Note: This part of the story takes place shortly after "Objects in Space". The rest of the story will be Post- BDM

Prologue

The heavily armed pirate ship swerved through open space to avoid an asteroid. The ship rocked and buckled with the pressure from such a sudden maneuver.

"Gorramit Holbein!" The captain said. "I thought you said you could fly this thing?"

"If you didn't want me to fly you shouldn't have gotten the pilot killed."

"It wasn't my fault he got killed..."

"Captain Beatty." Someone said, "We've detected something nearby, very small."

"What is it?"

"It looks like a...person."

"Then why do I care?"

"Because hes broadcasting an Alliance distress signal. We rescue him could be a couple hundred in it for us."

The Captain weighed the pros and cons in his mind. "Fine, bring him on."

Slowly the ship moved closer to the man in space.

With a small hiss the airlock door opened. One of the crew who had donned a spacesuit reached out and grasped the mans hand. Pulling him on board he noticed the mans suit, made of dark red material, no average smuggler could afford such a thing.

The two men waited until the door closed again before removing their helmets.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Jaster Mereel." Said the man, pulling out a fake identification card.

"The captain will want to speak with you."

The man nodded and the two of them walked out to the main hall of the ship, where the Captain and a group of pirates were waiting.

"I'm Captain Beatty. Who are you."

"My name is Jaster Mereel." The man said, as he looked around silently learning as much as he could about his surroundings.

"Care to explain what you were doing floating through space?"

"I was stationed on a transport ship as security." The man said. "Our ship was taken by a group of thieves, I was the only one left. They decided to jettison me into space rather than kill me."

"That's quite a story." Beatty said. "So lets say I let you on my ship, give you a lift to the Core whats in store for us?"

"Say $50,000" Said the man. Then he pulled a small wad of bills "10,000, up front. Alliance credits or any other type of currency you like."

Beatty eyed the man suspiciously. "The Alliance must be pretty anxious to get you back if you're willing to off that much of someone else's money."

"What I do for the Alliance is irrelevant. Your choice remains the same." The man tossed the money to Beatty.

"Fine, you can stay on this ship." The Captain said. "We'll head for the Core, drop you off. Someone will show you to your room." The Captain turned to leave, followed by the pilot as one of the guards led the man away.

The ship was quiet as Holbein guided the ship through the darkness of space.

"I have a bad feeling about this Captain."

"What?"

"We don't take on passengers for a reason."

"Not often a passenger comes along that can pay 50,000 for a lift to the Core."

"Maybe..." He was interrupted by the door to the bridge opened.

The stranger walked in.

The Captain walked up to confront him. "What in the hell are you doing here...?"

The man simply reached out.

And snapped his neck like it was a twig, the grabbed his pistol from its holster. "Drop it." He said, aiming at the pilot, who had drawn own weapon.

"What are you doing?"

"What I'm doing doesn't matter" The man said. "It's whats going to happen that matters. You're going to lock the crew in their bunks and then shut the weapon systems of this ship offline and take me to my own ship, shouldn't be to far from here."

"Who are you?"

"I'm the man whos going to blow your brains out if you don't do as I say."

"You're not Alliance..."

"The people I'm hunting are worth more than you could imagine. I was given clearance to use Alliance codes..."

"You're a bounty hunter?"

The man looked at Holbein strangely. "That ain't it at all. I'm a bounty hunter."

"How did you get out here."

"I was outsmarted by a gorram seventeen year old girl." The man said. "Does that seem right to you?"