Dawn of Eve

The Smuggler

Captain Blais Unton was all crooked yellowing teeth and brightly coloured shirts. He was seemingly completely unaware of the attention they were attracting as Sera sat across the tiny round table from him in the Dallanese coffee shop. Their knees were touching beneath the table, something that would normally cause Sera a certain amount of discomfort yet the playful grin on the man's face was oddly comforting.

Not that this strange sense of familiarity meant she would go any easier on him during the negotiations.

"Two hundred credits love." He folded his thick arms across his chest and sat back in his seat. "No more no less."

"Two hundred!" Sera let out a sharp burst of laughter and shook her head. "I could get on a Commonwealth transport to Unie for that."

"You could." He smirked over at her. "But you're not going too."

There was a spark of intelligence there behind his outwardly charming exterior. As they sat there staring at each other across the shiny surface of the metal table, Sera came to realize that it was all for show. This man clearly had a certain amount of natural charisma and he seemed to know exactly how to use it to his advantage. Blais was more than likely used to disarming potential clients with his smiles and British charm, it was probably what made him one of the best smugglers in the galaxy.

Unfortunately for him Sera had spurned the charms of far better con men than Blais Unton.

Leaning across the table Sera lowered her voice to make sure that none of the other patrons could hear her. "I have been known to hide my identity when required."

"Oh I don't doubt it love, which is why I'm curious as to why you've sought out my services now." That damned smile stayed in place even though there was sudden coldness to his dark eyes. "Something must have happened, which means you're likely to bring danger to my door. "

It seems like she had underestimated him. Sera had hoped that he would either be so money hungry that he would take just about any passage,or be the kind of smuggler who simply enjoyed the adrenaline rush of having a passenger like her on board. Blais however appeared to have a certain amount of caution in his dealings which was unusual for a man in his line of work. It was something that demanded large amounts of frustration and respect.

"And so how much would it take to get me to Unie?"

She hated having to ask because that gave him the upper hand, she also didn't want to be stuck all day in this coffee shop firing out amounts only for them to be constantly knocked back. It was just easier to have Blais name a price and then negotiate from there.

He was silent then sitting back in his chair with his hands loose around his coffee cup, if it wasn't for the way his eyes were flitting round the crowded shop.

"Are you being chased?" Sera leaned across the table to hiss the word sat him. "Because I really don't want any trouble right now."

Blais rolled his eyes. "I'm not being chased any more than usual, and really you're one to talk about not wanting trouble."

She knew better than to trust him. "Maybe it would be better if I found another ship to give me passage. Good day Mr. Unton."

"Wait!"Blais reached out then, his fingers wrapping around her wrist. In that moment she realized just how much bigger than her he was, with his broad shoulders and ropy muscle. He could easily break the fragile bones beneath his grasp. "I'll take five hundred and no less. With a former Lanian pirate on board I won't be able to take any other passengers on board, I think you owe me compensation for that. Right love?"

Five hundred was a preposterous amount and would all but wipe her clean of what credits she had come to Dalla with. Then again she didn't have much choice in the matter if she didn't want to end up on this rock for the rest of her days. It was very rare that smugglers would travel this deep into the Central planets, it was too dangerous and the bounty wasn't really worth it.

"Five hundred is an awful lot." She pulled out of his grip and had to suppress the urge to rub her wrist.

"I'm sure you can get it," he said."A smart girl like yourself."

She narrowed her eyes at him and turned to leave the coffee shop, there must be other transports around here headed to the Far Reaches.

"Dock 187-9B."

When she looked back he was gone and there was a gnawing sense of panic in the pit of her stomach.