Universe in Flames 3: Destination Oblivion by Christian Kallias Page B

couldn’t
help thinking how sweet Keera was. This was out of character with the image he
had of bounty hunters. It takes all kinds, I guess, no matter the job .
There was no denying that her good nature and sweetness reminded him of Sarah.
It felt both good and excruciatingly painful at the same time.
    He liked seeing
Sarah in her. That brought brief, happy memories to the surface; but almost
immediately it brought deep and painful scars too. Chase wondered how long it
would take for those scars to heal. He had no illusions. They would probably
never disappear fully, but he hoped eventually they’d become more bearable.
    Then again he didn’t
care about living once Argos was dealt with; and it didn’t look as if the pain
in his soul would heal before then.
     
    *  
*   *
     
    Daniel was
surprised how easy it had been getting to Ponos One. They had encountered
Obsidian warships along the way but they had been nothing but polite, even
going as far as proposing to escort the Iron Fire to its destination.
Surely the emperor was behind all the pleasantries. He had entered negotiations
to join the Earth Alliance. A concept with which Daniel had serious issues.
    Then again,
having fought the Obsidian for the last decade, how could he not? Sure, the emperor
had helped and provided information about Argos’ secret nebula shipyard—which
mostly proved useless. Daniel knew he couldn’t blame him for the trap. Having been
their prisoner on Earth all that time he couldn’t have known that Argos would wait
for them there, thanks to his hold on Sarah’s mind at the time.
    Boy, that
whole situation had been seriously fucked. Argos really played us like fools.
And I fell for it as well.
    Daniel chased the
troubling thoughts away. He didn’t like where they were leading. Blaming
himself did nobody any good, himself included. So he decided to keep drinking
his Vol’Ran beer at the bar while Ryonna went ahead and fished for more
information with Tar’Lock. It had been an hour, though, and he started
wondering what was up.
    “Hey, stranger,
mind if I sit here?” said a beautiful, bright-pink-skinned humanoid that barely
wore anything.
    “Sure. Be my
guest.”
    “You’re a hot
piece of meat, but you must know that, right?”
    Daniel spat out some
of his drink in surprise. “Beg your pardon?” He wiped his face and the counter
with a napkin.
    “I’ve been
looking at you for a while, from over there.” She pointed at a sofa nearby, where
many barely dressed humanoid females sat. Vol’Rans, Brins—all sorts.
    “Not interested,
but thanks.”
    “How would you
know? I’m very good at what I do.”
    “I have no doubt
you are.”
    “Look, you seem like
a nice guy. You can have the first pass for free.”
    Daniel had never
paid for sex before and even the idea of a freebie didn’t sound that appealing
in his current state of mind. On the other hand, he’d started having a serious
crush on Fillio in the last few weeks but he hadn’t had the guts to ask her out.
Perhaps having fun with a pro would take his mind off things for a while.
    “Free, you say?”
as he passed his hand in front of his mouth.
    “First pass only,
but believe me you’ll want more of me.”
    Daniel had
converted plenty of quadrinium into credits.
    “Let me pay for my
drinks first.”
    “Okay, big boy.”
    The barman droid
came immediately when Daniel raised his hand.
    “What can I do
for you, sir?” said the droid with a steely voice.
    “How much for the
beer?”
    “It’s on the
house, sir.”
    “What? How come?”
    “Obsidian covers
your orders. They pay for your tab.”
    “Of course they do.
Would they pay for her as well?”
    “They would if
you bring back the receipt.”
    “Right. Thanks.”
    “No, thank you,
sir,” said the droid, before moving on to the next customer.
    “Hear that, baby?
You can screw me all you want for free, it looks. Should I call some of my
friends?”
    The mental images
from this professional pleasure