Thread: Into the Black [missedstations & Bathos]

The personal joy of a job well done is reward enough for me, Vince returned, voice dripping with stinging sarcasm. With practiced ease, he clipped one binder around Remarque's wrist, tugged it across the other, and locked in his other wrist, setting them tightly enough that the metal bit into his skin. He took Remarque by the upper arm, the breadth of his own wide hand nearly sufficient to encircle it entirely, his grip tight enough to leave finger-shaped bruises. Vince manhandled his bounty through the narrow door and down the corridor, ducking his head as he passed from the residential sector and past the engine room. It wasn't until he was drawing Remarque down the lowered boarding ramp that he was given any trouble--the halls were mostly empty while the crew was at mess. It was the recruiter standing guard at the ship's entrance who stepped directly into his path. Just what do you think you're doing? Vince tucked his gun away, this time in the front of his trousers for easy retrieval, and fished his IPA badge from his shirt pocket. He flashed it at the guard, whose face promptly crumpled into a look of utter dismay. I'm bringing this man in to stand trial for crimes against humanity. Vince's eyebrows lowered, his green eyes narrowing to mere slits as he growled out threateningly, You plan on gettin' in my way? The guard looked at Remarque, then back to Vince, and took a shuffling step backward. This couldn't be the first time such a thing had happened on his watch, Vince was sure, and if he knew what was good for him, he'd let them through. Turned out, the guard knew what was good for him. It was a short walk to the Dioscuri Vince had docked it close for convenience. The Dioscuri was a small ship, with a maximum capacity of about fifteen people, though Vince preferred a smaller group. Including Remarque, the crew just jumped to a whopping five people. There was the engine tech, called Pablo, though Vince was 99 certain that wasn't his real name. There was an extra guard, a man about ten years Vince's senior who had helped him out with a bounty about four months back and had yet to leave him in peace. They bickered a lot, but Rosemary and Pablo seemed to like his company, so Vince let him stay around. His name was Lyle and Vince gave him as wide a berth as the ship would allow and Lyle did the same for him. The Dioscuri itself was a newer ship, about two years off the line from a little custom factory on a planet that had yet to join up with the IPA, called Winston. If ever there was a planet Vince would call home, that would be it, and the ships churned out of their factories were untested, often quite volatile, and faster than anything the IPA regulated regions had to offer. Well, that was fast, Rosemary said from her perch in the rec room, lounging against a soft couch. She was dressed in all black, much like Vince, but her outfit was form fitting, low cut, and, in Vince's honest opinion, a little bit risque for a woman alone on a ship full of men. She hadn't encountered any problems yet, though, and Vince was resolved to keeping it that way. Rosemary, Remarque. Remarque, Rosemary, Vince said tersely, and continued hauling his charge through the ship, toward the one bunk he'd converted for the purpose of detaining prisoners.