Leaving the LV? Part 1

Having left the Lunar Veil, Thomas took a very indirect and crazy route. If anyone was following they would not be able to go unnoticed. Continually backtracking and turning, made it impossible to follow him., so after almost an hour, Thomas was sure he wasn't being followed so made his way to the checkpoint. Upon approaching, 2 very large individuals stepped out from opposite doorways and stopped him. Nothing was said but, Thomas knew what to do. He slowly reached down and removed his sidearm and handed it over to one of the individuals while looking at the other and giving a password. So far this screening process was foolproof. There were 4 passwords and they were randomly determined by the 2 individuals. It all depended on how they stepped out as to which password, who to speak it to, who to give the weapon and finally in which order it was to be done. Anyone not following correctly were admitted like normal but, would never make it inside nor, would they be seen again.

Once he passed correctly through, Thomas entered the specified door and was suddenly blasted with a nice 68 degree, low humidity atmosphere. The inside of the building was exceptionally clean, well decorated while not being tacky and full of people playing almost every game of chance known to man. Those who have gambled both here and on the Casino ship Odd Easy, say this establishment makes the casino ship look like a dive bar poker table. This secret gambling den was a well kept secret in the universe and so far, Thomas has never gotten into a fight, nor lost any money here. He walked up to the bar, ordered a drink and stood sipping it while he looked over the games and decided on his plan of action.

The Pink Pussy Cat was created long ago before the war, some even think it was here before the creation of man. It has always been an elite club where membership was by invitation and vote by a board of admission. Once in, unless caught cheating or getting others in illegally you were a member for life. The basement facility was over 18,000 square feet and had 2 bars, 50 gambling tables and a ring of private meeting rooms around the edges. On what would be the 1st floor, was wide open and game controllers monitored the gambling to ensure no cheating. Those who were caught cheating were taken out a back door and well, that would be the end.

Thomas found his table and noticed 2 open seats so, he bought another drink and took one of the open seats. After playing for about an hour, another individual sat and took the last empty seat. Thomas turned to greet the gentleman and stopped short. Thomas loved the outer rim as it was extremely rare he would meet anyone from his past this day however, his luck on that part was not with him.

"Thomas, it has been a long time. How are you my friend/"

"Danyar, I'm doing fine. Surprised to see you here though. Aren't you still the Chief Engineer on an Alliance ship? "

"A Long Bow Cruiser to be exact. And yes, I'm still there enjoying myself."

"Why would the Chief engineer of an Alliance Long Bow cruiser be way out here away from his ship?"

"Who said I was away from my ship? We are parked on the far side of the planet. Top Secret stuff to be handled here so, I took a shuttle down to take in some gambling. So what are you flying now?"

"Fire Fly class, it is a nice fit for me. Strong crew and nice profits."

"Seriously? Strong profits? Who do you think your talking to? Why do you refuse my offers? You could be the Chief Engineer on any ship of your choice, I know your qualifications. You could be making almost 20,000 credits a month, your own staff, running things the way you want. Come on Thomas, take up my offer, join the Alliance as an Engineer, not a soldier or if not the Alliance, I know many a ship that would take you on and let you start being recognized for the true talent you are and get paid for it."

"I told you I don't work large ships anymore. I work small ships where I do it all. No mistakes."

"Thomas, I'm not leaving here until you agree to join or I get a reasonable answer as to why not."