Keeper Hunter

They headed to the bar. I watched them in discussion with the bartender. The bartender shook his head displeasure clear on his face as he spoke with the Security Officers. They in turn showed the bartender something on a datapad. Abruptly the bartender turned away to serve a customer. With that avenue closed down the Security Officers made a rounds of the customers avoiding the table with the drunk man. I saw them approaching my table. I readied myself not that I was going to start anything with so many innocents around me. I felt tense I knew as soon as I opened my mouth they’d know I was an Imperial. Although that wasn’t the case anymore I wasn’t sure where I belonged. But my accent would instant mark me out and on Davenport where there was a lot of anti-Imperial sentiment a definite no, no. I had a lot of difficulty renting my room because of me accent but it seemed my money or in my case Lady Broaden’s money talked.

“You seen these two?” one of the Security Officers demanded. He was the shorter of the two with lank dark hair.

He thrust his datapad almost into my face. I just shook my head but I did notice the two faces on his pad were the couple that had sat at the next table. I wasn’t about to tell them that the Security Officers’ whole attitude stank. There was something about them that put me on alert. I instinctively looked to see if I could see any black stripes on their clothes or bodies. I couldn’t find them on what I could see didn’t mean they weren’t or that they sympathised with them.

“No very talkative are you,” the first continued.

I shrugged finding hard not to say anything I was getting close to releasing my inner VHT. That hair trigger that all Valkyrie had. I was aware the scrutiny I was getting of the other Officer.

“Say we take this one down for questioning,” the second Officer suggested with a thrust of his hips. A not so subtle indication of what he wanted. I wondered how many others he had intimidated in this fashion. Well he was out of luck with me.

“Yeah I like your way of questioning?” the first replied.

I pulled up the sleeve of my coat to expose my Valkyrie bracelet. It was a warning I wasn’t to be trifled with.

“That’s a pretty bangle how about we confiscate that and you can leave with your dignity intact, most of it,” the second stated.

I felt my blood boil there was nothing worse to an ex-Security Officer than dealing with corrupt ones.

“How about you back off before I rip your heads off and shove them up your ass!” I felt suddenly calm and I felt my inner VHT take over.

Both men stepped back in confusion.

“Spy!” the first one shouted reaching for his nightstick.

I wasn’t about to draw my weapon in the cantina and despite my anger I was thinking with a clear head. I stood flipping the table over. I didn’t know my own strength the table landed on the Security Officers knocking them to the ground. My glass flew across the cantina to land I don’t know where. I wasn’t about to stop and see where it went I had to get out. The Security Officers groaned in pain as I ran across the table on top of them and behind the screen.

The corridor behind the screen was short with three door exiting from it. Two led to the facilities the third partially open led to the outside. I ran for that door smashing it open as I barrelled into a surprised Security Officer on the other side. I was an alley with a brick wall blocking one side of it. A second Officer had a gun pointed at the couple. They were kneeling on the floor their hands raised the tote bag on the floor in front of them. Before the second Officer could react I’d lashed out. My fist connecting with this face I felt pain travelling up my arm from the force of the hit. I ignored the pain as the Officer spun around and went flailing backwards. The couple took advantage of the situation and both reached into the tote bag pulling out two Barkers. ‘Barkers’ wasn’t the official name for the two SMGs they had. Twice the length of my Seven Double ‘M’ a Barker was a quick fire weapon using cased ammunition. It had a high rate of fire but very low accuracy more in the nature of spray and pray. It was enough to keep enemies at bay as long as they weren’t in combat armour. Criminal gangs on Earth used these weapons exclusively. I was in no doubt the couple weren’t criminals I trusted my gut feeling on this.

“Best we leave,” she said to me.

I did wonder why they were trusting me I guess she’d seen my bracelet. The alley entrance wasn’t an option.

“Over the wall,” I said unsure what was on the other side but being here was dangerous.

“Good idea,” the Human said.

He was up upon the wall within a blink. He straddled the wall and helped the T’Arni up and over. He held out his hand to me.

“I’m fine,” I told him. I leapt my hand grasping the top of the wall and scrabbled up as the two Security Officers I trapped earlier staggered through the cantina back door.

“Stop there!” One of them gasped out drawing his pistol.

He fired luckily I’d winded him enough that most of his shots went wide. Bullets splattered against the wall sending chunks of brick everywhere. I felt a sharp pain in my leg as I vaulted over the wall to land in a another alley behind the wall. I half collapsed knowing I’d been hit. I was bleeding a bullet had clipped my leg I hoped my nanobots would heal me quickly. Well that was my hope I didn’t know I’d even had them in my blood anymore.

“You two get out of here,” I said to the couple.

“No you saved us we owe you,” the T’Arni said I saw her looking at my leg. She turned to her companion. “Guy get the car. We’ll find another way. And please stay safe.” She pulled a scarf from her tote bag and bandaged my leg. “That should hold until we get somewhere safe?”

Guy headed left at the end of the ally and we went straight across the road into another alley the sounds of sirens dogging our footsteps. We followed an extremely detailed holo map the T’Arni had on her comms. It had military notations more akin to that than of criminals. We hurried down a number of alleys I was limping but at least I wasn’t bleeding any more. That meant my nanobots were working.

“Where are we going?” I asked the T’Arni after we were going down another alley. I was totally lost I doubt I could find my way back to the cantina let alone anywhere else. I only asked since we seemed to be going down random streets with the sounds of sirens getting closer.

“A rendezvous point.” The T’Arni glanced at me. “We haven’t had the chance to be formally introduced I’m Sindara,” she said to me.

“Gwen,” I replied refraining from giving her my family name.

“That’s not a typical Enari name?”

“I’m not your average Valkyrie.” I deliberately said ‘Valkyrie’ to see if she reacted.

She gave me a slight smile. “I can tell that otherwise you would have that bangle.”

I don’t know why everyone kept referring to my bracelet as a bangle. I used the word referring to the word in ancient parlance. The actually word was bracelets a reference to the handcuffs often carried by the forerunners of our modern Security. I used it because it meant I’d been chained to the Elders.

“You know what it means?” I asked her directly showing her my bracelet.

“Of course, it means if I hadn’t spotted it we would be having this conversation. Which was why I heeded your advice.” Sindara frowned. “Not that it did much good we ran straight into an ambush. That was our own fault not yours we go careless in our effort to get away.”

“Ok you know I’m with the Valkyrie. Who are you?”

“Not here back at our safehouse.”

I followed Sindara unsure what I was getting myself into. I seemed to have a habit of getting into trouble. Yet my gut feeling was to trust these people I just hoped I wasn’t wrong.