Hard Cash

I could stay, or I could run. The Judiciary’s accounting department had my bank details, had the details of all bounty hunters.

Stay? Rahman’s threat hung in the air, paralysed me with indecision, which was his intention.

“You won’t know when, or where, but you’re a dead woman. On planet or in space. Or even as you step outside this building…”

Rahman’s words echoed in my head and I stuck out my lower lip. He started it! A plaintive voice reminded me.

Ex-partner, ex-lover, Rahman stole bounties from me, failed to render assistance when he knew damn well I needed it, subverted my navcom – an act of piracy – and tried to claim my bounty for his own.

The anger returned in a surge.

Run? I could think of no place that would afford me sanctuary, no planet, satellite or friend that Rahman didn’t know about; and I’d really pissed him off this time. He saw me as a challenge and this was the ultimate test: who would kill whom? Who was the best? All my bets were on… me.

I turned to the door where the judges had vanished. If they didn’t hurry, Rahman Chezerain would disappear, too.

Once the judges saw the mission brief, they’d issue a warrant for him. Rahman damned himself. If he’d read the new requirements, he knew recorded mission briefs were legal tender. Too many convicts escaped through bribery and anyone could give out tissue samples as proof of their demise, vanish into the galaxy at large.

Not anymore. Mission briefs were the way of the future and while it annoyed me to have every action accounted for when I took on a bounty, for once I was grateful.

But Rahman’s talents were as good as mine. He understood me – damn it - knew how I worked, otherwise, he’d never have found me on Helios.

It took three hours for the judges to reach a verdict. Three hours in which my butt went numb from the metal seat and my mind had sunk into a kind of fugue state.

“All rise!” One of the guards intoned, as if he, too, was bored shitless.

I got to my feet, rubbed my ass to get the circulation moving again and faced the seven judges as they walked back into the chamber.

The Irati’s three eyestalks turned to me.

“It is the judgement of this court,” he said in his monotone, “that a bounty of six million credits be paid into your account for the discharge of the execution warrant on Peero the Ullarian.”

I opened my mouth to protest. The bounty was seven million, but he held up an appendage.

“The remaining million credits to be held in escrow until Captain Rahman Chezerain can be located and his story confirmed.”

“But…”

“It is the judgement of this court that Captain Chezerain also located the criminal, Peero, and is thus entitled to part of the bounty.”

I gaped at the Irati, stunned.

“It is not in the purview of this court to mediate between warring couples, Hunter Sagan. Should you need mediation, then there are counsellors available.” One eyestalk moved to look at the human judge who nodded. The eyestalk returned.

“Captain Chezerain did not harm you in any way and though we deplore his actions, the removal of the criminal Peero from existence was of the utmost priority, as was notification of same to this court. Perhaps next time, you should talk with your… significant other and heed his words.”

I was enraged. There were so many things I could have said, but “He’s not my spouse!” jumped out instead.

The human judge cleared his throat. “We understand that the dissolution of the relationship happened recently, and that tempers can often get in the way of good judgement. We have taken that into consideration.”

“He threatened to leave me in space! Without a navcom. He tried to assume the bounty! He lied to you!” I stepped forward, my fisted hands rising. Then I heard the unmistakeable tone of a gun acquiring its target and moved back. I glanced over my shoulder to the guard aiming at me.

“Sorry, Your Honours.”

The human judge frowned as if unsure of my apology. “We will raise issue with once the Captain returns for his part of the bounty.”

I couldn’t believe it. I just… couldn’t… I dragged in a deep breath. Six million credits were better than no credits. I could live with it.

“He’s promised to kill me for contesting the bounty.” I said, my voice dull.

“If you wish to obtain a restraining order, the Domestic Dispute Department will take care of that for you.”

I looked at the human judge and the sympathy clearly written on his face.

“How can you do this? How can you not warrant him, for what he’s done?”

“Do not presume to tell us our job, Hunter.” The Irati said. “You will agree that at no stage did you see Captain Chezerain issue any threats, only heard what could have been his voice through the ship’s speakers, or a voice synth. We have no absolute proof that Captain Chezerain made those threats. At no stage, in fact, do we have proof he was there, in person. And as he is not here to defend himself, or offer an explanation, we can only judge on what evidence is available.”

The Irati leaned forward, placed his appendages on the bench. “Hunter Sagan, we understand how traumatic a dissolution can be. Former spouses often seek revenge for assumed hurt. My advice is that you have no contact with Captain Chezerain and resume your career.”

He leaned back. “This court is adjourned.”

A tone sounded to indicate the end of proceedings; the judges’ pronouncement final and no further comment required. They rose, bowed to the court and shuffled out.

Unbelievable. Un-fuking-believable!

Rahman would have left me to die; I had no doubt. But Irati were ferociously patriarchal, disapproved of any female contesting the word of a male. Irati females never left the home planet. The World Council, of course, in an effort at impartiality and according to their non-discrimination laws, granted the Irati equal status everywhere, and that meant the populace had to deal with their prejudice.

I expected better from the human judge, but he might have been a reactionary too. From the judgement, they preferred to explain away Rahman’s actions as a marital spat rather than the genuine crime it was. So much for justice.

At this moment, I hated the judges more than Rahman. There was nothing I could do about the judiciary, but Rahman… oh, yes, him I could take down.

I stormed out of the courtroom and caught a monorail down to the Bounty Hunter headquarters, my temper on a low simmer.

“Way to go, Rhianna, excellent catch.” Bristle Conreif called to me as he stood under the Bounty Board. A full beard covered half his face, matched the bushy black hair on his head. Bristle’s enormous size came from his Norwegian ancestors, his colouring from the Irish ancestors. He and I had joined the Bounty Service in the same month and, surprisingly, remained friends rather than competitors.

I looked up at the large screen. Halfway down, Peero had a red cross next to his name. On the same line, the words ‘paid’ in blood red glowed next to my name. The board listed all the available bounties, and those completed.

“Cha-ching!” Another Hunter called out with a grin as he walked by.

I rolled my eyes.

“So, you ready to partner up, or what?” Bristle asked with a white-toothed grin.

“Bristle, m’boy, if you listened to the mission brief, you’d retract that question.” I replied sourly.

“Isn’t available for twenty-four hours. You wanna celebrate instead?”

I sidled up to him, kept my voice down. “Rahman.” I said and his eyebrows rose.

“What’s he done now?” Bristle looked around to check for an audience.

“Tried to assume the bounty on Peero.”

Bristle pursed his lips.

“In court.” I sneered.

“Whoa. Not good. He in jail?”

I shook my head. “Nope. Judges figured…” I paused. That, I thought, was one embarrassment I didn’t want advertised, but the judgement would be available the same time as the mission brief. “No. He left before the judgement came down.”

Bristle tilted his head. “I’m guessing he scarpered to avoid detention.”

“Worse, he’s coming after me.”

“And you’re such a snuggly creature.” He waggled those thick eyebrows at me and grinned. Here was another Hunter who knew me, knew my moods; but I trusted Bristle.

I slapped his muscled arm. “I mean to kill, not to…”

“Why would he want to kill you?”

I looked at him. “Because he’s unstable, maybe?”

“Let me get this straight: he wanted your bounty, again, you stopped him, and now he wants to kill you for snatching a nice pile ‘o credits that weren’t his to begin with.”

“In a nutshell.”

Bristle shook his head. “I always said, ‘don’t get involved’, but you didn’t listen? No. You had to indulge your hormones and go all gooey-eyed. Now you’re… what? What are you going to do?”

I shrugged. “Not a clue at the moment.” Again, Rahman’s threat rang through my mind. “Once he sets his mind to something…”

“Word of advice?”

I nodded.

“Get to accounting and change your details. Rahman is one slick bastard when it comes to electronic information.”

I stared at him. Then it dawned. “Oh… hell!” I took off running.

Rahman was a genius at information manipulation. If the bounty left an electronic footprint, he’d find it. If I’d been thinking straight I’d have asked the judges to hold the payment until I’d set up something new. But I hadn’t and now…

I skidded to a halt, opened the door to the Zenon Banking Corporation branch and walked, out of breath, to the counter.

“How may I help you?” The middle-aged woman with greying hair pulled back into bun sent me one of those empty, professional smiles.

“I need to check my account.” I said and rattled off the numbers.

“Thumb print, please and DNA comparison.”

My hand shook as I held it out. She lifted the scanner and a green light emerged, slid over my thumb. She pressed the device to the pad and I felt a small sting as the scanner lasered off a dozen skin cells.

“Retinal scan.” She lifted another scanner and I leaned forward, waited for the flash of light.

She turned to the monitor while I rubbed the after-image away, then glanced back at me with a frown.

“The current balance is zero point seven five credits, ma’am.” She said.

Blood rushed out of my head and I closed my eyes against the sudden greying of my vision, held onto the counter and swayed.

“Were you expecting a payment?”

I slowly nodded. “Six million credits.” My voice was a barely audible squeak. I coughed into my hand to ease the tightness. “Today. Six million credits. And my balance should be three-zero-five-zero-zero-zero point one three, before the payment.”

I leaned forward, lowered my head, tried to level my breathing. Passing out was not an option. I wouldn’t give the prick the satisfaction. Not content with the six million, Rahman had stripped my account, left me destitute, stranded on a planet teeming with people.

The bastard had it all.