Ok this is my first FF please no flames but constructive criticism is always appreciated
The Deal
Jim Steel the capsuleer was on a station orbiting a desolate planet whose name he did not care to remember-he had more important things to worry about. Like where the next meal was coming from...life gets quite shit when you're a down on your luck miner. He hadn't been out on a run in months. His ship, an ore class mining barge, was in for a retrofit after being attacked by pirates and it would take another two days before it was finished.
He was on the entertainment level in a very shady bar at a dark table in the corner when a man who was short and skinny and blond haired came over and sat down at Jim's table. This guy looked almost comical when compared to Jim, who had short, black hair, was tall and built like a brick shithouse. Jim looked over at the guy and asked, "Who are you, and what do you want?"
To which the man replied, "It doesn't matter who I am, I have a proposal for you."
Jim was taken by surprise at this, and said "What is it?" very calmly hoping not to show the irrational fear he had for this man.
"We cannot talk here. Meet me on the shopping level in half an hour and we will discuss this more," said the man, who didn't seem to notice.
And with that, the man got up and left, disappearing into the crowd. Jim, however, was uneasy. He sat there for 10 minutes more thinking why would anyone need him to do something-he was only an average miner at best. With this playing on his mind he finished his drink, got up, and left for the lift to the shopping level.
As the lift stopped at the shopping level, Jim was starting to feel even more uneasy. He checked his wrist watch-it was 5 minutes before he had to meet the man. He looked around the huge space filled with all different kinds of shops, selling clothing of all different styles, every type of video game available, and lots more. Jim was kind of surprised at how this station can be so busy and prosperous when orbiting such a desolate world. Then he saw him-sitting by the fountain in the middle of the level. He glanced at his watch again. Bang on time, exactly half an hour after their meeting in the bar. Jim thought that that was weird but pushed it to the back of his mind.
Jim walked as casually as he could. When he got to the fountain, the man silently got up and walked off. Jim was puzzled by this strange behaviour. He watched the man walk away from him until he felt a slight push, and a bulge touching his back. The person behind him quietly said "follow him," so Jim complied, fearing what the bulge pressing into his back might be. Jim followed the man into the lift at the other end of the level, and followed him in. The person behind him also got into the lift and stood behind both Jim and the man from the bar. Finally, he got his first good look at the person behind him, and was disappointed-all he saw was a black full length coat with a hood, which left everything to the imagination.
Then the man from the bar spoke. "Glad you could make it," he said chuckling slightly to himself.
By now, Jim was scared shitless. "Well I was curious." He said this with a lot more confidence than he felt.
The man then said, "We are going to the engineering level. When we get there you will get out and follow down the corridor until you reach an intersection. Go right and continue and stop at the third door down and knock."
The man and the person behind Jim started to crackle and break up like static and disappeared.
Jim started at this and calmed himself. "Holograms," he said to himself, and started to laugh at the very thought that he had been scared shitless by holograms.
The lift doors glided open and he was faced with a long dark corridor, instinctively feeling uneasy again. "Now what were those instructions?" he thought to himself. "Follow the corridor down until you reach an intersection," ok done that, "turn right and stop at the third door." Jim followed the instructions to the letter and found himself facing a large metal door.
And before he could knock, the door flew open. He was grabbed and dragged inside, and the door slammed shut behind him. When Jim had time to regain his bearings, he looked around the room he was in. A small room: with pumps, the sound of rushing water, and the smell of chlorine, he figured that he must be in one of the many water pumping rooms the station had. After briefly looking around, he noticed the only two other people in the room. It was the two from the lift...only they didn't seem to be holograms this time.