2-

With a jolting shudder Raine woke, the door of her cryochamber unsealing and sliding open. Glancing around she realised she was the first to wake, the others, Dales and Gray would shortly follow. It was two weeks since she had last been conscious. Raine shrugged her bad shoulder, glancing down at the almost healed wound. She could never get used to the space of time that went by so fast when you were in cryo-sleep. Raine smiling slowly reflected that she'd spent a good part of her life in cry-sleep, an odd way to spend it but if you were in space as much as her...

Still flexing the stiff muscles in her shoulder Raine made her way across the open cabin of the ship, reaching a locker she opened it removing several energy bars. They didn't taste like much but they fueled the body, especially after waking from two weeks of no nourishment.

Chewing steadily she made her way up to the front of the cabin to the control panel, glancing down at their destination she noted that they were only an hour from landing time on Vesport. Time for Gray to wake, Raine could land the ship in a pinch but she liked to have a more experienced hand on the stick. Especially with precious cargo and Broode was precious, there was a nice little sum on his head.

On cue the hissing noise of Dales and Gray's chamber doors could be heard.

"Shit, that was one long nap!" Dales announced loudly, stretching his bulky frame. Gray, following his example walked up to the front of the cabin, where Raine was. "How long?" He asked, glancing at Raine. "A little under an hour." She answered steadily, her dark shades still covering her eyes. "We've got a few minutes to prep." Nodding, Gray flipped several switches, running a thorough system check on their landing gear. It was always good to be cautious, you could never be sure when machines felt like giving out.

"Broode should be coming out of cryo soon." Announced Dales, still in the back emptying the food locker.

"So keep an eye on him." Barked Gray irritatedly, "All we need is for him to get loose. You'd better have done a damn good job with those wrist-binders."

Raine, seating herself in he copilots station watched silently out the viewport, her shaded eyes gazing aimlessly. She was waiting for this job to be over. As she sat various thoughts flowed through her mind, some causing her to frown.

This job had taken longer than it should have, a whole five days longer. Broode was smarter than she'd given him credit for. This incident furthered the purpose of her personal motto, 'never underestimate and never overestimate, there's a fine line between the two.' The line was so fine that it was easily missed, Raine wasn't used to misjudging.

Her frown deepening she pondered excuses to feed her Father, the father that knew nothing of her real life, the life she led as a merc, a bounty-hunter. The life that was endangered every time she took a job. One of these times she would slip she knew, something would happen and her quiet existence on the other side, the side on which she was a normal girl, would collapse and fall in on her.

What would her Father think if her knew, if he knew that ever since the age of ten Raine had been involved in the underground world between planets.

Raine jaw tightened, almost in rebellion, it was her life, her way of doing things. The only reason she kept it from her Father was because... Because it would hurt him, he would be sad. While Raine could take anger she could not taking sorrow, disappointment, not from her Father. He was her weak area.

It had been easy at first, slipping off planet from her school, making excuses here and there to be gone a few days. When the school's staff thought she was home her Father thought she was at school. The arrangement played out nicely, for the most part, but lately... Jobs had been getting harder, her position moving upwards to the higher levels of the trade. School was almost done, she was several years ahead of others her age.

Her Father knew she was... different. He'd known it since he'd found her, dumped unceremoniously in a alley-corner, only half-alive. He was the only one in her life that had ever cared what happened to her, she couldn't hurt him. Anyone else but not him. To be close to people was a weakness, Raine had known that for a long time, but her Father was a weakness that must be taken and accepted.

"Raine!"

The girl's head snapped towards Gray.

"Go check on Broode, Dales is stuffing his face. fifteen minutes till arrival on Vesport. Get him ready."