The Last of the Time Lords: Tales of a Bounty Hunter Book 1

The Deal

Noemi laid back and played with her favorite knife, watching with amusement as he lowered the hood of his cloak. She knew immediately that he was from Doupra. The blue skin and the gigantic head with the even wider forehead were a dead giveaway. Noemi had only seen one in passing, never talk to, though. Unlike the bald one she had seen in her earlier days, this one had blond hair that appeared to hold a wave of static electricity around him. She was sure that Grav would find that fascinating.

"Bounty Hunter." the Douprian greeted her.

Noemi wasn't sure she liked the tone of his voice, there was something dark and rotten deep in there. Regardless of her gut feeling, she smirked making sure she looked perfectly in control. After all, all Douprians were a bunch of scientists, nothing she needed to worry about.

"What can I do for the scientific community of Doupra?"

There was a slight moment of surprise on the alien's face, but he was quick to mask it. "You recognize my species," he said impressed.

"I have to, it's my job. There are probably only a few I wouldn't recognize."

She didn't miss the pleased expression that enveloped his face. "Word around these parts is that you are the best Bounty Hunter in this galaxy."

"I aim to please." she couldn't hold the smirk back.

"I am Orb Zero."

"Nice to meet you Orb. Forgive me if I don't give you my real name. Can't have anyone trying to trace it back to me."

If Orb was upset he didn't show it. Instead, the hard expression on his face darkened even more than it already was. Without a single word he reached inside his cloak and brought up a folded piece of paper.

"I am hoping you can help retrieve this for me," he announced laying the sketch of an object on the round table.

Noemi straightened up from where she lay so that she could take a better look at it. She had to give it to the Douprian, that was something unlike anything she had ever seen. The object in the sketch was round but too complicated in design and with a lot of parts interwinding with each other. Noemi was not even sure it was real.

"Interesting," she mumbled still observing the sketch. "And what is that exactly?"

Orb's aura changed the instant she voiced the question. She could tell the exact moment his shoulders stiffened and the air around him became thicker, more compressed, heavy, and electrifying.

Noemi raised her violet eyes on him, looking at him under her eyelashes with an almost mocking gleam. "Whatever information I have on it, the easier it'll be for me to track it down, and the faster it'll get to your hands."

Orb Zero worked his jaw trying to decide if he wanted to waste his breath on her. Finally, he sighed and pierced her with his own eyes. "We don't know much about it. We know it's old, almost ancient, and powerful. It disappeared during the Great War and hasn't been seen since."

It was Noemi's turn to work her jaw skeptically. "If it has not been seen since the Great War then what makes you think that I can find it? Surely others would've searched for it before you and me. And for that matter, what makes you think it's even real?" she challenged.

The sardonic smirk that appeared on Orb's lips almost turned her blood cold. How ignorant you are, it mocked her. Noemi wondered if that was what she looked like when she was smirking at others.

"Oh, it's real alright." he chuckled in a husky voice. "Don't concern yourself with questions like these. What you need to know is that I'm willing to pay you ten thousand gold coins to retrieve it from wherever it's hidden. You agree to this deal, you get five up front and the rest upon delivery."