In Silent Dreams

CHAPTER 21 - Contract Sign Shadow

Elizabeth: "Eva, give me the details on the contract."

Elizabeth held up a cup of cocoa and sipped it slowly.

Eva: Shadow is a hit contract on a woman, Catherine Cloud. Target is proficiencies unknown. Several bounty hunters have attempted to seek her on the planet Arxsys Three. None have ever contacted back.

Elizabeth: "Ouch."

Eva: If the target wasn't strong enough by herself, the planet has a special atmosphere in which dust storms cloud the surface and reduce visibility tenfold. The terrain is spiky and mountainous, with a large number of cliffs and valleys. Ships can be easily ambushed when tracking on ground level.

E: "She sure did pick a great spot to hide!"

Elizabeth sipped her cup again.

Eva: I ran a fifty percent chance on the plausibility of hiding there. It may a great place to hide, but there are tons of wildlife on that planet that have adopted to the conditions there. The worm I mentioned? It is a very huge creature with an orifice full of fangs that can swallow its prey whole. The mouth itself is bigger than the average human.

E: "Eww."

Eva: I have checked the armoury and you could take the corrosive katana along. The acid reactions should make it easy for you to cut and dissolve your way out should you ever be swallowed.

E: "Great idea. I'll bring that crossbow along as well. I could use some elemental runes to hit a tracer on our target."

Eva: Discursive Return Elemental Crossbow, you mean.

E: "Yeah... That."

Eva: I have prepared some spider mines as well. Spider mines have good tracking capabilities in dusty areas, and their sharp talons can help them traverse the rocky terrains easily. Any other gadgets you might want to bring along other than the usual?

E: "Prepare the friction grip gloves for climbing."

Eva: Of course. I'll have to let you know that this mission is going to be harder than the previous contracts.

E: "Tell me about it. We just survived the Kygan and an advanced sentient weapon attack."

Eva: I do hope that confidence will help us. The worms travel underground by burrowing themselves and reappearing below your feet to devour you.

E: "I am surprised the target contract is still up. Why would people want to kill a criminal so badly that they would chase her down even on a planet where she would most likely have been eaten by its wildlife?"

Eva: The bounty pays a huge deal, so there might be many reasons. Thermal tracking devices won't work well since the entire planet is scorched in high temperatures. Sonar ping does not work well either, since the dust storms can practically fill the sensing equipment with white noise.

E: "So what can we use?"

Eva: You.

E: "Excuse me?"

Eva: Your hunting senses are extraordinary. You seem to be able to pick up scents and clues much better than most humans I have observed during our combat interactions.

E: "Most of our targets were easy since we had so much preparation ahead, but this woman is literally hiding on a planet where nobody knows where she is. It's like finding a Gokk in a pool of Huskers."

Eva: Not so much. She has been getting desperate for supplies recently, I would assume. I have picked up a supply ship call point on a spot on the planet's surface using a network of relays to perform a long range scan on the planet from here. I would expect that her provisions would not last her long enough, and she would need some way to restock.

E: "So we pretend to be the victim supply trader ship, then when she comes in we stick her with an arrow or bullet and fly off before we turn into worm food."

Eva: It won't be that simple.

E: "One can dream."

Eva: It's about a week until we reach the planet. I have blocked the call from other ships so nobody else responds to it.

E: " Hopefully her supplies are too low and she might be too weak to fight us by then."

Eva: She's smarter than that, but not as smart as you, I trust.

E: "Eh."