Scene 7: House Call

The shuttle descends into the moon's crevice, which has also been developed with buildings protruding from the canyon walls.  Once deep enough there is another tunnel to the side for traffic to merge in to.  The occupants travel in silence as strips of incandescent lighting hypnotically passes over the windshield.

Then Aaron comes up to the cockpit
again and gives Tulia a start even
though speaking in low tones.

AARON:  Take a right up here.

TULIA:  What are you doing up here?

RUNE:  Aye, aye captain.

Your little map will 

get us there.  Return

to your seat.

Aaron studies Rune a moment and then indeed turns around.  The next tunnel is dark with red emergency lights and Rune activates a spotlight attached to underside of the shuttle.  The end of the tunnel remains plunged into darkness with the red lights canceled by the spotlight.  Tulia casts her voice back to the passenger compartment.

TULIA:  Why are you sending us

to the refugee district?

AARON:  Because that's where

the doctor is.

RUNE: (laugh) What?

TULIA:  We could have stopped at

a general hospital.

AARON:  Orelius is even more dangerous than Janriel. 

They would make him wait.  The Doc is an old friend
of mine.  He was a battlefield surgeon; not just a medic.

TULIA:  And what did you do

to make him a friend of yours?

AARON: (he thinks a moment)

He's another one I didn't

collect a bounty on.

RUNE:  What's the name?

AARON:  You can just call him

Doc.  On account of I don't

want you looking up whether

or not the contract is still good.

TULIA:  What's he doing in the 

underbelly of the Janriel

star system if he's so great?

AARON:  He's lending his services

to the red sector.  After what we've

been through I didn't think you'd mind.

RUNE: (aside) You do realize we always wait 

for bounties to leave the red sector

before we go pick them up?

TULIA:  Shut up and fly.

They land in a residence area where there is a line of people of all manor of species for one house that used to be an apartment building, but now looks condemned.  The shuttle touches down.  And as soon as they are down the loading ramp there is a swarm of police hover craft that converge upon them, sirens blazing.

Guarded by the others, one such craft descends to touch down its landing struts and then an elevator drops down from the underbelly to release a dozen or so heavily armored police.  The critically wounded reptilian is laid on the loading ramp and everyone draws in a standoff.  Tulia has to quickly handoff a pistol to Rune.  The police do not shout orders.  They all stand in silence.  Then a rifle whirs from the shuttle and it is the big headed alien.

TULIA:  Ross, lay down.

The alien promptly falls forward, unconscious, at the top of the ramp near his other wounded friend.  Tulia steals a concerned wince in Rune's direction at the sound of the thud.

A second craft's approach goes unheard until its final descent and lowers an elevator for only four people.  Two armored police, like the rest,and one officer and an aid.  Aaron breaks from the others to go speak to him.

OFFICER:  We heard something

about Janriel turning into a

warzone, recently.

AARON:  I ran into a little

unexpected trouble.  

OFFICER:  The fight with

Drusus Gaul didn't spill

out onto the street?

AARON:  No.  It wasn't that.

OFFICER:  Then it's as I fired

These attacks at are becoming

far too frequent.

AARON:  Wait... you knew about this?

OFFICER:  I don't know any more

than you do at this point.

Except, apparently, that you

don't have authorization

to be here.

Aaron removes a coin from his cuff sleeve.

AARON:  There's my authorization.

The officer takes the coin and glances up at the desperate-looking bounty hunters who are staring at them.  He pulls out a scanner and makes one pass over the coin and hands it back to Aaron.

OFFICER:  You sure do keep 

strange company, Mr. Miles.

Pleasure doing business 

with you.

He waves a hand and the police march back to
their respective platforms to be raised back up
into the patrol crafts.  Aaron turns back to the others.

AARON:  He says we can go in.

They pick up the wounded reptilian and push
their way to the front of the line and through the door.








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