[img]http://i.imgur.com/ONP3OpO.png[/img]

[b][i]Blam![/i][/b]

I woke up to a splitting headache. A male Cthon was throwing a jacket on. I blinked, and turned to my other side. Funny. Normally I'd be the one leaving in the morning. I buried my head into the cheap motel pillow. It was shiny pink - reactive fabric; apparently I'd paid for the deluxe suite. A too-brief refreshing coolness surrounded my headache. The Cthon was slapping its tentacles around on the ground behind me, moving toward the door.

[b][i]Blam![/i][/b]

I jerked awake. My clothes were strewn across the suite's floor. The Cthon was crawling onto the balcony, toward the station's promenade deck. Not a good sign. We were three stories up. My wrist was softly blinking. I rolled out of bed and crawled into some clothes, searching for my gun. I tapped my wrist as I cast about on the floor. 

An image fuzzed into view from my wetware. Julian.

Empty bottles of whiskey. Cast off rezsticks. I'd had a good time last night.

[b][i]Blam![/i][/b]

That was coming from the door. Where was my gun? 
[i]"Helena, listen, this makes us square. You got two minutes; it's the Syndicate. I can hold them off the docks for eight minutes." Message ends.[/i]
To hell with the gun. I raced for the balcony, jumping blindly after the Cthon. The deckplates came up hard and fast, so I rolled into it. I felt the heat of the explosion behind me before I heard it.

Why was the Syndicate after me? The last job I pulled, it was for them. Maybe they wanted to eliminate witnesses. Maybe they'd finally figured out who I really was. Or maybe they just wanted to kill me for sport or to send a message. I shoved my way through the crowd of surprised shoppers. My boyfriend-of-the-night was nowhere in sight. I sure hope it was as good for him as it was for me. I raced down a corner and ducked into a high end clothes store. A Siari tailor tried to wave me off.

"Excuse me, miss, but perhaps I can recommend a more suitable store-" it said.
"700 ingots for that dress," I said, pointing at a random outfit made for humans. I didn't have time to be polite.
"Well, of course if miss actually could [i]afford[/i]-"
I grabbed its wrist and thumbed over 700 ingots, took the dress of the rack and ran to a changing room. I tore off my trenchcoat and bra and pulled the dress over my head.

"Set alarm for two minutes from now," I ordered my wetware. A small clock started counting down in the lower-left corner of my vision.

I stared at the trenchcoat. It wasn't mine at all. There were two extra sleeves; no wonder it felt strange, it was made for a Cthon. Something glinted in the pocket. I picked it up. It was a Chief Adjuster's badge. What was a Chief Adjuster doing in the type of bar I frequented?

I heard the X'Cor enter the shop. Time's up, Syndicate was here. And me without my gun. 

"Overlay maintenance tunnel diagram," I ordered my wetware. There was an entrance in the ceiling above me, behind a fake panel. I grabbed the badge, quietly shoved the panel aside, and shimmied into the crawlspace. One minute to get to the docks. I called Captain Yanni.

[i]"Ah, Miss Clarke, it's been so long since we've heard from you."[/i]
"Yanni. I'm chartering the Yacht."
[i]"Of course, Miss. And when will you be-"[/i]
"In about 45 seconds."
[i]"I'm afraid that's not possible. You see, we've already agreed to take on a passenger to-"[/i]
"Goddamnit, it's my ship. I know you're at the Ragnorak Docks. So either you wait for me to board or I find a new crew, and you can say goodbye to your little side ventures." I ended the call.

When I made it to the [i]Father's Delight[/i], I was relieved to see that Yanni hadn't left me to dry. It was, after all, technically my yacht. Yanni met me in the main passageway.

"Miss Clarke, this is highly irregular," the siari captain said. 
"We've got about ten seconds before the Syndicate blows us to hell. Get us out of the system. Hell, get us out of Coalition space," I said. There was a thud as something exploded outside. "Sounds like less than ten seconds, actually."

Yanni disappeared toward the bridge. I made my way to the bar. Hair of the dog and all that. A young stewardess ran into position behind the bar.

"Vodka, neat. Actually, just leave the bottle. And we have any rezsticks?" I asked. The ship's sublight drive whined into life, pressing me into the barstool. Something thudded against the hull.
"Did we make it?" said a familiar voice from the corner of the bar/lounge. I turned.

It was the Cthon.

"Who the hell are you, and why are you on my ship?" I demanded.
"I- [i]your[/i] ship? I chartered this ship weeks ago! I'm just a tourist, here on-"
"Storming Mrav, a 'tourist'? Try again," here I fished out the badge, "Chief Adjuster Xam Kyoda."
"Where did you get-"
"On the floor. We traded coats."

The Cthon looked down at its trenchcoat, realizing for the first time how few limbs it was designed for. Something clicked in my brain. I leaped for the coat, grabbing my gun out of the pocket before a roving tentacle could beat me to it. [i]Now[/i] I felt better.

"Now. What were you doing on Ragnorak Station?" I asked, pointing the gun in a casual fashion. Xam's mouth tentacles quivered. My wetware interpreted that as a fear response, not that I needed it to.
"I work for an Adjustment Team! I'm just trying to pass an anti-corruption law!"
"On Ragnorak station? You must dumber than you look."
"Please! I've got a brood of eggs at home!"
"Yeah? Well then you better give me one reason why I shouldn't throw you off my ship. Seems like it's you the Syndicate's after."
After a few seconds of silence, Xam said, "My left coat pocket. It had a list of Syndicate agents aboard Ragnorak. It's what they're after. I figured I could lose them in that... establishment. You seemed strong, or at least tough enough to delay them while I ran. But now that they know we've been together - I'm so sorry!"

Damnit, Helena, what have you gotten yourself into? The Syndicate would stop at nothing to get that list back. And now that I was associated with this idiot Adjustment Chief, there was a chance that I'd seen the list. We were both walking corpses. 

"Your left coat pocket's back in a tailor's changing room."
"I memorized the list! I'm all the leverage we have on them! Without me, you'll die for nothing!"

My gun didn't waver.

"Please!" Xam said.

I sighed. Killing him wouldn't make me feel better. Nor would it improve my situation. I needed to lay low for a while, at least until the Syndicate could integrate new agents into Ragnorak Station. So did the Cthon.

"Fine. You can ride with us to the first habitable planet beyond Coalition space," I said.

Until this died down, I'd have to stay out of the Coalition. We all would. Off into the middle of twisted empires and unvisited space, all because I'd slept with the wrong guy. 

And things had been going so well.