<><>
The croc was taken to the morgue for an autopsy. The croc’s outside was examined carefully for any wounds, and there were none. Gloride monsters are creatures with very tough hides adapted for tunneling through the soft rock of gloride formations, but this croc's hide was incredibly tough. With great difficulty they finally managed to cut through the croc's hide to find the cause of death. It had a broken bone in its ribcage, and a piece of that bone had somehow been pushed through its heart.
The point recorder in the mine was reviewed. The blows Bob Nesslun had made on the croc were consistent for shattering a rib bone into several sharp pieces, one of which would be pointed at the croc's heart, and pushing that piece of bone through that heart. Bob Nesslun was awarded the bounty. Ten years of pay in one lump.
◊The lounge had several bottles of my favorite wine. It was very expensive, so I would usually only buy a bottle on special occasions. If there ever was a special occasion, this was it. I could have been dead. I was drinking my favorite wine like it was the cheapest beer. I was at the point where I was seriously considering asking the bartender to get me an escort back to my own quarters, my drinking companions either passed out or in as bad shape as I was, when two aides from the mine managers office came in to tell me the good news.
The mine manager wanted to see me immediately, drunk or sober. The manager's office was on the far edge of the mine and up to the surface. Quite a distance to take a man who could barely walk and who had to be half carried all the way. We were going through another lounge area just off the surface run, when we heard screams coming from the bar. The two aides ran ahead to see what the problem was. I was running to the bar area because my bottle of wine was almost empty. The last thing I remember was standing in the bar, wondering where they kept my favorite wine.
I woke up in a bed at the clinic with the worst hangover I had ever had. The nurse sitting beside my bed got up and left the room. A moment later the Mine Manager walked in. The Mine Manager was the most important man on Nimbus. I had seen him from a distance, but never actually met him. I looked at him through a bloodshot haze and he smiled at me. I wanted to rip his face off. He asked me how I felt. I chose my words carefully, deciding not to use the colorful and totally appropriate words I wanted to use. He was the Mine Manager after all.
“If you have a firing squad that's not too busy, I would appreciate it if you would have them put me out of my misery,” I told him.
He laughed. “What do you remember about yesterday?”
“I seem to remember walking into a bar I don't usually go into to look for a bottle of wine. After that it’s a little hazy.”
The Manager dropped a recording into the viewer beside my bed. Two crocs were tearing chunks out of a still screaming man as two men and I entered the bar. One of the crocs cut off the man’s head before they both left their meal and charged us. The two men turned and ran, just barely reaching the door in time to close it before the crocs slammed into it. The crocs then turned to attack me.
I was standing at the bar picking out a bottle of wine and singing to my heart's content. At the last instant I moved just out of the way and the crocs missed me. As one of them passed by me I kicked at his leg and the croc started to fall. As the croc fell I managed to hold onto his head long enough to hear the satisfying crack as the croc's neck broke.
I jumped out of the way as again the second croc swung his claw at me. Again and again the gloride monster tried to hit me with his claw and time after time, in perfect rhythm, I moved so the claw narrowly missed.
The croc was standing between me and the wine bottles and the expression on my face showed I was finally becoming annoyed. I flung the empty bottle at the croc as I turned and ran to the far end of the room. Then I turned and ran at him. The croc was running after me and as the claw came down I swiveled and the claw only brushed my shirt. As the croc went by I hooked his foot with my own and pushed his back so the croc fell on his face. I jumped higher than I would have believed possible and landed with all my weight and momentum balanced on the heel of one foot as it hit the croc’s spine. Again a satisfying crack and the gloride monster would not move again.
As I was on top of the croc anyway I looked at the selection of wines on the higher shelf. I picked one out and sat down on the croc's back to open it. After several large swallows I started to sing again and the manager turned the viewer off.
“You were still singing when the rescue party arrived. Where did you learn to fight gloride monsters like that?” the Mine Manager asked me with a calculating expression on his face.
“I never had any training sir. I don't know how I was able to do that.” He just looked at me for a moment. I knew he didn't believe me, but I don't think it was important enough to him to press the question.
“You have been awarded the bounty times three,” he told me.
I now had the money to travel the galaxy and still have money towards a comfortable retirement.
I wasn't sure how I had killed those three crocs, and I didn't care. I wasn't going to put myself in that position again. With the first croc something had clicked in and I wasn't in control anymore, my conscious mind was out of the loop except as an observer. With the next two crocs my conscious mind wasn't there at all. I saw the recording, I know I killed those crocs, I just don't remember any of it.
I was happy to have the money, but there is no joy in killing gloride monsters when your body is operating on its own and you are just an observer. I just wanted to take a nice long vacation and pretend that this had never happened.
<><>
The Falcus, which are a federation of worlds that had been subject worlds of the Sindar Empire, were in a very bad situation. The Sindar wanted the Falcus back as subject worlds. The Sindar fleet was much larger than the Falcus fleet, but the Sindar had many enemies and more than a few subject worlds that did not want to remain subject worlds. Significant damage to the Sindar fleet would have been a disaster. The Sindar wanted Falcus back, but could not afford to lose any warships doing it. The most important factor in favor of the Falcus fleet was its possession of a gloride world with a huge fuel quality vein of gloride. The Falcus fleet was small, but they could burn fuel like water.
Their problem was that a tic had invaded the mine area and production had stopped. Falcus had no huge stockpiles of fuel and they had no supply of fuel from other sources. They either had to remove the tic so that fuel production could resume or they would have to begin shutting down their fleet. The Sindar were aware of the situation and were prepared to strike the soon to be helpless fleet.
◊The Mine Manager gave me a moment to let the good news sink in, then he continued. “The medical people wanted to let you sleep a few more hours. I had them wake you up early because I have a unique opportunity for you that can't wait. The Falcus have a gloride monster they need killed immediately and they are willing to pay you twice what you have already earned if you can kill it.”
“Twice what I earned to kill one or twice what I earned to kill all three?”
“They will pay you twice what you earned to kill all three.” The Manager could see the raw greed taking hold. He knew his commission was safe.
I accepted. Visions of immense wealth can only take you so far. They took me all the way to Serifin, the planet the Falcus mine was located on. My gift, my special ability, was neither sure nor certain. A tic's hide was almost as tough as a croc's and tics were said to be faster and larger. A tic will hold you
