad from the long haul, so you can compare some of it to whatever this one has on it.”
“I didn't even think of adding it to the ship's network... assuming the ship has a network.” I said.
“Of course it does.” Luxea said. “How else would it have detected you when you spoke its name?”
“I guess you've already got a datapad ready for me.” I said, and she chuckled and handed me one.
“I knew you would need it and wouldn't think about asking for one.” Luxea said.
“Thanks. I think.” I said, and she laughed.
“What are you going to do now?” Rhubin asked. “We've got a whole universe to travel through. Where do we need to go?”
“After working with Cassie and the information I got from Meaglesnarn and Aphatoris, we worked out the most travelled planet that (Undecipherable) has gone to.” I said. “The problem is, I don't know how strong he is. I do know that he was The Order's best operative for sending out on missions before he went rogue, though.”
“Which was almost a year and a half ago.” Rhubin said. “Yeah, talk about an unknown quantity.” He said and thought for several moments. “He could be a lot more powerful than you, and you would waste your opportunity to catch him off-guard if you show up too early and too weak.”
“Exactly.” I said. “I guess I'm saying that I need time to try and get more powerful, except that if I wait too long, I could completely miss my chance to get him.”
“Well, first thing you need is money.” Rhubin said. “You spent everything you had left to get us enough supplies to offset what I've got stored in the shuttle. If we're going to make this work, we're going to need an income.”
“Hey, I've offered to...” Luxea started to say, and I raised my hand to stop her.
“I've already told you why you shouldn't.” I said.
“So you're desperate for money; but, not desperate enough to take it from me.” Luxea said in a huff and crossed her arms. “Why don't you just turn yourself in and collect the reward.”
“That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!” Rhubin exclaimed and looked like he was going to argue, and I put a hand on his shoulder.
“Luxea, I think that's a great idea.” I said.
“Wh-what?” Luxea looked at me with wide eyes. “I was joking!”
“I know you were.” I said and smiled. “It also told me a good way to get some fast money.”
“Hunter, you can't turn yourself in.” Luxea said. “Like Rhubin said, you only just got away...”
“I have no intention of turning myself in.” I said with a grin, and Luxea's mouth dropped open. “Don't overreact.” I said. “I didn't mean either of you.”
Both Luxea and Rhubin sighed in relief.
“Neither of you have bounties on your head like I do.” I said, and they nodded. “I'm thinking that I need practice honing my skills and I need to make money, so why not combine the two and become a bounty hunter?”
“A bounty hunter named Hunter.” Rhubin said, then smiled. “I like it.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Luxea said.
“Yeah.” I said and smiled. “If I can work things out the way I hope to work them out, then this is not only going to get me the money I need to keep the ship and us going, we should also help a lot of people in the process.”
“What? How?” Luxea asked.
“The Order puts bounties on rogues, don't they?” I asked, and her eyes widened.
“Ullir... I mean Hunter... you can't seriously want to hunt rogues down! Not after... I mean...”
“I do want to hunt them; but, not for The Order.” I said and smiled.
“Oh, you sneaky little bastard!” Rhubin exclaimed and slapped me on the shoulder. “You're a genius!”
“What?” Luxea looked from Rhubin to me.
“We can take the bounty, hunt them down and fake the bounty's deaths, or whatever requirements The Order needs, then collect the reward.” I said, and she just stared at me.
“Hunter, that... it's really complicated to... how would we prove...” Luxea looked down at the table and kept mumbling under her breath.
“We can take some of the smaller bounties and work our way up to the higher cost ones.” Rhubin said. “In the meantime, we can go with the fast courier transport idea to keep the ship operational, now that the extra storage capacity is available.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” I said. “Once we complete a few deliveries, word is going to spread about the speed we can travel.”
“Are you sure you want that kind of word going around?” Rhubin asked. “It's going to draw a lot of attention.”
“It will, and where better to hide than in plain sight?” I asked with a smile.
“As long as you aren't the public face for the operation. That black metal half-covering your face is not a friendly look.” Rhubin said, then he chuckled. “Of course, there's no way they'll believe a pilot if I tell them the ship can go twice light speed in hyperspace.”
“They'll believe me.” Luxea said as she lifted her head and looked at us. “I'll be the public face.”
“Luxea, I know I asked you to stay...”
“You did?!?” Rhubin looked from her to me.
“I'm staying for a while, so if you won't take my money to help, then I'll help by selling this quick courier ship as much as I can.” Luxea said, confidently.
“But... but...” I sputtered as she took our idea and ran with it.
“We should call ourselves 'The Wave'.” Luxea said, getting into the idea. “It can even be our catch phrase.” She smiled. “Here comes The Wave! Look everybody, it's The Wave! There goes The Wave!”
“Oh, geez.” Rhubin sighed and put a hand over his face.
“Don't worry about a thing! I'll handle setting everything up.” Luxea said and stood. “I'll head to the local branch of the Galactic Registry and add us to the shipping company list right away.”
“Do it on the side, at least.” Rhubin said. “We don't want anyone tracing us back here if it comes out who we really are. It'll lead everyone right to us.”
“I'm not stupid.” Luxea smiled as she walked to the hatch. “I even know a place to get great uniforms.”