Dead Men Have No Legacies: Stories of a Seasoned Bounty Hunter

Chapter 12

I returned to my ship with no other distractions, and I ignored anyone who tried to stop me. After boarding the Ravager, I heard the faint sound of whirring blades, which confirmed that Boreas did in fact send his drone after me. I walked through the cargo hold and huffed as I settled down in the cockpit of my ship. I stuffed the lanyard I had pilfered off Ralph into one of my duster pockets before firing up my engines and leaving.

"Thank you for visiting Du'Vuna." an automated voice droned through my comms. "Please come again."

Oh, I wish I was leaving this dump...

"Alright mate, here's how this will work: if you fly north, you'll eventually happen upon the Arestosos manor. However, we don't want that. Instead, fly northeast."

"Got it." I replied as my ship lifted off the pad of the spaceport. A few moments later, I was following the directions Boreas gave me. Thankfully, no one bothered me.

"Did you jam the radar systems in the spaceport?" I prompted my partner.

"Yeah. How else would you be able to explore this planet without having friends following after you."

I slouched in my seat and breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you're a tech master...I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Oh, I know you love me!"

I chuckled. "You're a good man, Boreas."

"What's up with all this mushy shit, man? What happened to the 'I'm going to push my friend's boss out a window while looking badass' Mortifer? Don't tell me your old age is catching up with you?"

I groaned. "I'm only thirty-eight, you bastard. Just because there's a twelve-year gap between us doesn't mean you get to mock me, you whippersnapper."

"Whippersnapper? I beg to fuckin' differ–!"

We would've continued to bicker were it not for a ship flying beside me.

"Ship designation 98765, state your purpose for leaving the designated flight areas on Du'Vuna."

"We're a science vessel assigned to observe the effects of pollutants on the local flora and fauna." Boreas chipped in for me. "Please, refer to me as Doctor Carter. I'm patching my information over...Now."

The other ship was silent for several moments before speaking again. "Alright Doctor Carter, your info checks out. Be safe out there–Apparently things are getting nastier by the day."

"Will do." Boreas replied. When the line went dead and the other vessel broke away, I heard my partner sigh. "You owe me a bottle of wine–the good shit, not the cheap grape water you bought me last time."

"But...Wine is grape water."

"Shut the fuck up." he snapped. "Just because you're a scotch suck-up doesn't mean you're better than me."

I chuckled. "Thanks for the save, partner."

"Anytime, partner. Just try not to die out there."

I leaned back in my seat. "I'll try."

Much to my relief, I didn't experience any other interruptions while flying over to the yellow marker Boreas had left on my map. It took me about two hours to exit the city that dominated much of Du'Vuna, but I was genuinely shocked when nothing but dark forests covered the land below me.

"Sweet mother of god..." I breathed, "You seeing this, Boreas?"

"Through your helmet, yep," he replied, breathing out an exasperated sigh, "This forest is looking ominous as fuck..."