Thread: Heartless Alliance (Mr Master and Oreo)

The inconstancy of her appearance set off alarm bells in his brain right away combined with the endurance of hard vacuum, it made him think she might be some kind of ultra-real hologram, an Artificial, or some kind of shape-shifter. He'd heard of chameleon suits, as well as alien beings who could take on the appearance of humans he'd even heard distant old spacer's tales of infinitely protean beings who could take on any form they wished. Pure nonsense, of course, but there was something amiss with this woman and her flickery skin. It would be foolish to remain uncloaked after the reception I received below. For the sake of profit I am going to assume the attack was military. Throughout the galaxy they seem to lack proper cognitive abilities. Shoot first ...reason later. Bad for business. He nodded she was right, it was out of character for a spaceport to fire on a ship without provocation. They usually only did that to attackers, or smugglers or thieves who turned tail when challenged. From the reports he'd bought, he recalled they'd fired a warning shot, but their sensors hadn't registered a hit. Maybe she didn't realize how her reactions had seemed to the port authority. Ah, well, it wasn't his problem. She gazed into his eyes and he felt like he was falling into those dark orbs. I am Lya D''vahl, of the Alterran Consortium. I am here to barter, but I don't take kindly to threats like the one I just received from the planet below. She stepped forward toward him, and although he was appreciating the better view, she made him twelve different kinds of nervous, so he found himself involuntarily stepping back, hesitantly. I pose no threat to you. I am but a simple trader of weapons and other sundry items. Can I interest you in a jump drive, or perhaps multiphasic shielding? He froze and looked at her, his mouth just slightly agape. She wasn't actually trying to sell him back his own jump-drive, was she? Surely that was a coincidence. If it wasn't... his appreciation of her moxie was growing by the minute, even as his caution about who or what she was also grew. He saw her looking down at his gear. No harm shall come to you within my vessel, but I cannot permit you to enter with your weapon. If you wish entrance to look over my merchandise, I must ask that you disarm yourself. There is only myself and Ship. I am non violent by nature. He looked at his tachyon scanner, confused, but then realized she was talking about his holstered phasegun. Oh, this? I only carry it because some of these fringe colonies are a little rough and tumble. Plus there's pirates, slavers, shipjackers, thieves that would strip a downed ship before the owner even got back with repair parts... That last was delivered with a casual tone, but the words were not accidental. I'm surprised you feel threatened by it, given your own capabilities. He changed the tracker to his other hand, drew the pistol, and popped out its power cell. He flicked the self-test cycle, which discharged the capacitors with an audible zap. Then he looked at her, arching an eyebrow. Is there a lockbox or something to keep my stuff secure? It's not that he didn't trust her, except that he didn't. The whole reason he was here was because she'd stolen his jump-drive, so he didn't think he was being entirely unreasonable.