[color=lightsalmon]"You don't trust her boss? Well slap me silly and buy me another pint, because I could've told you that from the moment she walked in the door."[/color] Sam said with a chuckle as he threw his head back and downed half of the whiskey in his glass. For a spy, Daniel wasn't particularly worldly- at least not with people of the working class. Sam laughed internally at that thought, but it was true, for all intents and purposes, Mercenaries were of the working class: they did the brunt of the labor with the smallest amount of pay. 

[color=lightsalmon]"She's a merc, boss. They work for whoever pays them the most, whether its the IRIO or the Heavens Eyes. Its loyalty for hire."[/color] Sam explained, not condescendingly, but with an amused tone in his voice.

[color=lightsalmon]"Same could be said o' me. Guess I'm a bit different 'cause I don't particularly like the Heaven's Eyes either, but in case you forgot: I'm a freelance, a grease monkey for hire. You guys hire me regularly, and pay well, so for the forseeable future, you have my loyalty."[/color]

Of course it was a bit more than that, Sam had been working for the IRIO long enough to have formed some bonds with its members. Daniel was a well-meaning if somewhat stiff guy, Lucy was fun and friendly, even the General had qualities Sam could appreciate. He liked them, and enjoyed working with them, but he always had to remember, he wasn't [i]one[/i] of them. Despite all the displays of camaraderie and back slapping, he was the hired factory worker, and they were the employers. In the IRIO's eyes, he was likely as expendable an asset as the next merc.

[color=lightsalmon]"Anyway, you should probably stop worrying about one of the mercs. If you have to worry about one, you might as well worry about all of them."[/color] Sam said with a shrug as he tilted the rest of the whisky glass back and finished it.

[color=lightsalmon]"Now I have some last minute checks to do before we leave. Engine calibrations and all. You should probably call it soon too, we've got an early day tomorrow."[/color]