B-294: Spanial (Docked), Common Room
“I sometimes supplement the ship’s income by moving people places without going through Customs at either end.
“This particular job came up suddenly. We were just bringing in a load of freight to…a planet…and picking up a new one. All legit, when I get a call from a contact. Can I help him out? He’s got a fella needs to get off-world in a hurry, this guy’s apparently done work for the organisation in the past, but he’s been caught out or something and needs to get away.
“The money’s good, so I say sure. We pick up this fella and take him off the planet, take him to…a place…and he meets his new best friends. No problems.
“But then I get to Captree and I’m talking to a reliable contact there. Our…mutual acquaintance…is deeply unhappy, seems my hurried contact on…that planet where we picked him up…has made a bad call and parties are interested in this fella that aren’t good news. So my contact says maybe get out of Octant 3 for a while. Let all the angst blow over.
“So I did. Picked you up at Argyropoulos not long after.”
That stillness in Lia begins to relax as Karmen is speaking. She listens attentively and there is a pause at the end. She seems thoughtful.
Her attention suddenly narrows and she becomes intently focused on Karmen. The weight of her Charisma makes this feel slightly intimidating.
She lets it sit for a moment before speaking.
“You say you ‘move people’.”
A beat.
“Are they all willing?”