“I recorded this two days ago,” Aeron said, “using my optical implants. The location is the Bursa in Jeriko. The man is a stock broker.”
An audio track played from the device in Zeth’s hand, matching the video projection. Despite the device’s small size, the sound was still loud enough to fill the Common Hall.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the broker was saying, “but I’m afraid we’re not allowed to reveal any information about our clients.”
In the video, a massive hand darted out and seized the man’s tie, dragging him halfway across the desk. He tried to shout, but his tie was now constricting his throat, making it impossible for him to do anything but speak in a raspy whisper.
“W-what was that name again? W-Walther Brundage. Y-yes, he was in here the day before yesterday. H-he bought ten thousand shares of Riadne stock.”
“What is this?” Brundage protested from the stage.
Aeron ignored him and nodded to Zeth again. The young Merc tapped the device, and the image on the wall changed. This time, it was outside at night. The point-of-view was peering over the top of a boulder at a group of mutant raiders gathered around a small thermal unit.
“How much longer do we have to stay here?” one of them asked. “It was fun at first, killing all those miners, but now this shit is getting boring as hell.”
“Yeah,” another one answered. “But think about the money.”
“We’ve already gotten paid.”
“Idiot! We’ve only gotten paid half. The other half will come after our employer tells us we can leave.”
“Well, it’d better be soon, otherwise I’m outta here.”
Aeron nodded again, and Zeth changed the image one more time.
This time, the image was familiar to Rona. She’d been there when it was recorded a few short hours ago. It showed the raider they had taken prisoner. He was chained up in the holding cell ofthe Talionis. He did not look good.
“Okay! Okay!” the raider cried. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know! Just keep that woman away from me. She’s fucking crazy!”
“Who hired you?” Aeron’s voice asked in the recording.
“His name’s Brundage,” the raider said. “Walther Brundage.”
Zeth cut the video off.
“So, there you have it,” Aeron said, projecting his deep voice so everyone in the hall could hear. “Mr. Brundage here paid the mutant gang to take over the mine, killing hundreds of your fellow miners in the process. His goal was to crash the price of Riadne stock. He bought as many shares as he could afford, knowing they would be worth a fortune after the mines reopened. Then he hired my comrades and me to get rid of the problem he’d created. He knew our fee would be high, but that didn’t matter. The village would foot the bill. A decent little plan, except that Mr. Brundage failed to account for one thing. WeMercs can be kind of nosy when we want to be, especially when our lives are on the line.”
For a long moment, the hall was almost completely silent, but Rona could feel the tension in the air. She loved it.
“Get ’im!” someone shouted. “Get Brundage!”
“Kill the bastard!” suggested someone else.
Aeron lifted his arms and let out a loud and savage roar that shook the entire Common Hall. For a second, Rona was actually worried the whole thing might collapse on top of them. When Aeron lowered his hands again, silence reigned. He had the crowd’s attention.
“What you do with Brundage is your business,” he said. “But there’s one thing I want to make perfectly clear. Our contract was with the village, and we expect to be paid.”
“But the whole thing was a scam!” some brave soul shouted from the back of the crowd.
“I don’t give a shit,” Aeron answered. “I didn’t know that when I accepted the job, and if not for me and my companions, none of you would have ever found out either. We’re not heroes. We’re killers for hire, and we expect to get paid. We’ll be back in a few months to collect our money. If you’re worried about how you’re going to come up with the cash…”
He whirled around and pointed at Brundage.
“That man has ten thousand shares of Riadne stock. Those are about to be worth a whole lot of money. More than enough to pay our fee. So, before you go caving his head in, you might wantto figure out where he’s got ’em stashed away. Oh, and one more thing.”
The crowd seemed to hold its breath waiting.
“Hiring those mutants couldn’t have been cheap. I doubt Mr. Brundage here had the means to pay them all by himself. My guess is he had some kind of backing. Just a hunch. Anyway, like I said, we’ll be back to collect our money in a few months. You’d better have it. If you don’t, we’ll be unhappy. And I promise you, you don’t want to see us when we’re unhappy.”
