The bar aboard the Battleship Hood stretched out around several miners, as well as an assorted group of others. The barkeep, Ryan Bourne, hands out drinks while others place bets on races in the nearby field.
John Richards steps through the bulkhead, dressed impeccably and followed by a small retinue of staff and women. He looked fantastically out of place but revelled in this fact.
Clocking the group of miners just getting settled in in one corner, Richards makes a small gesture, and one of his entourage heads towards the bar, while John himself studies the betting blackboard intensely, noting names and odds, seeing if he recognises anyone in the bar as a racer.
Michael Thorpe, an officer from the Colonial Republic holding a post on the Hood, and a racing ace, enters the bar, surprisingly already half drunk and a bit tipsy.
He slowly walks up to the bar, pulls up a chair, and growls:
"One round.. for the entire house!"
And then he starts bragging about his recent win in the Dublin 6400 cup, where Thorpe won a staggering 100 million credits.
<span style="font-familyalatino Linotype">
<span style="color:#000000">All morons hate it when you call them a moron.
Noal is slightly confused by him, but smiles as the bartender sets a drink down on the bar infront of him. without paying attention to what it is, he drains the glass in two long gulps.
he puts a hand in his pocket and walks over to micheal.
"conratulations on ya win."
he then walks to about 10 meters from john.
he glances around, as if looking for people watching him.
' Wrote:<span style="font-family:Century Gothic">Violence is Golden</span>
"Oh, nice," Vincent said with a nod toward Michael Thorpe. "It's good to see an accomplished racer, but better to get a round!" He stood and walked over to the racer to shake his hand.
Meanwhile, Claude turned toward the stately man who had entered with the group. "You," he said, "hey you. You look familiar - do I know you? Ever live on Pecos?"
John catches the eye of Michael Thorpe and politely inclines his head as the staff hands him the drink Thorpe has purchased for him. Once Thorpe's eyes are elsewhere, John takes a look at the drink and curls his lip, passing it off to one of his entourage.
His eyes flick over the crowd and the man who moved a little closer to him, but he's distracted by one of his men bringing him a gin and tonic. Nodding to his underling he begins to walk towards an unclaimed booth. Such a mundane activity could not go unchallenged, however, as the older man that had arrived before him suddenly addressed him, catching him off guard.
"Ah, Pecos? No. I've been to Barrier Gate more than once, and flown by Pecos. Don't believe I had any business planetside though. You're in the Guild, correct? I've been here before, and on Freeport 4. Perhaps you've seen me there."
John finishes his gin in a single gulp and hands the empty glass to one of his attendants, having it quickly replaced with another.
Isaac wanders in, muttering to himself and seemingly pre-occupied by a small pocket computer he is hunched over. Approaching the bar, he glances up for a second,
"Oh, hi, Ryan, strong, if you would,"
"Sure," Ryan reaches for a glass and begins filling it from a bottle, "something up?"
"Aye, the damn miners down in '7 aren't yielding what they should be. I'll have to get onto maintenance, bet you someone's cross-wired them."
"No rest for the wicked, eh?"
"Damn right. Oh, did you see James around recently? I got something for him."
"Not since last night, sorry. I'll tell him if he shows," Ryan finished pouring the drink and pushed the glass towards Isaac.
"Thanks', Ryan, you're great," Isaac accepted the glass and downed it in one gulp, "Another, if you would?"
"Certainly,"
he poured another measure into the glass, which Isaac accepted, and settled down on one of the nearby stools, glancing quickly over the patrons and giving a nod to the odd miner here and there, before returning his attention to his pocket computer.
Noal stands there, looking as if he is trying to make a hard choice.
he walks over to johns table, and stabs a knife into the table, three inch's from johns hand,before johns security can grab him, Noal quickly walks away.
john is left looking at the knife, it is hilted with a lump of rock.
another man walks over and says, "that there's molly death sentence if ev'r i saw one."
"you'l be lucky ta leave the hood alive, much less dublin."
' Wrote:<span style="font-family:Century Gothic">Violence is Golden</span>
Charles Dee talked to the docking staff in Bay Two: "Keep the Gibraltar moored in the safe zone around the Hood. I'll need to get some shuttles to get the gold on board, then we'll be ready to leave for Liberty."
Strolling off towards the gold dealers (the IMG section - Mollies were too dangerous to deal with), he smiled - this was the life. This deal will land him seven million credits (after associated costs).
"A few more of these runs, and the family will be going to Curacao for a vacation", he thought.