Expert Assistance

Chapter 1 - Hired!

"One of these days I'm going to violently reformat your hard drives."

"I shall ignore that remark. I am making it known throughout the station that you are willing to take on employment on a cash-up-front basis."

Bonner held back a groan. He knew from long experience the quality of employment offered by those with ready credits. If the job wasn't illegal or immoral, it would be boring and simple. The choices would almost always be between bad and worse. And there he was, stuck making those choices again.

"This is going to be fun," he said morosely.

"Either this, or put me up for sale." Odin's tone left no doubt about his preference. "One moment, Jake. I have located a request that is enigmatic, to say the least. Shall I initiate contact?"

"I suppose. Don't bother with the main screen. I don't want to get up."

"Very well. Jake, please meet Daniel and Clarissa Rosen."

An instant later a man and a woman appeared on the upper-deck console screen. They were dressed alike in drab work coveralls. The man had dark hair, the woman dirty brown. Both seemed to be in their late twenties.

The man spoke first. "Mr. Bonner? Pleased to meet you. We're from the colony planet Antioch Two. Are you familiar with it?"

"No. Odin?"

"Antioch Two is a mining colony, owned by one Sordius Maxis. It's population is Class Six, and therefore not a part of the Interstellar Governing Convention. It has been operational for 107 years, and has shown a profit for the last 73."

"And do you know how that's possible, Mr. Bonner?" Clarissa asked hotly. "Maxis keeps us poorly fed and clothed, and claims the air is our pay!"

Jake heaved a mighty sigh. He wanted to shout out, "Are there no new pleas in this galaxy? Am I the only human who knows our history?" He had traveled far and wide through human space, so he had heard of oppressed worlds. His parents had given him an appreciation of the history of the human race, so he knew about rebellions, their causes, and their outcomes. So when Clarissa Rosen said what she did, Jake had no doubt what they were going to ask him to do.

It was, however, more than a little frustrating to know where the Rosens were heading. It meant that their job offer carried with it a rather predictable set of actions he would have to take: organization; subversion; then direct action against the regime. If what Clarissa said was true, each of these would be easy tasks to accomplish. There would be no real challenge to the job, just another go-through of the motions that have been carried on since time immemorial.

No, he reminded himself, there would be one challenge: getting paid. Rebels as a rule didn't have much on hand to compensate hired help. Getting into power might allow them to reward his work, but the odds were that the Rosens were from some podunk colony with an annual income only slightly higher that his present debt load. The compensation was fairly unlikely to equal the amount of work he'd have to put out to help them succeed.

He decided to let the couple down easy. But before doing that, Jake made certain that his hunch was correct. He said to them, "Let me guess. You want me to help you oust this Maxis, so you can replace him with a government that will respect the workers. Am I right?"

The couple's eyes went wide. "How did you know?"

"I have been around the galaxy a few times. Look, a hired gun isn't going to make a bit of difference."

"Mr. Bonner," Daniel said, "we are prepared to reward your assistance with five percent of our mines' profits, each year, for life."

"That's very kind of you,..."