Well, here we are, the final chapter of this Novella I've been writing for about 2 and a half months. I could have gotten it done a lot quicker had I written one part a day, but sometimes it's good to give a little breathing room between sections.
I'm going to complete this, then bring all of the individual parts into Google Docs, and see how it all lines up. There may be a few bridges that need gaps, but hopefully not many.
After my first edit pass of this, I'll find an editor online who I can hire to give it a final pass and then I can publish it. If anyone's interested or knows anyone who's interested in editing it, let me know rates and stuff.
I'll bite my tongue, Andron thought as he shimmied his restraints lightly, causing a merry jingle of steel behind his back.
His communicator chimed, which he ignored immediately after feeling the shimmer on his wrist. None of the others seemed to pay any mind to it, as the Alid stepped into his suit of armour, as requested by some of his guards. Shoni in particular seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of Crovin protected behind his fortress.
"There was something else," Shoni said, as he turned to shed a passing glance at Andron, and the heavily sedated Mari laying on the floor.
"Speak freely. Don't think of our," the top of Crovin's suit lowered slowly, with a hiss. The eyes shun an illuminated green once it sealed, and he took a step forward. One solid thump. "Guests." He finished, his voice distorted through the speakers in his mouthpiece.
The Doshan reached into his pocket and placed a large sum of FST's on the table; neatly composed stacks of metal. "I met with another buyer."
"Good work," Crovin let out a laugh. A monstrous laugh through the speaker, filled with bile. "One of Sin's patrons?"
"Yes. They ordered a case of Haze, and a few parcels of Gank, with the intention of selling it here." Shoni replied, in an irritable manner.
"I can never have enough wasters at hand. You might need to disappear once more."
Throughout their talking, Andron suspected that the reason it didn't matter whether he heard or not, was due to the fact that they didn't expect to be letting him, Mari, or M'Trada walk away from this.
Andron looked at the ground and knew that the ships were en route. They couldn't be far off at this point, but if M'Trada were to arrive first, he'd be walking to his own demise. Unwittingly, he'd be walking to Andron, and Mari's demise as well. This side of their operation wasn't common knowledge and wasn't in the report either, but it made a lot of sense now.
Someone like Crovin could maintain control of a small operation easily, especially if every other person was working for him through blackmail and manipulation. Andron couldn't help but wonder about everyone who worked for the Alid. Were they all being used in this way? Or, did he only rip off nobodies? People with no backing, or anyone to depend on. People like M'Trada. Low lives, with hardly any options for a better life. "The weak are often a target of people like Big Bima." On his first day, while discussing The Western Waste, the person showing him the ropes said that. Andron knew at the time it was true, but the extent to which it was was only now truly apparent.
Big Bima was graded above the likes of Crovin, and he used much more brutal tactics to maintain his control. The Gnosian gangster was too much to deal with, even T-TEC would think twice before raiding his compound. The High Flyers are drug-fueled scumbags, and when they were wronged by the Gnosian even they let it slide.
Andon shook his head lightly, and once more felt his restraints rattle, and then he felt the weight of his communicator. Looking over his shoulder, he could see it clearly and remembered the message. Fumbling awkwardly for a moment, he flicked it on and the first notification he had was from M'Trada. "I've been picked up by Peacekeepers. I was stupid." His blood ran cold as he finished reading it.
His only option now was to hold off until the arrival of T-TEC, and hope that word doesn't get back to the Alid before then.
