OMEGA Conscript Read Online Free PDF Page A

concerned with that than with getting the portal to open when we need it open."
    We arrived at Novesta four days later. After a comm call from Jallis, the administration on Novesta provided us with the registration information they had on the trader. We traveled by air taxi from the government section of the capital city of Bogwa, to a small out-of-the-way town nestled in the foothills of an ancient mountain range. I soon found myself knocking on the door of a modest villa on the outskirts of town. Garrett grasped his blaster pistol as he looked around for signs of trouble.
    A squeaky voice came through the door. "I don't know you. What do you want?"
    I replied, "We are here concerning an artifact we purchased from you about a year ago. My associate conducted the transaction. We would be interested in discussing that deal with you further. And we can make it well worth your while."
    The trader opened a small peephole in his door. "Two hundred credits."
    I titled my head to one side. "What?"
    The trader fidgeted behind the door. "Give me two hundred credits and I'll talk."
    I held up my credit store for a transfer.
    When the transaction was complete, the trader again stuck his eye up to the peephole. "I changed my mind. I'll need another two hundred credits to continue."
    I rolled my eyes. "Here's five hundred, just to show our level of interest."
    The eye bobbed up and down in the peephole, signaling approval of the transaction. I again held up my credit store and watched as five hundred additional credits drained away.
    The eye moved back from the door and the sound of a lock opening could be heard. "Wait fifteen seconds and then come in."
    I opened the door and stepped through into a small anti-room. Garrett followed. As the door closed behind us, the lock flipped shut.
    A peephole opened in an inner door. "Another five hundred credits."
    I sighed. "Look, we can make it well worth your while if you would just talk to us."
    The voice replied, "Five hundred credits, or we are finished."
    Garrett raised his blaster. "Look, we aren't here to play. Open the door or I start blasting!"
    The voice giggled. "A blaster won't do you any good in there! Inhibitors make it ineffective. The walls are eight inches of concrete reinforced with two ten millimeter steel plates. Now, five hundred credits or I gas you!"
    I stepped closer to the peephole. "I have a third option. Want to make five thousand credits? Look through the hole and down at my store."
    The eyeball moved close, attempting to see my lowered right hand. With a lightning fast move, I raised my left hand shoved my finger through the hole. A scream of pain came through the door.
    "You poked me in the eye!"
    A second voice could be heard yelling from the background. "Dokell! What is going on out there!"
    Dokell yelled back, "They poked me in the eye!"
    The owner of the second voice angrily spoke through the door. "Who are you? What do you want?"
    Garrett stepped forward. "I made a trade with you for some items about a year ago."
    The voice replied, "Mr. Williams … I remember it. Go on."
    Garrett replied, "We would like to enlist your services again if we could. We came here to discuss a possible new arrangement."
    The voice snarled back. "And you think poking my son in the eye is a good way to do business?"
    I replied, "I must apologize, that was my idea. He was extorting credits under the threat of gassing us."
    The eye turned away from the door. "Dokell? Were you cheating these men?"
    Dokell replied, "I was just having fun. I was going to give it back."
    The father shook his head as he turned to unlock the door. "I'll deal with you later. We don't cheat people and we don't shake them down. It's bad business. The kind of business that will get you killed."
    Garrett added, "Or get your eye poked out."
    The door swung open. "Mollis Cathos. Please come in. Dokell! Go have your mother look at your eye. And when you return, you will compensate these gentlemen for their loss, plus 10