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

Chapter 39

(Seven hours later...)

"What do you mean the target died?"

I sighed, glaring at the holographic bust of the UTF official as they laid into me. "I found the target on a dead planet. I tried to get him to surrender without bloodshed, but he decided to blow up the facility he was hiding out in."

The official shook their head in disbelief. "Gavin Mendel was supposed to be brought to justice for his crimes."

"Trust me, he got what he deserved," I growled, "The bastard's no more than a fleeting memory, so you have nothing to worry about." 

"You understand your pay will be halved for this, yes?"

"I understand perfectly well," I snapped, "Send me the payment later. Good day."

Shutting off the message, I reclined back into my pilot's chair and groaned. This is the first thing that greets me the instant we land? A fucking message from the UTF? gods...I hate those pricks so much...

Sure enough, the sprawling skyline of Erastus sat before me, and I couldn't help but feel my shoulders dip with relief.

"God, I hate the UTF so much," Alannah growled, kneeling beside my seat. She had stayed back when the message patched through without warning, so she now let her dissent be known, "Do those twats not understand we had to go on a planetary goose chase to hunt that fucker down?"

I huffed out a soft chuckle and rose to my feet. "I suppose not. Boreas is waiting for us. We should head inside while we still can."

The redhead followed my lead and blew a few curly strands of hair out of her face. "Wouldn't want the poor guy to have a heart attack waiting for us."

"Agreed..." I hissed, taking my helmet off and holding it while we made our way off my ship.

When we got off the Ravager, both Boreas and Alexander ran outside to greet us.

"What happened to not taking care of anymore dangerous bounties?" my old partner snapped at me, "You both have been silent for the duration of this bounty, and I am not okay with it!"

"Yeah!" Alexander chipped in, balking when he saw the haggard condition Alannah and I were in. "You both look like shit."

"Gee, thanks for pointing out the obvious." Alannah grumbled, ruffling the kid's hair as we walked by them.

"Where do you think you're going?" Boreas demanded.

"I'm heading inside," the redhead snapped back, "Everything hurts, and I don't appreciate your sass, boy."

"I'm twenty-six, you asshole!"

"And I'm thirty-six. Get on my level, nerd."

Boreas scowled. "Don't age-shame me, Alannah."

The redhead laughed to herself and waited for me to catch up with her. After that, we walked inside and flopped down onto one of the sofas in the living room. Immediately, I felt Alannah curl around me and yawn.

"We...were awake for more than a day straight, weren't we?" she prompted me in a weary voice.

I hung my head back and exhaled slowly. "...Probably...We jumped between enough systems that we lost track of time. I'll be amazed if I can fall asleep tonight."

"I'll...Probably spend the night here," Alannah informed me, her eyelids drooping, "Sorry love...I doubt I can drag my sorry ass back to my shop."

I ran a hand through her hair and huffed out a chuckle. "You're welcome here anytime, mijn sintel."