Star Control Episode 8: The Fixer

The Fixer

Roxanne, Claire, Hank, and Kai sat around Roxanne's living room, which was a loose term at best. She didn't have a house per se, and instead lived in her shop when not aboard Kick the Door. The split-level shop had been heavily renovated, with two of the four bays having been converted into a living area, with a kitchenette and office as well as a living room with a large, u-shaped sectional and 70 inch display screen for vids and occasional gaming. The second floor was a loft that housed Roxanne's bedroom and bathroom, as well as a small sitting area. Roxanne herself sat in the center of her couch, arms folded, with Hank on the left side of the couch and Claire next to her as a buffer between she and Kai, who was on the right. It had been several weeks since they picked up Kai, and while he had his charming moments and was generally sweet, Roxanne wasn't a huge fan of his constant advances towards her, serious or not. Admittedly, she liked the attention at first, it got old fast. She didn't feel the need to put a stop to it though, as he seemed to be good at reading whether or not she was genuinely annoyed and was respectful of it and her boundaries. It also created some amusing moments. Advances or not, he fit in well with the crew, and Roxanne appreciated his company. After rescuing him, the crew returned to Eridanus IV for a quick break, quick being an understatement as they were only able to spend a day back home before duty called once again. They collected three more bounties before Chip himself had decided the crew needed a real break, and they returned once again to Eridanus IV, where they had spent the last three days recharging. Roxanne had gotten stuck with Kai sleeping on her couch, as Chip refused to let him stay in his spare room, and Hank didn't want him in his empty apartment. She assumed Hank's apartment would be empty due to him staying at Claire's.

As the crew sat around the couch, Chip stood in front of them, job details pulled up on the display screen behind him.

"Alright now," he said in his smooth drawl, "I really did want you all to be able to have some time to relax, but once again we have a job to do. To make up for you all having to work again so soon, I've come up with a plan for this one alone." He pushed a button on the remote and a dossier appeared on the screen, showing a thin and greasy looking man in his mid-40s, with long black hair, a disheveled business suit, and a stubbly beard across his face.

"This is Jim McCabe, he's a well-known fixer on Rangaria," Chip continued. "His status means he's going to have some tight security. There's an easy way to bypass it, but I'm going to need you all paying attention. That means you, Kai."

"Hey, I pay attention," Kai protested.

"Bullshit," Hank coughed, prompting Kai to flip him off in return.

"Maybe to Roxanne," Hank added with a chuckle. Kai grinned and shrugged.

"Focus, people," Chip regained their attention. "Now, Mr. McCabe here has gotten himself into some trouble with setting up botched jobs and keeping payment for himself rather than passing it along to the mercs and scavengers he employs. He also apparently is a little lonely, and frequently hires nightly companions. Where this works for us is he's also known to have a specific taste for Foxinian women, which are hard to come by." The crew all looked back and forth between Chip and Roxanne questioningly.

"My thought is," he continued. "We have Roxanne go undercover as a companion, get inside his apartment, and take him out. He also has some data that our client is after, which is supposed to be on a hard drive on his personal computer. That can be considered a secondary objective after incapacitating him."

"Wait, what!?" Kai asked, incredulous. "You're just going to whore out Rox to some creep and hope for the best? That's your plan!?"

"What, you think she can't handle herself?" Chip asked, raising his voice slightly. "Of all the jobs she's been a part of, this is a walk in the park for her, wouldn't you think?"